When the young man in the Nanyang cellar saw the grain fields reduced to scorched earth and the people exchanging their children for food, the oath to "restore the Han Dynasty and secure the people" was engraved in their bones.
He is Wei Yan, a lonely commoner who was crushed by the powerful family. After narrowly escaping from the chaos of the Yellow Turban and beheading the generals at Changsha City, he abandoned the dark side and followed Liu Bei on the road to Shu. However, he was often suspected because of his origin. Zhuge Liang regarded him as a "straightforward and untamed" sharp blade, and Zhao Yun lamented that he was "brave but careless". Only Liu Bei could see the sincerity in his eyes: "This man saved all the people from fire and water. What crime is he guilty of?"
During a surprise attack on Luocheng, he led his dead soldiers through the abandoned salt road to break the city; on the bank of Dingjun Mountain, he lured the enemy with crossbow chariots and defeated Zhang He's reinforcements; in front of Yangping Pass, he swore "Cao Cao is coming with the help of the world, and I, as the king, will refuse", and eventually became the official of Hanzhong's border.
The most thrilling thing is Ziwu Valley. When Zhuge Liang insisted on "steady advancement of Qishan", he risked his life with 5,000 elite soldiers, climbed the cliff, endured hunger and cold, and within nine days, the magic soldiers descended on Chang'an, reversing the decline of the Northern Expedition in one fell swoop. This huge gamble not only rewrote Ji Han's fate, but also tore apart the monopoly of the family.
From the young man guarding the caravan to the pillar of the resurgence of the Han Dynasty, his strategic differences with Zhuge Liang, the sharp confrontation with the gentry, and his lifelong practice of "people-oriented" always revolved around one core: reviving the Han Dynasty was never about the restoration of the royal family, but about letting the ideal of "solidification of warehouses and prosperity of ethics and education" shine into the world.
When the students of Luoyang Imperial College recited "The Biography of Wei Yan", the gurgling water outside the window was just like the stream of Ziwu Valley in those days, carrying the courage and ideals of a common people, flowing forever in the land of the Han Dynasty.
