Liu Bei called the King of Hanzhong not the King of Shu, which was the most beneficial way to call himself king after considering many factors. After the Battle of Hanzhong, Liu Bei's territory was consolidated and he occupied the territory of a state. At this time, Liu Bei's identity was only a left general of the Han Dynasty, and Yu Ban under Cao Cao achieved the position of left general, Liu Bei's own official position was too low, and the generals could not get a better division of the seal, which was not conducive to his own development and expansion.
In order to stabilize his rule and make the basis for his future title of emperor, Liu Bei established himself as king with the support of everyone.
Because Liu Bei established himself as king, what he wanted to call king was only a matter of Liu Bei's words.
For example, Cao Cao called him king of Wei because the center of Cao Cao's rule was the state of Wei during the Warring States period, and Sun Quan called him king of Wu because the political center of Eastern Wu was Wu County, that is, the state of Wu in the Spring and Autumn Period. Cao Cao and Sun Quan did not pay much attention to the title of king, and directly adopted historical place names.
But Liu Bei is different, he is the emperor's uncle, is the han dynasty's clan relatives, Liu Bei must consider more factors when he is king.
In the comparison between the king of Hanzhong and the king of Shu, Shudi was an ancient Shu kingdom, which was more in line with the criteria for being a king. Moreover, in ancient times, the one-word king was more respected, and most of the self-proclaimed kings were single-word kings.
Moreover, Shudi was the center of Liu Bei's rule, and Liu Bei's capital was in Chengdu, which belonged to the Shu County. Hanzhong was a border area belonging to the Shu Han Dynasty, prone to war and chaos, and could be taken away by Cao Cao again at any time. Moreover, the population density of the Hanzhong region was not as high as that of Shudi, and during the Battle of Hanzhong, Cao Cao relocated 80,000 local households, leaving Liu Bei with a deserted and empty city.
If you only look at the geographical location and population economy, the King of Shu seems to be more suitable for Liu Bei, but Liu Bei's claim to the king does not necessarily have to build a capital there. After Liu Bei became the King of Hanzhong, the center of his rule was still Shudi.
Moreover, the political significance of the King of Hanzhong is enormous, far better than that of the King of Shu. There is only one word difference between Hanzhong and Han, and when Liu Bei was called king, the Han Dynasty still existed, so he could not be called the King of Han, but could only add a Chinese character to it, laying the foundation for the future time to be called emperor.
If according to the standard of avoidance, the king of Hanzhong is absolutely not allowed to appear, and Liu Bei is self-proclaimed king, no one can care about him. In addition to the fact that the King of Hanzhong and the Han Dynasty have the same word, the King of Hanzhong is also more similar to Liu Bang's title. When Liu Bang first captured Guanzhong, he established himself as the King of Guanzhong, which was only one word away from the King of Hanzhong. After Xiang Yu's army broke through Guanzhong, Liu Bang was forced to revoke this title. Later, when Xiang Yu divided the princes, he deliberately divided Liu Bang into two places in Bashu. In order not to leave a handle, Xiang Yu gave Hanzhong to Liu Bang and made Liu Bang the King of Han. At that time, Liu Bang's actual title was also the King of Hanzhong, just to show respect for the abbreviation of the single character Han King.
Liu Bei's name of The King of Hanzhong was carefully considered, and when Liu Bei was proclaimed emperor, he directly removed the Chinese characters, and the name of the country was still the Han Dynasty. Shu Han was only the customary title of later generations, in fact, during the liu bei and Liu Chan periods, the shu state called itself the Han state internally. Although Liu Bei established himself as the King of Hanzhong, he never visited Hanzhong again after becoming queen. From Liu Bei's claim to his claim to his claim to his title as emperor, Liu Bei was always preparing for the Eastern Expedition in the Chengdu area. After the end of the Eastern Crusade, Liu Bei fell ill and died. In this way, the King of Hanzhong is only Liu Bei's political slogan, which can bring Liu Bei a lot of political benefits, far more practical than the King of Shu.