Chapter 11 Chapter Three Sun Liu Alliance

Thousands of miles of Yangtze River flows continuously, dividing the land of China into North and South.The south was an underdeveloped area during the Eastern Han Dynasty, with a vast land and sparsely populated areas, and a backward culture.Only in this way, the imperial court and giants would have no time to take care of it, or even dismiss it, and those weaker warlords would be able to take advantage of the situation and separate one side there. This is the case for the three states along the Yangtze River. These three states are Yizhou, Jingzhou and Yangzhou.Their state herdsmen were first Liu Yan, Liu Biao and Liu Yao (read Ruyao).Liu Yan is the shepherd of Yizhou, Liu Biao is the shepherd of Jingzhou, and Liu Yao is the shepherd of Yangzhou. They are also clansmen.

This happened in the fifth year of Zhongping (188 A.D.), Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty.At that time, in order to deal with the Yellow Turban Uprising, the imperial court accepted Liu Yan's suggestion, changed the governor to the governor of the state, and increased his power, and appointed important officials of the imperial court and royal family Shuzong to serve as governors.There have been five clans serving as state herdsmen successively, the other two being Liu Yu, the shepherd of Youzhou, and Liu Bei, the shepherd of Yuzhou. Liu Yu, Mu of Youzhou, Liu Yan, Mu of Yizhou, Liu Biao, Mu of Jingzhou, Liu You, Mu of Yangzhou, and Liu Bei, Mu of Yuzhou.However, Liu Yu did not participate in the competition, and Liu Bei had a false name (Yuzhou was not his).It is worth noting that there are only three states along the Yangtze River.

The situation in the three states is different, and the situations of the pastors in the three states are also different.In terms of development, Yangzhou is the best, followed by Jingzhou, and Yizhou is the worst.Personal situation is just the opposite, Liu Yan is the best, Liu Biao is the second, and Liu Yao is the worst.Liu Yao didn't even really govern Yangzhou, and he withdrew from the stage of history early at the age of forty-two. Yangzhou, which nominally belonged to Liu Yao, was divided into two.The west of the Yangtze River (Jiangxi) was occupied by Yuan Shu, and the east of the Yangtze River (Jiangdong) was coveted by Sun Ce.After Liu Yao was defeated and died of illness, Wu Jun, Kuaiji, Danyang, and Yuzhang among the six counties of Yangzhou all fell into the hands of Sun Ce, which became the foundation of the later Sun Wu regime.

However, it is Jingzhou that is on the cusp. Jingzhou is the most critical of the three states along the Yangtze River.After capturing Jingzhou, especially Jiangling, the prefecture of South County (in present-day Jingzhou, Hubei), you can capture Yizhou upstream and Yangzhou downstream. s reason. Of course, if the State Shepherd of Jingzhou was Cao Cao or Yuan Shao, things might be different, but unfortunately Liu Biao has no ambitions.Yuan Shao asked him for help, but he fully agreed but stood still.Later, when Cao Cao conquered Karasuma, Liu Bei persuaded him to attack Xudu, but he ignored it. No wonder Cao Cao called him a "self-defense thief".

But in all fairness, Liu Biao is very popular in Jingzhou.Moreover, it is precisely because of his policy and strategy of "love the people, support the people, and protect oneself calmly", the Jingzhou area has maintained stability and peace for more than ten years, and many refugees from the north and the south have also received financial assistance and consideration. This cannot but be said to be Liu Biao. Good job. It's a pity that the tree wants to be quiet but the wind doesn't stop. It was Liu Bei who broke the calm first.He defected to Liu Biao after being defeated by Cao Cao after the Battle of Guandu.At that time, Liu Biao was in a dilemma as if he had received a hot potato bestowed by the emperor.In desperation, Liu Biao could only be courteous on the one hand, and take precautions on the other hand.

Liu Biao's arrangement was for Liu Bei to send troops to Xinye (now Xinye, Henan) and Bowang (now Fangcheng, Henan) successively, and finally to station troops in Fancheng.Fancheng and Xiangyang, where Liu Biao is located, face each other across the Han River, which can not only prevent accidents, but also make Liu Bei a firewall against Cao Cao. In fact, even this narrow-mindedness was seen through by Guo Jia.Guo Jia pointedly pointed out: Liu Biao knew very well that his talents were not enough to control Liu Bei.Give heavy responsibilities, I'm afraid you can't restrain them; give light responsibilities, Liu Bei is useless.Therefore, Guo Jia said with great disdain: Liu Biao is just a "talker"!

It seems that Liu Biao shouldn't have been born in a troubled world where the weak preyed on the strong, and he didn't know how to protect himself in this troubled world.Liu Bei is the hero of the world, and Zhuge Liang is the dragon among the people, but he respectfully keeps him at a distance; there are as many as a thousand people from the Central Plains gentry who went south to Jingzhou, and they only see him settle down, but they don't see him reused.How can you keep your family business if you are so unwise? Therefore, Cao Cao in the north and Sun Quan in the east are all staring at each other.

