In "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Zhou Yu is undoubtedly a character who has been "blacked" very badly. In the novel, it is said that he has a narrow temperament, and finally he is killed by Zhuge Liang's three qi. In history, Zhou Yu is actually very atmospheric and magnificent, and he is definitely not a careful eye and vinegar jar in the novel. Zhou Yu is handsome and resourceful, and is a true Confucian general who is both literate and martial. For example, Zhou Yu's musical literacy was very high, and there was a folk proverb at that time that said, "The song is wrong, Zhou Lang gu." "Shiren's evaluation of Zhou Yu is very high.
Zhou Yu did make great contributions to Eastern Wu, first following Sun Ce to create the Foundation of Jiangdong, and then assisting Sun Ce's brother Sun Quan to sit firmly in the "Six Counties and Eighty-One Prefectures of Jiangdong". In the thirteenth year of Jian'an of the Eastern Han Dynasty (206), Cao Cao, who unified the north, led a large army to the south to destroy Eastern Wu and unify the world, and Eastern Wu reached the autumn of critical survival. Zhou Yu and Liu Bei fought a battle at Chibi, crushing Cao Cao's ambitions to pacify Jiangnan in one fell swoop. Of course, some people say that the first merit of the Battle of Chibi was Zhou Yu, not Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang, who had nothing.
Unfortunately, Zhou Yu died too early, and in 210 AD, the 36-year-old Zhou Yu died young. Many people lamented that Zhou Yu had not died so early, and the direction of the history of the Three Kingdoms might have been different. During his lifetime, Zhou Yu proposed to Sun Quan to cut shu in order to confront Cao Cao from the north and south. If Eastern Wu operated according to Zhou Yu's strategy, would it eat Liu Bei, and then Eastern Wu and Cao Wei would confront each other and divide the world?
Zhou Yu's strategic concept is basically divided into four steps. The first step was to capture Yizhou, the second step was to annex Zhang Lu, the third step was to unite with Ma Chao, and finally to fight with Cao Cao to fight for the Central Plains. The possibility of this strategy being realized is almost non-existent, and the problem that Zhou Yu has to face is twofold. Externally, after the Battle of Chibi, Cao Wei's strength was greatly damaged, and he could only temporarily put an end to the flag and recuperate. Liu Bei already had a foothold at this time and began to plot to expand to Yizhou. Zhou Yu also proposed to Sun Quan the intention of attacking Yizhou, and the historical record is "Sun Quan Xuzhi", but Zhou Yu died of a violent illness on the road to the West, which actually has a lot of mysteries. But let's not explore this suspicious case today, even if Zhou Yu doesn't die, will he be able to successfully capture Yizhou? The answer is undoubtedly no.
At that time, Liu Bei had already occupied Changsha County, Guiyang County, Lingling County, Wuling County, and other places in Jingzhou. Jingzhou is the land of four wars and the junction of three forces, and it is not suitable for becoming a base camp or a large rear. If Zhou Yu captures Yizhou, the relative balance of forces between the three parties is broken. At this time, Liu Bei's clique, sandwiched between the two major forces of Sun and Cao, would be weaker, and Eastern Wu would no longer need to unite with Liu Bei, and would have enough strength to resist Cao Cao. In this way, Liu Bei became a piece of fat in the eyes of Eastern Wu, and it was sooner or later to eat it. Similarly, as long as Cao Cao took Liu Bei, he could also cut off the alliance between Jiangdong and Yizhou. But whether he was eaten by Cao Cao or Sun Quan, Liu Bei's end would be a dead end, which was undoubtedly disastrous for Liu Bei, who had great ambitions.
It can be said that Yizhou is the core interest of Liu Bei's group, and Liu Bei will never sit idly by while Zhou Yu attacks Yizhou. If the situation forced Liu Bei to be cornered, the possibility of Liu Bei and Sun Quan turning their faces or even allying with Cao Cao could not be ruled out. Liu Bei's subordinates had Wen Youwu, Wen Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, and others, and Wu Xiangyu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Chen Zhi, Wei Yan, and others, who had certain strength. Although Sun Quan's strength was stronger than Liu Bei's, if the two sides really fought, it was likely to be a protracted war, which could only cheapen Cao Cao. Zhou Yu's plan is good on the surface, but in fact it is very difficult to operate.
Taking ten thousand steps back, even if Sun Quan took Liu Bei and then attacked Liu Zhang in Yizhou. Liu Zhang was relatively cowardly, but none of his men were fuel-saving lamps, and the Sichuan soldiers were strong, and Wu Bing, who came from afar, could take them overnight. Cao Cao in the north could not sit back and watch Sun Quan destroy Liu Bei of Jingzhou and Liu Zhang of Yizhou, and was bound to stab Sun Quan in the back. Wei Bing either went out of Xiangyang in the west or out of Hefei in the east, pinning down Wu Bing and not allowing Wu Bing to advance west smoothly.
For this problem, Sun Quan is more sober than Zhou Yu. Sun Quan was more inclined to Lu Su's strategy of "uniting with Liu to resist Cao" in his heart, and this choice was indeed the most in line with Jiangdong's interests at that time. From this point of view, Sun Quan lived up to Sun Ce's pre-death evaluation: "I am not as good as Qing if I raise the meritocracy and be able to protect Jiangdong." Zhou Yu's strategic planning has already clashed with Sun Quan's choice, not to mention that Zhou Yu was originally Sun Ce's confidant, and after the Battle of Chibi, sun Quan's reputation shocked the world, and Sun Quan may not want Zhou Yu to make great achievements in the future from the bottom of his heart, and it will not be easy to control in the future. After Zhou Yu's death, his descendants were miserably groomed by Sun Quan, which is very telling.
Under these circumstances, Zhou Yu's strategic goal of dividing the world into two worlds, in addition to the difficulty of his own operation, did not support him internally, and there was no way to concentrate on the western expedition at all. The so-called dichotomy of the world is more like the moon in the water and the flower in the mirror, which looks beautiful.