Chapter 31 (31) Taking advantage of the void

After the Battle of Chibi, the three major groups of Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan basically formed a three-pronged situation. In order to expand their strength, the three major groups all set their sights on Yizhou, the land of abundance in the wild and thousands of miles.In this competition, the Liu Bei Group is the weakest. Why did they finally win the competition?Professor Yi Zhongtian of Xiamen University is a guest of "Hundreds of Lectures", and will give you a wonderful taste of the Three Kingdoms - taking advantage of the void. After the Battle of Chibi in 208 AD, Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan gradually formed a three-point situation. In order to expand their strength, the three major groups all eyeed Yizhou.Yizhou is one of the largest states among the thirteen states in the Eastern Han Dynasty. It has fertile land and a large population. Moreover, Liu Zhang, the owner of Yizhou, is weak by nature and lacks strategy.At this time, Cao Cao basically unified northern China and was powerful; Sun Quan also ruled Jiangdong relying on the foundation left by his father and brother; only Liu Bei was the weakest at this time.So, in the competition for Yizhou by the three major groups, why did Liu Bei finally get Yizhou?Yi Zhongtian, a professor of Xiamen University, is a guest of "Hundreds of Lectures", and will give you a wonderful taste of "taking advantage of the void" of the Three Kingdoms.

After the Battle of Chibi, Cao Cao, Sun Quan, and Liu Bei divided Jingzhou into three.Of the seven prefectures in Jingzhou, Cao Cao occupied Nanyang County and Xiangyang in Nanjun; Sun Quan occupied Jiangxia County and Jiangling in Nanjun; Changsha, Guiyang, Lingling, Wuling.In this way, it can be said that Jingzhou is divided into three parts, one in the north, one in the east, and one in the south. At this time, no one can eat them, so everyone came to Yizhou. Yizhou is also one of the largest states among the thirteen states in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The scope of Yizhou is roughly equivalent to the current Chongqing and Sichuan, and also includes Yunnan, a part of Guizhou and a part of Shaanxi. Hanzhong is a place with a large population and a thousand miles away. , the land of abundance, is a piece of fat.But Liu Zhang, the owner of Yizhou, is relatively weak in this ability, and he can't keep it, so the three tigers, Cao Cao, Sun Quan, and Liu Bei, all stare at the Yizhou sheep.What is the result of the struggle?As we all know, Liu Bei succeeded. Liu Bei not only got Shu County in Yizhou, but also Hanzhong in Yizhou.In the situation at that time, Cao, Liu, and Sun should say that Liu Bei is the weakest in terms of strength. Why did the weakest one succeed in the end, while the two relatively strong ones failed to get Yizhou?There are four reasons.

The first reason is that Sun Quan is in difficulty.We know that Sun Quan's base is in Jiangdong. Sun Quan has two ways to take Yizhou. One is to take the dry road, which is to take the north road. This is impossible through Cao Cao's defense line. How could Cao Cao let He went there; the second way is to take the water route, that is, take the south road and go west along the river. This has to pass through Liu Bei's territory, and Liu Bei also disagrees, so Sun Quan is very difficult. However, according to the Soochow version of the "Longzhong Dui" plan that Lu Su planned for Sun Quan back then, Sun Quan wanted to take Jingzhou, and then take Yizhou, and then rule with Cao Cao. Yizhou still has to be taken, how? What to do?Sun Quan came up with an idea, and proposed to Liu Bei that he would unite to take Shu, that is, our two families, Sun and Liu, would form a coalition to kill Liu Zhang and take Shu County.Sun Quan made such a suggestion to Liu Bei, and Liu Bei's subordinates agreed, saying yes, because it is impossible for Sun Quan to cross us to attack Liu Zhang, so if our two families go to attack Liu Zhang, Shu will be ours.But there was a man named Yin Guan who disagreed. He said no, if we fight Liu Zhang together with Sun Quan, our troops must be in the front and Sun Quan's troops are behind; and if Liu Zhang can't fight, there will be Liu Zhang's army in front Blocked, blocked by Sun Quan's army behind us, we became a sandwich - there were no sandwiches at that time, there was a pot with meat, we became a pot with meat, this is too dangerous.Liu Bei agrees with this opinion, not to mention Liu Bei still has Liu Bei's mind, what is Liu Bei's mind?His own family swallowed Shu County and could not be distributed to Sun Quan, so Liu Bei would not agree even if the alliance succeeded in taking Shu.But at this time, Sun Quan still can't offend, they are still allies, what should we do?Yin Guan came up with another idea, saying that you promised him to jointly take Shu, but said that we just got the four counties in the south of the Yangtze River, the world is not peaceful, our army can't move, stand still, and let him go to fight Shu.Everyone understood what this meant, and since it was impossible, Sun Quan withdrew his troops.This is probably such a record in "Three Kingdoms • Biography of the First Lord".

