Whether it is the 94th edition of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms or the 10th edition of the New Three Kingdoms, both convey the message that Pang Tong was attacked and killed by Liu Zhang, but Chen Shou's Romance of the Three Kingdoms does not say so, Pang Tong did die at the hands of Liu Zhang, but not by Liu Zhang, but when he attacked Luocheng (in present-day Guanghan City, Sichuan), he was killed in battle. At this time, Liu Bei and Liu Zhang had already turned against each other, and Liu Bei could not stand on the moral high ground like this to accuse Liu Zhang of treachery. There must be other reasons why Liu Bei and Liu Zhang turned against each other.
When Cao Cao was marching south to Jingzhou, Liu Zhang sent envoys to show favor to Cao Cao, and Cao Cao also made Liu Zhang a general of Zhenwei, and later sent Zhang Su to send some soldiers and horses to Cao Cao, and after Cao Cao received it, he appointed Zhang Su as the Taishou of Guanghan. Liu Zhang fought fiercely with Cao Cao, and Cao Cao saw that he was about to take Yizhou into his pocket, but in the end he failed. That is, on the eve of the Battle of Chibi, Liu Zhang sent Zhang Song of Yizhou to Cao Cao, who hoped that Cao Cao would appoint him and entrust him with an official position. Zhang Song is a relatively short person, and his own cultivation is not enough, which is not as good as his brother Zhang Su; but Zhang Song is a person with a unique vision, and he has two brushes to see the problem, which is more talented. When Zhang Song arrived at Cao Cao, Cao Cao's master bookkeeper Yang Xiu received him, Yang Xiu showed Zhang Song a military book, Zhang Song looked at him and recited it, and talked about it, Yang Xiu thought that Zhang Song was not a layman, and suggested that Cao Cao give Zhang Song an official position; Cao Cao saw Zhang Song, saw that Zhang Song was short in stature, and his appearance was not proud, and he disdained him. Cao Cao has always been a meritocracy, and although Zhang Song is not good-looking, he is somewhat talented. Cao Cao treated Zhang Song in this way not only because of Zhang Song's reasons, but also depends on the background at that time, when Liu Chun of Jingzhou had surrendered to Cao Cao, Liu Bei was also chased by Cao Cao, Cao Cao's soldiers were in full swing, and Sun Quan was in the east of Jianjiang. Although Liu Zhang was a pastor of Yizhou, Liu Zhang had no political ambitions and only wanted to defend Yizhou; and Liu Zhang more than once showed his kindness to Cao Cao, hoping that the two sides would be safe and sound. Liu Zhang was no longer a problem with Cao Cao. At this time, Cao Cao was very confident of unifying the world, which was also the closest time in Cao Cao's life to unifying the world. Liu Zhang was no longer important to Cao Cao, so Cao Cao no longer treated Zhang Song sent by Liu Zhang. Cao Cao directly expelled Zhang Song, who was indignant in his heart. Zhang Song knew very well that Liu Zhang was not the lord of the Ming Dynasty and would never be able to hold Yizhou for a long time, and now he had touched a nose of ash with Cao Cao and was very dissatisfied with Cao Cao. But looking around, Liu Bei, who has no territory, has become his best choice. Zhang Song wanted to choose a new master for Yizhou, Zhang Song also deliberately looked for an opportunity to meet Liu Bei, Liu Bei was very courteous to Zhang Song, revealing the intention of taking Yizhou, after a conversation, Zhang Song had a good impression of Liu Bei, Liu Bei asked Zhang Song how many weapons depots there were in Yizhou, how many people and horses, and the number of checkpoints to rush the distribution of troops, Zhang Song had already chosen Liu Bei as the new master of Yizhou, then he would try his best to promote this matter, Zhang Song said in detail the situation inside Yizhou, and marked it on the map. Zhang Song was waiting for the rest of the time to welcome Liu Bei into Yizhou. Thirteen years after the defeat of Chibi, Cao Cao changed his unification strategy and gave up the idea of going south first and turning to the west first. Cao Cao defeated Ma Chao's allied forces at Guanzhong and took Guanzhong. In the sixteenth year of Jian'an, Cao Cao used troops against Zhang Lu in Hanzhong, intending to take Hanzhong. At this time, Zhang Song finally waited for the opportunity, Zhang Song said in front of Liu Zhang, if Cao Cao took Hanzhong, Hanzhong was the gateway to Yizhou, if Cao Cao wanted to destroy Yizhou, who could resist, Zhang Song's purpose was to make Liu Zhang fearful of Cao Cao, cutting off the possibility of Liu Zhang's goodwill to Cao Cao; Zhang Song then exaggerated Liu Bei as a flower, saying that Liu Bei was known for his benevolence and righteousness, deeply familiar with the art of war, or a descendant of the Han Dynasty, and Cao Cao was a mortal enemy, in short, pulling all of Liu Bei's advantages. Zhang Song then assumed that if Liu Bei went to Hanzhong, he would be able to stop Cao Cao. Liu Zhang's train of thought was guided by Zhang Song, and finally Liu Zhang agreed to invite Liu Bei to enter the river and go north to Hanzhong to relieve the danger of Yizhou.
