Judging from the situation at that time, did Liu Zhang really have no way out?
In 2 13 AD, Liu Bei's army stationed in Jingzhou, after receiving the order to go to Sichuan for reinforcements, marched west along the river and defeated Jiangzhou in the first battle. Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun split their forces and swept across Shu, Zhao Yun pacified Jiangyang and Qianwei, Zhang Fei pacified Ba County and Brazil, and the following year, together with Liu Bei, directed at Chengdu.
It is not difficult to see that Liu Bei's army besieged Chengdu, but Zhao Yun was in the southeast, Zhang Fei was in the northeast and Liu Bei was in the northwest. There is a "safety exit" of Liu Zhang in the southwest of Chengdu.
Obviously, Liu Zhang at this time is not a turtle in a jar. He can withdraw from Emei in the south and then run to the vast southern Yizhou land, but why doesn't he go? Finally choose to sit still in Chengdu?
There are probably the following reasons:
1. The reason for Chengdu
"Chengdu is not strong, and the ancient Shu kingdom only counts."
According to Jinsha Site, the history of Chengdu's city construction can be traced back to the ancient Shu State in Shang and Zhou Dynasties more than 3,000 years ago. Even in the Three Kingdoms period, Chengdu still has a history of 1000 years. For more than a thousand years, Chengdu has been the political, economic and cultural center of Sichuan.
What is the purpose of saying this? I just want to tell you that Chengdu during the Three Kingdoms period was very solid. Of course, it is not enough to talk with your mouth. Need to be proved in practice. Let's talk about the situation of the last "Yizhou boss" Ada, regardless of the fortification in distant Yi Yin and Sima Cuo:
Ada, the father of Liu Zhang, served as the secretariat of Yizhou for more than six years.
Ada once had the idea of proclaimed himself, so he constantly strengthened his rule over Yizhou:
Zhang Lu sent from the north to strengthen the Luoxian and Chengdu defense lines in the south of Hanzhong. Although Chengdu was not Ada's territory in the early days, it was definitely the most important part of the southern defense line. The defensive strength of Chengdu can be inferred from the difficulty of attacking Luoxian County.
The History of the Three Kingdoms Shu Shu Ancestors: Ancestors marched into the enclosure. When Zhang Zi was guarding the city, he was attacked for a year.
It took Liu Bei's army a year to besiege Luoxian, not to mention Chengdu, which is the center of Shu and the key defensive point at the southern end of Mianzhu.
Of course, Liu Zhang's choice to stick to Chengdu has much to do with Chengdu's economy and population.
At the end of the Qin dynasty and the beginning of the Han dynasty, Chengdu was gradually promoted to one of the megacities in China, which was once called "? Tianfu ",where light industry and commerce are developed, products are rich, and people live a well-off life.
Let's look at the population of Chengdu again:
"History of Han Geography" states that the number of households in Chengdu is 76,256.
How many families were there in Yizhou in the Western Han Dynasty? Less than 270,000. That is to say, about a quarter of Yizhou's population lived in Chengdu during the Western Han Dynasty. By the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the world was in chaos, and people were constantly pouring into Yizhou, and Chengdu was the best choice among Yizhou, so I'm afraid this proportion will only increase.
Chengdu has a huge population base and a developed commercial economy. Naturally, Liu Zhang has nothing to hide. It is safe to defend the city here.
Liu Zhang has a secret weapon.
Although Liu Zhang is cowardly and suspicious, he is not a fool. If he dares to defend Chengdu in times of crisis, he must have a card that can compete with Liu Bei.
Ada left Liu Zhang a secret weapon after his death. What? "Is the so-called? The mysterious power of the Eastern Zhou soldiers.
At the beginning, tens of thousands of people from Nanyang and Sanfu flowed into Yizhou, which was called "Eastern Zhou soldiers" in history.
This powerful Eastern Zhou army once helped Liu Zhang pacify the Yizhou civil strife caused by Zhao Yang. ? With such a trump card in his hand, how could Liu Zhang easily cede Chengdu, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack, to Liu Bei?
3. The influence of Southwest Yi in Yizhou has been unstable.
Explain this first? "Southwest Yi" and "Southwest Yi" are the collective names of Yunnan, Guizhou and Southwest Sichuan ethnic minorities in Han Dynasty.
Next, let's get down to business. Liu Zhang, Liu Zhang's stepfather Ada became a shepherd in Yizhou in 194. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Yizhou ranked first among the thirteen states in the world, covering an area of one million square kilometers. At that time, Yizhou included most areas of southern Shaanxi, eastern Sichuan, Chongqing, central and western Guizhou, Yunnan and northern Myanmar.
