There are no generals in Sichuan, so Liao Hua becomes the vanguard
For many years, when people describe the helplessness of a situation, they often use one sentence to sum it up: There are no generals in Sichuan, so Liao Hua becomes the vanguard. . This sentence has many meanings, but one thing is certain, that is, the morphemes of this sentence contain a strong and clear element of helplessness. To put it bluntly, can it be understood as: Is it true that there is no one left in this country of Shu? How come someone like Liao Hua actually became a pioneer officer? ! So, what kind of person is Liao Hua in the Three Kingdoms? Is it really so worth mentioning? In order to clarify this point, I compared history books and novels, found some information, and gained a new understanding of Liao Hua. Here I will only give a brief opinion to the "Three Kingdoms" fans. In Chen Shou's "Three Kingdoms", the description of Liao Hua is very simple, with only a few hundred words:
Liao Hua, whose courtesy name is Yuanjian, whose real name is Chun, is from Xiangyang. He was in charge of the former general Guan Yu. When Yu was defeated, he belonged to Wu. Thinking of returning to the late master is cheating death. At that time, people said that he believed it, because he carried his old mother and traveled westward day and night. Will first lead the Eastern Campaign. Met in Zigui. The late Lord was overjoyed and made Yihua the prefect of Yidu. The former Lord passed away and joined the army as Prime Minister. Later he became the governor of Guangwu, and later moved to the right chariot and cavalry general. On the holiday, he was appointed governor of Bingzhou, granted the title of Marquis of Zhongxiang, and was named Guo Lie. The official position is the same as that of Zhang Ji and to the right of Zong Yu. In the spring of the first year of Xianxi, both Hua and Yu moved inland to Luoyang and died of disease. In Luo Guanzhong's "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Liao Hua's image is fuller and appears in front of us many times:
... Let's talk about Guan Gong coming to drive a chariot. After traveling about thirty miles, he was nowhere to be seen. Yun Chang was panicked and looked around for him. Suddenly he saw a man on the top of the mountain, shouting: "General Guan, stay here!" Yun Chang raised his eyes and saw a young man in yellow scarf and brocade clothes, holding a gun astride a horse, with a head hanging under the horse's neck, leading more than a hundred foot soldiers. Come at full speed. The duke asked, "Who are you?" The young man abandoned his gun, dismounted his horse, and bowed to the ground. Yun Chang feared that he was being deceived, so he reined up his horse and held his sword in his hand and asked, "Sir, would you like me to know my name?" He replied, "I am from Xiangyang. My surname is Liao, my given name is Hua, and my surname is Yuan Jian. Due to the turmoil in the world, I wandered around the rivers and lakes, gathering more than 500 people. People make a living by plundering. Just then, my companion Du Yuan went down the mountain to patrol, and mistakenly robbed the two ladies up the mountain. I asked the follower and found out that it was the wife of the great Han Dynasty Liu Huangshu. I heard that the general was escorting Du Yuan down the mountain. He spoke rudely and was killed by someone. Now I offer my head to plead guilty to the general... After Guan Gong heard this, he thanked Liao Hua. Liao Hua wanted to send Guan Gong with his subordinates. Guan Gong thought that this man was a member of the Yellow Turbans and could not be his companion, so he thanked him. Liao Hua paid homage to him again, but Guan Gong did not accept it. Liao Hua said goodbye and led his companions to the valley... (Chapter 27) Xuande said: "I, Pang Shiyuan, Huang Zhong, and Wei Yan went to Xichuan. ; The military advisor can guard Jingzhou with Guan Yunchang, Zhang Yide, and Zhao Zilong. "Kong Ming agreed. So Kong Ming took charge of Jingzhou; Guan Gong refused the main road to Xiangyang and used it as the Qingni Pass; Zhang Fei led the four counties to patrol the river, and Zhao Yun stationed in Jiangling to suppress the public security. Xuande ordered Huang Zhong to be the front and Wei Yan to be the rear. Xuande was with Liu Feng and Guan Ping in the central army. Pang Tong was the military advisor, and he had 50,000 horse and infantry. Before leaving for the west, Liao Hua suddenly led an army to surrender. Xuande asked Liao Hua to assist Yun Chang to resist Cao Cao... (Chapter 60) ...Yun Chang then ordered Liao Hua to be the vanguard, Guan Ping to be the deputy general, and to join the Central Army, with Ma Liang and Yi Ji as staff officers, to march together... (Chapter 73) ...kill three At the same time, there were shouts from the east, and Guan Ping and Liao Hua divided their troops into two groups to rush into the encirclement and rescue Guan Gong. Guan Ping said: "The army is in chaos, and we must temporarily camp in the city to wait for reinforcements." Although Maicheng is small, it is enough for a garrison. "Guan Gong followed... The Duke asked: "Who dares to break out of the encirclement and ask for help from Shangyong? "Liao Hua said: "I am willing to go. "...(Chapter 76)...When the king of Hanzhong heard this, he was shocked. He immediately discussed with Wenwu and said: "Cao Cao is dead, and Cao Pi succeeds to the throne. He threatens the emperor even more than Cao Cao. Sun Quan of the Eastern Wu Dynasty surrendered and became a minister. I want to attack Soochow first to avenge Yunchang, and then attack the Central Plains to get rid of the rebels. " Before he finished speaking, Liao Hua left the team, cried and worshiped on the ground, and said: "The murder of Guan Gong and his son is really the crime of Liu Feng and Meng Da. Beg to punish these two thieves. "Xuande wanted to send people to capture him... (Chapter 79) ...but he said that Sima Yi was defeated by Zhang Yi and Liao Hua. He ran away into the dense forest with a single gun on his horse. Zhang Yi held back the rear army, and Liao Hua He should catch up first. When he caught up, Yi panicked and slashed around the tree. When he pulled out the knife, Yi had already walked out of the forest, but he didn't know where he was going... Chapter 13) ...But when Jiang Wei sent an order to retreat, Liao Hua said: "The general is outside, and your order is not accepted." Although there is an edict now, it cannot be moved. Zhang Yi said: "The people of Shu are the generals who have mobilized troops for many years, and they all have resentments. It is better to take advantage of this moment of victory to take back the troops and horses to calm the people and make good plans again." Wei said: "Good." "Then he ordered all the armies to retreat in accordance with the law. He ordered Liao Hua and Zhang Yi to break up the rear to prevent Wei soldiers from pursuing them... (Chapter 14)... But Dong Jue, the general of the auxiliary state, heard that more than ten soldiers from Wei had entered the country. He led 20,000 soldiers to guard the sword pavilion. That day, Wang Chen was very worried. He suspected that they were Wei soldiers and hurriedly led his troops to guard the pass. When Dong Jue approached the army, he saw that they were Jiang Wei, Liao Hua, and Zhang Yiye... (The first one.) Chapter 17) After moving, the Lord went to Luoyang. Only several people including Shangshu Ling Fan Jian, Shizhong Zhang Shao, Guanglu doctor Qiao Zhou, secretary Lang Quezheng and others followed him because they were ill. Everyone is worried about death... (Chapter 19) From the above narrative, we can see:
Liao Hua first appeared when Guan Yu was riding alone for thousands of miles.
