Diqin Designer

Chapter 310: Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage for State Affairs, Two Dynasties Helping Old Ministers

Meng Tian said: "Xu Shu is also a loyal and filial person, but unfortunately his mother was captured by Cao Cao, so it is difficult for him to be both loyal and filial. After Xu Shu arrives at Cao's camp, he will not do much for Cao Cao!"

Li Nian smiled and said, "According to historical records, after Xu Shu arrived at Cao's camp, he probably didn't offer much advice to Cao Cao."

"In the second year of Taihe, when Prime Minister Zhuge led his army to the north, he heard that Xu Shu and Shi Tao did not hold high positions, and he sighed: 'Wei Shu is full of talented people! Why are these two not used?'"

"Shi Tao was also a friend of Prime Minister Zhuge. He once traveled with Prime Minister Zhuge, Xu Shu, and Meng Jian to study. Prime Minister Zhuge once commented on the talents of the three: 'You three can advance to become provincial governors and county governors.' The three asked Prime Minister Zhuge what position they could achieve, but the Prime Minister just smiled and said nothing."

Meng Tian smiled and said, "'Laughing without saying anything' is telling them that your talents are only enough to govern a place, but his talents are enough to govern a country!"

Although Li Nian has not yet talked about the achievements of Prime Minister Zhuge, those titles and the admiration of later generations have proved that Prime Minister Zhuge was indeed talented.

Li Nian smiled and said, "Xu Shu's official position was not very high. He probably did not work hard for Cao Wei when he was in Cao's camp. Xu Shu's deeds were also passed down to later generations. He became a model of filial piety, and left behind a pun: 'Xu Shu entered Cao's camp and said nothing.'"

"Let's talk about Prime Minister Zhuge. His surname is Zhuge, his given name is Liang, his courtesy name is Kongming, and he is from Yangdu, Langya."

"When he was eight years old, his father Zhuge Gui died of illness, so he followed his uncle Zhuge Xuan to Jingzhou. After Zhuge Xuan's death, Prime Minister Zhuge worked as a farmer in Nanyang."

"At this time, Prime Minister Zhuge was already famous for his talent, but not many people knew about it, and he did not attract the attention of the princes."

"Of course, even if they attract the attention of other princes, it will be useless. The Prime Minister will not follow them."

Hearing this, the First Emperor asked, "Could it be that Zhuge Kongming has already decided to follow Liu Bei?"

Li Nian smiled and said, "It cannot be said that it has been decided, but the Prime Minister is not a person who would look down upon other princes. For example, although Cao Cao, the King of Wei, is a man of great talent and strategy, he is treacherous and cruel, and has killed many people. Moreover, the Prime Minister has a great liking for the Han Dynasty, so how could the Prime Minister come out of retirement to assist Cao Cao?"

"As for the other princes, they are not much better than Cao Cao. Only Liu Bei, as a relative of the Han Dynasty, is benevolent and righteous. Although he has been defeated many times, he has remained steadfast."

"If Liu Bei fails to meet the requirements of Prime Minister Zhuge Liang as a lord, I think the Prime Minister may never leave the palace in his lifetime."

Therefore, Emperor Zhaolie was both the chosen one and the only prime minister, and the prime minister was also the chosen one and the only one for Emperor Zhaolie. The harmony between the monarch and his ministers made this historical legend possible.

Li Nian said: "After receiving Xu Shu's recommendation, Liu Bei made a special trip to visit the Prime Minister's residence. However, I don't know whether the Prime Minister was testing him intentionally or he just happened to have something to do. Liu Bei went there twice but didn't see the Prime Minister."

"It was not until the third time that he finally got to see the prime minister. But when they arrived, the prime minister was taking a nap. Liu Bei did not disturb him and stood outside the room. Only after the prime minister woke up on his own was he invited inside to talk."

The First Emperor smiled and said, "This must be Zhuge Kongming's intention to test Liu Bei. The king chooses his ministers, and the ministers also choose their kings. Especially with Zhuge Kongming's talent, he will definitely see if Liu Bei is worthy of his assistance."

Li Nian said, "I think so too. Liu Bei visited the Prime Minister three times and even waited outside for the Prime Minister to wake up. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who were traveling with him, were already dissatisfied and thought that Liu Bei was humiliated. If it were some other princes, they would have left in anger or forcibly captured the Prime Minister. However, Liu Bei not only did not care, but also appeased Guan Yu and Zhang Fei."

