In the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Lu Bu is described as the world's first general, he deterred many princes in the Tiger Pass, and fought with Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei on his own”
If we study history carefully, we will find that Lu Bu in real history is very different from Lu Bu in **. He is not as one-to-three as in **, and he is far from being able to beat the world and no one can match him. At best, he was just one of the warlords of the late Han Dynasty.
When Luo Guanzhong created "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", why did he create Lu Bu as the world's first general?What are the reasons behind his creation?
Lu Bu is athletic, like flying.
Although the story of Romance of the Three Kingdoms is mostly fictional, it largely reflects the influence of folklore. In writing this book, Luo Guanzhong did not do it as he pleased, he had to take into account not only his own willingness to write, but also the tastes and feelings of his readers, although historical authenticity may not have been his primary consideration.
Therefore, we can imagine that the reason why Lu Bu was able to rise from a warlord to be regarded as the number one military general in the world must be because of his extraordinaryness.
Lü Bu's martial arts are simply described in the "Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms" as "cloth bow horses, excellent strength, and flying generals", which is not recorded in detail.
Although it seems ordinary, this evaluation is very high, because only a few dozen people can be recorded as brave generals in the entire "Three Kingdoms", basically the top military force of that era.
Although Lu Bu was born in poverty, when he made his debut in the history books, he was a cavalry captain, and served as the "chief bookkeeper" under the leadership of Ding Yuan.
Lu Bu is now about twenty years old, and as an ordinary soldier, it is quite remarkable to be able to achieve such an achievement.
The first time Lu Bu showed his head in front of the people of the world was when he took refuge in Dong Zhuo after killing Ding Yuan. This is also the first time Lu Bu has met Dong Zhuo, but Dong Zhuo took a fancy to the tall Lu Bu at a glance and said, "I like him very much and vow to regard him as my biological father and son." ”
Dong Zhuo has been fighting in the northwest for many years and has seen various types of brave soldiers. However, when he met Lu Bu, he still loved him deeply and decided to take him as his adopted son. This move speaks volumes about the problem.
Although Lu Bu completed the leap in his life, once he joined Dong Zhuo's camp, he repeatedly hit a wall and never got his wish.
While teaming up with Dong Zhuo's general, Hu Zhen, against Sun Jian, Lü Bu experienced his first battle. However, due to the tense relationship with Hu Zhen, there was an estrangement, which eventually led to his defeat.
Dong Zhuo later fought against Sun Jian, and Lü Bu joined the battle to protect himself, but was eventually defeated by Sun Jian outside the city of Luoyang. Lü Bu's first two battles ended in crushing defeats.
Maybe people will be curious, it seems that Sun Jian is more suitable to be the "No. 1 general in the world", but what about Lu Bu?
What Lu Bu did was something that no one else could do, that is, kill Dong Zhuo.
After Dong Zhuo moved the capital to Chang'an, he defended according to the danger, and the princes of the Eighteenth Route scattered in all directions, although Sun Jian had the heart of eliminating thieves, but with only a few thousand people, it was impossible to defeat Dong Zhuo.
Dong Zhuo appointed Lu Bu as the captain of his personal guard at that time, providing Lu Bu with a historic opportunity to eliminate harm for the world.
Although Lu Bu and Dong Zhuo are considered to be father and son, there is actually a big gap between them. Historical records: "Dong Zhuo has a resolute and extreme personality, and once he encounters setbacks, he will get angry, and once when he was frustrated, he pulled out his halberd and threw it at Lu Bu. Lu Bu quickly dodged and apologized to Dong Zhuo, and Dong Zhuo gradually relieved, but since then he has secretly complained about Dong Zhuo in his heart. ”
Dong Zhuo's heart is twisted, his emotions are unstable, and he often gets angry over trivial matters. Once, he actually threw his halberd at Lu Bu, although Lu Bu shrewdly dodged it, he was still full of resentment towards Dong Zhuo in his heart.
Lu Bu once had an affair with one of Dong Zhuo's "maidservants", and once Dong Zhuo knew about it, Lu Bu often felt anxious.
Wang Yun took advantage of the contradiction between Lu Bu and Dong Zhuo to give him a chance, and after some persuasion, Lu Bu also let go of his moral burden and killed Dong Zhuo with his own hands.
After Lu Bu successfully assassinated Dong Zhuo, he quickly became the savior in the eyes of the people of the whole country. As a token of gratitude to him, the imperial court rewarded him with the title of General Fenwu, entered the title of Marquis of Wen, and held the power of the court at that time together with Wang Yun.
Dong Zhuo's troops are essentially a private army, with him as the core. With Dong Zhuo's death, this army has basically completely lost its combat effectiveness, and it can almost be regarded as scrapped. If the situation continues to develop, Lü Bu may seize the opportunity to end the chaos and become a loyal person to revitalize the Han family, but at this moment, the appearance of one person changes everything.
This figure is Jia Xu, who once served for the general Niu Fu under the command of Dong Zhuo.
