Because Liu Biao, Liu Yan, and Liu Zhang are all relatives of the Han family, many people intuitively think that their relationship should be good, but in fact, when Liu Biao was alive, his relationship with Liu Yan and Liu Zhang's father and son has not been good, on the contrary, the tension between Jingzhou and Yizhou has been maintained for many years.

After Dong Zhuo's death, Liu Biao showed goodwill to Li Dao, Guo Yan and others who controlled the Chang'an court, and they also reciprocated by choosing to win over Liu Biao, and even let him supervise the military of Jiao, Yang, and Yizhou. Later, the Xiliang army group was completely disintegrated, and the hussar general Zhang Ji who went south failed to capture Nanyang, but died in battle, Liu Biao not only did not pursue its remnants, but instead reported his nephew Zhang Ji as the Taishou of Nanyang, as a barrier to his north.

【Discord with the same clan】

As early as the fifth year of Zhongping (188 years), Liu Yan has entered Shu to become the Yizhou pastor, the level is higher than the history of the thorn, he held the power in Yizhou alone, after the chaos in the world, he also had a bad heart, and even made more than 1,000 car clothes, which was the exclusive privilege of the emperor at that time, Liu Yan's behavior has deviated.

In the second year of Chuping (191), Liu Biao, who had just become the assassin of Jingzhou, learned of Liu Yan's illegal behavior, so he reported these things to the imperial court, but at that time, Dong Zhuo was still fighting against the Kwantung coalition army, and there was no extra force to sanction Liu Yan, and he was even more intoxicated with entertainment after he went to Chang'an, so this matter was over, but because of this, Liu Yan and Liu Biao began to complain that the relationship between Jingzhou Liu Biao Group and Yizhou Liu Yan and Liu Zhang Group has been not good.

In the first year of Xingping (194), Liu Yan died of illness, and his son Liu Zhang was immediately enthroned. Seeing that Yizhou was empty, Liu Biao wanted to seize Yizhou while Liu Zhang's foothold was unstable, so he sent Liu Qi to rebel against Liu Zhang's generals Shen Mi, Lou Fa, and Gan Ning, but they were later defeated by Zhao Wei and retreated into Jingzhou.

In order to prevent Liu Biao, Liu Zhang appointed Zhao Wei as the general of Zhonglang in the east of the expedition and garrisoned Qu Ren in Padang County.

Since then, there has been no record of the easing of relations between Liu Biao and Liu Zhang, and it was not until Liu Bei's period that Liu Zhang's group resumed contact with Jingzhou.

【United Xiliang】

In the third year of Chuping (192), Dong Zhuo was killed by Wang Yun, Lü Bu and others, and the forces of the Xiliang army were once expelled from the imperial court, but Wang Yun was stubborn and did not listen to advice, and oppressed the Xiliang Yu Party too hard, and the Xiliang Yu army rebelled, and they formed a coalition army, led by Li Dao, Guo Yan and others, killed Xu Rong and defeated Lü Bu to enter Chang'an, regained control of the court and the Son of Heaven, and destroyed Wang Yun as revenge.

But at that time, the actions of the Xiliang Army had been abandoned by the people of the world, so Xuzhou Thorn Shi Taoqian united with the former Yangzhou Thorn Shi Zhou Gan, Beihai Xiangguo Kong Rong and others to recommend Zhu Jun as the Taishi, move Mu Bo, and discuss Li Dao and others to welcome the Son of Heaven, so the situation of the Xiliang Army at that time was not very stable, and it urgently needed the support of external princes.

In October of this year, Liu Biao's first envoy entered the court to pay tribute and indirectly recognized the Chang'an court at that time, Li Dao, Guo Yan and others were overjoyed, so they Huangmen squire Zhong Miao worshiped Liu Biao as the general of Zhennan and the pastor of Jingzhou, and was named the Marquis of Wu, allowing the establishment of Changshi, Sima, and Zhonglang, and had the power to open the palace to summon Peng's subordinates, and the etiquette was like the three dukes; He also sent Zuo Zhonglang to confer Zhu Tan on the holiday festival, and supervised the military of Jiao, Yang, and Yi. In order to tie Liu Biao as his foreign aid.

In fact, in December of this year, Li Wei and others used Jia Xu's strategy to summon Zhu Jun into Chang'an, and later Tao Qian also sent envoys to pay tribute.

