Chen Tai of the Three Kingdoms Liang general series (Part 2)
Cooking wine on heroes, but also about the characters of the Three Kingdoms.
In February of the fifth year of Jiaping (253), Zhuge Ke, the Eastern Wu emperor who had won a victory at the Battle of Dongxing, once again launched a major attack on Wei. In May, The Shu Han Jiang Wei led an army out of Wudu and attacked the Wei state of Nan'an Commandery from Shiying via Dongting, echoing the Eastern Wu offensive. Chen Tai led his troops to the rescue, and when the march reached Luomen, Jiang Wei had already retreated due to poor grain and grass, and the two sides did not engage in direct confrontation.
In the first month of the second year of Zhengyuan (255), the Wei general Guo Huai died, and Chen Tai succeeded him as the general of Zhengxi, taking over the military forces of Yong and Liang, and becoming the supreme military commander of the western region of the Wei state. Shortly after Guo Huai's death, Sima Shi, the de facto ruler of the State of Wei, also died of an eye disease. The news reached shu han, and Jiang Wei made careful preparations and went north again in July.
Yongzhou Assassin Wang Jing hurriedly reported to Chen Tai, and the intelligence showed that Jiang Wei and Xiahou Ba planned to march on Qishan, Shiying, and Jincheng in three separate routes. Wang Jing suggested that he march his troops to the wing, let Liangzhou send reinforcements to Yuhan, and then let the Shu protectors go to Qishan and attack the Shu army on three sides.
After analysis, Chen Tai believed that the Shu Han forces were not enough to attack in three ways, it was unlikely to disperse the troops, and the Liangzhou army was not suitable to cross the border to Yongzhou, so he replied to Wang Jing: "Continue to observe the movements of the Shu army, grasp the exact information, and wait for my reinforcements to arrive before attacking." Jiang Wei did not divide the troops, before it was just a suspicious plan to spread false news, shu Han tens of thousands of troops appeared in Fenghan, with the intention of attacking Di Dao. Chen Tai ordered Wang Jing to garrison Di Dao City and wait for reinforcements, and then set off for Chen Cang.
As a result, during the period when the order was passed, Wang Jing of Yongzhou had engaged the Shu Han army, and the initial battle was lost, and retreated to the east bank of the Tao River. Chen Tai learned that Wang Jing did not enter Di Dao City at the first time, and expected that the situation would change, so he quickly led a large army to rescue him. However, during this period, Wang Jing was defeated by Jiang Wei again, and retreated into Di Dao with more than 10,000 soldiers, while more soldiers scattered and fled. Although Wang Jing eventually entered Di Dao, he did not take the initiative to enter but passively fled in, and Jiang Wei followed closely behind and surrounded the city.
The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms of Jiang Wei records that Fu and the che general Xiahou Ba, among others, went out of the Di Dao, and broke the Wei Yong Prefecture Assassin Shi Wang Jing in Taoxi, and tens of thousands of people died. After the surrender of Didao City, Wei Weizhi. Wei Zhengxi's general Chen Tai entered the army to break the siege, but Wei stayed in zhongti.
Knowing that Wang Jing had lost two consecutive battles, Chen Tai stepped up his march day and night, and at the same time divided his troops to guard the dangerous points. Deng Ai and Wang Bi, who were sent by the imperial court, also led reinforcements to arrive, and the three reinforcements rushed to Longxi together. Chen Tai summoned the generals to discuss countermeasures.
