Chapter 38 Chapter Thirty-Seventh Empress Liu Chan

Liu Chan's courtesy name is Gongsi, and his nickname is Adou.In the twenty-fourth year of Jian'an in the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 219), Liu Bei was proclaimed the King of Hanzhong, and Liu Chan was established as the prince. In the summer and April of the third year of Zhangwu in the Shu Han Dynasty (223 A.D.), Liu Bei conquered Sun Wu in the east and returned in a big defeat.Before he died, Liu Bei summoned Zhuge Liang, Prime Minister of Shu, Liu Chan, the crown prince, and several other sons to Baidi City to entrust his funeral affairs. After Liu Bei's death, Liu Chan succeeded to the throne as emperor and changed Yuan Jianxing.At this time, Liu Chan was only 17 years old.

Liu Chan also has self-knowledge, he left everything to Zhuge Liang to deal with, and he only cared about some etiquette.He said: "Government is up to the Ge family, and sacrifices are for widows." Zhuge Liang felt that Liu Chan was young and ignorant, so he took charge of the government and decided all matters, big or small, by himself. As soon as Liu Chan ascended the throne, news continued to spread that some barbarians in the Nanzhong area (now in Yunnan) rebelled.The burden of dealing with this difficult situation fell entirely on Zhuge Liang. He considered that Liu Bei was defeated in defeating Wu, the vitality of the Shu Han was seriously injured, and Liu Chan had just ascended the throne, so it was not convenient to use troops immediately.Therefore, it was decided to try hard to persuade the rebel chieftain in Nanzhong.At the same time, send troops to garrison the dangerous points to prevent its spread to the middle of Shu, and solve it after the conditions are ripe.He regarded rectifying internal affairs, developing the economy of central Shu and restoring the alliance with Sun Quan as the first major issues that must be resolved.

In November of the first year of Jianxing in the Shu Han Dynasty (AD 223), Zhuge Liang sent Shang Shulang Deng Zhi to Soochow.Deng Zhi fulfilled his mission and persuaded Sun Quan to sever ties with Cao Wei and make peace with Shu Han. While restoring the Wu-Shu alliance, Zhuge Liang also concentrated on rectifying internal affairs, rewarding production, and accumulating grain and grass.Two years later, the economic situation of the Shu Han improved. Zhuge Liang saw that the conditions were ripe, so in the third year of Jianxing (225 A.D.), he personally led an army to put down the Nanzhong rebellion.

After a long period of rest and reorganization, the Shu army has sufficient food and supplies, and its morale is high. Wherever the army goes, it wins steadily.Soon, the outlying areas were cleared and they went deep into the hinterland of Nanzhong.At this time, internal strife broke out among the leaders of the rebels, and Meng Huo, the leader of the ethnic minority, gathered the rest of the parties and continued to fight against the Shu army.Meng Huo not only fought bravely, but also had certain prestige and influence among the local Han and minority people.According to the appeasement policy, Zhuge Liang decided to surrender Meng Huo.He ordered the soldiers to capture Meng Huo alive and not to harm him.

Meng Huo was a man of courage but without strategy.On the first day of fighting with the Shu army, he was captured alive by Zhuge Liang's design.When Meng Huo was escorted to the camp, Zhuge Liang immediately ordered his men to untie him, and accompanied him to the front camp of the Shu army to watch the battle.Zhuge Liang asked Meng Huo, "What do you think of my army?" Meng Huo said arrogantly, "I didn't know your true and false before, so I lost. Now that I see your formation, it's nothing more than that. Next time If we fight again, I will definitely defeat you." Zhuge Liang smiled loudly and said, "In this case, you can go back and fight again."

After Meng Huo was released, he regrouped and fought the Shu army again, but failed again.Seeing that he was dissatisfied, Zhuge Liang let him go again.Like this, he was released and caught again, and then caught and released again. When Zhuge Liang was about to release him for the seventh time when Meng Huo was captured alive, Meng Huo was moved and said: "Prime Minister Tianwei, I am convinced. The southerners will never let him go again." Rebelled." When Zhuge Liang returned to his division from Nanzhong, he also brought back some of the more prestigious ethnic minorities to Chengdu and appointed them to appropriate official positions.The Nanzhong area was re-divided, and reliable officials were appointed as local governors.He also taught the ethnic minority people to develop agriculture and handicrafts, and sent people to cook salt and smelt iron, so that the political stability and economic development of the Nanzhong area.Since then, gold and silver, lacquer, cattle, war horses, etc. produced in Nanzhong have been continuously transported to central Shu, providing a large amount of strategic materials for the subsequent Northern Expedition.After pacifying Nanzhong, the Shu Han government also selected elites from among the ethnic minorities who moved to Shuzhong, and organized them into five divisions. After rigorous training, they formed an elite force named "Flying Army".

