Chapter 20 (20) Soldiers approaching the city

In the twelfth year of Jian'an, Cao Cao pacified the north, Sun Quan stabilized the country, and Liu Bei got Zhuge Liang. Liu Biao, who originally hoped to keep Jingzhou to watch the changing times, had come to an end.In the thirteenth year of Jian'an, Sun Quan and Cao Cao began to attack Jingzhou. Liu Biao and his Jingzhou, including Liu Bei who was attached to Liu Biao, were facing crisis. So, what is their fate?Professor Yi Zhongtian of Xiamen University is a guest of "Hundreds of Lectures", and will give you a wonderful taste of the Three Kingdoms - Bing Lincheng. In the previous episode, Mr. Yi Zhongtian mentioned that Jingzhou was a strategically important place during the Three Kingdoms period, and Liu Biao, Jingzhou's state herdsman, was a mediocre man with little ability, so various powerful people began to eye Jingzhou.Cao Cao, who was the most powerful at that time, settled down in the rear, and began to march south to conquer Jingzhou in July of the thirteenth year of Jian'an. For a time, the cloud of war shrouded this fertile land where no war had occurred in more than ten years.The mediocre Liu Biao and the heroic Liu Bei are both facing crisis, so what is their fate?Professor Yi Zhongtian from Xiamen University is a guest on "Hundreds of Lectures", and will give you a wonderful taste of the "Soldiers Coming to the City" of the Three Kingdoms.

We mentioned in the last episode that Liu Biao, Mu Jingzhou, is an unlucky lucky man. His luck lies in the fact that he got Jingzhou, and his misfortune also lies in the fact that he got Jingzhou. It can be said that he succeeded in Jingzhou, lost in Jingzhou, and was born in Jingzhou. , Death is also Jingzhou, because Jingzhou was a place that was contested for the world at that time.In the spring of the thirteenth year of Jian’an, Sun Quan made the first move. We know that in Lu Su’s strategic plan for Sun Quan, that is, in Soochow’s version of “Longzhong Dui”, Jingzhou must be taken, and later Gan Ning The same suggestion was made to Sun Quan.Sun Quan adopted this suggestion, and in the spring of the thirteenth year of Jian'an, he attacked Huang Zu, the prefect of Jiangxia, and destroyed Huang Zu.This victory of Sun Quan made Cao Cao feel that time is not waiting for him. Cao Cao knew very well that once Sun Quan was in his hands, the situation in the world would undergo a major change, because after Sun Quan took Jiangxia, he could covet Jiangling, plot Xiangyang, and swallow Jingzhou. This result Cao Cao I don't want to see it.

Cao Cao was also going to take Jingzhou a long time ago, and he made preparations. Cao Cao did four things: the first thing was to train sailors. Cao Cao dug a Xuanwu Lake in Yecheng, because he needed a navy to fight Jingzhou.The second thing is that Cao Cao became the prime minister himself. Cao Cao changed the system of the three princes in the Eastern Han Dynasty and restored the system of prime ministers and imperial envoys in the early Western Han Dynasty. He also became the prime minister himself and monopolized power. These two things are military and political. It is guaranteed that Cao Cao's goal of unifying the world can be realized.For the third thing, he arranged for three generals, Zhang Liao, Yu Jin, and Le Jin, to station troops around Xudu to defend Xudu and relieve any worries.The fourth thing, Cao Cao appeased Ma Teng in Guanzhong, and detained Ma Teng's family members as hostages, also to relieve his worries.After completing these four things, in July of the thirteenth year of Jian'an, Cao Cao went south to conquer Jingzhou.