General Deng Ai of Anxi said: "Wang Jing's consecutive defeats have greatly boosted the morale of the Shu army, and the general and your troops have just gathered the defeated army, morale is low, and the people of Longyou are panicked. The ancients once said, 'The viper stings its hands, and the strong man unties his wrists.' The 'Sun Tzu' soldiers did not attack, and the ground did not defend. It is about sacrificing part of the overall situation when necessary, and sometimes it is necessary to decisively give up some interests. Now the situation on the Right of the Dragon is more dangerous than that of a poisonous snake; this place of Di Dao is no longer just a matter of imminent loss. Jiang Weibingfeng is indeed difficult to resist, it is better for the brave man to break his wrist, to retreat into the advance, first stabilize the defense and then consider the long term. ”
Chen Tai disagreed, saying, "Jiang Wei is lightly armed and goes deep into my territory, and he must hope for a quick battle and a quick decision." Originally, if Wang Jing had entered Didao City earlier, there was a high wall and deep fortress cover, which could consume the vigor of the Shu army. Who knew that Wang Jing sent troops to fight without authorization, and jiang Wei was in the middle of his arms, so he had to retreat to Di Dao as a defeated army. However, if Jiang Wei immediately marched east to obtain the granary of Liyang, and then used this to recruit pawns and recruit Qiang Hu, and crossed Di Dao City and directly marched into Guanzhong, I was afraid that the counties of Longyou would be in danger of being rumored, and this was what I was most worried about. But Jiang Wei did not do this, wasting the morale of the army in attacking a lonely city, then the morale would soon be consumed. Besides, they didn't have enough equipment needed to attack the city, and they didn't have enough grain and grass, so how could they quickly take down Didao? ”
Chen Tai continued: "The Shu army's expedition was outside and the grain and grass were not good, and it was precisely the reversal of the offensive and defensive momentum, and when our army broke through the enemy army, not only could it not withdraw, but on the contrary, it counterattacked with a rapid and thunderous momentum. The Tao River is outside, Jiang Wei is inside, and now is the time for us to surround the Shu army. We only need to occupy the commanding heights of the periphery, and the Shu army will surely go without a fight. The enemy cannot be indulged, nor can the encirclement be sustained, so how can everyone say things like broken wrists and not keeping them? ”
"Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Biography of Chen Tai" says: The county army is far away from overseas Chinese, the grain and grain are not continued, it is also the time when I quickly enter the thief, and the so-called lightning cannot hide my ears... Now take advantage of the high position, approach its collar, and go without a fight. Kou can't be indulged, the siege can't be long, what do you say? ”
After Chen Tai criticized Deng Ai and clarified his determination to march, he immediately led his troops to quietly pass through Gaocheng Ridge in Longxi County, and took advantage of the cover of night to climb the high mountain southeast of Didao City, so that the Wei soldiers would raise more torches and drums and trumpets in unison, so that the Wei army inside Di Dao City and the Shu army outside the city would know that Wei reinforcements had arrived. The morale of the defenders inside the city was greatly boosted, and the Shu army outside the city was shaken. Jiang Wei originally thought that the Wei reinforcements needed time to assemble, it was impossible to arrive so quickly, and several sieges failed, and their morale fell back. Jiang Wei did not dare to fight and quickly retreated.
Chen Tai did not rush to catch up, considering that the mountain road was difficult and easy to ambush, so he waited for three full days and made full preparations before going south to counterattack. Chen Tai led his army to detour from another road, only to encounter Jiang Wei at the southern mountain pass. Jiang Wei's attention was on the path he had taken, so it was equivalent to the failure of the ambush, and the two sides fought an encounter. The result, naturally, was that Chen Taijun, who was in high morale, won, and Jiang Wei retreated again.
At this time, reinforcements from Liangzhou had also arrived nearby, so Chen Tai sent people to Di Dao and Wang Jing to agree on two ways to attack the Shu army. Jiang Wei received the news and knew that the general trend had gone, so he led his army to withdraw to Shudi. Under the command of Chen Tai, the Wei army finally rescued Di Dao, and the besieged soldiers could finally leave the city.
Wang Jing, who was almost defeated by a light enemy, pleaded with Chen Tai: "There are less than ten days of grain left in the city, and if it were not for the generals coming to the rescue, the whole city would have suffered, and the entire Yongzhou would have been almost lost. Chen Tai did not punish Wang Jing, but comforted the generals, ordered each department to return to the local area to strictly garrison, and then returned to Shangyi to continue to garrison.
It is mentioned above that Chen Tai had refuted and even criticized Deng Ai at the military conference, because when Didao City was in danger, Deng Ai suggested abandoning Di Dao and retreating to the periphery. From the result, Chen Tai of course won the victory, but at that time, Deng Ai's opinion was not only in the military, but also in the imperial court, which was more secure after all.
