Looking through the historical facts, it is not difficult to find that when introducing Zhang Liao, he has always faced the world with a positive image. He was a man who had been admired by all generations, and he was also one of the sixty-four generals of ancient and modern times, and Chen Shou ranked him at the top of the five sons of liangjun.
Readers who know a little more know that Zhang Liao, a person who has served many lords and princes, and also supported Lü Bu against Cao Cao, so it is not easy to get such an honor. He also had a remarkable friendship with Guan Yu, and Later Emperor Wen praised Zhang Liao as the ancient summoning tiger.
As a general in a troubled world, his fate seems to have outperformed many. Therefore, before his death, Chen Shou also added a sum to Jiangdu, and if he died in office, he really achieved the Festival of Loyalty and Death.
However, just as Lu Simian said, it is not possible to fully adopt the contents recorded in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", such as who said what people said at what time of day and where; or who and who had what kind of excellent performance in which battle; even the voices, faces, expressions, etc. in it were recorded vividly, which is not difficult to think that the original historian contained elements of beautification and fabrication.
The book "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is completely fine if it is only used to look at the people at that time, and the general view of what happened in the past is completely fine. But if you want to find out the truth of the matter, you can't contain interests in it. It is necessary to treat the history strictly, compare and refer to other historical books and documents, and cannot be treated ambiguously.
In the book, it is recorded that Zhang Liao's death, Zhang Liao and his generals defeated the Wu general Lü Fan, and then died of illness in Jiangdu, and that was all, hastily done, and there is no detail.
However, another Western Jin Dynasty book, "The History of the Three Kingdoms Debate", expounds Zhang Liao's death in this way. At the beginning, Zhang Liaowei shook Jiangdong, and Sun Quan was very frightened, so he wrote to Cao Pi. Advising him that Zhang Liao was operating in Jianghuai, there was no one around Qiu County who was not jealous of him. Every time I send troops north, you send him to guard the town, and over time, he will not disobey?
Why do we have to say this, we have to say that the geographical factors in the Jianghuai area have been a turbulent area since ancient times. On the one hand, this area is rich in products and sufficient food for soldiers, which is a natural barrier against Jiangdong; on the other hand, it is precisely because of such rare and excellent conditions that it is more likely to cause problems. The most direct proof is Wang Ling and Zhuge Shi in the late Cao Wei period.
In fact, here, the reason why Sun Quan wanted to warn Cao Pi about such a thing was to make him recognize himself, and it was a fool's dream to shake Jiangdong by wei Guo's current national strength alone, so there would be Deng Ai Tun Tian for five years, and the world could swallow it. Zhang Liao had been operating in Jianghuai for many years, and he already had deep roots, and the opportunity was an indispensable figure in the local area.
Imagine if Zhang Liao was not here to suppress, Cao Wei's southeast gateway would open widely, which shows that Cao Pi, the king, already had a deep sense of dependence on the general Zhang Liao.
In 221 AD, when Zhang Liao went to the imperial palace to pay homage, Cao Pi met with Zhang Liao at the Jianshi Hall and asked him about the original commission when he broke Wu in the past. After Zhang Liao finished speaking, Cao Pi sighed and said, "It's like summoning a tiger to the present world!" Therefore, Cao Pi ordered a new house for Zhang Liao, and even built a palace room for Zhang Liao's mother. Even the many foot soldiers who followed Zhang Liao at that time were also sealed with tigers.
In 222, Sun Quan again declared himself a vassal to Cao Wei. Zhang Liao was ordered to take over Yongqiu, but fell ill here. Cao Pi sent Liu Ye to bring a doctor to diagnose his illness, which shows how much Cao Pi attaches importance to Zhang Liao. Many Tiger Ben warriors also rushed to inquire about Zhang Liao's condition.
Zhang Liaojiu was not cured, and Cao Pi ordered his men to take him to his camp, and he personally drove to him, gave him imperial clothes, and ordered the eunuchs to deliver imperial meals every day. After Zhang Liao's condition improved slightly, he returned to the army, and then led the army to garrison Hefei with Zhu Ling, loyal to his duties. At this time, Sun Quan betrayed Cao Wei again, and Cao Pi sent Zhang Liao to defend the Linjiang River in Hailing with Cao Xiu. When Sun Quan learned that Zhang Liao had reached this point, he was very jealous and reprimanded the generals: "Although Zhang Liao is sick, he is still unstoppable, so be cautious!" ”
In the same year, Zhang Liao, Wang Ling and others marched to Guangling. One night, the Eastern Wu water army drifted to the north shore. Zhang Liao, Wang Ling, and others came forward to meet the battle, destroyed the Wu general Lü Fan and others, and captured a large number of warships. However, Zhang Liao's condition also deteriorated day by day, and finally died in Jiangdu, and a generation of famous generals also fell.
Looking at a series of records at that time, no such thing happened. Therefore, scholars such as Liu Yuchen believe that Zhang Liao's death was due to Cao Pi's intention to deal with it, and the kind of things that Zhengshi did not dare to write about were also afraid to write.
I have to say that this conclusion is undoubtedly a subversion of historical cognition, and the beautiful relationship between the two people recorded in the historical records has disappeared. Originally, under certain historical conditions, many historical facts could not be completely recorded in the record, and they could be made sense.