After Dong Zhuo's death, Niu Fu also died. At that time, Dong Zhuo's subordinates Li Dao and Guo Yan were originally planning to flee in all directions, but Jia Xu persuaded the two to gather soldiers at this critical moment, capture Chang'an, and continue to blackmail the Son of Heaven to order the princes. Sure enough, after some retraction, Li Dao and others actually gathered an army of 100,000 and attacked Chang'an City, Lu Bu was defeated, and finally Chang'an changed hands.
Famous. Despite the defeat, historical records show that after the fall of Chang'an, Lü Bu showed great bravery.
Lu Bu led hundreds of people to successfully escape, and in the face of the pursuit of tens of thousands of troops led by Guo Yan, he did not feel afraid, he held Dong Zhuo's head, rushed directly to the front of the two armies, and proposed "and truce, the winner will be determined by the individual", expressing his willingness to fight with Guo Yan alone.
This is a rare record of a general's heads-up incident in the history books, and Lü Bu effortlessly stabbed Guo Yan with a spear in this encounter. Then, Guo Yan's soldiers hurried to rescue him, and the two sides immediately retreated, and Guo Yan also kept his word and did not pursue anymore, acquiescing to Lü Bu leaving.
Dong Zhuo was killed by Lu Bu, according to the general situation, this is the world's greatest achievement by Lu Bu. Lü Bu originally planned to take refuge in the Kwantung princes with this, but surprisingly, none of the princes recognized Lü Bu's merits.
Lü Bu initially took refuge in Yuan Shu, but Yuan Shu "hated him because of his capriciousness, so he rejected his defection." ”
Subsequently, Lu Bu took refuge with Yuan Shao, and although Yuan Shao accepted him, he only regarded him as a tool.
At that time, Yuan Shao was engaged in a battle with Zhang Yan of the Montenegrin army, and Lü Bu showed extraordinary courage and skill in this battle. In the face of "more than 10,000 elite soldiers and thousands of cavalry", Lu Bu "fell into the front with Cheng Lian, Wei Yue and others", and only led dozens of cavalry, repeatedly charged, leaped on the battlefield, flew across the trench, and could go back and forth three or four times a day, as if entering a no-man's land.
Zhang Yan is by no means an ordinary person, his Black Mountain Army was originally a Yellow Turban Army, stationed in Taihang Mountain, with millions of troops, which can be called a prince. In the face of such an opponent, it is remarkable that Lu Bu can show such an amazing performance.
Although Lü Bu had assisted Yuan Shao in repelling Zhang Yan, Yuan Shao was still dissatisfied with him because the behavior of Lü Bu's troops was too barbaric.
Lü Bu's army was not only good at fighting against the enemy, but also good at internal fighting. Whether they are enemies or friends, they are subject to looting wherever they arrive. This situation is not surprising, after all, Lu Bu has been through the weather, if he doesn't give his subordinates some benefits, who will want to follow him?
Yuan Shao found it difficult to accept this, wasn't his original intention in attacking the Montenegrin Army to prevent the Yellow Turban Army from wreaking havoc and looting?Lu Bu alone robbed more things a day than the Yellow Turban Army robbed in a year, what's the point of me keeping you?
Yuan Shao feared that he might retaliate against Lü Bu after driving him away, so he decided to send someone to assassinate Lü Bu at night. However, because Lu Bu had already sensed this plan, he fled in advance, but in the end it was not successful.
At this time, there is also a question worth thinking about, Yuan Shao once sent troops to get rid of Lu Bu, but his soldiers were all so scared that they didn't dare to approach, "They are all afraid of Bu, don't dare to approach." It can be seen that even if Lu Bu was not the first in the world, he was regarded as a "plague god" at that time, and everyone avoided approaching it.
Subsequently, Zhang Miao appointed Lu Bu as the pastor of Yanzhou because of his reputation as "good at fighting and unstoppable", and stationed him in Puyang to fight against Cao Cao. From the defeated generals who wandered around in the past to now being rewarded as a state pastor for his reputation, Lu Bu can be said to be the leader of the Three Kingdoms in the troubled times.
After Lü Bu arrived in Puyang, he still showed his talent for fighting, and confronted Cao Cao's army for a full hundred days, but neither side would budge.
It was not until he ran out of food and was forced to move to Shanyang that the unfortunate defeat came, and Lü Bu once again embarked on the road of exile.
Died in defeat.
Lü Bu had a bad reputation for conniving at the plundering of his soldiers, capricious, and willing to serve as long as someone gave him some favor. Among the princes of the world at that time, he was spurned by the people.
According to historical records, in 195 AD, when Lu Bu took refuge in Liu Bei, as soon as he saw Liu Bei, Lu Bu behaved very respectfully. He asked Liu Bei to sit on a female bed in the tent, and the woman bowed to him, then poured wine and hospitality, claiming to be Liu Bei's younger brother.
However, Liu Bei felt very uneasy, he was very disgusted by the capriciousness of Bu's words, and although he appeared calm on the surface, he was full of dissatisfaction deep down.
