Chapter 30 Chapter Thirty: The Heroes Exit

In the few years after Liu Bei captured Bashu, the three-point situation in the world was roughly determined. Cao Cao of Wei, Liu Bei of Shu, and Sun Quan of Wu were respectively committed to their respective internal affairs.During this period, the only major military event was Liu Bei's use of force to capture Hanzhong, which was once captured by Cao Cao, right? In May of the twenty-first year of Jian'an (AD 216), Cao Cao became the king of Wei.According to the regulations of the Han Empire, only the emperor's brothers or princes and other direct royal families are eligible to be established as kings.Liu Bang, the founder of the Han Dynasty, even said in his last words: "It is not the Liu family who is the king, and the world will fight against it."

Not only is Cao Cao not a royal family, nor is his surname Liu, so he actually became a "king". Three years later, in the twenty-fourth year of Jian'an, Liu Bei, who won Hanzhong, began to call himself the "King of Hanzhong".He is a descendant of the Han royal family, even if there is such a fact, the blood relationship should be very distant. By the way, Sun Quan became king of Wu three years later. In August of the year Liu Bei claimed to be the King of Hanzhong, Guan Yu besieged Fancheng, which was guarded by Cao Cao's cousin Cao Ren. The alliance between Shu and Wu was already nominal, and Wu later formed an alliance with Wei.When Wei's Fancheng was surrounded by Shu's Guan Yu, Wu was very indignant because his proposal to marry him was rejected.In addition, Guan Yu once took out the rice grains from Wuzhi's warehouse without saying hello—maybe he meant to borrow them, but he didn't know he would do so without saying hello, which was tantamount to snatching.

"I have to show the color of that bearded man." Sun Quan was furious and decided to send troops to Hubei. Because Guan Yu had a beautiful face and long beard, he was called "beautiful bearded man". Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are sworn brothers with their master Liu Bei.As Liu Bei's right and left hands, these two people are compared everywhere.Although the two are known for their bravery, they are completely different in character. Guan Yu is quite arrogant to his elders and colleagues, but very considerate to his subordinates.On the contrary, Zhang Fei is very respectful to the people above him, but often scolds or whips his subordinates.His belief is: "Strong soldiers are produced under whipping."

When Wu Guo sent an envoy to talk about Guan Yu's daughter's marriage, Guan Yu humiliated the envoy face to face. In fact, this was just a habit.For this reason, the relationship with Wu was in a state of tension, which made Guan Yu, who was attacking Fancheng where Wei Caoren was defending, unable to deal with the enemy with all his strength.In order to prevent Wu from attacking from behind, he had to stay on the garrison on the Yangtze River.On the Yangtze River, Mi Fang and Fu Shiren, the important ministers of Shu, were responsible for supplying food and supplies to the rear of Guan Yu who was attacking Fancheng.

Although Mi Fang and Fu Shiren were quite dedicated, Guan Yu, who was on the front line, often complained: "Those two people deliberately dragged down the delivery work and deliberately punished me. When they triumphantly, I must report to the Lord and punish them both severely." The voice of dissatisfaction reached the ears of the two people in the south. "General Guan is also our colleague, how can he treat us like people! That bearded man, does he think he is the only one fighting!" The two were very unhappy about this. Wu Sui extended a seductive hand to the two dissatisfied people.At this time, Wu's front-line commander was Lu Meng.When he was young, he was just a country warrior. When Lu Su met him, he once laughed at his lack of knowledge.But when we met again a few years later, Lu Su was quite impressed by his increased knowledge, so he said:

——It is no longer the old Wuxia Amon. This is a very famous story in history.At this time Lu Meng replied: ——Scholar farewell for three days, treat each other with admiration. Because of the presence of Lu Meng, Guan Yu had to stay in the garrison on the Yangtze River.However, Lu Meng is a person who is plagued by illness.He went out this time with a doctor accompanying him. Soon, Lu Meng returned to Jianye (Nanjing), which is said to be due to the deterioration of his condition.He was replaced by an unknown young general named Lu Xun. "There is nothing to be afraid of without Lu Meng!"

After Guan Yu heard the news, he immediately ordered the Yangtze River garrison to go north to join the siege of Fancheng. In fact, this is Wu's strategy.Appointing Lu Meng, who falsely claimed to be seriously ill, as the commander-in-chief and Sun Quan's cousin Sun Jiao as the deputy general, the Wu Zhi Expeditionary Army set off westward. Lu Meng even persuaded Mi Fang and Fu Shiren, who were very angry at Guan Yu's violent style, to obtain their promise to turn against each other at that time. . "Once General Guan triumphantly returns, the two of you will be punished. Judging from General Guan's personality, the death penalty probably won't escape!"

