Li Yan.

In Liu Bei's eyes, Li Yan is an excellent and important person.

Liu Bei was on his deathbed and there were only two people, one was Zhuge Liang, and the other was this Li Yan.

On the one hand, Li Yan has made some merits, and on the surface, he is a person who can be trusted; On the other hand, some researchers say that this is Liu Bei's "mixing sand" and using Li Yan as a force to restrain Zhuge Liang.

Well, the rivers and mountains of Shu Han were almost destroyed on this grain of "sand".

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Li Yan (?) - 234), later renamed Li Ping, the word Zhengfang, a native of Nanyang.

When Li Yan was young, he was a full-time official in the county and was known for his talent. Jingzhou Mu Liu Biao asked him to serve in the counties in the county. When Cao Cao entered Jingzhou, Li Yanzheng was the county commander of Zigui, so he went west to Shu, and Liu Zhang used him as the county commander of Chengdu and gained a reputation for being capable.

In 213 A.D. (the eighteenth year of Jian'an), Li Yan was appointed as the protector and resisted Liu Bei in the Mianzhu area. Li Yan led his subordinates to surrender to Liu Bei, and Liu Bei appointed him as General Pi. After pacifying Chengdu, Li Yan was appointed as the general of Qianwei Taishou and Xingye.

In Liu Bei's eyes, Li Yan can be regarded as a meritorious person.

Because Yizhou is under the governance of Liu Zhang, the law and discipline are relaxed, the morality and politics are not raised, and the punishment is not suppressed. Liu Bei then ordered the general Zhuge Liang, the general of Yangwu and the Taishou Fazheng of Shu County, the general of Zhaowen Yi, the general of Zuo, Xicao Peng, Liu Ba and Li Yan to formulate the "Shu Branch", which later became the basis of the legal system of Shu Han.

It can be seen that Liu Bei recognizes Li Yan's talent.

In 218 A.D. (the twenty-third year of Jian'an), the thieves Ma Qin and Gao Sheng raised troops in Qī County, recruited tens of thousands of troops, and arrived in Zizhong County. At that time, Liu Bei was in Hanzhong, and Li Yan did not wait to send another army, but only led 5,000 soldiers from his county to the crusade and killed Ma Qin, Gao Sheng and others. The rest of the people scattered and fled for their lives, and returned to their homes for the people.

Li Yan made another contribution.

Soon after, Gao Ding, the commander of the Yue (xī) county, led an army to besiege Xindao County, and Li Yan went to relieve the siege, but Gao Ding was defeated and fled. Liu Bei then crowned Li Yan as the general of the Auxiliary Han Dynasty, and concurrently served as the former county guard.

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In Qianwei Taishou, he showed his excellent ability to govern: digging through the Tianshe Mountain, building the road along the river, building a large number of buildings, and renovating the county town, so that "the people are pleased", "the view of the building is magnificent, and it is a state victory".

During this period, the style of raising concubines in Shu Han prevailed, according to the records of Yiye History, Li Yan was in the office of Qianwei, and regarded himself as meritorious to the land under his rule, and began to corrupt and degenerate, and there were as many as twenty or thirty women at home. Therefore, during his tenure, he built a large house to meet the needs of the concubines, sang and danced, and stayed up all night, becoming a typical corrupt element.

Li Yan had an arrogant temperament and was difficult to get along with, and once quarreled with Yang Hong, a county meritorious officer who was opposed, over the relocation of the county magistrate's residence, and Yang Hong took the initiative to resign and retire in a fit of anger.

After the governor of Jiangzhou, he had a friction with his subordinate Yamen general Wang Chong, who knew that he was hated by Li Yan and defected to Wei for fear of being framed for it.

Li Yan thinks very highly of himself, and the age and status of the Protector Auxiliary Kuang are about the same as Li Yan, but Li Yan is unwilling to take the initiative to associate with them.

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In 222 A.D. (the second year of Zhang Wu), Liu Bei defeated Wu and returned from defeat, recruited Li Yan into Yong'an Palace, and appointed him as Shang Shuling. In 223 A.D. (the third year of Zhang Wu), Liu Bei was seriously ill, and Li Yan and Zhuge Liang were bequeathed together to assist the young master Liu Chan; With Li Yan as the protector of the central capital, he commanded the internal and external military, and left the town to guard Yong'an.

Liu Bei didn't know that he was corrupt and degenerate to such an extent, and thought that he was a talented, energetic, honest and honest official.

In 223 A.D. (the first year of Jianxing), Li Yan was named the Marquis of the Duxiang Township, the False Festival, and the Guangluxun.

In 226 A.D. (the fourth year of Jianxing), Zhuge Liang was in Hanzhong and was ready to send troops to attack Wei, so he wanted to transfer Li Yan to lead the army to guard Hanzhong, but Li Yan tried his best to shirk it, and asked to divide five counties as Bazhou and let him serve as the assassin of Bazhou, Zhuge Liang did not agree. Previously, he had persuaded Zhuge Liang that he should be subject to Jiuxi, and instigated Zhuge Liang to become the king, but Zhuge Liang refuted it.

