Speaking of ancient history, it is inevitably reminiscent of countless wars, especially those that were intense in a certain period of time, which triggered drastic social changes and pushed the times forward.
Among the many "war periods" in ancient times, the "Three Kingdoms Era" is undoubtedly the most representative period.
Modern historians, as well as history buffsThe study of the "History of the Three Kingdoms" can be described as extremely extensive and intriguing.
When history moves forward, the foothold is people after all, especially those who are very representative in the long river of history.
From the stories that happened to them and their experiences, peeling back the cocoons and studying them in detail can often better reflect the characteristics of the historical era in which they live.
In the Three Kingdoms era, where the ministers are like rain and the generals are like clouds, studying those characters who can reflect the status quo of the times will often give new inspiration to future generations.
Xun Yu, the strategist of the Three Kingdoms, is such a person.
Now there is a point of view that Xun Yu's death changed the direction of the Three Kingdoms.
Could it be that Xun Yu really has so much energy? Why is this view emerging in modern historiography?
From the perspective of major historical and social changes, the three social systems of the original primitive society, the slave society later, and the feudal society later constituted the entire ancient history of China.
The changes in the three social systems have promoted the development of ancient civilizations. Therefore, if you want to study the situation of a certain historical period, or a certain historical figure, you must first understand the large "social system" of that time.
Needless to say, the primitive society reached its peak during the Warring States period after a long period of development. One of the main features is the emergence of the "aristocracy".
Those who are familiar with the history of the Warring States period are basically aware that the aristocracy controlled the power of the various vassal states. Moreover, the whole society was also divided into several hierarchical forms with the aristocracy as the core.
After the Qin King swept Liuhe and unified the world, the long-term situation in the land of China changed, and under the leadership of Qin Shi Huang, the "* centralized" administrative system was established.
But if you think about the social system, there is no change in nature.
The Qin Empire under the great unification was still based on the "aristocracy" as the core, with a strong epitome of the "slave" social form.
History continues to move forward, following the "Chen Sheng Wu Guang Uprising", the rise of Xiang Yu and Liu Bang and other events, the Qin Empire under the great unification fell only thirty years later.
The biggest "hero" who led to the fall of the Qin Empire was also "Xiang Yu", who was born as a nobleman of Chu State.
From this point of view, the unified Qin Empire was still a "aristocratic slavery" society. And the person who really changed the social system was Liu Bang, the founding emperor who later defeated Xiang Yu, replaced Great Qin, and founded the Han Empire.
As we all know, Liu Bang is one of the few and first "civilian emperors" in ancient Chinese history. After the establishment of the Han Empire, the civilian emperor Liu Bang, in order to consolidate the country and strengthen the centralization of power, carried out a series of reforms to the "aristocratic slavery social system", a typical example of which is the abolition of the "clan" that has been very popular since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period and can reflect the "aristocratic identity".
Because in the Warring States Period, and even in the Qin Empire under the great unification, all men with status will have "clan", such as "so-and-so, son-and-so" and so on, while the common people, some don't even have a good name, and it is impossible to talk about using "clan" as a name.
For example, the civilian emperor Liu Bang, who was the fourth in the family, was called "Liu Ji" before he became famous, and in ancient Chinese, "Ji" means "fourth", so Liu Bang was actually called "Liu Si'er" before.
From this point of view, it is true that during the Qin Empire, the social system of aristocratic slavery was still the mainstream.
After Liu Bang became emperor, he carried out a major reform of the "surname system", abolishing the "clan" representing the status of the nobility and unifying it into a "patrilineal surname" inheritance system.
Don't look at it as just a small "surname" reform.
However, for the Chinese nation with a strong traditional culture, it can also be seen from the side that the civilian emperor Liu Bang is essentially changing the system of the traditional "aristocratic class" monopolizing the rights of the high-level court and leading the social trend, which is equivalent to saying that the Han Dynasty founded by Liu Bang has innovated the old "aristocratic slave" social system.
