As we all know, after the Battle of Chibi , Liu Bei occupied 5 of the seven counties of Jingzhou, and Wu and Wei each occupied two. However, the two counties of Changsha and Guiyang were owed by Shu to Soochow, but Guan Yu refused to give them to them.
As a result, when Liu Bei attacked Hanzhong and Guan Yu Xiangfan , Sun Quan sent Lu Meng to take the opportunity to sneak attack Jingzhou . Once Jingzhou was lost, Guan Yu was attacked from both sides and defeated in Maicheng, and was finally beheaded in Linju.
Later, Liu Bei attacked Soochow in order to avenge Guan Yu. The Battle of Yiling destroyed all the Shu family's wealth. From then on, the Shu Han began to decline. Later, although Zhuge Liang saved the Shu Han, the peak period of the 24th year of Jian'an was not there.
On Wuzhangyuan , Zhuge Liang passed away after explaining the last things. Looking at the development history of Shu, the fundamental reason for its decline is not the loss of Jingzhou, but the rapid decline of talents. Otherwise, Guan Yu and Zhuge Liang would not be so miserable.
How poor are the talents of the Shu Han
At the end of the Three Kingdoms, Deng Ai and Zhong Hui joined forces to attack Shu. Zhong Hui was stopped by Jiang Wei in Jiange, while Deng Ai led 10,000 soldiers to sneak across the Yinping Trail. Directly approaching the city of Chengdu, Liu Chan had to surrender.
When the soldiers were searching for supplies in Shu Han, they found a household registration book in it, which clearly recorded: "Shu Han has a population of about 940,000, of which there are about 100,000 soldiers, and 40,000 officials..."
80 Ten thousand people have to support 140,000 officials and soldiers, and on average every 6 people have to support one. This kind of pressure is indeed a bit high. This may also be the reason for the decline of Shu Han's national power. Of course, from another perspective, a huge Shu Han Dynasty only had 40,000 officials, which was indeed not enough compared to and Cao Wei .
Nowadays, an ordinary small county has more than 100 related departments, and there must be thousands of government personnel in total! The Shu Han occupies the entire Sichuan, plus some surrounding areas, but there are only 40,000 government personnel, which shows how big the talent base of the Shu Han is.
At the end of the Three Kingdoms period, there was a saying: "There are no generals in Shu, Liao Hua is the pioneer." This is also one of the evidences of the lack of talents in the Shu Han Dynasty. Under such circumstances, around the 24th year of Jian'an, Liu Bei successively lost Pang Tong, Fazheng and others, which also laid the groundwork for subsequent failures.
It is worth mentioning that in the history of Liu Bei's development, if he had not missed three outstanding people, perhaps there would not have been the death of Guan Yu and the tragedy of Zhuge Liang, and these three people were respectively Qianzhao , Xu Shu and Huangquan , let’s introduce them one by one.
Who is Qianzhao?
Speaking of Qianzhao, almost no one knows his existence. "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" basically does not describe him, but it cannot deny his relationship with Liu Bei, as well as Qianzhao himself. Talents and abilities.
In " Romance of the Three Kingdoms ", Guan Yu and Zhang Fei can only be regarded as Liu Bei's subordinates. To be called "true brothers", they have to be linked to each other. The two are "heroes who share the same contract and are friends who cut their necks to death." In today's words In other words, it is a life-changing brother.
During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Liu Bei was able to rise from the army of many Qinwangs and became an official of the Han Dynasty, which was inseparable from the help of Lian Zhao. However, for some unknown reason during this period, Qianzhao became the subordinate of and Yuan Shao.
In the Battle of Guandu and Yuan Shao was defeated, Qianzhao took refuge with Cao Cao. After Yuan Shao's death, Cao Cao attacked the north, and the people who governed the four northern states also followed Qianzhao. In the late Cao Wei Dynasty, the Xianbei in the north went south many times, but they still kept the enemy at bay.
It can be said that Qianzhao is both a political talent and a military talent, possessing both civil and military talents. Such a person was missed by Liu Bei, which can be regarded as a big loss for him. If Qianzhao does not work for Cao Cao, but for Liu Bei.
When Zhuge Liang left Jingzhou, if Qianzhao assisted Guan Yu in Jingzhou, there would be absolutely no way Lu Meng could succeed easily.Why did Guan Yu lose Jingzhou? It was because Mi Fang and others were greedy for life and feared death and did not get along with Guan Yu, so they surrendered directly to Soochow.
Generally speaking, in "Three Kingdoms", Qianzhao is considered an all-round talent, and his ability is not inferior to Zhuge Liang. However, Liu Bei's earliest brother was eventually lost to him, which was a pity.
Regrets from Xu Shu
Needless to say, Xu Shu's ability is not inferior to Pang Tong's military ability. When Pang Tong offered Cao Cao a plan in the Battle of Chibi, Xu Shu was the only one in the entire Cao camp who saw it. But because he "said nothing", Cao Cao finally got the message.
But even so, Xu Shu was still reused by Cao Wei later. During the period of Emperor Wen of Wei , he was promoted to General You Zhonglang and Yu Shi Zhongcheng. When Liu Bei took refuge in Jingzhou Liu Biao and was stationed in Xinye , Xu Shu, who was "fleeing from famine", came to seek refuge and became Liu Bei's first adviser.
In his early years, Xu Shu had killed people in order to avenge his friends, and he had a certain chivalrous spirit. This made him compatible with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, and the three of them also had a good chemical reaction, at least better than Zhuge Liang.
However, Xu Shu's mother who went south was captured by Cao Cao, so he had to go home to save her and left Liu Bei. Before Xu Shu left, he recommended Zhuge Liang in Wollongong to Liu Bei, which was regarded as repaying his kindness.
