In 234, Zhuge Liang, the prime minister of the Shu Han Dynasty, died in Wuzhangyuan Army. The famous "Wei Yan Rebellion" incident occurred when the Shuhan's Northern Expedition army retreated. Wei Yan led the army day and night, returned to Hanzhong, burned the plank road, and then wrote to the Lord of Shu Liu Chan that Yang Yi had rebelled. At the same time, Yang Yi wrote to the poster that Wei Yan was rebelling. In the end, Wei Yan was killed by general Ma Dai and his clan was destroyed. Wei Yan was loyal to Shu Han, but why did he embark on the road of treason?
Wei Yan followed Liu Bei to participate in the battle of entering Sichuan, during which he made a lot of battle achievements, so he was named General Yamen. In 219, after Liu Bei captured Hanzhong, he established himself as the king of Hanzhong and "moved to govern Chengdu". It was necessary to arrange a general to guard Hanzhong. At that time, people thought that Zhang Fei was none other than Zhang Fei, and Zhang Fei himself thought so. However, Liu Bei made a decision that surprised everyone, "Pull Yan to supervise Hanzhong Zhenyuan General and lead Hanzhong Prefect."
Since then, Wei Yan’s officials have become bigger and bigger, "Zhu Jianzun, admiring the general of Zhenbei", "First year of Jianxing, Fengdutinghou", "Five years, Zhuge Liang stationed In Hanzhong, Yan is the front of the supervisor, leading the prime minister Sima and the governor of Liangzhou." In the eighth year of Jianxing, Wei Yan led his army into the middle of the Qiang, defeating Wei generals Fei Yao and Guo Huai, "moved to the former army generals to conquer the west, falsely, enter the Nan Zhenghou". Before Zhuge Liang died of illness, Wei Yan ranked third in the Shu Han army.
is naturally Zhuge Liang. As the prime minister, he controls all of the army of the Shu Han; ranked second is Liu Yan. His official positions at that time were military division, general chariot, and capital Hou, but Liu Yan "doesn't hesitate to state politics, but leads more than a thousand soldiers, just satirize the prime minister." In the ten years of Jianxing, Liu Yan was sent back to Chengdu by Zhuge Liang because of a discord with Wei Yan. Therefore, after Zhuge Liang's death, the highest rank in the army was Wei Yan!
Then why did Wei Yan rebel? In fact, Wei Yan did not rebel at all. The so-called "Wei Yan Rebellion" incident was nothing more than a power struggle within the Shuhan regime. With Wei Yan's qualifications and abilities, it is entirely possible to stand alone, but Zhuge Liang continued to suppress Wei Yan when he was alive. For example, Zhuge Liang rejected Wei Yan's "Ziwu Valley" during his lifetime, and he did not discuss the decision made before his death.
In the Shuhan regime, the highest position belonged to the Jingzhou Group, and there were divisions within the Jingzhou Group. On the one hand, the civil servants headed by Zhuge Liang, and the military commanders headed by Wei Yan on the other hand. Before Zhuge Liang was alive, he arranged for Jiang Wan, Fei Yi and others to take over his position, completely excluding Wei Yan. Jiang Wan, Fei Yi and others understood very well that their qualifications and official positions were lower than those of Wei Yan. They had to get rid of Wei Yan if they wanted to take a firm position.
Before Zhuge Liang was alive, he knew that Wei Yan had a conflict with Yang Yi, and he made the decision, "After the order is suspended, Jiang Wei is next; if the order is delayed or not followed, the army will spontaneously". As a result, Wei Yan was furious when he heard the news, "Although the prime minister is dead, I see myself. The relatives of the government can return the funeral to the funeral. I will lead the army to attack the thieves. Why can one person die and destroy the world? And Wei Yan Whoever is Yang Yi’s subordinates, he will stop after he breaks!” At that time, Wei Yan wanted to publish a joint book with Fei Yi, who came to inquire about the news, to inform the entire army, but Wei Yan was deceived.
If Wei Yan really rebelled, he should surrender Cao Wei to the north. Why did he choose to go south? "The original Yan intended not to descend from the north to Wei but to return to the south, but wanted to get rid of killing Yi, etc.", but Wei Yan failed to kill Yang Yi, but was instead killed. Therefore, Wei Yan's rebellion was a power struggle within the Shuhan. According to Wei Yan's qualifications and position, he should take over the military power of the Shuhan. However, he became a victim of the power struggle and suffered annihilation.
Reference materials: 1. "Three Kingdoms"; 2. "Zizhitongjian"