Despite this, the court's evaluation of Lu Bu at that time was the most positive. After all, although Yuan Shao, Cao Cao and others were also heroes, they were just rebels seeking to stand on their own feet at that time, and Lu Bu killed Dong Zhuo with his own hands.
Although he failed to defeat Li Dao and Guo Yan, it was also a difference for the emperor. Subsequently, Li Dao and Guo Yan launched a fierce battle, and Emperor Xian of Han seized the opportunity to flee Chang'an and return to Luoyang with hundreds of officials, and issued an edict hoping that Lü Bu would come to escort him. It's a pity that at this time, Lu Bu's army lacked food and clothing, and could not go, so he had to write a letter to ask for guilt. However, the imperial court still made Lü Bu a general of Pingdong and encouraged him.
Lu Bu is not a good person because of this, his problem is his capriciousness.
After Yuan Shu had a grudge with Liu Bei, Yuan Shu only gave Lu Bu "200,000 Hu rice" in exchange for his rebellion. It should be noted that although Liu Bei was dissatisfied with Lu Bu, no matter from the perspective of behavior or heart, he still took him in when Lu Bu was in the most difficult time. However, when Lu Bu left Chang'an, Yuan Shu ignored him completely.
Lu Bu actually stabbed his benefactor in the back for the sake of a verbal promise, this kind of behavior is really despicable.
Although Lü Bu successfully carried out a sneak attack on Liu Bei in Xiapi, the 200,000 Hu rice promised by Yuan Shu was not fulfilled in the end. At this time, Lu Bu actually repented, and refused to return Xiapi, but just asked Liu Bei to "send Tun Xiaopei" and stationed it in the sparsely populated Xiaopei, thus giving Liu Bei half of his life's efforts in vain.
Lu Bu has already achieved this step, and no matter how heroic and omnipotent he is, he is destined to be rejected by everyone. As the saying goes, there is much help for the righteous, and little help for the unjust. From this moment on, Lu Bu was already in a desperate situation.
Although Lü Bu was a brave general, his army had remained at a level of barely self-defense, and it was difficult to increase any more. According to common sense, Lü Bu took control of a considerable amount of Xuzhou land after betraying Liu Bei, but according to historical records, his military power was always in a state of overstretching.
When Yuan Shu attacked Liu Bei, he sent Ji Ling and other 30,000 cavalry troops. Lü Bu sent troops to the rescue, bringing only 1,000 infantry and 200 cavalry, and quickly rushed to support Liu Bei. Later, Yuan Shu once again attacked Lü Bu with tens of thousands of cavalry troops in seven directions, and Lü Bu's strength was only 3,000 infantry and 400 war horses. Compared to the other princes, Lü Bu's army had always been in skirmishes.
Is the Xuzhou generation really populationless?In fact, this is not entirely the case, it was recorded in "Three Kingdoms Shu Shu Biography II": "The ancestor is still Xiaopei, and there are more than 10,000 composite soldiers." ”
Although Liu Bei controlled only one part of Xiaopei, he was able to easily raise an army of more than 10,000 men, suggesting that the size of the army was not determined by the size of the population, but by the popularity of the people.
Lü Bu's army was barbaric and unreasonable, plundering and plundering everywhere, and behaving viciously. In contrast, Liu Bei was sympathetic to the common people, so he was willing to be followed by more people.
Although Lü Bu's army was only a few thousand men, he defeated Liu Bei effortlessly, and when he attacked Peicheng, he showed his invincible might. Even Cao Cao sent Xiahoudun to lead an army to the rescue, but was defeated by Lü Bu's subordinate Gao Shun, which eventually led to the capture of Liu Bei's wife and children.
Although Liu Bei's strength is weak, he is able to quickly absorb people;On the contrary, although Lü Bu's army was strong, it frequently died heroically, which is the fundamental difference between a generation of heroes and warlords.
Cao Cao led his army to attack Lü Bu again in the third year of Jian'an, and after several years of development, Cao Cao had become the ruler of the north, while Lü Bu was still trapped in Xiapi and easily surrounded by Cao Cao.
Faced with a huge disparity in strength, Lu Bu originally planned to surrender. However, his advisor Chen Gong and others had offended Cao Cao, so they resolutely opposed his surrender plan and advised him to defend the city.
After several failed battles, Lü Bu began to suspect his subordinates, until Cao Cao besieged for three months, Lü Bu's army had completely collapsed, and ** appeared inside, which eventually led to the betrayal of his generals and the breaching of the city.
When he was tied up in front of Cao Cao, Lu Bu was still unyielding, claiming that he failed because the villains around him betrayed him: "I treat the soldiers very kindly, but they all betrayed me at a critical moment. ”
Cao Cao immediately retorted to him: "You are not loyal to your wife, but you have a soft spot for the wives of other generals, how can you be called kind?"”
You take the betrayal of your wife and the general, and secretly fornicate with the wife of the general, is this an act of integrity?We don't know how Cao Cao learned about Lu Bu's private affairs, but Lu Bu's reaction was only "silent", which can be inferred that Cao Cao probably said it.
In the end, Lü Bu was strangled with a rope, subjected to the punishment of "hanging", and then beheaded.