Chapter 42 (42) Powerless

After Liu Chanbei's death, Zhuge Liang governed Shu internally according to law, acted fairly, and managed Shu in an orderly manner.However, twenty-nine years after his death, Qiao Zhou, a minister with positions but no powers, actually used his three-inch tongue to say that the Kingdom of Shu had surrendered.So Zhuge Liang created the great cause of Shu, why couldn't he stand up to Qiao Zhou's few words?What kind of mystery is there?Please pay attention to it - there is no way to recover. In 263 A.D., two months after the Cao Wei army sent troops, the Shu Han regime, which was originally well managed, was handed over to the Wei State by Liu Chan, and became the first to perish among the three kingdoms of Wei, Shu, and Wu.This confuses many historians.Liu Chan's surrender without a fight is the last unsolved mystery in the history of Shu Han.Going back to the autumn of the crisis of the Shu Han regime, no one could come up with a good strategy to retreat from the enemy, and the courtiers all surrendered.However, Liu Chan's first reaction was that he did not want to surrender, and wanted to flee to the south to avoid the limelight.While Liu Chan was hesitating, Qiao Zhou, a doctor with a position but no authority, talked eloquently in the court, and he convinced Liu Chan, and finally surrendered without a fight.

So why did Qiao Zhou insist on surrendering to Cao Wei?What kind of person is Qiao Zhou?Why did Liu Chan listen to him?Behind the rapid demise of the Shu Han, what kind of deep political background is there?Professor Yi Zhongtian from Xiamen University is a guest on "Hundreds of Lectures", and will give you a wonderful taste of the "powerless recovery" of the Three Kingdoms. In fact, the Cao Wei regime has always put the destruction of Sun Wu first, and then adjusted its policy to destroy the Shu Han first.Moreover, it only took two months from the dispatch of troops to the demise of the Shu Han, and it perished quickly.Why is this?Historical explanations generally have four reasons: Liu Chan is fatuous, Huang Hao takes power, Chen Zhi messed up the government, and Qiao Zhou misled the country.Liu Chan is the successor, let alone him, everyone knows; Huang Hao is an eunuch next to him; Chen is just a person who makes Huang Hao succeed.Well, I don’t have time to talk about this matter today. Please read my "Pin Three Kingdoms" (the second book), and I will talk about the fourth reason today: Qiao Zhou misunderstood the country.

Let's explain the situation first.At that time, Sima Zhao ordered Deng Ai and Zhong Hui to lead an army to the south to destroy Shu.Starting from Luoyang in August, Deng Ai's army had already reached Chengdu in October. Where did it go?The fight to Guanghan in Sichuan, which is now, has reached the gate of Chengdu.When the news came, the Shu Han court was in chaos.Because before, the eunuch beside Liu Chan had something bad.A year ago, Jiang Wei had discovered that Cao Wei had the possibility of destroying the Shu Han. Jiang Wei had warned Liu Chan, hoping that Liu Chan would order Zhang Yi and Liao Hua to quickly set up defenses on the road.After the letter was delivered, it fell into Huang Hao's hands. Huang Hao was a believer in ghosts and gods. Huang Hao went to ask the witch, or maybe the witch. Anyway, he asked these wizards, saying that this matter may not be possible in your opinion?The wizard or wizard or witch said, oh, it's impossible, I won't call.Huang Hao told Liu Chan that he wouldn't call, so let's withhold this matter, just hold it.But I didn't expect that they really called, and they came in two months. There was a panic, and the people ran into the mountains and hid.