Sun Quan is the son of Sun Jian and the younger brother of Sun Ce.Sun Jian was killed in battle with Liu Biao's general Huang Zu, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Sun Ce, who was eighteen years old.Later, Sun Ce was murdered by an assassin, and his second brother, Sun Quan, took over at the age of nineteen.At this time, he was nominally the general begging for captives of the great Han, but in fact he was a small warlord entrenched in Jiangdong. Speaking of which, the Sun family really produced young heroes in large numbers.Sun Jian was only seventeen years old when he became famous, and Sun Quan was equally extraordinary.In the spring of the thirteenth year of Jian'an (AD 208), Sun Quan broke through Xiakou City (now Hankou, Wuhan) in one fell swoop, and killed Liu Biao's general Jiangxia Taishou Huang Zu. The world was shocked.

To be shocked of course.Because this battle means that Sun Quan's power has expanded to the west, and the next step will be to covet Jiangling, covet Xiangyang, and devour Jingzhou. Cao Cao immediately felt that the time was running out.In fact, he has coveted Jingzhou for a long time, and Yuan Shao's remnant forces have been wiped out, and almost all of northern China is in his pocket.Cao Cao himself is the prime minister himself, and he has the power to monopolize orders and prohibits. He can and must seize Jingzhou. In July of that year, Cao Cao marched south against Liu Biao. At the same time, Liu Biao fell ill and died in August. It was his youngest son Liu Cong who took over Jingzhou.How could Liu Cong be Cao Cao's opponent? Liu Biao's former subordinates Kuai Yue, Han Song, Fu Xun (read Ru Xun) and others also persuaded him to surrender.

Liu Cong said: "Can't I, together with you, guard the foundation of the ancestors, so as to observe the changes in the world?"Besides, there is Liu Bei. Fu Xun said: "I can't."To fight against the ruler is to fight against obedience; to fight against the central government is to fight against the strong with the weak; to fight against Cao Cao with Liu Bei is to fight against the stone with the egg.If you can't do the three things, and you still have to resist Master Wang, you're courting death. Liu Cong hesitated. Fu Xun then asked: General, think about it for yourself, are you comparable to Liu Bei?

Liu Cong said: "It's not comparable." Fu Xun said: That's good!If Liu Bei can't beat Cao Cao, the general can't protect himself; if he can beat Cao Cao, will he be the general's subordinate again? Liu Cong understood as soon as he heard it. That's right!To fight against Cao Cao, you can only rely on Liu Bei.But no matter whether Liu Bei wins or loses, he will not end well.It would be better to surrender! When Liu Cong surrendered, Cao Cao's army seemed to be in a desert.Liu Cong then sent someone to tell Liu Bei.Liu Bei was shocked when he heard the news. He drew out his knife and said to the visitor: Even if I kill you today, I don’t want to let go of my hatred. I just don’t want to dirty my knife! But it's useless to say anything now, Liu Bei's only choice is to follow suit.However, Liu Bei ran fast, and Cao Cao chased him fast.He ordered 5,000 elite cavalry to chase after him at a speed of 300 miles a day and a night, trying to wipe out Liu Bei, a thorn in his side and a thorn in his flesh. On the contrary, Liu Bei ran fast and walked slowly.Because when he passed by Xiangyang, many scholars, common people and Liu Biao's old troops withdrew to the south, with hundreds of thousands of people in his entourage, thousands of vehicles and only a dozen miles a day. It's almost waiting to be beaten. Liu Bei, who was in danger, rejected the suggestion to take the first step, and insisted on walking slowly with the people.His explanation is: to achieve great things must be people-oriented.Now that they live and die with me, how can I have the heart to abandon them! Possibly, this is the brightest stroke in Liu Bei's life. However, the consequences were very serious.Cao Cao soon caught up with Liu Bei, and the two armies met at Changban in Dangyang (now northeast of Dangyang, Hubei).Liu Bei once again lost his wife and children, and fled with dozens of people including Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun. The entourage and vehicles were all captured by Cao Cao. Fortunately, Cao Cao did not pursue and fight fiercely.He gave up Liu Bei and led his troops straight to Jiangling.There is a large amount of military supplies collected there, including ships necessary for water warfare, which must not be allowed to be obtained by others. Liu Bei, who saved his life by Zhang Fei and retrieved his wife and children by Zhao Yun, decided to travel east to Xiakou to join Guan Yu who had been arranged there in advance, and Liu Qi, the eldest son of Liu Biao who had parted ways with Liu Cong.However, can Liu Qi's 10,000 horses and Guan Yu's 10,000 water army withstand Cao Cao's overwhelming pressure? Maybe, you have to ask Zhuge Liang.