There have always been different views on the generals Liu, Guan, Zhang, Ma and Huang, and even Zhuge Liang, who "worked hard until he died". Only Zhao Yun is basically positive.
Although Zhao Yun is a first-class military commander, his most impressive place is not here, but in his courage, knowledge, tolerance and character. The story of Zhao Yun described in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is recorded in history books, except that killing five generals at the age of 70 is fictional.
The most commendable thing is that in the history of the Three Kingdoms, only two people were lucky enough to be handed down alone. One is Biography of Cao Cao, and the other is Biography of Bie Yun, which records the deeds of Zhao Yun.
Zhao Yun was born in Zhengding, Changshan, around 168 (there has always been great controversy about where Zhengding is, and I prefer the view that Zhengding is now in Hebei). And when he grows up, he is "eight feet long and imposing" (Shu Shu Zhao Yun Biography quoted Bie Yun Biography), which belongs to handsome men from the perspective of ancient people and modern people. In the second year of Chuping (19 1), the Yellow Scarf Uprising broke out on a large scale, and Zhao Yun's hometown recommended him to lead the lean man to Gongsun Zan. At that time, Yuan Shao was the most influential in Hebei, and other people who joined the army basically went to Yuan Shao. Gongsun Zan was very happy to see Zhao Yun, so he asked him why he voted for me instead of Yuan Shao. Zhao Yun replied rudely: "Everyone is stupid, and it is not known which is right or wrong. The people were reduced to counties and despised the country. As far as benevolent governance is concerned, it is not because Yuan Gong was left out, but also because he met the generals in private (Zi Jian, Volume 60). Gongsun Zan was speechless at that time. Since then, Zhao Yun has officially started his military career.
At that time, relying on Gongsun Zan, Liu Beizheng was very surprised to hear this sentence from Zhao Yunkou. To say that Liu Bei was very knowledgeable, he knew that Zhao Yun was not an easy man, so he immediately made friends with Zhao Yun. When Gongsun Zan asked Liu Bei to help Tian Ji resist Yuan Shao, Liu Bei asked Zhao Yun to accompany him and take charge of the cavalry for Liu Bei. Later, after Zhao Yun's brother died, Zhao Yun returned to his hometown, or Liu Bei. It is expected that Zhao Yun will never come back. Taking this opportunity, Zhao Yun was very moved and said to Liu Bei, "I will never betray my virtue." . Because of this commitment, Zhao Yun has followed Liu Bei all his life, which is really commendable.
After Liu Bei defected to Yuan Shao, Zhao Yun went to Yecheng to find him. This search found one thing, Zhao Yun is very talented. Strangely, it is not recorded in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and it is rarely mentioned by later generations. I don't know why.
Liu Bei was overjoyed by Zhao Yun, and even slept in a bed with Zhao Yun, and gave him a secret task to secretly recruit soldiers. Zhaoyun lived up to the demands of hundreds of people, and it was carried out from beginning to end under Lombardi's nose, without letting Lombardi and his civil servants and military commanders have any notice. In modern terms, he was a very successful spy and belonged to Bond in the Three Kingdoms period. Later, Liu Bei took this team of hundreds of people to Liu Biao, and Zhao Yun officially began to conquer Liu Bei.
Zhao Yun didn't get much attention when he followed Liu Bei in the early days. He has been playing the role of Liu Bei's bodyguard. His luck changed, and he should thank Cao Cao for his expedition to the south.
In the 13th year of Jian 'an (208), Cao Cao took Jingzhou and Liu Bei fled in defeat. Cao Cao overtook him in Dangyang (now the eastern part of Dongyang, Hubei Province) and the two armies fought a decisive battle. As a result, Liu Bei was defeated, abandoned his wife and fled to the south, and Zhao Yun disappeared. Someone said, "Zhao Yun has gone to the north", and Liu Bei pointed to the man and cursed, "Zilong left without abandoning me" (after Zi Tongzhi's sword, Zhao Yun was promoted to the general's yamen.
So, how did Zhao Yun protect Liu Bei's family? Of course, it is not as exaggerated as in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but the records in The History of the Three Kingdoms and Zi Zhi Tong Jian are not detailed. In the past two years, I have tried my best to find some historical materials. The general situation is this: after Zhao Yun and Liu Bei separated, there were only more than 50 soldiers around them, and then they were killed and fled, leaving no one around. Zhaoyun took a sparsely populated place and left, but happened to meet a famous soldier in Hebei at that time. At that time, four or five hundred soldiers led by Zhang Jaw knew that it would not be long before they killed two brothers in lightning speed. As a result, hundreds of soldiers fled in fright, and Zhao Yun had to take off. It is rare for one person to defeat the army and retreat to defeat the soldiers.
Nagano's move to protect the Lord quickly established Zhao Yun's stable position in Liu Bei Group. Liu Bei pacified the four counties, and Zhao Yun was promoted to be a partial general, led the prefect of Guiyang and began to take charge of the military power. Among them, the story of "Zhao Yun refused to get married" in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms is completely in line with historical records, so I won't say much.
