Liu Bei (161 – June 10, 223), also known as Emperor Zhaolie of Han, was a native of Zhuo County, Youzhou (present-day Zhuozhou, Hebei Province) at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and after Liu Sheng, the King of Zhongshan jing in the Western Han Dynasty, was the founding emperor of the Shu Han Dynasty during the Three Kingdoms period, and historians called him the first lord.
When Liu Bei was a teenager, he took Lu Zhi as his teacher, and then participated in the suppression of the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the crusade against Dong Zhuo, and was attached to Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, Liu Biao and other princes. After the Battle of Chibi, Liu Bei successively took Jingzhou and Yizhou and established the Shu Han regime. Later, because Guan Yu was killed, Liu Bei did not listen to the persuasion of his subjects and launched a war against the state of Wu, resulting in the defeat of Yiling. In 223, he died of illness in the White Emperor's City, with the title of Emperor Zhaolie and the temple name Ofe, and was buried in Huiling.
When I first started to contact the Three Kingdoms and liked Liu Bei, but I don't know when I started, I felt that Liu Bei was a fake benevolence, as if people who read the Three Kingdoms knew that Liu Bei was a fake benevolence, and if liu Bei was not said to be a fake benevolence, he would be ridiculed for not understanding the Three Kingdoms, that his understanding of the Three Kingdoms was too superficial, that he had no culture, and so on.
But is Liu Bei really a false benevolence?
Liu Bei's benevolence is relative to the warlords of his contemporaries, according to our ordinary morality, Liu Bei is not a good person, and those well-dressed ministers in the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty are really goods in the eyes of the world. Even if, like Wang Situ, who opens his mouth and keeps his mouth open and keeps his mouth moral, he is full of economy and economy, and he can do anything to save his life. Liu Bei's benevolence is to maintain a general level when universal morality has slipped to a low point.
Many people scold Liu Bei for false benevolence and false righteousness, but they are always scolded for not being able to get to the point. It is to add modern values to ancient history, which can only be easily refuted. Suppressing peasant uprisings, abandoning wives and daughters, belittling women, Killing wives by Liu An, buying people's hearts, and claiming the imperial system all belong to this scope. So according to the values at that time, I would like to take stock of what bad things Liu Bei did.
1. Liu Bei has eaten people
Although it was not uncommon to eat people during the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, it was definitely a serious moral problem. The most famous of these is Cheng Yu:
Of course, the benevolent and righteous XuanDe Gong would never eat people, and the only people who carried the moral burden of cannibalism all their lives were those officials and officials who would not go to the history books. There is really not enough food, and Xuan Degong's two meals a day cannot be saved. Then make the official please lower the cloth, as long as the renyi sign is always in Xuan Degong can always make a comeback.
2. In the thirteenth year of Jian'an (208), Cao Cao raised an army of 500,000 troops, marched south to Jingxiang, and launched an attack on Liu Biao, who was seriously ill. Liu Biao has no quarrel with the world in his life, and he is a famous "good old man" among the heroes of the Three Kingdoms. In fact, Cao Cao's main purpose in going south with such excitement was not to deal with Liu Biao. At that time, Liu Biao was already in his sixties, and he was already terminally ill, so he would not pose any threat to him at all.
Cao Cao's move was mainly to occupy Jingzhou and then completely eliminate Liu Bei's forces. In Cao Cao's heart, all the separatist forces were inadequate, and only Liu Bei was the real confidant. Because Cao Jun's marching speed was too fast, when Liu Bei received the news, Cao Cao had already killed Wancheng. Liu Bei, who was alone and alone, naturally did not dare to confront Cao Cao, so he hurriedly gathered his men and horses, and then quickly fled elsewhere.
As a result, Liu Bei, who had a hard time gaining a firm foothold in Jingzhou, lived a life without a fixed place to live.
Although Liu Bei did not hesitate to choose to leave Jingzhou, he did a jaw-dropping thing, that is, to flee with more than 100,000 Jingzhou people. The regular army and the common people were mixed together, so that Cao Cao did not dare to act rashly, if Cao Cao forcibly attacked, it was bound to cause casualties among the people, and it was shameless for Liu Bei to save his army with the lives of more than 100,000 people in Jingzhou.
3. Liu Bei took Yizhou
This is the biggest black spot in Liu Bei's life. It can be said that before this, Liu Bei could also rely on the name of benevolence and righteousness to mix rice among the princes. After taking Shu, Liu Bei's benevolent evaluation of this life came to an end, and Liu Bei could be said to have lost his face in the whole process of his career.
Compared with Liu Bei, Cao Cao's previous assassination of Dong Zhuo was unsuccessful but successful. At this time, Cao Cao was a true benevolence, and although he knew that letting Guan Yu go was a great harm, he still let him go, which was also true benevolence, which exposed the benevolence buried in Cao Cao's heart. But in the face of reality, he knows that he can't be all benevolent. Liu Bei is different, he wants to take over the world, he must first be benevolent. At first, Liu Bei had nothing. There is a royal family that is not too touched. He knows that to establish a foothold, he must first establish a man. Only by starting from the beginning of the people's hearts can we collect the world, here he and Cao Cao mentioned in the Qingmei boiling wine discussion of heroes.
4. Claiming The Legitimacy of the Emperor Cao Pi formally accepted the Zen concession of Emperor Xian of Han and ascended the throne.
Regardless of whether Emperor Xian was willing or not, Cao Pi had in his hands the Imperial Jade Seal and the Zen Edict, and held a Zen concession ceremony to ascend to the throne. History has formalized the Cao Wei regime during the Three Kingdoms period for this reason.
Cao Pi accepted Chan Rang as emperor, and immediately made Liu Bei's position very embarrassing. In the past period of the Three Kingdoms struggle for hegemony, Cao Pi was the king of Wei and Liu Bei was the king of Hanzhong, and everyone had equal status and had something to discuss. But cao pi claimed the title of empress, and the legitimacy of the Shu Han regime became a big problem. In addition, when the talents in the world choose the master to trust, Liu Bei's side is one level lower than Cao Pi, which is not conducive to recruiting talents. Therefore, finding a reason for Liu Bei to claim the title of emperor became a top priority for the Shu Han regime. However, Liu Bei claimed that the emperor had a big obstacle, that is, the existence of Emperor Xian of Han. Liu Bei claimed to be the emperor's uncle, which was a Han Chen. According to the Zhengshi, after Cao Pi accepted the Zen concession, he made Emperor Xian of Han the Duke of Shanyang and protected him well. Because for Cao Pi, Emperor Xian's life could not set off any big waves, so that he could continue to use it to contain Liu Bei and others when he was alive.
After Cao Pi ascended the throne, there were rumors that Emperor Xian of Han was killed by Cao Pi, but Liu Bei neither sought confirmation nor questioned, but directly sent a funeral for Emperor Xian and held a solemn funeral for him. After this, he claimed that Cao Pi had killed Emperor Xian and that he had succeeded to the throne of Xichuan, successfully achieving the goal of becoming emperor. However, although Liu Bei claimed that the emperor was forced by the situation at that time, emperor Xiandi was not killed at that time, and Liu Bei listened to the rumors and mourned him, which was an unjust act. Such a rise to the throne will more or less leave a pretext for future generations, which will damage the name of their virtuousness.
Various deeds show that although Liu Bei showed benevolence and righteousness, he was actually false benevolence and false righteousness, hypocritical and treacherous.