When Chen Tai learned that Wang Jing was surrounded by Jiang Wei, he believed that the Yongzhou generals were united from top to bottom, and with the strong defense of Di Dao City, Jiang Wei could not quickly break through, so while repairing the book to the imperial court, he rushed to the rescue. When the news reached the imperial court, the courtiers expressed that they must gather a large army to support Yongzhou, otherwise Liangzhou was in danger of being cut off by Jiang Wei.
The general Sima Zhao, who was actually in power, was very calm and analyzed: "In the past, Zhuge Liang had the goal of capturing Liangzhou, but he never succeeded. With such a long-term strategy, Jiang Wei is even more incompetent. Although the defense of Di Dao City was strong, Jiang Weiliang was so he was bound to attack fiercely, and the general Chen Tai of Zhengxi chose to rescue quickly, which was very correct. ”
Later, Sima Zhao once commented on Chen Tai: "Chen Xuanbo is calm, brave, and decisive, and as a general who is on his own, he can rescue the city that is about to be lost, that is, he does not ask the imperial court to increase troops, and he can report the news concisely and concisely, so I know at a glance that Chen Tai will be able to win." Admiral, that's how it should be! ”
The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and the Biography of Chen Tai (陈泰傳) says: "Sima Wen Wang's words Xun Yan said: "Xuan Bo Shen Yong can break, the weight of the Hefang Bo, save the city that will fall, and do not seek benefits from the soldiers, and hope that if he is simple, he will be able to do the thief's death." Admiral, don't be evil! ”
It can be seen how much Sima Zhao appreciates and trusts Chen Tai. However, what is touching is that this time Chen Tai took a detour to rescue Di Dao, and Deng Aiqiu' opinion as a subordinate was not adopted. I don't know if Deng Ai was inspired by his old leader Chen Tai, so that Deng Ai's military activities later played even bigger, not only forcing Jiang Wei to retreat, but also directly destroying Shu Han. Of course this is another story, and we will leave another chapter about Deng Ai.
In the first year of Ganlu (256), Sima Zhaojia was the governor of dadu, playing an unnamed and fake Huang Yu. Although there is no way to increase the actual power, this kind of ceremonial advancement is a ladder for the Sima family to represent Wei.
Every time the emperor's throne took a step forward, there would be fluctuations within the imperial court, because specific to everyone, although they knew the fact that the Sima family was in power, the degree of acceptance and the bottom line were different. In order to consolidate the situation in the imperial court, Sima Zhao made some personnel adjustments, in which Chen Tai was transferred back to the imperial court to serve as The Right Servant of Shangshu, responsible for the selection of officials, and adding the title of Guanglu Grand Master. The position of being in charge of personnel was naturally very important, and it can be seen that Sima Zhao did regard Chen Tai as a close confidant.
However, Chen Tai did not spend a few days in the imperial court, because Eastern Wu was looking for trouble again. The Eastern Wu general Sun Jun gathered his army south of the Huai River and posed as if he were about to launch a major attack. Therefore, Sima Zhao made Chen Tai the general of the Zhen Army, falsely supervised the Huaibei military forces, and at the same time ordered that all the supervising troops in Xuzhou and below should obey Chen Tai's dispatches.
Here is a digression, speaking of the general of the town army, can you think of another person? What I want to say is Zhao Yun. In the previous series of articles, Zhao Yun's position in Shu Han was discussed in detail, but many friends still did not understand it. Among them, the meaning of the town army general has been briefly introduced by the author, and the name of the general is by no means a simple "heavy general" and "miscellaneous general", such as the town army general, whose status is very high. Chen Tai is an example, and his father, Chen Qun, is another. This topic has been discussed before, and it will not be expanded here.
It is said that Sun Jun intended to cut down Wei, but as a result, he fell ill and died before he left the school. Eastern Wu and Wei came to an end, but another major war in the Huaiyang region was brewing.
