Chapter 9 Fourth, release Liu Bei

The person who appreciates and values ​​Liu Bei the most is Cao Cao. Cao Cao became an ally with Liu Bei the year he captured and killed Lu Bu.At that time, Liu Bei was defeated by Lu Bu and came to seek refuge penniless. Cao Cao immediately appointed him as the shepherd of Yuzhou.After defeating Lu Bu together, they recommended Liu Bei as General Zuo. That's great perks.There were two classes of generals in the Han Dynasty, the former general, the rear general, the left general, and the right general, called "named generals" and the first class.General Fenwu, who was represented by Cao Cao, and General Zhendong, who was served by Liu Bei, are called "General Miscellaneous", and they are second-class.Liu Bei was granted the title of General Zuo, which shows Cao Cao's importance.

The courtesy given to Liu Bei is also very high: if you go out, you will share the same opinion, and if you sit, you will have the same table.Then there's trust.When Yuan Shu went north to unite with Yuan Shao, the person Cao Cao sent to Xiapi to intercept was Liu Bei.However, when Liu Bei arrived in Xiapi, he turned his face and refused to recognize anyone.He killed Che Zhou, the governor of Xuzhou, openly rebelled against Cao Cao, and fought against him to the end. Of course, the army and rations that Liu Bei took away were all given by Cao Cao.Even the old troops that were dispersed by Lu Bu were regrouped by Cao Cao.Cao Cao originally planned to turn Liu Bei into Zhang Xiu, but in the end he added Yuan Shao, and helped him regain his strength and arm him. Wouldn't it be a terrible loss?

Cao Cao's counselors had actually been vigilant for a long time. Cheng Yu once reminded Cao Cao: Liu Bei is quite a man of great talent and strategy, and he is also very popular. He will never be willing to be inferior to others. Cao Cao asked Guo Jia's opinion, and Guo Jia's opinion was the same as Cheng Yu's: Liu Bei is definitely not a thing in the pool, and his plot is unpredictable.The ancients have a saying that one day of fighting against the enemy will cause troubles for several generations, so arrangements must be made early. The problem is that Guo Jia also said that Duke Ming used the sword to mobilize righteous soldiers in order to eradicate violence and bring peace to the people, and he relied on sincerity.Even so, he was afraid that he would not be able to recruit the heroes of the world.Now Liu Bei, the hero, has nowhere to go, and he came to seek refuge with Minggong, but Minggong killed him. Then, who else would be willing to follow Minggong to rule the world?With one person's troubles, the world's hope will be cut off, this has to be thought through clearly.

It can neither be killed nor reused and trusted, so what should we do? Perhaps, Guo Jia's idea was house arrest. But this is not certain.Because there are different records of this matter, it has become a suspicious case in history.It is very likely that this matter is so sensitive that Guo Jia could not explain it clearly, and Cao Cao did not understand Guo Jia's meaning.So Cao Cao replied to Cheng Yu, saying: "When we are recruiting heroes today, it is not acceptable to kill one person and lose the hearts of the world." Cao Cao decided to trust Liu Bei with sincerity.Even Liu Bei took the initiative to ask Ying to go to Xiapi to intercept Yuan Shu. When Dong Zhao heard the news and came to dissuade him, Cao Cao said: I have already promised him, so I don't want to go back on my word.It wasn't until Cheng Yu and Guo Jia pointed out that borrowing troops meant that Liu Bei had a different intention, Cao Cao suddenly realized, but he regretted it too late.

Undoubtedly, this was the biggest mistake Cao Cao made in his life.It is precisely because of this mistake that there was an episode in Chinese history: the Three Kingdoms. This is strange. Yes, why did Cao Cao treat Liu Bei so kindly?What does he value Liu Bei?Status?Are you famous?Strength?It seems neither. That's right, Liu Bei is known as the clan, and it is said that he is a descendant of Liu Sheng, the son of King Jing of Zhongshan, the son of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty.However, from Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty to Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, the blood relationship was so distant and suspicious, and the identity of "Uncle Emperor" was even made up by Luo Guanzhong.Liu Bei himself "travels and weaves mats with his mother as a business", so how can he be treated like a son of a phoenix and a grandson of a dragon?

Liu Bei didn't have much fame either. Yuan Shu once said to Lu Bu with great disdain that since Yuan Shu was born, I have never heard of Liu Bei in the world.Beihai Prime Minister Kong Rong was surrounded by the Yellow Turban Army and sent Tai Shici to Pingyuan Prime Minister Liu Bei for help. Liu Bei was also surprised and delighted and said: "Kong Beihai also knows that there is Liu Bei in the world?"Immediately send three thousand rescuers.It can be seen that Liu Bei was unknown at that time, and he hoped to be famous. Liu Bei, who is not well-known, has no base. After finally gaining a territory, he will soon lose it.

