Liu Shan and the Saying Joyfully Forget Shu

Jiang Wei had been pushed to Tazhong, partly by military need and partly by palace danger.

That left Shu Han divided at the moment Wei chose to strike.

In 263, the invasion came.

Wei Enters Hanzhong

Sima Zhao sent three main forces.

Deng Ai moved toward Tazhong to hold Jiang Wei in place. Zhong Hui led a much larger army toward Hanzhong. Other forces supported the advance.

Shu reacted late.

Huang Hao had trusted a diviner who said Wei would not attack. Only after Wei moved did Liu Shan send orders for defense.

Zhong Hui advanced into Hanzhong.

At Yang'an Pass, the Shu officer Jiang Shu surrendered, while Fu Qian fought and died. Once the pass was lost, the road opened.

Jiang Wei pulled back from Tazhong and hurried toward Jiange.

Jiange was one of Shu's strongest mountain barriers. There Jiang Wei held the pass and stopped Zhong Hui's main army.

For a moment, Shu still had hope.

Deng Ai Crosses Yinping

Deng Ai then chose the impossible road.

He crossed through the remote Yinping route, over hundreds of miles of harsh mountain terrain. Soldiers cut paths, built bridges, and moved with little food.

At the worst places, Deng Ai reportedly wrapped himself in felt and rolled down slopes so the army could keep moving.

The march was desperate.

It worked.

Deng Ai suddenly appeared at Jiangyou, west of Jiange. The local defender surrendered.

Now Shu's main army was still facing Zhong Hui at Jiange, while Deng Ai was moving toward Chengdu from an unexpected direction.

Liu Shan sent Zhuge Zhan, the son of Zhuge Liang, to stop him.

Zhuge Zhan failed to seize strong positions early. He withdrew to Mianzhu, fought Deng Ai, and died in battle.

Mianzhu fell.

Chengdu was exposed.

Liu Shan Surrenders

The court debated what to do.

Some proposed fleeing to Wu. Others proposed going south into Nanzhong.

Qiao Zhou argued for surrender.

He said fleeing to Wu would still mean becoming a dependent ruler under another state, and Wu itself might fall one day. Going to Nanzhong was no safer. The region had rebelled before and might not support a fleeing court.

Liu Shan accepted the argument.

He sent the imperial seal to Deng Ai and surrendered.

The decision has always been debated.

Shu was not completely destroyed. Jiang Wei still held troops at Jiange. Other garrisons remained. Wu had also sent help.

But the emperor had surrendered.

When Jiang Wei's soldiers received the order, they were furious. They had not been defeated in front of Jiange. Yet without the emperor, who were they fighting for?

Jiang Wei laid down his arms.

Shu Han, founded by Liu Bei and held together by Zhuge Liang, ended after forty-three years.

Zhong Hui and Jiang Wei

The conquest did not bring calm.

Deng Ai entered Chengdu and began appointing officials in the emperor's name to stabilize the region. Sima Zhao saw this as overstepping.

Zhong Hui used the chance to accuse Deng Ai of rebellion. With help from Wei officials, Deng Ai was arrested and sent away in a prison cart.

Zhong Hui then entered Chengdu.

He had his own ambitions.

Jiang Wei saw them and tried one last gamble. He encouraged Zhong Hui to rebel, hoping Zhong Hui would kill the Wei generals. Then Jiang Wei planned to kill Zhong Hui, destroy the Wei army, and restore Liu Shan.

It was a desperate plan built from a collapsed state.

Zhong Hui hesitated.

The detained Wei officers and their troops rebelled first.

Fighting broke out in Chengdu. Zhong Hui and Jiang Wei were both killed. Jiang Wei's family also died.

Deng Ai was later killed as well.

Wei conquered Shu, but the two great commanders of the campaign, Deng Ai and Zhong Hui, did not return alive.

Joyfully Forget Shu

Liu Shan was taken to Luoyang and made Duke Anle.

At a banquet, Sima Zhao arranged music and dances from Shu.

Former Shu officials felt sorrow.

Liu Shan seemed pleased.

Sima Zhao asked him, did he miss Shu?

Liu Shan replied that he was happy here and did not think of Shu.

The phrase became famous: joyfully forgetting Shu.

Some later readers saw stupidity. Others saw survival. If Liu Shan appeared harmless, Sima Zhao had less reason to fear him.

Whatever the truth, Liu Shan lived.

Shu did not.

With Shu gone, the Three Kingdoms were no longer three.

Next, the Sima clan tightens its hold on Wei, and the Cao emperors become rulers in name only.