We read all the lead to present a different history.
As we all know, in the chinese classical masterpiece "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Mr. Shui Jing once famously said when he recommended talents to Liu Bei: "Wolong and Fengchi have a world of peace", which is enough to see the talents of Wolong and Fengyan. Compared with the "Wolong" Zhuge Liang, the "Phoenix Chick" Pang Tong, whether in history or in the rendition, his deeds and images are far from Zhuge Liang, and there are not enough stories in a short life, but there are some mysteries, and many people only know that he is a courtier who is deeply trusted by Liu Bei.
▲ Liu Bei's early years of leading the army stills
In fact, Pang Tong was an important strategist in Liu Bei's camp, and his status during his lifetime was not inferior to Zhuge Liang's. As early as the "Battle of Chibi", Pang Tong once presented a "serial plan" to Cao Cao according to Zhou Yu's plan, laying the groundwork for Cao Cao's final defeat and showing outstanding talent. After the great war, Liu Bei occupied Jingzhou and led Jingzhou Mu, and Pang Tong tried to defend the Lingyang County Order in his capacity. However, due to his disregard for county affairs, Pang Tong was ordered by Liu Bei to be dismissed from office. Lu Su specially wrote to Liu Bei, pointing out that Pang Tong was not a talent of a hundred miles, and Zhuge Liang also told Liu Bei about Pang Tong, saying that "Shi Yuan is not a talent of a hundred miles, and the learning in his chest is ten times better than liang."
▲ Lu Su stills
Driven by curiosity, Liu Bei summoned Pang Tong, and after some exchanges, he found that he was indeed a very person, so he appointed him to zhizhong, and later he was also a military general with Zhuge Liang, and often went out with Liu Bei to consult. In the nineteenth year of Jian'an (214 AD), Liu Bei dispatched Zhuge Liang, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and others to lead troops to conquer the White Emperor, Jiangzhou, and Jiangyang. Soon, Liu Bei besieged Luocheng (雒城, in present-day Guanghan, Deyang). Pang Tong led the crowd to attack the city and was unfortunately shot by a flying arrow, and died immediately, when Chinese New Year's Eve six years old. Although Pang Tong's life is very short, but carefully handled, but found that there are many suspicious points, through these doubts, we may come to a groundbreaking conclusion - Pang Tong's real identity is most likely a spy installed by Eastern Wu around Liu Bei.
▲ Liu Bei summoned Pang Tong stills
First of all, pang Tong's process of coming to Liu Bei's account was very suspicious. We need to make it clear that Pang Tong was not originally a strategist by Liu Bei's side, but was recommended to Zhou Yu by Lu Su. Of course, Pang Tong did become Zhou Yu's right-hand man, crucial to the victory of the "Battle of Chibi". After making great achievements, Pang Tong could have been promoted to an official, but he did not stay in Eastern Wu, but went to Liu Bei's account, which was unreasonable. In addition, Lu Su, a major minister of the State of Wu, also recommended Pang Tong to Liu Bei, saying: "Pang Shiyuan is not a talent of a hundred miles, so that he should first show his feet in the middle of the rule and other driving tasks", which is very similar to Zhuge Liang's attitude.
▲Stills of Lu Su and Zhou Yu
Such a move is obviously confusing. As a major minister of the State of Wu, Lu Su was loyal to Eastern Wu, and his relationship with the governor Zhou Yu was also very close. In the case that the "Battle of Chibi" has already verified Pang Tong's amazing talent, will Lu Su still recommend it to the potential enemy Liu Bei? It should be known that after the "Battle of Chibi", Sun And Liu's two families lost their common enemy, and the relationship between the two sides can be described as a sharp turn, and in Lu Su's eyes, Liu Bei will inevitably be a future enemy. This kind of thing that gives great benefits to the enemy obviously has a deeper hidden feeling.
▲Stills of Liu Bei and Pang Tong
Second, Pang Tong's westward expansion strategy was far-fetched. The strategy he proposed to Liu Bei was very simple, to occupy Xichuan and stick to it in order to divide one side, and at the same time he maintained an urgent mentality for this policy. In fact, at that time, with the strength of the army led by Liu Bei, it was not a wise choice to rush forward, because Liu Bei was not absolutely sure that he could take Xichuan at this time. With Pang Tong's intelligence, it is impossible not to think of this, so his actions are illogical.
▲Luofengpo ruins
Finally, the process of Pantone's death is very suspicious. Pang Unification was determined to go his own way, and quickly marched toward Luocheng, and finally encountered an ambush and was killed, and the historical records record that "entered Luo County, commanded the crowd to attack the city, and was hit by the flow of arrows, and died, and the time Chinese New Year's Eve six." According to the original account of this matter, it is not difficult to find that Pang Tong was bizarrely ambushed and shot in the Luofeng Slope shortly after he left the army. Since the route of Pang Tong's march was a small road, although it could advance faster, it was also extremely vulnerable to ambush, but Pang Tong seemed to be particularly confident in his own marching route, and even did not guard against ambushes, this kind of danger that even ordinary military generals could see, but it was automatically ignored by Pang Tong, which was really suspicious.
▲Zhuge Liang stills
In short, from the records of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, we can see the suspicious actions of Pang Tong after defecting to Liu Bei, so we can assume that Pang Tong was basically a spy sent by Eastern Wu to Liu Bei. Therefore, we can explain why Lu Su highly recommended Pang Tong to future enemies, and we can also explain his strategy against Liu Bei. Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang may also have sensed Pang Tong's true identity, so they sent Pang Tong to lead an army to attack the city in order to achieve the goal of "killing people with a knife". I have to say that the truth of history is always confusing and full of conjectures, and we can only make some analysis of the true face of Pang Tong through the few words left behind.
Resources:
"Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Volume 37, Shushu 7, Pang Tongfa Zheng biography" "Huayang Guozhi"