But this matter is actually a little more complicated. It is said that Liu Bei wrote a letter to Sun Quan at that time, stating two reasons why he could not attack Shu.The first reason is that Shu is a basin, which is vulnerable to attack. Even if Sun Wu is alive, he may not be able to attack it. This is the first point.The second point is that Cao Cao's enemy is now, and we should unite with Liu Zhang to deal with Cao Cao instead of attacking Liu Zhang. These two reasons were put forward.Sun Quan didn't listen to him, so Sun Quan sent Sun Yu to lead the army, making a gesture of attacking Shu.At this time, Liu Bei wrote to Sun Quan, saying: General Sun, the world is in chaos now, treacherous ministers have stolen their lives, and that thief Cao Cao is overthrowing our Han Dynasty. At this time, we should unite.Liu Zhang and I, Liu Bei, are both the clan of the Liu family, the clan of the Liu family, we are like brothers, we are a family, now Liu Zhang accidentally offended you, General Sun, can I, Liu Bei, come to apologize?If General Sun insisted on beating Liu Zhang, I, Liu Bei, had no choice but to go to the mountains and forests with my hair disheveled to become a hermit. I would not be a shepherd of Jingzhou.At the same time, Liu Bei ordered Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhuge Liang, and himself to each lead an army to guard key areas of the Yangtze River.Then Sun Quan understood at a glance that he couldn't beat him, so he called Sun Yu back.So after Sun Yu was called by Sun Quan, Liu Bei went in by himself, and Liu Bei finally entered Shu by himself.So when Sun Quan got the news, he gritted his teeth angrily and scolded: Liu Bei, you cunning, how dare you use deception!

Because of Liu Bei's obstruction, Sun Quan could only temporarily give up his plan to plot Yizhou.But after Sun Quan gave up, Liu Bei took the opportunity to occupy Yizhou alone, and Sun Quan angrily scolded Liu Bei for being slippery.So, let's look back, how did Liu Bei monopolize Yizhou?Will Liu Zhang, the governor of Yizhou, give up his territory? Mr. Yi Zhongtian believes that one of the reasons why Liu Bei was able to successfully capture Yizhou was that Sun Quan, who was also ambitious, faced many difficulties in specific actions and had to give up. In this way, Liu Bei took the lead.However, if Liu Bei wanted to monopolize Yizhou, he had to face the resistance of Liu Zhang, the governor of Yizhou.We know that Liu Bei was not strong at this time, why could he still successfully capture Yizhou?

The second reason is that Liu Zhang is useless.Liu Zhang is the son of Liu Yan. Liu Yan was the first to be a shepherd in Yizhou, and later passed the throne to his son Liu Zhang.Liu Zhang is quite similar to Liu Biao, that is, he has no ambitions and can't defend if he wants to. His mind is to guard the one-third of an acre of land, and his wife and children are hot on the kang.But he couldn't hold it, he couldn't hold it, and he was worried that he couldn't hold it, so in the sixteenth year of Jian'an, Cao Cao asked Zhong Yao to attack Zhang Lu. The actual purpose of Cao Cao's crusade against Zhang Lu was to force Ma Chao and Han Sui in Guanzhong to rebel. After Ma Chao and Han Sui were forced to rebel, Cao Cao could justifiably send troops to quell Guanzhong.But before dispatching troops, Cao Cao made rumors that he would crusade against Zhang Lu, and Zhang Lu's residence was close to Yizhou. As soon as Cao Cao announced the attack on Zhang Lu, Liu Zhang in Yizhou became nervous.

