Guan Yu is a well-known famous Figure of the Three Kingdoms, after more than 1,700 years of development and dissemination, his image has gone beyond the scope of mortals and has become a super celebrity worshiped by the public. However, no matter how Guan Yu is praised in the future generations, the fault of "carelessly losing Jingzhou" will always be a pain point in his life, and at the same time, it is also a focus of debate in the future generations. Combined with historical records, I would like to talk about my personal views on the guan yu loss of Jingzhou incident.
The significance of Guan Yu's siege of Xiangyang and Fancheng;
In the thirteenth year of Emperor Jian'an (208 AD) at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, after the three forces of Cao, Liu, and Sun experienced a major war in Chibi, the Jingzhou area has since become a military stronghold with intertwined teeth, complex forces, and concentrated forces. The two cities of Xiang and Fan, which occupied a major position in the Jingzhou region, were firmly in the hands of Cao Cao, which was a great threat to both Sun and Liu.
Regarding the important strategic position of Xiang and Fan, there is a subtle evaluation in the "Minutes of Reading History and Public Opinion" during the Kangxi Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty. According to the book, the important town of Xiangyang is the "waist" (meaning: waist back or describe the strategic point) of the world, and after the southeast forces occupy it, they can use this as the base to enter the northwest of the map, and after the central plains are occupied, they can also use this as the basis to smoothly merge the southeast. In addition, there is a special addition at the end, that it is difficult to occupy Jingzhou to contain Xiangyang, but to occupy the special position of Xiangyang is not to delay the annexation of Jiangling.
The "Jiangling" here is the important town of Nan County that zhou Yu led the Eastern Wu generals to join forces with Liu Bei, Guan Yu and others to fight with Cao Ren for more than a year. Zhou Yu, Sun Yu, Lu Su, Cheng Pu, Guan Yu and other famous generals of the Three Kingdoms at that time were all heavily garrisoned here. According to the Book of Southern Qi, Jiangling and Xiangyang are each other's lips and teeth, and if there is no Xiangyang City, Jiangling City will have no protection when it is invaded by the enemy.
From the above records, it can be known that "Xiangyang" and "Jiangling" are extremely important military towns in the north of Jingzhou, and the strategic position of "Xiangyang" is higher than that of "Jiangling". This is also a good explanation for why throughout the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, the three parties of Wei, Shu and Wu carried out many large-scale expeditions around these two important towns.
In the nineteenth year of Emperor Jian'an of the Han Dynasty (214 AD), a conflict broke out between Wu and Shu over the Jingzhou issue, and wu took advantage of the situation to retake the three counties of Jingzhou. At this time, the situation in Jingzhou was very unfavorable to Guan Yu, and the rear of Jiangling was empty, changing from two enemies to three sides. Therefore, after Cao Cao's defeat in Hanzhong, Guan Yu raised an army at this time to besiege Xiang and Fan, seize the gateway to the north of Jingzhou, and end the situation of facing the enemy three times, this strategic intention is very correct and necessary. However, although Guan Yu's decision was correct, he ignored the inevitable factor of artificially causing the final defeat ratio during his time in Zhenshu Jingzhou.
The inevitable factor of Guan Yu's loss of Jingzhou;
The main tasks of Guan Yu Zhenshu Jingzhou were only two: first, the existing jurisdiction of Zhenshu; second, to maintain and consolidate the alliance between Sun and Liu. These two tasks were mutually reinforcing and indispensable under the special circumstances of the time. However, Guan Yu was so proud of his achievements and pride and conceit that he not only failed to maintain the already fragile alliance of Sun and Liu, but on the contrary, the rift between the two sides continued to increase and deepen. In addition, Guan Yu also committed many taboos during the zhenshu jingzhou and the siege of Xiangfan, and eventually lost the battle and lost Jingzhou. There are a few very typical elements of this:
First of all, according to the "Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and Guan Yu Biography", when Guan Yu was in Jingzhou, Sun Quan proposed to form a family with Guan Yu and let his son marry Guan Yu's daughter. No matter what kind of purpose and strategy Sun Quan had at that time, Guan Yu's approach was somewhat arbitrary and inappropriate, not only did not agree, but also reprimanded the envoys, which was undoubtedly a kind of disregard and provocation for the entire Eastern Wu. As a result, foreign affairs that could have been resolved euphemistically were handled as a knot between the two sides, deepening the rift between the Sun and Liu alliances.
