Diqin Designer

Chapter 308 Sun Jian and Guan Yu

"The Eastern Han court moved its capital to Chang'an, but Dong Zhuo did not go there immediately. Instead, he stayed in Luoyang to fight against the anti-Dong coalition. Since Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu were both in the coalition, and Yuan Shao was elected as the leader of the coalition, Dong Zhuo ordered the extermination of the family of Yuan Wei, the Grand Tutor, and Yuan Ji, the Grand Coachman."

"Back then, Dong Zhuo was once a disciple of Yuan Shi. If Yuan Wei had not promoted him when Dong Zhuo was dismissed, it would not have been so fast. Yuan Shi thought Dong Zhuo was a dog that could be controlled, but he was actually a wolf!"

Li Nian smiled and said, "It is the Yuan family's own fault. Dong Zhuo's character is not unknown, but the Yuan family is arrogant and thinks that Dong Zhuo is impossible to turn over their palm, so they deserve to be exterminated. They hunt geese all day long, and they will be pecked by geese in the end!"

Meng Tian then asked a question: "Since their clansmen were still under Dong Zhuo's command, why did Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu dare to openly participate in the anti-Dong movement?"

Li Nian smiled and said, "Regarding this question, some people in later generations believed that Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu rebelled against Dong Zhuo, and even that Yuan Shao was willing to accept the nomination and become the leader of the coalition army, in order to use Dong Zhuo to get rid of other members of the Yuan family, especially Yuan Ji, because compared with Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, Yuan Ji's status in the Yuan family was more noble."

"If Yuan Ji escapes, he will definitely lead the Yuan clan and unify the Yuan clan's forces, and Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu will become Yuan Ji's vassals. If the two do not want to become Yuan Ji's vanguards, it would be best for them to send Yuan Ji to death. Only when Yuan Wei and Yuan Ji are dead can Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu truly take over the huge manpower and material resources left by the Yuan clan."

"Moreover, many people in the world were against Dong at that time, and it was a general trend to oppose Dong. As a model of a prominent family, how would the world view them if they did not stand up against Dong? On the contrary, if they stood up against Dong, they could not only gain prestige in the world, but also use Dong Zhuo to get rid of Yuan Wei, Yuan Ji and others. It would be a win-win situation. Why not do it?"

"However, although the anti-Dong coalition is powerful, they have different intentions. There are people like Sun Jian who really want to fight against Dong, and there are also people like Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu who only want to waste the efforts of others but not their own lives."

"Unfortunately, in the novel, Sun Jian's deeds were deleted, and Sun Jian's achievements were attributed to others, so that everyone knew that 'Guan Yu killed Hua Xiong with warm wine', but it is unknown whether Guan Yu participated in the anti-Dong war."

The First Emperor asked, "Who are these Sun Jian and Guan Yu?"

Li Nian briefly introduced: "Sun Jian, courtesy name Wentai, was from Fuchun, Wujun. He was also the founder of Wu, one of the Three Kingdoms. He was very brave when he was young and rose to prominence through military service. He participated in suppressing the Yellow Turban Rebellion. When various forces rebelled against Dong, Sun Jian also responded."

"Sun Jian is different from those who only shout slogans but do nothing. He really does things. After being defeated by Xu Rong under Dong Zhuo, he reorganized his army to fight Dong Zhuo again. Not only did he avenge his previous defeat, but he also forced Dong Zhuo to abandon Luoyang and retreat to Chang'an. Hua Xiong was also killed when Sun Jian fought Dong Zhuo again after his defeat!"

"But apart from Sun Jian and Cao Cao who were really fighting against Dong Zhuo, the other heroes who were fighting against Dong Zhuo had long forgotten about it, and even started to cheat and scheme against each other in order to seize power and territory."

"At that time, Sun Jian was under Yuan Shu's command. Yuan Shu recommended Sun Jian as the governor of Yuzhou. However, Sun Jian led his army to attack Dong Zhuo and did not return. Yuan Shao instead appointed Zhou Yu, a native of Kuaiji, as the governor of Yuzhou. How can you accomplish anything great when you are with a bunch of insects?"

"After hearing the news, Sun Jian sighed and said, 'We are raising an army of righteousness to save the country. The rebels are about to be defeated, but they are all like this. Who can I join forces with?' Sun Jian had no choice but to return to his army to deal with the rear affairs first."

