In the past two years of online discussions, the phenomenon of "overturning" negative historical figures has been quite hot.
Whether it is Yang Guang, the tyrant of the ages, who has been criticized by many people, or Chongzhen, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, they have gained a lot of supporters, and many people have waved their flags and shouted for them.
To be honest, most of the "reversals" on the Internet are obviously overkill. Whether it is Yang Guang or Chongzhen, history's evaluation of them is relatively objective. Of course, some of these "reversals" are more reliable, such as the evaluation of Liu Chan.
In the early years, many people liked to compare people with insufficient ability and poor attitude to Adou who couldn't be helped, as if Liu Chan was the worst of the ancient emperors.
But after an in-depth understanding, you will find that Liu Chan has excellent political literacy, and his governance of the country also maintains a middle and upper level. It's just that his ability is obscured by various factors, and even Zhuge Liang didn't realize Liu Chan's extraordinaryness until he died.
What is certain is that the public's evaluation of the characters of the Three Kingdoms period was largely influenced by "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". After all, this book and the film and television dramas filmed on it are really too influential, and they have virtually established the public's first impression of the characters of the Three Kingdoms.
This impression is difficult to reverse, because history books are very boring, and the number of people who are really willing to patiently read "Three Kingdoms" is actually very limited. Even ancient readers, who only read this kind of tome of history, will eventually be affected by ** and folk tales.
And Liu Chan is obviously a victim of this, whether it is in folk legends or in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", he is an image of insufficient ability and lack of intelligence.
Even if someone occasionally speaks for him, he will be submerged in an instant, and he will not be able to make any waves. In fact, it is not unreasonable for Liu Chan to leave such an impression, and the most fundamental reason is the demise of Ji Han.
It stands to reason that Ji Han only occupied the land of Yizhou, and the elite forces were sent by Liu Bei in the Battle of Yiling, and it was inevitable that they would lose to Wei. However, after Liu Bei's death, Zhuge Liang had enough capital through the perfect governance of Shu.
Not only that, but the prime minister also used powerful tactics to force Wei to be left and right, and in the end, he could only rely on his strong strength to drag Zhuge Liang to nine days before he could recover his strength.
It is precisely because of Zhuge Liang's dedication and dedication that many people are full of regret for Ji Han's failure. Therefore, Liu Chan, who surrendered to the Sima family, is destined to become a backstabber, and it is inevitable that he will be scolded.
Secondly, a large part of the world's disapproval of Liu Chan's ability comes from Liu Bei.
As Liu Chan's father, he had no confidence in his son's ability at all, and even said something like "he can replace him" when he was supporting him, which shows Liu Bei's disappointment.
Under the influence of Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang did not recognize Liu Chan, the young son of heaven, so there was a situation where he monopolized power.
And Liu Chan is very self-aware, and he has never held Zhuge Liang back, so he gives people a sense of inaction.
In the end, most people always habitually compare Liu Chan with heroes like Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Sun Quan, and naturally feel that he is useless. But in fact, Liu Chan's ability to govern was in the middle and upper ranks among the emperors of previous dynasties.
The evaluation of inaction and "can't help" is really an overestimate of Liu ChanIn fact, Zhuge Liang had already realized Liu Chan's strong political literacy before he left.
It is said that "those who are good at fighting have no outstanding merits, and those who are good at doctors have no brilliant name", and Liu Chan is like this. He looks inconspicuous not because of his lack of ability, but because his talent for governing the country does not focus on foreign warfare, which is the easiest to achieve.
It's a pity that in a troubled era like the Three Kingdoms, what the monarch needs most is this ability, which is the root cause of Liu Chan's extremely low evaluation in later generations.
In fact, for a long time, Zhuge Liang's perception of Liu Chan in his heart was similar to that of the general public, believing that he had "weak qualifications" and could not become a virtuous monarch. Because of this, Zhuge Liang will do his best to get the powerful Wei State before his death.
It's a pity,The difference in strength between Ji Han and Wei is too great, coupled with the fact that Sima Yi, the commander of the Wei State, was well versed in defense, so he did not give Zhuge Liang a chance to turn the tables. Therefore, even if Wuhou Tianzong is a genius, in the end, he still can't defeat the strong with the weak.
In the process of the last Northern Expedition, Zhuge Liang's body had problems, and he realized that his limit was approaching, so he immediately sent someone to spread the news to Chengdu.
After receiving the news, Liu Chan suddenly felt that he was burned and panicked, and he really regarded Zhuge Liang as his father. After a while, Liu Chan came to his senses, he thought alone for a long time, and finally sent his confidant Li Fu to visit.
