Jingzhou has been the land of China since ancient times, and the place name "Jingzhou" first appeared in the ancient book "Shangshu" in the pre-Qin period. In Yugong, the whole of China is divided into nine prefectures, namely: Jizhou, Yanzhou, Qingzhou, Xuzhou, Yangzhou, Jingzhou, Yuzhou, Liangzhou, and Yongzhou. As one of the ancient nine prefectures, Jingzhou's approximate location included all of present-day Hubei Province, all of Hunan Province, southern Henan Province, Guangdong and northern Guangxi.
From the perspective of the whole of China, the location of Jingzhou is in the middle of the whole of China all the way to the south, north to the Central Plains, south to the South China Sea, east to Yangzhou, west to Yizhou, if the whole of China is regarded as a capital "ten" character, then the location of Jingzhou is the middle of the "ten" character to the bottom part, north to the core area of the Central Plains, south to the south of the South China Sea.
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, the whole world was artificially divided into thirteen thorn history departments, also known as the thirteen prefectures, the thorn history or state was originally a kind of artificial division of the Eastern Han Dynasty to facilitate the supervision of the local supervision area, to the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, because of the change in the political situation, replacing the thorn history with the state pastor gradually became a choice, so the thirteen states actually evolved into thirteen administrative districts, from the supervision district to the administrative district, but also heralded the decline of the central government of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the rise of local government.
Jingzhou is one of the thirteen prefectures of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and its location is roughly the same as that of Jingzhou in the Nine Prefectures of Yugong, but it is slightly different. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Jingzhou administered seven counties, namely Nanyang County, Nan County, Changsha County, Wuling County, Lingling County, Guiyang County, and Jiangxia County. However, at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, from the beginning of the Yellow Turban Rebellion to Dong Zhuo's chaotic government and the disputes between the world and the masses, the number of counties under Jingzhou's jurisdiction has always changed.
Yugong Kyushu map
In 184 AD, the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out, which was suppressed by the Eastern Han government that year, and in 189 AD, the Han Ling Emperor died, civil unrest broke out in the imperial court, and Dong Zhuo controlled the imperial court, which triggered the entire Kwantung local government to unite and use Yuan Shao as the ally to oppose Dong Zhuo's military operation, and jingzhou was in turmoil during this period.
During Dong Zhuo's rebellion, Sun Jian, who was the Taishou of Changsha, that is, the father of Sun Ce and Sun Quan, passed through Jingzhou on the way to attack Dong Zhuo, and Sun Jian, under the deception of Cao Yin, the Taishou of Wuling, forced wang Rui of Jingzhou to die, and when Sun Jian continued to move north, he killed Zhang Zhi of Nanyang Taishou for lack of grain and grass, so the official position of Jingzhou Assassin was vacant, and the imperial court headed by Dong Zhuo sent Liu Biao to serve as the assassin of Jingzhou.
In 190 AD, Liu Zhang rode into Jingzhou, and first met in Xiangyang with the local haoqiang of Jingzhou, the chu yue and puliang of the Xiangyang clan of the Xiangyang clan, and Cai Mao of the Cai clan of Xiangyang, with the help of the power of the landlord Haoqiang and the shijia clan, with the help of the power of the landlord Haoqiang and the shijia clan, with the help of the means of lureing and killing, recruiting and surrendering to Shun, and other means of combining strength and gentleness, eliminating the local small family, the Yellow Turban Yu Dang, and the thieves, and passing on the eight counties of Jingzhou, with Liu Biao as a puppet, and the forces with the local haoqiang clan in Jingzhou as the background controlled the land of Jingzhou.
Liu Biao in turn controlled all the counties in Jingzhou except Nanyang County, because Sun Jian beheaded Nanyang Taishou Zhang Zhi, and Sun Jian was also a subordinate of Yuan Shu at that time, and Nanyang Commandery was actually controlled by Yuan Shu and appointed himself as Nanyang Taishou, Liu Biao could not compete with Yuan Shu for Nanyang County, and could only control the other seven counties: Nan County, Changsha County, Wuling County, Lingling County, Guiyang County, Jiangxia County, and later Zhangling County.
Seven counties of Jingzhou in the Three Kingdoms
Nan Commandery was located in the central and western parts of present-day Hubei Province, including present-day Yichang, Shiyan, Enshi Prefecture, Jingzhou City, Jingmen City, Xiangyang City, and Changde City in Hunan Province, which at that time was the city of Xiangyang on the south bank of the Han River, which was also the political center of Liu Biao's reign in Jingzhou, as well as the sphere of influence of the Ku and Cai clans.
Nan County at that time also had an important city pool is Jiangling City, that is, today's Jingzhou City, Hubei Province, then called Jiangling City, Jiangling also did the spring and autumn Warring States period of the Chu state capital for hundreds of years, is an important strategic city, not only to guard the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, but also to control the north-south traffic artery, from Xiangyang south to Jiangling, from Jiangling and then across the Yangtze River can come to the south of Jingzhou, that is, dongting Lake Plain, and further south, you can reach the South China Sea, so the strategic position of Jiangling City in Jingzhou is as important as Xiangyang, or even more important.
