Zhang Song's dedication of the map is a key part of Liu Bei's achievement of hegemony. It can be said that Zhang Song made Liu Bei the emperor of Shu Han and opened up the imperial inheritance of Liu Bei and Liu Chan.
First, the collection of Jingyi is the strategic goal of Liu Bei Group.
We know that when We met Zhuge Liang at Liu Beisan Gu Maolu, Zhuge Liang presented him with the Longzhong Pair. Liu Bei approved the strategic idea of "Longzhong Pair" and took "Longzhong Pair" as the strategic policy of Liu Bei Group in the future. In Longzhong Pair, the collection of Jingyi is the first step in Liu Bei's strategic steps.
Therefore, after the Battle of Chibi, Liu Bei quickly took the four counties of Jiangnan in Jingzhou as a foothold, and then borrowed Nan County with Sun Quan. However, Liu Bei was not happy in Jingzhou. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang commented on Liu Bei's situation in Jingzhou as follows:
The lord was in the public security, the north was afraid of the strength of Cao Gong, the east was afraid of Sun Quan's persecution, and the near future was afraid that Lady Sun would change under the elbow; when Si Si was in the middle, he was in a wolf' retreat.
Therefore, Liu Bei's situation in Jingzhou was very unoptimistic. Therefore, Liu Bei was more eager to have a solid base area, and xichuan's environment was the right choice. Therefore, when Sun Quan wanted to take Xichuan, Liu Bei would strongly oppose it under the pretext of being related to his relatives. In fact, Liu Bei wanted to keep this piece of land to himself. Therefore, the capture of Xichuan was Liu Bei's most urgent need at that time, and it was also the need of his strategic plan.
Second, Zhang Songxiantu just catered to Liu Bei's needs.
Zhang Songxiantu is a famous bridge section in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhang Song saw that Liu Zhang was weak and wanted to find another way. He was ready to dedicate Nishikawa to others, so he drew a geographical map of Nishikawa in advance. His original intention was to dedicate Xichuan to Cao Cao, so he sent an envoy to Cao Cao under false loan.
However, because Zhang Songqi was ugly in appearance, he was also arrogant. Cao Cao did not like him. Although he met with him at Yang Xiu's recommendation, Cao Cao did not withstand the test under Zhang Song's temptation. He was finally taken away by Cao Cao's cold encounter. Later generations commented that it was a pity that Cao Cao was even self-conscious and lost the opportunity to unify the world.
Zhang Song slipped back, but was stopped by Liu Bei's Zhao Yun on the way. Liu Bei personally greeted him and feasted for three days, but he never mentioned the matter of Xichuan. Zhang Song compared Liu Bei with Cao Cao and felt that Liu Bei was a more suitable lord. Therefore, at the time of the final parting, he made his purpose clear to Liu Bei and persuaded Liu Bei to take Xichuan. Liu Bei also readily agreed, but was embarrassed not to know the truth in Chuanzhong. Thus, there was Zhang Song's act of presenting pictures. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms reads:
Song Yu took out a picture from his sleeve and handed it to Xuan Deyue: "I deeply feel that Ming Gong Shengde dares to dedicate this picture." But looking at this map, we know that the road in Shuzhong is complete. Xuan De looked at it slightly, and it was full of geographical itineraries, far and near, mountains and rivers, and money and grain in the government treasury, all of which were clearly understood.
In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, we can see in a chapter of the "Longzhong Pair" that Zhuge Liang also showed Liu Bei a map during the Three Gu Maolu Period, and that map was the map of the Fifty-Four Prefectures of Xichuan. What are the similarities and differences between that map and Zhang Song's map?
We can see that although they are all maps, Zhuge Liang's is only a rough map, while Zhang Song's map, if we use modern terminology, is the military topographic map of the Eight Classics of Zheng'er. On Zhang Song's map, there are things that Zhuge Liang does not have on his map. That is the geographical itinerary, the distance and the narrowness, the mountains and rivers, the government treasury money and grain, and so on. On this map, Nishikawa has no secrets to speak of.
Therefore, Zhang Song's dedication of the map was essentially to dedicate the entire Xichuan to Liu Bei. This was exactly in line with Liu Bei's wishes, and also provided favorable conditions for Liu Bei to enter Xichuan.
Third, Zhang Song presented more than just a picture, he gave a group.
We can see that Zhang Song recommended his friends Fazheng and Meng Da to Liu Bei at the same time as presenting the picture. These two people later defected to Liu Bei and became Liu Bei's team.
These two people have made great contributions to Liu Bei's cause. Meng Da was first stationed in Jingzhou, and then captured Fangling and captured Shangyong. He made great contributions to Liu Bei.
And Fa Zheng is even more outstanding. After Pang Tong's death, he took over Pang Tong's position and became Liu Bei's mastermind. During the battle between Liu Bei and Cao Cao for Hanzhong, Liu Bei, under his advice, killed Cao Cao's general Xiahou Yuan. At that time, when Cao Cao heard about it, he asked who had planned for Liu Bei, and when he heard that it was Fa Zheng, he said, "I know that Xuande will not do this, and he will be taught by others." ”
Later, after Liu Bei's defeat at the Battle of Yiling, Zhuge Liang lamented, "If the law is filial piety, it will be able to control the lord and order it not to go east; if you go east, you will not fall into danger." Chen Shou later commented that Fa was a first-class figure in Guo Jiachengyu's camp. From here we can see the importance of Fa-rectification. And these talents are exactly what Zhang Song recommended to Liu Bei.
Fourth, while Zhang Song presented the picture, he also became Liu Bei's internal response.
At the same time as Zhang Song presented the picture, he turned his lord into Liu Bei. Although he was still a courtier of Liu Zhang, he had become Liu Bei's internal response. He played a role that no one else could. After he returned to Nishikawa, he did several things in succession.
The first was to persuade Liu Zhang to invite Liu Bei into Sichuan to resist Zhang Lu. In this way, Liu Bei drove straight in, came to Xichuan, widely won the hearts of the people, and gained the advantage of taking Xichuan.
The second was to have Liu Zhang send Fazheng and Meng Da to meet Liu Bei, and directly send Liu Bei his much-needed staff talents and subordinates. Later, Fa Zheng made many meritorious achievements around Liu Bei and became an indispensable talent for Liu Bei. All this was promoted by Zhang Song.
The third was to report to Liu Bei and secretly send intelligence at Liu Zhang's side. This made Liu Bei know Liu Zhang's internal situation very well. Later, Zhang Song was also killed because he was detected by Liu Zhang for secretly sending news.
epilogue:
Because of the above reasons, Zhang Songxiantu has become an important event in the history of Liu Bei's career, and his deeds have become a booster for Liu Bei's cause. It can be said that without the assistance of Zhang Song, Liu Bei's entry into Xichuan would be more difficult.
We can see from the later process of Liu Bei's seizure of Xichuan that Liu Bei actually spent more than a year in order to take Xichuan. We can imagine that without Zhang Song's help, Liu Bei would have more difficulty in taking Xichuan. By this time, Cao Cao's power had developed from Guanzhong to Hanzhong. If you delay for a long time, then Liu Bei is likely to encounter unexpected situations.
Therefore, the importance of Zhang Songxiantu to Liu Bei is self-evident. It can be said that Zhang Songxiantu enabled Liu Bei to create his own foundation, and finally achieved a situation of three points of the world.