Zhong Hui Zi Shi Ji, a member of the Yingchuan Changshe, and the youngest son of Taifu Zhongxuan. Shi Zai, Zhong Hui has been sensitive and wise since childhood, which is different from ordinary children. Jiang Ji, a member of the Chinese Protector Army, was known for his kindness, and when he saw Zhong Hui, who was 5 years old, he was very surprised and praised: "Extraordinary people are also people." The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Wei Shu, and Zhong Hui biography says: "He is strong, talented and skilled, erudite, refined and reasonable, and has gained fame by continuing day and night." During the first years of Cao WeiZheng, Zhong Hui was the secretary Lang, and later successively promoted Shangshu and Zhongshu Shilang. After Cao Xian, the Duke of Gaogui Township, ascended the throne, he was given the title of Marquis of Guannei.
Zhong Hui was a polymath with both literature and martial arts, and was a famous military figure at the end of the Cao Wei dynasty, and Sima Shi once spoke highly of him: "This true king Zuo Caiye". When the brothers Sima Shi and Sima Zhao successively led an army to suppress the rebellion of Wuqiu Jian and Zhuge Shi (both of whom were Cao Wei Zhongchen) in Huainan, Zhong Hui always followed the ancillary horse and actively advised the Sima brothers. Zhong Hui was resourceful, "the son of the people of the time (Zhang Liang)", and the "Three Kingdoms Chronicle of Wei Shu Zhong Hui" also said that he "will be able to comprehensively integrate the military, participate in the same plan, anticipate the enemy to win, and have the merit of plotting".
This means that at that time, everyone believed that Zhong Hui's military ability was comparable to that of Zhang Liang, one of the "Three Masters of the Western Han Dynasty", and that Zhong Hui could afford to put it down and play an important role in strategy, tactics and army management.
After Sima Zhao quelled Zhuge Zhi's rebellion, he instigated his generals to kill the young puppet emperor Cao Xian (曹髦), the Duke of Gaoguixiang , and made Cao Huan the bear's son Cao Yi (曹奂) emperor , and began to take sole control of Cao Wei's military and political power. After monopolizing power, Sima Zhao gradually began to reveal his ambitions and plotted to usurp him. In order to usurp the throne, it was necessary to establish a mighty force with martial arts, so he began to plan to destroy Shu.
At that time, the Shu Han Dynasty, political corruption, eunuch dictatorship, . The general Jiang Wei succeeded Jiang Wei, Fei Yi, and Dong Yun in taking over the military power, and although he had military talent, he lacked political skill, and because he was afraid of the eunuch Huang Haozhi, who was favored by Liu Chan, the lord of Shu, he did not dare to return to Chengdu for a long time, and led his army to garrison Intuo (Lintan County, west of present-day Lintao, Gansu).
Sima Zhao summoned all the ministers to discuss the destruction of Shu, and the ministers all thought that it was impossible, but the lieutenant Colonel Zhong Hui strongly advocated sending troops to support Sima Zhao's proposal to destroy Shu. Sima Zhao patiently persuaded Deng Ai, who did not agree to the western expedition, so Ren Zhonghui became the general of Zhenxi and oversaw the guanzhong armies.
Regardless of whether it is justice or not, objectively speaking, Sima Zhao chose this time period to send an army to destroy Shu, which was definitely the right time. In the previous Battle of Shangjue Duangu (near Tianshui, Gansu), the Shu Han general Jiang Wei was defeated and defeated by Deng Ai, the Shu soldiers were scattered, the casualties were heavy, the Shu land was full of new graves, the family daixiao, And Jiang Wei's poor soldiers caused serious dissatisfaction among the Shu people.
According to history, the Shu state had a total registered population of 280,000 households at that time, counting 940,000 men and women, while there were more than 142,000 officials and soldiers, and on average, every two households had to support one officer and soldier. At the same time, Liu Chan, the lord of the Shu Dynasty, was weak in nature, coveted sensual pleasures, and ignored political affairs. The power of the government was gradually controlled by the eunuch Huang Hao, who wanted to replace Jiang Wei with his loyal henchman and right general Yan Yu, who sensed the danger and was quite afraid, so he led the army outside (to avoid disaster) for a long time and did not return to Chengdu.
In April of the fourth year of Jingyuan (263), Sima Zhao mobilized more than 200,000 troops to conquer Shu in the west, and ordered the Zhenxi general Zhong Hui to unify 100,000 main forces to attack Hanzhong in two ways out of the Xie Valley and the Meridian Valley; deng Ai, the general of Zhengxi, led 30,000 soldiers from Di Dao to attack Jiang Wei; and The Yongzhou assassin Shi Zhuge Xu led tens of thousands of horses from Qishan to attack the bridge near Yinping Road.