It turned out that it was no one else who instigated Sun Jun to attack Wei, but Wen Qin, one of the protagonists of the second rebellion in the "Three Rebellions in Huainan", who actively acted as a leading party after fleeing to Eastern Wu and never forgot to counterattack the State of Wei. At this time, Zhuge Shi, the military commander of the Wei state of Yangzhou, was also eager to move.
In the second year of Ganlu (257), Zhuge Zhi raised an army against Sima Zhao in Shouchun and sent out reinforcements from Eastern Wu, which was quite popular. Sima Zhao personally led the army to meet the battle, and all the troops gathered at Qiutou, while Chen Tai was responsible for the administration of the army as a whole.
Sima Shi and Sima Zhao's brothers all had a good personal relationship with Chen Tai, and Sima Zhao especially liked to discuss and evaluate characters with Si Li Colonel Wu Qi, and one day Sima Zhao discussed Chen Tai with Wu Qi, and Sima Zhao asked: "How is Chen Tai compared to his father, Sikong Chen Qun?" Wu Qi replied, "Chen Tai is certainly inferior to Chen Qun who is well versed in classics, knowledgeable, and has the mission of educating the world; Chen Tai is certainly inferior to Chen Qun; he is strictly disciplined, concise and capable, and has made meritorious achievements in the military, while Chen Tai surpasses Chen Qun." "This assessment is still very objective.
Later, Chen Tai returned to the dynasty and increased the number of fiefs to 2,600 households, and one of the descendants was given the title of Marquis of Ting, and two were made marquis of Guannei, and the family was prominent for a while.
On the seventh day of the fifth month of the fifth year of Ganlu (June 260), the Wei emperor Cao Xian ,because he was dissatisfied with Sima Zhao's dictatorship and "rebelled", took his bodyguards and servants out of the palace to fight Sima Zhao, and was killed by the central protector Jia Chong,who ordered the crown prince To ren Chengji to kill.
Blatantly killing the emperor was a major crime against heaven in feudal society, and Sima Zhao quickly summoned his courtiers to discuss countermeasures. Everyone arrived, but they didn't see Chen Tai. Sima Zhao then asked Chen Tai's uncle Xun Yan to call him. Chen Tai said, "The world says that I am inferior to my uncle, and now my uncle is not as good as me." If Chen Tai did not show his face in this incident, the clan might be implicated, so the children of the family asked Chen Tai to go to the court, and Chen Tai could only cry and go to the court.
When Sima Zhao saw Chen Tai, he quickly invited him to the side room, and only after retreating from the crowd did he ask, "Uncle Xuan, you should help me think of a way." Chen Tai replied, "Kill Jia Chong to thank the world." Of course, Sima Zhao was reluctant to give up Jia Chong, so he asked if there was any other way, and Chen Tai insisted. For the death of Cao Xian, Chen Tai was so devastated that he vomited blood and died soon after.
It is worth noting that the above content is from Gan Bao's "Jin Ji" and Sun Sheng's "Wei's Spring and Autumn", and the details are different, complementing each other to form the above text, but Chen Tai's biography does not have any records.
Pei Songzhi pointed out the errors in the two historical materials when he made a note, and even bluntly criticized Sun Sheng for adding oil and vinegar according to Gan Bao's records and tampering with historical facts according to personal preferences. Words are victorious and contrary to the truth, and the gentleman does not take it, and the situation is invincible and vain? ”
This means that the dialogue of the characters in the historical materials must be ensured that the person concerned has indeed said it. Too much embellishment will go against the facts, not the work of a gentleman, as for the low level of modification, the text that can be seen through at a glance is just "vain and vain". Pei Songzhi cited another historical source to counter The act of Adding Oil and Vinegar and Fabricating Historical Materials by Gan Bao and Sun Sheng.
