In The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Luo Guanzhong arranged many extraordinary opponents for Zhuge Liang:
Zhou Yu, who is jealous of Xianxian's ability, Cao Cao, who is cunning and suspicious, Sima Yi, who is scheming and calculating...
But when it comes to the most interesting opponent, it is None other than Wang Lang Wang Situ.
Before the two armies fought, they shook their lips and drummed their tongues, and finally failed to persuade them to surrender, but they were scolded by Zhuge Liang to fill their chests with anger and fall under the horse, which is the classic bridge section in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" - "Wuxiang Hou scolded Wang Lang to death".
Since then, the two have sprayed each other in front of each other into a classic bridge section that people talk about, and even many people have watched this "century scolding war" on various online platforms.
A variety of dubbing funny videos emerge in an endless stream, and Wang Situ has become a "modern Internet celebrity" and a "top stream of the Three Kingdoms".
Zhuge Liang's remark that "I have never seen such a brazen person" not only made Wang Lang angry and "shouted and crashed to death under his horse", but also attached the label of "brazen" to him.
In fact, Wang Lang is not written so badly in the novel.
Turning over his life, you will find:
Instead of being the "haoshou pifu and old thief with green hair" who "sneaks up and shrinks his head and tries to eat and clothe", he is a generation of great people and a winner in life.
There is no chaos in times of crisis
The growth path of the eastern Han Dynasty celebrities is roughly the same:
They first studied famous teachers and scriptures, and went to the capital Luoyang to gild the Taixue; after they had a talented name, they were recruited to serve as central or local officials, and they had the outstanding opportunity to become important courtiers of the imperial court.
As Mr. Chen Yinke said: "The high gate at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty must be both a Confucian and a large family. ”
Wang Lang's growth is like this.
Wang Lang was a protégé of Yang Ci, who was born into the famous "Hongnong Yang Clan" and was also ranked as the Third Duke.
With the eminent political endorsement of his teacher, coupled with his own diligent efforts, Wang Lang stepped into his career early.
Therefore, Wang Lang was very grateful to his teacher, and after Yang Ci's death, he was deeply distressed, such as mourning a concubine, taking off his official clothes and changing into linen clothes, determined to keep filial piety for the teacher for three years.
This righteous act made Wang Lang's reputation go away and spread throughout the townships, and he was successively "raised up in filial piety and opened up the gongfu", but he refused one by one because the period of mourning was not yet complete.
It was not until the end of the three-year period that he accepted the recommendation of Xuzhou Thorn Shi Taoqian and did Tao Qian's zhizhong.
At that time, the Han Dynasty was already falling like a mansion, and Emperor Xiandi of Han was also taken hostage from Luoyang to Chang'an by the warlords of Xiliang.
The thieves seized power and the Son of Heaven was displaced, but the princes of all walks of life chose to watch from the sidelines, and no one except Cao Cao helped Emperor Xiandi of Han.
At this moment, Wang Lang stepped forward, and he urged Tao Qian: "The righteousness of spring and autumn, please ask the princes to be like the king of Qin." Today, Ziyue is in Xijing, and it is advisable to send envoys to flatter the king's orders. ”
Tao Qian accepted his suggestion and sent an envoy to Chang'an with him, expressing his firm support for Emperor Xian of Han. When Emperor Xian of Han received the news, he was greatly moved and immediately issued an edict, "Worship General Tao Qian Andong, wang Lang will be too defensive." ”
During Wang Lang's tenure as an auditor, he loved the people and was deeply loved by the local people.
But good days are always short-lived, and Sun Ce, who swept through Jiangdong, quickly set his sights on this piece of fat meat.
At that time, Wang Lang's staff all believed that Sun Ce's power was huge and could fight a good war, and that it was not something that the troops of Huijian County could resist, so they suggested that Wang Lang avoid fighting.
But Wang Lang was a pure Confucian, with the blood of loyalty and patriotism flowing in his bones, especially his position of "will be too defensive" was the emperor's personal order, and he himself died, and he could not abandon the city and flee.
Wang Lang, who was "a Han official, Yibao Chengyi", was not flustered at all, and had already made up his mind to fight Sun Ce to the death.
But Wang Lang was a Confucian after all, and he was an expert in research and learning, but when it came to leading soldiers to fight, he was a layman.
Not long after, Huiji was captured by Sun Ce, and Wang Lang was defeated and captured.
Because Wang Lang himself was very famous, and Sun Cezheng needed such talents at this time, he not only did not harm Wang Lang, but very sincerely persuaded Wang Lang to serve himself.
For Sun Ce's initiative to show favor, Wang Lang was dismissive. Because in his opinion, Sun Ce was attacking the city of Tianzi, which was a great act of rebellion, and as a Han official, how could he join forces with the rebels?
Therefore, he sternly rejected Sun Ce and held on to the dignity of Han Chen.
Wang Lang's deeds of adhering to the festival of his subjects and being mighty and indomitable soon spread throughout the world, and even Cao Cao, who was far away in Xuchang, heard about it.
After Cao Cao heard of Wang Lang's righteous deeds, he went to Emperor Xian of Han to recruit Wang Lang to serve in the imperial court, and it was this edict that gave Wang Lang new hope.
For Sun Ce, Cao Cao's face was to be given, because the other party was very powerful; the face of Emperor Xiandi of Han was also to be given, because the other party was still the co-lord of the world after all.
Anyway, Wang Lang is of no use to himself, so it is better to sell his personal feelings and give him to Cao Cao.
In this way, Wang Lang ignored the danger of war and chaos, and after several years of wandering, he finally came to Xudu and began his new life.
Don't slack off
After Wang Lang came to Emperor Xian's side, it didn't take long to discover that Emperor Xiandi seemed to be protected by Cao Cao, but in fact he was living in Cao Cao's shadow.