After long-term preparations, Zhuge Liang prepared to attack Cao Wei in the north and march into the Central Plains.In March of the fifth year of Jianxing in the Shu Han Dynasty (AD 227), Zhuge Liang took Zhang Yi as the head of the residence, and Jiang Wan, who joined the army, handled the government affairs of the prime minister's mansion, and Dong Yun, the servant, managed the palace. Zhuge Liang gave a seal to Shu Emperor Liu Chan.In this memorandum, Zhuge Liang earnestly advised Liu Chan to be close to virtuous ministers, alienate villains, and work hard to rule.This is the "Teacher List" that has been passed down through the ages.At this time, Liu Chan was in his 20s.

After receiving Zhuge Liang's list of teachers, Liu Chan issued an edict to crusade against Cao Wei to boost morale.Zhuge Liang then led the army out of Hanzhong, and set up a camp at Yangguan on the north bank of Mianshui.In this Northern Expedition, according to Zhuge Liang's arrangement, the troops were divided into two groups: one with Zhao Yun and Deng Zhi as the suspected army, marching to occupy Jigu, and threatening to attack Meixian County (north of Meixian County, Shaanxi Province) from Xiegu Road.On the other side, Zhuge Liang personally led the main force to attack Qishan (northwest of Xihe County, Gansu Province) to the northwest.After more than two years of training, the Shu army has strict discipline, high morale, and quick action.The main force soon reached Qishan and continued to attack northwest.Since Liu Bei's death, the Shu army has not moved for many years, and the state of Wei is defenseless.This time the Shu army suddenly appeared in Qishan, and the state of Wei was greatly shaken. The three counties of Tianshui, Nan'an, and Anshi, which were originally controlled by the state of Wei, all rebelled against Wei and returned to Shu. Jiang Wei, the general of Tianshui, surrendered to Zhuge Liang.

The news of Zhuge Liang's capture of Qishan spread to Luoyang, the capital of the Wei Dynasty, and the government and the people were in fear.The court ministers didn't know how to deal with it.Wei Mingdi was still calm, he even dispatched General Zhang Yun to lead an army of 50,000 to the west to resist the main force of the Shu army. At this time, Zhuge Liang decided to send an advance team to occupy Jieting (now southeast of Zhuanglang, Gansu).When discussing candidates, Zhuge Liang decided to promote Ma Su, who liked to learn the art of war since childhood and was well-versed in military matters, as the vanguard, and Wang Ping as the deputy general to assist Ma Su.

Ma Su and Wang Ping led their troops to Jieting.Wei general Zhang He led the Wei army to march towards Jieting.Ma Di found that there was a mountain next to the street pavilion, and decided to set up his camp on the mountain.Wang Pingyuan was born in the army. Although he lacks culture, he has rich combat experience.He reminded Ma Su that doing so violated the prime minister's deployment.But Ma Di thought he was familiar with the art of war, so he didn't listen to Wang Ping's suggestion at all, and insisted on camping on the mountain.Wang Ping had no choice but to ask Ma Di to allocate 1,000 troops to be stationed at the foot of the mountain for support.

