Chapter 28 Chapter 28 After the Battle of Chibi

——I hope the Lord will think about the future... Zhuge Kongming said this to Liu Bei while looking at the crimson flame representing Chibi's victory.Victory can also be sentimental, but at this moment we must put aside such sentimentality and think about what to do next.Both war and politics are extremely harsh practical issues, and sentimental elements are absolutely not allowed to exist-this is what Kong Ming meant. The combined forces of Sun Quan and Liu Bei repelled the super powerful Cao Cao's army.The main force of this coalition is Sun Quan's army, and Liu Bei's army is just a weak army composed of remnants and defeated soldiers.

Since the United Legion is not an equal organization, after repelling Cao Cao, there was a dispute over the ownership of Jingzhou, which is naturally expected. As mentioned earlier, Sun Quan's army had the anti-war faction and the peace-talking faction against Cao Cao. Because the anti-war faction became the mainstream, it led to the victory in the Battle of Chibi.After the war, the anti-Japanese faction was divided into the pro-Liu Bei faction headed by Lu Su and the anti-Liu Bei faction represented by Zhou Yu. The opinions of the pro-Liu Bei faction are as follows: ——Although Cao Cao was defeated in Chibi, he was still a powerful force in the Central Plains. Take the construction of Tongque Terrace in Yecheng as an example, he still has great strength.The training of sailors in the artificial pool Xuanwu Pool also continued.If Cao Cao sent his army south again, Sun Quan's army would be absolutely powerless to resist.And if Jingzhou is given to Liu Bei, when Cao Cao goes south again, Liu Bei will naturally become the first target to bear the brunt.The actual purpose of the pro-Liu Bei faction is to use Liu Bei as a shield.

The anti-Liu Bei faction advocated: ——Liu Bei is a hero. In the past, he combined with Lu Bu, Cao Cao, Tao Qian, Yuan Shao and others, but they all separated from them later.It can be seen that as an ally, this person is absolutely untrustworthy.Once he becomes the lord of Jingzhou, when Cao Cao goes south, not only will he not serve as our front-line defense, but he is more likely to turn against Cao Cao and attack us in a vanguard manner... Sun Quan temporarily accepted the opinion of the pro-Liu Bei faction and married his younger sister to Liu Bei in order to consolidate the alliance.Mrs. Gan, Liu Bei's wife who was rescued by Zhao Yun in Dangyang, had left behind her son Liu Chan and died of illness.

However, Zhou Yu, the anti-Liu Bei faction, took Jiangling, the center of Jingzhou, as his base, and claimed to be the prefect of Nanjun.As a last resort, Liu Bei set up a base at Youjiang Estuary on the opposite bank, and renamed it Public Security. "It's really a headache to be resisted by Zhou Yu everywhere." Liu Bei was in the headquarters of the Public Security Bureau, looking at Jiangling on the other side, and said sullenly. "Patience is absolutely required at this time. Lord, please be patient and wait for the time to come!" Zhuge Kongming urged so much.

"How long do we have to wait? I have..." Liu Bei wanted to tell his age, but kept silent.He was born in the fourth year of Yanxi Emperor Huan (AD 161). He is forty-nine years old this year and will be fifty next year. "Please take it easy." "There is Cao Cao's general Yue Jin in Xiangyang, and Zhou Yu is in Jiangling, and his family is full of spies..." Liu Bei said in an extremely unpleasant tone. The younger sister of the new wife, Sun Quan, is a hero among women. All the maids brought from her natal family are fully armed.She knew very well that this was a political marriage. As Liu Bei's wife, she was going to investigate everything about her husband and report to her brother Sun Quan one by one.

"My lord, please live your life with a smile on your face!" Kong Ming smiled wryly. "The northern part of Jingzhou has been completely owned by Sun Quan." "We at least got the south, aren't we lucky?...The south of Jingzhou is rich in products!" Liu Bei controlled the counties of Lingling, Guiyang, and Changsha in the south of Jingzhou.Compared with the situation of wandering around as diners back then, there is a world of difference.Jingzhou is an area that straddles the two provinces of Hubei and Hunan today, and Liu Bei can be regarded as one of the places in Hunan.

"What I want is the world, didn't you also persuade me to take it as my career? Now I only get half of one state, and Cao Cao is the lord of eight states!" "The point is not the number of prefectures..." Kong Ming said in a tone coaxing a wayward child, "Of course half of Jingzhou can't be used as a territory for world hegemony, but if there is another prefecture, that would be great..." "Another state?" "The following refers to Yizhou." "Oh! It's the land of Bashu..." The land of Yizhou is very vast.The area around Chengdu, the state capital, was called Shu, and the area around Chongqing was called Ba. The entire territory of Sichuan Province today was generally called Bashu in the past.What is now Guizhou Province and a part of Yunnan Province were also included in Yizhou at that time, which was the land where ethnic minorities—tribes called the Southwestern Yi— lived.