Under the pressure of Cao Cao's army, Jingzhou was in danger. Jingzhou, which had lived in peace for more than ten years, was clouded in a blink of an eye.But at this critical juncture, Liu Biao, the owner of Jingzhou, fell ill and was about to pass away.Facing Liu Bei who is attached to himself and has great ambitions, what did Liu Biao say to him when he was seriously ill?What was Liu Bei's reaction?How did Mr. Yi Zhongtian analyze it? When Cao Cao's army arrived, Liu Biao became seriously ill. In August, Liu Biao died of illness.According to the "Book of Wei" quoted by Pei Songzhi's note in "Three Kingdoms", Liu Biao entrusted the country to Liu Bei before his death. Liu Biao invited Liu Bei to say: "Oh, my two sons are not very useful--Liu Biao is not very good. It is probably also a fact, so later Cao Cao once said a famous saying, saying that if you give birth to a son, you will give birth to Sun Quan. If it is like Liu Jingsheng's two sons, it is too angry.That's why there was a famous saying later called "Having a son should be like Sun Zhongmou", Liu Biao said-my two sons are useless, and my generals are also scattered. After I die, I will take charge of Jingzhou with one step!How did Liu Bei answer? Liu Bei said: "Oh, these young masters are very capable. Your Excellency, you should take good care of your illness."Later, after Liu Bei came out, people said, hey, such a good thing, why don't you follow it if you are born with a pie?Liu Bei said, alas, this person is very kind to me and treats me very well, how can I take his territory?I can't bear it, I can't bear it.

Pei Songzhi thinks this matter is not true, and I also think it is unreliable.Because we have already talked about it in the last episode, what is Liu Biao's attitude towards Liu Bei? "Treat him with courtesy, doubt his heart, and guard him with yin", that is, Liu Biao's attitude towards Liu Bei is to put it on the shelf politely, and be careful all the time. How could he give up Jingzhou to Liu Bei?What's more, Liu Biao has already arranged for his successor, that is Liu Cong, how could he give Jingzhou to Liu Bei?When Liu Biao was seriously ill, Liu Qi came to Xiangyang from Xiakou to visit his father. People like Cai Mao and Kuai Yue stopped him from seeing him. How could Liu Bei see people whom Liu Qi couldn’t see? Woolen cloth?Moreover, people like Cai Mao knew very well about this Liu Bei, and Zhuge Liang's attitude towards Cao Cao behind Liu Bei, and this group of people was going to surrender to Cao Cao, so how could they arrange for Liu Bei to meet Liu Biao?Moreover, according to the historical facts and historical records at that time, Liu Biao was actually controlled by the Cai Mao family when he was seriously ill. He can't see it either, so I'm afraid it's not true.

Then we have to study what is going on. I think there are two possibilities: the first is that Liu Bei lied, and nothing happened to support the orphan or the country. Liu Bei told people so.This is nothing, and it does not mean that Liu Bei has any moral quality problems.Because the situation at that time was that Jingzhou was in great trouble, and people's hearts were fluctuating. There were quite a few gentry in Jingzhou who were unwilling to surrender to Cao Cao, and they knew very well that neither Liu Biao, Liu Qi, nor Liu Cong could resist Cao Cao, so They pinned their hopes on Liu Bei, who has such a part of the hearts of the people; and Liu Bei himself is not willing to lose Jingzhou, at least he is unwilling to lose the hearts of Jingzhou, because for Liu Bei, Jingzhou is his base for three parts of the world, and retreat is his life. He cannot lose Jingzhou.That is to say, Liu Bei needs Jingzhou, and Jingzhou also needs Liu Bei. Then when Liu Bei comes out and says that Liu Biao once entrusted the country to me, or Liu Biao once entrusted me to me at such a time of panic, it can play a role in calming people's hearts. It can be understood as A political strategy does not have to be morally condemned, this is the first case.

