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215 Cao Cao took more than half a year to completely win Hanzhong . During this period, Liu Bei did almost nothing except trying to surrender Zhang Lu . What's going on?
It turned out that Liu Bei encountered a major crisis on the Eastern Front during this period, and the root cause of this matter was buried several years ago. After the Battle of Chibi , after a long and arduous battle with Cao Ren , the situation of Jingzhou was probably that Cao Cao owns Nanyang in the northern part of Jingzhou; Sun Quan occupy Jiangxia and Nanjun in central Jingzhou (the public security in the Jiangnan area of Nanjun belongs to Liu Bei); and the Lingling, Wuling , Guiyang and Changsha in Jingnan are Liu Bei's territory.
At this time, Zhou Yu, who had just reached the peak of his life, had an extremely bold plan in his mind.
Zhou Yu's plan is simply based on Yangtze River , two parts of the world. Specifically, it is the annexation of Liu Zhang and Zhang Lu of Yizhou to the west.
Zhou Yu dared to formulate this very radical plan, and his confidence was to occupy Jiangxia and Nanjun. In other words, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River are owned by Dongwu, and they have been connected from east to west. If you want to go further at this time, you should go upstream and take the upper reaches of the Yangtze River into your pocket.
However, although Zhou Yu's enterprising spirit is worthy of recognition, the feasibility of his plan is not very high.
First, Zhou Yu judged that Cao Cao had suffered from the defeat of Chibi, and was unable to go to war for a short time. This conclusion is not very reliable. Because Cao Cao sent troops on two large-scale troops in the three years after Chibi, the two countries entered Hefei in 209 and the Guanzhong in 211, and there was no situation Zhou Yu said.
In addition, Zhou Yu believes that Liu Zhang and Zhang Lu are vulnerable, which is also a misjudgment. Liu Bei had already entered the Sichuan Basin , which was equivalent to crossing the first natural danger, and it still fought for more than two years to take Xichuan. It took Cao Cao more than half a year to force Zhang Lu to surrender.
So no matter how good Zhou Yu can fight, it is almost impossible for him to achieve his strategic goals within three years. Therefore, what he said about the matter of taking Yizhou and returning to the army with Sun Quan to win Xiangyang is even more talkative. The most likely thing waiting for him was that when Yizhou was deeply trapped in the quagmire, Cao's army marched south from Xiangyang and cut off the Eastern Wu in half.
Sun Quan was very interested in this idea, but he did not dare to act alone, but hoped to send troops with Liu Bei.
But I think sending troops together is just a rhetoric. If you are really sincere, you should make an agreement on the division of the results after obtaining Yizhou, so this is likely to be just a fooling Liu Bei to send troops.
This is a bit whimsical. How could Liu Bei be a pawn for Sun Quan? At that time, Yizhou may not be able to fight. If the war is unfavorable and Dongwu stabs it in the back, everything will be over.
Therefore, Liu Bei's reply was also clever: "Your plan is very good, but we just conquered the four counties of Jingnan and need to rest and rest. It is difficult to use war."
If you want to attack Yizhou, I agree with it, but I will not send troops to help. As long as you have the courage, just go.
Sun Quan naturally did not dare. Although most of the Nanjun was in his hands, and sending troops to Yizhou was not just "Yue Jing to take Shu" to fight an enclave, he could not feel at ease to hand over his back to others.
The main reason is that the police are in Liu Bei's hands. The police and Jiangling are too close to each other, only a river is separated. Once the army is deployed, Jiangling will be empty. It is difficult to guarantee that Liu Bei will not send troops to attack.
Just like that, the first plan to send troops to Yizhou was still born under the mutual suspicion of both sides. In the work of Emperor Xian Chunqiu, I don’t think it is very credible that Sun Quan sent Sun Yu to lead the navy to advance westward because Liu Bei was blocked.
rights refused to listen, and sent Sun Yu to lead the navy to stay in Xiakou. Bei did not listen to the army's passing and said to Yu, "If you want to take Shu, I will be sent into the mountains and will not lose my trust in the world." He sent Guan Yu to Jiangling, Zhang Fei to visit the city of Zigui, and Zhuge Liang to occupy Nanjun, and Bei lived in Chanling. Quan knew the intention, so he summoned Yu to return. ( Three Kingdoms Shu Book 2, Pei Note)
First of all, Liu Bei's strength was not enough to challenge Sun Quan at that time, so it was unwise to openly confront him. Let the Eastern Wu army go there first. Anyway, they cannot easily take down Xichuan. They can just wait for an opportunity to act later. Why bother to tear the face?
In addition, several geographical locations recorded later are also worth discussing. Among them, there is no problem with Liu Bei stationing in Chanling, and Chanling is the public security. Zhang Feitun Zigui cannot be confirmed. But it is very problematic that Guan Yu stationed Jiangling, because Jiangling was Zhou Yu's territory at all, and this place was lent to Liu Bei during the Lusu era.