The two were not harmonious because of this, and gradually became separated.

Before Li Yan's fellow villager Shangshu ordered Chen Zhen to envoy to Eastern Wu, he privately said to Zhuge Liang that "Li Zhengfang has scale armor in his belly", implying that Li Yan's heart was not correct and might cause trouble. Zhuge Liang thought that "the big thing is undecided, the Han family is in danger, and the shortness of the level is not praised", thinking that he and Li Yan can still endure each other and cooperate side by side for the country.

In 230 A.D. (the eighth year of Jianxing), Cao Zhen, the great Sima of Cao Wei, prepared to enter Hanchuan by three routes, and in order to strengthen the defense of Hanzhong, he asked Li Yan to lead 20,000 people to Hanzhong to block the enemy.

Li Yan was dissatisfied with being transferred out of Jiangzhou.

At this time, Shu Han had the prevailing trend of raising concubines outside, and in Jiangzhou, there were two of his little loves, and he was reluctant to go.

So it was rumored in private that Sima Yi and others had set up an official position to lure him down, Zhuge Liang knew what he meant, so he moved Li Yan to the hussar general, and his son Li Feng took over the defense of Jiangzhou, and Li Yan was willing to go north to Hanzhong.

When the level is reached, you can take a little affection to the post.

Zhuge Liang probably knew about Li Yan's debauchery, and soon ordered Li Yan to protect the affairs of the Prime Minister's Mansion in the central capital.

Li Yan was already notorious abroad at this time, so he changed his name to Li Ping.

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In the spring of 231 A.D. (the ninth year of Jianxing), Zhuge Liang sent troops to Qishan, and Li Ping was responsible for supervising the transportation of grain and grass. In the summer and autumn season, it was rainy and rainy, and the transportation and supply of grain and grass could not be supplied, Li Yan sent Hu Zhong and the overseer Cheng Fan to send a message to Zhuge Liang, asking him to withdraw the army, and Zhuge Liang agreed to withdraw after getting the letter.

When Li Yan heard that the army had retreated, he pretended to be surprised and said, "The army is abundant, why did you retreat again!"

The intention was to relieve himself of the responsibility of ineffective supervision of grain and grass, and to show Zhuge Liang's mistake of delaying the fighter.

He also played the Queen's Command, saying that "the army retreats in disguise, but in fact it is used to lure the enemy into a decisive battle."

Is it tolerable or unbearable, Zhuge Liang had no choice but to squeeze out Li Yan's pus, so he handed over Li Yan's original handwriting before and after, and Li Yan's mistakes and contradictions were exposed at once.

Li Yan was so aggrieved that he had to kowtow and confess his guilt.

So, Zhuge Liang played the impeachment of Li Yan and said:

Since the death of the first emperor, Li Ping's mind has been all about his family, and he still has some small favors, just want to live in a stable world and enjoy it, and he doesn't worry about national affairs. In order to send troops to the north of the minister, hoping to let him lead the troops to guard Hanzhong, Li Yan repeatedly excused himself and resigned, and had no intention of coming to Hanzhong, but wanted to connect the five counties and make his own history of Bazhou.

"Last year, Weichen planned to go west and wanted Li Yan to be in charge of guarding Hanzhong, but Li Yan said that Sima Yi and others were recruiting people to be senior officials in the opening of the government there. Weichen understood in his heart that Li Ping's ugly psychology was to take the opportunity of my departure to force me to give him some benefits, so Weichen asked his son Li Feng to be in charge of Jiangzhou affairs, and gave him such an exceptional treatment, originally wanting to solve a temporary emergency.

"After Li Yan took office, he entrusted all the power of affairs to him for the minister, and the whole court wondered why I treated Li Yan so favorably. It is precisely because the major national affairs have not been decided that the Han family is in danger, and instead of exposing and criticizing Li Yanzhi's shortcomings, it is better to praise and encourage him.

I just thought that Li Yan's nature was just to get some honor and benefits, but I didn't expect him to have the heart of reversing right and wrong, so that this is the case. If such people and things are allowed to exist, they will inevitably lead to the destruction of the country. This is for the foolishness of the ministers, and if you talk too much, you will only increase the guilt. ”

Liu Chan also knew about Li Yan, so after receiving Zhuge Liang's impeachment of Li Yan, he abolished Li Yan as the people and exiled Zitong County.

In 234 A.D. (the twelfth year of Jianxing), Li Yan heard that Zhuge Liang had died, so he fell ill and died.

Before Li Yan's death, he often hoped that Zhuge Liang would use him again, considering that it was impossible for other ministers besides Zhuge Liang to use him again, so he became angry and became ill.