Screenshot of the stills of the 94th edition of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms"
Fa Zheng defected to Liu Zhang in the early years of Jian'an, but liu zhang's mixing has always been undesirable and not reused; Fa Zheng and Zhang Song have a relatively good relationship, and Fa Zheng privately complains to Zhang Song that "ZhangZhang is not enough and promising", Zhang Song also believes that Liu Zhang is not the master, but the two only complain and do not take practical action. After Zhang Song had eaten the closed door soup at Cao Cao's place, Zhang Song suggested that Liu Zhang welcome Liu Bei into the river and resist Zhang Lu in Hanzhong. Liu Zhang did not have any military wisdom and political strategy, and at this time, the six gods had no masters, and his heart was extremely afraid. Naturally, zhang Song's proposal could not be rejected. However, Huang Quan and Zheng Du resolutely opposed this, but Liu Zhang did not listen; Liu Zhang asked Zhang Song who could send an envoy to Liu Bei to explore Liu Bei's situation, and Zhang Song recommended Fa Zheng, who naturally understood Zhang Song's meaning and reached a tacit understanding with Zhang Song; so Fa Zheng took over the task of sending Liu Bei on an envoy. When the Fa zheng saw Liu Bei, he took a lot of private goods with him, suggested that Liu Bei replace Liu Zhang and enter Yizhou, and said that Liu Zhang was weak and that Yizhou could not be defended. Liu Bei dreamed of taking Yizhou, treated Fazheng with special courtesy, and also gave a generous gift, and Zhang Song was also given a lot of treasures by Liu Bei before. In this way, Zhang Song and Fa Zheng actually became Liu Bei's internal response to Yizhou.
Liu Zhang was a descendant of Liu Yu the Prince of Lugong, the son of Emperor Jing of Han, and Liu Bei was a descendant of Liu Sheng, the Prince of Zhongshan, the son of Emperor Jing of Han. It is reasonable to say that Liu Bei and Liu Zhang are related. Liu Bei hastily replaced Liu Zhang's position, I am afraid it will be inappropriate. Therefore, after Liu Bei entered Sichuan, Liu Zhang personally went to Fu to greet Liu Bei. Zhang Song secretly told Fa Zheng that he suggested that Liu Bei attack and kill Liu Zhang when he met with Liu Zhang. Pang Tong, who accompanied Liu Bei into Sichuan, also suggested that Liu Bei attack and kill Liu Zhang when he met with Liu Zhang, but Liu Bei felt that it was not safe to do so, and Liu Bei gave the reason for refusal: "When he first entered another country, he did not believe it." And Liu Zhang came and treated Liu Bei very well, giving money and food to soldiers and horses. The key Liu Zhang also brought 30,000 horses, and Liu Bei also brought more than 10,000 horses with him when he entered Sichuan this time, and it would be counterproductive to rush to attack and kill Liu Zhang. In this way, the meeting between the two sides was very pleasant, and Liu Zhang elected Liu Bei to the imperial court as the Grand Sima and the Commander of the Imperial Academy, and Liu Bei also elected Liu Zhang as the Grand General of Zhenxi and the Leader of Yizhou. At that time, when the Eastern Han court existed in name only, these were empty checks, which were useless; but then there was a real thing, Liu Bei said that he would go north as soon as possible to fight with Zhang Lu in Hanzhong, and Liu Zhang actively returned Liu Bei, first increasing Liu Bei's troops, then handing over the White Water Army to Liu Bei's command, and replenishing Liu Bei with various war materials. At this time, liu bei could command 30,000 soldiers and horses, which was twice as much as he had brought. Liu Bei had not yet "worked", and Liu Zhang gave money to the soldiers, almost completely trusting Liu Bei's attitude. But these things that Liu Zhang gave to Liu Bei eventually became things that Liu Bei attacked himself.