Quan Jue Yu and lead the prefect of Nanjun. The following Jun, Hanchang, Liuyang and Zhouling are Fengyi, and are stationed in Jiangling. (The Three Kingdoms Book of Wu, Ninth Zhou Yu, Lu Su, , Lu Meng, , 9th)
As for Zhuge Liang's occupation of Nanjun, it was even more inexplicable. Jiangling, Zigui and Chanling are all counties, while Nanjun is counties. The above three counties belong to Nanjun.
In this way, the lord is stationed in a county, and the subordinates occupy the entire county. This description gives people a feeling of confusion in the geographical concept of the author of this book. Although this paragraph was adopted by Zizhi Tongjian , I think there are still some loopholes.
Not long after, Zhou Yu passed away, and the first Jingzhou crisis passed without any danger. Although this crisis did not cause any trouble, it laid the groundwork for the second Jingzhou crisis later. After
Lu Su took office. Under his advice, the strategy of the Eastern Wu changed a certain amount and lent the entire Nanjun to Liu Bei.
The reason for doing this I think in addition to what Lu Su said about supporting Liu Bei to fight against Cao Cao, it is also because Sun Quan had completely given up the idea of taking Yizhou in the west.
With Liu Bei on the side, it is difficult to do his best whether it is the Western Expedition or the Northern Expedition. On the other hand, the party that owns Nanjun has to bear the military pressure from Cao Cao's direction in Nanyang. After all, Xiangyang, the gateway to Nanjun, is still in Cao Cao's hands. On Hefei on the eastern front, Cao Cao also made Sun Quan breathless
In this way, Nanjun has less significance in Sun Quan's hands. It would be better to lend it to Liu Bei than to be attacked on both sides.
But by 214, the situation changed again. At this time, Liu Bei had already obtained Xichuan, but Sun Quan had nothing. The weak Liu Bei's power had now developed to the point where he could compete with him.
Sun Quan could not accept this reality, so he sent Zhuge Jin as an envoy to Liu Bei to return the counties in Jingzhou.
If you only get back to Nanjun, it will not be of great benefit to Dongwu, because the one who lent to Liu Bei was only the northern part of Nanjun, that is, Jiangling. Even if you have to return it, the public security on the south bank of the Yangtze River will not make any reason to return it.
Even if Wu's Nanjun was taken back, it would be equivalent to forming a protruding part. It is not only difficult to use it as a springboard for attack, but also requires strengthening troops to defend. It is really not worth the loss.
However, on the contrary, Nanjun is crucial to Liu Bei, because it is the connection between Liu Bei’s two lands, Jingzhou and Yizhou. If it is lost here, the connection between Jingzhou and Yizhou will be cut off, and Liu Bei will never give up.
Sun Quan also knew this, so he did not propose to Nanjun, but instead made a fuss on the four counties in Jingnan, hoping to get Changsha, Lingling and Guiyang. This should be an acceptable plan for both parties.
not only can get some rewards for Dongwu, but it will not affect the alliance relationship. For Liu Bei, it also maintains the integrity and coherence of the territory. I think it is still a certain sincerity.
However, Liu Bei refused to return Liangzhou to Jingzhou when he took it down.This is a bit unreasonable. The conditions proposed by Sun Quan are not without room for negotiation. Even if you bargain, it would be fine. For example, from three counties to one county, it at least means that you want to negotiate.
Twenty years ago, Sun Quan had already won Yizhou because his first lord, and he wanted to win Jingzhou. The first lord said: "You must get Liangzhou, and you should share it with Jingzhou." (The Second Book of the First lord in the Three Kingdoms Book of Shu)
This answer seems to be a scoundrel in Sun Quan's opinion. Don't blame Sun Quan for being angry. After all, Liu Bei did not even get Hanzhong, and taking Liangzhou was simply a matter of nowhere. In fact, until the demise of Shu Han, it was impossible to obtain Liangzhou.
What's more, even if Liu Bei takes Liangzhou, it's hard to guarantee that he will use excuses to shirk it out again, such as "You must get Chang'an before you can return to Jingzhou."
At this time, Sun Quan had already become a little unbalanced. This big-eared thief was simply teasing himself. He thought he had to teach Liu Bei a lesson to relieve the hatred in his heart.
In fact, this kind of thinking is also a common human nature. When you see a down-and-out person climbing onto your head, the hatred for him in your heart will be far more than seeing a rich and powerful person acting as a mighty person.
However, Sun Quan is not an ordinary person. He is a politician and should not act with the mindset of ordinary people. In the position of a politician, interests must be above personal emotions.
If he wants to continue to maintain the alliance, then even if Liu Bei is a little unrighteous, he must tolerate it, because under this concept, the alliance is the foundation of all interests, and losing the alliance will be defeated one by one.
If you don’t want to have conflicts when dividing the cake, then you have to find a way to make the cake bigger. Give up the conflict for the time being, attack Cao Cao together, and take back what you lost from Liu Bei.
But if you don’t want to endure, you have to completely break up, then you should immediately surrender to Cao Cao and attack Liu Bei with Cao Cao. After destroying Liu Bei, although Cao Cao will become stronger, he will at least get a share of the pie and increase some capital to fight against Cao Cao in the future, which is also a reasonable choice.