The second situation is that Liu Biao did say this, and as we said before, it is impossible for Liu Biao to give up Jingzhou to Liu Bei sincerely, so why did Liu Biao entrust the country or the orphan to Liu Bei?test.Liu Biao knew very well that Liu Bei was playing against Jingzhou, but now that I, Liu Biao, are alive, Liu Bei dare not act rashly. Once I pass away, will my two precious sons be able to keep the family business?I had to bring Liu Bei here to try it out, so I pretended to say: "Oh, look, my son is useless. After I die, you can take this Jingzhou!"I suspect that when Liu Biao said this, the two sides had already ambushed the swordsmen sent by Cai Mao and the others. As long as you, Liu Bei, said "Okay! After you die, Jingzhou will be mine", you will definitely be chopped into meat sauce. .But Liu Bei was very smart, and he immediately resigned.Therefore, using this matter as the basis for Liu Bei's high morality is the opinion of a pedantic scholar and a nerd.There is actually no moral issue on the Jingzhou issue, because first, as far as Jingzhou is concerned, it is indeed much safer for Liu Bei to take over than to be taken over by Liu Qi or Liu Cong, because Liu Bei himself is capable and Zhuge Liang is assisted. Also, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are two generals who are still so popular in Jingzhou. It is true that Liu Bei took over Jingzhou, maybe this situation will change, so there is nothing immoral and nothing for him to take over Jingzhou; let alone Zhuge Liang In "Longzhong Dui" it is very clear, "This is the reason for the general, does the general have any intention?" This is given to you by God, which means that there is no moral obstacle.So why didn't Liu Bei take it?To put it bluntly, it's very simple, it's not that I can't bear it, it's that I can't, there is no possibility, no condition, and no ability to just take over.

When Cao Cao's army was approaching the city and Jingzhou was overcast, Liu Biao died of illness suddenly.Facing Cao Cao's menacing army, how would Liu Cong, who has no political experience, respond?What will Liu Bei, who has the ambition of a hero but has never been able to use his talents, do? Then at this time, Cao Cao's army came.Cao Cao has just pacified the north. The army is strong, horses are strong, menacing, menacing, and Mount Tai is overwhelming. The city of Xiangyang is in chaos. Liu Cong, the youngest son who has just taken over Liu Biao's class, probably has no idea.At this time, those former officials of Liu Biao came to persuade Liu Cong, the most representative of whom was a man named Fu Xun. At that time, Liu Cong called everyone together for a meeting and said what should we do?Cao Cao called.Everyone said in unison: Surrender.Liu Cong said, oh, can't I, Liu Cong, work together with you to guard the foundation left by my father?Everyone said in unison, no, Fu Xun said: "Ni Shun has a general principle, and strong and weak have a fixed trend." The emperor represents the central government.What about us?We are the local government, and we are the courtiers. Resisting obedience against obedience by ministers and ministers, fighting the weak against the strong by fighting the central government, and beating pebbles against rocks with Liu Bei against Cao Cao, we cannot win.But what moved Liu Cong the most was Fu Xun's words. Fu Xun said to Liu Cong: Please think about it, general, is Liu Bei comparable to Cao Cao?Liu Cong said that was not comparable.Not as good, okay, let's make two possibilities, one is that Liu Bei can stop Cao Cao, the other is that Liu Bei can't stop Cao Cao, if Liu Bei can't stop Cao Cao, what will be the result?As a result, Jingzhou became Cao Cao's; if Liu Bei can stop Cao Cao, Fu Xun said that if Liu Bei can defeat Cao Cao, would he still be willing to be your general?Liu Cong thought, yes, if this Liu Bei defeated Cao Cao, would he still listen to me?That is to say, I asked Liu Bei to fight Cao Cao, no matter if I lost or won, I would have no good fruit to eat, would I?Then I might as well surrender to Cao Cao in advance.Surrender.

So where was Liu Cong then?In Xiangyang.Let's take a look at the map. Where did Cao Cao fight, he hit Xinye; where is Liu Bei, in Fancheng to the south of Xinye;Liu Cong sent someone to bypass Liu Bei and go to Xinye, where he surrendered to Cao Cao.Liu Bei didn't know, he didn't tell him, he was kept in the dark, after the surrender was over, this Liu Qi realized that he should inform, and sent a man named Song Zhong. Zhong went to talk to Liu Bei.Liu Bei was shocked and said, how can you children do such a thing!You came to tell me when the catastrophe was imminent. Liu Bei pulled out his sword at that time, pointed at Song Zhong and said, are you here to "kill your death"? I don't understand the hatred, killing you will not solve the problem, get out, dirty my knife, get out.

