As one of the protagonists in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei has been committed to the unification of the Three Kingdoms. He has a strong force and excellent strategic advisers, his five tiger generals are extremely brave, Wolong Zhuge Liang is very smart, and the geographical advantages of Jingzhou, Yizhou and Hanzhong make Liu Bei only one step away from unifying the three kingdoms.
However, Liu Bei made a fatal mistake on the road to reunification. He didn't seize the moment and missed many hard-won opportunities. A typical example is the Battle of Yiling, which became the key to the decline of Shu Han.
To understand why Liu Bei came to the end of reunification, we need to return to Jingzhou again. Guan Yu, as Liu Bei's cousin, carelessly lost Jingzhou during his tenure as the Assassin of Jingzhou, resulting in Liu Bei's loss of this important territory. If Zhuge Liang had not been transferred to Yizhou, but had stayed behind Jingzhou to provide support, even if Guan Yu's army was defeated, he would not have lost Jingzhou.
However, due to an accident during the Yizhou period, Pang Tong was unfortunately killed in the process of being ambushed. This forced Zhuge Liang to go to support Yizhou, leaving Guan Yu alone in Jingzhou, laying the groundwork for the later tragedy.
Liu Bei was fully capable of directly annexing Yizhou at that time, but he couldn't bear to take away his inheritance considering his clan relationship with Liu Zhang. However, Liu Bei was eager to obtain Yizhou, so Pang Tong became a benevolent person and gave Liu Bei a title to capture Yizhou.
In fact, Pang Tong does not need to be sacrificed, and all accidents can be avoided. However, Liu Bei himself needs to make a change, and in the case of standing on the basis of benevolence and righteousness in the troubled times, can he easily unify the Three Kingdoms?
Liu Bei's personal reasons were also one of the important factors that led to his failure to unify the Three Kingdoms. His pursuit of righteousness and his always focus on loyalty and justice, especially in troubled times, highlights his qualities. However, righteousness does not always apply to actual schemes. Liu Bei was too concerned about the clan friendship and was unwilling to take drastic actions, which made him lose many good opportunities.
In addition, Liu Bei also had some deficiencies in military command. He was able to gather so many forces and talents and fail to make good use of them. He was often hesitant and lacked decisive decision-making skills, which made him lose the lead at critical moments.
In general, Liu Bei's failure to unify the Three Kingdoms was due to personal reasons, mistakes, and improper timing. He focused too much on benevolence, righteousness and morality, and ignored the realities of power and politics. His indecision and indecision cost him many opportunities for victory.
However, Liu Bei also had his unique charisma and influence, he was a loyal and upright leader, who was respected and loved by scholars and the common people. He set an example of benevolence and morality, and although he failed to unify the three kingdoms as he wished, this did not detract from his position and influence in history.
It can be said that Liu Bei's failure was not entirely his personal fault, but also the accident of history and timing. We can draw lessons from his failures to understand the complexity and variability of history, and the difficult choice that leaders have to make between power and morality.
In short, Liu Bei, as a historical figure, has left us valuable lessons from his successes and failures. His deeds and qualities are still worth Xi and exploration to enable us to better understand and address the challenges we face.