As soon as Liu Zhang got nervous, one of his subordinates named Zhang Song ran to Liu Zhang and said, "General, it's terrible. Duke Cao is going to attack Hanzhong."We know Zhang Lu is Cao Gong's opponent. Once Cao Gong takes Hanzhong, what should we do?May I ask the general how we can resist?Liu Zhang said: Yes, I am worried about this matter, what can I do?Zhang Song said: "It's easy to handle, please Liu Yuzhou to help. Liu Yuzhou and the general are in the same family, and he and Cao Cao are enemies. If Liu Yuzhou can enter Hanzhong to replace Zhang Lu and block this door for us, it will be safe." Yet!Liu Zhang thought it was reasonable, so he sent Fazheng with four thousand troops to meet Liu Bei.Zhang Song's idea, eating inside and out, is obviously to lure wolves into the house, not to mention that even if it is not to lure wolves into the house, it is easier for you to invite God than to send God away. You have invited Liu Bei, can you still send him out?Can you still send it out?So as soon as the news got out, some important ministers in Sichuan expressed their opposition. At that time, there was one named Huang Quan who strongly opposed it. Huang Quan went to Liu Zhang and said: "General Zuo is famous for being a hero", and General Zuo is Liu Bei. , Liu Bei has always had the reputation of being a hero in the world. After he comes, I would like to ask the general how you treat him?If you treat him as a subordinate, as a subordinate, what is he doing?Why is he willing to be your subordinate?If you treat him as a guest and sit on an equal footing with him, one country cannot tolerate two kings, how do you deal with it?The result is that "the guest has the safety of Mount Tai, and the host has the danger of laying eggs", ah, if he is safe, we will be in danger.This is Huang Quan's opinion, which is undoubtedly correct for Liu Zhang, so why doesn't Liu Zhang listen?Is Liu Zhang confused?

According to historical records, Liu Zhang was weak by nature, generous and kind, and lacked strategy.But in the chaotic times of the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liu Zhang could not be so confused as to openly lure wolves into the house as the highest official of a place, so why did he send troops to welcome Liu Bei into Shu? The reason is that Liu Zhang has other plans.According to historical records, Zhang Song also said something like this when he went to persuade Liu Zhang. He said: Our place is not quiet and safe now. Many of the generals under him take credit for their pride, and the second has the motive of rebellion. At this time, if Cao Cao took Hanzhong and came to attack our Shu County, then the enemy attacked the outside and the people attacked the inside. The enemy must fight outside and we rebelled inside. At that time, it will be difficult to handle.This sentence speaks to Liu Zhang's heart disease, because Liu Zhang's regime was established by his father Liu Yan. The regime established by Liu Yan is a foreign regime, and it relies on Liu Yan brought in from outside and wandering in from outside. , The group of people who took refuge in formed a group called the Dongzhou Group.This Dongzhou group has conflicts with the indigenous people, that is, those Yizhou people who were born and raised in Shu County, and those people also formed a group called the Yizhou group.Now the foreign Dongzhou Group is ruling the indigenous, native-born, and local Yizhou Group. This contradiction is very intense.Liu Yan suppressed it once when he was alive, and then suppressed it again after Liu Zhang succeeded to the throne, but they pressed the gourd and picked up the ladle.So Mr. Lu Simian said: "The truth is that the patients are the generals in Shu." It was at this time that what Liu Zhang was most afraid of was not the people outside, but the people at home.Then he made a wishful thinking: He said that I would invite Liu Bei. After I invited him, I would not let him enter Shu County. I would let him fight Hanzhong and Zhang Lu; I will give the place to Liu Bei. Anyway, this Hanzhong is not mine, so I don’t give it to anyone; Liu Bei is in that place, he will block Cao Cao for me in the north, and he will help me guard the generals in Shuzhong for me in the south, because all the generals in Shuzhong know There is another person surnamed Liu, and our surname Liu is a family; although our Yizhou is so big, I am still a shepherd of Yizhou in name, Liu Bei can be independent in Hanzhong, we can live in peace, there is no such thing as a country Such a question from the two gentlemen can form a close relationship between lips and teeth, isn't it great?Therefore, Liu Zhang actually made a wishful thinking.