Meng Tian was very angry that he was leading his army to fight against powerful enemies in the front, but his own people were undermining him behind his back. Thinking of how it was Yuan Shao who advised He Jin to let Dong Zhuo enter Luoyang, Meng Tian said angrily: "Yuan Shao is a brat, not worth consulting with!"

The First Emperor also felt sorry for Sun Jian and said, "Even if the coalition forces did not give Sun Jian much support, but just did not hold him back, the result would probably be different."

Some people are just like this, they are not good at anything, they are never satisfied with what they eat, and they always hold others back when they are doing their work.

But then again, if there weren't such people and everyone worked together, the Qin Dynasty would have been divided up by the six kingdoms long ago.

The six-nation coalition's attack on the Qin Dynasty was ultimately defeated because they each had their own ulterior motives and people like Yuan Shao.

Li Nian said: "In the third year of Chuping, Yuan Shu sent Sun Jian to attack Liu Biao of Jingzhou. When he was chasing Huang Zu, a subordinate of Liu Biao, he was shot by a hidden arrow by Huang Zu's general and died. Sun Jian was only thirty-six or thirty-seven years old when he died, but although he died, he made a great reputation and laid some foundations for his son Sun Ce."

After hearing that Sun Jian was gone, the First Emperor and the other two all sighed. Such a hero was killed by a hidden arrow. If he had not been hit by the hidden arrow, Sun Jian might have achieved greater things.

Analyzing from Sun Jian's military ability, this is indeed possible, but unfortunately there is no if. Sun Jian's bravery and good fighting skills are both advantages and disadvantages. Leading his troops to fight the enemy can certainly make his troops stronger, but they are also more likely to die in battle.

Li Nian talked about another person: "Guan Yu, also known as 'Guan Gong', 'Guan Yunchang', 'Guan Erye', 'Guan Sheng Dijun', there are many rumors about him among the people. He is the sworn brother of Liu Bei, the Emperor Zhaolie of Shu Han."

"There is also a story about brotherhood in the novel, called the Peach Garden Oath of Brotherhood. The sworn brothers are the eldest brother Liu Bei Liu Xuande, the second brother Guan Yu Guan Yunchang, and the third brother Zhang Fei Zhang Yide. At that time, the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out..."

After listening to Li Nian's story of the "Peach Garden Oath", the First Emperor asked curiously, "Did these three people finally fulfill their oath, 'Be born on the same day and month and die on the same day and year'?"

Li Nian said: "No, Guan Yu died first, followed by Zhang Fei and Liu Bei. Guan Yu's death was not natural. He was captured in the battle with the Eastern Wu and then killed. This also affected Liu Bei. In the name of revenge for Guan Yu, Liu Bei led the Shu Han army to attack Wu, but was defeated by Lu Xun of the Eastern Wu and eventually died of illness in Baidi City."

"As for Zhang Fei, he had a violent temper and often whipped his soldiers, which made his generals resentful and he was eventually killed by them."

Upon hearing this, the First Emperor nodded, and thought that the three of them really did "die on the same day of the same month of the same year." But when he thought about it, that was impossible. Unless the three of them agreed to commit suicide at the same time, it would be difficult to do so.

But after his brother's death, he was able to lead a large army to attack Wu to avenge his brother. It's interesting that Liu Bei, the Emperor Zhaolie of Shu Han, really wanted to avenge his sworn brother, or did he just want to take advantage of the opportunity and use this excuse?

"Guan Yu's family background was not high. Perhaps it was because of his family background that Guan Yu's character was 'arrogant to his superiors but not humiliating his subordinates, bullying the strong but not bullying the weak. He valued soldiers but despised scholars and officials.'"

"He was an excellent martial artist. He fled his hometown in his early years because of a crime and ended up in Zhuo County, Youzhou. There he met Liu Bei and Zhang Fei. Later, he followed Liu Bei to fight against the Yellow Turbans and fought in all directions."

"When he was separated from Liu Bei and Zhang Fei, he did not forget to protect Liu Bei's family. Cao Cao treated him very well and tried to recruit him, but failed. After learning of Liu Bei's whereabouts, Guan Yu used up all the gifts Cao Cao had given him, wrote a letter of farewell, and traveled thousands of miles to where Liu Bei was."

