In the 24th year of Jian 'an (2 19), Liu Bei captured Hanzhong and wanted to choose a general to guard Hanzhong. Hanzhong is located at the junction of Wei and Shu, and its geographical position is extremely important, so the position of Hanzhong Prefecture is very critical. At that time, the aides privately discussed that only Zhang Fei could shoulder this heavy responsibility, and Zhang Fei also "promised himself with his heart." Unexpectedly, when Liu Bei announced his appointment, he was actually a small general Wei Yan. Suddenly, the whole army was shocked and began to look at Wei Yan with new eyes.
When Liu Bei left Hanzhong, he asked Wei Yan at the meeting, "What are you going to do if I give you the heavy responsibility of Hanzhong?" Wei Yan replied: "If Cao Cao holds the world high, I will refuse it for the king;" One hundred thousand people come, and I will swallow it for the king. " The answer was crisp and neat, hitting the floor. Liu Bei was very satisfied, and all the officials present were very excited.
Wei Yan didn't brag. He didn't live up to Liu Bei's great trust. When defending Hanzhong, he founded the method of "encircling the enemy to prevent the enemy", that is, building a hedge as a camp in Hanzhong according to the terrain, accumulating grain and stationing troops, and strengthening the garrison. If the enemy attacks, each side will collect all the information and risks, and then stand by and attack and help each other, so that the enemy will not persist for long. Later, it turned out that this tactic played a key role in defending Hanzhong.
Wei Yan's outstanding performance in Hanzhong won Liu Bei's full affirmation. After Liu Bei proclaimed himself emperor, he further promoted Wei Yan as the general of Zhenbei. It is said that there used to be a stone tablet in Liuba County, Shaanxi Province, engraved with the words "General Zhen Bei Wei Yan", which was probably established after Wei Yan was promoted to General Zhen Bei. Unfortunately, in 197 1 year, local roads were built, and the stone tablets were destroyed and no longer existed.
In the fifth year of Jianxing (227), Zhuge Liang led an army to the northern expedition of Cao Wei. As a valued general of Liu Bei, Wei Yan frankly put forward to Zhuge Liang the strategic proposition of attacking Chang 'an lightly along the meridian valley and tackling key problems. However, Zhuge Liang thought the plan was dangerous and refused to adopt it. This made Wei Yan very disappointed.
In the following years, Zhuge Liang made several northern expeditions without success. During this period, Wei Yan was not reused by Zhuge Liang.
Although Wei Yan is talented, he is honest and frank, even a little headstrong, and his colleagues generally stay away from him. Because many people can't accept Wei Yan's personality, they yield to him everywhere, which further fuels Wei Yan's temper.
However, there is an official in charge of logistics in the Shu army who never takes Wei Yan seriously. This person is Yang Yi. Yang Yi is narrow-minded and treacherous. Wei Yan always looked down on Yang Yi, and Yang Yi just turned against Wei Yan, which made Wei Yan very angry and hated Yang Yi. Sometimes they quarrel in public, and Wei Yan has a big temper, so he wants to draw his sword and kill Yang Yi. Yang Yi, on the other hand, wept bitterly and looked bullied. Over time, the two men have deep grievances and are in love with each other. Zhuge Liang certainly knew this situation, but instead of stopping it, he indulged it and widened the contradiction between them. Later, Zhuge Liang also wrote an article called "On Getting Started", which was intended to mediate the relationship between the two and make them repent. However, the contradiction between Wei and Yang is extremely profound. How can it end in one sentence? (According to Volume 7 of Huayang Guozhi) However, there was a Fei Yi in the army at that time, who was very good at muddling along, so that the conflict between them did not break out prematurely.
In the 12th year of lite (234), Zhuge Liang was critically ill. When arranging the funeral, Zhuge Liang, Yang Yi, Fei Yi and Jiang Wei made a military plan: ordered Wei Yan to break off, Jiang Wei followed, and Yang Yi and Fei Yi led the main force to retreat. Zhuge Liang knew that Wei and Yang were incompatible, but he put Yang Yi, the governor, in charge of Wei Yan's military affairs, and specifically told him that if Wei Yan did not obey orders, he could abandon Wei Yan and the army would retreat on its own. In fact, Zhuge Liang is well aware of the consequences of this arrangement. He is thoughtful and can be pondered.
After Zhuge Liang's death, Yang Yi asked Fei Yi to ponder Wei Yan's intentions. At this time, Wei Yan made a completely wrong judgment on the situation. He naively thought that Zhuge Liang was suppressed when he was alive, so that he could not display it. Now that Zhuge Liang is gone, it's his turn to show his talents, defeat Wei and annihilate the enemy. When Wei Yan met Fei Yi, he said eagerly, "The Prime Minister has gone, and I, Wei Yan, am still here. Officials can be arranged to help the coffin to go back for burial, and I will lead the army to northern expedition against Wei thieves. How can you ruin the world because of one person's death? " Wei Yan was furious with the military and political affairs of Governor Yang Yi, but let himself break free. "Who am I, Wei Yan? Is it Yang Yi's boy who can command the patrol for him? " Fei Yi knows what Wei Yan really thinks, but on the surface he still agrees. Wei Yan was outspoken and mistakenly thought that Fei Yi was his confidant. He immediately discussed with Fei Yi the arrangement and deployment of the family members of the army, and drafted an order to let Fei Yi issue the whole army. In order to stabilize Wei Yan, Fei Yi pretended to say, "I'll go back and explain to Yang Yi face to face. He is a civil servant and knows nothing about the army. Of course he won't object to your arrangement. " Fei Yi tricked Wei into delaying and rode out. Later, Wei Yan felt reckless and rude, and it was too late to recover Fei Yi.
