Sima Hui, the water mirror master, strongly recommended Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong, saying "Kong Ming Wolong, Shiyuan Chi Fengye". Xu Shu even said that these two people "have a place to be safe in the world."
So, why didn't Sima Hui recommend another fierce character, Sima Yi, who was on a par with Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong? Although there are statements such as Zhuge Liang being "Wolong", Pang Tong being "Phoenix", Sima Yi being "Tsukasa Tiger", and Jiang Wei being "Youlin". But this is just what people add to it now.
(Sima Hui stills)
Sima Hui did not mention Sima Yi because he did not know Sima Yi?
Obviously not. Sima Hui was a native of Yingchuan and Sima Yi was from Hanoi, both of whom belonged to what is now Henan. Moreover, both were surnamed "Sima ", that is, people from the same family. The same family, but also the same place people, Sima Hui can not not know Sima Yi.
Moreover, Sima Yi's ancestors were very famous. His great-grandfather was emperor An of Han's general Zhengxi, his great-grandfather was Yuzhang Taishou, his grandfather was Yingchuan Taishou, and his father was Jing Zhaoyin, who was obviously a famous nobleman.
Famous nobles are easy to be noticed by everyone, not to mention, Sima Hui's life in Yingchuan, or Sima Yi's grandfather as a taishou place. Moreover, Sima Yi's father gave birth to eight sons with the word "Da" in the character ,known as "Sima Bada". It can be seen from this that the affairs of Sima Yi's family should be well-known in the Yingchuan generation.
So, did Sima Yi not show extraordinary talent when he was young, just like Ge Liang and Pang Tong?
Nor is it. Sima Yi showed extraordinary talent from an early age, and was a very idealistic and responsible young man, and historical records say that he was "always worried about the world." Nanyang Taishou Yang Jun saw him once and "thought it was an extraordinary instrument", which means that he was an extraordinary person. Shangshu Cui Yan originally had a very good relationship with Sima Yi's brother Sima Lang, but he said: "Jundi Congliang Mingyun, just cut off Yingte, not the son of the child." "To put it bluntly, Sima Lang is inferior to Sima Yi.
It can be seen that Sima Yi was indeed famous very early.
(Sima Yi stills)
So, why didn't Sima Hui mention Sima Yi?
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the beginning of the Three Kingdoms period, the way to recommend talents at that time was to adopt the inspection system. That is to say, to recommend those who are filial piety and integrity and have high moral character to become officials. However, the actual situation is that because the door valve controls the country, the recommendation of the last talent has become the hereditary inheritance of the door valve's children.
But at that time, the world was in chaos, and the disciples of the door valve had no ability to save the country and the people. Therefore, in society, a mechanism for recommending talents has automatically arisen, that is, celebrity recommendation.
Celebrity recommendation, that is, some very famous people stand up and recommend talents to the princes. For example, many of Cao Cao's talents, including Guo Jia, Xun You, Chen Qun, Zhong Xuan, Du Xian, Xia Zhicai, and others, were recommended by Xun Yu for Cao Cao. Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong and others also benefited from Sima Hui, Pang Degong and others who recommended them to Liu Bei.
In such a case, it becomes very important to be recommended. In order to get others' recommendation, Pang Tong can be said to have done enough work. For example, he often boldly praises others and speaks very strongly of others. But when someone went to investigate, he found that the man was not as powerful as Pang Tong said. So he asked Pang Tong why he said this. Pang Tong replied that because I need talents today, I am deliberately promoting them.
(Pang Tong stills)
Pang Tong's words are very strange, even if he intends to raise his head, he cannot recommend mediocrity. Obviously, Pang Tong did this in order to get praise from others by praising others. This is also known as "exchanging praise".
For example, Sima Hui, Pang Tong once wade through mountains and rivers, walked more than a thousand miles to meet Sima Hui, and talked with Sima Hui all night. It was after this long conversation that Sima Hui strongly recommended Pang Tong.
Zhuge Liang was obviously in the same way. He interacted with Sima Hui, Pang Degong, and Xu Shu, and "compared himself to Guan Zhong and Le Yi", all of which operated in this way.
But Sima Yi did not need to do so. Because he himself is an official eunuch, the door valve family. If he wants to become an official, it is a very simple thing to be reused. His reputation is already out there, so there is no need to find someone to raise his reputation. All he has to do is choose what master he wants. When he was 22 years old, Cao Cao recruited him, but he did not want to choose a master like Cao Cao and did not go. Later, when he was 29 years old, Cao Cao became a minister, and he still remembered him and was recruited again.
As a noble and pure person, Sima Hui would not take the initiative to recommend a disciple of a door valve like Sima Yi. In that case, it feels like climbing a dragon with a phoenix. Therefore, Sima Yi did not get Sima Hui's recommendation, nor did he get Sima Hui's evaluation.
(Reference: Romance of the Three Kingdoms)