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In the autumn of the thirteenth year of Jian'an (208), Cao Cao Xingyuan in Jiangling City welcomed a guest.
This person's name is Zhang Song, who is a subordinate of Liu Zhang, and this time he came to see Cao Cao, bringing great goodwill from Yizhou.
In fact, this is not the first time Liu Zhang has contacted Cao Cao, and Liu Zhang, who lives in Yizhou, has been observing the situation in the Central Plains.
Long before Cao Cao launched his southern expedition, Liu Zhang had sent Yin Pu to Xuchang to congratulate Cao Cao. In return, Cao Cao gave Liu Zhang the title of General Zhenwei. After that, he sent Zhang Su to send Cao Cao 300 soldiers and some other gifts, and the two sides always maintained a certain contact.
Liu Zhang did this because his rule was not secure. After quelling Zhao Wei's rebellion, although the power of the Yizhou clan was suppressed to a certain extent, the Dongzhou scholars he once relied on gradually became a new unstable factor.
After the Dongzhou scholars absorbed a large number of people who went to Shu and gradually ascended to the upper class, Liu Zhang's slightly mediocre ability became more and more difficult to control them, and Pang Xi's yang and yin violations in Brazil County were the biggest manifestations.
Against this backdrop, Liu Zhang urgently needed the support of the imperial court, which was necessary for him to consolidate his rule. So this time Liu Zhang sent Zhang Su's brother Zhang Song to Jingzhou, and he not only submitted to Cao Cao, but was also willing to accept a certain degree of conscription.
Cao Cao saw Zhang Songwu's short figure, his appearance was not good, and his words and deeds were uninhibited, although he was talented and shrewd and decisive, but he still felt a little dislike in his heart, after all, his brother Zhang Su was very good-looking, and left a good impression on Cao Cao at that time.
Of course, this is not the main reason why Cao Cao treated Zhang Song coldly.
Zhang Song's performance may not be a qualified diplomat, but he does not represent him personally, and the attitude of Liu Zhang behind him is the most important.
Although Liu Zhang sent envoys to visit him many times, his sincerity was very limited.
According to the record of "Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty in the Spring and Autumn Period", the imperial court heard that there was a turmoil in Yizhou earlier, so it sent Wuguan Zhonglang to make Niu Kang the assassin of Yizhou, and recruited Liu Zhang to enter the court as an official, but Liu Zhang ignored it.
The biggest war in Yizhou during Liu Zhang's period was naturally the Zhao Wei Rebellion in the fifth year of Jian'an (200 years), when the imperial court was already under Cao Cao's control, so this was Cao Cao's first test of Liu Zhang. It's just that Liu Zhang, after all, is divided from one side, and it is impossible to give up all this to Xuchang to become a rich man.
In the days that followed, Cao Cao's power became stronger and stronger, and he pacified Hebei and almost unified the north, but Liu Zhang only sent people to congratulate him or give some small gifts, and did not mention the most critical hostage, which was not an attitude of submission at all in Cao Cao's view.
In addition, Cao Cao has made extremely smooth progress over the years, and he has become more and more arrogant under the huge success, so naturally he does not take Zhang Song seriously.
Zhang Song has indeed learned people, at a banquet, the chief bookkeeper Yang Xiu took Cao Cao's art of war to Zhang Song, took Zhang Song while drinking, and he could recite the whole text in a moment, showing the ability to never forget. This made Yang Xiu secretly surprised, he thought that this person was very capable, and persuaded Cao Cao to keep him as an official, but in the end Cao Cao did not agree.
Cao Cao's snub made Zhang Song very dissatisfied, and since then he has never wanted to serve Cao Cao.
Zhang Song is from the surname Zhang in Chengdu, Shu County, but he is an alternative among the Yizhou clan.
After Zhao Wei's rebellion, the local forces in Yizhou and Liu Zhang temporarily reached a balance, on the one hand, the Yizhou clan was weakened, and on the other hand, Liu Zhang's characteristics were more in line with their interests.
As a lord of the guard, although it was difficult for Liu Zhang to survive in the turbulent environment of the late Han Dynasty, his purpose of protecting the territory and the people brought peace and tranquility to Yizhou, which was very valuable for the Yizhou clan, whose main interests were concentrated in the local area.
However, Zhang Song is different, he is very restless, and he is very close to Dongzhou Renfa.
In fact, Zhang Song's idea should be similar to Zhao Wei, who resigned to follow Liu Yan, although he is stable at the moment, he is not satisfied, he still hopes to strive for a higher status, and this can only be achieved when foreign forces are introduced.