As the saying goes, when an old social system withdraws from the stage of history, it will inevitably be replaced by a new one.
After the founding of the Han Dynasty, it was the "noble family" social system that replaced the "aristocratic slave" social system.
Therefore, it can be said that the Western Han Dynasty established by Liu Bang was the founder of the social system of "big families". In the subsequent development process of "two Han Dynasty and four hundred years", the social system of "family and family" was further improved.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, under the situation of great chaos in the world, the social system of "big families" that has been very mature is facing impacts and tests, and at the same time, the "big families" groups entrenched in various places also need new choices.
As the old saying goes: Chunjiang Plumbing Duck Prophet, for the family families in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the turbulent situation means that they need to consider their own interests and make an important choice of "standing in line".
In this context of the times, the selection of powerful and promising princes is very important for the survival and development of the family.
According to the situation at that time, the most favored "figure" of the family was Yuan Shao, who was entrenched in Hebei. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Yuan Shao family could be described as a top family. The reputation and heritage of the "Four Worlds and Three Princes" were coupled with the fact that Yuan Shao controlled a large area of the Central Plains at that time.
These things were superimposed, and most of the families at that time chose to rely on Yuan Shao. With the support of the family, Yuan Shao also became the most powerful and famous prince.
Even many people think that Yuan Shao will replace the "Liu Han family" and become the new "royal family".
But in addition to Yuan Shao, the "Sun family" entrenched in the south of the Yangtze River is naturally the favored object of many families.
With the efforts of "two generations of father and son", the Sun family's power, prestige and heritage of traditional families in Jiangnan have also attracted a large number of "family families" to depend, especially the family families in the Jiangnan region, compared with Yuan Shao, who is entrenched in the north, from the perspective of regional and family interests, they are more willing to choose the Sun family.
In addition to the Hebei Yuan Shao and Jiangnan Sun families, there are also people like Liu Biao in Jingzhou, Ma Teng in the Northwest, Yuan Shu in Huainan, etc., who are also favored by the family.
In 196 AD, Xun Yu carefully analyzed the situation at the time, and proposed a strategic strategy for Cao Cao to "coerce the Son of Heaven to order the princes".
This strategy made Cao Cao's eyes shine, and soon according to Xun Yu's plan, he took the Son of Heaven to his side to "protect", and changed the old nest Xuchang into the capital of the Han Dynasty.
After these things were done, although the territory did not increase, the military horses did not grow. But it allowed Cao Cao to obtain a "political commanding height" that all princes could not reach.
After the success of this clever plan, Xun Yu was promoted to the rank of servant, ** Shang Shuling, with full authority to deal with internal affairs. These rights actually made Xun Yu the "No. 2" real power figure next to Cao Cao.
In the following days, Xun Yu was in charge, and Cao Cao led his troops to fight abroad. This pair of "chief ministers" cooperate tacitly.
In the following years, Xun Yu was Cao Cao's number one adviser and the principal in charge of internal affairs. And according to the changes in the current situation, Xun Yu planned for Cao Cao with a strategic vision, first fighting Zhang Xiu, in Pinglu Bu, occupying Xuzhou and other things.
Moreover, the most important "Battle of Guandu" in Cao Cao's life was also a decision made after careful planning with Xun Yu.
Because, in Xun Yu's strategic layout of the world, Yuan Shao is the opponent that Cao Cao must win.
Everyone in the world knows that Zhuge Liang planned for Liu Bei to "divide the world into three parts". But he didn't know that behind Cao Cao's unification of the northern part of the Central Plains, it was Xun Yu's strategic layout plan to surpass the top strategists.
In the eighth year of Jian'an, that is, in 203 AD, Cao Cao went to the imperial court and divided Xun Yu into the marquis of the Long Live Hall.
Nine years later, in 212 AD, Cao Cao was persuaded to become the Duke of Wei, further weakening the prestige of the Han dynasty. In this case, Xun Yu, the number one contributor to Cao Cao's success, stood up to resolve the opposition.
