Liu Ye's sense of existence in the history of the Three Kingdoms is not high, but he is a very important "think tank" member of the Cao Wei clique, especially he has a very keen judgment on the general situation of the world, such as his unique suggestions for the Battle of Hanzhong and the Battle of Yiling, which can be called "an exhaustive strategy". If Cao Cao or Cao Pi could listen to the pattern of the world, it would probably be very different. However, Liu Ye never got reused, and his important suggestions were not adopted, and he was eventually alienated by Cao Rui in his later years, ending up with a frenzied depression, which can be described as the most tragic genius strategist in the Three Kingdoms era.
Liu Ye Zi Yang , a native of Chengde , Huainan , was a descendant of Liu Yan , the King of Fuling in the Eastern Han Dynasty , and a "han dynasty relative" of The Red Miao Zheng. He was quite bold, and at the age of thirteen, he completed his mother's will, and he was known for his young age by hand-bladed the little man next to his father. Xu Shao, a famous critic of people and objects who avoided chaos in Huaiyang at that time, called him "the talent of the world". Xu Shao once commented that Cao Cao was "a capable minister who ruled the world and a traitor to the chaotic world", and it was very rare to get Xu Shao's evaluation, so Liu Ye became famous in the Huaiyang area and befriended Lu Su, Jiang Ji, Hu Qian, and others.
However, for various reasons, Liu Ye, who was labeled as a "Han Dynasty Patriarch" and "Zuo Shi Zhicai", did not choose to divide one side and Zhuo lu the world like Liu Bei, Liu Biao, Liu Xuan, and Liu Yan. Liu Ye, who saw the decline of the Han Room, did not take the road of supporting the Han Room, but chose to assist others and was willing to be a courtier.
However, Liu Ye's initial platform was not high, and he first turned to Zheng Bao, Liu Xun and others who divided the Huaiyang area. However, Zheng Bao was unknown, Liu Xun only divided the Lujiang River, and they could not exert Liu Ye's talents, so when Cao Cao began to invade the Huaiyang region, Liu Ye belonged to Cao Cao. Liu Ye first disobeyed Cao Cao's Zheng Bao, and then in 199, after Liu Xun was defeated by Sun Ce for not listening to Liu Ye's advice, Liu Ye defected to Cao Cao with Liu Xun.
After turning to Cao Cao, Liu Ye's outstanding strategic talents had a platform that could be fully utilized. After Yuan Shu's defeat, Cao Cao occupied Shouchun and sent troops to recruit nearby mountain thieves, but the first battle was lost. Many courtiers thought that the price of requisitioning mountain thieves in this area was not high, but Liu Ye tried his best to defy the public opinion, saying that Cao Cao should use money to buy money and use force to deal with mountain thieves in the Huaiyang area, and soon achieved results. After the war, Liu Ye was requisitioned by Cao Cao as a Sikong Cang cao and entered Cao Cao's shogunate.
The suppression of mountain thieves can only be regarded as a small test of the cattle knife, and the subsequent battles of Hanzhong and Yiling are the time to truly show Liu Ye's excellent strategic vision.
Cao Cao was advised to quickly attack Zhang Lu and Liu Bei. In 215, when Cao Cao conquered Zhang Lu in Hanzhong, Cao Cao appointed Liu Ye as the chief of the army. At this time, Cao Cao was faced with the same situation as when he was fighting the Shouchun Mountain Thieves: Zhang Lu's army held on to many passes in Hanzhong, and Cao's army suffered many casualties, but with little success. The strength of Zhang Lu's army was much higher than that of the mountain thieves, so Cao Cao, who had exhausted grain and grass, ordered the withdrawal of his army and let Liu Yedu supervise the rear army.
However, Liu Ye believed that even if the troops were withdrawn now, they would not be able to solve the problem of running out of grain and grass, so it was better to take advantage of the situation and attack strongly. Cao Cao was persuaded by Liu Ye to shoot Zhang Lu's army with a strong crossbow, and the defenders quickly collapsed under the strong attack of Cao's army, and Zhang Lu finally surrendered to Cao Cao. In the year before Cao Cao took Hanzhong, Liu Bei had just pacified Xichuan, and at this time, after learning that Cao Cao had taken Hanzhong, the people of Shuzhong were panicked. Therefore, after the pacification of Hanzhong, Liu Ye persuaded Cao Cao to take advantage of Liu Bei's unstable foothold in Xichuan and "the Shu people were shallow, and the Shu people were not ashamed", and immediately attacked Xichuan, "Shu can be passed on". Otherwise, once Liu Bei, who had the help of Zhuge Liang, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, eased up, it would be very difficult to deal with. However, Cao Cao did not heed Liu Ye's advice, gave Liu Bei a chance to breathe, and eventually lost to Liu Bei at the Battle of Hanzhong, as Liu Ye said.
Accurate judgment of the situation at the Battle of Yiling. Cao Cao died shortly after the Battle of Hanzhong, and in 220 Cao Pi was proclaimed emperor, with Liu Ye as his attendant, Marquis of Guannei. At the beginning of his reign as emperor, Cao Pi had an excellent opportunity to change the pattern of the three-legged standing, and Liu Ye was the only one among Cao Wei's courtiers who keenly sniffed out the opportunity given to Cao Wei by heaven.
At that time, Sun Liu's alliance broke down, and Cao Pi asked the courtiers Liu Bei if he would rebel against Sun Quan because of Guan Yu's murder and loss of Jingzhou. At that time, most people believed that Liu Bei's famous generals were only Guan Yu, and now that Guan Yu was dead, Jingzhou was lost, and Liu Bei, who was weak in strength, would definitely not send troops to Sun Quan. Only Liu Ye believed that Liu Bei would definitely crusade against Sun Quan, on the grounds that Liu Bei needed to boost morale by crusading against Sun Quan, and at the same time, the relationship between Guan Yu and Liu Bei was "righteous for the king, enjusted father and son", out of this unique feeling, Liu Bei would certainly not give up. As Liu Ye said, a year later, in 221, Liu Bei sent an army against Sun Quan.