Zhang He rushed to Jieting and found that Ma Su had set up his camp on the mountain. He immediately cut off the water source below the mountain and besieged the Shu army on the mountain.The Shu army was without water on the mountain for a long time. The hunger and thirst became unbearable, and there was great chaos in the camp. Zhang Yun seized the opportunity and launched a fierce attack. Wang Ping found that the Shu army was disintegrated at the foot of the mountain, and ordered the soldiers to beat the drums desperately to stop Zhang Yun's attack. He was able to calmly collect the scattered soldiers and lead the soldiers back to Qishan. The fall of Jieting broke Zhuge Liang's deployment and caused the Shu army to lose its offensive stronghold.Seeing that there was no hope of victory, Zhuge Liang led his troops and thousands of people back to Hanzhong. Zhuge Liang was very saddened by the loss of Jieting, and the first thing to investigate the responsibility was that Ma Di violated the deployment and caused a fatal mistake.People were dissatisfied with Ma Su as the vanguard, and it was even more difficult to convince everyone if he was not strictly dealt with. Zhuge Liang executed Ma Di according to law.After Ma Di was executed, Zhuge Liang set up a sacrifice in person. Thinking of his friendship with Ma Su for many years, tears filled his eyes, and the soldiers of the Shu army were also moved to tears.Then, Zhuge Liang wrote to Liu Chan again, asking for punishment. After Liu Chan received the memorial, he demoted Zhuge Liang to General You, acting as the prime minister.Of course, this kind of punishment is just for show, and it doesn't affect Zhuge Liang's actual power.After that, Zhuge Liang led his army to attack Wei twice, and the Shu army achieved partial victories.Later master Liu Chan believed that Zhuge Liang had made new contributions, so he issued an edict to restore Zhuge Liang to his post as prime minister. In this year, Sun Quan, king of Wu, officially proclaimed himself emperor and sent envoys to Chengdu, suggesting that he and the Shu Han should respect each other as emperors.Liu Chan asked his ministers to discuss the matter. Most of the Shu Han ministers believed that only the Shu Kingdom could inherit the orthodoxy of the Han Dynasty. Sun Quan's proclaiming emperor, like Cao Pi, was an arrogance, and he advocated breaking off the alliance with Soochow.However, in the end, they all agreed with Zhuge Liang's proposition that the overall situation of the alliance should be the most important.Therefore, Liu Chan sent envoys to Soochow to congratulate Wu Emperor Sun Quan, and signed a new covenant, agreeing not to invade each other, and dividing the land of Cao Wei equally after the destruction of Wei. In the spring and February of the twelfth year of Jianxing (234 A.D.), Zhuge Liang led an army of 100,000 to the west from Xiegu and launched the fifth Northern Expedition.This time, envoys were also sent to Soochow to ask Sun Quan to cooperate with each other, and at the same time to attack on a large scale.In April, Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi faced each other in the south of the Wei River according to Wuzhangyuan (now Qishan County, Shaanxi Province) of Wugong.In view of the fact that every Northern Expedition died prematurely due to lack of military rations, he simply adopted the method of dividing troops to garrison fields this time. Sima Yi, the chief general of the Wei army, has been in battle for a long time and is scheming.He knew that the Shu army was coming from far away, and the advantage was to fight quickly, so he couldn't hold out.Zhuge Liang was anxious, and challenged him in every possible way, and gave Sima Yi a set of women's clothing to humiliate him. Sima Yi still suppressed his anger, tried every means to restrain the generals, but refused to fight.At this time, the 100,000 troops of Soochow, which cooperated with the attack of the Shu army, had a bad start. After attacking Hefei, the important town of the Wei army for a long time, the general Sun Tai was shot and killed, and the Wu army retreated back to the country. The Wu army sent out troops this time anticlimactic, making Zhuge Liang's Shu army a lone army again.Coupled with Sima Yi's insistence not to fight, Zhuge Liang became even more anxious when he saw that it was difficult to win.He is usually very weak, and he has to do everything by himself, and he has to deal with everything by himself, so he is very tired.Now Sima Yi does not fight in deep trenches and high bases, Zhuge Liang cannot fight in advance, and is unwilling to retreat. There is no place for heroes to use their talents. After falling ill, Zhuge Liang knew that his illness was dangerous, so he gave Liu Chan a memorial to report his condition, and also attached a secret