So, when Cao Cao went south that year, for the first time, Xun Yu was not allowed to stay in Xu Du to preside over internal affairs, but was given the position of Guanglu doctor and went south with the army to serve as a staff officer.
During the march, he died of illness in Shouchun at the age of 50.
Xun Yu's death, there are two theories in history, one is that Xun Yu became ill after a long period of work, contracted illness during the march, and then died of Shouchun after his illness worsened.
The second is that Xun Yu, as a representative of the members of the family, is loyal to the Han family in his bones, so he stood up to resolve the opposition in the matter of Cao Cao, the Duke of Wei.
Xun Yu's approach is equivalent to an irreconcilable contradiction with Cao Cao politically.
Therefore, after that, Cao Cao took Xun Yu out on the expedition for the first time in his life, and forced Xun Yu to commit suicide by poisoning on the march.
To put it simply, Xun Yu wanted to prevent Cao Cao from usurping the Han dynasty, and Cao Cao was determined to replace the Han dynasty as the king. When rights and political claims could not be agreed, Cao Cao got rid of Xun Yu.
Although many precious historical materials about Xun Yu's death are recorded, they are the first version.
However, later historians and history enthusiasts, through the analysis of the causes and consequences of the incident, as well as internal political differences, etc., Xun Yu most likely died from the second theory, that is, Cao Cao forced him to die, or killed Xun Yu.
Indeed, if you think about it carefully, Cao Cao was able to take Xun Yu, who was the most trusted in his life and had the strongest ability to handle internal affairs, this kind of behavior itself was abnormal. If Xun Yu was really sick from hard work and his health was not good, Cao Cao would not let him go with the army.
According to common sense, the only situation that makes sense may really be the cunning Cao Cao, who didn't dare to make a move against Xun Yu in Xudu, so he used a trick to "divert the tiger from the mountain". skillfully took Xun Yu, who had been operating in Xudu for many years and had a high prestige, "taken away with the army".
Xun Yu's death in Shouchun was indeed unexpected, but after careful analysis, it seems to be reasonable. Because of the ancient feudal dynasty, as long as the ministers and lords had political differences, or became a huge stumbling block on the road to their hegemony, the fate was basically doomed.
As for why Cao Cao didn't dare to blatantly get rid of Xun Yu, and after Xun Yu's death, he also let Xun Yu's son inherit the title.
This may also be Cao Cao's cleverness, because at that time, although Cao Cao was powerful, the social system in which the family was the mainstream still did not change much.
In addition, Xun Yu, as the biggest hero on the road to Cao Cao's rise, Cao Cao is also unwilling to bear the pressure of "unloading the mill and killing the donkey" and getting rid of the heroes.
In short, Xun Yu's death represents the most important member of the Han family, who can no longer prevent Cao Cao from becoming a hegemon politically, and Cao Cao can be more determined to replace the Han family and create an era belonging to the Cao family.
The break between Xun Yu and Cao Cao in terms of political ideas also means that the Han dynasty under the maintenance of the family has died out politically.
From this point of view, it is true that Xun Yu's death contains a lot of content behind it, and it does have the meaning of a historic turning point.
The death of Xun Yu in the historiography determined the historical trend of the Three Kingdoms, and this view is expressed by "metaphor", and its extended meaning refers to the "social system of the great clan" established with the Han Dynasty.
After Xun Yu, the representative leader of the family, was eliminated by Cao Cao, the traditional family forces were no longer able to prevent Cao Cao, Sun Quan, Liu Bei and other new powerful princes from dividing the Han family.
And after Xun Yu's death, it also means that the "family social system" that has been built for a long time will face a new reshuffle, and a new social system will be gradually established, thus changing the historical trend.
Therefore, it does make sense to say that Xun Yu's death changed the historical trend of the Three Kingdoms by combining the causes and consequences, digging deep into the essence through appearances.