At that time, the prime minister was not that famous, and even though Liu Bei was down and out, he was already the world-famous uncle Liu. Being able to tolerate the prime minister magnanimously was considered to be a great honor and favor to him.

"After waking up, the prime minister invited Liu Bei into his thatched cottage, analyzed the general situation of the world with Liu Bei, and formulated a development strategy for him. The content of the conversation between the prime minister and Liu Bei was recorded and passed down to later generations, known as "Longzhong Discussion":"

"Liang tilled the fields and liked to compose Liangfu Yin. He was eight feet tall and often compared himself to Guan Zhong and Yue Yi, but no one at the time agreed with him. Only Cui Zhouping of Boling and Xu Shuyuanzhi of Yingchuan were friendly with Liang and believed him to be true..."

This was a text that we had to memorize in its entirety when we were in school. I didn't feel much emotion when I memorized it back then, I just treated it as a task to be completed. But looking back now, it was the beginning of a great historical story.

"... Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and others were displeased, and the First Lord explained, 'I have Kong Ming just as a fish has water. I hope you will stop talking.' Then Yu and Fei stopped."

After listening to the full text of "Longzhong Strategy" being recited, the First Emperor commented: "Generals are common, but commanders are not. Officials in a place are common, but officials in a country are not. Zhuge Kongming is a man who is both a counselor and a commander."

The reason why Liu Bei had been running around everywhere and accomplishing nothing before was that their group had no brains, and no one planned the development direction for them. They didn't know where to develop specifically, nor did they know what goals to achieve and how many stages to divide them into. As a result, they hit the target here and there.

But the conversation between the Prime Minister and the Emperor's uncle made the Emperor's uncle clear about the path he wanted to take. He had a specific and clear goal and was no longer confused.

Looking back from later generations, the strategy of "Longzhong Strategy" seems to be just like that. It is not very difficult. I can do it, but it may not work even if I do it.

Not everyone can have a thorough understanding of the general trend of the world and come up with achievable development goals under the background of the times, although many of the strategic goals of "Longzhong Strategy" have not been achieved.

"This story of the emperor's uncle visiting the prime minister three times was also passed down to later generations and turned into an idiom 'three visits to the thatched cottage', which was remembered by later generations. The great Tang poet once wrote in "The Prime Minister of Shu":"

"Where can I find the Prime Minister's shrine? There are dense cypresses outside Jinguan City."

"The green grass on the steps is from the spring, and the oriole sings beautifully through the leaves."

"He visited me three times to ask for advice on state affairs, and he helped the old ministers of the two dynasties."

"He died before he left the teacher, and it made the hero tears full of tears."

This is also a poem that must be memorized in school. After Li Nian finished memorizing it, the First Emperor and the other two silently savored it in their hearts. This poem is not long, but it condenses the life of Prime Minister Zhuge.

But this story does not seem to be perfect and does not have a good ending. Prime Minister Zhuge did not fulfill his long-cherished wish, and the sentence "he died before accomplishing his mission" is proof of this.

But until his death, the old minister of two dynasties was still leading the army to fight for his wish. He should have been quite old by then, right?
He is truly a loyal and righteous man!
Unfortunately, he was ultimately unable to realize his wish and change the fate of Shu Han. In the end, the three kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu all fell under the control of Jin.

No, didn’t Li Nian say that the world was divided into three parts by Wei, Shu and Wu? Then one of the three should be the one to unify the world in the end? Where did this Jin come from?

Thinking of this, the First Emperor found a bright spot and asked: "What kind of power is Jin? Who founded it? Why is it not among the three kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu?"

Li Nian was stunned. Why did the First Emperor's thoughts suddenly jump to this?
But he still replied: "Jin was founded by the Sima family. The Sima family was originally a minister of Cao Wei. However, the Cao Wei clan became weak, and the Sima family gradually became stronger. They eventually replaced Cao Wei and destroyed Shu and Wu, unifying the world again."

"In fact, Sima Yi, the founder of Jin, and Prime Minister Zhuge are exactly opposite in history. Their talents and wisdom are quite similar, but in other aspects..."

