In the late years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liu Bei can be said to have been defeated repeatedly, before meeting Zhuge Liang, Liu Bei had a little merit in the conquest of the Yellow Turban Army, and was at a disadvantage in the battle with other princes, and even Lü Bu, who was known for his military strength, could mainly rebel and occupy Xuzhou, where he had operated for a long time.
But the strange thing is that Liu Bei, as a "general who often loses", can be treated with courtesy by the princes wherever he goes, and at the beginning, Xuzhou Mutaoqian was even willing to give up his territory, and even Cao Cao once cooked wine with him on heroes, what kind of personality charm did Liu Bei, who was born in straw shoes, let the princes treat him so courteously?
A secret edict
At the time when the Eighteenth Route Princes were fighting against Dong Zhuo, no one had taken Liu Bei seriously, and at that time, he was able to participate in the Alliance all because of Gongsun Zhan's face, and his subordinates Zhang Fei and Guan Yu were only pawns at that time, and they did not even have an official body in the imperial court, so no one took them seriously.
However, when Liu Bei helped Cao Cao occupy Xuzhou, after Xuchang saw Emperor Xian of Han, Liu Bei had the identity of Emperor Liu's uncle, and the princes naturally would not take the identity of this imperial relative who could not be beaten by eight rods seriously, but Liu Bei took this opportunity to create a secret edict. Since then, he has turned himself into a person with a sense of mystery and a special mission.
A benevolent gentleman with a wide range of virtuous names
After Liu Bei had the reputation of Emperor Liu' uncle, he did not flutter because of this, but used renzheng to establish his reputation, so many people felt that he was a benevolent and righteous gentleman, Tao Qian also wanted to hand over the people of Xuzhou to him for this reason, and the princes at that time wanted to recruit capable people and strangers, so Liu Bei was also within their scope of recruitment, so they all respected Liu Bei.
Moreover, Liu Bei also had two generals, Zhang Fei and Guan Yu, and even if the princes did not look at Liu Bei's face, they would also look at the face of these two to give Liu Bei some thin noodles, especially Yuan Shao wanted to recruit Liu Bei and let Zhang Fei and Guan Yu serve him. After the strategy failed, Yuan Shao revealed his vicious face and wanted to get rid of Liu Bei quickly.
Eloquent and eloquent
Although after getting Zhuge Liang, Liu Bei basically did not attend "diplomatic" occasions, but in the early stages, it was basically Liu Bei himself who circled between the princes, and although his second and third brothers had also read some books, their temper was not very good, and long-term tempering allowed him to have a good eloquence, and Liu Bei used his eloquence to convince Liu Biao to believe in himself.
And Liu Biao himself belongs to the Qing officials and it is difficult to break the family affairs, so many things need Liu Bei to mediate from it, he did not disappoint Liu Biao, in the handling of the relationship between Cai Mao and Liu Qi, there are indeed two brushes, if there is no Zhuge Liang's appearance, it may be Liu Bei himself, with good eloquence he also escaped a lot of dangers, even Cao Cao, who has always been shrewd and suspicious, listened to his words and gave him fifty thousand soldiers and horses to let him recruit Yuan Shu.
brief summary
Liu Bei relied on these three strengths of his own, coupled with the identity of Emperor Liu's uncle, running among the princes, although he did not make meritorious achievements, but at least saved his life in the chaotic world, after accumulating connections, Liu Bei gradually mixed into the upper circle, and finally became a prince with the help of Zhuge Liang.