Jiang Gan in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms was born in Jiujiang (now Shouxian County, Anhui Province). The romance describes that Jiang Gan, a former Battle of Red Cliffs, acted as a lobbyist for Cao Cao in an attempt to persuade Zhou Yu to surrender. At that time, I didn't want to worry about Cai Mao and help Cao Jun train the water army, so I played along, put down the "Hero Club", induced him to steal Zhang and Cai's fake "surrender book" and got rid of them by two-faced means. After that, he thought he had made meritorious deeds and became a laughing stock.
Battle of Red Cliffs ended the feud between heroes since the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty and laid the foundation for the tripartite confrontation. For this war, at that time, many people didn't expect to defeat Yuan Shao with fewer victories, and then took the opportunity to seize the lean Cao Cao of Jingzhou, who was defeated by Huang Kou Zhou Lang.
There are many reasons for Cao Cao's failure, but it has a lot to do with Jiang Gan, a pedant who doesn't succeed or fail.
Cao Cao's soldiers in the north didn't learn to fight in the water, but because of Jingzhou's surrender, Cai Mao and Zhang Yun became the commanders of the water army. These two people have lived in Jiangdong for a long time and are familiar with the method of water warfare. Zhou Yu has always been regarded as a confidant and it is difficult to get rid of it for a long time. Jiang Gan volunteered to surrender Zhou Yu and happened to pass by Jiang Lai. Zhou Yu's mischief made Jiang Gan steal the secret letter written by Zhang Cai, which led to Cao Cao's manslaughter of two generals. However, Zhou Lang could not break Cao Cao's heart. Pang Tong, who took refuge in Jiangdong, came up with a series of tricks, but how can Pang Tong cross the river safely and how can Cao Cao not be suspicious? While Zhou Yu was worried, Jiang Gan came again. It was he who introduced Pang Tong to Cao Cao, who believed in the serial stratagem provided by the famous Pang Tong, which led to the failure of the war.
Jiang Gan crossed the river twice and was caught twice. Not only did Cao Wei's 830,000 troops die, but even Cao Cao himself almost died. No wonder later generations commented that Jiang Gan was a rotten scholar who accomplished nothing. In fact, Jiang Gan is not without learning. He and Zhou Yu have been classmates since childhood, and they are omnipotent in piano, chess, painting and calligraphy. They have already learned the four books and five classics by heart. He has no courage. When the two armies confronted each other, Zhou Yu volunteered and shuttled through the swords and shadows of Cao Wei's envoys, sailing to tell Wu Dong that tens of thousands of troops had fallen. Especially when crossing the river for the second time, in the face of fierce and narrow-minded commander Wu Dong, he risked his life and death to fight for it. However, he is really a nonsense fool, a bookcase fool with two legs. Although he was full of knowledge, he didn't use the idea at all. He can only do what others doze off. He quickly gave a pillow and finally destroyed the Cao Wei army he was loyal to. It seems that it is one thing for a person to be knowledgeable, and it is another to be able to do things. Although Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, the generals of the Western Han Dynasty, came from humble origins and had little knowledge, they became great generals who defeated the Huns. However, Jiang Gan, who is full of knowledge, did one thing and another, which became the information for future generations to laugh and cry.
Although the thrilling Battle of Red Cliffs has long been swallowed up by the Yangtze River, the Jiang Gan-style characters have not disappeared in real life. This kind of person may be a knowledgeable university expert, who will make various comments and even quote classics. However, when encountering specific problems, he not only failed to come up with effective solutions, but even screwed up a very small thing. For such a fool who can only talk but not do, and can't tell right from wrong in a daze at a critical moment, the best way is to let him go to the front line to beat and hone, learn some real skills in practice, and become a person with real talent and practical learning.
In Taiwan Province's parody of the idol drama The Ultimate Three Kingdoms, Jiang Gan was played by Zhang Haoming.