As a descendant of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bei, who aimed at reviving the Han Dynasty all his life, and Han Shu Group, who had lofty political ideals, all ended in tragedy, which inevitably made people sigh.
Then, for example, why can't Liu Bei dominate the world with the help of Zhuge Liang and Guan? I'm afraid there are four reasons.
First, Liu Bei's background is too low to unite his power base in the early stage of starting a business.
As we all know, Liu Bei's political call or slogan is the identity of the descendants of the Han Dynasty and the banner of revitalizing the Han Dynasty. However, at that time, the Han Dynasty declined. Although there were people who turned to Han, there was a gradual shortage. Moreover, Liu Bei was born in a humble family, neither a noble family nor a contemporary bureaucratic family.
Although his parents are officials, they are only at the county level. After decades, their influence almost disappeared.
Therefore, Liu Bei has no connections, no capital and no prestige. At the beginning of Liu Bei's business, he was basically different from Cao Shi family and Jiangdong Sun Shi.
In Cao Shijia's family, Cao Cao's grandfather Cao Teng was one of the eunuch leaders, and his father was a courtier. His family not only has connections, but also financial resources.
Although Cao Cao's birth was despised by the gentry at that time, it is undeniable that Cao Shi and Xiahou's family were also well-known gentry in Guo Peiqiao County.
Cao Cao has just started his army. He has connections, capital, clan children's refuge, and relationships with Yuan Shao and others, so his foundation is much better than Liu Bei's.
As for Sun Quan of Jiangdong, although his father Sun Jian finally perished, his younger brother Sun Ce started the inheritance of Jiangdong, and all his opponents were weak and incompetent. Therefore, Sun Ce can quickly get the support of Wise Group and grow up like a snowball. By the time Sun Quan succeeded to the throne, the land of Jiangdong was relatively stable, with hundreds of soldiers.
Therefore, from this aspect alone, Liu Bei does not have a corresponding foundation. Only by time and hard work can he achieve the same status as Cao Cao and Sun Quan.
However, when Liu Bei catches up, others will not stand still. As a result, Liu Bei became stronger, and so did Cao Cao and Sun Quan.
Second, the three countries are vast and populous, and talented people come forth in large numbers. The three countries have formed a talent balance.
Everyone in the world thinks Zhuge Liang is a good man, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are both general bears, and they are all enemies. Zhao Yun, Ma Chao and Huang Zhong are also heroes in the world. This cognition is really good. However, during the Three Kingdoms period, talented people came forth in large numbers. Not only did Liu Bei Group have many talents, but Cao Wei and Wu Dong Group also had more talents than Liu Bei Group!
In fact, the historical trend of the Three Kingdoms is largely due to human factors, so people focus on Zhuge Liang's long-term confrontation. But as we all know, as early as eight years ago in Longzhong, Lu Su and Sun Quan of Jiangdong put forward the guiding strategy of relying entirely on the Yangtze River, building an emperor and fighting Cao Cao in the north. In other words, Sun Quan and Lu Su of Jiangdong Group were the first to have three ideas.
Since then, these two men have also been the main promoters of Sun and Liu's alliance. Since then, Zhou Yu has put forward a grand strategic plan of taking Yizhou in the west, merging Zhang Lu in the north and combining Ma Chao to seize Guanzhong.
Therefore, as far as the group's guiding strategy is concerned, Wu Dong Group is not weaker than Shu Han. As for military talent, Sun Yu is in the front, Lu Su is in the middle, and then Lu Xun. Good people like Gan Ning, Cheng Pu and Zhu Ran are not weaker than Shuhan Group.
This is just Wu Dong. Cao Wei Group was the gathering place of heroes in the world at that time, such as Guo Jia, Yu Xun, Xun You, Jia Xu, Cheng Yu, Jiang Ji, Man Chong and Sima Yi. Coss, Zhang He, Zhang Liao, Huang Xu, Le Jin and Xiahou are all world generals, not inferior to any of the three parties.
So no matter what you do, it is difficult to annex one of them, because the talents of each group are complementary. Lu Su of Jiangdong Group has a broad vision, but his thoughts are conservative and he is not good at tactics. Lu Xun filled the vacancy.
