How Liu Bei Entered Shu and Took Yi Province

Red Cliffs gave Liu Bei time.

But time was not enough. He still needed a real base. Zhuge Liang's Longzhong Plan pointed toward Yi Province, the rich Sichuan basin ruled by Liu Zhang.

Southern Jingzhou Came to Liu Bei

After Cao Cao retreated north, Cao Ren remained at Jiangling.

The southern commanderies of Jingzhou that had surrendered to Cao Cao began to rebel and attach themselves to Liu Bei. Wuling, Changsha, Guiyang, and Lingling came over one after another.

Liu Bei appointed Zhuge Liang as Military Adviser General of the Household and put him in charge of Lingling, Guiyang, and Changsha for taxes and military supplies. Zhao Yun also took charge in Guiyang.

For the first time, Liu Bei had territory that was becoming his own.

Xuzhou had been temporary. Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, and Liu Biao had been shelters. Southern Jingzhou gave him a foundation.

About a year later, Zhou Yu forced Cao Ren out of Jiangling. Sun Quan and Liu Bei then began dividing Jingzhou's territory. Liu Bei recommended Sun Quan for high office; Sun Quan let Liu Bei take the title of Governor of Jingzhou. Cao Cao's court would not sincerely approve the arrangement, but the two allies recognized each other's holdings.

Liu Bei set his camp at Youkou and renamed it Gong'an.

Sun Quan also married his sister to Liu Bei. This was not the novel's trap-marriage plot in simple form. Historically, it was a political marriage that both pulled Liu Bei closer and gave Jiangdong a way to watch him.

Lady Sun was fierce, with something of her elder brother's manner. More than a hundred armed maids stood around her. Liu Bei often felt uneasy entering her quarters.

The marriage was part of the alliance from the start.

Liu Bei Went to See Sun Quan

Liu Bei still thought his share of Jingzhou was not enough.

Many of Liu Biao's former followers had come to him, and both old and new people needed places and resources. So Liu Bei personally went to Jingkou to ask Sun Quan to let him administer all of Jingzhou.

Many in Jiangdong urged Sun Quan not to let the tiger return to the mountain. If Liu Bei had come in person, they said, kill him.

Liu Bei knew the trip was dangerous. Zhuge Liang had advised him not to go.

But Liu Bei's position was urgent, and he had to risk it.

Sun Quan did not kill him. Cao Cao still threatened from the north, and Jiangdong needed broad alliances. Keeping Liu Bei alive looked more useful than removing him.

Only after returning to Gong'an did Liu Bei learn that some in Jiangdong had proposed killing him. He sighed that Kongming had warned him precisely because of this danger.

Around this time, Liu Bei gained another important adviser: Pang Tong.

Pang Tong Entered Liu Bei's Camp

Pang Tong was known as Fengchu, the Young Phoenix.

At first, Liu Bei used him as a county magistrate. Pang Tong neglected the office and was removed. Lu Su then wrote to Liu Bei, saying Pang Tong's talent should not be wasted on a small county. He needed a higher position to show what he could do.

Zhuge Liang also recommended him.

Liu Bei met Pang Tong and discussed the world with him. The conversation changed his view. He appointed Pang Tong as Military Adviser General of the Household, placing him near Zhuge Liang in importance.

Two years after Red Cliffs, Liu Bei had a period of relative stability in Jingzhou.

But the opportunity that would truly change his future came from Yi Province.

Zhang Song Turned Toward Liu Bei

Yi Province was ruled by Liu Zhang, son of Liu Yan and another member of the Liu clan.

Liu Zhang was not a strong ruler. After Cao Cao took Jingzhou, he worried Cao Cao might next target Yi Province, so he sent Zhang Song to show respect to Cao Cao.

Zhang Song was short and unimpressive in appearance, but clever and decisive. Cao Cao, newly proud after taking Jingzhou, treated him coldly. Zhang Song resented the insult.

When he returned to Yi Province, he denounced Cao Cao and urged Liu Zhang to break with him and instead befriend Liu Bei, a kinsman who could help resist Cao Cao.

Liu Zhang listened.

Zhang Song then recommended his friend Fa Zheng as envoy to Liu Bei.

Fa Zheng had ability but had not been valued by Liu Zhang. Both Zhang Song and Fa Zheng thought Liu Zhang too weak to serve. Secretly, they were already considering welcoming Liu Bei as the new ruler of Yi Province.

When Fa Zheng met Liu Bei in Jingzhou, he judged that Liu Bei had the capacity to rule Yi.

Then Cao Cao prepared to attack Zhang Lu in Hanzhong, just north of Yi Province. Liu Zhang feared that if Cao Cao took Hanzhong, he would descend into Yi. Zhang Song used the fear to propose inviting Liu Bei into Yi to attack Zhang Lu.

Liu Zhang accepted and sent Fa Zheng with four thousand men to welcome Liu Bei.

Some of Liu Zhang's officials warned against it. Huang Quan said Liu Bei was famous for military courage. If treated as a subordinate, he would not be satisfied. If treated as a guest, one state could not hold two masters. When the guest became as secure as Mount Tai, the host would be in danger like stacked eggs.

Wang Lei even hung himself upside down at Chengdu's gate to protest.

Liu Zhang did not listen.

Liu Bei Chose to Enter Shu

Fa Zheng came to Jingzhou and spoke plainly.

He said Liu Bei could use Liu Zhang's weakness and Zhang Song's support inside Yi to take the province.

Liu Bei hesitated.