Liu Chan held an imperial meeting and asked everyone to see what to do?There are two schools of thought, both of which advocate fleeing, but one faction says to go to Wu, and the other says to go to Nanzhong.After arguing endlessly, Liu Chan didn't make any claims.At this time, there was a doctor Guanglu. This doctor Guanglu was an honorary title and had no power. He was equivalent to a counselor in the Counselor Office of the State Council.Qiao Zhou came out to speak. Qiao Zhou said that it is not allowed to go to the state of Wu. Why?The reason is simple: "Since ancient times, no one has sent another country to be the emperor." That is, since we have the emperor, has anyone gone to other countries to become the emperor?No, an emperor can only become a vassal if he goes to another country.So since it is to be a vassal anyway, and to be a small country anyway, why not choose a big country?In other words, since you are a minister, instead of being a minister to Sun Wu, it is better to be a minister to Cao Wei. You are a minister anyway.And according to the laws of political struggle, big countries always annex small countries, so Wu will eventually be annexed by Wei. When that day comes, should we follow Wu to surrender a second time?If surrender is a kind of shame, Qiao Zhou said: "What is the shame of being humiliated again?" It means that surrender is a shame anyway, so you count two rounds of shame, or one round of shame?That would be as shameful as surrendering to Cao Wei once, why do you bother to surrender twice, so you can't go to Wu.So why not go to Nanzhong?Qiao Zhou said that Nanzhong can still go, because Nanzhong is still the territory of the Shu Kingdom, which is the territory of Meng Huo and others.It is also possible to go to that place, but you have to prepare early, you are too late to go at this time, why is it too late? "There is nothing to protect the hearts of a group of young people", said Your Majesty, do you think that all the little soldiers, pawns, generals, officials, and officials under your command now support us?They didn't support it, and when they heard that His Majesty was going south, they probably made a fuss before His Majesty raised his feet.Where can I go to the south?Can't go.The conclusion is simple-surrender to Cao Wei.

As soon as Qiao Zhou's theory of surrender was published, there was silence in the court, and no one spoke.Only a few people came out and asked timidly, saying doctor, no way, Deng Ai has already gone to Guanghan, will he accept our surrender? "I'm afraid we won't surrender, what should I do?" What if they don't let us surrender?Qiao Zhou said no, how could he not accept our surrender!Soochow has not perished yet, Cao Wei wants to use us as an example, so he will definitely accept our surrender, not only accepting our surrender, but also treat us politely, and seal a piece of land for our majesty, seal a Knighthood.If they don't do this, don't worry, I, Qiao Zhou, went to Luoyang to argue my case, so why should I treat us capitulators badly?After Qiao Zhou finished speaking, everyone stopped talking.

Liu Chan is still hesitant, Liu Chan always thinks that surrendering is not a big deal, I'd better go south.Qiao Zhou said to him again, no way, who are the people in the south?They are barbarians, they are ethnic minorities, they didn’t accept us at first, but they were suppressed by the prime minister’s troops. It turns out that they have nothing to do with us. After the prime minister left, they have something to do with us, and they have to pay tribute every year. Paying taxes, it is not happy in the first place.After you go there now, so many of us have to live, don’t we have to increase taxes again, how can you live without paying more taxes?If you increase the tax again, won't they oppose it?Can't go.

Liu Chan surrendered.Therefore, it can be said that the death of Shu Han was caused by Qiao Zhou.Liu Chan's surrender was exactly what Qiao Zhou said.Chen Shou said: "Liu's family is safe, a state is ordered, and Zhou Zhimou is also." This is a positive statement. It is Qiao Zhou's foresight to say that Liu Chan's family is safe and sound, and the people of Shu Han are saved from war.Well planned!O peace!Then this matter is very troublesome. Many historians in later generations scolded Qiao Zhou as a traitor. This Shu Han was betrayed by you.I miss our Emperor Zhaolie, and our Prime Minister Zhuge, who worked so hard to make such a great country, but you have a good tongue, but you can't talk about it.Many people are not angry when they mention Qiao Zhou, villain, thief.Of course it makes sense, doesn't it!This outrage is understandable.

When the fate of the country was hanging by a thread, Qiao Zhou, a minister with position but no power, did not have a good plan to retreat from the enemy. He even talked about the benefits of surrendering to Cao Wei in the court, spreading the theory of surrender, and leading the courtiers of Shu Han to a path. There is no way to return. It can be said that Qiao Zhou was very responsible for the surrender of the Shu Han. Therefore, in history, Qiao Zhou was called "wronging the country" and "a despicable villain". So what kind of person is Qiao Zhou?Is he a villain? Who is Qiao Zhou?Tong Confucianism.What is "Tong Confucianism"?It is a great Confucian who is very knowledgeable and has read all the books. He is very knowledgeable.Of course, someone will immediately refute, saying that good knowledge does not mean good character, right?Now we see a lot of people with great knowledge and poor character.The problem is that we can't see any bad records of Qiao Zhou from "Three Kingdoms·Qiao Zhou Biography". On the contrary, we can also see many things worthy of recognition in him, such as being peaceful and happy.

