When Liu Bei conquered Wu, why did he give up without seeing any gains? After capturing Jingzhou and beheading Lu Meng, how about making a treaty as a show of friendship?
Influenced by novels and film and television dramas, many people have the impression that when Liu Bei conquered Sun Quan in the east, he once defeated Sun Quan and recaptured Jingzhou, so that Sun Quan had to ask Liu Bei for peace many times, but Liu Bei Because he wanted to avenge Guan Yu, he refused directly, and was eventually defeated by Lu Xun in Yiling.
For similar reasons, many people can’t help but sigh. In short, if Liu Bei had just taken over after retaking Jingzhou, or asked Sun Quan to give Lu Meng’s head to him, and then agreed to Sun Quan’s request for peace. , so that maybe there won’t be the subsequent disastrous defeat and ending in hatred.
Similar statements may seem reasonable at first glance, but in fact, they are typical nonsense. Because, in history, Liu Bei never recaptured Jingzhou when he conquered Sun Quan in the East. In a sense, as soon as he stepped into the west gate of Jingzhou with his front foot, he was beaten black and blue by Lu Xun on his back foot.
We usually think that Liu Bei used his troops passionately to avenge Guan Yu, but in fact, Liu Bei was very cautious during his eastern expedition. Cautious, just like Zhuge Liang when he attacked Cao Wei in the north. On the surface, they all look angry; in fact, they are cautious, always thinking about how to escape.
According to historical records, Liu Bei began his Eastern Expedition in July 221 AD. At the same time, Sun Quan also asked Lu Xun to lead his army to fight. However, it was not until February 222 AD that Liu Bei's army advanced to Zigui! In fact, we don't need to look at anything else. Just looking at the speed of Liu Bei's advance, we can know that Liu Bei was extremely cautious at the time.
As for Zigui, if we look at the historical map, we will find that this place is easy to capture; if we look at the topographic map, we will find that Lu Xun will never compete with Liu Bei. .
Because this place is just the outpost of Sun Quan's western army line. This place is too far from Jiangling, too close to Yizhou, and it is all mountainous. It is very difficult for Soochow to send troops here regardless of land or water.
In this context, Lu Xun took the initiative to abandon the Zigui stronghold, and this was also the greatest victory Liu Bei achieved in his Eastern Expedition. The problem is that at this time Liu Bei's army has essentially just entered the west gate of Jingzhou, and there is still a long way to go before he can recapture Jingzhou.
Next, will Liu Bei dare to continue to move forward? The answer is obviously no!
Based on what Liu Bei wanted, he naturally wanted Lu Xun to compete with him for a place like Zigui.
The problem is that Lu Xun at that time was just like Sima Yi later. All in all, if you only want to fight me in a place like this, you'd better save it. If you have the guts, just push forward. If it doesn't work, just go back. If you go back, I can take it back without a bloody blow.
As for Liu Bei, he obviously did not dare to cross the Zigui line rashly, because once he crossed Zigui, it would be the Yiling Mountain District. I believe friends who have been there know how difficult this area is. In other words, if this area is by water, it is like the white emperor's colorful clouds, thousands of miles and rivers and tombs can be returned in one day. The problem is, if you want to go back, you have to go upstream and take the land route. It is the Xiling Canyon with steep cliffs. It is surprisingly difficult.
What's more important is that Lu Xun's army is keeping a close eye on Yiling. In this context, if Liu Bei's army has the slightest disturbance, it may lead to catastrophic consequences. It is precisely because of this that when Liu Bei's army arrived at the front line of Zigui, they finally did not dare to advance any further.
In fact, when things have developed to this point, the winner of this war has been decided; if Liu Bei knows what is going on, he should retreat, and Sun Quan has repeatedly expressed his request for peace to Liu Bei. If Liu Bei is Zhuge Liang, I will definitely retreat in the face of difficulties, at least I can brag about it when I go back. All in all, I beat Lu Xun so hard that he dared not go out! I wanted to avenge Guan Yu, but Sun Quan didn't dare to fight me, and there was nothing I could do.
The problem is that in Liu Bei's view, Sun Quan has no sincerity at all. Because you, Sun Quan, are sincere, so hurry up and spit out the relevant areas. You have repeatedly stated that you want to reconcile, but you have not mentioned a word about returning the relevant areas. Aren't you teasing Liu Bei? Therefore, Liu Bei finally couldn't help but take a gamble. It doesn't matter if you lose this bet, you almost lose your life.
In this sense, Liu Bei's only chance to take advantage of it is after occupying Zigui. The problem is that Liu Bei has just entered the west gate of Jingzhou at this time. Acceptance means that Jingzhou will completely become Sun Quan's territory.
Moreover, if Liu Bei withdraws his troops, Lu Xun can regain Zigui at any time. This means that Liu Bei spent a lot of manpower, material and financial resources on the Eastern Expedition, but in the end he gained nothing. What did Liu Bei do? I can swallow this breath!
As for killing Lu Meng, it is obviously even more impossible. Because Lü Meng had been staying in Nanjing when Liu Bei was conquering Sun Quan. How could he kill Lü Meng? Unless he could force Sun Quan to kill Lü Meng, the question is, why did Sun Quan kill Lü Meng?
Many people believe that Lü Meng killed Guan Yu without permission, which caused Liu Bei's revenge, so Sun Quan had reason to kill Lü Meng. But in fact, it was not Lu Meng who made the decision to kill Guan Yu without authorization, but Sun Quan ordered the killing. Because Sun Quan robbed a large piece of territory like Liu Bei, no matter how he dealt with the aftermath, Liu Bei would fight with him to death.
Under this background, Sun Quan naturally acted without hesitation and directly ordered Guan Yu to be killed.
All in all, since war is unavoidable, it is better to cut off one of Liu Bei's minions first.
For similar reasons, how could Sun Quan kill his right-hand man Lu Meng?