In the thirteenth year of The Han Dynasty's Jian'an (208 AD), Cao Cao led an army to conquer Jingzhou in the south. At this time, Jingzhou Mu Liu Biao, the highest governor of Jingzhou, was already seriously ill.
At this critical time, it became a top priority to identify the successor administrators of Jingzhou. Liu Biao had two sons, one was the eldest son Liu Qi and the other was the second son, Liu Qi, both of whom were born to his ex-wife.
Liu Qi (left) and Liu Chun (stills)
However, Liu Chun married the niece of Cai Shi, the wife of Liu Biao's wife. After having this relationship, Cai Shi and Cai Mao and others favored Liu Qi, hoping that Liu Chun would be Liu Biao's successor and become the new lord of Jingzhou.
In this way, Liu Qi was ostensibly and secretly excluded, suppressed, and worried about his life. In order to protect himself, the confused Liu Qi, at the suggestion of Zhuge Liang and with Liu Biao's consent, left Xiangyang, the capital of Jingzhou, and went to the town of Jiangxia.
Shortly after Liu Qi went to Jiangxia, Liu Biao died of illness. Before his death, he fulfilled the wishes of his stepwife and related subordinates, abandoned his eldest son, and let his second son, Liu Chun, inherit his great cause.
Liu Biao and Liu Chun before his death (stills)
After Liu Chun took over Jingzhou, the most important thing should be to quickly dispatch troops and platoon troops to deal with Cao Cao's army under the imminent arrival of troops and protect Jingzhou.
However, liu Chun took the initiative to surrender to Cao Cao when Cao Cao's army did not arrive in Xiangyang, and gave up jingzhou, which his father had painstakingly managed for nearly twenty years, to others. This move is quite puzzling.
Judging from the inheritance left by Liu Biao, Liu Chun should not have "tied his hands" to Cao Cao.
At that time, Jingzhou, as a larger state in the Eastern Han Dynasty, was a rich, vast, and accessible place under the administration of Liu Biao.
In the first year of emperor Chuping of Han (190 AD), Sun Jian, the Taishou of Changsha, killed Wang Rui, the assassin of Jingzhou. After the imperial court learned of this, after consultation and investigation, liu biao of the liu clan (after Liu Yu, the king of The Western Han Dynasty) was ordered to administer Jingzhou.
Liu Biao (stills)
At that time, the Jingzhou area was not very peaceful. Liu Biao saw the opportunity and relied on the local Hao clan to pacify Jingzhou. Among them, the resourceful Nan Commandery man Ku Yue and the wealthy Xiangyang man Cai Mao made great contributions to Liu Biao.
After sitting firmly in Jingzhou, Liu Biao made timely and regular offerings to the imperial court. In view of Liu Biao's good performance, the imperial court appointed him as the pastor of Jingzhou and made him the general of Zhennan and the Marquis of Chengwu.
In the third year of The Han Dynasty (198 AD), Liu Biao owned seven counties of Jingzhou (Nanyang, Nanjun, Jiangxia, Lingling, Guiyang, Changsha, and Wuling).
At this time, Jingzhou, "south of the Five Ridges, north of the Han River, the place of thousands of miles", can really be described as a vast territory, the weather is magnificent. Moreover, the territory of "ten thousand miles of purification, big and small into pleasing and obedient", is completely a "independent kingdom" style.
Jingzhou at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty (stills)
When the soldiers and people of the Central Plains learned of this, they fled the environment of endless fighting and smoke and took refuge in Jingzhou. Among them, as many as a thousand bachelors defected to Liu Biao. As a result, Liu Biao's Jingzhou became the "Paradise of the King's Road" in the chaotic world at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
Although Liu Biao is "better than sitting and talking, determined to defend himself, and has no four-way ambition." However, for the sake of the long-term peace and stability of Jingzhou, it was also recruiting troops ("with more than 100,000 armor" and reorganizing the armaments; it was also necessary to send generals such as Wen Ping and Huang Zu to guard the four sides.
At the same time, externally, it was exchanged with Yuan Shao, Zhang Xiu, and others; internally, Liu Bei, a descendant of the imperial family who had defected and a soldier of Xiongjie (after Liu Sheng, the King of Jing in zhongshan in the Western Han Dynasty), was retained. Subsequently, Liu Biao "called xiongjingjiang" and "often resisted Cao Cao".
Having taken over such a "family business," how could he surrender to the enemy army without doing anything?
As far as Liu Chun himself is concerned, he is also an ambitious, ambitious, resourceful, strategic, virtuous, and moral person, rather than a general mediocre person.
Liu Chun (portrait) who is not a generalist
Pei Songzhi's note quotes the "Tale of Wei Wu" in the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms as saying, "Jingzhou stabbed Shi Chun, had a high heart, a deep and wide mind, a light honor and heavy righteousness, and a thin profit and a thick virtue."
He has the heavy inheritance left by his father - he wants land and land, and he wants soldiers and generals; he also has certain virtues and abilities, but he surrenders to Cao Cao without fighting. It seems that there is a reason why Liu Chun "has to do it".
When Liu Chun ascended to the throne and consulted with his subordinates on how to meet Cao Cao, Ku Yue, Cai Mao, Han Song, Fu Xun, and others all unanimously urged Liu Chun to surrender to Cao Cao.
After Liu Chun listened, he was immediately stunned and felt incredible. After calming down for a moment, he frowned and asked everyone in puzzlement: "Can't I join you in guarding the inheritance left by my ancestors to see the changes in the world?" ”
Liu Chun questions (stills)
Dong Cao took over the words of the young lord who had just taken over, and replied indifferently: "No." Because 'there is a general body of inverse obedience, and there is a definite trend of strength and weakness'.
That is to say, to oppose Tianzi with his courtiers (Cao Cao went out on the pretext of Emperor Xian's orders) was to rebel against Shun, and to use locality against the imperial court (Cao Cao represented the imperial court) to fight strongly.
Moreover, if you want to use Liu Bei against Cao Cao, you can't be afraid. Because Liu Bei was always chased and beaten by Cao Cao, this is a well-known thing. ”
Speaking of this, Fu Xun looked at Liu Chun, whose face was abnormal, and continued: "Please ask yourself, is your talent comparable to Liu Bei'?" Liu Chun shook his head, and said frankly but helplessly: "To tell the truth, it is really not comparable." ”
Fu Xun said, "Since you think so, then, if Liu Bei is defeated by Cao Cao, the general's own safety will become a problem, let alone the cause of the ancestors?" If Liu Bei defeated Cao Cao, would he continue to be willing to be a general's subordinate? ”
Tatsumi (Image)
Hearing this, Liu Chun somewhat understood the taste. That is, if he resisted Cao Cao, whether he lost or won, he Liu Chun would not have a good ending!
Subsequently, Liu Chun understood the interests of another layer, which made him even more desperate!
Ku Yue, Cai Mao, Han Song, Fu Xun, etc., these people whom Liu Biao relied heavily on during his lifetime, all advocated surrendering to Cao Cao, let alone others? Although Liu Beili of the "Owl Xiong" advocated resisting Cao, he could not reuse it!
Alas, the hearts of the people are clear, why bother with themselves! As a result, Cao Cao's soldiers obtained Jingzhou without bloodshed. At the same time, "With Liu Chun as the history of Qingzhou's assassination, he was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Lie." ”
Main references: Book of the Later Han Dynasty, Biography of Liu Biao, Story of Wei Wu