Why couldn't Wu Qian, one of Cao Pi's four friends, become a great general

In the process of being made crown prince, Cao Pi received the help of many ministers, four of whom had more contact with him, and were known as Cao Pi's "four friends", namely Sima Yi, Chen Qun, Wu Qian, and Zhu Shuo. However, the fame of these four people in the Three Kingdoms period was very different. Sima Yi need not say more, he was not only the pillar of the late Wei dynasty, but also the de facto founder of the Western Jin Dynasty; Chen Qun was also appointed as a general of the Zhen army during the reign of Emperor Wen of Wei, one of the four great generals of the Cao Pi and Cao Rui periods, and enjoyed the right to open an independent government. However, the other two did not have such glory, compared to the first two, their fame was much smaller, especially that Zhu Shuo, who did not even leave a biography. To say that this Wu Qian, although there are also the rights and treatment of "General Zhenwei, the false festival capital oversees the military forces of Hebei, and the Marquis of Liehou", many people really do not know what kind of person this Wu Qian is! When it comes to helping Cao Pi to be made crown prince, the most contributed is to count this Wu Quality. And because Cao Pi was a literati, Wu Qian was also known for his "talent and knowledge", so he had more contacts with Cao Pi, but why was Wu Pi not very famous, and his military rank did not reach the level of a great general?

(Wu Qian's picture comes from the Internet)

Let's first look at two specific things that Wu Zhi did for Cao Pi to be made crown prince:

When Cao Cao planned to choose a crown prince, the Ding brothers tried their best to say good things about Cao Zhi in front of Cao Cao, and Yang Xiu directly sent a message and a plan to Cao Zhi, and Cao Cao was almost about to make Cao Zhi the prince. Cao Pi was very anxious, so he used a cart loaded with discarded bamboo baskets to pull Wu Qian to the palace for consultation. This matter let Yang Xiu know, so he reported it to Cao Cao, but Cao Cao had not yet had time to interrogate and verify. Cao Pi was very frightened and told Wu Qian. Wu Said, "What's so scary about this?" Tomorrow, if you continue to use bamboo baskets and cloth silks to pull into the palace to confuse them, Yang Xiu will inevitably report them again, and the King of Wei will inevitably send someone to interrogate and verify, and if the results cannot be verified, then he will be punished for framing him. Cao Pi did it according to this method, and Yang Xiu was really deceived.

Cao Cao once wanted to lead an army out on a campaign, and Cao Pi and Cao Zhi were sent outside the city together, and the father and son had to say a few words before leaving. Cao Zhi said that Cao Cao's merits were exported into a chapter, which made the group admire it, and Cao Cao was also very happy. Cao Pi was stunned, knowing that he was inferior to Cao Zhi in this regard. Wu Zhi said to him: "The king is about to go on the road, and he will shed tears (no need to speak)." When it was time to separate, Cao Pi cried and knelt down, and Cao Cao and his left and right were all sighing. Therefore, everyone thinks that Cao Zhi's words are flashy and unrealistic, and they are not as sincere as Cao Pi's heart. That is to say, Cao Pi got extra points emotionally.

Through these two events, it can be seen that most of the other old ministers said good things to Cao Pi, and Wu Qian's advice was equivalent to doing specific things for Cao Pi, that is, he was directly a member of Cao Pi's small group. So, why is Wu Qian as famous as Sima Yi Chen Qun? There should be some reasons for this:

Not by birth

Wu Zhizi Jizhong, a native of Jiyin County, Yanzhou (present-day northwest of Dingtao District, Heze City, Shandong), came from a poor background until he became an official, "the country is still not known as a scholar", that is, he is not treated as a celebrity. This is different from Sima Yi and Chen Qun, Who were all high-ranking officials in the previous four generations, while Chen Qun's grandfather was Taishou and his father was Dahongxu, and such a background was incomparable to That of Wu Qian. Maybe our people today will disagree, but the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period paid attention to this, needless to say that it was a civilian official, that is, how many people from poor backgrounds did the military generals have?

