Introduction to Wei Yan in the Three Kingdoms

Wei Yan’s origin and resume are unknown. "Three Kingdoms: Biography of Wei Yan" says that he was "a native of Yiyang, who followed his ancestor into Shu in a trilogy". Yiyang County (now northwest of Xinyang City, Henan Province) belongs to Nanyang County of Jingzhou in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The so-called "buqu", according to "Book of the Later Han: One Hundred Officials" says: "The leaders of all the armies have a bubu. There are five bubu in the general camp, one captain in the department is worth two thousand stones, and one army commander is worth a thousand stones. There are songs under his subordinates. , Qu has one military commander and the rest of the generals, who are responsible for conquests and have no positions. There are also Buqu, Sima, and Junhou to lead the troops." It can be seen that Buqu was originally the name of the three-level organization in the Han Dynasty army. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, a warlord separatist regime based on aristocratic families and wealthy landowners was formed. The warlords adopted the military structure of "buqu" to organize their own armies, so the bureaucracy became the private armed force of the powerful landlord separatist forces. Wei Yan followed Liu Bei to Sichuan as a subordinate. Although his status was not high, he was a direct descendant of Liu Bei's army and was by no means a subordinate. Changsha to Liu Bei is completely fabricated). Because of his "numerous military exploits, he was promoted to General Yamen". "Three Kingdoms" Volume 40 "Wei Yan Biography".

From the 22nd to the 24th year of Jian'an, Liu Bei followed the plan of Fa Zheng and mobilized an army that overwhelmed the country. It took more than a year to seize the important military town of Hanzhong County from Cao Cao. At this point, the Three Kingdoms were formally formed. Liu Bei claimed to be the King of Hanzhong, expressing his opposition to Cao Cao. Soon, Liu Bei returned to Chengdu. Before leaving, he "should have important generals to control Hanchuan." Same as above. . Why does Liu Bei attach so much importance to the selection of generals to guard Hanzhong? Because the basic ruling area of ??the Shu Han Dynasty is the Sichuan Basin centered on the Chengdu Plain, Hanzhong County is located between Guanzhong and Bashu, and belongs to the junction of the two regions. In order to ensure the security of its base areas, the Shu Kingdom had to deploy heavy troops at the border between the enemy and ourselves.

Contemporaries and later generations have discussed a lot about the importance of Hanzhong. Yang Hong once said to Zhuge Liang: "Hanzhong is beneficial to the throat, and there is a chance of survival. If there is no Hanzhong, there will be no Shu. This is a disaster for the family." "Three Kingdoms" Volume 41 "Yang Hong Biography". Huang Quan also said: "If Hanzhong is lost, Sanba will be unable to recover. This will cut off the arms of Shu." "The Biography of Huang Quan" Volume 43 of "Three Kingdoms". Gu Zuyu, a native of the Qing Dynasty, said: "Hanzhong Mansion overlooks Guanzhong in the north, blocks Bashu in the south, reaches Xiangdeng in the east, and controls Qinlong in the west. The situation is the most serious." Gu Zuyu: "Miscellaneous Notes on Reading History" Volume 56. If Cao Wei captures Hanzhong, it will seriously threaten Bashu. For example, in the 20th year of Jian'an, Cao Cao defeated Zhang Lu and "defeated Hanzhong, and the people of Shu were shocked." "Sichuan was frightened by dozens of people a day, and even though they were prepared to kill them, they could not rest." "The Biography of Liu Ye" in Volume 14 of "Three Kingdoms" annotates "Fu Zi". If the Shu Kingdom occupies this place, it will not only be able to ensure the safety of Jiange and Chengdu, but also use it as a base for the Northern Expedition. For the Shu Han, Hanzhong was no less important than Jingzhou. Based on this, how could Liu Bei not consider it carefully? The famous generals under Liu Bei are Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Ma Chao, Zhao Yun, and Huang Zhong. Liu Bei relied most heavily on Guan Yu, but he was guarding Jingzhou and could not be transferred from his original defense area. Zhao Yun's main responsibility at that time was "in charge of internal affairs", that is, Liu Bei was in charge of Liu Bei's palace affairs because of his "seriousness". Volume 36 of "Three Kingdoms" "Zhao Yun Zhuan" annotated "Yunbie Zhuan". Although Huang Zhong is brave, he is old after all. Ma Chao has a great reputation, but because he was a surrendered general who "returned to the country", "Three Kingdoms" Volume 40 "Peng Yi Biography" was published. Liu Bei didn't trust him very much. Under this situation, it seems that the best candidate to guard Hanzhong is Zhang Fei. Moreover, "Public opinion thinks that it must be Zhang Fei, and Fei also agrees with his heart." But to everyone's surprise, "the former Lord Naiba Yan was appointed as the governor of Hanzhong, the general of Zhenyuan, and the prefect of Hanzhong." Liu Bei ignored Zhang Fei's emotions and the whole army's discussion, and appointed Wei Yan in an unusual way. This not only reflected Wei Yan's outstanding military commanding ability, but also reflected that Wei Yan had won Liu Bei's trust. If Wei Yan "has a traitor in the back of his head", how can he accept this important task?

Imitating the story of Liu Bang going to the altar to worship Han Xin as a general, Liu Bei gathered all the officials when he appointed Wei Yan as the governor of Han Dynasty, and deliberately asked Wei Yan face to face at the banquet: "'Now that I have entrusted you with an important task, you will live here. What do you want to say? "Yan Dui said: "If Cao Cao comes with the whole world, please reject him, but if a hundred thousand people come, please swallow him up." ""Three Kingdoms" Volume 40 "Wei Yan Biography". Of course, everyone can speak heroic words, but what are Wei Yan's actual achievements in guarding Hanzhong? "Three Kingdoms·Jiang Wei's Biography" says: "The First Lord stayed in Wei Yan to guard Hanzhong, and all the troops were encircled to defend against foreign enemies. If the enemy came to attack, they would not be able to enter. In the battle of Xingshi, Wang Ping defended and resisted Cao Shuang, and they all inherited his system. "When Jiang Wei arrived at Hanzhong, he believed that Wei Yan's military deployment, "although it conforms to the meaning of "Chongmen" in "The Book of Changes", could only ensure that no land was lost, but could not kill a large number of enemies, so he changed Wei Yan's strategy to defend the enemy outside the country's gates. The policy was to abandon the outlying strongholds in Hanzhong, withdraw the garrison from Han and Le cities, and adopt the method of clearing the country with strong walls and luring the enemy deep into the basin. He believed that this was the "technique of destroying the enemy."