"This has also been turned into a well-known story in historical novels, such as 'riding alone for a thousand miles' and 'passing five passes and killing six generals'."

The First Emperor said: "This is a loyal and righteous man. He is loyal to his old master without being attached to power and wealth. This is very rare!" Li Nian nodded and smiled: "Guan Gong is indeed loyal and righteous, so he was praised and honored by many generations of emperors in later generations, and eventually even became a god. Few people in China don't know Guan Gong, and even overseas countries have people who believe in Guan Gong."

"In later generations, even vicious bandits would pay homage to Guan Gong and respect his loyalty. He can be said to be the exact opposite of Lu Bu."

One "stabbed his adoptive father with a Fang Tian Hua Ji", the other "rode alone for thousands of miles to find his old master", it is obvious which one is better, and no one would think that he would be stabbed by his brothers or subordinates one day.

"There are many rumors and stories about Guan Gong, such as 'Three Heroes Fighting Lü Bu', 'Flooding Seven Armies', 'Going to a Meeting with a Single Sword', 'Scraping Bones to Treat Poison', 'Beheading Yan Liang and Wen Chou', etc. But 'Beheading Hua Xiong with Warm Wine' is the one that best demonstrates Guan Gong's greatness among all the stories about Guan Gong."

In fact, it was just made up to allow Guan Yu to show off. But in front of the First Emperor, it is not appropriate to use words like "pretentious" and "pretentious" as it would be insulting to the Emperor.

Li Nian continued, "Whether Liu, Guan, and Zhang were in the anti-Dong coalition is rarely mentioned in later history books, but the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms made some fictional statements to make Liu, Guan, and Zhang appear in the anti-Dong coalition."

"For example, the original anti-Dong coalition army only had eleven princes, namely: Nanyang prefect Yuan Shu, Bohai prefect Yuan Shao, Jizhou governor Han Fu, Yuzhou governor Kong Zhu, Yanzhou governor Liu Dai, Henei prefect Wang Kuang, Chenliu prefect Zhang Miao, Dongjun prefect Qiao Mao, Shanyang prefect Yuan Yi, Jibei Xiang Bao Xin, Guangling prefect Zhang Chao."

"In fact, Sun Jian and Cao Cao were also included, but they were not considered princes at the time. Sun Jian was under Yuan Shu, and Cao Cao was under Zhang Miao, so they were not counted separately."

"But in the novel, the eleven routes were expanded to eighteen. The seven extra routes were: Kong Rong, the governor of Beihai; Gongsun Zan, the governor of Beiping; Zhang Yang, the governor of Shangdang; Sun Jian, the governor of Changsha; Cao Cao, the captain of the cavalry; Ma Teng, the governor of Xiliang; and Tao Qian, the governor of Xuzhou."

"The reason why we added the Beiping governor Gongsun Zan was to allow Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to appear smoothly, because according to the novel, Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were under Gongsun Zan's command at that time."

The First Emperor asked, "Why did the author of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms do this? Was it to elevate Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei?"

Li Nian nodded: "That's right. Although Romance of the Three Kingdoms draws on history, it is not history. It is just too widely circulated and has such a great influence that many people think it is history. The author of this book wanted to promote the orthodoxy of Shu Han and the unorthodoxy of Cao Wei."

"Of course, the author of this book was not from the Three Kingdoms period, but from the early Ming Dynasty..."

After hearing this, the First Emperor immediately understood that the guy who wrote the book wanted to use history to satirize the present. He deliberately praised Shu Han in the book in order to ridicule the illegitimate rise of the Ming Dynasty at that time.

Seeing that the First Emperor did not ask any more questions, Li Nian continued, "In the novel, the coalition army of the 18 princes arrived at Sishui Pass and was stopped by Hua Xiong, a cavalry captain under Dong Zhuo. Hua Xiong was very brave. He first killed Bao Zhong, the brother of Bao Xin, the prime minister of Jibei, and then killed Yu She, a general under Yuan Shu, and Pan Feng, a general under the command of the prefect Han Fu. The princes were so frightened that they dared not send their generals to fight again."

