Preface
Since ancient times, some decisions have made people wonder, including Sun Quan's decision to kill Guan Yu. This seemingly cruel action sparked endless controversy and discussion, but Zhou Yu's dying words may have erased a trace of grievances for this decision.
However, Zhou Yu's words on his deathbed seem to provide a reasonable explanation for Sun Quan's decision, and it also makes people wonder: Is Guan Yu's death really unjust?
This history can't help but lead people to ponder: What are the considerations for Sun Quan's decision on the grievances and hatreds between power and conspiracy? Is Guan Yu's death a historical inevitability?
First, the pain of Jingzhou hinders hegemony
In 208 AD, the smoke of the Battle of Chibi had not completely dissipated. With his extraordinary resourcefulness, Zhou Yu united with Shu Han to defeat Cao Cao's army and made great achievements for Eastern Wu. However, behind this victory, there is a nail that makes Zhou Yu extremely headache - the land of Jingzhou.
Jingzhou, this fertile land, is a must for anyone who aspires to unify the world. It is not only strategically located, but also the choke point of Eastern Wu and Shu Han. Once this territory is lost, Soochow's road to hegemony will be completely blocked.
Originally, Zhou Yu's plan was to use Liu Bei's strength to defeat Cao Cao together. After the great enemy is overthrown, he can slowly digest Shu Han, an ally, and seize Jingzhou. Who would have thought that Zhuge Liang would actually see through his thoughts, and after the Battle of Chibi, he rushed to occupy the fertile land of Jingzhou.
In the face of Liu Bei's cunning, although Zhou Yu was furious, he was helpless. After all, at that time, the military strength of Soochow had not yet fully recovered, and a rash war would only hurt both sides. As a result, he had to swallow his anger for the time being, hoping that he could recapture Jingzhou in a peaceful way in the future.
However, fate is often always unexpected. Just when Zhou Yu was plotting how to recover Jingzhou, Liu Bei handed over this treasure land to Guan Yu to guard. For this brave general, Zhou Yu naturally couldn't be clearer.
A few years ago, he personally led a large army and tried to capture Jingzhou, but was defeated by Guan Yu with a green dragon glaive knife and a red rabbit horse. Now, the land of Jingzhou has fallen into the hands of Guan Yu, which is undoubtedly the biggest stumbling block to Dongwu's domination of the world. At this juncture, Zhou Yu suffered a serious illness.
On his deathbed, he used his last strength to hold Sun Quan's hand tightly, and said to him in a trembling voice: "Lord, if you want to recapture the land of Jingzhou, you must kill Guan Yu! This person is brave and good at fighting, if he is not removed, he may become a problem for our army's henchmen!" Sun Quan looked at the dying appearance of his henchman, and his heart was extremely sad. He held Zhou Yu's hand tightly, choked up and said, "Everything is up to the Grand Governor." "
Second, the tiger girl and the dog are ashamed
Zhou Yu's last words, like a sharp sword, pierced deeply into Sun Quan's heart. As the lord of Eastern Wu, he naturally longs to unify the world and realize his ambition of hegemony. And the land of Jingzhou is a key step towards this goal.
However, retaking Jingzhou was not an easy task. Guan Yu is a generation of martial gods, the elite division under him, but the biggest henchman of the Eastern Wu army. If you fight hard, the odds are too slim.
So, Sun Quan came up with a conspiracy, he sent the general Zhuge Jin to Jingzhou, and in the name of marriage, made an unreasonable request to Guan Yu: to marry his daughter to Sun Quan's son.
Sun Quan's intention is very simple. As long as Guan Yu agrees to this family affair, Dongwu and Shu Han will become a family in the future. At that time, he can take the opportunity to infiltrate Guan Yu's interior and slowly bring down this henchman. And once Guan Yu refused, he could also use this as an excuse to put pressure on Guan Yu to force him to submit to Eastern Wu.
However, Sun Quan obviously underestimated Guan Yu's resourcefulness. After Zhuge Jin arrived in Jingzhou, he was entertained by Guan Yu for a banquet. During the banquet, he repeatedly led the topic to the matter of marriage, trying to persuade Guan Yu to agree to this family business.
However, Guan Yu naturally saw through Sun Quan's ill intentions. How could he marry his flesh and blood to a scheming villain? So, Guan Yu finally couldn't hold back the anger in his heart, and scolded fiercely in front of Zhuge Jin: "Tiger girl Yan marries a dog!"
This sentence, like a heavy hammer, hit Sun Quan's heart fiercely. As the head of a country, how could he tolerate others insulting his son in such a way? Guan Yu's unreasonableness completely angered him and made him make up his mind to get rid of this stumbling block that hindered his road to hegemony! From then on, Sun Quan's murderous intent towards Guan Yu became more and more intense.
3. Defeated Maicheng, and his head was in a different place
In the blink of an eye, in 219 AD, Cao Cao's army had already pressed the border and approached Jingzhou, where Guan Yu was stationed. In the face of Cao Jun's step-by-step advance, Guan Yu did not have the slightest timidity, he raised his arms and shouted, led the elite division, fought bravely, and Cao Jun encountered a tragic battle in the Xiangfan area.
With his outstanding martial arts and excellent commanding talents, Guan Yu quickly gained the upper hand and defeated the main force of Cao's army. Just when Guan Yu thought that victory was close at hand, a sudden army surrounded him from behind, this army was the Eastern Wu army sent by Sun Quan!
Faced with the sudden attack of the Eastern Wu army, Guan Yu's troops were suddenly in a hurry and in chaos. After a difficult battle, Guan Yu finally led the remnants of the army and retreated to Maicheng. However, Sun Quan's army had already surrounded him, so that he had no way to escape.
Just when Guan Yu was in a desperate situation, Sun Quan sent someone to come and say something good to him, hoping that he could put down the butcher's knife and return to Eastern Wu. Although Guan Yu was very disdainful of Sun Quan's intrigues and tricks in his heart, the current situation also made him have no choice. So, he sent someone to express his willingness to surrender to Sun Quan.
However, who would have thought that Sun Quan had already seen through his tricks and did not take his "surrender" to heart at all. In Sun Quan's view, Guan Yu is a generation of heroes with strong martial arts, if he is left in the world, he is afraid that he will become his confidant in the future. For the future of Soochow, in order to achieve his hegemony, Guan Yu, a stumbling block, must be removed!
Just when Guan Yu thought that he had escaped the life-and-death crisis, Sun Quan's army suddenly launched an attack! Guan Yu's troops were completely besieged in an instant. In this battle of life and death, Guan Yu fought bravely to kill the enemy, but after all, he was unable to defeat the overwhelming army of Eastern Wu.
Just when Guan Yu was fighting to the last moment, an arrow suddenly shot at him, hitting him in the throat! This arrow was shot by Sun Quan's henchman Hua Tuo. Guan Yu clutched his throat, blood flowed, and finally fell on the battlefield.
Seeing this, Sun Quan was overjoyed. He immediately ordered someone to cut off Guan Yu's head, and personally inspected it, and after confirming that it was correct, he put the human head into a brocade box and sent someone to sacrifice the prisoner to Cao Cao. In this way, a generation of heroes fell like this. His life, thus controlled by power and personal grudges, became a victim of an era.
epilogue
Only when a person can transcend power and personal grudges and pursue nobler ideals and values can he truly become a hero of a generation and be remembered by future generations.
And Guan Yu, although he fell in the end, his integrity and courage are always worthy of our memory and admiration. His life, like a sharp sword, illuminated the darkness of that turbulent era and set an eternal model for future generations.