The last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty were an era of strife, and before the Three Kingdoms of Wei, Shu, and Wu were formed, there were many princes attacking each other. Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Gongsun Zhan, Yuan Shu, Lü Bu, Tao Qian, Liu Biao, Ma Teng, Liu Zhang, Sun Ce, etc., all divided one side and sought development. In the era of strife between the masses, Liu Bei was just a plain phase under Gongsun Zhan and belonged to an unpopular role. The turmoil between the princes gave Liu Bei the opportunity to grow and grow, but Liu Bei made incomprehensible mistakes. Among them, the most criticized one is the loss of Xuzhou.
Although there is no exaggeration in history as the "three lets of Xuzhou", Liu Bei is hesitant to enter Xuzhou. Romance of the Three Kingdoms? The Biography of the First Lord records: "Qian took the Four Thousand Benefits of The Danyang Soldiers to the Lord, and the First Lord went to Kai guiqian." The first lord of the humble table was Yuzhou Thorn History, Tun Xiaopei. Humble and sick, said don't drive the elk Zhu Yue: 'Non-Liu Bei can't settle this state also.' "Humble death, Zhu led the people of the state to greet the lord, but the lord did not dare to be." Obviously, for the pie that fell from the sky, Liu Bei was still relatively rational and did not have a dizzy mind. As for whether to enter Xuzhou and take over this hot potato, Liu Bei thought about it repeatedly, and finally decided to take over Xuzhou.
Liu Bei's move was tantamount to a big gamble. In this regard, Liu Bei was very clear in his heart, and Liu Bei's subordinate Chen Qun at that time also specially advised Liu Bei for this purpose, but unfortunately Liu Bei did not listen. Romance of the Three Kingdoms? The biography of Chen Qun records: "When Tao Qian died of illness, Xuzhou greeted and prepared for the future. The group said: "Yuan Shu is still strong, and now in the east, he will fight with it." After Lü Buruo attacked the general, although the general got Xuzhou, nothing would happen. Obviously, Xuzhou was in the land of four wars, and it was not easy to gain a firm foothold, and the surrounding Yuan Shu, Lü Bu, and Cao Cao were all looking at the tiger, and if they were not careful, they would be attacked on all sides.
During Tao Qian's lifetime, he allied himself with Gongsun Zhan and fought yuan shao and Cao Cao for many years, and had a deep hatred for each other. After Tao Qian's death, Liu Bei's strength was not enough to offend so many princes at the same time, so he chose to make peace with Yuan Shao, and finally won Yuan Shao's approval. However, because liu bei's decision sowed the seeds of chaos, Tao Qian's generals Cao Bao, Xu Tan, Zhang Chen, and others were not willing to make peace with Yuan and Cao, so Liu Bei had no choice but to woo them. Later, with the mediation of Chen Deng's efforts, Liu Bei temporarily gained a foothold.
Not long after, Lü Bu came to vote, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms? Lü Bu's biography records: "During the second year, Taizu Nai recaptured the cities and broke through the cloth in Juye. Bu Dong ben Liu Bei. Liu Bei gladly accepted this. Lü Bu had defected to Ding Yuan and Dong Zhuo before that, and later killed them, which can be described as wolf ambitions, which are well known to everyone. In this case, Liu Bei did not reject Lü Bu, but insisted on accepting Lü Bu. This may be confusing to many people, but the reason is simple.
As already analyzed, Liu Bei's foothold in Xuzhou was originally dissatisfied by all parties, especially Yuan Shu. In order not to be attacked on all sides, Liu Bei made peace with Xuzhou's enemies Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, losing the support of some people in Xuzhou. Liu Bei himself belonged to the outsiders, and all he could rely on was the thousands of soldiers and horses who had brought to Xuzhou and the Luzhu brothers who had just followed. In order to balance the forces of all sides, Liu Bei had to accept Lü Bu. Accepting Lü Bu was not only conducive to stabilizing his position in Xuzhou, but also had the main purpose of using Lü Bu to resist foreign invasions.
Therefore, from the perspective of balancing internal discontent and balancing external hostile relations, it is reasonable to accept Lü Bu. Unfortunately, Liu Bei's wishful thinking was still miscalculated. Yuan Shu really could not tolerate Liu Bei, who was dressed in cloth, to take over the Xuzhou of his dreams, and in a fit of rage, he sent troops to recruit Liu Bei. Romance of the Three Kingdoms? The Biography of the First Lord records: "The First Lord and the Technique held each other for a period of time, and Lü Bu took advantage of the false attack on xia Pi. Xia Pi guarded Cao Bao against him, and intermittently greeted the cloth. Under yuan shu's attack, Liu Bei personally faced the battle, but unfortunately Lü Bu took advantage of the false sneak attack on Xia Pi and took Xuzhou.
It seems that Liu Bei lost Xuzhou because he accepted Lü Bu and lifted a stone to drop it on his own feet. But in fact, the fundamental reason for Liu Bei's loss of Xuzhou was obviously not Lü Bu, but because of the rebellion and observation of internal forces. Liu Bei had no choice but to introduce Lü Bu, originally because he did not have the strength to suppress the internal disobedient forces. Without Lü Bu, these people would have rebelled. Therefore, Liu Bei's initial acceptance of Lü Bu could not be regarded as a wrong choice. Because of this, Lü Bu would cheekily ask Liu Bei to intercede in front of the White Gate Tower. Because both sides knew that Liu Bei had accepted Lü Bu, his original intention was to use Lü Bu.
Reference book: Romance of the Three Kingdoms