But it's a pity that the beads of Liu Bei's abacus were not moved by Liu Zhang. Liu Zhang had Liu Zhang's abacus, and Liu Bei had Liu Bei's abacus.There are at least two things that Liu Zhang didn't think about, that is, the first one didn't think that Liu Bei would disobey his orders, and the second one didn't think that the two people who persuaded him to welcome Liu Bei, Zhang Song and Fazheng were not his loyal ministers, but two betrayed him people. Why did Zhang Song and Fazheng surrender to Liu Bei and betray Liu Zhang?It turned out that what Zhang Song liked was Liu Bei's courage to challenge Cao Cao, because during the Battle of Chibi in 208 AD, Zhang Song was ordered by Liu Zhang to send an envoy to Cao Ying to express friendship, but Zhang Song was humiliated by Cao Cao. Song hated Cao Cao from then on, and he surrendered to Liu Bei because Liu Bei's position was against Cao Cao.And Fazheng surrendered to Liu Bei because he was not reused by Liu Zhang, he was depressed, and he hoped to have a stage to display his abilities.

Fazheng and Zhang Song were good friends again, and the two murmured in private: Yes, look at our master, Liu Zhang is useless, and Liu Bei is a hero, let's just sell Yizhou to Liu Bei!So Liu Zhang sent four thousand soldiers from Fazheng to meet Liu Bei. This was not only to lure wolves into the house, but also to deliver goods to the door.Then when Fazheng saw Liu Bei, of course he had to go to work first, convey Liu Zhang's meaning, and then sit down and start talking: Liu Yuzhou should take this opportunity to take down this Shu county!At this time Fazheng said to Liu Bei, he said: You see, general, you are a great hero, and ours is useless, not to mention there is Zhang Song who can act as an internal response, taking Shu County is easy.Liu Bei did not accept and hesitated.At this time, Pang Tong also said the same thing, and Pang Tong also made such a suggestion to Liu Bei to take the opportunity to take down Shu County.Because Pang Tong is his own, and Fazheng is someone else's after all, then Liu Bei said to Pang Tong: Oh, this matter is not easy to handle.He said, you know, Cao Cao is the one who treats me like fire and water in the world now, and Cao Cao is my number one enemy.So when I do things, everything is the opposite of Cao Cao, and everything is the opposite of Cao Cao. When Cao Cao is eager, I will be lenient; when Cao Cao is cruel, I will be kind; when Cao Cao is treacherous, I will be loyal. Cheng Er." I have to be the opposite of him in every way, so that my work can be done.But now that Liu Zhang is a member of our Liu family, he asked me to help him take care of the nursing home, and I took the opportunity to kill him. This matter is not allowed.