Hearing this sentence, of course neither of them wanted Guan Yu to win and return, so they agreed to act as internal support. Shu's Yangtze River garrison was already on its way north, so the Wu army led by Lu Meng drove straight into Jiangling, the base of Shu's Yangtze River. Cao Cao on Wei's side pushed the main force to the front of the battlefield and sent reinforcements to Fancheng.Liu Bei of Shu ordered Meng Da, the prefect of Shangyong (northwestern Hubei Province), to rescue Guan Yu, but Meng Da did not move. "If you send reinforcements, you will definitely be scolded by that bearded man for being meddlesome. I won't do such stupid things!"

Guan Yu suddenly fell into isolation.He angered Soochow because of his marriage, and was abandoned by his allies because of his arrogance to his colleagues.Guan Yu's defeat can be said to be self-inflicted.After Guan Yu was defeated, he was captured by Wu general Ma Zhong together with his son Guan Ping in a place called Zhangxiang in Dangyang County, Hubei Province, and was beheaded in Linju. It happened in December of the twenty-fourth year of Jian'an (AD 219). In fact, Lu Meng was not pretending to be sick.Returning to Jianye from the front line is certainly an act, but Lu Meng's condition at this time was indeed quite serious.After Guan Yu was beheaded, Lu Meng's condition worsened and he died, perhaps because of a sudden relaxation of spirit.

In fact, Lu Meng's death had been expected by everyone.What surprised everyone was the sudden death of Lieutenant General Sun Jiao.Sun Jiao didn't suffer from any serious illness, but he died as if following Lu Meng. Wu Jun sent the salted head of Guan Yu to Cao Cao.When Xuzhou was trapped and Liu Bei fled to Yuan Shao, Guan Yu, who had no time to escape, stayed in Cao Cao's camp as a guest minister for a period of time. Therefore, he and Wei had a relationship. "A stubborn guy, because he is too stubborn, he always gets along badly with others and his interpersonal relationship is not coordinated. Isn't this what he eats? However, he is pitiful enough."