At this time, Cao Cao was defeated at Chibi, so Zhang Song took this opportunity to slander Cao Cao, persuaded Liu Zhang to cut off his dealings with him, and at the same time suggested that Liu Zhang and Liu Bei establish a relationship. As for the candidate for the envoy, Zhang Song recommended his friend Fa Zheng.
At first, Fa Zheng was reluctant to accept it, because he didn't know what kind of person Liu Bei was, and finally reluctantly agreed under Zhang Song's persuasion. So Liu Zhang sent Fa Zheng to Jingzhou to form an alliance with Liu Bei, and then asked Fa Zheng and Meng Da to send thousands of soldiers to help Liu Bei defend against Cao's army.
It doesn't matter if you go, Fa Zheng was impressed by Liu Bei's demeanor. As we said before, Dongzhou Shi became more and more dissatisfied with Liu Zhang due to his own political ambitions, and Liu Bei won far from the two, which was the master they were seeking.
After Fa Zheng returned to Chengdu, he praised Liu Bei's eloquence in a conversation with Zhang Song, so the two conspired and agreed to prepare to support Liu Bei together, but they couldn't find the opportunity for a while, and they had to wait for a while.
The opportunity finally came, and with Cao Cao's western expedition in the sixteenth year of Jian'an (211), Yizhou, which had been far away from the war, finally felt the personal pressure. And Liu Zhang heard that Cao Cao would send Zhong Xuan and others to lead an army to Hanzhong to crusade against Zhang Lu, and this rumor made him even more panicked.
Zhang Song had been waiting for this moment for more than two years, and he keenly seized this opportunity and presented Liu Zhang with the long-prepared rhetoric at the most opportune time.
Zhang Song persuaded Liu Zhang: "Cao Cao's army is strong, no one in the world is invincible, if he captures Zhang Lu's Hanzhong and then uses his money, food and materials to go south to attack Shu, no one will be able to resist him." ”
Liu Zhang said with a worried face: "I am also worried about this matter, but I can't do anything. ”
Zhang Song secretly thought that what I was waiting for was your words, so he said: "Liu Yuzhou is the same clan as you, and Cao Cao is a mortal enemy, the enemy is good at using soldiers, if you ask him to crusade against Zhang Lu, Zhang Lu will be defeated, and if Zhang Lu is defeated, Yizhou will be strong, even if Cao Cao personally leads the troops to come, what can I do?"”
Zhang Song's remarks accurately captured Liu Zhang's psychology, and after Liu Zhang killed Zhang Lu's family, the two sides have become undying enemies.
Although Zhang Lu's threat is still very limited at the moment, it will be different if he has Cao Cao's support. Now it is impossible for Liu Zhang to take refuge in Cao Cao, but Zhang Lu can. At that time, if Zhang Lu went south as Cao Cao's vanguard, Liu Zhang's miserable fate after the defeat can be imagined, and he had to plan early.
Seeing that Liu Zhang had been shaken, Zhang Song persuaded again: "Now the generals Pang Xi, Li Yi and others in the state are proud of their achievements and have different aspirations, if they can't get Liu Yuzhou's help, Yizhou will face the dilemma of having strong enemies outside and riots inside, and will eventually be defeated." ”
Although the threat of Cao Cao and Zhang Lu is real, if Yizhou is united, with years of accumulation and steep terrain, it is not impossible to fight, but unfortunately the actual situation is not so optimistic.
Over the years, Pang Xi and others have seen the attitude of detachment and morality, Liu Zhang has all seen it, but he can only maintain the status quo and is unable to solve it at allIt's good if they don't fight back.
Although the introduction of Liu Bei cannot be said to be completely free of trouble, this is no longer a way, with Liu Zhang's own strength, he can only maintain a balance with many unstable factors, if you want to suppress them, it is far from possible, and Liu Bei's arrival may be able to do this.
On the other hand, Liu Bei's political reputation at that time was quite good, and according to Zhuge Liang's words, it is not an exaggeration that "Xinyi is written in the four seas".
After Liu Biao's death, Liu Cong surrendered to Cao without authorization, and Liu Bei had the opportunity and excuse to attack him, but he did not do so in the end. Whatever the reason, but it's a huge plus for his image. Presumably Liu Zhang thinks that Liu Bei will not live up to himself.
If Liu Bei can defeat Zhang Lu, he will be able to garrison Hanzhong at that time, and the two can not only coexist peacefully, but also allow him to serve as a barrier against Cao Cao, just like Liu Biao placed Liu Bei in Nanyang Xinye, which is really a matter of killing two birds with one stone.
Thinking of this, Liu Zhang felt more and more that Zhang Songzhi's strategy was reasonable, so he invited Fa Zheng, who had a relationship with Liu Bei before, and asked him to send an envoy to Jingzhou again.