After arriving at Wuzhangyuan, Li Fu first expressed Liu Chan's condolences, and then asked Zhuge Liang about the successor to the prime minister's position. For this point, Zhuge Liang had already thought clearly, he first said the name Jiang Wan, and then Li Fu asked Jiang Wan who he liked in the future, and the prime minister replied:Fei Yi can follow.
After inquiring about all the major national affairs, Li Fu did not leave, but stopped talking. So Zhuge Liang realized that Liu Chan still had a key question to ask. He nodded to Li Fu and encouraged the latter to continue asking
Li Fu pondered for a moment, and then asked, "After a hundred years of prime minister, how should your descendants be arranged?" ”
After hearing this question, Zhuge Liang was first shocked, and then relieved. He was surprised that Liu Chan, who seemed to be a coward, would actually use this question to test himself; And the relief is that Liu Chan's political literacy is no problem, and it is no problem to protect the country for decades.
So Zhuge Liang replied lightly: "If the descendants of Weichen are lucky, I hope that Your Majesty can give them official titles, but don't let them hold real power."
This answer has two implications, on the one hand, he showed weakness to Liu Chan, expecting him to take more care of his children and grandchildren; On the other hand, Zhuge Liang also showed that his descendants have no idea about power and will always be loyal to the royal family.
After Liu Chan received Zhuge Liang's answer, he did as he commanded. He first married his daughter to Zhuge Zhan, showing a protective posture; Then Zhuge Zhan was named the Marquis of Wuxiang, a title that owned a large number of food estates but had no real power.
Speaking of which, I believe that many people will question it, and based on this alone, they think that Liu Chan's governing ability is excellent, and the evidence is inevitably a little thin and not very convincing. In fact, Liu Chan's greatness in real history is also reflected in many aspects.
The first is his reign time, which is ignored by many people, and Liu Chan reigned the longest among the second generation of the Three Kingdoms, reaching a terrifying 41 years. It is extremely difficult to do this, which shows that his control of the regime is extremely good.
You must know that Ji Han is not a monolith as many people imagine, and there are also multiple interest groups and complex infighting within him. Liu Chan was able to balance the struggle between different forces and keep them in a relatively stable state, which was extremely rare.
Secondly, under the influence of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", many people couldn't stand it anymore after seeing Wuzhangyuan Zhuge Bintian. Therefore, in the impression of these people,Liu Chan has always been a puppet who has been manipulated and has no power or power
In fact, this is not the case, Liu Chan will delegate power in the early stage, because he trusts Zhuge Liang wholeheartedly and really regards the other party as his father. After Zhuge Liang passed away, Liu Chan quietly gathered back the delegated power.
Even more rare is,After completing the gathering of power, Liu Chan did not become the king of **, but still trusts Jiang Wan wholeheartedly and hands over most of the governing powers to the other party.
Whether it is Jiang Wan or Fei Yi, their prestige in Ji Han and their control of the court cannot be compared with Zhuge Liang. On the one hand, there is a gap in ability, and on the other hand, at this time, part of the power has been taken back by Liu Chan, so it is naturally impossible to tilt the power towards the government and the opposition.
Not only that, after the failure of Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition,There is a serious negative trend of thought within Ji Han, the ministers have a strong resistance to sending troops to the Wei State.
In this case, Jiang Wei was still able to launch the Northern Expedition many times, relying on Liu Chan's strong support, otherwise his proposal would have been rejected by Ji Han's scholar group long ago.
Finally,Liu Chan is also a rare benevolent gentleman in Chinese history. According to the records of the "Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms", before Ji Han was about to die, Liu Chan specially sent people to build a temple for Zhuge Liang. This is unique in Chinese history, and no emperor has personally built a temple for his courtiers other than him.
Not only that, Liu Chan also chased Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Ma Chao, Pang Tong, Huang Zhong and Zhao Yun, giving these famous generals the most decent names. Therefore, judging from the generosity and trust of his courtiers alone, Liu Chan is the rarest of the emperors of all dynasties.
In general, through a test before his death, Zhuge Liang was fully aware of Liu Chan's excellent political ability, and therefore had a hint of relief about Ji Han's future. And Liu Chan did follow Zhuge Liang's suggestion and wholeheartedly reused Jiang Wan and Fei Yi.
No matter from which point of view, Liu Chan has nothing to do with stupidity and the so-called faint king. However, the difference in strength between Ji Han and Wei was too great, and defeat was inevitable; Even if Liu Chan's level is good, he is helpless in the face of this extremely thorny problem.