Changsha County was located in today's Changsha, Yueyang, and Hengyang cities in Hunan Province.
The location of Wuling County is the northernmost county of Shimen County in Hunan and Laifeng County in Hubei Province, passing through Jishou City and Huaihua City in Hunan Province, and all the way to a small part of the eastern part of Guizhou.
Lingling County's location stretched from the present-day city of Shaoyang in Hunan Province to the city of Guilin in Guangxi.
The location of Guiyang County stretched from present-day Chenzhou City in Hunan Province to Yingde City in Guangdong Province.
Jiangxia County's location is today's Wuhan City and the surrounding areas of Hubei Province, including Huanggang City, Ezhou City, Xiaogan City, Xianning City, Tianmen City, and Xiantao City
The location of Zhangling County is in present-day Zaoyang City, Hubei Province, to Tongbai County and Xinyang City in Henan Province.
Three Kingdoms Jingzhou
The seven counties of Jingzhou controlled by Liu Biao from 190 AD to 207 AD, up to 17 years, during Liu Biao's reign in Jingzhou, although there was no large-scale foreign conquest to seize territory, but there was no large-scale loss of territory, in 207 AD Liu Biao fell ill and died, his son Liu Chun took the throne, when Cao Cao went south, Liu Chun surrendered to Cao Cao under the coercion, deception and persecution of a group of powerful clans in Jingzhou, in addition to Zhang Xiu had already surrendered to Cao Cao to reclaim Nanyang County, plus Liu Chun's surrender, in fact, before the Battle of Chibi, The entire eight counties of Jingzhou nominally belonged to Cao Cao.
Although Liu Qun surrendered, But Liu Bei and Liu Qi were unwilling to surrender, the two sides gathered in Jiangxia County, continue to resist Cao Cao, because under the pressure of Cao Cao, Sun Quan and Liu Bei reached a political alliance in a very short period of time, the two sides jointly sent troops against Cao Jun, so the Battle of Chibi broke out, Cao Cao was defeated in the Battle of Chibi, followed by a year-long Battle of Nan County, and finally 50,000 Sun Liu's combined forces rushed to Cao Ren, Cao Cao's forces in Jingzhou, except for the occupation of Xiangfan and Nanyang County, the rest of the territory was divided by Sun Liu.
Because in the Battle of Chibi and the Battle of Nan County, Sun Quan's manpower and material resources were relatively large, and it was an absolute leadership position, so after the war, Zhou Yu occupied the core area of Jingzhou, Nan County, and Liu Bei was forced by the status quo to choose to advance to the four counties of Jingnan where Sun Quan's strength was weak and despised, and in the same year that the Battle of Nan County was carried out, Liu Bei personally led an army to capture the four counties of Jingnan: Changsha County, Wuling County, Lingling County, and Guiyang County.
Map of Jingzhou of the Three Kingdoms
Therefore, after the Battle of Chibi, the three parties divided Jingzhou, and the sphere of influence was as follows:
Cao Cao occupied Nanyang Commandery and the Xiangfan region, and later Cao Cao established a new county in the occupied Xiangfan area called Xiangyang County.
Sun Quan occupied Nan County, and before the Battle of Chibi, Sun Quan attacked and killed Huang Zu, seizing the position south of the Yangtze River in Jiangxia County, so it was half Jiangxia County.
Liu Bei occupied the four counties of Jingnan, Changsha County, Wuling County, Lingling County, and Guiyang County, including Jiangxia County, where Liu Qi was originally stationed, and the part south of the Yangtze River in Nan County. It was Zhou Yu who took the initiative to assign it to Liu Bei, where there was a city named after Liu Bei called Gong'an, which is today's Gong'an County in Hubei Province, which was named "Gong'an" after "Zuo Gong Liu Bei'an Camp".
The three sides seem to have the largest territory of the former Jingzhou occupied by Liu Bei, but in fact, Liu Bei is the party with the least benefits, because the four counties of Jingnan are originally inaccessible places, compared with Nan County, Jiangxia County, and Nanyang County, the difference is not a little and a half, but many times, more than 70% of the population of Jingzhou, more than 80% of the economy are in the above three counties.
Look at the geographical location of the territory occupied by the three parties, especially Liu Bei and Sun Quanfang, the two sides of the defense area are staggered, and the territory occupied by Liu Bei has no prospects for development, the passage to the north is blocked by the South County occupied by Zhou Yu, to the east is Sun Quan has no room for development, to the west is the lofty mountains, to the more sparsely populated Jiaozhou, to the sea.
Map of the situation at the Battle of Chibi
The territory occupied by Liu Bei has no prospects for development, especially Zhuge Liang has pointed out the development strategy for Liu Bei in Longzhong, Liu Bei's only way out for development is to take back Nan County, take back Nan County, to the north can attack the Central Plains, to the west can take Yizhou, there is no South County, Liu Bei has no development prospects, so for Nan County, Liu Bei is determined to win.
