The three famous battles in the Three Kingdoms period are the Battle of Guandu, the Battle of Chibi, and the Battle of Xiaoting. These three battles are all battles that determine the fate of the three kingdoms of Wei, Shu, and Wu. After the battle of the Three Kingdoms, the territory of the three kingdoms is basically formed. What we are going to talk about today is the battle of Xiaoting between Shu and Wu, and later generations will also call it the battle of Yiling. Many people don't know why there are two battle names in this battle of Shu and Wu. One is because the place where the Xiaoting was later governed was Yiling, which did not belong to Yiling in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Second, because before the Battle of Xiaoting, the two sides had already had a small-scale battle in Yiling, so there were two battle names: the Battle of Xiaoting and the Battle of Yiling. The defeat of Liu Beisiaoting greatly hurt the vitality of the Shu Han, and Liu Bei led the remnants to escape to Yong'an (now Fengjie County, Chongqing City).
Xiaoting’s Battle Ancient Battlefield
A few months later, Wu and Shu sent envoys to initiate peace talks, and Wu and Shu formed an alliance again. Sima Guang’s "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" recorded such a passage:
Wu Wang made the middle doctor Zheng Quan hired in the Han, and the Han Tai history doctor Zong Wei reported it, and Wu and Shu resumed communication.
First, we can see from this historical text written by Sima Guang that after the Battle of Xiaoting, the envoy Zheng Quan was sent to the State of Shu by the Dongwu first, and Liu Beihou sent Zongwei to the Dongwu. Then there is a question here. This question is who initiated the peace talks between Wu and Shu after the Great War? According to common sense, Liu Bei belongs to the defeated party. In order to avoid more losses, he should send an envoy to Wu Yihe first. Then Sima Guang's account is to be studied.
The ancient battlefield of the Battle of Xiaoting
Let’s take a look at the record of this period of history in Chen Shou’s "Three Kingdoms: The First Biography":
章武二In the summer and June of the year (AD 222), more than ten days later, Lu Yi broke the main army at Xiaoting, and there were no generals such as Feng Xi and Zhang Nan. The first owner returned Zi from the pavilion, reunited the separated soldiers, then abandoned the boat, returned the fish from the trail, and changed the name of Yufu County to "Yong'an". General Wu Qian, Li Yi and Liu A, followed the main army, stationed in Nanshan, and returned to the witches in autumn and August. In October of winter, the prime minister of the edict was bright, and the camp was in Chengdu in the southern and northern suburbs. Sun Quanwen first lived in the Baidi, and was very afraid, so he sent an envoy to make peace. The first master Xu Zhi sent the Taizhong doctor Zong Wei to repay his life. In December of winter, Huang Yuan, the prefect of Hanjia, was unhesitating after Wen Xian, and refused to defend.
Let’s take a look at a record in "The Legend of Wu Zhu":
The record of Sun and Liu Chushi in "The Story of Wu Zhu"
First we What I saw is that the two records are very clear in terms of time. Liu Bei sent Zong Wei to Dongwu in October of Winter, while Sun Quan sent Zheng Quan to Shu Han in December of Winter. The above two historical records are It clearly shows that Liu Bei sent Zong Wei first and Sun Quan sent Zheng Quan second. Then the record of Sima Guang's "Tong Jian of Zi Zhi" can be imagined.
Yiaoting’s Battle Ancient Battlefield
Secondly, the two passages above are from Chen Shou’s "Three Kingdoms" record, so let's look at Pei Songzhi's "Jiang" Biography" and "Wu Shu".
"Jiang Biao Zhuan": Quan Yun: "The book of Xuan De is near, and I have taken the blame deeply, and seek to restore the old. The former name of the West is the Shu, but the Han Dynasty is still alive. The current Han is abandoned. , Self-named Hanzhong Wangye.”
"Wu Shu": Zheng Quan Zi Wenyuan. To make Shu, Liu Bei asked, "Why didn't King Wu answer my book? It's not suitable for me to have my name right?" Quan said: "Cao Cao and his son, Ling Yu Han, won his place. His Royal Highness is both a clan and a Uyghur clan. Responsibilities, do not hesitate to take the lead in the country, and so self-named, did not agree with the world, so the widow did not return to the ears. "Be very embarrassed.