Liu Yan, the lord of Yizhou, was able to create a new world in the land of Bashu by avoiding the war in the Central Plains.Now Liu Yan has passed away, and the current person in charge is his son Liu Zhang.It is said that Liu Zhang is a kind-hearted person, but kindness means indecision. "Taking Yizhou—is that what you mean, sir?" When Liu Bei asked him, Kong Ming replied: "It is to capture Yizhou. There should be no difficulty in this matter." The Lord of Yizhou is indecisive, and the local people are also different from those in the Central Plains. They have long been accustomed to living a peaceful life, that is to say, they lack war experience.

"Is Yizhou really easy to capture?" "Minor civil strife is happening in many places in Yizhou...that is to say, Liu Zhang's territory is already being shaken." Liu Zhang's father, Liu Yan, was from Jingling, Jiangxia County, Jingzhou. When he took office as Yizhou Mu, he brought many brave Dongzhou soldiers there.Because Dongzhou soldiers treated the local residents as conquerors, the locals resented them.During Liu Yan's lifetime, he was still able to suppress it by force, but in Liu Zhang's generation, the dissatisfaction of the local residents has risen.As Kong Ming said, small turmoil is happening all over Yizhou, and Liu Zhang's territory has indeed been severely cracked and has fallen into a state of instability.

"Are we going to take advantage of the civil strife and take advantage of the gap?" "No, someone will come to meet you over there." Kong Ming replied with a smile. "Have you already deployed?" "The Lord is clear." Due to the lack of boldness of those in charge, the law and order fell into chaos, and the people's life naturally became more and more difficult. —Maybe we should find someone with courage to be the master? Once upon a time, the dignitaries of Bashu had such an idea one after another.In other words, they want to change the ruler.

