▁an ▁average ▁performance ▁at ▁best . ▁Some ▁military ▁gener als ▁including ▁Wei ▁Yan ▁didn ' t ▁respect ▁him ▁, ▁which ▁led ▁to ▁their ▁quar rel ▁in ▁ 2 3 2 . ▁Even ▁as ▁a ▁high ▁ranked ▁General , ▁Li u ▁probably ▁never ▁led ▁troops ▁into ▁battle ▁and ▁Zh uge ▁Li ang ▁may ▁have ▁re lied ▁on ▁the ▁later ▁for ▁advice ▁on ▁various ▁topics . ▁Li u ▁Yan ' s ▁down fall ▁and ▁execution ▁led ▁to ▁a ▁reform ▁of ▁many ▁court ▁policies ▁for ▁the ▁Sh u ▁Han . ▁ ▁Early ▁career ▁under ▁Li u ▁Bei ▁Li u ▁Yan ▁was ▁born ▁during ▁the ▁late ▁Eastern ▁Han ▁dynast y ▁in ▁the ▁Lu ▁State ▁( <0xE9> <0xAD> <0xAF> 國 ), ▁a ▁prin ced om ▁around ▁present - day ▁Qu fu , ▁Sh and ong . ▁He ▁was ▁also ▁a ▁member ▁of ▁the ▁Li u ▁cl an , ▁the ▁r uling ▁house ▁of ▁the ▁Han ▁dynast y . ▁When ▁the ▁war l ord ▁Li u ▁Bei ▁was ▁the ▁nom inal ▁governor ▁of ▁Yu ▁Province ▁during ▁the ▁early ▁ 1 9 0 s , ▁he ▁met ▁Li u ▁Yan ▁and ▁rec ru ited ▁him ▁as ▁an ▁assistant ▁officer ▁( <0xE5> <0xBE> <0x9E> 事 ). ▁A ▁char ming ▁and ▁el o quent ▁man ▁with ▁t ies ▁to ▁the ▁imperial ▁cl an , ▁Li u ▁Yan ▁gained ▁Li u ▁Bei ' s ▁favour ▁and ▁had ▁accompanied ▁the ▁war l ord ▁on ▁his ▁explo its ▁since ▁then . ▁ ▁In ▁ 2 1 4 , ▁after ▁Li u ▁Bei ▁seized ▁control ▁of