Secondly, during the siege of Xiangfan, Guan Yu committed the great taboo of light enemies. According to the "Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and The Biography of Lü Meng", when Guan Yu first entered Xiangfan, he was still very wary of Eastern Wu, leaving heavy troops to guard the public security and Jiangling. In order to deceive Guan Yu, Lü Meng and others adopted Lu Xun's strategy and returned to Beijing under the pretext of illness to see a doctor. In view of such a situation, because Guan Yu had always despised the Eastern Wu generals and did not have the slightest sense of vigilance, when he heard the news that Lü Meng had returned to Beijing to see a doctor, he actually transferred all the soldiers and horses left behind to the front line. This is a typical act of light enemy aggression, which has always been a taboo for soldiers.
Finally, according to the Zizhi Tongjian, after Guan Yu flooded the Seventh Army and captured Yu Ban and his soldiers and horses, the grain in Gangneung City could no longer be fed by the people. Guan Yu did not make any communication, and sent people to rob the military food in the Wu army camp without authorization, which gave Sun Quan an excuse to send troops. In addition, after Cao Cao received the information that Sun Quan had asked for orders to send troops, he adopted the advice of the counselors, ordered Cao Ren and others to only defend and not attack, and won sun Quan the opportunity to "cross the river in white clothes". After Guan Yu learned the news of the Wu army's sneak attack, he was reluctant to let the Xiang and Fan Ercheng cities that were about to arrive in front of him, and hesitated to delay the opportunity to return to the army. These were all inevitable factors that caused Guan Yu to lose Jingzhou.
Guan Yu lost Jingzhou to human factors;
According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and Pei Songzhi's notes quoting the Wu Lu, Guan Yu had a good relationship with his subordinates and soldiers during his time in Jingzhou, but he held a completely opposite attitude toward his colleagues, arrogantly, suppressing, and squeezing out, and the relationship with them was very stiff. When Liu Bei entered Yizhou, he deliberately left several henchmen to assist in the administration and zhenshu of Jingzhou, of which three were very well-known:
First, Pan Jun was originally the old department of Jingzhou, and when he was under Liu Biao's account, he was a diligent official, not only famous in the Jingzhou area, but also very familiar with the local customs and customs. For such a very important official, Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang were very important to him, but in front of Guan Yu, they could never raise their heads, and they were suppressed and excluded. After Pan Jun surrendered to Eastern Wu, he was promoted to Taichang, which showed that this person's talent was extraordinary.
Second, Lu Fang is Liu Bei's brother-in-law, which is only a layer of family affection. Lufang also has a very special identity, born from the richest family in Yangzhou area "Elk". According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, the Elk clan has been engaged in business for generations, and by the time of Elfang's generation, the number of customers supported by the family alone has reached tens of thousands, and it is not an exaggeration to describe it as rich and enemy of the country. Liu Bei fell into trouble several times, but it was the Elk clan who paid for him to help him make a comeback. Liu Bei also had another intention in leaving Elk Fang in Jingzhou, the purpose of which was to use the influence of the Elk clan to make the Jingzhou area more stable. But it was such a person who was also suppressed by Guan Yu and could not lift his head.
3. Liu Feng was The righteous son adopted by Liu Bei during his time in Jingzhou, and was also a fierce general under Liu Bei's account at that time. Although Liu Feng was not stationed in Jingzhou at that time, there is no clear record in the historical records that there was any discord between Liu Feng and Guan Yu. However, during the siege of Xiangfan, Guan Yu sent people to contact Liu Feng and others several times to help him, which showed that Liu Feng's defense area at that time was not far from Guan Yu, and Liu Feng refused to send troops several times. From this point, it can also be seen that there must also be some very fierce contradictions between Guan Yu and Liu Feng, otherwise, at the time when Guan Yu's life is at stake, the generals who are also Shu Han cannot sit idly by.
To sum up, the "careless loss of Jingzhou" is nothing more than the beautification carried out by posterity in order to maintain Guan Yu's image, and Guan Yu's own character defects and improper handling are the fundamental reasons for his defeat and death and loss of Jingzhou.
Reference books: Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Zizhi Tongjian, Minutes of Reading History and Public Opinion, Book of Southern Qi, Chronicle of Prefectures and Counties