Qiao Zhou's family was very poor, and Qiao Zhou himself didn't own any property. He buried himself in his books, forgot to sleep and eat, and laughed when he read the books of the ancients.Poverty and happiness, don't you want to be sure?Second, Qiao Zhou respects Zhuge Liang very much.When the news of Zhuge Liang's death reached Chengdu, Qiao Zhou was the first to rush out and ran to Hanzhong for the funeral.As a result, after Qiao Zhou rushed to Hanzhong, Liu Chan issued an order that no one was allowed to go to the funeral, so no one else went, but Qiao Zhou went to express condolences.Heroes cherish heroes, since Zhuge Liang is a gentleman, there will be no villain who worships him, right?The third point is to dare to speak out.After Zhuge Liang's death, Liu Chan couldn't control himself anymore. He wanted to build palaces, increase bands, and increase those kabuki, kabuki, maiko, and go out to play in mountains and rivers. No one cares anymore. .It was Qiao Zhoushang who said that His Majesty could not do this.Is this a villain?Therefore, Qiao Zhou is not a villain, at least there is no evidence to prove it.

Through the analysis of Mr. Yi Zhongtian, it can be seen that Qiao Zhou is not a villain, but a great Confucianist. Then, as a Confucian scholar who takes self-cultivation, family harmony, governance of the country, and peace of the world as his own responsibility, why does Qiao Zhou not think about it in front of the enemy? How about retreating the enemy, but take the lead in spreading the theory of surrender?What was Qiao Zhou thinking in his heart? Because our general thinking is that a traitor must be a villain, how can a gentleman betray his country.What's the point of betraying Shu Han by a person who is not a villain?Please think about what is the reason?I think there is only one explanation, that is, this country deserves to perish.In other words, in Qiao Zhou's view, this country should die, and it should have died a long time ago.why?Because in the Three Kingdoms era, in addition to the country and the world, they were two concepts.The concept of a country at that time is not the same as our current concept of a country. The world is higher than the country, and the world must be unified.If a country is considered to hinder the unification of the world, it should perish, and the country that should unify the world should be allowed to unify.This is Qiao Zhou's thinking.