At this time, it was around the time of the Battle of Guandu. At that time, Liao Hua was just a young general who fell into trouble and became a bandit. He was only sixteen or seventeen years old.
Liao Hua returned to Liu Bei's account when Liu Bei was on his way to Sichuan. The novel only uses a few words for Liao Hua's return, while Mr. Zhang Guoliang's "Review of the Three Kingdoms" published by Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House did more about this. Detailed description, the general idea is -
Cao Cao learned that Liu Bei had entered Sichuan, and sent Xu Huang and other generals to pretend to be the Yellow Turban remnant party and ambush on Yidu Road, and robbed the Han camp at night. Liu Bei was caught off guard and rode away alone. At the foot of Tenglong Mountain, I met five kings who occupied the mountain and defeated Cao's army. These five were relatively famous among the Three Kingdoms, namely: Liao Hua, Wang Fu, Zhao Lei, Ding Li, and Bai Shou.
Liao Hua, Wang Fu, and Zhao Lei returned to Jingzhou and became Guan Yu's subordinates; Ding Li and Bai Shou followed Liu Bei to Sichuan. Later, these two people were specifically mentioned in Zhuge Liang's "Shi Shi Biao". When Liu Bei entered Sichuan in 211, Kong Ming was 30 years old, and Liao Hua was about 27 or 28 years old. In Zhuge Liang's six southern expeditions and six northern expeditions, Liao Hua did not appear much. I think it may be because generals such as Zhao Yun, Wei Yan, Zhang Bao, Guan Xing, Wang Ping, Ma Dai, and Wu Ban are still around. In a battle before Zhuge Liang's death in the "Wuzhangyuan", Liao Hua chased Sima alone. The latter was killed and lost his helmet and armor. By calculation, Liao Hua was already fifty years old. After Zhuge Liang's death, Jiang Wei made nine expeditions to the Central Plains. As Zhuge Liang's old general, Jiang Wei only had Liao Hua, Zhang Yi, Zhang Ni and others. As the backbone of the revival of Han industry, Liao Hua fought on the front line of the Northern Expedition until the Kingdom of Shu. perish. It was the 43rd year of the founding of the Shu Han Dynasty, the second year of the First Lord, and the forty-one year of the Later Lord. Then, when the Shu Kingdom fell, Liao Hua was already an eighty-year-old veteran general with hair as white as snow and eyebrows as frosty as frost. Liao Hua's identity, talent, and martial arts are incomparable with many of Liu Bei's generals, such as Guan, Zhang, Zhao, Ma, Huang, Wei Yan, Guan Ping, etc. He is neither Liu Bei's old subordinate when he launched his army, nor is he a well-known general; he has neither outstanding military commanding skills nor outstanding martial arts achievements. So, what made the ordinary Liao Hua devote his entire life to the cause of Shu Han? I think that is the most valuable quality of a person---unswerving loyalty! As Guan Yu's vanguard officer, Liao Hua took the lead and charged into the battle during the Northern Expedition; when Guan Yu was defeated in Maicheng, he rode alone to Shangyong for help. Faced with Liu Feng and Meng Da's refusal to save him, he burst into tears. , Kowtow to bleed; Liu Bei attacked Wu, Liao Huali explained the crimes of Liu and Meng, and pointed out the culprit that caused Guan Yu's death. Regarding Liao Hua after the loss of Jingzhou, the record in "Three Kingdoms" is as follows: After Guan Yu's defeat, Liao Hua was forced to belong to Wu State incognito. He thought about returning to his ancestors every day, so he pretended to be dead and took his mother to the west day and night. He happened to meet Liu Bei who was on the Eastern Expedition in Zigui and returned to Shu camp. From this point we can also see Liao Hua's character. From this, I draw this conclusion:
Liao Hua is one of the very few people in the Three Kingdoms who has experienced the entire rise and fall of Wei, Shu, and Wu;
His influence on Guan Yu and Liu Bei's feelings came from the heart and were sincere;
He was loyal and unswerving to the cause of Shu Han, and struggled throughout his life.
Therefore, regarding "There are no generals in Shu, Liao Hua is the vanguard" -
I wonder if it can be understood this way: what it sighs is not Liao Hua's mediocrity and incompetence, but sighs---- There are already too few loyal ministers and brave generals like Liao Hua...
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