It's useless to say anything at this time, what can Liu Bei do?I had no choice but to take Zhuge Liang across the river from Fancheng to Xiangyang.Then at this time, according to "Three Kingdoms" said: "Zhuge Liang said to attack Cong first, and Jingzhou may have it. The first master said: 'I can't bear it.'" Zhuge Liang gave Liu Bei an idea, saying that we should destroy him when we cross Xiangyang. Get rid of Liu Cong, and Xiangyang and Jingzhou will be ours.Liu Bei said, oh, I can't bear it, I can't bear it.This matter is seen in official history, but Mr. Lu Simian, a master of history, thinks it is unreliable. Mr. Lu said that it is indeed no problem to win Xiangyang at this time, but can you hold it?I'm afraid I can't keep it.Moreover, Mr. Lu said that Zhuge Liang was only cautious in his life, so he might not come up with such an idea.So whether Zhuge Liang had this suggestion, we are not sure now, I can only tell you that there is such a record in "Three Kingdoms", and Mr. Lu Simian thinks it is unreliable.But one thing that is certain is that it is said that Zhuge Liang set a fire in Xinye before he left. There is no such thing, and the burning of Bowang has nothing to do with Zhuge Liang. The burning of Bowang was done by Liu Bei. Added the story of Zhuge Liang's exploits.So what is the more reliable situation?It was Liu Bei who yelled something to Liu Cong when he passed by Xiangyang City, and then took the people away.