So is there any evidence for this?Yes, and I can tell you where Qiao Zhou's thought came from.Where did it come from?From Dojoon.Who is Du Qiong?Du Qiong is also a scholar in Yizhou.Once I knocked on Qiaozhou and asked Du Qiong, saying that now everyone says "those in the Han Dynasty, when the road is high", what do you mean?Let me first explain to you what Dangtugao is. "Dangtugao" refers to being tall and tall on the right road. Those who are tall on the right road must replace the big men.This was a political folk song at that time, which had been circulated for a long time. Yuan Shu also used it, but failed.Qiao Zhou went to ask, who is this Dang Tugao?Du Qiong said that this is Wei.Qiao Zhou still didn't understand, why is it Wei?Du Qiong said, look, the book is not well read, Wei is, what is it?It is the two tall buildings at the entrance of the imperial palace. The entrance of the ancient imperial palace is facing the main road. There are two tall buildings named Wei, Wei Wei, and Xiangwei.You think about it, isn't this thing just right and tall?It's Wei!Qiao Zhou looked at Du Qiong.Du Qiong said you still don't understand?Qiao Zhou said that the students really still don't understand.Du Qiong said, let me tell you again, you said that before the Han Dynasty, was there any official named Cao since ancient times?Qiao Zhou said no.So what have our government and officials been called since the Han Dynasty?Said it was called Cao.One by one, let me explain a little bit about this place. In the political system of the Han Dynasty, the place where the emperor lived was called the palace, and the place where the prime minister lived was called the mansion, which is the "imperial palace and prime minister's mansion".There are many offices under the palace, what are they called?Called Shang, for example, Shangshu is one of the court's Shang.There are many offices under the prime minister's office, just like our departments, what are the ministries, committees, and offices, what are they called?Called Cao.What is the name of this Cao's chief?It's called Cao Yu; what are the general officials below called?It's called Shu Cao; what are the orderlies under the ministries and commissions of these offices called?Call Shi Cao.One by one Du Qiong said, look, don't you know?Qiao Zhou suddenly realized, oh, Dangtugao is Wei, the government officials are Cao, and the sum is Cao Wei. I understand, it is Cao Wei who unites the world. From then on, Qiao Zhou also spread these remarks, and he took a step forward. He told people everywhere: Please think about it, what is the name of our late emperor?prepare. What does "prepare" mean?Have, what does it mean to have?enough.What is the name of our current sage?Zen. What does "Zen" mean?Zen, what does Zen mean?get out.Think about what our Shu Han emperors are called, one is enough, and the other is let out.Later, Qiao Zhou wrote a reactionary slogan in the court, so we won’t talk about it, it’s almost the same meaning.This is why Qiao Zhou advocated surrender.In other words, Qiao Zhou advocated that Liu Chan's surrender was not a matter of moral character, but a matter of political stance, that is, his political stance was on Cao Wei's side.In fact, many issues in Chinese history were political issues, not moral issues.It is a very superficial view of history to interpret political issues as moral issues.Undoubtedly, Qiao Zhou's and Du Qiong's statements are far-fetched, pretentious, and pretentious, just like the fortune-teller's word-testing.But you have to know that at this time in ancient China, he did not have as many scientific views of history and development as our modern people. He believed in these things. Apparently, Qiao Zhou’s plan to “sell” Shu was premeditated. He argued that surrender was no longer a matter of moral character, but a matter of political stance, but Qiao Zhou’s surrender was based on some hearsay and far-fetched explanations. So why did people like Qiao Zhou curse the Kingdom of Shu for its demise?Is there any basis for these ghostly theories?Is there any deep reason here? How did the Shu Han offend these people?Why did they make up such a joke to curse the Shu Han regime?Four reasons. First, the distribution of profits is uneven.I have said many times that the Shu Han regime is composed of three political forces, and it is divided into three levels like a cocktail. The upper level is the Jingzhou Group, the middle level is the Dongzhou Group, and the lower level is the Yizhou Group. .And Qiao Zhou, Du Qiong, etc., who are the people who spread these remarks?They are all Yizhou natives, all Yizhou natives, and they are marginalized and secondary people in this regime.Of course they are dissatisfied with this regime, he wants to spread these rumors, he wants to create these public opinions.On this issue, it should be said that Zhuge Liang has done a lot of work. Zhuge Liang has already discovered this problem, so Zhuge Liang is also looking for those who are available among Yizhou people.Of course, Zhuge Liang has his selection criteria, that is, first, he must be loyal to the Han Dynasty; second, he must be self-denying and devoted to public affairs; Come. However, some were indeed promoted. For example, Yang Hong was appointed as the prefect of Shu County by Zhuge Liang; one of Yang Hong's subordinates, He Zhi, was also appointed as the prefect of Guanghan by Zhuge Liang.Zhuge Liang is trying his best to do these coordination tasks, hoping that the three forces can unite.However, first, he cannot fundamentally change the established organizational line left by Liu Chanbei, which is Jingzhou first, Dongzhou second, and Yizhou third. This order cannot be changed; second, he cannot Fundamentally eliminate the ideological concerns of Yizhou gentry and Yizhou natives.Because the natives of Yizhou calculated the accounts very clearly, the cake is only so big, and the more people share it, the less people will eat it. This account is too easy to settle.It turned out that we Yizhou people were eating this piece of cake in Yizhou. Liu Yan came and brought Dongzhou Group, and cut off a big piece of it with a knife. We were dissatisfied and hoped that someone would come to help.Hey, Liu Bei is here. Liu Bei didn't help us when he came, so he cut another big piece, and the more the cake was cut, the less it was.We Yizhou people were second-class subjects when Liu Zhang came, and we became third-class subjects when Liu Bei came. Do you think he is satisfied?He must be