Liu Bei's unforgettable life in Xuzhou

Three kingdoms 25

In the fall of 193 A.D.,Cao Cao attacked Xuzhou徐州 to avenge his father's death. Tian Kai田楷, the provincial governor of Qingzhou青州 under Gongsun Zan公孙瓒, sent Liu Bei went to rescue, then Cao Cao retreated due to a shortage of food and supplies.

Knowing that Cao Cao wouldn't stop, Tao Qian陶谦,the provincial governor of Xuzhou, recommended Liu Bei as the provincial governor of Yuzhou豫州, and gave Liu Bei 4,000 men to station in Xiaopei小沛（a county in Yuzhou） and resist Cao Cao's army.

A year later, Cao Cao's army came back to Xuzhou and Liu Bei was defeated, but Cao Cao retreated again due to the rebellion in his headquarters Yanzhou兖州.

In the winter of the same year, Tao Qian died of illness, and Liu Bei was elected to be Xuzhou's provincial governor by Mi Zhu糜竺,a local billionaire and the deputy of provincial governor ,and Chen Deng陈登，who was from a powerful scholarly family in Xuzhou .This year, Liu Bei was only 34.

At the age of 24, Liu Bei started his career in his hometown of Zhuo涿 commandery, from a commoner to a warlord, it only took him ten years, which is very fast ,even Cao Cao at his 37,he still had nothing.

Before Liu Bei took over the post of Xuzhou governor, Chen Qun陈群, the then deputy provincial governor of Yuzhou under Liu Bei’s command, advised him not to take over the post, “as Xuzhou was surrounded by the mighty Cao Cao in the west and the greedy Yuan Shu袁术 in the south, now you take all the Xuzhou would surely lead Yuan Shu to fight with you, and if Lu Bu吕布 took advantage of the situation to attack your rear, the governor of Xuzhou would still be changed by others.” However, the position of Provincial Governor of Xuzhou was very attractive to Liu Bei, who had been living in exile for many years, so Liu Bei finally did not adopt Chen Qun's suggestion and accepted the seal left by Tao Qian.

At that time, the situation of Xuzhou was very complicated. Xuzhou in the Eastern Han Dynasty had 5 commanderies, they were Xiapi下邳, Pengcheng彭城, Langya琅琊, Donghai东海 and Guangling广陵. Because Tao Qian from Danyang丹阳 commandery in Yangzhou扬州, he relied heavily on the Danyang soldiers during his rule of Xuzhou. The Danyang soldiers were known for their strong fighting ability at the time, and although they could not defeat Cao Cao, they were more than capable of suppressing uprisings and stabilizing the province.

Zang Ba臧霸 and others,are heroes from the Taishan commandery in Yanzhou, are stationed in Langya, they are nominally subordinate of Tao Qian, but in fact, they are an Independent Warlord.

In addition,Chen Deng was from a powerful local family, the family Chen in Xuzhou,was one of the top tier of scholarly clans in that time.

For Liu Bei, who was in his early 30s, mastering such a complicated Xuzhou was far beyond his ability. He was unable to control the fierce Danyang generals and Taishan heroes militarily, nor was he able to suppress the local scholars in Xuzhou in terms of their status. Chen Qun saw Liu Bei's short-sightedness and inability to listen to his advice, and thus became very disappointed with him.

In 196 A.D., Yuan Shu really attacked Xuzhou, Liu Bei led his troops to engage, while Cao Bao曹豹 and other Danyang generals took the opportunity to lure Lu Bu into Xiapi and captured Liu Bei's family, Liu Bei was also defeated by Yuan Shu at the front, with his soldiers and generals scattered, Liu Bei could only collect the remnants of his army to the east, but he was defeated by Yuan Shu again in Guangling, and he had to flee to Haixi county in a hurry.

At this time, Liu Bei had no way forward, no home to retreat, few men still followed him, helpless. Even more ，his army also cut off the food, there was a man-eating tragedy. Fortunately, Mi Zhu contributed his family's wealth to support, so that Liu Bei and his men did not starve to death.

Under the circumstances, Liu Bei had to ask Lu Bu for peace,Lu Bu made him a favor and let him return to Xiaopei again. But soon,after Liu Bei gathered his former troops,Lu Be was worried that Liu Bei would not be under control,he attacked Liu Bei again ,Liu Bei was soon defeated by Lu Bu, and had to go to Xuchang许昌 to join Cao Cao, who appointed Liu Bei as the provincial governor of Yuzhou as the name of the emperor, and funded Liu Bei soldiers, horses, and provisions, so that Liu Bei could go back to Xiaopei to keep Lu Bu at bay.

But In 198 AD, Xiaopei was again captured by Lu Bu's mighty generals Gao Shun高顺 and Zhang Liao张辽, Liu Bei fled to Cao Cao again, his family being captured again. But Cao Cao soon captured Xiapi and executed Lu Bu, and Xuzhou eventually fell into Cao Cao's hands.

At this time, Liu Bei's origin is humble , his political vision is not high, He has no any attraction to the talents from those powerful scholarly clans. Chen Qun from Yuzhou, Chen Deng from Xuzhou, and even Liu Bei's early friends Tian Yu田豫 from Youzhou幽州,and Qiao Zhao牵昭,who swore to die together with Liu Bei, all chose Cao Cao and leave him.

But Liu Bei's sincere treatment of people and his benevolence and righteousness,made the commoners, such as Jian Yong简雍, Sun Qian孙乾, and Mi Zhu, and the mighty generals such as Guan Yu关羽, Zhang Fei张飞 and Zhao Yun赵云, willing to follow him, which became the reason that he kept having power to fight against warlords among him. This also became the capital for Liu Bei to fight against destiny again in the future.

After the battle of Xiapi, Liu Bei was appointed as the General of Left,which title he relied on for nearly 20 years, and followed Cao Cao back to Xuchang, where he began his third life as a follower after Gongsun Zan and Tao Qian.