Liu Cong's surrender to Cao Cao was a self-protection measure after weighing the pros and cons. Although Liu Bei was very angry at Liu Cong's surrender to Cao Cao, he was helpless. He could not resist Cao Cao's army with his own strength, so Liu Bei had to flee south from Fancheng .After Cao Cao heard the news, he immediately sent cavalry to pursue him. After Liu Bei fled, could Cao Cao catch up with Liu Bei? So at this time, many people in the Xiangyang area followed Liu Bei. There were probably hundreds of thousands of entourages and thousands of luggage. They traveled more than ten miles a day and walked very slowly.At this time, someone told Liu Bei that Cao Cao was coming after him immediately. You took so many people with you, your family, your children and your daughters, and you walked more than ten miles a day. How can you do it?Now we should hurry to Jiangling, because Jiangling is a strategic location of Liu Biao, and there are a lot of military supplies in it. Let's rush to Jiangling to defend Jiangling!Liu Bei said no, Liu Bei only ordered Guan Yu to lead the water army to go down the Han River, and go to Jiangling first to meet him.Liu Bei said such a famous saying at that time, he said: "Husband aid is a major event, it must be people-oriented."According to the historian Mr. Zhu Weizheng, this may be the earliest source of the word "people-oriented", but we have to make it clear that Liu Bei's "people-oriented" is not the same concept as the "people-oriented" we talk about today. "People-oriented" means taking people as the foundation, and Liu Bei's "people-oriented" means taking people as the capital, because he knows that he who wins the hearts of the people wins the world, and he must win the hearts of the world if he wants to win the world. This is his true idea of ​​putting people first.As for why these people followed Liu Bei, we don't know much about it now. Some people say that they are afraid of Cao Cao's massacre of the city. This may not be accurate. Cao Cao did do the massacre of the city. The question is, anyway, it happened to Cao Cao. He slaughtered Xuzhou, so Xun Yu criticized Cao Cao after this incident. Cao Cao also realized that doing so would not be good for him to realize his political ideals. What's more, now that Liu Cong surrendered all the states, Cao Cao didn't need it. To massacre the city.So in short, this is the situation, Liu Bei took such hundreds of thousands of people to travel more than ten miles a day. And what about Cao Cao?Cao Cao adopted Xun Yu's suggestion, that is, when Cao Cao sent troops to Jingzhou, Xun Yu told Cao Cao that now is the best time to capture Jingzhou, because "the north has been settled, and the southern land knows that it is difficult. "Go lightly", Jingzhou is already uneasy, we can take it in one fell swoop, but we must make a quick decision, so Xun Yu's idea to Cao Cao is "move lightly", that is, you send troops from Wancheng and Ye County with great fanfare , when necessary, you lead the light cavalry forward.So after Cao Cao arrived in Xiangyang, he knew that Liu Bei had already escaped, and he was fleeing in the direction of Jiangling. Cao Cao knew that Liu Bei must not be allowed to go to Jiangling, so Cao Cao led five thousand light cavalry to rush three hundred miles a day and one night.Then we can imagine that Liu Bei walked more than ten miles a day, and Cao Cao walked three hundred miles a day. What happened?As a result, Cao Cao soon caught up with Liu Bei at Changbanpo in Dangyang.The results of this battle are only recorded in a few dozen words in the history books, which say: "The former Lord abandoned his wife and rode away with dozens of Zhuge Liang, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, etc. Cao Gong won his men and luggage. "In other words, what is the result of this battle?Liu Bei couldn't even take care of his wife and children, so he turned around and ran away. I'm afraid he can't talk about people-oriented at this time. The result of this battle is very embarrassing for Liu Bei. But this paragraph is very well written. There are two good scenes, one is "Zhao Zilong rides the savior alone", and the other is "Zhang Yide makes trouble at Changbanpo", so these two records have historical basis.Liu Bei's wife and his son Liu Chan were indeed rescued by Zhao Yun, and Changbanpo Zhang Fei also roared angrily, saying that I am Zhang Yide, who dares to come to die?It is also true that Cao Cao's people were scared away, but Zhang Yide's roar from Changbanpo did not yell that the bridge was broken and the water flowed backwards. The bridge was demolished by Zhang Fei.Zhao Zilong did save Liu Adou, but Liu Bei didn't drop the child, so that's probably how it happened. Now we know that Liu Bei saved his life by relying on Zhang Fei and found his wife by relying on Zhao Yun, but he still has no way out.Although he had 20,000 troops in his hands after he made peace with Guan Yu and others who came to meet him, he would still be vulnerable to Cao Cao's army.When Liu Bei was at a loss, Lu Su, Sun Quan's adviser, came to find Liu Bei day and night. Liu Bei was in a panic at this time. Why did Lu Su come to see him in a hurry? It turned out that when the news of Jingzhou Mu Liu Biao's death reached Jiangdong, Lu Su, who was extremely politically sensitive, immediately realized the significance of this matter to Jiangdong Group.Because we have said that Lu Su has a Soochow version of "Longzhong Dui", this "Longzhong Dui" is based on Jingzhou's idea, and the three-point world designed by Lu Su is Sun Quan, Liu Biao, and Cao Cao. Liu Biao passed away, and the situation changed drastically.Lu Su immediately went to Sun Quan and said, "General, this matter should not be underestimated, because