Zhao Yun's refusal to get married is completely selfless. In fact, before this, Zhao Yun also had a somewhat similar story, which was not recorded in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
When Liu Bei and Xia Houdun were fighting in Wang Bo, Zhao Yun captured Xia Houlan alive. What is the relationship between Xia Houlan and Zhao Yun? Xia Houlan and Zhao Yun are from the same village. They have been good friends since childhood. Zhaoyun knows that Xia Houlan is proficient in law and is a rare talent. Therefore, Zhao Yun neither let him go nor killed him, but directly recommended Xia Houlan to Liu Bei. Liu Bei was so happy when he got Xia Houlan that he immediately appointed Xia Houlan as "Zheng Jun". Zhao Yun's recommendation of talents is not shy, and his caution and thoughtfulness to glory are quite commendable.
In the 16th year of Jian 'an (2 1 1), Liu Bei benefited from the invitation of Zhou Mu Liu Zhang, and then he started the most important strategic decision in his life, pacifying Liu Zhang Group and establishing his own stable territory!
However, the movement was not as smooth as originally envisaged. Liu Bei suffered many battles and defeats, and even lost an important adviser, Pang Tong. Liu Bei, who suffered heavy losses, urgently transferred Zhuge Liang and Zhao Yun, who stayed in Jingzhou, and Zhang Fei, the satrap and general of Nanjun, to take part in pacifying Yizhou. At that time, Zhao Yun was controlled by Zhuge Liang. After the two armies pacified Jiangzhou, Zhang Fei went north from Jiangzhou to Jialing River, conquered Dianjiang River, returned to Fujiang River, and marched west to Deyang, and finally joined forces with Liu Bei in Chengdu. Zhuge Liang and Zhao Yun returned to the Yangtze River from Jiangzhou and marched to Jiangyang in the west. Zhuge Liang continued westward to return to the Yangtze River to pacify Doctor, Nan 'an and Wuyang, while Zhao Yun pacify Han 'an, Zizhong and Niuzhuan from Jiangyang to the north, and finally arrived in Chengdu at the same time. Soldiers are expensive and fast. Zhaoyun's March did not delay a day, which made great contributions to the final capture of Chengdu. Later, Zhao Yun was promoted to be a general of the foreign army, no longer controlled by Zhuge Liang and began to be independent.
After the capture of Chengdu, Liu Bei prepared to give Chengdu's good real estate to the meritorious minister of Liu Bei Group. Zhao Yun was the first and only one who directly opposed it. He put it this way: "Huo Qubing regarded the Huns as a useless family. Today's thieves are not only Huns, but also unable to make peace. The world should be decided, each against mulberry, each to his native land. The people of Yizhou, just suffering from the military revolution, can return their fields and houses, so that they can settle down and resume their careers, and then they can turn to serve them and win their goodwill. It is not appropriate to take them away for personal love. " Liu Bei was so ashamed that he dismissed the idea. Zhao Yun offended some people because of this, but his integrity, dedication to the public and selfless behavior are particularly commendable so far!
Speaking of Zhao Yun's integrity, I thought of another interesting thing. It is said that after Liu Bei married Sun Quan's sister, Mrs. Sun loved practicing martial arts since she was a child, and she was very arrogant. A group of domestic slaves she brought were lawless, which made Liu Bei lose his mind. Not only did others dare to take care of it, but they also dared not take care of it themselves. Later, Liu Bei knew that Zhao Yun was a serious person and would punish these people, so he appointed Zhao Yun as the "internal affairs office". Sure enough, as soon as Zhao Yun took office, these people never dared to be unscrupulous again and finally fell in love with Liu Bei.
When Liu Bei pacified Hanzhong, Zhao Yun began to perform the most classic scene in his life, which is the well-known idiom "Be brave". This story should be recorded in more detail in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The only difference is that Huang Zhong actually failed to rob the grain. When Cao Cao attacked on a large scale, Zhao Yun only brought dozens of riders, not as many people as mentioned in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Instead, Cao Jun stepped on himself and fell into the Hanshui River. Many people really died. This aspect is the embodiment of Zhao Yun's courage. On the other hand, is there a fear of Zhao Yun in Cao Jun and even Cao Cao's mind?
In ancient wars, the deployment of the other side's troops was well known before the war, and there was basically no secret. Cao Cao knew how many men Liu Bei had deployed at the front. Even if there is an ambush, I am afraid it will not be enough to plug Cao Cao's teeth. The reason why the army saw a little movement in the village was that he was driven crazy and scared. According to my estimation, this is caused by Zhao Yun's reputation accumulated at ordinary times!
Incidentally, at that time, Liu Bei boasted of Zhao Yun's "bravery of Zilong!" However, there is no official title. "Iliad" is actually a nickname given to Zhao Yun by soldiers spontaneously, which shows that Zhao Yun has a high prestige in the eyes of soldiers.
This seemingly small-scale battle actually seriously weakened Cao Jun's fighting spirit and dealt a heavy blow to Cao Cao's spirit. In the subsequent decisive battle in Hanzhong, Cao Jun's failure can be imagined.