Cao Wei Group, Guo Jiashan and Xun You planned, but the internal affairs were a little weak, which was made up by Yu Xun and Cheng Yu. Therefore, under such a talent balance, it is more difficult for Liu Bei to dominate the whole country unless he occupies an overwhelming strength advantage.
Third, the economic and military balance of power in the Three Kingdoms period made Liu Bei unify the whole country, which can only be his lifelong dream.
In the 24th year of Jian 'an (AD 2 19), after Soochow completely occupied Jingzhou, the geographical balance of the three countries was basically completely formed. Two years later, in the second year of Huang Chu in Cao Wei and the first year of Zhangwu in Shu Han (AD 2 1 year), according to Zhao Wenlin and Xie Shujun's Population History of China, at that time,
There were 6.5438+0.03 million households and 6.824 million people in Wei State, accounting for 60% of the total population at that time.
At that time, there were 478,000 households in Wu, with 3155,000 people, accounting for 28% of the total population at that time.
There are 200,000 households in Shu, with 6.5438+0.32 million people, accounting for 12% of the total population at that time.
In terms of land area, according to the textual research on the territory area of China in past dynasties, Cao Wei occupied Kyushu with an area of about 29 1 000 square kilometers, and Soochow occupied three states with an area of about 654,380,450 square kilometers, while Shu Han occupied only Yizhou with an area of about 654,380+0,060 square kilometers.
Therefore, it is not difficult to see from the world that the land area and population of Liu Bei Group are the weakest among the three parties. The land area is about three-quarters of that of Dongwu, a little over one-third of that of Cao Wei, a little over one-third of that of Dongwu and a little over one-sixth of that of Cao Wei.
Obviously, at that time, the combined population of Shu Han and Wu Dong accounted for 40%, and the land area was 400,000 square kilometers less than that of Cao Wei. How can such strength unify the world?
Fourth, Liu Bei is not a first-class strategist, and his repeated missteps led to the failure of world unification.
Mr. Zhang thinks that Liu Bei is an excellent politician in the study of the history of the Three Kingdoms, but like Sun Quan, he can't be compared with Cao Cao in political vision, because Zhuge Liang's strategic vision is there, but it can't be realized before Yiling's fiasco.
It is conservative to make actual adjustments according to the actual situation.
Then, this has to ask a question, that is, did Liu Bei Group ever have a chance to unify the whole country?
The answer is, there is this opportunity.
In July of the 24th year of Jian 'an (AD 2 19), Liu Bei was promoted to the position of King of Hanzhong. At that time, land A of Liu Bei Group reached a state of extreme prosperity, and even Cao Cao had to give in temporarily. As for Wu Dong, the momentum is even worse.
But at that time, Guan Yu rashly launched the battle of Xiangfan. In the end, the Jingzhou army was wiped out, Jingzhou fell, and Liu Bei missed the opportunity to unify the whole country.
Why?
The reason is very simple, that is, Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang did not correctly analyze the situation and strength contrast at that time, misjudged the comparative changes of the enemy situation after the Hanzhong War, and even despised or ignored Sun Quan's determination and ambition to seize Jingzhou.
Especially the issue of Jingzhou, from the 15th year of Jian 'an (AD 2 10) when Liu Bei borrowed the northern part of Nanjun, to the 20th year of Jian 'an (AD 2 15) when Xiangjiang River was demarcated, and then to the 24th year of Jian 'an (AD 2 19) when Soochow attacked Jingzhou in October.
In less than ten years, Wu Dong attacked Jingzhou twice, almost every five years. It stands to reason that Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang should have a proper contact after Wu Dong captured Hanzhong, so as to solve the possible hidden dangers in Jingzhou.
But they didn't. Instead, they misjudged the stability of Xiangjiang demarcation. Finally, under Sun Quan's ambition and betrayal, they regretted it.
Therefore, from the perspective of strategic decision-making, Liu Bei did not fully and reasonably grasp and judge. In this way, the unification of the world is naturally a lifelong dream, and it is like a mirage.
Therefore, the study of the history of the Three Kingdoms is not simply based on one country's view of the Three Kingdoms, which is inevitably biased. Instead, it is necessary to look at the world from the three countries and compare them with each other, so that Liu Bei can unify the world, but he missed it and wanted to continue this opportunity. As far as the situation of the three countries is concerned, there is no such possibility.