Liu Yan (?) –194), courtesy name Junlang (also known as Junlang in the Huayang Guozhi), was a native of Jingling County, Jiangxia County (around present-day Tianmen, Hubei Province). At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, after Liu Yu, the Prince of Lugong, the Western Han Dynasty. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liu Yanchu, as the patriarch of the Han Dynasty, worshiped as a zhonglang, and successively held official positions such as Luoyang Ling, Jizhou Assassin History, Nanyang Taishou, Zongzheng, and Taichang. Due to the great chaos in the world at that time, Liu Yan wanted to obtain a place to settle down and divide one side, so he asked the imperial court to be the pastor of Yizhou and the Marquis of Fengyang. After Liu Yan entered Yizhou, he sent Zhang Lu to occupy Hanzhong, and Zhang Lu cut off traffic and beheaded the envoys of the Han Dynasty, and from then on, the road between Yizhou and the Eastern Han court was impassable. On this basis, Yizhou Mu Liu Yan was able to divide Yizhou.
In the first year of Xingping (194), Liu Yan died of illness due to a burst of back sores, and after Liu Yan's death, his youngest son Liu Zhang succeeded him as Yizhou Mu. Speaking of this, some people may have to ask, Liu Zhang is only Liu Yan's young son, why can he succeed Liu Yan to take charge of Yizhou? In this regard, in the author's opinion, this has to say about Liu Yan's 4 sons.
First, Liu Fan
First of all, according to the Records of the Later Han Dynasty, Such as the Seventy-Fifth Book of liu yan yuan shu lü bulie, liu fan (?) –194), the eldest son of Liu Yan, the mu of Yizhou, a native of Jingling County, Jiangxia County (江夏郡, in present-day Tianmen, Hubei Province). Although Liu Fan was Liu Yan's eldest son, at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liu Fan did not follow Liu Yan to Yizhou, but served as the official general of Zuo Zhonglang at the Eastern Han court. Left Middle Lang General, official title. It was established during the Western Han Dynasty and was subordinate to Guangluxun. For the left lieutenant general, he and the five senses and the right middle lang will divide the middle lang, and the more directly su wei, assist Guang Luxun in assessing and managing the Lang official gurudwara. Rank to two thousand stones.
In this regard, in the author's opinion, as far as Liu Fan served as a general in the left middle lang, although the official rank is not too high, it is a relatively important official position because he participates in the affairs of guarding the imperial palace. On this basis, although Liu Yan divided Yizhou, he stayed in the eldest son Liu Fan to hold an official position in the imperial court, which naturally had greater ambitions, that is, to facilitate himself to understand the situation of the imperial court, so as to seek greater interests.
However, in 194 AD, Liu Yan's eldest son at the imperial court, Zuo Zhonglang's general Liu Fan and his second son, Zhishu Shi Yushi Liu Shi, and the General Ma Teng of Zhengxi planned an attack on Chang'an, but the plot was revealed, and Liu Fan and others were defeated by Dong Zhuo's general Li Dai and fled to Huaili. Liu Fan was soon killed, and Liu Shi was captured and executed. Therefore, for Liu Yan's eldest son, Liu Fan, there was no good ending.
2. Liu Shi
According to historical records such as the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Shi was the second son of Liu Yan, the pastor of Yizhou, and a native of Jingling County, Jiangxia County (around present-day Tianmen City, Hubei Province). Liu Shi was a descendant of Liu Yu (the fifth son of Emperor Jing of Han) the Prince of Lugong of the Western Han Dynasty. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liu Shi served as a scholar of the Han Dynasty as a ruler. In 192, Lü Bu and Wang Yun eliminated Dong Zhuo, but Dong Zhuo's generals Li Dai and Guo Feng defeated Lü Bu and were able to hold the Eastern Han court hostage.
Therefore, in 194 AD, Liu Shi, Liu Fan, Ma Teng, and others conspired to get rid of Li Dai, and as a result, Liu Shi and Liu Fan were all killed because of their military defeat.
3. Liu Mao
Liu Mao (劉瑁), a native of Jingling County, Jiangxia County (江夏郡, in present-day Tianmen, Hubei Province), was the third son of Liu Yan (劉焉), the mu of Yizhou, and the elder brother of Liu Zhang. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liu Mao followed Liu Yan to Shudi. When Liu Yan was serving as the pastor of Yizhou, Wu Yi, a Retainer of Chen, also came to Yizhou. At that time, Liu Yan took Liu Mao's wife wu yi's sister Wu Shi.
According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and other historical records, in 194 AD, Liu Yan, the pastor of Yizhou, died. After Liu Yan's death, Liu Mao did not take over the throne of Yizhou Mu, but the young Liu Zhang took power. In 208, Cao Cao attacked Jingzhou, and in the face of the powerful Cao Cao, Liu Zhang, the mu of Yizhou, sent emissaries to congratulate him, and Cao Cao was very happy, so he made Liu Zhang's brother Liu Mao the general of Pingkou. However, soon after, the Pingkou general Liu Mao died of illness. Therefore, it is very obvious that Liu Mao's position as General Pingkou is naturally not worthy of the name, that is, he has not made any military achievements, and cannot even be said to be a military general.
In addition, due to the lack of historical records, there is no clear statement on the specific time of Liu Mao's death. However, it is certain that before Liu Bei entered Yizhou in 211 AD, Liu Yan's third son, Liu Mao, had already died of illness.
4. Liu Zhang
Finally, Liu Zhang (born and died unknown), courtesy name Jiyu, was a native of Jinling County, Jiangxia County (around present-day Tianmen, Hubei Province). At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the clans and princes. Liu Zhang was the fourth son of Liu Yan, the pastor of Yizhou, and the younger son of Liu Yan. According to historical records such as the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, he succeeded to Yizhou Mu after the death of his father Liu Yan. In this regard, in the author's opinion, it is precisely because Liu Zhang is young and does not have a strong personality, so after Liu Yan's death, the haoqiang and shi clans of Yizhou supported Liu Zhang's ascension to the throne, rather than the elder Liu Mao. In other words, in the eyes of these Yizhou officials, Liu Zhang was obviously easier to control.
Liu Zhang was cowardly and suspicious. Zhang Lu in Hanzhong was arrogant and did not listen to Liu Zhang's orders, so Liu Zhang killed Zhang Lu's mother and brother, and the two sides became enemies, and Liu Zhang sent Pang Xi to attack Zhang Lu and was defeated. Later, civil unrest broke out in Yizhou, and after it was pacified, there was news that Cao Cao was about to attack. Under the internal and external troubles, Liu Zhang listened to the words of his subordinates Zhang Song and Fazheng and welcomed Liu Bei into Yizhou, hoping to borrow Liu Bei's strength to resist Cao Cao.
Unexpectedly, Yizhou Mu Liu Zhang's act of inviting Liu Bei into Shu was a way to lure a wolf into the house. In 212 AD, Liu Bei attacked Liu Zhang with his backhand, and there was Fa Zheng as the internal response, thus successfully besieging Chengdu. In this context, Liu Zhang, for the sake of the people, so Kaesong surrendered, and his subordinates did not weep. After Liu Bei occupied Chengdu, Liu Zhang was moved to Jingzhou as a general of Zhenwei. After Guan Yu carelessly lost Jingzhou, Liu Zhang belonged to Eastern Wu and was appointed by Sun Quan as the Pastor of Yizhou, but died of illness shortly after. Therefore, Liu Zhang's death should be around 221 AD. In summary, for Liu Yan, there are 4 sons, the eldest son and the second son are killed, while the third son and the fourth son are all the end of illness and death.