Why did Xu Shu shed tears and refused to leave? Why did Liu Bei and Xu Shu cry together?

In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Xu Shu was highly regarded as the first person to defect to Liu Bei and who was well versed in military strategy. When he left, Liu Bei bid farewell reluctantly and was very reluctant to leave. He even cut down the woods because the woods blocked his view of Xu Shu. This classic scene was sad to watch.

Then we can’t help but wonder how powerful Xu Shu was that made Liu Bei so moved by his departure, and why was he unwilling to submit to Liu Bei again?

In the novel, there are not many places where Xu Shu shows his talents. Once he helped Liu Bei defeat Cao Ren after following Liu Bei, and once in the Battle of Chibi.

Defeat Cao Ren

Cao Cao often wanted to take advantage of Jingzhou, but he didn't quite understand how strong Jingzhou was, so he sent Cao Ren to lead the army to find out the truth. Cao Ren ordered Lu Kuang and Lu Xiang to lead an army of five thousand to Xinye to attack Liu Bei. After Liu Bei got the news, he immediately discussed with Xu Shu. Under Xu Shu's suggestion, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun each led an army and successfully defeated Er Lu.

When Cao Ren learned that Er Lu had failed, he personally led his army and set up an eight-door golden lock formation. No one in Liu Bei's army recognized this formation, let alone broke it. Fortunately, Xu Shu was well-informed and ordered Zhao Yun to attack from the southeast and attack from the west, thus defeating Cao's army. After Cao's army was defeated, they came to rob the stronghold again that night. Unexpectedly, Xu Shu had packed his bags in advance and was waiting for Cao's army to get in. In the end, most of Cao's army was damaged, Cao Ren fled back to Xuchang, and Fancheng was captured by Liu Bei. Xu Shu's battle shocked Cao Cao. At Cheng Yu's suggestion, Cao Cao used Xu Shu's mother to lure him to Cao Ying.

Battle of Chibi

During the Battle of Chibi, Xu Shu also followed Cao Cao to the front line. In this battle, Zhou Yu showed his prowess. He first used Jiang Qian to steal books and implement counterintuitive tactics to eliminate Cao Cao's naval commanders. Then he and Huang Gai staged a bitter trick to pretend to surrender to Cao Cao. Finally, Pang Tong was sent to present a chain plan to burn Red Cliff. And Cao Cao, who was extremely smart, was actually deceived by Zhou Yu. In the entire Cao camp, Xu Shu was the only one who saw these strategies clearly.

Original text of the novel: Tong said goodbye and arrived at the riverside. Just as he was about to get off the boat, he suddenly saw a man on the shore wearing a Taoist robe and a bamboo crown. He grabbed Tong and said, "You are so bold! Huang Gai used a bitter trick to get off Kanze." Fake surrender, you come again with a series of tricks: I'm afraid you won't be able to do it! You have to hide it from Cao Cao, and you have to hide it from me!" Pang Tong was frightened to death. But when Pang Tong heard this, he was startled and looked back at the person anxiously. It turned out to be Xu Shu.

However, although Xu Shu saw through Soochow's plan, he had already vowed not to make any suggestions for Cao Cao, so he did not inform Cao Cao of Soochow's plan, but found an opportunity to leave Chibi.

So since Xu Shu is so powerful and admires Liu Bei as a person, why is he unwilling to submit to Liu Bei anymore?

Xu Shu returned to Cao Cao

Xu Shu actually admired Liu Bei very much and wanted to help Liu Bei achieve great things. However, because of his filial nature, Cao Cao took advantage of his weakness and forged his mother's notes and asked him to go to Xuchang to fulfill his filial piety. Xu Shu had no choice but to abandon Liu Bei and go to Xuchang. Liu Bei knew that Xu Shu was going to fulfill his filial piety and could not stop him, so the scene at the beginning of the article happened.

Xu Shu’s mother is a person who understands righteousness. When Cao Cao first asked him to persuade Xu Shu to surrender, she refused directly. She believed that Liu Bei was the emperor’s uncle and was affectionate and righteous, while Cao Cao’s name was Han. The prime minister was actually a treacherous minister and was unwilling to let Xu Shu assist him. After Xu Shu arrived in Xuchang and met with his mother, everything became clear. It was all Cao Cao's conspiracy! Xu's mother was a strong-willed person, because she caused Xu Shu to be deceived, lost her reputation for justice, became a disloyal person, and finally chose to commit suicide. When Xu Shu saw his mother's death, he was very sad and vowed not to contribute any advice to Cao Cao.

Goodbye Liu Bei

Zhuge Liang burned Bowangpo and defeated Cao's army again. Cao Cao was furious, but in order to win over the people, at Liu Ye's suggestion, he asked Xu Shu to go and persuade Liu Bei to surrender. After Xu Shu met Liu Bei, he told him that Cao Cao was actually pretending to win over the people and had secretly divided his troops into eight groups to attack, so he asked Liu Bei to prepare for battle and retreat. Seeing Xu Shu's frankness, Liu Bei remembered his original friendship and wanted to keep Xu Shu, but Xu Shu was unwilling.

Original text of the romance: Xuande wanted to keep Xu Shu. The concubine thanked him and said, "If I don't return this, I'm afraid it will make people laugh. Now that my mother is dead, I will hold grudges for the rest of my life. Although I am there, I swear not to make any plans. I have Wolong to assist me, so why worry about failing to achieve my great cause. Please resign." Virtue dare not force him to stay.

This passage by Xu Shu actually explains the reason why he no longer wants to submit to Liu Bei.

1. Xu Shu had betrayed Liu Bei before. Although it was excusable because of his mother, the fact was a foregone conclusion. Others who did not know the truth would think Xu Shu was an unfaithful person. If Xu Shu abandons Cao Cao and joins Liu Bei again at this time, it will further strengthen his reputation for disloyalty. He will completely become a two-faced person and make people laugh.

2. Xu Shu is a filial person, and it was for this reason that he left Liu Bei. Although her mother was dead at this time, she was buried in Xuchang after all, and Xu Shu was in Caoying, and she could still worship her from time to time. If you surrender to Liu Bei, it will be difficult for you to have the opportunity to worship your mother.

3. Before Xu Shu left, he had recommended Zhuge Liang to Liu Bei. At this time, Zhuge Liang was already assisting Liu Bei. Even without Xu Shu's help, Liu Bei could achieve great things. That's why Xu Shu said, if the public has Wolong as his assistant, there is no need to worry about failing to achieve a great cause.

Summary

Based on the above analysis, Xu Shu is very capable. Judging from his performance in the Battle of Chibi, he is better than Liu Ye, Xun You, Cheng Yu and others in Cao's camp. Smarter. The reason why he did not want to submit to Liu Bei anymore was because he was afraid of being completely branded as disloyal and making the world laugh, and at the same time, he also wanted to have more opportunities to worship his mother and fulfill his filial piety. In the final analysis, Xu Shu is a capable person who is affectionate, loyal and filial, and these qualities eventually became his shackles.