memorial, saying, "If I am unlucky, I can entrust Jiang Wan with the expenses."Zhuge Liang called Yang Yi, Fei Yi and others to his side again, and told him in detail how to retreat after his death. A few days later, Zhuge Liang's condition deteriorated and he died.After Zhuge Liang's death, Prime Minister Shi Yangyi, President of the military, commanded the retreat of the Shu army.When Sima Yi heard the news, he hurriedly led his army in pursuit, but was retreated by Yang Yi using Zhuge Liang's trick. After the Northern Expeditionary Army returned to Chengdu, in order to commend and commemorate Zhuge Liang's character and achievements during his lifetime, Liu Chan granted him the posthumous title of Marquis Zhongwu, and buried him in Dingjun Mountain according to Zhuge Liang's last wish. After Liu Chan dealt with Zhuge Liang's funeral, he appointed Shi Jiangwan, the head of the prime minister's office, as the minister and the governor of Yizhou. Later, he worshiped the general and took Zhuge Liang's position.Jiang Wan was talented, mature and prudent. When the new prime minister was bereaved and the public was terrified, he suppressed his grief and handled political affairs calmly and methodically.As a result, prestige was gradually established in the court, and the situation gradually stabilized. In the first month of the 15th year of Jianxing in the Shu Han Dynasty (237 A.D.), Liu Chan established the queen Zhang, amnesty the world, and changed the Yuan to Yanxi. After that, he made his son Liu Zhen the prince and Liu Yao the king of Anding.At this time, the Empress was no longer subject to Zhuge Liang's strict discipline, and Jiang Wan could not restrain him at all.As a result, his pleasure-seeking vice has grown day by day.He often led the palace eunuchs out to play, and made people set up vocal music in the inner palace for his enjoyment and entertainment. In the winter and eleventh month of the ninth year of Yanxi in the Shu Han Dynasty (246 A.D.), Jiang Wan died of illness. Liu Chan took care of state affairs by himself, and Fei Yi succeeded him as a general to assist the government. Because Jiang Wan and Fei Yi implemented a steady policy.In addition, after the death of Emperor Wei Ming, the internal political situation in Cao Wei was turbulent. Sima Yi and his sons Sima Shi and Sima Zhao killed Cao Shuang and seized the real power of Wei State. They were busy suppressing dissident forces and ignored the attack on Shu. There was no large-scale war between Shu and Wei. In the spring of the twelfth year of Yanxi in the Shu Han Dynasty (AD 249), Xia Houba, the right general of the Cao Wei Dynasty, was afraid of being killed by the Sima family, so he rebelled against Wei and fled to the Kingdom of Shu.Xiahouba is the son of Xiahouyuan, a famous general of Cao Wei. Xiahouyuan and Cao Cao are brothers-in-law, so they are the clan of Cao Wei.At the beginning, Xia Houyuan was guarding Hanzhong, but was defeated and killed by Liu Bei's army. Therefore, Xia Houba had a hatred for killing his father with the state of Shu.But Xiahouba's younger sister married Zhang Fei as his wife, and gave birth to a daughter. After she grew up, she married Liu Chan and became the queen. Therefore, Xiahouba and Liu Chan are related by marriage.This time Xiahou came to Shu Han in embarrassment. Liu Chan was very enthusiastic about him and explained to him: "Your father was killed when the two armies were fighting, not my father himself." His son said: "These are all Xiahou's nephews." He also rewarded Xiahouba greatly.As far as this matter is concerned, Liu Chan handled it decently. In the spring of the sixteenth year of Yanxi in the Shu Han Dynasty (253 A.D.), another major event happened in the Shu Han Dynasty.Wei Guojiang general Guo Xiu was captured by Jiang Wei and brought back to Chengdu. Liu Chan appointed him as General Zuo before he could find out whether he really surrendered.Guo Xiu is grateful on the surface, but in his heart he seeks revenge.He tried to assassinate Liu Chan several times, but was blocked by Liu Chan's guards without success.In the end, Guo Xiu had no choice but to take the next best thing and assassinate General Fei Yi at the banquet. After Fei Yi died, Jiang Wei succeeded him as General.After Jiang Wei took control of the military, he held the Northern Expedition almost every year, exhausting people and money, but returning without success.Jiang Wei was unfavorable in dispatching troops, and he had no prestige in the court.Huang Hao, the eunuch trusted by Liu Chan, took the opportunity to seize the power of internal affairs.Huang Hao also wanted to remove General Jiang Wei from his position and let his followers control the military power.Jiang Wei hated Huang Hao's monopoly, so he asked the master to kill Huang Hao.But Liu Chan replied: "Huang Hao