Chapter 77 war against war

In the first year of Zhangwu in the Shu Han Dynasty, Liu Bei, the freshly-baked emperor of the Han Dynasty, raised the issue of the Eastern Expedition.This move immediately detonated a fierce debate in the Chengdu court. The person who opposed it most fiercely and had the most clear-cut stand was Zhao Yun, General Yijun who had followed Liu Bei for many years. Zhao Yun righteously said to Liu Bei: "Our enemy is Cao Cao, not Sun Quan. As long as Cao Wei is destroyed, it will be difficult for Sun Wu not to surrender. Although Cao Cao is dead now, his son Cao Pi usurped the throne. We should obey the will of the people and send troops If we conquer Guanzhong in the north and occupy the Wei River and the upper reaches of the Yellow River, the righteous soldiers in the Guandong will definitely support us. This is a just battle. Now we start the war with Soochow, I’m afraid it will be endless, but it will make Cao Wei take advantage of it.”

In addition to Zhao Yun, Qin Mi from Guanghan also believed that the weather was wrong and Wu should not be attacked. At this time, Liu Bei was already full of fighting spirit, he was too lazy to persuade the opposition, and put Qin Mi into prison neatly, and then ordered Zhao Yun to stay in Jiangzhou and not go out with him. Even if you don't look at the results of the subsequent disastrous defeat, judging from the objective situation at the time, the Liu Bei Group had just experienced two serious setbacks, and with limited troops, it was indeed very difficult to regain Jingzhou.Even if they succeeded in capturing South County, they would have to face attacks from both the north and the east at the same time. It would be a loss-making deal no matter what.

We can't help asking, what is the reason that Liu Bei insisted on sending troops to Jingzhou? For a long time, this has been a topic that has been often discussed. The most common answer is of course Liu Bei's brotherly loyalty to Guan Yu. At that time, Liu Ye, the counselor next to Cao Pi, made a very in-depth analysis of Liu Bei's attack on Wu. Liu Ye believes: First, the Liu Bei Group was originally a fighting group, and the previous losses can only be made up for by the subsequent victories. Only by constantly launching wars can we strengthen ourselves; second, the relationship between Liu Bei and Guan Yu is extraordinary. In this group that prides itself on morality, if Liu Bei said such nonsense as "to 'repay grievances with virtue' to Sun Quan", I am afraid that he would not even be able to pass this internal test.

These two reasons are of course valid, but the author believes that Liu Bei must attack Jingzhou, mainly because of the pressure from the Jingzhou Corps. When Liu Bei brought tens of thousands of Jingzhou soldiers to Shuzhong, he promised them a beautiful dream: You will be the masters of the land of abundance, and you will have endless glory and wealth. When you return to your hometown again, you will not only be rich People, or heroes, will be respected and worshiped by all fathers and folks. The result is: the ideal is full, the reality is very skinny-this dream is only half realized. The Jingzhou people have become the masters of Yizhou. They have indeed accumulated a lot of wealth, but their hometown Jingzhou has been lost, and it is still in the hands of the "evil" Jiangdong people. How could the soldiers of Jingzhou accept such a result?What about the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains, I am not in the mood now, go home!leave!

When Liu Bei proclaimed himself emperor, he worshiped Ma Chao as the shepherd of Liangzhou, Zhang Fei as the lieutenant of Sili, and Wu Yi as the governor of Guanzhong. It can be seen that Liu Bei still regarded Liangzhou and Guanzhong as the main strategic goals, but under the strong pressure of the Jingzhou Corps In the next case, he must first point his troops to the east, or at least ask Sun Quan for an explanation first. In this debate about "war or anti-war", the attitude of a key figure has become the focus of everyone's attention, and that is Zhuge Liang, who has just become the second in command of the empire.

However, unfortunately, Zhuge Liang remained silent throughout this debate and did not express his position. It was not until the news of Liu Bei's defeat came back the following year that Zhuge Liang, who stayed in Chengdu, sighed and said sadly: "If the Fa rectification is still there If he is alive, he will definitely be able to dissuade the boss from going east, and even if he goes to the east, he won’t lose so much that he doesn’t even have any pants left.” Zhuge Liang's famous "after the horse" sentence has aroused infinite reverie in later generations. The most common saying is: Compared with Fazheng, Zhuge Liang is not trusted by Liu Bei at all, so his speech before the war has no weight.Some "anti-Liang" people believe that this kind of argument is just strong evidence of Zhuge Liang's "insufficient military talent and poor communication skills".

Professor Yi Zhongtian has another opinion in his "Three Kingdoms". He believes that at this moment, Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang are already facing differences in ideas.Liu Bei wants to separate the regime, but Zhuge Liang is resurrected.This conflict of ideas caused Zhuge Liang to remain silent at this critical moment. Is Mr. Yi's explanation correct? I don't dare to say wrong, but I always feel that it is too "metaphysical". The so-called "ideal, nation, and righteousness" seem so pale and powerless compared with the reality. We just need to pay attention to the situation Zhuge Liang was in at that time. Looking at the internal and external environment, it is not difficult to find the real reason why he can't speak.

The problem still lies with Jiangdong. After Lu Meng's death, Zhugejin took over the position of the prefect of Nanjun. If Liu Bei marched eastward, Nanjun where Zhugejin was located must be the first target. Although Zhuge Liang and his elder brother belonged to two camps, the brotherhood is iron-like In fact, if he makes any anti-war remarks at this moment, it will inevitably be understood as "using private affairs to abolish public affairs" or even "privileging foreign countries" (there were rumors of Zhuge Jin in Jiangdong later). This trust will also be greatly reduced, it is better to save some saliva and be neutral.

On the other hand, Zhuge Liang himself is the representative of the Jingzhou Group, and he led a large number of Jingzhou cadres into the door. When these colleagues shouted "Destroy Soochow and return Jingzhou" in Jingzhou dialect, Zhuge Liang may not be able to say otherwise. Opinion, therefore, neutral is good. Sometimes, analyzing things doesn't have to be so complicated. From the perspective of human nature, the results of the analysis may be closer to the truth. It is said that in the first year of Zhangwu in the Shu Han Dynasty (AD 221), in June, the Eastern Expedition decision was finalized. Liu Bei personally came to Jiangzhou, the capital of Badi, and various Shu armies gathered one after another, preparing to follow the Yangtze River and flatten Jingzhou in one fell swoop.However, on the eve of the dispatch of troops, a messenger suddenly rushed into Liu Bei's tent, saying that there was a secret report from the Langzhong army in Brazil, and it was extremely urgent.

Brazil?Langzhong?Urgent? Liu Bei only felt his eyelids twitch, and lost his voice: "Could it be that something happened to the third brother?" Unfortunately, Liu Bei guessed right this time.