"At this time, Guan Yu, a horse archer, volunteered to fight. Cao Cao poured a cup of wine for Guan Yu, but Guan Yu did not drink it immediately. Instead, he said, 'Pour the wine, I will be back soon.' Then he walked out of the tent, picked up his sword, and jumped on his horse."

"All the princes heard the drums outside the pass and the shouts were as loud as the sky collapsing and the mountains shaking. They were all shocked. Just as they were about to investigate, they heard the sound of phoenix bells. Horses arrived at the center of the army and Yunchang lifted up Huaxiong's head and threw it on the ground. The wine was still warm."

Li Nian used the original text of Romance of the Three Kingdoms in his speech, and the First Emperor laughed and said, "What a good phrase 'killing Hua Xiong with warm wine', which actually demonstrates Guan Yu's bravery. Others could not kill Hua Xiong, but he could, and taking Hua Xiong's head shocked the princes. I guess in the novel, when Guan Yu asked for a fight, he was also doubted and made things difficult for the princes."

Li Nian said: "Your Majesty, it is clear that the 'Three Heroes Fighting Lu Bu' is also like this. It is to show that Liu, Guan and Zhang can do things that other princes cannot do. In the words of later generations, it is a reversal to show the strength of these three people."

The pretentious writing style has existed since ancient times, not just now, so it can be said that cool writing has always been popular in the market.

"However, in actual history, Hua Xiong was killed by Sun Jian, but this achievement was attributed to Guan Yu. Many people in later generations only know that Guan Yu killed Hua Xiong with warm wine, but not Sun Jian. It is really lamentable."

"Even though there were people like Sun Jian and Cao Cao who really wanted to defeat Dong, most of the others were insects. The anti-Dong coalition did not succeed in the end. But the princes like Yuan Shao got what they wanted - to make the world more chaotic. Only when the world is in chaos will they have a better chance of seizing the artifact."

"Dong Zhuo retreated to Chang'an at this time and continued his inhuman behavior, humiliating ministers, bullying the emperor, and abusing the people. He built a fortress in Mei County for his own enjoyment, storing the food and jewelry he had looted, and placed the beautiful women he had collected there..."

"Dong Zhuo's series of actions angered the heavens and the people. Even his own staff were dissatisfied with Dong Zhuo and planned to assassinate him, but unfortunately they failed. At this time, Prime Minister Wang Yun took action!"

"Wang Yun realized that it would be difficult to kill Dong Zhuo from the outside, because although Dong Zhuo's army was plundering and raping, they were elite soldiers who had fought in many battles, and there were few in the world who could match them."

"Since we can't do it from the outside, we can only do it from the inside. We need to use someone close to Dong Zhuo to kill him. And this person must be good at martial arts and be able to kill Dong Zhuo. We can't let Dong Zhuo's staff assassinate us again. Wang Yun also found a suitable candidate, which is Lu Bu, who was 'specially stabbing his adoptive father.'"

"Although Lü Bu joined Dong Zhuo's group and swore to be his father and son, he was a mid-term member and was definitely different from the old members of Dong Zhuo's group. After he accepted Dong Zhuo as his adoptive father, his life was not as good as he thought. Dong Zhuo even drew his halberd and threw it at Lü Bu when he was a little frustrated, which made Lü Bu resentful."

"It should be said that Lü Bu and Dong Zhuo can indeed become sworn father and son. At least they have something in common in terms of lust. Dong Zhuo is extremely lustful. After gaining power, he certainly did not forget to collect beautiful women. Lü Bu accompanied Dong Zhuo and often saw these beauties. Naturally, some of them were attracted to him."

"So, when Dong Zhuo wasn't paying attention, Lu Bu did things for his father and had an affair with Dong Zhuo's maid. But this was extremely risky. Once Dong Zhuo found out, Lu Bu knew he would die!"

The First Emperor and his two companions thought: No wonder the historical novel had a story about Prime Minister Wang Yun using his adopted daughter Diao Chan to set up a series of beauty traps. This Lu Bu is truly audacious and perverted person.

But this is actually not so bad. These two are just adoptive father and son, not real father and son. At least there is no affair between the son and his father's woman, or between the father and his daughter-in-law.

However, China has thousands of years of history and so many dynasties, so it is possible that such a wonder appeared in the royal family of one of these dynasties.

(End of this chapter)