So Liu Bei proposed to borrow Nan Commandery from Sun Quan, originally Sun Quan was unwilling, for Yizhou, Sun Quan never gave up the intention of annexation, and Zhou Yu also always proposed to Sun Quan to attack Yizhou, capture Xichuan, and rule with Cao Cao, but all this became possible after Zhou Yu's death, Zhou Yu was unexpectedly ill and died on the road when He agreed to attack Yizhou to prepare for the return of the army, Zhou Yu's death gave Liu Bei a great opportunity, sun Quan then changed his strategy and agreed to lend Nan County to Liu Bei.
From the perspective of the defensive areas of the two sides after engaging in the latter, when Liu Bei borrowed Nan County, he gave Half of Liu Qi's defense area half of Jiangxia County to Sun Quan, and also divided the territory of the two sides with staggered teeth, Liu Bei borrowed outside of Nan County, and the three parties' sphere of influence in Jingzhou was changed to:
Liu Bei occupied the four jingnan counties of Jingnan in Jingzhou, Changsha County, Wuling County, Lingling County, and Guiyang County, plus borrowed Nan County, and relinquished ownership of Jiangxia County.
Sun Quan occupied the entire Jiangxia County of Jingzhou.
At the same time, the two sides agreed that Nan County would be returned to Sun Quan in the future, which can be seen from the fact that after Liu Bei captured Yizhou, Sun Quan sent someone to ask Liu Bei for Nan County, when Liu Bei said: When Liangzhou is taken and then returned to Nan County, it can be seen that Liu Bei also admits that Nan County is to be returned, but he still wants to deny it for a period of time, or delay it for a day.
Thirteen States of the Eastern Han Dynasty
However, Liu Bei's attitude still angered Sun Quan, Sun Quan took advantage of Liu Bei's presence in Yizhou, ordered Lü Meng to attack Jingnan, Lu Su confronted Guan Yu at Yiyang, Liu Bei, who had received the news, led 50,000 soldiers and horses from Yizhou to Jingzhou to confront and negotiate with Sun Quan, under the pressure of Cao Cao's southward attack on Zhang Lu in Hanzhong, Liu Bei first chose to compromise, Liu Bei took Xiangshui as the boundary, and returned Changsha County and Guiyang County east of Xiangshui to Sun Quan to compensate for Nan County, at this time, Sun Quan and Liu Bei had a reasonable solution to the Incident of Borrowing Nan County, that is, the demarcation of the Xiangshui River.
After that, Liu Bei's Jingzhou only had three counties, Nan County, Wuling County, and Lingling County, and Liu Bei used Changsha County and Guiyang County to reach Nan County, which was an acceptable plan for both sides, after all, whether geographically or economically, Nan County was obviously equal to the sum of Changsha County and Guiyang County, in other words, after the demarcation of the Xiangshui River, Sun Quan and Liu Bei were politically equal, and no one owed anyone anything.
From Liu Bei's point of view, due to Cao Cao's pressure in Hanzhong, Liu Bei could not turn his face with Sun Quan, he had to choose to compromise, although two counties against one South County, but Liu Bei did not owe, after all, South County was worth two counties, Liu Bei also felt that the deal was worth it. From Sun Quan's point of view, he should not only have two counties, because from the military action of Lü Meng at that time, he attacked three counties in Jingnan, including Lingling County, these three counties may be sun quan's chips to reach Nan County, obviously Liu Bei did not agree, but Liu Bei also made concessions, using two counties for one county, and finally Sun Quan also made concessions, agreed, and the two sides still maintained a superficial calm.
Liu Bei
Sun Quan was obviously dissatisfied with the political deal on the demarcation of the Xiangshui border, which also prompted Sun Quan to have ambitions for Nan County when Guan Yu launched the Battle of Xiangfan four years later, and Liu Bei's so-called borrowing of Jingzhou was actually borrowing Nan County, and after the demarcation of the Xiangshui Boundary, two counties of equal value in Nan County had been returned, and the two sides had been leveled.
Liu Bei thought it was a tie, but Sun Quan did not think so, which left a foreshadowing and hidden danger for the subsequent crossing of the river in white clothes and the surprise attack on Jingzhou, and also laid a cracking fuse for Sun Liu's political alliance, did not correctly handle the Jingzhou issue, and also became an important reason for Liu Bei's inability to unify the world, becoming the last straw that overwhelmed Liu Bei's regime.
At the end of the Battle of Xiangfan, Sun Quan ordered the Eastern Wu army to rush out, cross the river in white clothes, and raid Jingzhou, seizing all of Liu Bei's territory in Jingzhou in one fell swoop, that is, Liu Bei's only three remaining counties of Jingzhou, plus the three counties that Sun Quan originally occupied, from 220 AD, Sun Quan occupied six counties of Jingzhou, except for Nanyang County, the rest were under Sun Quan's jurisdiction, until the Jin War against Wu.