Wei Yan (? —234) was born in Yiyang County (east of Tongbai County, Henan Province). When Liu Bei was in Jingzhou, Wei Yan became Liu Bei's general. In the 16th year of Jian 'an (2 1 1), Liu Bei made a westward expedition to Yizhou, and Wei Yan entered Sichuan with a trilogy. In the battle of taking Sichuan, Wei Yan cut off the pass and seized the village, made meritorious military service repeatedly, and was promoted to the rank of general of yamen. In the 24th year of Jian 'an (2 19), Liu Bei captured Hanzhong and wanted to choose a general to guard Hanzhong. Hanzhong is located at the junction of Wei and Shu, and its geographical position is extremely important, so the position of Hanzhong Prefecture is very critical. At that time, the aides privately discussed that only Zhang Fei could shoulder this heavy responsibility, and Zhang Fei also "promised himself with his heart." Unexpectedly, when Liu Bei announced his appointment, he was actually a small general Wei Yan. Suddenly, the whole army was shocked and began to look at Wei Yan with new eyes. When Liu Bei left Hanzhong, he asked Wei Yan at the meeting, "What are you going to do if I give you the heavy responsibility of Hanzhong?" Wei Yan replied: "If Cao Cao holds the world high, I will refuse it for the king;" One hundred thousand people come, and I will swallow it for the king. " The answer was crisp and neat, hitting the floor. Liu Bei was very satisfied, and all the officials present were very excited. Wei Yan didn't brag. He lived up to Liu Bei's great trust. When defending Hanzhong, he founded the method of "defending the enemy", that is, building a hedge as a camp in the dangerous place of Hanzhong, accumulating grain and stationing troops, and strengthening the garrison. If the enemy attacks, each side will collect all the information and risks, and then stand by and attack and help each other, so that the enemy will not persist for long. Later, it turned out that this tactic played a key role in defending Hanzhong. Wei Yan's outstanding performance in Hanzhong won Liu Bei's full affirmation. After Liu Bei proclaimed himself emperor, he further promoted Wei Yan as the general of Zhenbei. It is said that there used to be a stone tablet in Liuba County, Shaanxi Province, engraved with the words "General Zhen Bei Wei Yan", which was probably established after Wei Yan was promoted to General Zhen Bei. Unfortunately, in 197 1 year, local roads were built, and the stone tablets were destroyed and no longer existed. In the fifth year of Jianxing (227), Zhuge Liang led an army to the northern expedition of Cao Wei. As a valued general of Liu Bei, Wei Yan frankly put forward to Zhuge Liang the strategic proposition of attacking Chang 'an lightly along the meridian valley and tackling key problems. However, Zhuge Liang thought the plan was dangerous and refused to adopt it. This made Wei Yan very disappointed. In the following years, Zhuge Liang made several northern expeditions without success. During this period, Wei Yan was not reused by Zhuge Liang. Although Wei Yan is talented, he is honest and frank, even a little headstrong, and his colleagues generally stay away from him. Because many people can't accept Wei Yan's personality, they yield to him everywhere, which further fuels Wei Yan's temper. However, there is an official in charge of logistics in the Shu army who never takes Wei Yan seriously. This person is Yang Yi. Yang Yi is narrow-minded and treacherous. Wei Yan always looked down on Yang Yi, and Yang Yi just turned against Wei Yan, which made Wei Yan very angry and hated Yang Yi. Sometimes they quarrel in public, and Wei Yan has a big temper, so he wants to draw his sword and kill Yang Yi. Yang Yi, on the other hand, wept bitterly and looked bullied. Over time, the two men have deep grievances and are in love with each other. Zhuge Liang certainly knew this situation, but instead of stopping it, he indulged it and widened the contradiction between them. Later, Zhuge Liang also wrote an article called "On Getting Started", which was intended to mediate the relationship between the two and make them repent. However, the contradiction between Wei and Yang is extremely profound. How can it end in one sentence? (According to Volume 7 of Huayang Guozhi) However, there was a Fei Yi in the army at that time, who was very good at muddling along, so that the conflict between them did not break out prematurely. In the 12th year of lite (234), Zhuge Liang was critically ill. When arranging the funeral, Zhuge Liang, Yang Yi, Fei Yi and Jiang Wei made a military plan: ordered Wei Yan to break off, Jiang Wei followed, and Yang Yi and Fei Yi led the main force to retreat. Zhuge Liang knew that Wei and Yang were incompatible, but he put Yang Yi, the governor, in charge of Wei Yan's military affairs, and specifically told him that if Wei Yan did not obey orders, he could abandon Wei Yan and the army would retreat on its own. In fact, Zhuge Liang is well aware of the consequences of this arrangement. He is thoughtful and can be pondered. After Zhuge Liang's death, Yang Yi asked Fei Yi to ponder Wei Yan's intentions. At this time, Wei Yan made a completely wrong judgment on the situation. He naively thought that Zhuge Liang was suppressed when he was alive, so that he could not display it. Now that Zhuge Liang is gone, it's his turn to show his talents, defeat Wei and annihilate the enemy. When Wei Yan met Fei Yi, he said eagerly, "The Prime Minister has gone, and I, Wei Yan, am still here. Officials can be arranged to help the coffin to go back for burial, and I will lead the army to northern expedition against Wei thieves. How can you ruin the world because of one person's death? " Wei Yan was furious with the military and political affairs of Governor Yang Yi, but let himself break free. "Who am I, Wei Yan? Is it Yang Yi's boy who can command the patrol for him? " Fei Yi knows what Wei Yan really thinks, but on the surface he still agrees. Wei Yan was outspoken and mistakenly thought that Fei Yi was his confidant. He immediately discussed with Fei Yi the arrangement and deployment of the family members of the army, and drafted an order to let Fei Yi issue the whole army. In order to stabilize Wei Yan, Fei Yi pretended to say, "I'll go back and ask Yang Yi.