During the Three Kingdoms period, the official position of military general basically followed the system of the Eastern Han Dynasty. At that time, the official positions of military generals were from high to low, in order: generals → hussar generals→ cavalry generals→ wei generals→ four generals before and after the left and right→ four generals → four towns generals→ si'an generals→ siping generals→ miscellaneous generals→ partial generals. Among them, the position of General Wei is undoubtedly below the General of the Che Riders. In the Han system, the Che Riding General awarded the Golden Seal Purple Silk, which was second only to the Great General and the Hun Riding General, and above the Wei General and the front, rear, left and right generals, the rank was Shangqing, or bisangong.
As for the Wei general, he was also a golden seal purple silk, a second grade, generally in charge of the forbidden army in the capital, and later opened a mansion (that is, set up a general's mansion) with the general of the Hun Horse and the general of the Car Rider, and placed officials under the command. So, the question is, when Jiang Wei was a Wei general, why could he command the general Xiahou Ba? That is to say, the Ming Dynasty general Xiahou Ba's official rank was higher, so why did he have to be under the command of the Wei general Jiang Wei instead?
One
First of all, the Huayang Guozhi Volume VII records: "In the spring of the eighteenth year, the Wei general Wei Reconsideration went out on a campaign, and the general Zhang Yiting of the Western Expedition was in contention. Xia, leading the general Xiahou Ba and his wing out of Di Dao, broke the Wei Yong Prefecture to assassinate King Shi through Taoxi, and died tens of thousands of people. In the summer of the eighteenth year of Yanxi (255), the Wei general Jiang Wei led the cavalry general Xiahou Ba, the general Zhang Yi of Zhengxi, and other troops out of Di Dao, and in Taoxi, they broke the Wei state of Yongzhou to stab Wang Jing, and Wang Jing died and wounded tens of thousands, and retired to Di DaoCheng.
In the Battle of Taoxi, it is more reasonable for the Wei general Jiang Wei to command the general Zhang Yi of the Western Expedition, after all, the general of the Western Expedition belongs to the "General of the Four Expeditions", and there is also a "General of the Four Directions" between him and the General of wei. However, as far as Xiahou Ba was concerned, because he served as a che riding general, he ranked above the Wei general Jiang Wei, but instead had to be under the command of Jiang Wei. The reasons for this are mainly divided into the following points. On the one hand, this is because Xiahou Ba's identity is relatively special. As far as Xiahou Ba was concerned, it was originally the Cao Wei Sect Chamber.
Two
However, after the Gaopingling Rebellion, Sima Yi's Sima clan usurped cao Wei's power. In order to avoid being harmed by Sima Yi, Xiahou Ba betrayed Cao Wei and surrendered to Shu Han. At the same time, because of the relationship between Xiahou Ba and Zhang Fei, the latter married Xiahou Shi, and two daughters of Xiahou Clan married Liu Chan as empress. In addition, out of the need to encircle the Generals of the State of Wei, Liu Chan, the lord of the Shu Han Dynasty, directly promoted Xiahou Ba to the rank of General of cheqi. Before Xiahou Ba, Zhang Fei had been awarded the title of Cheqi General by Liu Bei, but Zhang Fei's Cheqi General was obtained by virtue of years of military achievements.
Correspondingly, Xiahou Ba, without making any contribution to Shu Han, was promoted to the rank of general of the Che Riders, which was obviously difficult to convince the public. Therefore, if Xiahou Ba's command of Jiang Wei was allowed, not only would Jiang Wei not be convinced, but the soldiers under him would naturally not be convinced. Further, even if Liu Chan, the lord of the Shu Han Dynasty, arranged this way, Xiahou Ba obviously could not command Jiang Wei.
Three
For Jiang Wei, in 255 AD, he became the first general of the Shu Han Dynasty. At that time, not only did Zhuge Liang die for many years, but also Jiang Huan, Fei Yi and others left behind by Zhuge Liang also died. Therefore, although Jiang Wei was also a subordinate general of the State of Wei, because he had been rooted in the Shu Han Dynasty for many years, Jiang Wei's position was undoubtedly deeply rooted. On the other hand, the reason why the Wei general Jiang Wei commanded the general Xiahou Ba, is likely to be related to a part-time job of Jiang Wei.
Chen Shou recorded in the "Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Jiang Wei Biography": "Next year, the Chinese and foreign military forces will be supervised. Returning to Longxi, Li Jian, the commander of the Shoudi Dao, raised the city to surrender. In 254 AD, Jiang Wei was granted the power of "supervising Chinese and foreign military affairs" by Liu Chan, the lord of the Shu Han Dynasty. "Supervising the Chinese and foreign military forces" means managing the actual official positions of the Su Wei army in the capital and some of the elite troops stationed in the capital. Therefore, if the Cheqi general Xiahou Ba happened to be near the capital, the Wei general Jiang Wei could command the former because of his power to "supervise Chinese and foreign militaries".
Four
Finally, during the Three Kingdoms period, in addition to Jiang Wei, Cao Wei also had people who "supervised Chinese and foreign militaries". According to the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Huang Chu returned to Kyoto in the third year, with (Cao) Zhen as the general of the Shang army, supervising all Chinese and foreign militaries. According to the Book of Jin, (Sima Zhao) went to Luoyang, took the throne of the great general Jia Shizhong, supervised the Chinese and foreign armies, recorded Shang Shushi, assisted the government, and went to the temple with swords. Therefore, for the Chinese and foreign military governors, because they mastered the elite troops of the capital, they could be said to be high and powerful, that is, Cao Zhen, Sima Zhao, and others of Cao Wei also held similar official positions.
In the spring of the nineteenth year of Yanxi (256), because of his military merits in the Battle of Taoxi, the Wei general Jiang Wei was promoted to general by Liu Chan, the lord of the Shu Han Dynasty. And this undoubtedly officially clarified the status of jiang Weishu Han's first general. From then on, as a great general of the Shu Han Dynasty, Jiang Wei could naturally command all the military generals of the Shu Han Dynasty. However, even so, Jiang Wei was still unable to save Shu Han. In 263 AD, in the Battle of Wei and Shu, Jiang Wei was unable to return to heaven, and Shu Han was officially destroyed.