[After Guan Yunchang and Lu Zijing's single-blade verbal duel, the standoff in Jing Province froze solid.
No one dared move first.
And then, someone else finally lost patience.
Boss Cao.
In 215, while Sun Quan and Liu Bei were locked in their tug-of-war over Jing Province, news reached both camps:
Cao Cao personally led an army—claimed at over a hundred thousand—westward to campaign against Zhang Lu in Hanzhong.
The objective was obvious: seize the gateway to Shu and dominate the upper Han River.]
The generals immediately grasped the implications.
By this time, Ma Chao had already submitted to their lord. Zhang Lu, meanwhile, had been left with only one capable general—Pang De.
"If Cao Cao advances from Chang'an," voices rose around the hall, "his supplies can move straight down the Bao River."
"In that case," someone muttered, "Zhang Lu's defeat was inevitable."
After all, the light-screen had already revealed the outcome of the Hanzhong campaign—
and the man defending Yangping Pass was Xiahou Yuan.
Guan Yu frowned, turning it over in his mind.
"To hold Hanzhong," he said slowly, "you block the Bao–Xie Corridor first.
If that fails, you fall back to Yangping Pass."
"That terrain alone could stall even a hundred thousand troops for a year or more."
Yangping Pass was infamous throughout the realm.
Even years later, when Liu Bei campaigned in person, he had to avoid it entirely—circling through the mountains instead.
Could Cao Cao really force his way through head-on?
[Cao Cao's move on Hanzhong immediately put Liu Bei back on the defensive.
And with Sun Quan's occupation of Jing Province already a fait accompli, neither side wished to escalate further.
Negotiations resumed.
The result was a compromise:
Nan Commandery, Wuling, and Lingling returned to Liu Bei.
Changsha, Jiangxia, and Guiyang went to Sun Quan.
The Xiang River became the dividing line.
This agreement became known as the Pact of the Xiang River.]
"The Xiang River Pact?" Guan Yu frowned.
"Then when they stabbed us in the back at Fancheng later—wasn't that a direct violation?"
Zhang Fei snorted.
"What's new, Second Brother?"
"Didn't the screen already explain it?" he said with a grin.
'Afraid your brother lives too poorly—yet even more afraid he lives too well.'
"I don't know what a 'Land Rover' is," Zhang Fei added, "but I get the meaning."
"Right now, we're weak. Sun Quan can knead us however he likes."
"But later?" His eyes gleamed.
"Big Brother takes Yi Province and Hanzhong.
I pacify Baxi.
You sit at Fancheng.
The Strategist runs the whole board."
"At that point," Zhang Fei laughed, "Sun Quan has to watch our face."
"How could he not panic?"
Zhuge Liang saw it most clearly.
"Sun Quan cannot tolerate our rise," he said calmly.
"And in his heart, Jing and Yi were always meant to belong to Wu."
"Even if we ceded three commanderies—or four—he would still believe we were deceitful."
"To Wu, the ideal Liu Yuzhou is one they can overturn with a single hand."
"Not a King of Hanzhong who stands as an equal."
He sighed inwardly.
Such was their ally.
And yet—what other choice did they have?
Still, Zhuge Liang continued aloud:
"From Sun Quan's perspective, however, this pact was also an opportunity."
Liu Bei replied with just two words:
"March north."
Unspoken was another thought:
Lingling was returned… so where is my Lingling Administrator?
Did he truly have to be dragged to Wu and die by implication?
[After the Pact of the Xiang River, Liu Bei hurried back to prepare for Hanzhong.
Unfortunately, he was too late.
The campaign was already over.
Zhang Lu's brother, Zhang Wei, resisted at Yangping Pass and was personally executed by Cao Cao.
Everyone else—including Zhang Lu himself—chose surrender.
Zhang Lu famously declared:
"I wished to submit to the state; my intent simply failed to arrive."
Even while retreating toward Bazhong in a half-feigned resistance, Zhang Lu refused to burn supplies or treasure.
"These stores," he said, "belong to the state."