Then let’s analyze Liu Bei’s statement. Some historians say that Liu Bei’s statement is insincere. In my opinion, it is called half-truth and half-false. He does have this concern, but he really wants to take this opportunity. Take Shu County down.Because according to the plan made by Zhuge Liang's "Longzhong Dui", this Yizhou must be taken down, and Liu Bei is not in a good situation now. On the surface, he got the four Jiangnan counties in Jingzhou, but he is sandwiched between Cao Cao and Sun Quan. Times were not easy, he had to go west, he had to take advantage of the opportunity.So this passage is in it, Sima Guang changed the wording, and changed Liu Bei's final conclusion into two words: "Naihe", what should I do?That's pretty accurate.Then Pang Tong said: "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, what does it matter?"First of all, things in this world can’t be relentless. It depends on the specific situation. You can’t go all the way to the dark. Anyway, Liu Zhang can’t hold this place, and we can take him to the place he can’t hold. That's justified; besides, after we take down Shu County, we make him a high-ranking official and treat him favorably. If you win Shu County, it will be cheaper for others. This remark is actually a goddam logic, what is it?They have a building that belongs to them, and they invited me to be a guest. After I was a guest, they said that I would take down this building, and after I took it down, they said that I would give him a big house, so I am worthy of him?It doesn't make sense.But at this moment, it is not an era of reasoning, and the words of Fa Zheng and Pang Tong are also reasonable, that is, you should not take others.Well, Liu Bei accepted this suggestion, and ordered Zhuge Liang, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei to guard Jingzhou in December of the 16th year of Jian'an, Zhao Yun was a backup, and he and Pang Tong led troops into Shu.Because Liu Zhang said hello all the way in advance, the entry felt like returning home, and he entered as if returning home.After entering, Liu Zhang also rushed from Chengdu to Fucheng, which is now Mianyang, and met Liu Bei. He gave Liu Bei a lot of troops, a lot of money, and a lot of military supplies.Liu Bei was very powerful, so he asked Liu Bei to fight Zhang Lu. Liu Zhang had his own little plans, so he ignored the opposition of others and insisted on sending troops to welcome Liu Bei into Shu. He hoped that Liu Bei could fight Zhang Lu as he imagined, and at the same time, he could take advantage of the relationship between Liu Bei and him as Liu's clan relatives. To deter subordinates who want to rebel.But the question is, will Liu Bei listen to him?Will Liu Bei really fight Zhang Lu when he enters Shu? Because of foreign troubles and internal troubles, Liu Zhang made his own plan. He invited Liu Bei, who is also a member of the Liu family, to help him resist foreign troubles and at the same time deter internal forces that wanted to rebel.So, will Liu Bei listen to him?Will Liu Bei really fight Zhang Lu when he enters Shu? So did Liu Bei go?No.This brings us to the third reason why Liu Bei finally got Yizhou, which is that Liu Bei is powerful.When Liu Zhang and Liu Bei met in Fucheng, Pang Tong, Zhang Song, and Fazheng told Liu Bei: Liu Zhang and the general were going to have a banquet, and the general fucked him at the banquet!Liu Bei said that would not work. He said that we have just arrived and have not yet won the hearts of the people, so this is not suitable.So what did Liu Bei do?From Fucheng to Jiameng, where is Jiameng?It was between Fucheng and Zhang Lu's Yangping. He stopped at that place and didn't leave. What was he doing?Guangshu kindness, buying people's hearts, waiting for opportunities. Opportunities came as soon as they came. In the seventeenth year of Jian'an, Cao Cao conquered Sun Quan, so Sun Quan wrote to Liu Bei for help. Aren't our two alliances? Cao Cao is going to beat me now.After Liu Bei got the news, he immediately went to Liu Zhang and wrote a letter saying that Zhang Lu is a man who can't make a fortune, so don't take it too seriously; Sun Quan and I are like brothers, we are close to each other, and now I have to rescue Sun Quan, please General Liu Zhang Give me another 10,000 people, and give me more weapons and equipment.How about Liu Zhang at this time?Liu Zhang was already suspicious, saying that Liu Bei was going to beat Zhang Lu, why didn't he leave when he got to Jiameng, and was just there to buy people's hearts?That won't work. If you want 10,000 people, I can't give it to you. If you give it 5,000, it will be halved. This is called "Liu Zhang's suspicion."What is the second thing? "Zhang Songhou is in a hurry." Zhang Song didn't know what Liu Bei was going to do at this time, so he quickly wrote a letter to Liu Bei and said: Oh, how can you go back to Jingzhou now?How are you going to save Sun Quan?Now something big is about to happen.This letter was reported by Zhang Song's brother Zhang Shu, and Liu Zhang killed Zhang Song.Then Liu Zhang's suspicion and Zhang Song's impatience