The two piano boys are accompanied by the left and right, and I Zhuge Liang has no ambush soldiers and no soldiers. Don't be cranky and worried, come and come, follow me to the city and enjoy my piano strokes. "This Peking Opera singing, known as "The Empty City Strategy", is widely known for the interpretation of masters such as Kui Zhi, which makes "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" more widely disseminated.
Zhuge Liang is praised for his resourcefulness"Master of Psychology"。Whole"Empty city plan"The performance, Zhuge Liang's composure, the fairy wind bones, and the calmness of the soldiers are all key factors in the successful implementation of the empty city plan.
Many times, it is easy to overlook the crucial character in the whole performance, that is, the "left and right piano boys" in the lyrics. So, how important is the presence of the qin boy to the cunning Sima Yi?
Please listen to the editor's explanation. After Zhuge Liang was defeated in the street pavilion, he could only retreat to Xicheng. "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" mentions that this decision was mainly caused by two reasons: "One is that Ma Tan has no strategy and talent, and the other is that there is a contradiction between the generals and commanders, which leads to the loss of the street pavilion." ”
Jieting was an important fortress on the main road leading to Hanzhong to Chang'an, and its strategic location was extremely critical for the Shu army. In other words, the presence of the piano boy played a crucial role in Zhuge Liang's "empty city plan".
This was not chosen by Zhuge Liang at random, but a decision made after careful consideration. The presence of the qin boy not only attracted Sima Yi's attention, but also bought Zhuge Liang time to deploy his army.
Therefore, the importance of the presence of the piano boy in deceiving Sima Yi cannot be ignored. Their existence allowed Zhuge Liang's "empty city plan" to be successfully implemented, and finally saved the fate of the Shu army.
In the key battles of the Northern Expedition, Zhuge Liang was very cautious about the choice of the guards of the street pavilion. Just as he hesitated, the student Ma Tan stepped forward and promised to guarantee the safety of the street pavilion with the lives of his family.
Zhuge Liang recognized Ma Tan's ability, and he performed well in the past campaigns against the Southern Barbarians and the capture of Meng, repeatedly put forward strange schemes, and achieved remarkable results. However, Liu Bei said to Zhuge Liang before he died: "Ma Yan's words are exaggerated and cannot be used!" ”
Therefore, although Zhuge Liang trusted Ma Yan, he decided to take insurance measures and made another arrangement.
He first pulled his lieutenant Wang Ping aside and carefully told him to set up camp on an important road. Then, he sent a general named Gao Xiang to lead a small detachment to be stationed in Liucheng next to the street pavilion, so that he could respond at any time and form a corner.
Despite these arrangements, he was still not at ease, so he asked Wei Yan to lead his troops and horses to assist Gao Xiang and stationed him behind the street pavilion. However, despite his careful arrangement, all this was completely turned upside down due to Ma Tan's stubbornness.
As soon as Ma Tan arrived on the battlefield, he couldn't suppress the ecstasy of being handsome for the first time, and even took Wang Ping's words as wind in his ears. He thought that "the main road to camp" was an outdated view, and instead chose to imitate Zhao Kuo, who was "talking on paper", and drove all 25,000 elite soldiers of Shu to a lonely mountain.
After Sima Yi heard about the formation of the Shu army, he couldn't help but be ecstatic, and ridiculed Ma Jian for being just in vain, but in fact he was reckless and ignorant. The result is self-evident, Sima Yi ordered Zhang He to lead his troops to besiege Gushan and cut off the water source of the Shu army, and the 25,000 Shu army fell into a desperate situation, in turmoil up and down, in a dilemma, and surrendered to the Wei army one after another.
Ma Tan was defeated. Fortunately, Zhuge Liang had already prepared, and the generals Wei Yan and Wang Ping worked together to break through the siege, so that the whole army was not annihilated.
After Zhuge Liang painfully killed Ma Yan, in desperation, he was forced to retreat to a place called"West Side"place, thus, a thrilling"Empty city plan"Emerged.
At this time, the Shu army was suffering heavy losses, and their enemy, the Wei army led by Sima Yi, was high morale and sharp. Under such a gap in strength, Zhuge Liang chose an unusual path, that is, to win by outwitting and winning by surprise.
Zhuge Liang faced the pressure of Sima Yi's army, but chose to open the city gate, looking as if nothing had happened, which made people wonder. However, his calmness and calmness made Sima Yi feel uneasy, as if he was hiding an unfathomable secret.
He raised his head and looked at the city tower, Zhuge Liang was holding a feather fan, his expression was calm, there was no fear of facing a strong enemy, and he did not reveal the anxiety of the city being broken. He played the five-stringed piano slowly and gave Sima Yi a free solo recital.