He said he and Cao Cao were opposites. Cao Cao was strict, so Liu Bei had to be generous. Cao Cao was brutal, so Liu Bei had to be humane. Cao Cao was deceptive, so Liu Bei had to be faithful. If he sacrificed trust for small profit, he might ruin his name.

Pang Tong answered that chaos could not be solved by one method. In a disordered age, annexing the weak and attacking the incapable was part of the struggle. After success, Liu Bei could give Liu Zhang generous territory and would not truly violate righteousness. If he did not take Yi, someone else might.

Liu Bei was persuaded.

He left Zhuge Liang and Guan Yu to guard Jingzhou and led tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry into Yi Province.

Sun Quan was displeased. If Liu Bei was going to take Yi, Jiangdong naturally wanted Jingzhou back. Sun Quan sent boats to bring his sister home. Lady Sun reportedly tried to take Liu Bei's son Liu Shan with her, but Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun intercepted her on the river and recovered him.

The later story of seizing the child on the river grew from this episode.

Jiameng Became a Waiting Ground

Liu Zhang still believed Liu Bei had come to help.

He ordered local officials along the route to supply him. When Liu Bei entered Yi, he was welcomed and provided for. At Ba Commandery, Yan Yan sighed that Liu Zhang was sitting alone in a deep mountain and releasing a tiger to defend himself.

At Fu, Liu Zhang personally came with thirty thousand infantry and cavalry to meet Liu Bei. Zhang Song and Fa Zheng suggested that Liu Bei seize Liu Zhang during the meeting. Cut off the head, and the rest would fall.

Liu Bei refused. He had just entered another man's territory and had not yet displayed virtue or trust. He would not do it that way.

The two Liu kinsmen treated each other as brothers and feasted for more than a hundred days. Liu Zhang gave Liu Bei more troops and supplies, then sent him north to attack Zhang Lu.

Liu Bei's force grew to more than thirty thousand, with wagons, armor, grain, and money.

After Liu Zhang returned to Chengdu, Liu Bei moved north to Jiameng. But he did not immediately attack Zhang Lu. Instead, he spread favors and gathered local support.

Then Cao Cao attacked Sun Quan, and Sun Quan asked Liu Bei to return and help.

Liu Bei wrote to Liu Zhang, saying Sun Quan and he depended on each other like lips and teeth. Guan Yu had too few troops. If Sun Quan fell, Cao Cao would take Jingzhou and then threaten Yi. Liu Bei asked Liu Zhang for another ten thousand troops and supplies.

Liu Zhang sent only four thousand and half the requested materials.

Liu Bei used this to anger his followers. Yi Province, he said, was stingy with the very army working for its defense.

The crack widened.

The Honeymoon Ended

When Zhang Song heard that Liu Bei might return east to help Sun Quan, he wrote to Liu Bei and Fa Zheng. The great affair was nearly complete, he warned. How could they abandon Yi now?

Zhang Song's elder brother discovered the letter. Afraid of being implicated, he reported him to Liu Zhang.

Liu Zhang arrested Zhang Song and executed him. He also ordered the passes to cut contact with Liu Bei.

The brief honeymoon ended.

Liu Bei summoned Liu Zhang's commanders Yang Huai and Gao Pei, accused them of rudeness to a guest, and had them executed. He now openly broke with Liu Zhang.

One of Liu Zhang's men proposed a harsh defensive strategy: move the people away, burn food, supplies, and crops, deepen ditches, raise defenses, and refuse battle. Liu Bei had come deep into Yi without a secure supply line. Within one hundred days, he would have to retreat, and then Liu Zhang could attack him.

Liu Zhang refused. He said he had heard of resisting enemies to protect the people, not moving the people to avoid enemies.

He sent troops against Liu Bei, but they lost repeatedly. Liu Bei's power expanded quickly and took many counties.

Chengdu Surrendered

In 214, Zhuge Liang left Guan Yu to guard Jingzhou and led Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun up the river into Yi. They took Ba Commandery.

Zhang Fei captured Yan Yan and asked why he had not surrendered. Yan Yan answered that Yi Province had generals who would lose their heads, but none who would bend the knee.

Zhang Fei angrily ordered him executed. Yan Yan did not change expression and said that if Zhang Fei wanted to cut off his head, he should do it. Why be angry?

Zhang Fei admired his courage, released him, and treated him as a guest.

Zhuge Liang, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun continued pacifying Yi and joined Liu Bei.

Liu Bei besieged Luo for nearly a year. Pang Tong was killed by a stray arrow during the fighting. After Luo fell, Liu Bei advanced on Chengdu.

Fa Zheng wrote to Liu Zhang, explaining the balance of strength and urging him to preserve his family and wealth. Liu Zhang did not answer.

Chengdu still had thirty thousand elite troops, and enough grain, silk, and cloth to hold out for a year. Officials and common people were willing to fight.

But Liu Zhang said his father and he had governed Yi for more than twenty years without doing much good for the people. Now the people had suffered years of war and lay dead in the fields because of him. He could not keep resisting in peace.

He opened the gate and rode out with Jian Yong in the same carriage to surrender.

Liu Bei entered Chengdu. He sent Liu Zhang to Gong'an, returned his property, and allowed him to keep the seal of General Who Shakes Might.

Liu Bei finally held Yi Province.

This land was different from the places where he had once been only a guest. He now had a base he could rule himself, and the first core territory needed for the Longzhong Plan.

The next episode follows Ma Chao, the fierce western commander whose arrival helped Liu Bei pressure Chengdu and strengthened Shu's military image.