gave Liu Bei an excuse, so Liu Bei held an oath meeting and sued Liu Zhang, saying that Liu Zhang, look, how bad it is, why keep such a person?And killed Liu Zhang's guard at Baishuiguan, turned around and attacked Fucheng. Because Liu Zhang made a wrong calculation, he took the initiative to invite Liu Bei to lead troops into Shu, but in the end he lured wolves into the house and threw a stone at his own feet.Liu Bei, who had entered the land of Shu, suddenly fought back, and Liu Zhang, who was unprepared, was forced to reap the consequences. He watched helplessly as his territory was lost bit by bit, and Liu Bei's army drove straight in.In the case of retreating all the way, what should Liu Zhang do? In the nineteenth year of Jian'an, Liu Bei ordered Zhuge Liang, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun to lead troops into Shu and join forces with Liu Bei to besiege Chengdu. Guan Yu stayed in Jingzhou and continued to defend Jingzhou.Now Liu Bei is stronger, right?What's even more interesting is that Ma Chao also came to join Liu Bei this year. It was so good, Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, and Ma Chao surrounded Chengdu with so many people that Chengdu couldn't hold on any longer.At this time, Liu Bei sent someone to persuade Liu Zhang to surrender. Liu Zhang sighed and said, "Oh, my father and son have been in Yizhou for more than 20 years in Shu, and they have done nothing to the people. They have not brought any benefits to our people." If I can't bear to let the people of Shu County suffer from the war for the sake of my personal face, I will surrender.So Liu Zhang opened the door and surrendered. There are different opinions on how to evaluate this matter, but I am more inclined to agree with Mr. Zhang Zuoyao's view in "Liu Bei Biography", that is, Liu Bei's whole set of methods of seizing Yizhou and Shu County is morally impossible. Complimentary, but in terms of the situation at the time, it is beyond reproach.Liu Zhang was humiliated and surrendered, and avoided the suffering of the people of Shu. We should be sure. We can say that he is cowardly and incompetent, but we cannot say that he is not hard-boned. Don't laugh at him. There are two events here that we can add to explain so that everyone can understand.One is that when Liu Bei captured Fucheng, he had a feast for the generals, happily drinking and having fun, and then said to Pang Tong: Look, be happy today!Pang Tong said: "Oh, what's the joy when someone invites you to be a guest and you take away their territory?"Liu Bei said: What are you talking about?Wasn't King Wu benevolent when he defeated Zhou and sang before and danced after?go out!Then Pang Tong went out.After a while, Liu Bei thought it was wrong, and invited Pang Tong back. After he came back, Pang Tong sat down and ate and drank, without apologizing or apologizing, nothing happened.So Liu Bei said: Hey, who was wrong in the argument between the two of us just now?Pang Tong replied: "It's not true."Liu Bei laughed, eating and drinking as he wanted, this is one thing. The second thing is that when Liu Bei attacked Chengdu, someone made a suggestion that Liu Zhang should fortify the walls and clear the fields, burn all the grain or the crops that hadn't grown in the field, and leave nothing for Liu Bei.Liu Zhang did not accept it. Liu Zhang said: I only heard that as a local official, he should protect the environment and the people. I have never heard that the people should bear such responsibilities.As a result, the food along the way, including the crops growing in the field, became Liu Bei's military supplies. Liu Zhang served as the logistics minister when Liu Bei attacked him.Then add these two things to everyone, everyone can think about how we should understand Liu Bei's seizure of Shu. The fourth reason for Liu Bei's success in seizing Shu was Cao Cao's mistakes.Because it took Liu Bei three years to seize Shu, Cao Cao didn't do anything to Liu Bei during the three years, his mind was busy with other things in other places, and he beat Sun Quan once during this period, the result was Cao Sunpipe When the mussels competed, Liu Bei, the fisherman, benefited.So I said that Liu Bei entered Shu by taking advantage of the emptiness. This "vulture" includes two aspects, one is Liu Zhang's cowardice, his emptiness, and the other is the entire battlefield of the Three Kingdoms. Here is a gap, so it is to take advantage of the emptiness. enter.But in addition to these objective reasons, Liu Bei's success also has his reasons. Then after Liu Bei took Yizhou, Sun Quan couldn't sit still, so Sun Quan sent someone to find Liu Bei, saying that you have taken Yizhou, and you should return the Jingzhou I lent you!Then there are problems in these words, what is the problem?First, did Liu Bei borrow Jingzhou from Sun Quan?Second, are the places in Jingzhou occupied by Liu Bei borrowed?Third, if Liu Bei did borrow Jingzhou from Sun Quan, why would Sun Quan lend it to him?Fourth, if Sun Quan asks for Jingzhou back, can he get it back?Please see the next episode - Honeymoon Conspiracy.