It is said that when Liu Bei visited the thatched cottage to invite Zhuge Liang, he met a great talent on the way. This man's name was Cui Zhouping. How good is Cui Zhouping? When the eighteen princes attacked Dong Zhuo early in the morning, he was Yuan Shao's subordinate and made great achievements in Hulao Pass.
Naihe, because Cui Zhouping helped Yuan Shao, his father was killed by Dong Zhuo. He blamed his father's death on himself, so he withdrew from officialdom and lived in seclusion. When he met Liu Bei, Liu Bei felt that this person was extraordinary and wanted to invite him to come out.
However, on the one hand, Cui Zhouping no longer wanted to enter officialdom, and on the other hand, he looked down on Liu Bei, so he decisively refused. Cui Zhouping is also Liu Bei's regret. Because he has never been under his command, he cannot be called a "miss".
As the saying goes, "A fence has three stakes, and a hero has three gangs." If Xu Shu did not leave Liu Bei, but developed in the Shu army camp. So, with his connections and eloquence, his friends Sima Hui and Cuizhou Pingping, talented people, might risk their lives and come to help him.
At that time, will Liu Bei still lack talents around him? Talent is the foundation for the rise of a dynasty. With the help of these talents, Guan Yu will not lose Jingzhou, Liu Bei will not be defeated in Yiling, and Zhuge Liang will not be exhausted by military and political affairs.
The most regrettable person Huang Quan
If it is a pity to be involved in Zhao and Xu Shu is a pity, then Huang Quan is Liu Bei's biggest pain. Why do you say that? Because Huang Quan's departure was not voluntary, but an act of helplessness. In other words, he didn't want to leave Liu Bei, but he had no choice. One state would mean goodbye forever.
Huang Quan was originally a subordinate of Yizhou Mu Liu Zhang. When Liu Zhang invited Liu Bei to Sichuan to resist Zhang Lu, Huang Quan persuaded Liu Zhang not to let Liu Bei come, otherwise he would embezzle your land and power.
However, Liu Zhang refused to listen and insisted on letting Liu Bei enter Shu. As a result, he lost both people and land. After Liu Bei occupied Yizhou, he saw that Huang Quan was talented, so he took him under his command and entrusted him with important tasks. He served as a partial general, similar to a military advisor.
After following Liu Bei, Huang Quan's biggest performance was the battle of Hanzhong. This is recorded in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms": "The killing of Xia Houyuan, according to Hanzhong, was the original plan of (Huang) Quan..." "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" "", the credit for this battle is given to Fazheng, and Huang Zhong, but the fact is that it belongs to Huang Quan.
Because Huang Quan had made great contributions, after the Battle of Hanzhong, he appointed him as the shepherd of Yizhou, which shows that he has both political and military talents. After Guan Yu's death, Liu Bei led his army to attack Soochow. Huang Quan persuaded him not to do so, but Liu Bei refused.
Since the boss didn't listen, Huang Quan could only help. He led his army to guard Jiangbei to prevent Cao Wei from suddenly going south. We all know that Liu Bei was defeated in the Battle of Yiling, and as a result he lost all the land in Jingzhou, and Huang Quan's road back to Bashu was also cut off.
In desperation, he chose to join Emperor Wen of Wei Cao Pi and became General Zhennan. Afterwards, someone once slandered Liu Bei, but Liu Bei defended Huang Quan, saying it was all my fault and had nothing to do with Huang Quan.
Judging from this sentence, Huang Quan had already told Liu Bei everything that needed to be said before the war, and told Liu Bei all the consequences that would occur. Although he still failed in the end, it can only be said to be Liu Bei's fault. , rather than Huang Quan's lack of ability, it even highlights his ability to "predict the enemy's opportunities" from the side.
In fact, many times Shuhan's failures are due to lack of talent. After Pang Tong died in Luofengpo, Zhuge Liang had to leave Jingzhou and go to Sichuan. As a result, Guan Yu had no capable people to help him and he lost Jingzhou.
After the Battle of Hanzhong, Fazheng, the counselor around Liu Bei, passed away again. When he attacked Soochow, Zhuge Liang needed to guard Jingzhou, and Liu Bei had no counselors around him. Huang Quan was also used by him to prevent Cao Wei's army from sneak attacks. As a result, Yiling Failed miserably.
After Liu Bei defeated Liu Zhang, he got three capable people, one was Fazheng, one was Huang Quan, and the other was Li Yan.
Fazheng died, Huang Quan defected to Cao Wei, and Li Yan was at odds with Zhuge Liang, so that Zhuge Liang's northern expedition did not have a stable rear, he looked forward and backward, and eventually died of exhaustion.
We can make an assumption, if Huang Quan did not defect to Cao Wei, but served in Shu Han. Then, when Zhuge Liang conquered Cao Wei, Huang Quan would give him a good rear protection, and even Li Yan would not dare to "stumbling" him.
From a certain perspective, during Liu Zhang's period, Huang Quan's qualifications and prestige were stronger than Li Yan's. During Liu Bei's period, Huang Quan was trusted more than Li Yan. Generally speaking, Huang Quan was superior to Li Yan in everything in the Shu Han Dynasty. How could the latter dare to disobey his orders, let alone hinder Zhuge Liang?
Among the three kingdoms, Cao Wei has the strongest overall strength. Perhaps Shu will not be able to escape the fate of destruction in the end. However, with the joint efforts of Zhuge Liang and Huang Quan, the former will not die of exhaustion, and the Shu Han's reign will be extended.
This may be what we call the butterfly effect . A single move affects the whole body. Because of the lack of one person, everything will lose. What do you think about this?
