Chapter Thirteen: A Matter of Dispute

  When Liu Bei abandoned Xinye, why did he take about 180,000 civilians to Jiangxia? This is one of the most controversial events in the Three Kingdoms. The author also has some views and would like to discuss them with everyone.

  Firstly, raise several questions:

  First, would Cao Cao slaughter civilians? The answer is no. When Cao Cao conquered a place, he needed population, because with people came grain and soldiers. There are also no historical records of Cao Cao randomly slaughtering civilians. The famous "cutting off one's hair to save one's head" story was about Cao Cao himself, who punished his own men for just a few sprouts of wheat; would he then allow his subordinates to slaughter tens of thousands of innocent civilians?

  Secondly, if the event of burning down New Wild really existed, then the tens of thousands of people in the city who were affected would have followed Liu Bei to Jiangxia. What about the other hundreds of thousands of people? They are all descendants of the people who lived in New Wild for generations. If I were them, with my own house and land, wife and children by the warm stove, I wouldn't give it up to follow Liu Bei and suffer. What's the point?

  Thirdly, the principle of resettling refugees is that more can accommodate less, and it's acceptable to resettle 200,000-300,000 people with a population of 500,000. Jiangxia has a similar population to Xinye, so how can 180,000 people be resettled? Liu Bei stayed in Xinye for 7 years, but why did he only have a few thousand soldiers and horses? It's not that he couldn't recruit more, it's just that he couldn't afford to support them. Not to mention the large amount of land needed to resettle refugees, even feeding them would be a problem Liu Bei couldn't solve.

  Fourth, Xinye is 365 kilometers away from Jiangxia. Carrying refugees, they can walk at most 30 miles a day. The vanguard of Cao's army is led by Cao Cao himself with 5,000 iron cavalry, and they can cover 30 miles in one hour. Liu Bei has been in the military for over 20 years, shouldn't he have some basic common sense?

  Fifth, in the ancient times when communication means were underdeveloped, how did the people from all over gather outside Xinye City? Obviously, someone informed and organized them. It was definitely not Cao Cao, who would organize the people to block his own army?

  Sixth, the reason that can make people abandon their homes and livelihoods to escape the war is only one, which is that someone has spread the word that if they don't leave, they will be slaughtered. And the person who says this must be someone they trust. Generally, street rumors are not believable.

  Seventh, why did someone do this? It must be those who will benefit from it.

  What benefits will he get?

  One, the people can block the speed of the army to a certain extent. When the army encounters resistance, it will inevitably conflict with the people, and there are many young men among the people. If someone takes the lead, it is also a very powerful force. This point is easy to achieve, as long as several undercover agents are mixed in among the refugees and provoke chaos. However, Cao Cao's army is not easily chaotic and killing, and military discipline is very strict. But when encountering an attack, and there are soldiers killed or injured, it becomes difficult to control.

  If your army is mainly infantry and the enemy's is cavalry, don't you need someone to block for you and leave time for escape?

  Some people will ask, he didn't bring the common people and escaped early, even infantry can walk away.

  Yes, the author agrees with this view. The problem is that he was reluctant to leave, having started a rebellion more than 20 years ago, and Xinye was his only base of operations, where he had lived for 7 years and had emotional ties. After defeating Cao's army at Bozhou Slope, he hoped to be able to repel Cao's army again. However, after burning down Xinye, Cao Cao personally led a large army to pursue him, and it was already too late to leave.

  Secondly, Cao Cao's army was blocked and clashed with the civilians, resulting in casualties among the people. Who would they hate? Who would they support? Who would benefit from this situation?

  Some people say that your criticism is actually directed at Liu Bei.

  As mentioned earlier, I am just one person's opinion, which is not enough to rely on. Liu Bei was a great politician in history. I have no right to evaluate him. I'm just analyzing a section of the content described in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Everyone can also judge based on their own preferences. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms may be fictional, and it's possible that there was no event where Liu Bei took the people with him at all.

  Zhuge suddenly thought of the depiction in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" of the heavy casualties among the civilians of Xinye, and asked: "If you abandon Xinye, will you take the civilians with you?"

  Zhuge Liang smiled and said, "No, there is no need at all."

  Zhuge Jun instructed: "You must make early preparations, in case someone wants to take the civilians with them, you must stop them. I have recently seen many refugees, it's really pitiful."

  Zhuge Liang was delighted that his brother cared about the people.

  They stayed in Xinye for a night and bid farewell to Zhuge Liang before returning to Longzhong.

  Liu Biao and Sun Quan had a feud. In the third year of Jianping (192), Sun Jian's expedition to Jingzhou was killed by Huang Zu, a general under Liu Biao. Eastern Wu and Jingzhou were always in a state of war, with their borders mutually blocked. This is also one of the main reasons why Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Liang had less contact with each other.

  It's the same in any era, under the trend of interests, business flows across borders can't be stopped. Huang Chengzu and Dongwu merchants had a very close relationship, the bribed border guards turned a blind eye to this, when the top authorities tightened their control, they would stop for two days, then everything would return to normal. The trade route has always been unobstructed.

  Zhuge Jun brought Zhao Hongshan, 10 bodyguards and 15 craftsmen, with the help of Huang Yueying's uncle, smoothly entered the territory of Eastern Wu.

  Zhuge Jin (174-241), courtesy name Ziyu, was a native of Yangdu, Langya Commandery (now Yinan County, Shandong Province). He was an important minister of Eastern Wu during the late Eastern Han and Three Kingdoms periods, serving as Grand Tutor. Zhuge Jin was the elder brother of Zhuge Liang, the Chancellor of Shu Han, and his son Zhuge Ke also served as Grand Tutor in Eastern Wu. Born into a family of Confucian scholars, Zhuge Jin specialized in the Mao Commentary on the Book of Songs, the Book of History, and the Zuo Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals.

  Zhuge Jin fled to Jiangdong with his stepmother to avoid war, and was recommended by Lu Su to serve Eastern Wu. He had a broad mind, was warm, thick and sincere, and deeply gained the trust of Sun Quan. In 215, Zhuge Jin was ordered to send Liu Bei back to Jingzhou. In 219, he followed Sun Quan to conquer Guan Yu. In 221, he was sent to Shu Han to seek peace. He played a great role in easing the relationship between Shu Han and Eastern Wu. After Lu Meng's death in Jian'an 25 (220), Zhuge Jin succeeded Lu Meng as the governor of Nangong County, stationed in Gong'an. After Sun Quan became emperor, Zhuge Jin was promoted to General-in-Chief and Governor of Yuzhou.

  In 221 AD, Eastern Wu established its capital in Jianye (Nanjing), and at that time, Zhuge Jin was in Wu County, Wu Prefecture (Suzhou). Zhuge Jin was 34 years old this year and held the position of Central Lieutenant-General (military officer).

  Entering the capital of Wu County, after asking passersby for directions, he had already found Zhuge Jin's residence. He first stayed in a nearby inn and arranged for his servants and craftsmen to settle down. Then, carrying gifts with Zhao Hongshan and four servants, they left the inn and walked along Liangping Street for about two hours. They saw a large mansion with a crimson gate, on which was hung a plaque inscribed with the three characters "Zhuge Fu" in bold font, looking very majestic. Two soldiers stood at the entrance, behind whom were two more servants.

  Zhuge Jun was very young when he parted with his elder brother and can be said to have no impression of him. He is about to meet his elder brother now, and his heart is filled with excitement.