Liu Bei.
Liu Bei was, after all, better than Cao Cao and Sun Quan, who finally defeated him: Cao Cao's father, Cao Song, was the adopted son of a eunuch and had already entered the top power class of eunuchs, relatives of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Therefore, Cao Cao, like Yuan Shao, was born in a public position. , they were able to make good friends with each other at a young age and draw support to each other; Sun Quan was a rich man in Jiangdong, and his father Sun Jian was brave enough to fight against the people and had a lot of county property. The history books clearly stated that Sun Quan "inherited the inheritance of his father and brother"; but Liu Bei was not like this. The famous Han family clan is actually far away. Although my grandfather and father served as county magistrates and other small officials, they fell into the worst situation when Liu Bei arrived, so they could only make ends meet by weaving mats and selling shoes with their mother. In fact, people at that time despised Liu Bei's "Han clan". It is difficult to guarantee that no one in history has criticized Zhuge Liang like Jiangdong Lu Ji, saying "Han clan" and so on. Who knows whether it is true or not! But it is not easy for Liu Bei to achieve a position of resistance against Cao Sun with such a humble background. Liu Bei's success is enough to be admired by all generations. Therefore, although the Jin Dynasty prospered due to inheriting Wei, Chen Shou and others regarded Wei as Zhengshuo. However, many historians in later generations expressed different views, such as Xi Chizhao, Zhu Xi, Su Chang, Hao Jing and others. , all regard Shu Han as the orthodoxy; literary works such as "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" even try their best to suppress Cao Cao and respect Liu. Although objectively "they want to show Liu Bei's strength but seem fake", Liu Bei's personality charm really surpasses Cao Cao. , no wonder Cao Cao thinks so highly of him!
Liu Bei is outstanding in several important aspects. The first is the sense of responsibility that "everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the world." Liu Bei's army was not just speculation, but also his ambition to bring peace to the country. The Yellow Turban Rebellion, combined with the rampant plague, drastically reduced the population of China. "One or two out of ten people are still there", but only six or seven million. It is not an exaggeration to say that "the bones are exposed in the wild, and there are no roosters crowing for thousands of miles." When Liu Bei became emperor, the Shu Kingdom had only 200,000 households and 900,000 people. The country is in crisis, and there are many good men like Sima Hui and people like Xu Si who are asking for land and homes. Even Zhuge Liang is unwilling to leave the cottage, but Liu Bei's soldiers can think of the world and rise up in ordinary streets. Donating to the country with your modest means is what a good man should do. Moreover, after being annexed by Cao Cao, although he was treated favorably, because he knew that Cao Cao would be detrimental to the Han Dynasty, he underestimated his personal reputation and accepted the secret edict, and then resolutely broke with Cao Cao. After arriving at Xichuan, he spared no effort to attack Cao Cao, vowing to "Dong and Qi's six armies, unite their allies, and wipe out the evil rebellion." Therefore, throughout the ages, especially the literati and poets before the appearance of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", they have praised Liu Bei's poems no less than Cao Cao. The famous ones are such as Lu Wen's "Liu Lang Pu": "Who will despise the world with one woman? Want to change Liu Lang Xin Qiji's "Shui Long Yin": "Asking for land and asking for a house, I am afraid of being embarrassed. Liu Lang is talented." Wait, Liu Bei is not only a heroic image, but also known as "Liu Lang", with his heroic appearance. It can be the same certificate as "Zhou Lang". His ambitions are not even comparable to those of Liu Bang, who "does this as a real man", and Xiang Yu, who "does what he can do".
Secondly, Liu Bei attaches great importance to the concept of "people", has a strong sense of protecting people, and has a high level of employment, so he has a strong personality charm. This was most obvious when he evacuated Jingzhou. "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" emphatically writes about the people's following of him. "The Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms" also records Liu Bei's words: "People must be the first priority in Fuji's major affairs. Now that he has returned to me, how can I bear to abandon him!" In fact, there are many people who follow him. Not just the common people. "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" mentioned that Cao Cao attacked Jingzhou, and Jingzhou scholars followed Liu Bei like clouds. Jingzhou under Liu Biao's rule was not only relatively peaceful and prosperous, but also attracted a large number of famous people because Liu Biao himself was a member of the Qing Dynasty. Most of these people had a crush on Liu Bei because Liu Biao had great ambitions and few talents. Even Liu Biao himself respected Liu Bei. Others, such as Gongsun Zan, Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Lu Bu, etc., are all top-notch heroes in the world, but they also flock to Liu Bei. For example, Lu Bu attacked Liu Bei out of greed, but could not bear to hurt Liu Bei's family, and eventually... He accepted Liu Bei, but if he had replaced him with Cao Cao, he would have been chopped into pieces. It can be seen that Liu Bei's personality charm is irresistible.
The same goes for Liu Bei. Although the peach garden friendship is fictional and Guan Yu is actually one year older than Liu Bei and not his sworn brother, his pity for Guan Yu's death finally led to the Eastern Expedition. Although he was defeated, the feeling of confidants between his monarch and his subjects is really touching. I think Scholars throughout the ages will all fall in love with such an emperor! Liu Bei's biggest regret is actually his heir Adou. It's not that Liu Bei didn't have a successful son, but the reason why he insisted on establishing Adou was because he was grateful for the country's hardships. Because Adou was Liu Bei's son, he had a lot of troubles in his early years. For hardship. This is true for his son, and it is also true for his wife. Although he married Sun Quan's sister for political needs, his situation is similar to Liu Xiu. When he became successful, he still remained pure and innocent. If you look carefully at history, you will understand that most of the founding emperors were very affectionate towards their first wives. Although they could not be monogamous, they could basically have sex with each other, except Mao Zedong.
"Three Kingdoms" commented: "The ancestor's magnanimity and generosity, knowing people and treating scholars, have the style of the ancestors, and are the tools of a hero. He entrusted the whole country to Zhuge Liang, but his mind was clear, and he was sincere to the emperor and his ministers. Zhigong, the prosperity of ancient and modern times is also the case. The power of power does not catch up with Wei Wu, so the foundation is also narrow. However, if you do not give in, you will not be inferior. , just to avoid harm." Such a hero is so misunderstood today that some people even call him a "confused insect". Today's people's understanding of the ancients and history is really superficial, they are cut off from tradition, and they are still self-righteous; read You can’t understand history through writing, and you can’t understand history by reading history, and you still think you are expert. How can you tolerate being so shallow and yet dare to ridicule the ancients? !