Historically, Liu Biao's diplomatic investment was extremely wise, he only made a simple tribute to turn the assassin into a state pastor, and he also obtained the power to open a prefecture, and was even allowed to expand his sphere of influence to the other three southern states.

But Liu Biao was too conservative and did not grasp the opportunity, he did not take the opportunity to further expand his power, but focused on his own three points, missed a great opportunity to expand his power, and then Li Guo's Chang'an court disappeared because of the departure of the Son of Heaven, Liu Biao's political speculation also came to an end, in the end he only obtained some nominal benefits, and failed to use the righteousness of the court to transform the name into actual benefits.

Even in the first year of Xingping (194), when Yizhou was in turmoil because of Liu Yan's death, Liu Biao only induced him to civil strife, and did not send a single soldier himself, so before Liu Zhang stood firm in Yizhou, Liu Biao did not get a piece of territory in Yizhou, let alone after Liu Zhang stabilized the situation.

【Lian Zhang Kangcao】

In the first year of Jian'an (196), Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty moved east to Luoyang, and Zhang Yang first sent the Wei general Dong Cheng to repair the palace. The servant Zhao Qi came to Jingzhou to persuade Liu Biao to help Dong Cheng, and Liu Biao sent troops to Luoyang and transported a large number of military supplies.

In the same year, Cao Cao welcomed the emperor and moved the capital to Xuchang, although Liu Biao sent an envoy to pay tribute, but he was married to Yuan Shao in the north. In the middle of governance, Deng Xi advised Liu Biao, Liu Biao did not listen, Deng Xi was dissatisfied, so he resigned and retreated, and finally Liu Biao's life was not for him.

According to the "Spring and Autumn Period of the Han Dynasty", Liu Biao replied to Deng Xi at that time: "Internally, I have not been derelict in the matter of tribute; Externally, I have not disobeyed the alliance leader, this is the way to achieve righteousness today. Why are you the only ones who keep blaming me? ”

However, Liu Biao wanted to be offended and remain neutral, but others did not see it that way, because Xuchang was very close to Nanyang County in Jingzhou, Cao Cao saw that the relationship between Liu Biao and Yuan Shao was so good, and he could not sit idly by and watch Nanyang County in the hands of Liu Biao, directly threatening Xuchang's safety, so he prepared to seize Nanyang.

After the civil strife in Chang'an, the Son of Heaven fled, and the Xiliang army was completely disintegrated, and the hussar general Zhang Ji fled from Guanzhong to Nanyang, and attacked Nanyang County's Qicheng because of the lack of food, but he was killed by a flying arrow, and his nephew Zhang Xiu then collected his troops and withdrew from Yucheng.

Jingzhou officials congratulated Liu Biao after learning about it. Liu Biao said: "Zhang Ji came to the end of the road, but I, as the master, was so rude, this is not my intention, so I am only condoled and not congratulated." After that, Liu Biao sent people to lure the rest of Zhang Ji's subordinates, and his subordinates were overjoyed when they heard the news and obeyed Liu Biao. Under Jia Xu's persuasion, Zhang Xiutun's soldiers Wancheng united with Liu Biao and became Liu Biao's vassal power in the north, defending him against Cao Cao.

After Zhang Xiu's death, Liu Biao not only did not further expel his remnants, but instead let Zhang Xiu control Nanyang, as a barrier to his north, which seemed to be cost-effective on the surface, and he also got a group of elite Xiliang troops without sending troops.

However, this is actually a big mistake made by Liu Biao, he originally wanted to use Zhang Xiu's strength to resist Cao Cao, but Zhang Xiu was not reliable for Liu Biao, his uncle Zhang Ji died in the hands of the defenders of Jingzhou, and he had no friendship with Liu Biao, so Zhang Xiu did not need to work for Liu Biao, which was equivalent to Liu Biao handing over his portal Nanyang to others for nothing.

Therefore, Zhang Xiu did not have a sense of belonging to Jingzhou from the beginning, nor did he consider himself a subordinate of Liu Biao, and the decisions he made were basically based on his own considerations, which also led to Liu Biao's eventual loss of Nanyang County.

Note 1: This means that Kuai Liang is talking about a long-term plan, Kuai Yue is talking about a temporary strategy, and the allusion comes from the battle of Chengpu