We know that these two pieces of historical data have different sources, but they are basically the same in terms of their statements. Liu Bei was the envoy first, and Sun Quan did not immediately reply to Liu Bei. Chen Shou's "Three Kingdoms" with Pei Songzhi's citation, it seems that this period of history can be settled.
Third, Liu Bei was defeated, which caused the Shu Han’s vitality to be severely injured. The main force known as the "Seven Hundred Mile Company" was almost wiped out.And I was in the dying state. At this time, I believe Liu Bei had more desire for peace than Sun Quan. At the very least, there was no reason for Sun Quan to take the initiative to show his favor. Moreover, at that time, Wu Jun had already crossed Wuxian County (now Wushan County, Chongqing City) and approached Yong'an. It shouldn't be a problem to win Yong'an. The speed of reinforcements in Shuzhong must not be able to keep up. It can be said that Liu Bei's situation is not so optimistic. Therefore, at this time, in order to protect himself and prevent Wu Jun from deepening, Liu Bei must send envoys like Soochow to discuss peace. The reason for the peace talks was that the army of Cao and Wei was approaching Huainan, and Soochow also had to consider his own situation. After all, the alliance of Sun and Liu was to resist Cao and Wei in the north, which made sense.
Xiaoting’s Battle Ancient Battlefield
Then why does Sima Guang describe it differently? I think it was caused by a sentence in "The Legend of the First Lord", that is, "In October of winter, the emperor's prime minister was bright, and the southern and northern suburbs were in Chengdu. Sun Quanwen lived in the Baidi and was very afraid. "In fact, this sentence does not mean anything. First of all, because the Shu Han was greatly injured, Liu Bei urgently needed peace at that time. Secondly, this piece of history did not specify the time when Sun Quan sent the envoy. Compared with the envoy sent by Liu Bei, both the name and the official post were described very clearly and carefully. Why does Sun Quan’s envoy do not have a named official post? The meaning of hurriedly taken, this can be regarded as helping Shu Han to "cover his shame".
To sum up, referring to the "Three Kingdoms" and other related records in Pei's Note, we can summarize the whole story of the restoration of friendly relations between Shu and Wu after the battle of Qioting, as follows:
AD In June 222, Liu Bei was defeated by Xiaoting and retired to Yongan. Fearing that Wu Jun would continue to attack, he first sent an envoy (probably Zong Wei) to Sun Wu to submit a letter requesting peace. At this time, Lord Wu, Sun Quanzheng and Cao Wei, did not reply immediately.
Xiaoting’s Battle Ancient Battlefield
In October of that year, Sun Quan broke with Cao Wei and broke away from his vassal relationship. He officially used his reign title "Huang Wu" and mobilized his troops on a large scale. Stationed along the Yangtze River to guard against Cao Wei's attack.
In November of that year, Cao Wei forward general Zang Ba commanded tens of thousands of horses to forcefully attack the Wu army in Xuling (in today's Dangtu County, Anhui Province). The armed forces of Wei and Wu began to fought fiercely.
In December of that year, because of the aggressive offensive of the Cao Wei army, Sun Quan, in order to stabilize the western border and concentrate his forces against Cao Wei in the north, sent the Taizhong doctor Zheng Quan to Shuhan as a return visit, and the two countries officially ended the war. .
In April of the second year, Liu Bei died of illness in Yong'an. Sun Quan dispatched Lixin Captain Feng Xi as a special envoy to the Shu Han Dynasty.
Liu Bei Statue
In May of that year, after Liu Chan succeeded to the throne, Zhuge Liang assumed the power of the prime minister. Soon, Zhuge Liang dispatched Shang Shulang Deng Zhi to Sun Wu to present 200 horses, 1,000 Shu brocade, and other local specialties. Sun Wu also sent envoys to visit and present local specialties of his country. So far, the two sides have resumed their strategic partnership with the allies. Since then, friendly relations between the two countries have been maintained, and mutual visits by envoys from both sides have become the norm.