"Prime Minister Zhuge was nicknamed 'Wolong', Sima Yi was nicknamed 'Zhonghu'. Prime Minister Zhuge was loyal and righteous throughout his life, but Sima Yi was cunning and treacherous." "Some people in later generations joked that Sima Yi shot an arrow from the bank of the Luo River, which flew past Li Jing's scalp and hit Li Shanchang right between his eyebrows."

Li Nian explained: "Li Jing was a general who founded the Tang Dynasty and had made great military achievements. Li Shanchang was the first meritorious official in the founding of the Ming Dynasty. The relationship between them and Sima Yi was that when Sima Yi seized power from Cao Shuang, he swore an oath by the Luo River, promising that as long as Cao Shuang handed over his military power, he would retain his wealth and title, and would not touch his family."

The First Emperor asked, "But Sima Yi broke his oath?"

Li Nian nodded: "Sima Yi not only wiped out Cao Shuang's entire family, but also killed thousands of Cao's relatives. The consequence of this incident is that from then on, few people in China believed in the oath, which led to constant suspicion between the monarch and his subjects. Once a subject's achievements were too great to be feared by the monarch, he would be killed by the monarch."

"Because there was Sima Yi before them. When Emperor Wu of Wei, Cao Cao, Emperor Wen of Wei, Cao Pi, and Emperor Ming of Wei, Cao Rui, were alive, Sima Yi was relatively honest and dutiful, but he was very resilient and survived these three, and finally waited for the opportunity to seize power from Cao Wei and lay the foundation for the Jin Dynasty."

"Some people in later generations believed that Li Jing and Li Shanchang were harmed by Sima Yi. When Li Shanchang was executed by Emperor Hongwu, he was already over 70 years old. However, Emperor Hongwu was still worried that Li Shanchang might still be alive. What if after his death, he would imitate Sima Yi's past deeds..."

"Li Jing's fate was better than Li Shanchang's because he met Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. Li Jing did have great military achievements and outstanding leadership ability, but Emperor Taizong was also good at leading troops."

"Among many emperors in history, Emperor Taizong of Tang was the best in military ability, so he was not afraid of his subjects making great contributions."

Sima Yi was really evil. If he hadn't done that, Li Jing might not have lived in fear all his life, and Li Shanchang might not have been executed by Emperor Hongwu at the age of over 70.

Meng Tian commented: "Sima Yi broke his oath and seized power, which is a way to disaster. The foundation of Jin is not right, and the country will definitely be in turmoil."

Li Nian smiled and said, "So 'I hope the holy dynasty governs the world with filial piety', not loyalty, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness, because after Sima Yi broke his oath and Sima Zhao ordered Cheng Ji to kill the emperor in the street, there was no loyalty."

These words startled the First Emperor and his two companions. The Sima family was so wild that they even killed the king in the street. With this kind of country, Jin would definitely not be a good dynasty.

"There were two Luoshui oaths in history. The first one was when Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu pointed to the Luoshui River and swore not to kill Zhu Yu in order to win him over. He did not kill him in the end."

"Sima Yi's actions only make Prime Minister Zhuge Liang more loyal and upright."

"When Liu Bei entrusted his son to the Prime Minister in Baidi City, he said to the Prime Minister, 'You are ten times more talented than Cao Pi. You will surely be able to stabilize the country and finally settle major issues. If the heir is capable, assist him; if he is not, you can take the position yourself.' However, the Prime Minister never stepped beyond that in his entire life, and devoted himself to the Shu Han until his death."

One was entrusted by the late emperor with the task of taking power but he did not do so and instead continued to serve the second generation of emperor loyally; the other broke his oath and seized power.

No wonder emperors in later generations all hoped to have ministers like Zhuge Kongming!

How can you not like such a minister who is both capable and loyal?

Li Nian continued: "After the Longzhong Plan, Prime Minister Zhuge Liang worshipped Liu Bei as his lord and officially came out of retirement. In August of the 13th year of Jian'an, Liu Biao died of illness and his second son Liu Cong succeeded him. At that time, Cao Cao had unified the north and led his army south to Jingchu, preparing to unify the world."

"When Liu Cong heard that Cao Cao was heading south, he sent an envoy to surrender. The prime minister advised the emperor's uncle to attack Liu Cong at this time so that he could seize Jingzhou, but the emperor's uncle could not bear it."