What happened next was basically known to Chinese. Here is only a brief description: when the 100,000-strong army led by Zhong Hui and Jiang Wei's 50,000 Shu army confronted Jiange Pass on the border of the Shu state, the attack was blocked, while the General Deng Ai of Zhengxi took another path, leading more than 10,000 tigers to cross the 700-mile barren land - the Yinping Dangerous Road, and after entering Shu, they even broke through the River Oil Pass, Luocheng, and Mianzhu, like a "divine soldier and a heavenly general", and attacked the Shu capital Chengdu. Liu Chan of Shu II misjudged the main force of the Wei army to be in the city, and was greatly frightened, and the people of Chengdu went out of the city to escape the military disaster, and the officials could not prohibit it, Liu Chan, at the instigation of the surrender faction of Zhou Zhou and others, under the condition that the strength was still there, rushed to open the city and surrendered. The Shu Han Dynasty, which had been established for 42 years, was destroyed by Wei.
After the fall of the Shu Han Dynasty, Deng Ai, the first hero of the Shu Dynasty, was physically and mentally inflated, acted arbitrarily in Chengdu, and handled military and political affairs without authorization, causing Sima Zhao's doubts and dissatisfaction, Zhong Hui was jealous of Deng Ai's merits, and joined forces with Sima Zhao's confidants and the supervising army Wei Ou to take advantage of secrets to tell Deng Ai that he wanted to rebel, and Sima Zhao instructed Zhong Hui and Wei Ou to secretly arrest Deng Ai's father and son, escort them back to Luoyang by sill truck, and were killed by Wei Ai on the way. Deng Ai did not have any remorse, but his sense of responsibility was too much, he did what he should do, and he also took care of the things that the leader considered, and he did not let it go, which triggered Sima Zhao's suspicions, and he was framed by Zhong Hui and died unjustly.
After Deng Ai's death, Zhong Hui single-handedly led the Western Expedition and plotted a rebellion with the general Jiang Wei. Sima Zhao, sensing that Zhong Hui was plotting against him, personally led 100,000 elite Wei troops into Chang'an, and ordered his loyal general Jia Chong (the father of Jia Nanfeng after the Western Jin Dynasty) to lead his division into the Xie Valley and force Zhong Hui. Zhong met with Sima Zhao, who was aware of his attempts and had already taken precautions, so he joined forces with Jiang Wei and imprisoned all the Wei generals who did not want to obey, and prepared to counterattack Sima Zhao, but due to poor planning, the Wei soldiers rebelled, and the western expedition soldiers gathered to attack Zhong Hui, and Zhong Hui and Jiang Wei were killed in the confusion. Deng Ai and Zhong Hui were both great heroes in destroying Shu, but they were both killed by their own people, and their tragic ending confirmed the prophecy of Liu Jian, a god before he left the army: "Breaking Shu will be destroyed, and neither will be returned."
Deng Ai's unjust murder will not be discussed here. Zhong Hui was Sima Zhao's beloved general and the most resolute supporter of Sima Zhao's plan to send an army to destroy Shu, and the Sima family was really not thin to him, and it can be said that his power and fame and fortune were given to him by Sima Zhao. Then, after establishing the great merit of destroying Shu, Zhong Hui, who was deeply favored by Sima Shi, should reorganize his armaments and make careful preparations for the next step of destroying Wu, in order to repay Sima Zhao's kindness when he knew that he had encountered it. But why did he also have a disobedient heart and plot to raise troops and rebel?
Carefully searching the historical materials, you will find that the reason why Zhong Hui wanted to raise an army to rebel had a lot to do with the Shu Han general Jiang Wei. Then, after getting rid of Deng Ai, Zhong Hui single-handedly took charge of Cao Wei's western expeditionary army, plus Jiang Wei brought 50,000 Shu troops to surrender, and there were more than 200,000 elite soldiers under his command, which was a formidable force, as long as it could be used properly, not only could it swallow Wu in one fell swoop, but also launch a counterattack against the usurper Sima Clan along the road, kuang supporting Cao Wei.
