In Zhuge Liang's famous "Table of Teachers", there is a person who is highly valued by him, not only mentioned by Zhuge Liang by name, but also recommended and promoted, he is the general Xiang Favor. When I first studied the article "Table of Teachers", I once thought that Xiang Favor was an important general of the Shu Kingdom who was ignored by the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". So, what kind of person was this Shu Han general Xiang Pet in history? Zhuge Liang valued him so much, why did he not leave any glorious deeds in history?
Looking at the history of the Shu Han Dynasty, you will find that there are two celebrities with the surname "Xiang", one is Xiang Qi, and the other is Xiang Pet. At first, I thought that these two people were brothers, but after a closer investigation, I realized that they were uncles and nephews. Xiang Lang is an uncle, Xiang Pet is his nephew, and Xiang Lang's status in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms is higher than that of Xiang Lang, and Xiang Lang is only mentioned in the paragraph introducing Xiang Lang.
Due to the relationship with his uncle Xiang Lang, the talented Xiang Yu later served as a tooth gatekeeper under Liu Bei's account. In 222 AD, Xiang Yu accompanied Liu Bei on his eastern expedition against Eastern Wu, during which there were no records of battle merits or deeds. The following year, when Liu Bei was defeated by Lu Xun, most of the Shu army's camps were either killed or burned to pieces by the Wu army, and when counting the remnants, Liu Bei was surprised to find that only the team led by Xiang Pet was well preserved, and Xiang Pet was praised by Liu Bei for his "ability".
After Liu Chan succeeded to the throne, Xiang Pet was transferred to the central governor in charge of the palace guards, although the official position was not high, but the responsibility was heavy, which showed that Xiang Pet was deeply trusted by Liu Chan and Zhuge Liang. In 227 AD, Zhuge Liang prepared for the Northern Expedition, in order to settle the work of the rear and to persuade Liu Chan, before the trip, he specially put on a famous "Table of Renunciation", in which Zhuge Liang made a special speech for Xiang Yu, saying that he was "sexually handsome, Xiao Chang military, trial in the past, the former emperor called it Yue Neng, and was the governor of the public theory." Foolishly believing that the affairs in the camp will be able to make harmony in the camp and get the best and the worst," and suggested that Liu Chan further reuse Xiang Favor. Subsequently, Xiang Yu was promoted by Liu Chan to the position of leader of the central army, and was transferred from being in charge of the palace guards to being responsible for the security of the entire capital, which can be described as a heavy responsibility.
Xiang Pet has a generous personality and is kind and fair in his dealings, so when he led the garrison to defend the capital, he was more popular with the military. During Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition, Chengdu was always relatively peaceful, and it was considered to live up to Zhuge Liang's trust. In 240 AD, due to the rebellion of the ethnic minorities in the Hanjia area, Xiang Yu was sent by the imperial court to quell the rebellion, but unfortunately was killed in the rebel army, and the soldiers desperately snatched back his body and sent him back to Chengdu for burial.
Although Xiang Yu ranked ninth among the fourteen statues of martial generals in chengdu Wuhou Temple, his fame was not great, and his military achievements did not seem to be prominent. In fact, from a comprehensive point of view, the reason why Xiang Pet's deeds are unknown is mainly because when he was in charge of the safety of Chengdu, there were no incidents, and the capital of the Shu Kingdom had always been very peaceful under his control, which was not exactly the effect that Zhuge Liang and Liu Chan hoped? Therefore, although Xiang Yu did not establish brilliant military achievements, he did a good job of undertaking the heavy responsibility of the Su Wei Jing Division, which was also very difficult, not only did he have heavy responsibilities but also needed to often face high-ranking officials at all levels, imperial relatives, etc., and needed strong coordination ability and decision-making ability to be competent, so Xiang Yu was qualified to be ranked as one of the fourteen outstanding military generals of the Shu Han Dynasty.
Reference: Romance of the Three Kingdoms