Not long after the Battle of Yiling began, Sun Quan sent his cousin Cao Pi to be willing to call his subjects Cao Wei and return them to Yu Ban and others. When the news came, Cao Wei's courtiers competed to celebrate, and Cao Pi was even more difficult to hide his joy. However, Liu Ye was the only one who persuaded Cao Pi to be cautious about Sun Quan's act of claiming a vassal, believing that Sun Quan had lived in Jiangdong for a long time and had not been a vassal for a long time, and that sending envoys to be vassals was an expedient measure to avoid a two-front war, and was not sincere. He also suggested that Cao Pi should "take advantage of his poverty and attack it" and attack Sun Quan when Sun Quan was at war with Liu Bei, so as to avoid future troubles.
If Cao Pi could heed Liu Ye's advice and take advantage of Liu Bei's sun quan's surrender to attack the Yangzhou and Jingzhou regions, Sun Quan would inevitably suffer from the enemy on his stomach and face the trend of disintegration. Even if Sun Quan returned the Previously occupied Jingzhou area to Liu Bei to reach a peace agreement with him, it would be difficult to mobilize troops to resist Cao Wei in a short period of time. It was only a matter of time before Sun Quan was destroyed, the three-legged balance of power was broken, and Cao Wei, the strongest of the state, destroyed Shu Han. However, Cao Pi, hindered by hypocritical face, did not heed Liu Ye's advice, and crowned Sun Quan as the King of Wu.
After stabilizing Cao Pi, Sun Quan was able to deal with Liu Bei with all his strength, and finally won the Victory at the Battle of Yiling. After Sun Quan won, he immediately changed his previous attitude toward Cao Pi when he was a vassal, "the more humble the external etiquette, but the less he goes inside." Cao Pi, who was watching the fire from the other side, only then did he relax and intend to enlist Sun Quan. Liu Ye advised Cao Pi that Sun Quan, who had won at this time, was in high morale and could not be conquered, but Cao Pi did not listen and was eventually defeated. A year later, Cao Pi again marched in person, but seeing that Sun Quan's army was heavily arrayed, he did not dare to act rashly, but only withdrew after a large military parade on the north bank of the Yangtze River.
After that, Liu Ye successively judged that Meng Da and Gongsun Yuan would definitely rebel, and suggested that Cao Pi and Cao Rui take precautions as soon as possible, and the result was just as Liu Ye said. But unfortunately, as with the previous proposal, Cao Pi and Cao Rui did not accept it.
Liu Ye, who served Cao Cao, Cao Pi, and Cao Rui, was the elder of the Three Dynasties of Cao Wei, and although he was highly qualified and his keen judgment of the situation was confirmed by facts, Liu Ye's suggestions were never accepted, which shows that he has not been truly valued and trusted. The reason for this is not because Cao Cao and others do not recognize Liu Ye's talent and judgment of the situation, but because of Liu Ye's own problems.
The first is Liu Ye's identity as a "han family relative". As for Liu Ye, who was flowing with the blood of the Han Dynasty, no matter how firmly he supported Cao Cao, his origin determined that he could not be truly trusted, which can be seen from Liu Ye's position.
Liu Ye was initially appointed by Cao Cao as Sikong Cang Cao Shu (司空仓) Cao Shu (司空仓) Cao Shu (司空仓掾), a subordinate officer in charge of grain management, but at that time Cao Cao's main grain and grass came from the Tun Tian system, and Liu Ye was probably only an official who stayed in the rear to dispatch grain and grass, and Liu Ye had been in this position for more than ten years, and there was no record of any advice before the Battle of Hanzhong. During the Battle of Hanzhong, Liu Ye was appointed as the chief of the army, and in the later period, he was in charge of the capital houjun before he began to deal with military affairs, which can be regarded as an important symbol of Liu Ye's being Cao Cao, but Cao Cao died soon after.
After Cao Pi claimed the title of emperor, Liu Ye was promoted to the rank of attendant and became an important minister who could participate in the government, but Cao Pi did not use any advice from Liu Ye at the Battle of Yiling, in addition to Cao Pi's wrong judgment, this was not unrelated to Liu Ye's identity.
The second is Liu Ye's behavior of "taking responsibility for himself". At the beginning of his reign, Cao Rui was "very affectionate" to Liu Ye, and Liu Ye, a senior minister, ushered in a turnaround. Liu Ye, who had been an official in the dynasty for many years, also had a skillful set of official routines, that is, when cao rui and courtiers had different opinions, Liu Ye would not express his position in public, but expressed his support for Cao Rui when he met Cao Rui privately, and expressed support for everyone's opinions when he got along with his courtiers.
Such a sleek Liu Ye was eventually reported, and Cao Rui deliberately tested Liu Ye with the opposite to see if he was deliberately flattering, Liu Ye was indeed tricked, after which Cao Rui alienated Liu Ye and snubbed him. For the opinions previously put forward by Liu Ye, Cao Rui also naturally repealed.
Liu Ye has been loyal to Cao Wei for so many years, and no matter how many times his correct advice was ignored by the lord, he was consistent. But who ever wanted to be snubbed by Cao Rui in the end, and this also meant that Liu Ye would never have another chance. Soon Liu Ye lost his heart and went mad, and Cao Rui changed him to the position of Taizhong Doctor and DaHongxu. In 234, Liu Ye died of illness, and the genius strategist finally ended in tragedy.