The mainstream view is that the reason why Zhong Hui planned a rebellion was mainly because of the growth of its strength after the destruction of Shu, which led to the expansion of selfish desires and ambitions. The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and the Biography of Zhong Hui says: After Zhong Hui led an army to destroy Shu, "Wei Zhen Xi tu, claiming to be a meritorious name in the world, can not be reinstated as a man, and jia meng will be sharp and pawns in his own hands, so he plots rebellion... If things are accomplished, the world can be won; if it is not done, it is not possible to surrender the Shu Han and not lose Liu Beiye."
After the destruction of Shu, Zhong Hui thought that he had made great contributions to the world, and did not want to live under the people anymore, plus he had a strong army that could recruit good warriors, so he had the heart of rebellion and wanted to replace Sima Zhao and dominate the world. Even if the rebellion fails, it is a big deal to guard the Sword Pavilion, retire to Western Shu, establish himself as king in Shu, and be the second Liu Bei.
The "Spring and Autumn of the Han Dynasty", "Huayang Guozhi", "Jinyang Qiu" and other historical books also mention that the reason why Jiang Wei surrendered to Wei was a last resort to force the situation, he was not a real surrender but a fraudulent surrender, the purpose was to use the old feelings to deceive the trust of the eventual meeting, looking for an opportunity to shake the Zhong Hui to rebel, march north into the Central Plains, destroy the Sima clan, and restore the Shu Han Society. Originally, after the Later Lord Liu Chan surrendered to Deng Ai, he ordered Jiang Wei to surrender his weapons on the spot and surrender to Zhong Hui, but Jiang Wei had other plans: to try to use the power of Zhong Hui to overthrow Cao Wei (who had been controlled by Sima Zhao), and then find an opportunity to get rid of Zhong Hui, welcome back the Later Lord Liu Chan, and restore the Shu Han dynasty.
Jiang Wei inherited Zhuge Liang's legacy and cut down the Central Plains 11 times, which was more than Zhuge Liang's 5 Cuts in the Central Plains. Although he did not acquire the size of the Central Plains due to the gap in strength, Jiang Wei's loyalty to shu Han was beyond doubt. What is even more precious is that Jiang Wei, in the dilemma of Liu Chan having surrendered and the country destroyed and his family destroyed, could still have a red heart to Shu Han, trying to deceive Cao Wei by tricking Cao Wei, first using Zhong Hui, and then eliminating Zhong Hui, so as to realize his ultimate ideal of destroying Wei Xinghan, such a loyal minister who still harbored his homeland in the face of the general trend was rare in history.
The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms also says that after Jiang Wei surrendered to Wei, "he will treat Wei and so on kindly, and all of them will have the right to return their seal numbers." Hui and Wei Chu are in the same seat (car), and sit in the same seat, which is said to be the long Shi Du premonition: "With Bo Yue (Jiang Wei Zi Bo Yue) than the Middle Earth celebrities, Gong Xiu (Zhuge Birthday) and Tai Chu (Xiahou Xuan) cannot win the victory'"
Sima Zhao had the grace of knowing zhong hui and regarded him as a confidant, so why did Zhong Hui have the heart to rebel after making a great contribution to destroying Shu? Zhong Hui should understand that Sima Zhao's wings were plump at that time and it was not easy to overthrow. Moreover, although Zhong Hui led the army to destroy Shu, he was a literati in his bones after all, so why did he suddenly have ambitions and wanted to join forces with Jiang Wei to overthrow Sima Zhao?
It turned out that Zhong Hui was the younger son of Cao Wei's wife Fu Zhongxuan, and the Zhong father and son were deeply blessed by Cao Wei, so they had their hearts set on Cao And disdained Sima Shi's usurpation. Zhong Hui is a well-read scholar, deeply learned, not a warlord who does not know righteousness, and he is loyal to the Cao clan in his heart, which is also in line with common sense. Therefore, although Zhong Hui was a close confidant of the Sima brothers, he was essentially the same as Wang Ling, Wu Qiu Jian, and Zhuge Shi, all of whom were loyal vassals of Cao Wei, not his own ulterior ambitions. And Zhong Hui's ability and strategy were far above wang, Wuqiu, and Zhuge 3 people, plus they had heavy troops in their hands, but because of the sudden start of the matter, the plan was not well planned, resulting in the rebellion of the Northern (Wei) soldiers, a counterattack, and a defeat and death, if he and Jiang Wei could carefully deploy, unify the hearts of the army, smoothly lead the army to smash out the Sword Pavilion and Hanzhong, and then cross the Qin Mountains to capture Chang'an, from Chang'an to the east, the soldiers pointed directly at Luoyang, then what was the general situation of the Sima clan at this time, who was the deer who died? It's hard to predict.
【Illustration comic strip from the Internet】