In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei seems to be the one who gives orders, and many of the schemes are thought by the people next to him. For example, the issue of entering Sichuan seems to have been planned by Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong from beginning to end, and Liu Bei only implemented it passively. In fact, in the process of entering Sichuan, Liu Bei fully exerted his unique means as a Tao Strategy.
According to Pei Songzhi's commentary on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, "Xiandi Chunqiu" records that after the Battle of Chibi, Sun Quan wanted to jointly take Shu with Liu Bei and expand his power, in order to compete with Cao Cao, and sent envoys to Jingzhou, saying to Liu Bei: "The rice thief Zhang Luju Wang Ba and Han, for Cao Cao's eyes and ears, planned Yizhou. Liu Zhang was not martial and could not defend himself. If you can Shu, Jingzhou is in danger. Now I want to attack Zhang first, attack Zhang Lu, and connect end to end, unifying Wu and Chu, although they have ten exercises, they have nothing to worry about. Liu Bei wanted to take Sichuan alone, but it was inconvenient for him to speak clearly, so he replied: "The people of Yizhou are rich and strong, the land is dangerous and obstructive, and although Liu Zhang is weak, he is enough to defend himself." Zhang Lu is hypocritical and may not be loyal to the. Now that there are two of the three divisions of the world, they will want to drink horses in the sea and watch the soldiers in Wuhui, so why should they be willing to sit here and be old? Now the alliance attacks itself for no reason, borrowing from the exercise, so that the enemy can inherit its gaps, not a long-term plan. When Sun Quan saw that Liu Bei was not cooperating, he sent his brother Sun Yu to lead a water army into Sichuan Liu Bei ordered the blockade of the river and did not allow Wu Jun to pass, saying to Sun Yu: "Liu Zhang and I are the same sect, Ru wants to take Shu, I should wear hair into the mountains, not to lose faith in the world." Sun Yu reluctantly retreated. Liu Bei left Yizhou to himself.
In the sixteenth year of Jian'an, Cao Cao sent Zhong Xuan to lead troops into Hanzhong, Liu Zhang was overwhelmed, and Zhang Song and Fazheng instigated Liu Zhang to welcome Liu Bei into the river to respect himself. Liu Bei knew that whether he could get Shu depended on Zhang Song and Fazheng, so in the contact between the two, he made great sacrifices and generous grace. Pei Songzhi's commentary in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms quotes the Book of Wu as saying: "When I saw Zhang Song before I prepared, I received the Fa Zheng later, and I accepted them with kindness and kindness, and did my best to be gracious." Because of the wide and narrow in Shu, the arsenal of weapons, and the key roads far and near, Song and other specific words, and drew a map of the mountains and rivers, by the time it is known that Yizhou is virtual and real. ”
According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Zhang, under the deception of Zhang Song, finally formally invited Liu Bei to enter the river and attack Zhang Lu in Hanzhong. Therefore, Liu Bei left Zhuge Liang, Guan Yu and others to guard Jingzhou, and led tens of thousands of foot soldiers into Yizhou. However, after Liu Bei led his troops to Ye Meng, he did not use troops against Zhang Lu, but in the local area, he spread grace to win people's hearts. Later, under the pretext of needing to return Jingzhou to save Guan Yu, he borrowed 10,000 soldiers and grain and grass equipment from Liu Zhang. Liu Zhang did not meet Liu Bei's request, and only gave four thousand soldiers and half of the supplies requested. Liu Bei took the opportunity to provoke the people and said: "We are a strong enemy for Liu Zhang, born into death, and there is no peace, but he has accumulated so much wealth and refuses to take it out to reward us, can he still expect us to contribute to him?" So he led his troops south and finally attacked Chengdu, forcing Liu Zhang to surrender and occupy Yizhou.
Speaking of which, Liu Bei's method is also very simple, that is, to say one set and do one set; but because he performs very realistically, he is extremely deceptive. But after a drunken drink, he revealed his true colors. According to the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the Biography of Pang Tong", after attacking FuXian from the south of Ye Meng, Liu Bei drank a little more and said to Pang Tong: "Today's meeting can be described as a happy meeting. He completely forgot his vow to "put his hair on the mountain and not lose faith in the world." Pang Tong saw that Liu Bei was overwhelmed and replied: "The country of the people is considered happy, and the soldiers of the non-benevolent are also happy." Liu Bei saw pang tong sweeping away his own xingxing, and he was furious: "When the King of Wu was cutting down the silk, singing before and dancing after, can you say that it is not benevolent?" "Throw Ponton out of the banquet."
Later historians condemned Liu Bei's gaffe. Xi Chiseled Teeth said: "He who is a ruler of the king must be benevolent and righteous, and believe in obedience; if nothing is possessed, his way will be obedient." Now Liu Bei attacked and seized the land of Zhang, the power was used to save the industry, the negative faith was against the feelings, the virtue and righteousness were derived, although the merit was Long, it was advisable to seriously injure his defeat, for example, to cut off his hands and body, how happy was there? Pei Songzhi said that Liu Bei plotted to attack Liu Zhang, violated the righteousness and succeeded, ben by trickery, lost the time of the feast, enjoyed the same misfortune, compared himself to the king of Wu, and had no shame, this Liu Bei's loss.
However, after Liu Bei woke up, he immediately regretted it, invited Pang Tong back, apologized to him, and resumed his benevolent posture.