In the thirteenth year of Jian'an (208), Sun Quan beheaded Liu Biao's general, Jiang Xia Taishou Huangzu, in the name of avenging his father. Later generations generally regard Sun Quan's killing of Huang Zu as a "historical interlude" before the outbreak of the Battle of Chibi, and the description of this section in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms is only about a thousand words. But what is less known is that Sun Quan's killing of Huang Zu was the "butterfly effect" that triggered the Battle of Chibi.
As we all know, the late Eastern Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms era were the era when the door valves of the Shi clan gradually rose to become the dominant class of society, and Jingzhou controlled by Liu Biao was no exception. In the first year of Chuping (190), Liu Zhangcheng rode into Jingzhou and became a major warlord on the divided side. Later generations generally regard "riding into Jingzhou alone" as the highlight moment of Liu Biao's life, but ignore the major hidden dangers of this matter.
Because he "rode into Jingzhou alone", Liu Biao did not have any real cronies in Jingzhou, and had to hand over the military and political power of Jingzhou to the local warriors who helped him enter Jingzhou, such as Cai Mao, Ku Yue, and so on. Liu Biao was also well aware that Cai Mao and Qu Yue were overpowered and threatened their rule, so he deliberately supported and balanced cai mao and Qu Yue's forces in Jingzhou.
Huang Zu was from the Jingzhou clan, but because of the location of the county, personality, etc., he did not deal with Cai Mao, Ku Yue and others. Liu Biao supported Huang Zu to resist Cai Mao, Ku Yue and others, which is also the reason why Liu showed that Huang Zu had many shortcomings but did not deal with them. Even after Liu Bei came to Jingzhou, Liu Biao still supported Huang Zu as the first opposition of Cai Mao, Ku Yue, and others.
As a result, the Liu Biao clique in Jingzhou was divided into two factions: one faction was the Xiangyang faction represented by Cai Mao and Ku Yue, and the other was the Jiangxia faction represented by Huang Zu, and the two factions formed a relatively balanced pattern. However, in the thirteenth year of Jian'an (208), Huang Zu was killed by Sun Quan, and the Jiangxia faction was fatally attacked, and Liu Bei, who was wary of Liu Biao and the Xiangyang faction, failed to receive the Jiangxia faction in time.
After the Jiangxia faction almost disappeared due to the killing of Huang Zu, the Xiangyang faction naturally controlled most of the power in Jingzhou, and Liu Biao, who had little time, could not solve it. Because of this, the Jingzhou clique surrendered to Cao Cao without resistance under the leadership of the Xiangyang faction, which led to the famous Battle of Chibi.