Liu Zhang knew that he could not continue to rule Yizhou alone.Therefore, he wanted to rely on Cao Cao, who was the most powerful, to make it clear: to surrender to Cao Cao with tribute.The envoy he sent was a man named Zhang Song.That was when Cao Cao first captured Xiangyang and chased Liu Bei southward, and it was also when he was most energetic. ——What, Yizhou sent envoys? Cao Cao received Zhang Song. ——You come to flatter me when you see me capture Jingzhou, what a shameless villain! Cao Cao, who held this view, was naturally very arrogant in his attitude.Zhang Song, who came here as an envoy, was short, unremarkable, and squinted.This made Cao Cao look down on him even more. A mocking smile floated on Cao Cao's cheek, he did not intend to hide the feeling in his heart.Zhang Song, who is sensitive, saw the ridicule floating on Cao Cao's face very clearly.As a result, Cao Cao just responded to Zhang Song's story. Zhang Song returned to Chengdu and immediately reported to Liu Zhang: ——Looking forward to Cao Cao's support is simply wishful thinking. Since it was just after the Battle of Chibi, Zhang Song's words were quite convincing to his master. ——Cao Cao can’t do it, so who is the ideal ally? ——According to my subordinates, Liu Bei is the most ideal candidate.He is a rare hero, and he is not as arrogant as Cao Cao.For allies, I believe he will treat them with courtesy. —That's right.If we form an alliance with a big man like Cao Cao, we will naturally be compared. Liu Zhang also had this idea.If you form an alliance with someone who is too powerful, you will not be able to hold your head up, and it is really not worthwhile.But if you form an alliance with someone of similar power, such a situation should not happen. ——Liu Bei is a gentleman. Zhang Song strongly recommended Liu Bei. ——If we form an alliance with Liu Bei, who should we send to negotiate? ——The subordinates think that it is the most ideal to use Fazheng as the envoy. It was precisely in order to avoid the military chaos in the Central Plains that Fa moved to Bashu and joined Liu Zhang.Although he holds the position of a lieutenant in the Military Council, for this person, he is really underappreciated. Fazheng was sent to visit Liu Bei.As a result, he fell in love with Liu Bei's character, and became close friends with Zhuge Kongming. "All deployment" is carried out through Fazheng going back to Bashu.Zhang Song and Fazheng in Chengdu have made all preparations to meet Liu Bei's forces. In March of the sixteenth year of Jian'an (AD 211), Cao Cao sent troops to Hanzhong.In Hanzhong, there is a Five Dou Rice Sect (Taoist sect) that regards Zhang Lu as its ancestor.Cao Cao went to attack this group. Hanzhong is the entrance and exit of the Central Plains and Bashu.If this place is occupied by Cao Cao's forces, the life and death of Bashu will be completely controlled by Cao Cao. — We might as well preemptively strike.Capture Hanzhong! Someone suggested so, but of course the indecisive Liu Zhang didn't have the guts.In fact, he didn't have the spare time to send troops to Hanzhong. He was already in a hurry to suppress the small disturbances that continued to occur in various places. What should I do? ——Since Hanzhong will be captured by others, it is better to let the forces that have friendly relations with us occupy it.How about we invite Liu Bei to attack Hanzhong? Zhang Song suggested so. --right!It should be the best way to ask Brother Liu Bei to attack Hanzhong.He is of the same clan as me. After Hanzhong is owned by him, once Cao Cao comes to attack, he will become our defense wall! Liu Zhang agreed with Zhang Song's opinion, so he decided to send Fazheng to Liu Bei again. In fact, Zhang Song and Fazheng's plan was to welcome Liu Bei to succeed Liu Zhang as the lord of Bashu.In other words, let Liu Bei seize Bashu under the cover of attacking Hanzhong. At this time, the situation turned very favorable to Liu Bei.Because Zhou Yu, the giant of the anti-Liu Bei faction in Sun Quan's camp, had died of illness at this time, the Soochow leader who replaced him was Lu Su of the pro-Liu Bei faction. Even so, Liu Bei still had concerns about Sun Quan's movements.Liu Bei could not raise his entire army to capture Bashu, and he had no intention of giving up Jingzhou.Only those who own Jingzhou and Bashu at the same time are eligible to fight for world hegemony. Liu Bei led his army to advance to the west of Bashu, while Zhuge Kongming, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and others remained in Jingzhou. When he heard that Liu Bei was marching westward, Sun Quan was furious for a moment. Because, shortly before this, Sun Quan proposed to Liu Bei to attack Bashu together.However, Liu Bei, who was aiming to conquer Bashu by himself, talked about him from left to right, and made false claims with him. ——Aren’t you trying to take advantage of me? Liu Bei thought so.Because Liu Bei's stronghold was close to Bashu, Sun Quan had to pass through Liu Bei's territory if he wanted to enter Bashu.This is why Sun Quan proposed to fight together.How could Liu Bei accept such a proposal? ——If you want to do it, I will do it alone.In order to achieve this goal, Zhang Song and Fazheng and I have secretly joined forces and made some arrangements. If you step in at this time and want to share a piece of the pie, how can there be such a cheap thing in the world? But Liu Bei couldn't tell the real reason. "I don't have the power yet, let's talk about this later!" As a result, Liu Bei rejected Sun Quan in this way. Those who say they have no power try to attack Bashu alone. "Call her back!" The "she" Sun Quan said, of course, refers to the younger sister who married Liu Bei. ——During Mr. Liu's expedition, he hoped that Mrs. Sun could return to her natal home. Sun Quan sent an envoy to tell Liu Bei. Sun Quan's younger sister, Madam Sun, deserves to be a hero among women.When she returned to her natal home, she tried to take away Liu Chan, Liu Bei's son born to the late Mrs. Gan, and she made it clear that she was going to take him as a hostage.But Liu Chan was snatched back by Zhao Yun on the way. Liu Bei led tens of thousands of troops, went up the river, crossed the danger of the Three Gorges safely, and arrived in Jiangzhou.Jiangzhou is now Chongqing City, and at the upper reaches is a place called Fu. Liu Zhang from Yizhou led an army of 30,000 soldiers and came here to greet him.At this time, Liu Zhang never dreamed that Liu Bei's trip was to seize his territory. Liu Zhang is also one of the descendants of the Han royal family, so he treats Liu Bei like a relative and elder brother. "Thank you for coming, I am proud to have a relative like you." Liu Zhang took Liu Bei's hand and said gratefully. The two stayed here for more than a hundred days. "This is the best time, let's grab Liu Zhang now and take his army back!" Fazheng repeatedly suggested this. "Isn't this too unkind? People welcome me like this, how can I do this?" Liu Bei couldn't make up his mind to launch a coup.The situation is exactly the same as in the past when Kong Ming repeatedly urged him to attack Liu Cong in Xiangyang, but he still refused. ——I can't do something that goes against my conscience. Liu Bei shook his head again and again. "Actually, this is what makes this person so attractive..." Although Fazheng regretted the missed opportunity, he followed Liu Bei's decision. Liu Zhang lent 30,000 troops to Liu Bei and asked him to attack Zhang Lu in Hanzhong.