Network illustration Stills of the 10th edition of "New Three Kingdoms"
In the process of Liu Bei's northward journey, Pang Tong also provided Liu Bei with three strategies to enter Yizhou, of which the upper strategy was to select a crack army, quietly kill Back to Chengdu, attack and kill Liu Zhang, and be sure to succeed; the central strategy was to not arrive in Hanzhong, deliberately dispatch Liu Zhang, falsely claiming that Jingzhou was in a hurry and needed to return to the division to rescue, and then took the opportunity to kill Chengdu, on the grounds that Yang Huai and Gao Pei were Liu Zhang's generals, and they had heavy troops, and they should kill these two people first and swallow their men and horses. Then swing to Chengdu. The next strategy is that we must first retreat to Jingzhou, and then slowly plan to capture Yizhou. Pang Tong also suggested that Liu Bei make a decision early, if he stays for a long time, he may change. Liu Bei hesitated, naturally did not want to give up this opportunity to enter Yizhou, after repeated weighing, Liu Bei chose the middle strategy. When the march reached Yemeng (present-day Guangyuan City, Sichuan), Liu Bei no longer advanced, and it was already very close to Hanzhong, Liu Bei was in Yemeng Guangshi Ende, buying people's hearts, and then according to Pang Tong's middle strategy, he deliberately sent Liu Zhang, falsely claiming that Jingzhou was in a hurry and needed to return to jingzhou first, in order to prevent Liu Zhang from agreeing to his request to return to his division, then he would attack Liu Zhang's division again, and he deliberately proposed to bring back 10,000 soldiers and horses to return. This requirement is indeed excessive. Liu Zhang asked Liu Bei to attack Zhang Lu in Hanzhong, but Liu Bei did nothing, and when he wandered around Yizhou, he had to bring back more than 10,000 soldiers and horses. In fact, Liu Bei just wanted Liu Zhang to give him a chance to reject himself, so that there was a reason to attack Liu Zhang. Zhang Song did not know that this was Liu Bei's strategy, thinking that Liu Bei really wanted to return to Jingzhou, so he secretly wrote to Liu Bei and Fazheng, hoping that Liu Bei would not give up this opportunity to enter Yizhou. Later, Liu Bei's correspondence with Zhang Song was discovered by Zhang Song's brother Zhang Su, who was afraid of disaster and reported Zhang Song to Liu Zhang, who quickly arrested and beheaded Zhang Song. Liu Zhang, who was pinched to death by Liu Bei, agreed to Liu Bei's return to the division, but refused to give 10,000 soldiers and horses money and food, but only gave 4,000 soldiers and horses, and the money and grain were also halved. In this way, Liu Bei had a reason for Xingshi to question Liu Zhang, and deliberately instigated anti-Liu Zhang's emotions in the army, saying that we were working hard to go on an expedition to fight for Liu Zhang's life, but Liu Zhang was stingy with money and property, and gave too little. Liu Bei pretended to be angry and called on the soldiers.
Only then did Liu Zhang think that Liu Bei had other plans to enter Sichuan, and Liu Zhang then ordered that Liu Bei would no longer be allowed to pass through the passes. He also killed Zhang Song, who had secretly communicated with Liu Bei. Liu Bei and Liu Zhang began to fight each other, and Liu Bei tricked Liu Zhang's important generals Yang Huai and Gao Pei (who held heavy troops and unanimously opposed liu Bei to enter Sichuan), killed them, and combined their troops. Then Liu Beibing divided into two roads, one way Huang Zhong and Zhuo Bing led the troops to kill Liu Zhang, and led a group of soldiers and horses to detain the families of the White Water Army generals as hostages, so as to prevent the White Water Army from turning against the enemy. Liu Bei and Huang Zhong then marched together towards Liu Zhang, Chengdu. Liu Bei's army soon reached Fu, and Liu Zhang sent Leng Bao, Zhang Ren, and others to gather troops at Fu to defend against Liu Bei's army. Fu was soon occupied by Liu Bei, and Liu Zhang then sent Li Yan to retreat to Mianzhu, and Li Yan finally led the people to surrender. As Liu Bei became stronger and stronger, Liu Bei marched to besiege Luo (雒, in modern Guanghan, Sichuan), that is, during the siege of Luocheng, Pang Tong was killed in battle, and Liu Bei was very sad. Liu Bei wrote a letter ordering Zhuge Liang and others to enter Shu, so that Zhuge Liang fought from the east of Yizhou to the west, Liu Bei fought from north to south, and it took Liu Bei more than a year to attack Luo, until the summer of the nineteenth year of Jian'an, Liu Bei attacked Luo, and then continued to besiege Chengdu, Zhuge Liang and others also hit Chengdu at this time, and besieged Chengdu with Liu Bei. Chengdu was a strong city, and it would be impossible to attack for a while and a half, but Liu Zhang only insisted for a few dozen days before Kaesong surrendered, when there were still 30,000 soldiers and horses in Chengdu, and the grain and grass could be used for a year. Many officials in Chengdu city were also willing to fight to the death, and Liu Zhang, looking at the hope of persevering, said that he had no kindness to the people of Yizhou, and now he could not bear to see the lives of the people of Chengdu ruined, so he surrendered Kaicheng.
After Liu Zhang surrendered. Liu Bei moved him to Jingzhou Nan Commandery (南郡公安), after which Liu Bei lost Jingzhou, Jingzhou was returned to Sun Quan, and Liu Zhangfu was appointed by Sun Quan as the Pastor of Yizhou and stationed in Jingzhou. After that, Liu Zhang died.
Liu Zhang is a good person, but he is not suitable for being a master, and if he does it, he will do it very badly. In the world's disputes, there is no distinction between deception and non-deception, only the difference between the winner and the loser, Liu Bei has nothing to blame for doing so, the key is that he uses benevolence and righteousness to build his own personality.
References: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms