In the second year of Chuping (191), Liu Yan appointed Zhang Lu as the governor of Yi, and together with Sima Zhang Xiu of the other departments, led troops to attack The Taishou Sugu in Hanzhong. After Zhang Xiu killed Su Gu, Zhang Lu killed Zhang Xiu again and captured his soldiers. He also cut off the Xiegu Road and, at the behest of Liu Yan, killed the emissaries of the imperial court. Thus, in the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Lu obeyed Liu Yan's orders and helped him divide Yizhou. In the first year of Xingping (194), Liu Yan died, and his son Liu Zhang took the place. For Liu Yan's son Liu Zhang, Zhang Lu was obviously not so obedient, and the two sides met each other, and Zhang Lu won more and lost less, thus successfully dividing Hanzhong.
Beginning in 194 AD and returning to Cao Cao in 215 AD, Zhang Lu ruled Hanzhong for at least 20 years. Therefore, it is very obvious that after 20 years of hard work, Zhang Lu is undoubtedly deeply rooted in the land of Hanzhong, coupled with the lofty mountains around the Hanzhong Basin, which allows Zhang Lu to have a defensive advantage in terrain, that is, to defend according to danger. So, the question is, Zhang Lu occupied Hanzhong, why did he choose to surrender as soon as he fought with Cao Cao? In other words, the demise of Zhang Lu, the prince, was obviously too soon.
One
In the twentieth year of Jian'an (215), the second year of Liu Bei's capture of Yizhou, Cao Cao understood that Liu Bei's next target must be Hanzhong, so he decided to preemptively attack and immediately personally led an army of 100,000 people to march west to Hanzhong and arrive at Yangping Pass. In the face of Cao Cao's 100,000 troops, Zhang Lu wanted to surrender immediately, but Zhang Lu's younger brother Zhang Wei did not listen and led tens of thousands of horses to hold Yangping Pass, which was broken by Cao Cao. Upon hearing this news, Zhang Lu immediately led his army to Bazhong and surrendered to Cao Cao. Therefore, for Zhang Lu, it was equivalent to just fighting with Cao Cao and choosing to surrender.
Therefore, in the twentieth year of Jian'an (215), Cao Cao captured the land of Hanzhong almost without bloodshed, which was obviously easier than Ma Chao in Pingding Guanzhong. On this basis, Cao Cao made Zhang Lu the general of Zhennan, treated zhang Lu with courtesy, and made Zhang Lu the Marquis of Langzhong (阆中侯) (a "Marquis of Xiangping"), with 10,000 households. Immediately afterward, Cao Cao brought Zhang Lu and his family back to Yecheng. Moreover, in order to reassure Zhang Lu, Cao Cao also made Zhang Lu's five sons and Yan Pu and others the Marquis of Liehou and arranged for his son Cao Yu to marry Zhang Lu's daughter.
Two
In this regard, in the author's opinion, as a prince at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the reason why Zhang Lu was easily destroyed by Cao Cao, or that he was in a hurry to surrender to Cao Cao, is divided into the following reasons. On the one hand, after Liu Bei captured Yizhou, Zhang Lu's situation was already very difficult. As we all know, Hanzhong is the gateway and throat of Yizhou, and for Liu Bei, it is obvious that he cannot accept the situation in which Hanzhong is occupied by other forces. More crucially, Liu Zhang, who Zhang Lu faced before, was relatively mediocre, and attacked Zhang Lu many times, but there was no result.
However, as far as Liu Bei, the prince, is concerned, he is completely different from Liu Zhang, for example, Cao Zengcao said: "Today's heroes, only the king and the ear." The original disciples, not enough numbers also. Chen Shou, the author of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, used the phrase "The Hongyi of the Ancestors is generous, knows people and treats soldiers, is covered with the style of the high ancestors, and is the instrument of the hero." "To evaluate. Based on this, Liu Bei sent troops to attack Zhang Lu, which was only a matter of time. If Cao Cao had not preemptively pacified Hanzhong in 215 AD, Then Liu Bei would have attacked Zhang Lu during this period, capturing the gateway and throat of Yizhou.
Three
From this, it is very obvious that when Cao Cao personally led a large army to march west to Hanzhong, Zhang Lu could be described as an enemy on his back. Correspondingly, when Wang Pingzhen, the governor of Hanzhong, was defending Hanzhong, he also encountered an attack by Cao Shuang's army of more than 100,000 troops, but Wang Ping had the support of the entire Yizhou behind him, and based on Zhang Lu, Liu Bei behind him obviously would not support it, and may even take advantage of the fire to rob him. From this point of view, if Zhang Lu really resisted Cao Cao with all his might, Liu Bei would undoubtedly take advantage of the void, which would also make Zhang Lu's forces quickly go to extinction.
On the other hand, although Zhang Lu had been divided in Hanzhong for more than 20 years, Hanzhong was only a county, that is, Zhang Lu's territory and population were relatively limited. For Zhang Lu, there were only tens of thousands of troops at most. Correspondingly, in 215 AD, Cao Cao had already defeated Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, Lü Bu, Zhang Xiu, Ma Chao, Han Sui, Zhang Yang and many other princes, and Cao Wei had already occupied 78 out of 10 of the entire Eastern Han Dynasty's prefectures. Therefore, for Zhang Lu, relying only on a hanzhong land, it was impossible to resist Cao Cao in terms of overall strength.
Four
Finally, further, in 215 AD, the pattern of the three kingdoms of Wei Shu and Wu had actually been formed, which was a more obvious difference from the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Lu could completely rely on other forces to achieve the effect of mutual checks and balances. However, by 215 AD, Cao Cao's family was dominant, and he still threatened tianzi to make the princes, Shu Han and Eastern Wu unable to resist Cao Cao alone, which left Zhang Lu with no choice. Of course, the reason why Zhang Lu immediately chose to surrender was also a reference to Cao Cao's previous case of treating other princes. Prior to this, Zhang Xiu, Han Sui and other princes basically received good treatment after surrendering to Cao Cao, at least to save their lives. Yuan Shu, Lü Bu and others stubbornly resisted, and it was difficult to end well.
In addition, if Zhang Lu is stubborn and stubborn, it will only make the land of Hanzhong ruined, that is, for the people of the land of Hanzhong, Zhang Lu's choice will at least have more advantages than disadvantages. In general, Zhang Lu, who was caught between the two major forces of Liu Bei and Cao Cao, obviously would not be left alone. Therefore, after fighting with Cao Cao, Zhang Lu gave up resistance and was treated favorably by Cao Cao. In the twenty-first year of Jian'an (216), Zhang Lu died, and was buried in the east of Yicheng (邺城, in modern Linzhang County, Handan, Hebei Province). However, there is also a record in the historical records that Zhang Lu died in 245.