is just a servant for me to run around, why do you mind!" The implication is that Jiang Wei is nosy.Jiang Wei saw that Huang Hao had many followers and gained Liu Chan's trust. He was afraid that Huang Hao would frame him again, so he said goodbye to Liu Chan, saying that he was not careful.Soon, Jiang Wei asked to go to Tazhong (now southwest of Lintan, Gansu Province) to garrison troops to plant wheat, and never dared to return to Chengdu.From then on, under Liu Chan's connivance, Huang Hao and others did whatever they wanted, and Shu's internal affairs became more and more out of hand. In the fifth year of Jingyao in the Shu Han Dynasty (AD 262), Jiang Wei discovered that Wei was training troops in Guanzhong, showing signs of attacking Shu. He immediately reported to Liu Chan and suggested sending heavy troops to defend Yangping Pass (now west of Mianxian County, Shaanxi) and Yinping (now Wenzhou, Gansu Province). county).Liu Chan asked Huang Hao, and Huang Hao pretended to be a witch and ghost, saying that the Wei army would not attack, so Liu Chan ignored Jiang Wei's suggestion.The ministers of the DPRK and China were completely ignorant of the critical situation on the border. In the sixth year of Jingyao's reign in the Shu Han Dynasty (AD 263), the Wei army indeed marched in three directions. Due to the slack defense of the Shu army, when Liu Chan heard the news and quickly sent Liao Hua, Zhang Yi and others to lead troops to resist, Zhong Hui's army had already captured Hanzhong.Jiang Wei was shocked when he learned that Hanzhong had been lost in Tazhong, and hurriedly gathered his forces to hold on to the Jiange.Zhong Hui's army arrived at Jiange and was blocked by Jiang Weijun. Unexpectedly, Deng Ai set out from Yangping and passed through 700 miles of uninhabited and rugged mountains.The prefect of Jiangyou surrendered without a fight. At this time, Zhuge Zhan, the son of Zhuge Liang, led an army to garrison Fucheng, and Deng Ai sent an envoy to Zhuge Zhan to persuade him to surrender.Said: "As long as you surrender, I will definitely recommend you as king." Zhuge Zhan is worthy of being a descendant of Zhuge Liang. He angrily tore up the letter, beheaded the envoy of Wei, and determined to fight Deng Ai to the death. Under the fierce attack of Deng Ai's superior force, Zhuge Zhan fought bravely and was finally defeated and killed.His son Zhuge Shang, who was only ten years old, fought with the army. When he heard that his father died in battle, he sighed and said: "My father and son have received the grace of the country, and they couldn't kill Huang Hao early. As a result, I have suffered a disaster like this. What else is there for me to live?" Meaning!" After saying that, he got on his horse and rushed into the enemy's line to die. Fucheng fell, Zhuge Zhan died in battle, and Chengdu had no danger to defend and no generals to fight.Deng Ai drove straight in and approached the city of Chengdu.Liu Chan hurriedly summoned his ministers to discuss.Some people advocated defecting to Soochow, while others advocated retreating to Nanzhong.Qiao Zhou, the doctor of Guanglu, advocated surrendering to Wei.After thinking about it, Liu Chan had no choice but to surrender to Deng Ai. Liu Chan's son, Liu Chen, the king of the Northland, heard that his father was going to obey Qiao Zhou's persuasion and surrender to Deng Ai. Let's perish together, let's go to see the first emperor together. Why surrender?!" Liu Chan, greedy for life and afraid of death, refused to accept Liu Chen's suggestion, and led the prince and officials to bind their hands, carry the coffin, and surrender to Deng Ai's army camp.Starting from the overall situation of realizing unification, Sima Zhao treated him very preferentially. In the name of Emperor Wei, he granted Liu Chan the title of Duke of Anle County. As the king of subjugation, Liu Chan was humiliated by the enemy, but he was content with himself and never thought of returning.Once, Sima Zhao and Liu Chan had a banquet, and deliberately ordered people to play Shu opera music, to see how Liu Chan felt.When people from Shu heard the music of Shu and thought of their homeland, they all felt sad, but Liu Chan smiled happily.Sima Zhao said to Jia Chong: "People have no feelings, how can they reach this point! Even if Zhuge Liang is alive, he can't assist him in long-term stability, let alone Jiang Wei!" Jia Chong said: "If this is not the case, how can the master annex Shu? ?” Another day, Sima Zhao asked Liu Chan again: “Do you miss the Kingdom of Shu?” Liu Chan replied, “It’s very happy here, I don’t miss the Kingdom of Shu.” In the seventh year of Taishi in the Western Jin Dynasty (AD 271), Liu Chan died in Luoyang at the age of 66 after spending nearly 10 years of humiliating life as a prisoner under the fence of Wei State.