The Three Kingdoms era is a group of heroes, mentioning the famous generals of the Shu Han dynasty in the Three Kingdoms, everyone is familiar with the Five Tigers, but there is also a general named Wei Yan in the Shu Kingdom, Wei Yan's reputation is not as good as Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Ma Chao, Huang Zhong, the Five Tiger Generals, but Wei Yan is a general who fully assisted Zhuge Liang in the Northern Expedition after Liu Guanzhang's death, and in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Luo Guanzhong described Wei Yan as a person with anti-bones in the back of his head, so many people think that Wei Yan was killed because he was born anti-bone, but this is not the case in the history, so why did Zhuge Liang decide to kill Wei Yan? The reasons for this are intriguing!
Wei Yan (魏延), a native of the Yiyang Ping clan. In the sixteenth year of Jian'an (211), Liu Bei agreed to Liu Zhang's invitation to enter the Shuzhong Campaign, and Wei Yan was a deputy general. Liu Bei attacked Hanzhong, promoted him to the rank of General of Zhenyuan and Taishou of Hanzhong, and became a general on the one hand, guarding Hanzhong for ten years. After Liu Bei ascended the throne, he was the general of Bai Zhenbei. Along with Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition, Bai Liang Prefecture Assassin History, Fengdu Tinghou, and Fei Yao and Guo Huai in Yangxi. However, although Wei Yan was brave and good at war, he had a lonely and arrogant personality, and he was at odds with The Long Shi Yang Yi, which also buried the opportunity for future killing.
While Zhuge Liang was still alive, Wei Yan was a shining general of the Shu Kingdom and a military genius, but many of his suggestions were too risky to be adopted by Zhuge Liang. Although Zhuge Liang was using Wei Yan's talents, he was also vigilant and defensive against Wei Yan, and it can be said that Zhuge Liang was also jealous of Wei Yan. If it was determined that Wei Yan would betray him in the future, why didn't he kill him in the first place? So as not to breed tigers? It can be seen that Wei Yan is a usable talent, and the innate anti-bone is only an excuse to kill Wei Yan; as for why Zhuge Liang decided to kill Wei Yan in the future? It can be summed up in four words, that is, "Gong Gao Gai Lord"!
In the twelfth year of Jianxing (234 AD), Zhuge Liang's Fifth Northern Expedition, Wei Yan was appointed as a forward. In the autumn of the same year, Zhuge Liang's illness worsened, and Zhuge Liang knew that after his death, the greatest contribution in the imperial court was Wei Yan, and once he died, no one would be able to control Wei Yan; so When Zhuge Liang learned that his time was running out, he secretly summoned Yang Yi, Jiang Wei, and Fei Yu to discuss, and explained that after his death, he would not go north, and all the people would return to the Shu kingdom, and asked Wei Yan to cut off the queen.
Wei Yan was also a high-ranking member of the Shu Han Dynasty at that time, and he was a core figure, but Zhuge Liang's important meeting before his death was not even called him, which was obviously deliberately done by Zhuge Liang. Because Wei Yan's merits were too great, and he was arrogant, if he did not die, I am afraid that no one in Shu Han could control him, even if Wei Yan did not have a reaction, Zhuge Liang would not let him live. Zhuge Liang knew that Wei Yan and Yang Yi were incompatible, and would not listen to Yang Yi and others, plus Wei Yan had always advocated cutting Wei, and then he would definitely clash with Yang Yi, who had appointed the class teacher to return to the dynasty. In the end, Wei Yan was indeed executed for violating military orders and was given the name of rebellion. Finally, Zhuge Liang dug a good pit!