In the twenty-fourth year of Jian'an (219), Guan Yu left Taishou Mi Fang in Nan Commandery to guard Jiangling, the general Fu Shiren stationed in Public Security, and he led his army north to attack the cities of Xiangyang and Fancheng, and the Battle of Xiangyang broke out.
At the beginning of the campaign, Guan Yu adopted the tactic of besieging the city to provide reinforcements, first besieging the cities of Xiangyang and Fancheng, and then flooding the Seventh Army of Yu Ban, which came to help, severely damaging the Cao army, and temporarily threatening Huaxia. After that, Cao Cao's reinforcements arrived one after another, and Guan Yu was forced to withdraw the siege of Fancheng, but still used the advantage of the water army to blockade Xiangyang on the south bank, and the two sides fell into a stalemate.
Sun Quan saw that the opportunity to capture Nan Commandery had come, so he tore up the "Xiangshui Demarcation Boundary" covenant signed with Liu Bei, and instead allied with Cao Cao, sending Lü Meng to cross the river into Nan Commandery and sneak into Guan Yu's rear. Subsequently, the Jiangling guards General Lu Fang and the Public Security Guards General Fu Shiren surrendered without a fight, Lü Mengbing took Nan Commandery without bloodshed, and Eastern Wu got the coveted Nan Commandery as desired.
Lu Fang was Liu Bei's brother-in-law, a relative of the Shu Han Dynasty, with a special status, and was an old minister who followed Liu Bei for 24 years, and because of this, Liu Bei entrusted him with the heavy responsibility of Taishou of Nan County. Unexpectedly, at the crucial moment, he directly raised the white flag and surrendered to Eastern Wu under the condition of a battle, which not only surprised Guan Yu, but even Wu Meng did not expect that Nan County would be so easy to get to, so that he was overwhelmed by "not according to the county city and made Leshashang".
Then, why did Lu Fang, who had followed Liu Bei for 24 years and did not abandon Liu Bei many times when he faced a desperate situation, choose to surrender to Eastern Wu after Liu Bei became king and tried his best?
Elk Fang to save her life?
When a person betrays the lord and surrenders to the enemy, there are generally the following two situations. In the first case, the defeated general surrendered to the enemy in order to survive, which was the best way to save his life after being captured; in the Battle of Xiangyang, Yu Ban surrendered to Guan Yu. The second situation is that in the case of a huge disparity between the strengths and weaknesses of the two sides, the weaker side will take the initiative to raise the white flag and surrender before the battle in order to improve the chance of survival; when Cao Cao went south to Jingzhou, Liu Chun looked forward to the wind and fell, which belonged to this situation.
When Elfang surrendered, he was not captured by Lü Meng, which obviously did not belong to the first situation. So, was it because the defensive strength of Jiangling was very different from that of Wu Mengjun that he took the initiative to surrender Wu?
According to historical records, Guan Yu's troops left in Jiangling were about 10,000 people, plus 30,000 troops from Yu Ban, and the total strength of Jiangling should be about 40,000 people, while Lü Meng's force for sneaking into Jiangling was only about 20,000 people. That is to say, Lufang could mobilize more troops than Lü Meng, coupled with the strong walls of Jiangling, it was a notoriously easy to defend and difficult to attack city, when Zhou Yu attacked Jiangling, Cao Ren, who was isolated and helpless, was able to persist for more than a year before taking the initiative to retreat, so if Lufang was determined to stick to it, then Wu Meng would not be able to take Jiangling in a short period of time. As long as Lu Fang could hold out for half a month, Guan Yu would return from Xiangyang to help, and Lü Meng, who was attacked on both sides, would undoubtedly be defeated.
In summary, when Lü Meng arrived in Gangneung, the strength of Jiangling was still able to fight, and if Elk Fang held on to the city, then it was not yet known whose hand the deer had killed. Moreover, as Liu Bei's brother-in-law, Even if he was defeated and captured, Eastern Wu would not kill him, so "to save his life" was not the main reason for Lu Fang to surrender to Wu.
Lu Fang surrendered Wu in order to evade Guan Yu's accountability?
In Jiangling, the general [Fu] Shirentun public security, was always suspicious of Yu and himself. Since Yu zhi left the army, Fang and Ren provided military resources, and did not know how to save each other. Yu Yan "should still rule", Fang and Ren Xian are afraid and uneasy - "Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Guan Yu Biography"
According to historical records, although Guan Yu was able to treat first-line soldiers well, he looked down on the scholars, so Lu Fang and Fu Shiren always hated Guan Yu for despising themselves. To make matters worse, when Guan Yu was on the Northern Expedition to Xiangfan, he asked Lu Fang and Fu Shiren to supply grain and grass for military supplies, but the two did not complete the task on time, and Guan Yu released a message for this reason: "Come back to you to settle the account!" The two were terrified. In order to escape Guan Yu's accountability, the two of them fell without a fight.
So, is It really that Lu Fang and Fu Shiren lowered Wu to evade Guan Yu's accountability?
If we examine it carefully, we will find that this statement may apply to Fu Shiren, but it does not apply to Liu Bei's brother-in-law, Lu Fang.
First of all, even if Lu fang is held accountable for the untimely supply of military supplies, he will not be guilty of death, but it is a capital crime to surrender to the enemy. It is impossible for Lu fang, who was born as a merchant, not to know that Dun is light and heavy.