Can Liu Zhang's people easily control Yizhou's huge "Ark"? Of course not.
Among the twelve counties in Yizhou, Hanzhong and Ba counties in the north are controlled by Zhang Lu, while the four counties in the south are controlled by local western forces. Although Liu Zhang is revered as Yizhou Pastoral, the actual control scope is only six counties in the middle of Yizhou.
This can go back to our original question. Seeing Chengdu under siege, why didn't Liu Zhang choose to flee south?
That's because several counties in the south of Yizhou are not under his control at all!
Since the founding of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the influence of the Western barbarians has never stopped. The Book of the Later Han Dynasty said that the Western barbarians often "plundered the three counties of Shu and Hanzhong". During the reign of Emperor Han Ling, North Korea once said:
Manzhan likes rebellion. If they work hard and serve far away, it is better to give them up.
Another feature of Yi Xi is that it likes to pinch soft persimmons. When you fight back, they immediately flee. Liu Zhang has been in charge of Yizhou for more than ten years, only seeing the rebellion and civil strife in the west, but never seeing them sincerely submit to it one day. Meng Huo was a typical representative of Southwest Yi in the Three Kingdoms period. If Zhuge Liang didn't have seven escapades, it would be impossible to subdue him.
Zhuge Liang has such foresight and ability. Does he have Liu Zhang? Of course not.
If Liu Zhang fled to Yi Xi's sphere of influence in a mess at this time, it would be equivalent to a sheep in the jaws of death, and it would be better to stick to Chengdu.
4. There are Jiaozhou and Nanqiang in the south of Chengdu.
The four counties in the south of Yizhou are not peaceful under the influence of the southwest yi in Honshu, and because of their special geographical location, Yuesi and Yongchang counties are influenced by the south Qiang forces, and Yin Si and Yizhou counties are influenced by the Jiaozhou forces, so the relationship is complicated.
At this time, the south of Yizhou is like a mess, which can be described as "cutting non-stop"!
Such a muddy water, a hot place, is undoubtedly as far away as possible for Liu Zhang, who is about to become a "lost dog".
Liu Zhang will, of course, make an assessment of several forces in his mind. Compared with the forces of Nanqiang and Jiaozhou, after all, he and Liu Bei are Han clan relatives, so he will stick to Chengdu, even if the defeat breaks the city, the chances of survival are even greater. If you put your life in someone else's hands, it's really hard to say.
5. Liu Zhang is too weak
As a descendant of Liu Bang, Ada's son Liu Zhang is neither as brilliant as Liu Bang nor as ambitious as Ada. Beneath his generous appearance lies a cowardly personality. As the Yizhou Old Biography commented:
Zhang is weak and suspicious.
If Liu Zhang had been tougher, he would not have connived at Zhang Lu's arrogance in Hanzhong, let alone led Liu Bei into Shu, and there would have been no siege of Chengdu and "the pain of losing the country".
It is because of Liu Zhang's cowardice and lack of courage that he worries too much in the vast world in the south of Yizhou and dares not try his best. So? Missed the best time to withdraw south.
The Image of Liu Zhang in Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Of course, Liu Zhang's final surrender in Kaesong is equally incomprehensible:
There are 30,000 soldiers in the city, and they have been in the valley for a year. The officials and the people are anxious to refuse to fight.
With soldiers, food and support, Liu Zhang surrendered. If I had known this, why should I resist? ? The reason lies in his cowardice.
Summary:
When Liu Bei's army pointed directly at Chengdu, Liu Zhang made a decision to stick to it for the following reasons:
First of all, the strong wall of Chengdu is easy to defend but difficult to attack, and the people in the city are rich, which is the strong backing for Liu Zhang to stick to Chengdu.
Secondly, the secret weapon "Eastern Zhou Bing" left by his father Ada gave Liu Zhang and Liu Bei the courage to fight to the end.
Then, the forces of Southwest Yi, South Qiang and Jiaozhou were complicated in the south of Yizhou, which made Liu Zhang flinch from the southern end of Yizhou.
Finally, Liu Zhang was too weak and worried to try his hand in the southern land.
This series of reasons led Liu Zhang to finally choose to stick to Chengdu. Do we think this persistence has become? Sit down and wait.
The reflection gave Liu an objective evaluation:
Zhang Cai is not a person, but according to troubled times, it is natural to take advantage of this.
Liu Zhang is not lean at all in troubled times, but he was born in troubled times, occupying the biggest profit in the world. As the saying goes, the winner is king, and the loser is kou. Liu Zhang's failure is only a natural way.