dissatisfied.So at this time, he wished Cao Wei would liberate them.Some people say that your argument doesn't make sense. Didn't Cao Wei become a fourth-class man when he came?How is this account calculated?Misunderstanding, after Liu Yan and Liu Bei entered Sichuan, he would not go out, and he would share the cake on the spot; what Cao Wei wants is the world, and it will not participate in your sharing of the cake.In fact, after the fall of the Shu Han, Sima Zhao immediately issued an order to transfer all the officials of the Jingzhou Group and the Dongzhou Group in the Shu Han regime to the central government to serve as officials in the central government. .That's what they're looking for.So he is looking forward to Cao Wei, he is looking forward to the destruction of your Shu Han.The first point. The second point is that governing Shu is too strict.We know that Zhuge Liang ruled the country according to the law and enforced the law like a mountain.Therefore, there is such a sentence in "Shu Ji", which says: "Liang's criminal law is harsh, and he strips the common people, and he is a gentleman and a villain with complaints." It means that Zhuge Liang controls the country too tightly, and everyone complains.Well, some people do not admit this historical material, because it is contrary to Chen Shou's statement, what is Chen Shou's statement?Chen Shou said that Zhuge Liang "has severe punishments, but no one who complains." He said that although Zhuge Liang managed the country very tightly, no one complained.So everyone said, did the people of Shu Han complain or not? I said that I complained and did not complain, and both historical materials are valid.why?There is another sentence behind Chen Shou that many people can't see. How did Chen Shou say it? What does it mean to "admonish Ming Ye with his peace of mind"?Let’s say that although Zhuge Liang’s law enforcement is very severe, let’s admit it is severe, but why don’t everyone complain?fair.That is, when he is strict, he is strict with everyone, himself, and his own people. No one complains, it's fair.But everyone still said, can you relax a little bit?Still have to complain.So yes don't complain about being unfair, but complain about being too harsh. The third reason is that there are too many wars.So Qiao Zhou once wrote an article called "On the Enemy of the Country", what point does "On the Enemy of the Country" put forward?It is said that our imperial court must judge the situation, we must weigh what we can do, and whether we can unify the world.Qiao Zhou said that the current world is not the situation at the end of Qin Dynasty, but the situation of the Six Kingdoms, which is the Warring States period, so we can only learn to be King Wen of Zhou, we cannot be Gaozu of Han Dynasty.What he meant was that it is impossible for you to dominate the world by relying on your armed forces and the wars you wage.This Qiao Zhou said that if you insist on going your own way and resort to military force, the result will be collapse, and even gods will not be able to save you.Qiao Zhou's article is a public challenge to the line left by Zhuge Liang and carried out by Jiang Wei, and publicly expresses reactionary remarks.But he was not punished, and later he was promoted. What does that mean?It shows that there is a market for this view, and some people in the authorities may even feel that they know it well. The fourth point is that the people are suffering. "Three Kingdoms·Qiao Zhou Zhuan" has such a sentence before "Chou Guo Lun", which is called "the army is numerous, and the people are withered". It is because the Shu Kingdom keeps sending troops, so the people's life is very bitter.We know that money is needed to fight a war. Before soldiers and horses move, food and grass go first. If you don't have enough food, you can't win this battle.So where did the money for this war come from?Did it fall from the sky?Is it coming out of the ground?Is it funded by the United Nations?If you have nowhere to go, you can only exploit the people, you can only increase taxes, you can only charge taxes, there is no other way.When Liu Chan surrendered, he handed over his household registration. In ancient times, when a country surrendered, it was necessary to hand over all the household registration statistics, which means that my land and people have been handed over to you.What do the statistics look like?At that time, the Shu Han people had 280,000 households, 940,000 people, 102,000 troops, and 40,000 officials. What does this figure mean?It means that for the people of the Shu Han, nine people have to support one soldier. The nine people mentioned are men, women, old and young, including children; seven households have to support one official.The burden is too heavy to bear at all.Of course, what I want to explain here is that when Zhuge Liang was alive, because of his example and his high moral character, the officials of the Shu Han regime were basically clean, and there was no corruption or little corruption.But what the common people think is probably different from what they think. What the common people care about is not whether Zhuge Liang’s meal is eight dishes and one soup or four dishes and one soup. He doesn’t care about it. What he cares about is whether he can eat four dishes and one soup. In other words, he must at least be able to eat enough; if you let him not have enough to eat, even if you are poor and simple, he will still have an opinion. People in neighboring countries have already seen this.There was a man named Xue Jue in the state of Wu who once went to Shu as an envoy, and reported to Sun Xiu when he came back.Sun Xiu said, what do you think of Shu?Xue Jue said, I think the Kingdom of Shu is almost the same, why? "When you enter the court, you don't hear righteous words. When you pass through the fields, the people are all disheveled." When I went to their Erba court, I couldn't hear any voice of justice; I walked through their fields, and all the people were pale. Hao is emaciated and malnourished, and the country is bound to perish.In addition, there is a man named Zhang Ti in Soochow. When Deng Ai and Zhong Hui sent troops, he also asserted that the Shu Han was about to perish.What is it called?This is called bystander clearing.Soochow, as their neighboring country, saw the Shu Han clearly. They asserted that the Shu Kingdom must perish, and the Shu Han did indeed.So what about their own Soochow?Please see the next episode - the meeting of wind and cloud.