Strangely, however, Liu Bei did not give enough promotion to such a brave and resourceful general, even with high prestige in the eyes of the enemy. The reflection also wrote that Zhao Yun was ranked last in Zhang Guan, Huang Ma and Zhao (later, the "Five Tiger Generals Army" came from this), which should be related to the strong portal concept during the Three Kingdoms period. Needless to say, Ma Chao was born in a big warlord family and belonged to a noble family. Huang Zhong lived in Changsha for a long time and was a general for generations. Compared with them, Zhao Yun's is much worse. There are no outstanding deeds in his ancestors. He was born in poverty, and his reputation and official position were accumulated bit by bit. Under this condition, even if Liu Bei wants to promote Zhao Yun quickly, I'm afraid he must consider the pressure from the literati class.
However, the mismatch between Zhao Yun's official power and merit will not be greatly improved until he is appreciated and Zhuge Liang, who runs the country with an iron fist, officially takes power.
When Zhao Yun's military career reached its first peak, an unexpected thing happened.
In the twenty-fourth year of Jian 'an (2 19), Guan Yu's army guarding Jingzhou was defeated and Guan Yu himself was beheaded. In a rage, Liu Bei immediately launched a war against Sun Quan. Zhao Yun immediately wrote to remonstrate, saying, "The traitor is Cao Cao, not Sun Quan. If Wei is destroyed first, Wu will surrender. When Cao Cao died, Zi Pi usurped the throne. If everyone is concerned, then plan the Guanzhong as early as possible, live in the upper reaches of the river and the north of the Weihe River, in order to make a fierce rebellion, and the Kanto Rightists will ride food to meet Julian Waghann. Wei can't let go, Wu Xianzhan; When the military situation is handed over, it cannot be solved. " At that time, there were countless people who wrote exhortations. Only Zhao Yun's exhortations were well preserved, and its weight can be imagined. We can see from this sermon that Zhao Yun's analysis is very pertinent and thorough. He is not opposed to retaking Jingzhou, but believes that under the current conditions, the time is not yet ripe, and his far-sighted political talent is beyond doubt. Unfortunately, Liu Bei, who was eager to achieve great things, did not adopt it. Instead, he had doubts about Zhao Yun and ignored it. Yun was not allowed to directly participate in such an important matter as the Southern Expedition. In fact, Zhao Yun's exhortation is a manifestation of his loyalty and dedication to the country. Admirably, Zhao Yun, who suffered setbacks and was given a cold shoulder, did not hold a grudge at all. On the contrary, after Liu Bei's fiasco, he was the first to feel reinforcements quickly and safely escorted Liu Bei to Yong 'an. This kind of mind and boldness of vision are not possessed by ordinary people. In the third year of Zhangwu (223), Liu Bei died of illness, and Zhuge Liang officially took charge of the power of Shu Han. Young and middle-aged officers from humble origins, represented by Zhao Yun, Wei Yan and Wang, have been given unprecedented importance. In the first year of lite, that is, the first year of Liu Chan, Zhao Yun was promoted to General of the Central Guards, General of Nan, General of Yongchangge and General of Town East. Zhuge Liang entrusted him with the task of resisting Cao Zhen, the general of Wei State. After that, Zhao Yun's deeds are basically recorded in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, so I won't say much. In the seventh year of Jianxing (229), Zhao Yun died of illness and died as a general. Later, Zhao Yun, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and others were chased as twelve ministers. (The twelve ministers are: Fa Zheng, Zhuge Liang, Jiang Wan, Fei Yi, Chen Zuo, Xia Houba, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Ma Chao, Pang Tong, Huang Zhong and Zhao Yun. Throughout his life, Zhao Yun has outstanding martial arts, first-class knowledge, lofty personality, courage and wit, meticulous work, both civil and military skills and high military accomplishment, and is known as the first general in Shu and Han Dynasties. There are 14 civilian military commanders in the cloisters around Wuhou Temple in Chengdu, with Pang Tong as the head of the cloister in the east and Zhao Yun as the head of the cloister in the west (followed by, Zhang Yi, Ma Chao, Wang Ping, Jiang Wei, Huang Zhong, Liao Hua, Fu Qian, Ma Zhong,,, Feng). Let's borrow Jiang Wei's evaluation of Zhao Yun: "Yun used to learn from the first emperor, achieved outstanding results, ruled the world, obeyed the law, and achieved remarkable results." In the battle of Dangyang, loyalty to stone, loyalty to health, respect for reward, respect for the bottom, and forgetting to die. The deceased knows enough to be immortal; The living are grateful for death. "This comment is enough to make zhaoyun smile under the grave. It's a pity that neither of his sons is too prominent. Zhao Tong, the eldest son, is the official and the head of the viceroy. Another son, dentist Zhao Guang, died in the battle with Jiang Wei.
Finally, a poem praising Zhao Yun is used as the end of this article: "There are tigers in Changshan, go forward bravely." Hanshui made great contributions, and Dangyang's surname stood out. Help the young master twice, answer the emperor first. The history books of the Qing Dynasty are loyal and should be immortal.