The "Chronicle of the Case Museum" records: Taiqiu ChangChen Yi, Yi Zi Hongxu Ji, Ji Zi Sikong Qun, Qun Zi Tai IV, Yu Han and Wei Ii Dynasties and had the same name, and his virtue gradually decreased. Shiren said for him: "Gong Ku Qing, Qing Shu Chang." ”
It means that the four generations of the Chen family were famous in the Han and Wei dynasties, but the virtue decreased from generation to generation. "Gong Kuo Qing, Qing Kuo Chang" refers to Chen Qun and Chen Tai to the third duke, but it is not as good as Chen Ji who only achieves jiuqing, and Chen Ji is not as good as Chen Ji who only does the county governor. At that time, the social evaluation of the four generations of officials in the Chen family was getting bigger and bigger, and the virtuous generation was not as good as the next generation.
Some people may say that Pei Songzhi's reference to the "Case Museum" to demean Chen Tai is only a family statement, which does not mean that the records of Gan Bao's "Jin Ji" and Sun Sheng's "Wei Shi Chunqiu" must be false. The author's personal views tend to agree with Pei Songzhi. The reason is simple, writing history books usually boast about the characters to be written, especially this biography often uses a method of avoidance of negative events. If Chen Tai vomited blood and died because of his loyalty to Cao Xian, this was the most commendable performance of loyalty, even if Chen Shou did not dare to make a big deal of it because of the times, he would never say nothing.
What's more, even if Wang Ling, Yiqiu Jian, Zhuge Shi, and Zhong Hui were the four generals who rebelled against the Sima family, Chen Shou still did not hesitate to praise at the end of his biography: "Wang Ling's style is graceful, Yuqiu Jiancai is able to pull out the work, Zhuge Zhi is strict and powerful, and Zhong Hui is refining his strategy", adding Chen Tai to die because of loyalty to the king, it is absolutely necessary to write a record. However, the actual situation is that the Romance of the Three Kingdoms does not mention anything.
In fact, most of the dialogues of the characters in the history books are processed and sorted out by historians based on the collected data, and it is difficult to have the opportunity to restore the original words at that time. And Sun Sheng has made a big embellishment on the basis of the already erroneous dry treasure, which further reduces the credibility. On the contrary, the text cited by Pei Songzhi is a social evaluation of the four generations of the Chen family, which is not an evaluation of specific behaviors, but a summary of the performance of the four generations in the past hundred years, especially the summary of the recent generation of Chen Tai. Character dialogue can be modified or even fabricated, but social evaluation cannot be formed by a single person alone. "Virtue is not worthy" can be said to be the mainstream view of Chen Tai in Jin Dynasty society.
Unfortunately, however, Chen Tai insisted on executing Jia Chong, and the section holding the dead Cao Xian and crying bitterly was too vivid and too deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, so that Pei Songzhi's original intention of including it in the annotations was forgotten by many people. Too many articles cite this account, ignoring Pei Song's real purpose in denying it.
The author believes that from Chen Tai's experience of always being loyal to the Sima family, especially being regarded as a confidant by Sima Zhao, it is impossible for Chen Tai to be unclear about Sima Zhao's heart. Therefore, to say that Chen Tai was devastated by the death of Cao Xian, the author does not believe it. Although Sima Zhao was morally negatively affected, his power was not shaken in the slightest, and the sun still rose as usual. Therefore, Chen Tai's death is more of a coincidence, after all, he is also sixty years old, and he is already a high lifespan.
Generally speaking, Chen Tai was very powerful in terms of talent, and in the entire Cao Wei camp, he was one of the few second-generation famous generals with foreign surnames, Guo Huai on the top and Deng Ai on the lower Qi, and was a commander-level general who was the only one on the western front of the Wei state. Maintaining an advantage in the confrontation with Jiang Wei, he has a fairly good record. However, Chen Tai's popularity is far less than that of Guo Huai and Deng Ai, and the author believes that a large part of the reason comes from the social evaluation of "Gong Ku Qing, Qing Ku Chang". Unlike today's over-interpretation of the ancients, the evaluation of history by ancient societies will remain stable over a period of time. Although Chen Tai's real virtue is not necessarily worse than guo huai and Deng Ai, once the social wind evaluation is formed, it will be difficult to overturn the case.
Chen Tai's story is over for you, and the next issue will usher in the last famous general of the Cao Wei camp in the series of articles, Deng Ai. If you are interested, please click to pay attention to it, your support is my biggest motivation for continuous updates, thank you!