As soon as this plan came out, there was an uproar in the state, and Huang Quan, the chief secretary, took the lead in standing up against it.
Huang Quan is a native of Langzhong, Brazil, and he comes from the local surname Huang. Like most Yizhou natives, Huang Quan did not want the flames of war to reach his hometown. Later, he agreed to conquer Hanzhong, mainly to defend the territory, after all, Hanzhong, as part of Yizhou, was an important barrier to the north. In contrast, his attitude in the Battle of Yiling was very conservative.
What kind of person Liu Bei is Huang Quan knows very clearly, as a figure who has stood on the front line of anti-Cao for many years, there is no room for reconciliation between them.
Although Liu Bei's intelligence and martial arts are far superior to Liu Zhang, if he is the main one, what awaits Yizhou will inevitably be an endless war, which is not what Huang Quan wants to see.
So Huang Quan advised: "General Liu Bei of the left is known for his bravery, and now invite him to Shu, if he treats him with the courtesy of his subordinates, he will not be able to satisfy him;If you treat each other with the courtesy of guests, there is no room for two kings in one country. If the guest has the safety of Mount Tai, then the Lord is in danger of being tired. Now it is better to hold the border and wait for the situation to stabilize. ”
The core of Huang Quan's words is "If the guest has the safety of Mount Tai, then the Lord is in danger of exhaustion", which he deeply understands.
For Huang Quan, he is the lord and Dongzhou Shi is a guest. The incident of "guest safety and main danger" had already happened once, and he could not hope that the same thing would happen again.
Only the balance of power can be harmonious, and if Liu Bei is introduced, the power equivalent to the "guest" has been greatly strengthened, which is even more unfavorable to the local forces in Yizhou. Whether it is for Liu Zhang or for himself, it is not good to let Liu Bei enter Shu.
It's a pity that Liu Zhang didn't listen to a word of these golden and jade words, and then Wang Ti hung upside down at the city gate, admonishing each other with death, but Liu Zhang was still unmoved.
Liu Zhang is still too idealistic, back then, Liu Bei was lonely, and he naturally kept to himself during the period of living in Jingzhou, but now with the victory of the Battle of Chibi, Liu Bei's strength has increased dramatically, which is by no means something that Liu Zhang can control, but he does not have this awareness.
Fa Zheng and his entourage finally hit the road, and he took 4,000 men and horses to meet Liu Bei, and gave away a huge amount of property.
After meeting Liu Bei this time, Fa Zheng knew that the turning point of his life had arrived, he had left his hometown Fufeng and came to Yizhou for more than ten years, but he had never done anything.
So as soon as they met, Fa Zheng went straight to the point and offered advice: "With the general's genius, it is just to take advantage of Liu Zhang's cowardice;Zhang Song is a talented person in Yizhou, and he can be allowed to respond in ChengduThen the general took advantage of the rich and dangerous terrain of Yizhou to achieve hegemony, which was really easy. ”
Liu Bei nodded again and again after hearing this, and Zhang Song had also secretly come to meet Liu Bei before, which left a deep impression on Liu Bei. At that time, Liu Bei asked him about the terrain of Shuzhong, as well as the soldiers, horses, money, and grain, etc., Zhang Song answered them one by one, and drew down all the mountains and rivers, and the reality of Yizhou had been completely exposed in front of Liu Bei.
Now that everything is in Liu Bei's hands, he no longer has any doubts that Longzhong's grand plan is in front of him, and the lofty goal of crossing Jingyi is no longer a dream.
So Liu Bei left Guan Yu and Zhuge Liang to stay in Jingzhou, and he personally led tens of thousands of soldiers to the west, thus embarking on the road to conquer Yizhou.
So Liu Zhang is really so broad-hearted, is he not afraid of opening the door and stealing, and Liu Bei will occupy the magpie's nest?
In fact, Liu Zhang was not completely defenseless, after Liu Bei traced the Yangtze River to Jiangzhou, he followed the Dianjiang River (the section of the Jialing River before it entered the Yangtze River) to the Dianjiang River (now Hechuan), and then followed the Fushui River (now the Fujiang River) to Fuxian County north of Chengdu, which shows that Liu Zhang never let Liu Bei go to his core area, the Chengdu Plain.
Liu Zhang and Liu Bei met in Fu County, this time Liu Zhang also led more than 30,000 infantry cavalry to go, driving curtains, dazzling, and not inferior to Liu Bei in momentum.
The two sides had a feast in Fu County, and the guests and hosts were happy for a while.
And just when the banquet was in full swing, there was a burst of killing intent in secret.