However, Yuan Shao, Liu Biao, Tao Qian, Kong Rong and others all believed that Liu Bei was a hero.Xuzhou Mu Taoqian entrusted him with the state before his death, but Liu Bei didn't dare to be the leader, so he suggested that he should be handed over to Yuan Shu.But Kong Rong said, Yuan Gonglu and his family's "four generations and three fathers" were already dead (dead bones in the tomb), so why bother? The only one who doesn't take Liu Bei seriously is Yuan Shu. Cao Cao not only saw that Liu Bei was a hero at a glance, but also believed that he and Liu Bei were the only ones in the world.Once, when Cao Cao invited Liu Bei to dinner, he said such a sentence without haste——

These words are really thunderous.What's more, Cao Cao also said, "There are not enough disciples at the beginning (Yuan Shao)", Liu Bei was so frightened that he dropped his knife and chopsticks on the spot. Later, Liu Bei's defection was interpreted as related to this.It is said that Dong Cheng, the chariot general at that time, claimed to have personally received the edict hidden in his belt by Emperor Xian, and conspired to launch a coup to eliminate Cao Cao.After Liu Bei had that meal with Cao Cao, he also actively contacted Dong Cheng.Therefore, as soon as they arrived in Xiapi, they publicly raised the banner of anti-Cao.

However, this statement is full of flaws. First of all, the clothes belt edict may not be true, and Dong Cheng and the others only claimed to receive it secretly, without any evidence.Secondly, Liu Bei's open rebellion against Cao is tantamount to exposing their secrets, so where will the emperor, Dong Cheng and others be placed? Therefore, this is still a suspect case. But Liu Bei is a hero, but there is no doubt about it.Only in this way, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun will be loyal to him at first sight; Zhuge Liang will also give up Cao Cao, Sun Quan, and Liu Biao, and be loyal to Liu Bei who has nothing.

Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, and Zhuge Liang could all see it, and Cao Cao would not fail to see it.It's just that the hero Liu Bei has no use for his abilities; and a hero who has no use for his abilities does not need to be too guarded, it is better to wait until the teacher is famous before cleaning up. Maybe, maybe. Therefore, in the first month of the fifth year of Jian'an (200 AD), Cao Cao dispatched troops to conquer Liu Bei before the decisive battle with Yuan Shao.The generals reminded: It is Yuan Shao who competes with Duke Ming for the world!Cao Cao said: "Liu Bei is an outstanding man, and he can't raise a tiger's legacy; Yuan Shaozhi is a great talent, but it is nothing to worry about."

This battle made Liu Bei embarrassed.He even turned around and ran away in fright when he saw Cao Cao's flag, completely ignoring the lives of his subordinates.As a result, his wife and children were all captured, and even Guan Yu surrendered. Liu Bei, who was defeated by Cao Cao, had no choice but to join Yuan Shao, and Yuan Shao went out of the city two hundred miles to meet him.He failed to lure Zhang Xiu to surrender, but got Liu Bei, and Liu Bei ran away from Cao Cao. Yuan Shao was really overjoyed. It's just that he didn't expect that since Liu Bei could betray Cao Cao, he would also defect from him. How could Yuan Shao really understand Liu Bei? He only thought of one thing: eliminate Cao Cao as soon as possible. This is not surprising.By the end of the fourth year of Jian'an (AD 199), Yang Feng had died, Lu Bu had died, Yuan Shu had died, Zhang Xiu had surrendered, Liu Biao declared neutrality, and Sun Ce guarded the East.The situation became very clear: Yuan Shao and Cao Cao did not stand side by side.Both sides regarded each other as Xiang Yu, and they wanted to kill each other quickly. Therefore, Yuan Shao disregarded the opposition and dissuasion of some counselors, publicly published a dissent against Cao Cao, and brazenly launched a war aimed at exterminating Cao Cao. Cao Cao also immediately went north to meet the enemy, and set up his base camp at Guandu.At the same time, he sent Liu Yan, the prefect of Dongjun, to garrison Baima (now east of Hua County, Henan Province), and Yishou Tinghou Yujin to garrison Yanjin (now Yanjin North, Henan Province), facing Yuan Shao's army across the river, and set up a decisive battle. The battle of Guandu is about to start.