That, gentlemen, is what awareness looks like.
Cao Cao was delighted.
He praised Zhang Lu openly, accepted his surrender, and enfeoffed him as Marquis of Langzhong.
He even arranged a marriage between his son Cao Yu and Zhang Lu's daughter.
Their grandson, Cao Huan, would later ascend the Wei throne as Emperor Yuan—
though the timing was unfortunate.
In 260, Cao Mao was assassinated, and Cao Huan inherited a crown already hollow.
As for Zhang Lu himself, later dynasties honored him as
"Perfected Lord of the Orthodox Unity, Supreme Clarity, Manifested Transformation."
A strange, fascinating life by any measure.]
"No wonder Hanzhong was such a nightmare later," Liu Bei said through clenched teeth.
"What could we do? Zhang Lu wanted to surrender from the start."
Zhang Fei laughed and nudged Guan Yu.
"Second Brother, your estimate was way off."
"Even with his own brother executed, Zhang Lu never wavered."
"With that mindset, Hanzhong fell in one stroke."
Guan Yu remained silent.
I calculated a fight, he thought.
This was surrender. Not the same thing.
Then the mention of Cao Mao drew their attention.
"Assassinated?" Liu Bei's face hardened.
"To kill one's ruler—that is regicide."
Speculation followed.
"The Gaoping Tombs Incident?"
"The Sima clan killing their lord?"
"Installing Cao Yu's son as a puppet?"
"What of Cao Rui's line?" someone asked.
"Dead?"
"Deposed?"
"Imprisoned?"
Zhang Fei scoffed.
"Probably the Cao bloodline just ran thin—like Cao Cao's sons, dying young!"
In the end, they could only sigh.
The Cao family's fate was turbulent indeed.
Zhuge Liang quietly reconstructed the timeline.
"Zhang Lu surrendered in 215."
"That means preparations in Chengdu in 216."
"And our lord's Hanzhong campaign begins in 217."
He looked up.
"Sun Quan will not remain idle."
[After the Pact of the Xiang River, Liu Bei returned west to contest Hanzhong.
Guan Yunchang was left guarding Jing Province with only thirty thousand troops.
Ahead of him stood Cao Ren at Fancheng.
Behind him lingered Sun Quan—wiping his hands on the pact.
Three fronts. One army.
How was that supposed to work?
Then—
From Hefei, a gong rang.
Sun Quan delivered a gift to the world:
The God of Xiaoyao Ford.
Zhang Liao stepped forward and declared:
"Watch closely, my countrymen. I'll show you exactly where Sun Quan's weakness lies."
Watching from Hefei's walls was Yue Jin, previously driven there by Guan Yu.
The aging general—three years left to live—stared at Zhang Liao's charge.
Perhaps he saw his younger self, once charging first beneath Cao Cao's banner.
For Sun Quan, 215 felt perfect.
Jing Province seized without effort.
Cao Cao deep in Hanzhong.
Liu Bei pulled back to Yi Province.
Wu's northern defenses stripped thin.
Hefei—the lifeline of Jiangdong—held by only seven thousand men.
The age of "commanding the realm," Sun Quan believed, had finally arrived.]
〖It has arrived! — Ecstasy! (Zhang Liao)
It has arrived! — Terror! (Sun Quan)
Sun Jian: Tiger of Jiangdong
Sun Ce: Little Conqueror
Sun Quan: …Mouse of Jiangdong?
A battle that defined both men.
Nanjing to Hefei by high-speed rail: one hour.
Brother Sun—buy a ticket. Cry.
Wu soldiers grumble on watch: "This commander's an idiot."
Lü Meng overhears and arrests the man on the spot.
"I didn't name anyone!" the soldier protests.
Lü Meng roars: "After all my years in Wu, you think I don't know exactly who you meant?!"
King of Wu's calculation:
Ten thousand vs seven thousand.
Advantage: me.
Hefei, also known as: Sun Quan's Happy City.
Tang Taizong Li Shimin:
'After the Xiang River Pact, Chu lost—and Qi gained nothing.'〗