"He had stayed in Jingzhou for several years and was well cared for by Liu Biao. How could he seize Jingzhou from Liu Biao's son shortly after his death?"

"This may indeed be an opportunity for the emperor's uncle. If it was the wife of Cao who said, 'I would rather let the world betray me than let the world betray me,' she probably would not let go. However, the emperor's uncle gave up. He said, 'I can't bear it.'"

After hearing this, the First Emperor and his two companions sighed.

The First Emperor wondered in his heart, if he were in Liu Bei's situation at that time, would he give up this opportunity?

He quickly came up with the answer. He would definitely not let him go. Liu Bei's choice was indeed not what a qualified emperor should make, but the words "I can't bear it." made the First Emperor feel an indescribable feeling.

It's a warm and romantic feeling that makes history no longer so cold. History is not only about bloody battlefields, intrigues and interests, but also about gentle stories that give civilization to the years, rather than years to civilization.

The First Emperor sighed: No wonder Liu Bei was able to have Guan Yu and Zhang Fei follow him, and Zhuge Liang assist him...

Li Nian continued, "But no matter how much the emperor's uncle couldn't bear it, the fact that Cao Cao's army was heading south was still there, and this couldn't be resolved by just being kind and righteous. So, when the emperor's uncle was defeated and defended Xiakou, he sent Prime Minister Zhuge to ask Sun Quan for help, and the two families joined forces to fight Cao Cao."

"Sun Quan was the son of Sun Jian and the younger brother of Sun Ce. After Sun Ce's death, he took over the throne and took control of Jiangdong with the assistance of Zhou Yu, Zhang Zhao and others. Sun Quan succeeded to the throne at a young age and made great achievements. Cao Cao once commented that 'If you have a son, you should have one like Sun Zhongmou. If you have a son like Liu Jingsheng, he will be like a pig or a dog.'"

This is not a mockery of Sun Quan, but a true praise of Sun Quan. Cao Cao and Sun Quan's father Sun Jian are of the same generation and can be evaluated in this way.

"Later, Xin Qiji, a patriotic poet in the Southern Song Dynasty, also borrowed this line in his poem: 'Young man with ten thousand helmets, he sits in the southeast and the war never stops. Who is the hero in the world? Cao and Liu. If I have a son, I hope he will be like Sun Zhongmou.' He was referring to Sun Quan."

"But because of some of Sun Quan's subsequent actions, he was also ridiculed as 'Sun Shiwan' and 'Jiangdong rat'."

"'Sun Shiwan' means that he led an army of 100,000 to attack Hefei, but was repelled by Zhang Liao with only 800 soldiers. Because of this incompetent performance, he was given the title 'Sun Shiwan'."

"'Jiangdong Rat' was because Cao Wei was powerful, and Sun and Liu formed an alliance to fight against Cao. However, Sun Quan stabbed his ally in the back and ordered Lu Meng to attack Jingzhou. Not only did he capture Jingzhou, but he also captured Guan Yu and killed him. Because of this behavior, he was called 'Jiangdong Rat'."

Li Nian smiled and said, "There is nothing wrong with the title 'Sun Shiwan', but the 'Jiangdong Rat' thing is actually due to Guan Yu and Shu Han. It can't be blamed entirely on Sun Quan, such as the ownership of several counties in Jingzhou and Guan Yu looking down on Sun Quan."

From a historical perspective, it seems that Liu Bei only borrowed Nanjun, not the entire Jingzhou. But the bad thing is that Liu Bei once "went to the capital to see Quan and asked to be the governor of Jingzhou, but Su persuaded Quan to borrow it and jointly resist Cao Gong."

Liu Bei asked Sun Quan for the governorship of Jingzhou, which made Sun Quan think that he was Liu Bei's boss. So Liu Bei's territory in Jingzhou should naturally belong to him. It was "lent" to Liu Bei by him and could be taken back when the time was right.

Liu Bei also acknowledged this at the beginning, thus laying the groundwork for the subsequent land dispute in Jingzhou.

Guan Yu was proud of his superiors but did not humiliate his subordinates, bullied the strong but did not bully the weak, valued his soldiers but despised his officials, and severely offended Sun Quan.

The two families had a dispute over the land of Jingzhou, and Guan Yu made Sun Quan feel humiliated. Due to multiple factors, Sun Quan stabbed Guan Yu in the back.

(End of this chapter)