Unfortunately, Sun Quan made the third choice. He could not swallow this and did not completely make up his mind to tear the alliance. This left an indelible crack between the alliance and also dug a big hole for future strategic layout.
Sun Quan saw that he failed to seek the three counties, so he appointed the officials from the three counties to take office before, but they were immediately expelled by Guan Yu.
Sun Quan was furious and ordered Lu Meng to supervise Xian Yu Dan, Xu Zhong and Sun Gui to lead 20,000 troops to attack the three counties, and Lu Su led 10,000 troops to advance Baling Hotels (now in Yueyang City, Hunan). Sun Quan was in Lukou (now Jiayu County, Hubei Province), and the second Jingzhou crisis broke out in full swing.
From this deployment, we can also see that Sun Quan's original intention is just to deter the war and not to start a full-scale war. Otherwise, the army would go straight to Jiangling and strive to cut off the ties between Jingzhou and Bashu as soon as possible, which would have a much greater threat.
Liu Bei immediately sent 50,000 troops to the police after hearing the news. During this period, Changsha, Lingling and Guiyang counties were all lost. Liu Bei then ordered Guan Yu to lead 30,000 troops to advance to Yiyang . His strategic purpose should be to surround Wei and save Zhao, threaten Lu Su's troops in Baling, and force Lu Meng to return to rescue.
Eastern Wu was not willing to be outdone. Lu Menglu Su joined forces to join forces and occupied Guan Yu in Yiyang. The conflict between the two sides entered a stalemate.
is actually basically unable to fight at this time. Both sides are of equal strength, and no one is sure to win once a war begins. What's more, the original intention of both sides is not to engage in a life-and-death battle. Now that things have come to this, in fact, only one step is needed to solve the problem, but no one wants to show weakness first.
At the single-kill meeting, the two sides still couldn't talk about it. And the one who finally became the key to solving the problem was Cao Cao.
It has to be said that the timing of Cao Cao's choice to attack Zhang Lu was really clever. During this period, the Sun and Liu families had a conflict and had no time to take care of each other, which made Cao Cao take Hanzhong without any interference.
Now Liu Bei really couldn't sit still. Zhang Lu had been driven to Brazil , and Hanzhong was all owned by Cao Cao. If he didn't reconcile with Sun Quan, Cao Cao would fight to Bashu.
On the other hand, Liu Bei was also a more passive party at this time. He has no advantage in in Jingzhou area, and the three counties have been taken down by the Eastern Wu, becoming a fait accompli, and he has no choice but to bow his head in all aspects.
After some bargaining, the two sides formed an alliance again, and Sun Quan also took a step back and handed over Lingling to Liu Bei. The final situation was that the three counties of Changsha, Jiangxia and Guiyang in the east belonged to Sun Quan, and the three counties of Nanjun, Lingling and Wuling in the west belonged to Liu Bei. This is the famous Xiangshui Alliance . After
, Liu Bei rushed back to Shuzhong, preparing to welcome Cao Cao's troops, and Sun Quan also turned his attention to the eastern front again, and the second Jingzhou crisis ended here.
But is the crisis over here? In fact, there is no such thing as Sun Liu Alliance , which has been in name only. This is a Three Kingdoms version of Versailles . It only delays the conflict for a few years. When the conflict can no longer be resolved, what awaits both sides is a bloody battle that will never end.
In this farce-like conflict, neither side was ready for a full-scale war. Both sides were looking forward to taking advantage of themselves and the other side gave in. This intensified the conflict step by step, but in the end, they calmed down temporarily under the threat of external forces.
On the other hand, the Sun and Liu families also made mistakes at the same time when it comes to re-alignment. Liu Bei’s mistake was that he did not learn from his lessons, he attached too much importance to the covenant, and finally neglected to be prepared. Sun Quan mistakenly signed the contract easily, which created a moral obstacle for future breach of contract.
In fact, both sides have an unshirkable responsibility to the alliance to get to this point today.
Although Sun Quan did provide help to Liu Bei, his original intention still wanted to use him to make him the vanguard of Cao Cao.
While receiving the help, Liu Bei failed to give Sun Quan a certain reward and failed to comfort him emotionally, which eventually intensified the conflict.
Both parties' purposes are not pure enough, they lack sincerity, and they are suspicious of each other. How can such an alliance last? Even if there is a major threat from a third party, it won’t work. After all, when the two are chased by bears together, they don’t have to run faster than the bears, they just need to be faster than the other person.
In my opinion, the alliance that can be maintained depends on common interests, and there is nothing else to do. When there is no common interest, we must create common interests, but this requires the understanding and cooperation of both parties, and it is not easy to achieve.
Although Liu Bei and Sun Quan were also heroes of their lifetime, their pattern was still a little worse after all, which also sets a ceiling for their career height.
This article is part of a long-term serialization. Please follow me and send a private reply: 1, and you can read all the articles, which have been sorted out.
