In 208 AD, Liu Biao died of illness, and his youngest son Liu Chun succeeded Jingzhou. Soon, Cao Cao led a large army to attack Jingzhou, which had not yet been annexed to the imperial court, and Liu Bei, who was dependent on Jingzhou. Liu Chunju surrendered the whole prefecture to Cao Cao and was given the title of Qingzhou Assassin, and he was killed by Yu Ban on his way to office, which is necessary in the interpretation. According to the relevant content in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", combined with their own opinions, the following is a brief analysis.
First of all, Cao Cao had a tradition of killing princes on one side, and of course he would not let Liu Chun go. Although Cao Cao loved Cai, it was aimed at the generals and strategists who defected to him, and he did not necessarily tolerate the princes who surrendered to him. For example, Lü Bu's Baimen Lou was still killed, and Yuan Tan surrendered to Cao Cao and attacked Yuan Shang, who was killed by his rebel army. Most of the princes on the side who defected to Cao Cao were forced to surrender temporarily, and once they encountered an opportunity, they would go away lightly, and bite back.
For example, Liu Bei was displaced, defected to Cao Cao and Lü Bu, attached himself to Yuan Shao and Liu Biao, turned against Cao Cao and Lü Bu, deceived Yuan Shao and left, and encroached on Liu Biao's Jingzhou. Cao Cao took in the desperate Liu Bei, but he bit back and deceived the 50,000-strong army and Xuzhou. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms records:
The next day, Xuan De played the role of The King, commanded the governor of Xuan De to 50,000 horses, and sent Zhu Ling and Lu Zhao to accompany them.
After that, Cao Cao ate a long and wise, and strived to be safe, cutting the grass and removing the roots. Faced with the surrender of Liu Chun, the mu of Jingzhou, whose strength was not damaged, Cao Cao was afraid that he would rebel against him and once again divide Jingzhou. Therefore, it is possible that Cao Cao killed Liu Chun and Lady Cai in order to completely solve the Jingzhou problem. As for the rest of Jingzhou's civil and military masters, Cao Cao used the high-ranking official Houlu to win the hearts and minds of the people.
For example, Cao Cao made Kuo Yue the Marquis of Fancheng the Prince of Jiangling Taishou, Fu Xun and Wang Yue the Marquis of Guannei, and later reused the reluctant generals. Cao Cao only needed to kill Liu Chun, the righteous master of Jingzhou, and with a little time, he could fully control Jingzhou and use Jingzhou's capable and powerful people with confidence and boldness.
Secondly, in order to highlight Cao Cao's image of a traitor, Luo Guanzhong first deceived Liu Chun and then cut the grass and removed the roots.
Cao Cao first deceived Cai Mao and Zhang Yun, promised Liu Yongyong to take jing and Xiang, tricked them into Fancheng, and seized the YinShou soldiers in Jingzhou, never mentioning the promise, but asked Liu Chun to go to Qingzhou as soon as possible. Liu Chun expressed his desire not to become an official but only to protect his parents, while Cao Cao advised him to go to Qingzhou in a caring tone, fearing that he would be killed in Jingzhou.
In ancient times, it has always attached importance to honesty, and the portrayal of Cao Cao will change when he says things, and he will not keep his promises at all, just like a traitorous image. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms records:
Qun wen was shocked and resigned: "Zhen does not want to be an official, and is willing to guard the homeland of his parents." Cao Yue: "Qingzhou is close to the imperial capital, teach you to follow the dynasty as an official, so as not to be harmed in Jingxiang." ”
True history again: Cao Cao did not need or have a reason to kill Liu Chun, who had already surrendered himself. The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms records that Liu Chun was the second son of Liu Biao, the mu of Jingzhou, and his mother was not Lady Cai, but married Lady Cai's niece. Liu Chun had already married a wife, indicating that he had grown up, was not a child, and had the ability to run Jingzhou. Liu Biao favored Lady Cai, and even took Liu Qi away from his eldest son Liu Qi.
Before Liu Biao died, he negotiated with Lady Cai to make Liu Chun his heir, with Cai Mao and Zhang Yun as his henchmen. It can be seen from here that Liu Chun is Liu Biao's successor, not Lady Cai and Cai Mao who tampered with the will. Liu Qi was not favored by Liu Biao, and followed Zhuge Liang's strategy to request zhenjiangxia.
Shortly after Liu Biao's death, Cao Cao "blackmailed the Son of Heaven to order the princes" and attacked Jingzhou. In the face of Cao Cao's army, local jingzhou clans such as Ku Yue, Han Song, and Eastern Cao Xun persuaded Liu Chun to surrender to Cao Cao. Liu Chun originally wanted to inherit his father's legacy and protect the territory and the people with the generals, but the situation was gone, so he had to surrender to Cao Cao. Cao Cao made Liu Chun the Assassin of Qingzhou and made him a Marquis of Lilie. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms records:
Taizu's army went to Xiangyang, and Chunju Prefecture surrendered. Be prepared to go to Benxiakou. Taizu made Chun the Marquis of Qingzhou.
Pei Songzhi's note quotes the "Story of Wei Wu" as saying that Liu Chun not only lived a good life in Qingzhou, but was later made a counselor by Cao Cao to emperor Bao of Han and participated in the military. There is no record of what happened after Liu Chun was promoted to the position of Counselor, and it is certain that Liu Chun was not killed by Cao Cao and may have died. The Tale of Wei Wu records:
Now listening to what he did, He was a counselor and joined the military.
During the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang successively cut off Zang Di the King of Yan, Han Xin the King of Chu, Peng Yue the King of Zhang Ao Liang of Zhao, and Yingbu the Prince of Huainan, and later Emperor Wu of Han "Tui En Ling" divided and disintegrated the princely states surnamed Liu. After that, only the people with strong blood of the Emperor of the Han Dynasty could be crowned kings. For example, Liu Biao became a feudal governor on the side of zhenshou, and was only a general of Zhennan, Jingzhou Mu, and False Festival, and was made the Marquis of Wu. Like Liu Chun, he could only inherit the title of his father Liu Biao, which was too far away from being crowned king. Therefore, Liu Chun "attached" to Emperor Xian of Han and could not be crowned king.
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