Qualifications are not enough

Lacking a prominent family background, Wu Waslele had to start from the bottom and was first appointed as the governor of Chaoge County, and later as the Commander of Yuancheng County. By the time Cao Pi became emperor, Wu Zhicai was appointed as the general of Northern Zhonglang, and later promoted to a Zhenwei general, fenghou. That is to say, Wu Qian's official position during the Cao Cao period was low, which was different from Sima Yi and Chen Qun, who both had high official positions during the Cao Cao period, and while accumulating political achievements, they also accumulated popularity. The official field of feudal society is a place that pays attention to seniority, in the case of everyone has a background, seniority will become a very important factor, when so many meritorious and capable ministers are still there during The Cao Cao period, Cao Pi even if he attaches more importance to his Wu quality, if he wants to be promoted, he has to wait until there is a vacancy in the official position. Moreover, there were still many people who helped Cao Pi succeed to the throne, not just the four of them. Therefore, Cao Pi could attach great importance to Wu Qian and give him the privilege of "false festivals, overseeing the military forces of Hebei", but there was no way to give him a larger general position. Above General Zhenwei, there are also General Zheng and General Zhen, who are still far from the Great General! Feudal society is also an official-based society, with low official positions and a lower natural reputation. And because Cao Pi had only been emperor for seven years, this Wu official position had not been very high. During the reign of Emperor Ming of Wei, Wu Zhi had a hard time becoming a servant, but he died again in this year.

Not for people

Wu Qian cannot become a high-ranking official, and there are personal reasons for his personality, that is, he is not good at being a person. When he was young, Wu Zhi specialized in courting the powerful, but did not make friends with the people of this county, which is why the people of this county did not forgive him. When Cao Pi became emperor, Wu Zhi took advantage of the emperor's favor, and he was even more flying and empty-eyed, and even Cao Zhen's relatives of the Cao clan dared to tease him. The "Biography of Quality" records that in the fifth year of the Huang Dynasty (224 AD), Wu Qian entered the capital for a pilgrimage, and the Wei Emperor Cao Pi sent the generals and generals below the special jin to hold a banquet at Wu Qian's residence, in order to bring Wu Qian and the generals closer together. When he was happy to drink, Wu Tian called up some haiyou (people who played burlesque) to perform the show, specifically saying that people are fat and thin. At that time, Cao Zhen was very fat, while the leader of the central group, Zhu Shuo, was very thin, and Wu Qian's doing so was undoubtedly a humiliation to the two. Cao Zhen, as a royal nobleman, felt humiliated and very angry, and said to Wu Zhen, "Do you want to meet me as a soldier?" The Hussar general Cao Hong and the light vehicle general Wang Zhong were also criticizing Wu Qian. Cao Zhen was even more angry and said, "This Hai You dares to get out easily, and I will kill you." Then he scolded at the seat. The incident was originally caused by Wu Zhen, but this Wu Zhen not only did not admit his mistake and apologize, but was even more arrogant, he held the sword and said to Cao Zhen: "Cao Zhen, you are just a piece of meat on the board, I swallow you do not have to shake your throat, chew you do not have to shake your teeth, what force do you rely on to dare to be so arrogant?" "Obviously he is arrogant, but he says that others are arrogant. At this time, Zhu Shuo quickly came out to beat the round field and said, "The emperor let us come to make you happy and happy, how could it be like this!" Instead of understanding Zhu Shuo's kindness, Wu Shouted at Zhu Shuo: "Zhu Shuo, you dare to destroy the seat!" Zhu Shuo was even more angry and drew his sword and slashed it on the ground. The feast ended in such an atmosphere.

Cao Zhen was Cao Cao's nephew and was adopted by Cao Cao from an early age, allowing him to live with Cao Pi. Still during the cao cao period, Cao Zhen took the place of the fallen Xiahou Yuan in the northwest as a general of the Shu Dynasty. Such a person Wu Qian dared to tease, who else could he put in his eyes?

Together with Chen Qun, who was one of the four friends, Wu Qian also moved in front of the emperor and deliberately demeaned. In the fourth year of Taihe (230 AD), Wu Zhi was appointed as a servant, at this time Chen Qunlu Shangshushi. Wu Zhi said in front of the emperor that Sima Yi was a minister of sheji, and Chen Qun, who took on a heavy responsibility, did not personally experience it, and was not the material for the country. Emperor Wei Ming really believed what he said. When the emperor appoints officials, he must always consider the emotions of the surrounding ministers, otherwise, he has appointed an official, causing a tear in the official field, and who would do such a stupid thing in general?! It was precisely because in Wu Qian's eyes there was no one who could compare with him, so after his death, he was characterized as "Arrogant and Wanton", and the nickname "Ugly Hou". Later, after his son Wu Ying wrote several times, he changed it to "Wei Hou".

It seems that this Wu quality reputation is not too big, the key is that there is a problem in terms of being a person. Or rather, with so many "no's" and dying early, it is no wonder that he did not become a great general.