Cao Cao was the true master of Xu Du.
Wang Lang felt Cao Cao's ambition, he was not willing to be a pure subject, and his own little loyalty, compared with the ambition of the other party, was simply an egg touching a stone.
The building was about to fall, and he was powerless and helpless. In order to save himself and his family, he can only choose to compromise.
Therefore, the first thing he did when he came to Xudu was to choose to break with his past and go to visit Cao Cao's "dock".
As the saying goes, good birds choose trees to perch, and virtuous people choose the Lord.
To be fair, in that chaotic world, even if you choose to change the court, there is nothing to be harsh about.
And it is worth affirming that Wang Lang is not a villain with two sides and three knives, and in the stable life of the next twenty or thirty years, he has always fulfilled his duty as a subject and has not slackened off for a moment.
After Cao Cao became the Queen of Wei, he made Wang Lang the supreme magistrate of the Wei state of Dali.
In handling cases, Wang Lang adhered to the principle of "forgiveness and leniency in crimes" to try cases, and was known for curing prisons.
Wang Lang has always been worried about the world, and since the princes of all walks of life have raised their armies, it has been more than thirty years, and "the four seas have been overthrown, and all the countries have been ruined."
In view of this situation, he went to Cao Pi to reduce taxes, recuperate, "to help his weakness, to support his lack", and formulated a twenty-year development plan for Cao Wei.
After Cao Pi became emperor, he often went out of the palace to hunt, and sometimes even returned to the palace in the middle of the night. Because Cao Pi was a very vengeful person, many ministers at that time did not dare to speak and advise.
But Wang Lang couldn't look at it anymore, and he went straight to the table and said: "Recently, the car driver came to catch the tiger, traveled day by day, and fainted, violating the common law of the police, not the most prudent. ”
Wang Langke did not give Cao Pi any face, and he bluntly pointed out Cao Pi's problems. After cao pi heard this, he knew that he was wrong, so he promised not to set an example, and from then on he respected Wang Lang even more.
Wang Lang was not only able to regulate Cao Pi's words and deeds on the sidelines, but also offered suggestions and suggestions on state affairs.
In 221 AD, the Battle of Wushu Yiling broke out. Cao Pi ordered his subjects to discuss whether they should take the opportunity to send troops to unite with Wu and destroy Shu.
All the courtiers felt that this plan was feasible, but Wang Lang put forward the strategic principle of "moving at the same time, choosing the land and then moving later", believing that the Wei army should not attack at this time, but should patiently wait until Sun Quan personally marched and could not stand with the Shu army, and then highlighted the key points of the heavy army to attack the Shu army.
Cao Pi adopted Wang Lang's advice and indeed consumed a lot of Wu Shu's troops.
Later, when the Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui ascended the throne, Wang Lang still maintained the style of a courtier, and in the face of Cao Rui's large-scale construction, he bluntly persuaded and did not have reservations, so he was deeply cared for.
Before his death, the official worshiped Situ, ranked third duke; after death, he deserved to enjoy the temple court, and his honor and favor did not fade, and Wang Lang could really be regarded as a winner in life.
Life winners
In fact, rather than politics, Wang Lang prefers to do learning.
He was a learned scholar, not a power-hungry politician.
The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms describes Wang Lang as "Rich in literature and wealth, and sincere in all times of Junweiye." ”
Wang Lang was widely known for his erudition, and the various classics annotated by him were authoritative, and the "Biography of Zhou Yi" composed by him was officially used as a necessary teaching material for students' examinations, and later generations also called the ideas in his annotations "Wang Xue".
His son Wang Su continued his legacy, annotated the Qunjing, synthesized the meaning of the ancient and modern texts, and was the leading figure of "Wang Xue".
Most of the other sons also achieved fame, and the granddaughter Yuan Ji later married Sima Zhao and gave birth to 5 sons and 1 daughter, of which the eldest son Sima Yan was the founding emperor of the Jin Dynasty.
Looking at it this way, Wang Lang is simply the winner of life in the chaotic world.
Moreover, he was also frugal and thrifty, and did not care about the glory and wealth of those who were ethereal.
Cao Pi claimed the title of empress dowager, and when he divided the title of King Langhuyi, he also prepared to make one of his sons the Marquis of Liehou. However, Wang Lang always disagreed and requested that the title be given to his nephew Wang Xiang.
Wang Lang is indifferent to fame and fortune, is willing to be charitable, is a moral model revered by the world, and is praised by Cao Pi as "a generation of great men".
Perhaps it is precisely because of Wang Lang's noble virtue that the Wang family has been favored by the heavens, not only did he himself live to the age of 76, but even his descendants had a good home.
As for the bridge section between Zhuge Liang and Wang Lang in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", it is a figment, in fact, the two have never met. The only conversation between the two of them was that after Liu Bei's death, Wang Lang and other Wei ministers wrote letters to persuade Zhuge Liang to call himself a man.
Zhuge Liang made a "Zhengyi" and published it to the world, indicating a solemn and just position, and carried a whip to the Wei courtiers who proposed surrender to him.
From this point of view, Wang Lang was "scolded" by Zhuge Liang for hundreds of years, and he was really wronged.
As Cao Zhi said: "Wang Situ, virtue is stuffed inside, and wisdom and scheming are on the outside." ”
Wang Lang has always been a conscientious courtier, a highly talented and elegant literati, and a celebrity with both moral integrity and ability.
Although he did not have earth-shattering miracles, his spirit of not being chaotic in times of danger and not slacking off in times of peace deserves our admiration.
Author | Not rainy and xiaoxiao, a storyteller, a swordsman.
Image | Stills from Romance of the Three Kingdoms