Cao Cao held the funeral for Guan Yu with the ostentation of princes. Shortly after Guan Yu's funeral, Cao Cao died in Luoyang.It was the first month of the twenty-fifth year of Jian'an (220 AD).In his will he said: The world is not yet stable, therefore, ancient funerals are not allowed.Once the funeral is over, there is no need to wear mourning.The generals stationed in various places are not allowed to leave their posts.Officials must wear ordinary clothes and must not neglect their duties.When burying, gold, jade and treasures must not be buried with him. Such last words can be said to fully demonstrate Cao Cao's style. After Guan Yu was killed, his enemies such as Lu Meng, Sun Jiao, and Cao Cao died one by one.People at that time thought it was Guan Yu's wronged soul who was causing trouble, which was also a natural thing. People were afraid of Guan Yu's evil spirit, so they regarded Guan Yu, who was neither emperor nor king, as "Emperor Guan", and set up shrines in various places to worship him, in order to suppress his soul. ——I want to be King Wen of Zhou. This is Cao Cao's mantra. It was at the time of Zhou Wuwang that Zhou replaced Yin and became the co-lord of the world.Although King Wen, the father of King Wu, had the power to replace Yin, he hesitated and did not take action. At this time, Emperor Han was completely a puppet in name only.The Central Plains is essentially the world of Wei, and Cao Cao is the master of the world.Even so, what he taboos the most is being criticized for "usurping the world of Han".This probably has something to do with his acceptance of the concept of "usurpation is a great treason" since he was a child? "It's something for the next generation to do." This is Cao Cao's idea. Among Cao Cao's many sons, the candidates for successors selected by Cao Cao were the eldest son Pi and the third son Zhi.It was not until a few years before his death that he identified Pi as the prince.Compared with the emotional Zhi, the calm Pi is more suitable to win the world-this is the reason why he made such a decision. After Cao Cao's death, Cao Pi, who succeeded him, was quite clear about his mission.He immediately set about what had to be done. Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty finally stated that he would cede the world to King Wei, which is the so-called abdication.After Cao Pi made several formal resignations, he decided to accept it. The 400-year-old Han Dynasty finally came to an end, and the last emperor, Xiandi, was conferred the title of Duke of Shanyang and received special treatment.Xiandi has a longer life than Cao Pi, who has been transferred to the throne, and enjoys his lifespan. Is it the only reward in this troubled world? After Cao Pi ascended the throne, he was called Emperor Wen of Wei, and his late father Cao Cao was posthumously named Emperor Wu. However, the wrong information was brought to Chengdu in Shu.It was misrepresented that Cao Pi killed Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty while ascending the throne. Liu Bei of Shu immediately held a funeral for Emperor Xian. After the death of Emperor Xian, who should inherit the throne of the Han Dynasty?Liu Bei, who claimed to be a descendant of the Han royal family, firmly believed that he was the only legitimate successor of the Han Dynasty. Cao Pi ascended the throne in October of the twenty-fifth year of Jian'an, and from this year onwards, the reign name was changed to Huangchu. Liu Bei ascended the throne in April of the following year, and took this year as the first year of Zhang Wu. So there were two emperors standing side by side in the world, and the two Yuan names were adopted at the same time. The first thing Liu Bei prepared to do after becoming the emperor was to wage revenge for Guan Yu.The relationship between Liu Bei and Guan Yu is not only the righteousness of the monarch and his ministers, but also the love of brothers.In fact, their bond is deeper than that of the brothers. When the sad news of Guan Yu's death came, Liu Bei had been bedridden for many days because of his grief.Liu Bei, who has participated in countless battles and seen the deaths of countless relatives and friends, reacted very unusually when he heard the news of Guan Yu's death. "I must avenge Guan Yu!" Thinking of Guan Yu, Liu Bei's eyes became red, and tears poured down his face. It is very difficult for Shu, who has lost Jingzhou, to send an expeditionary force at this moment.What's more, Dongwu, Guan Yu's enemy, has formed an alliance with Wei. Although the prime minister Zhuge Kongming tried his best to persuade him, Liu Bei refused to listen: "Only this matter, let me do what I want. Guan Yu can't be compared with others!" Zhao Yun also expressed his opinion: "My lord came to the throne because the traitor Cao Pi killed the Emperor of Han. Isn't Cao Pi the national traitor now? It doesn't make sense to attack Sun Quan instead of suppressing the national traitor. It also violates our founding philosophy. To enrich the national strength, there is nothing else to do without it!" Although this is a fair argument, Liu Bei, who wholeheartedly wanted to avenge Guan Yu, couldn't listen to these words. "Since Sun Quan has formed an alliance with Cao Pi, he is also a national traitor." For this reason, Liu Bei issued mobilization orders to all parts of Shu. Of course, Zhang Fei, the chariot general stationed in the west of Bazhi, also received this mobilization order. The content of the order is: hurry to Jiangzhou (Chongqing) and join the imperial army departing from Chengdu. "That's what makes sense! Yes, let's train the soldiers well before setting off!" Zhang Fei firmly grasped the leather whip in his hand, and said to himself. Before setting off, I don't know how many soldiers will be beaten to death by this leather whip—the generals and school around Zhang Fei all showed nervous and panic expressions.Recently, Zhang Fei's leather whip not only hit soldiers, but also often hit the faces and backs of junior generals. "Before the expedition, I don't know how many people will be beaten to death by him. It's better to kill the general before being killed, take his head, and surrender to the Wu army! We can't ignore our old lives!" The lower-level generals and school who were seriously injured by Zhang Fei's whipping conspired with their partners to rebel. One night, Zhang Fei got drunk from drinking.No matter what kind of hero, once he is drunk, there should be no difficulty in getting rid of him—as long as he can get close to him.The problem is how to enter the heavily guarded Cheqi General's residence. That night, a doctor came to the dormitory with two attendants, and one of the attendants was holding a large box that looked like a medicine box. "The general told me at the banquet that he would send the anti-alcoholic medicine, and we have delivered it now..." The doctor stroked his beard. The guards in the dormitory seldom attended the banquet, so of course they knew nothing about the banquet. However, the general was very drunk tonight, so he thought it was very possible to ask the doctor to deliver the medicine, so he let the three of them go without doubting him. go into the house. After a while, the doctor and his party came out. "The general said he should take a good rest, unless it's an emergency, don't wake him up." The doctor explained this to the guard and left. The next morning, because General Zhang didn't get up for a long time, the captain of the guard went to his bedroom to check.As a result, it was found that there was a blood stain in the bedroom, and General Zhang was lying on the ground.However, what was lying on the ground was only the body of the general, with no head on his neck, and the murder weapon was the general's favorite sword hanging on the wall.But where did the head go?Also, where is the murderer? Guards in groups of ten have stood at the door in shifts since nightfall. "Could it be..." A guard said timidly.Could it be that the doctor is the suspect? "Yes... the most suspicious thing is the medicine box..." Is it necessary for the person who brings the hangover medicine to bring such a big medicine box?That medicine chest is big enough to fit a human head! "Quick! Call everyone!" The captain of the guard shouted nervously. All the staff were called to roll the roll, but the junior generals Zhang Da, Fan Qiang and a soldier were nowhere to be seen.Zhang Da was whipped by a general a few days ago, which is well known to all the generals and schools in the army.It turned out that Zhang Fei would punish the general in front of the soldiers. "really……" Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay. Both Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were on the road to death because of their own personalities.