Fei Yi report to Yang Yi, Yang Yi ordered, still according to the established arrangement. At this time, Wei Yan was already in a state of isolation. He didn't know the whole army's actions, and he didn't receive any orders. He doesn't know what to do. I had to send someone to Yang Yi to inspect and found that the whole army was ready to retreat. Abandoned by the headquarters, Wei Yan was furious and lost his mind. Before the army set out, he left the front line and returned to Hanzhong via the plank road. Along the way, they burned plank roads to vent their hatred for Yang Yi and Fei Yi.
What Wei Yan did undoubtedly gave people an opportunity, which is exactly what Yang Yi wanted. Yang Yi went to court and sued Wei Yan for rebellion. Wei Yan was hard to argue, and accused Yang Yi of rebellion. For a time, they moved between Chengdu and Hanzhong. Liu Chan, who was left behind, couldn't tell right from wrong at all, so he had to ask Jiang Wan and Dong Yun for advice. Because Yang Yi was ordered by Zhuge Liang, the two had always had a problem with Wei Yan, and both thought that Wei Yan was likely to rebel. Liu Chan ordered Jiang Wan rate SuWeiJun north meet, just in case of one thousand.
Wei Yan returned to Nangukou (in today's Baocheng County, Shaanxi Province), and Yang Yi led an army to arrive later. Wei Yan knew that the crime of rebellion had been decided and he would die, so he did not do it for a long time and attacked Yang Yi's main force. Yang Yi sent Wang Ping to battle. When the two armies confronted each other, Wang Ping pointed to Wei Yan and asked loudly, "Are you going to rebel before the bones of Prime Minister Zhuge are cold?" Wei Yan's men also thought that Wei Yan was indefensible. Knowing that he was alone, they all defected and dispersed in a hubbub. Wei Yan was helpless and fled to Hanzhong with his son. On the way, he was chased and killed by Ma Dai.
Wei Yan's head was cut off and given to Yang Yi. Yang Yi got up and stepped on Wei Yan's head. She gnashed her teeth and said, "Dog slave, can you do evil again?" At Yang Yi's behest, Wei Yan's family was hacked to death, leaving no chickens or dogs. Yang Yi's personal anger was exposed.
Whether Wei Yan was killed unjustly or deserved it has been debated since the day he was killed. However, Wei Yan acted on his own initiative when withdrawing troops, burning the plank road and attacking the Shu army, which has seriously violated feudal rules. Even if someone wants to speak for Wei Yan, they can't start.
The turnaround of Wei Yan's unjust case appeared after Yang Yi's true face was exposed.
After getting rid of Wei, Yang Yi's inner desire for power suddenly rose, and she dreamed of becoming Zhuge Liang's successor. However, Yang Yi was completely wrong. Zhuge Liang's use of him is completely temporary, and it is an expedient measure arranged to crowd out Wei Yan. Zhuge Liang's real successor is Jiang Wan.
When Yang Yi returned to Chengdu, she found herself cheated by Zhuge Liang, and she was extremely remorseful and angry. Yang Yi could no longer hide his true thoughts, so he showed his disappointment and anger in public. Later, Fei Yi went to visit him. Yang Yi regarded Fei Yi as a confidant and spoke her mind: "When the Prime Minister died, if I led the army to the north to vote for Cao Wei, how could I end up today?" What a pity! "Fei Yi a listen to frightened, then report to the court, Yang Yi was immediately dismissed. But at this time, Yang Yi couldn't control her feelings. She wrote to the court and her words were very vicious. Liu Chan was furious and Yang Yi was put on trial. Yang Yi knew that she would die and committed suicide in prison.
Yang Yi's fate gives people a fundamental understanding of Wei Yan's grievances. When Wei and Yang argued, people just sympathized with Yang Yi with tears and snot, but they didn't expect this person to be sinister. On the contrary, Wei Yan and Yang Yi have no dispute over power and interests, but why do they hate Yang Yi so much? I'm afraid Wei Yan has long seen through Yang Yi's despicable personality! While gnashing their teeth and hating Yang Yi, people began to recall the scenes of Hanzhong's withdrawal, and finally realized that Wei Yan had died unjustly. At this point, Wei Yan's unjust case turned around.
However, the charges of Wei Yan's rebellion were laid down by the Shu Han court, and it was impossible for the court to rehabilitate Wei Yan. Therefore, people of insight, led by Jiang Wan, thought that Wei Yan had compromised on this thorny historical issue in disguise.
At that time, Jiang Wan led an army stationed in Hanzhong. He buried Wei Yan's bones nearby and built a grave to commemorate him. In this process, the court did not express any opinions, but actually acquiesced in Wei Yan's grievances. It is precisely because Wei Yan's rehabilitation was carried out in silence that there was no record of rehabilitation in the history books, and the tomb of a "traitor" was preserved.
Many people think that Wei Yan has been wronged for a long time, but this is not accurate. As early as when Shu Han was in power, he had been rehabilitated.