Secondly, As Liu Bei's brother-in-law, Lu Fang was an imperial relative of the Shu Han Dynasty. Guan Yu's beating of the dog also depends on the owner, it is impossible to put him to death, and the final result is most likely to let Fu Shiren carry everything.
Third, the shortage of military supplies is not entirely a problem for The Elk and Fu. After Guan Yu flooded the Seventh Army, Yu Ban and more than 30,000 of his men surrendered, and Guan Yu did not kill these pawns, but received them all according to the order, and the consequence was that there was a shortage of military food on the front line. Therefore, it was not the sluggishness of Lu Fang and Fu Shiren that led to the untimely supply of grain and grass, but the change of the situation beyond their control.
In summary, Lufang will not be severely punished for "not knowing to save each other" for military resources, so "evading Guan Yu's accountability" is not the main reason for Lufang's surrender to Wu.
So, what is the real reason for Elk Fang's descent to Wu?
The deciding factor for Lufang's descent: The return on investment did not meet expectations
麋竺字子仲, 東海朐人也. Ancestral goods, thousands of servants, and billions of yuan - "Romance of the Three Kingdoms · Elk Zhu Biography"
Lu Fang was born into a hugely wealthy family, his family has been in business for generations, and there are tens of thousands of servants in the family, making him the richest man in Xuzhou. The Elk brothers had a political vision and were not willing to live a mediocre life, so they entered the career path and initially followed Xuzhou MuTaoqian.
In the second year of Xingping (195), Lu Fang and his brother Mi Zhu believed that Liu Bei's future was unlimited, so they bet heavily on Liu Bei. The Elk brothers first gave their sister Xu to Liu Bei, and then brought funds to join Liu Bei's team to jointly compete for the world. During this period, Cao Cao seduced the brothers as a high-ranking official (Taishou), but the two were unmoved and continued to follow Liu Bei.
At that time, Liu Bei's team was in the entrepreneurial stage, living a life of no place to live, upside down and displaced, and even faced desperate situations several times. However, the Elk brothers have always been loyal to Liu Bei and have never abandoned it, and the intuition of the merchants tells them that the return on investing in Liu Bei will be rich.
I have to say that the investment vision of the Elk brothers is very accurate. After 24 years of waiting, Liu Bei finally ascended the throne of Hanzhong, which meant that the efforts of the Elk brothers would be richly rewarded.
Liu Bei was also very generous, he worshipped Lu Zhu as the general of An Han, the status of the military general Zhuge Liang, the highest treatment among the courtiers, and let Lu Fang serve as the military powerhouse NanJun Taishou. This elk fang is not happy.
Although the status of Nanjun Taishou is not low, this is equivalent to the position promised to him by Cao Cao twenty years ago (Pengcheng Guoxiang), and Nanjun is on the front line of anti-Cao, which means that Lu fang is living a life with his head tied to the waistband of his pants, and may lose his life at any time. At the beginning, he bet heavily on Liu Bei in order to one day be able to occupy a high position in the imperial court, rather than die on the battlefield.
What was even more embarrassing to Lu Fang was that Jian Yong and Sun Qian, who were comparable to him in seniority, but whose contributions were not as good as his, could also occupy high positions, and they could stay in Chengdu without guarding the border, which made him very depressed in his heart. Therefore, Sun Quan took advantage of the void and xu used the high-ranking official Houlu to rebel. This is clearly documented in the historical records.
Nangun Taishou Elk Fang Kaesong surrendered. Meng Wei made a lesha on the county city, and translated it as Meng Yue: "General Elk, who has one heart in this district, how can the people in the city be faithful, why not rush into the city and hold their control?" "From it." When there is an ambush in the city, Lai can't do it. - Romance of the Three Kingdoms: The Biography of Yu
When Lu Fang opened the door and landed, Lu Meng was very happy and began to celebrate directly outside the city. Yu Turned to see the situation and quickly stepped forward to remind: "Only Lufang is the only one in Jiangling City who shares the same heart with us, and the others are not credible, so we must enter the city as soon as possible." Later, it was proved that there was indeed an ambush in the city, because Lü Meng listened to Yu Tuan's advice and was able to preemptively attack and thwart the ambush.
In summary, the investment is not proportional to the return, which is the real reason for Lu Fang's betrayal of Liu Bei.
epilogue
The Elk brothers themselves are successful businessmen, eating and wearing worry-free, if they just want to live their lives in peace, turning to Cao Cao is undoubtedly the best choice. However, they staked all their family wealth on Liu Bei, who was still doing nothing at that time, which showed that they were not satisfied with being a Taishou, but had other plans.
Facts have proved that the investment vision of the Elk brothers is indeed unique, and they bet on Liu Bei. However, after Liu Bei ascended the throne of Hanzhong, he only let Lu Fang be the Taishou of Nan County, which was the same as the official position that Cao Cao promised him twenty years ago, when he rejected Cao Cao, and twenty years later, he was even less likely to become a Taishou! In this case, it is not surprising that he made a move of betraying Liu and surrendering Wu.
Lu Fang: Don't measure a businessman by empty moral standards, what a businessman values is the return on investment. If the return is not proportional to the investment, he will do anything, including betrayal!