The melodious sound of the piano echoed in the fields, and what surrounded Sima Yi's ears seemed to be not only the sound of the piano, but also the neighing of thousands of troops and horses hidden behind this beautiful melody.
At this time, Zhuge Liang, under his thin face, the corners of his mouth that were slightly raised seemed to be sending out an elusive smile. Behind this smile, there may be an amazing conspiracy that makes Sima Yi have no way to escape.
Sima Yi couldn't help but shudder, and when he looked at the two seven or eight-year-old children beside Zhuge Liang, an even stronger sense of fear arose in his heart! In the face of the menacing Cao Wei army, not only did the two little boys not fear, but the corners of their mouths revealed a creepy sneer.
This sneer seems to say, "Come on, go into the city, your death day is just around the corner!" ”
The boy holding the fan, the frequency of shaking the fan is always the same, as if this special day is no different from the usual day, just waiting for the Wei army to enter the city, leaving a cold corpse. The boy holding the furnace stared coldly ahead, and the smoke in the furnace rose in front of him, adding to the mystery of his face with a contemptuous sneer, like a little ghost in the Yama Palace, urging the Wei army to go on the road.
These strange and abnormal signs made Sima Yi, a veteran and scheming general, feel a little frightened, so he shouted: "There are ambushes in the city, withdraw the army!" ”
A military crisis is about to erupt, but under the excellent performance of many actors, a "empty city plan" full of wisdom is easily resolved. Although this scene amazed us on the stage of Roche's "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and Peking Opera, it is not a historical fact.
So, where did the "empty city plan" come from? And the two boys on the tower of the city, what are their special cultural meanings? Let's uncover the truth together, it turns out that all this comes from Pei Songzhi's annotation of "Three Kingdoms".
In the Jin Dynasty, there was a scholar named Guo Chong who admired Zhuge Liang, and in order to promote Zhuge Liang's exploits, he specially wrote a masterpiece for him called "The Five Things of Tiao Liang Hidden from the World", which mentioned the "Empty City Plan".
In the long river of history, Zhuge Liang's little-known five things have been praised as his personal legend after years of precipitation, of which "Empty City Plan" is the third of them.
Because of the word-of-mouth and wide influence, Luo Guanzhong also added this story to the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" written in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, and with his superb writing, this fictional story was vividly depicted and deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
However, in the real Battle of Jieting, Sima Yi did not appear on the front line of the battle against the Shu soldiers, which is very different from the plot described in "The Empty City Strategy". However, despite its questionable authenticity, the "Empty City Plan" has been praised for its profound cultural significance.
If you study "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" in depth, you will find that children do not appear in the "Empty City Plan", in fact, when Liu Bei visited the thatched house, the child already played an important role.
The words of the boy "My husband is traveling around, the return date is uncertain, the whereabouts are unknown, and the general is not the right time to come", which reflects the free and detached Chinese Taoist culture, highlights the mystery and nobility of Zhuge Liang, and makes Liu Bei, who is thirsty for talent, strengthen his determination to find Zhuge Liang in disappointment.
Similarly, in the "Empty City Plan", the appearance of children is also the expectation of Luo Guanzhong intellectuals for Confucianism and Taoism culture, they hope to pin the ideal of "conforming to the way of heaven, Ze is born by the common people" on the positive image of Zhuge Liang, with the help of his brilliance to promote Confucianism and Taoism, and realize the beautiful vision of the monarch and the wise and the virtuous, and the people live and work in peace and contentment.
The appearance of the boy strengthens the intuitive expression of this idea. In Chinese culture, children are often given the symbolism of innocence and mystery. Therefore, the author believes that in"Empty city plan"In China, Mr. Luo Guanzhong arranged for two piano boys to accompany Zhuge Liang, which is a perfect foil to Zhuge Liang's immortal style and bones, and he is not afraid of danger.
In terms of expression, this is similar to Du Mu's"By asking where the restaurant is, the shepherd boy pointed to Xinghua Village"It's the same thing. At the end, people often call Zhuge Liang in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms"."Resourceful, like a demon"In fact, behind this is the deep yearning of Chinese Confucian intellectuals for their own status and status.
Once, how many down-and-out literati regarded the image of Shu Xiang as a spiritual pillar of "living in troubled times and not seeking to be heard by the princes", and how many upright Confucian scholars regarded the dedication of "looking at the world three times frequently, and opening up the hearts of old ministers in two dynasties" as a lifelong pursuit.
A feather fan and two piano boys, that is their expectation of governing the country through the state and assisting Mingjun, and it is also an affectionate praise for the noble idea of not being fame and fortune and obeying the heavens. In general, the literati image of Zhuge Liang is endowed with a layer of idealized Confucianism and Taoism, and the appearance of the image of Dao Tong is a gentle breeze under this breath, which makes people obsessed and intoxicated.