Jingzhou is really the capital of the emperor, and it is a base for proclaiming the king and emperor. The sons Liu Qi and Liu Cong are already at odds and split in order to compete for the position of successor. There is another Liu Bei who is known as the hero of the world between these two people. The future situation in Jingzhou is extremely uncertain. I hope the general will send me to I went to Jingzhou to visit, the name is to express our condolences and express our condolences to Mr. Liu Biao. In fact, I want to see what will happen to them in the future. If Liu Qi, Liu Cong, and Liu Bei are actually united, then we will We must unite them to fight against Cao Cao; if the three of them fight, can't we take the opportunity to do something?Sun Quan said, good!you go.It was not easy for Sun Quan to make this decision, because the Jiangdong Group and the Jingzhou Group were feuds. Sun Quan’s father, Sun Jian, was killed by Liu Biao’s general Huang Zu. If you can be emotional, you won't be emotional, and immediately approved Lu Su's action plan. So Lu Su set out from Chaisangkou, where is Chaisang?Chaisang is in what is now Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province, I guess by boat.Then when Lu Su came from Chaisang, which is Jiujiang, to Xiakou, which is Hankou, he got the news of Liu Biao's death, and Lu Su immediately continued to drive forward; when Lu Su's boat came to Jiangling, he got the news He heard the news of Liu Cong's surrender and Liu Bei's escape, and he knew very well that Liu Bei fled south from Fancheng; so instead of waiting for Liu Bei in Jiangling, Lu Su went north to meet Liu Bei, and met at Changbanpo in Dangyang.Then Lu Su told Liu Bei, where is Yuzhou going now?Because Liu Bei's official title at the time was to lead Yuzhou Mu, he was acting as Yuzhou Mu. ——Speaking of Liu Yuzhou, where are you going now?Liu Bei said, I am going to defect to Cangwu prefect Wu Ju, who is my old friend.Lu Su said: No need, this Wu Ju is an incompetent person, he can't even protect himself, can he protect you, General?In my opinion, it is better for Liu Yuzhou to unite with our General Sun. How about our General Sun? He has good morals, good character, high prestige, great strength, and many troops. If you unite with our General Sun Let's fight against Cao Cao together, won't that accomplish the great cause?In order to ensure that this plan can be realized, Lu Su also said this sentence to Zhuge Liang, saying, Mr. Kong Ming, I am a good friend of Mr. Ziyu.Ziyu is Zhuge Liang's older brother, Zhuge Jin, and he made some bets. In fact, Lu Su didn't need to be befriended, because Lu Su's suggestion was very much in Liu Bei's mind. Liu Bei is now desperate, and there is someone who can unite with him. He couldn't ask for it, how could he object?Zhuge Liang will also agree, because when Zhuge Liang made the "Longzhong Opposition", the strategic plan he made was to unite with Sun Quan to fight against Cao Cao. Now that Sun Quan has proposed a joint proposal, how could he not agree?So Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang readily agreed, and the three reached a verbal agreement in Dangyang, I guess, to unite against Cao Cao. So Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and Guan Yu and Liu Qi who came to meet him went east together, and Lu Su came to Xiakou.And what did Cao Cao do at this time?Cao Cao went straight to Jiangling, because Jiangling was a strategically important place, a military supply warehouse, and Cao Cao couldn't care less about attacking Liu Bei at this time, so he took Jiangling down first.Cao Cao went south to Jiangling, and Liu Bei and the others went east to Xiakou. When they arrived at Xiakou, they were basically on the periphery of Sun Quan's sphere of influence. Sun Quan agreed to join forces with him, and his safety was guaranteed. At this time, Liu Bei also I can take a breath.But Cao Cao didn't let Liu Bei take a breather. After Cao Cao took Jiangling, he obtained a large amount of military supplies, so he went down the river. At this time, the spearhead of the struggle was directed at Liu Bei. He wanted to fight Xiakou and Liu Bei.Under such circumstances, Zhuge Liang stepped forward, and Zhuge Liang said to Liu Bei: "The matter is urgent, please be ordered to seek help from General Sun." He also pretended not to agree, Lu Su still said beside him, and finally Liu Bei pretended to agree.There was no need for such coddling, because the situation was very critical at that time. In this case, it should be Zhuge Liang who stepped forward, and Liu Bei immediately made a decision. There is no hesitation. Think about what Zhuge Liang said in "The List of Teachers" later ? "After the overthrow, I was appointed when the defeated army was in danger." This is the time when the so-called defeated army is the defeat of Dangyang, and the so-called crisis is when Cao Cao sent troops from Jiangling to fight Liu Bei.And Zhuge Liang made it very clear, "It's urgent." This matter is already very urgent, so Liu Bei agreed immediately, and Zhuge Liang and Lu Su went to Chaisang to meet Sun Quan. It is a matter of life and death, so Zhuge Liang must complete this mission.But the problem is that this matter cannot be controlled by Liu Bei, it cannot be controlled by the wishful thinking of the Liu Bei Group, and it does not depend or completely depend on Zhuge Liang's diplomatic skills. What is important is that it depends on the political interests of the Jiangdong Group.When a politician makes a decision, he proceeds from the interests of his own group, and the Sun Quan and Jiangdong groups have different political interests from the Liu Bei group. So can Zhuge Liang fulfill his mission?Please see the next episode - order in danger.