In AD 190, the third year of Taiping, on the third day of May, Liu Bian, who had just been emperor for a few years, died at Hulao Pass.
On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, at the third quarter of the unitary hour, Ma Teng, the king of Liang, under the hostage of his son Ma Chao, openly proclaimed himself emperor, changed the name of the Han Dynasty to Qin, and changed the name of the Han Dynasty to Qin.
Ma Chao proclaimed himself crown prince and general, and instead of the unconscious Ma Teng, he issued the first imperial edict - the Creation of the Nation to Eliminate Thieves, and then sent envoys to spread the Creed of the Nation to Eliminate Thieves throughout the world.
At the same time, Ma Chao made Taiwei Yang Biao the King of Luoyang, Yang Xiu the Marquis of Henan, and made Yang Biao's daughter the crown prince.
In addition, Ma Chao also named Chen Qun as Sikong, Suo Xu as Chariot and Cavalry General, Zhang Xiu as Guard General, Wang Shuang as Guard Lieutenant, and his cousin Ma Dai as Liang Wang, Hussar General, and two more years.
His younger brothers Ma Xiu and Ma Tie were named King Zhao and King Jin respectively. Even his sister Ma Yunlu, who had just turned one year old, was named Princess Anle.
The rest, such as Cheng Yin, Candidate, Yang Qiu, Ma Wan, Zhang Heng, Liang Xing, Li Kan, Cheng Yi, etc., as well as the Qiang leaders of various tribes, were all granted the title of generals and marquises.
The enthronement ceremony was completed without Ma Teng's knowledge, wearing an ill-fitting dragon robe and crown.
By the time Ma Teng woke up, it was already too late. At this point, no matter how reluctant he was, he could only give up and bite the bullet and become the emperor.
The news of Ma Teng proclaiming himself emperor and getting rid of the traitors was soon brought to the Chu army's camp stationed south of Guandu by Qin army scouts.
In the camp of the Chu army, when Liu Bei learned the news and the certificate of certifying the sworn traitors, he was furious and tore the certificate of severing the bandits into pieces in his hand.
He ran towards the scout who was delivering the message. As soon as he reached the scout, without saying a word, he drew his sword and beheaded him. He said angrily: "Gao Fei is a thief of the country, Ma Teng is a thief of the country.
I hereby swear an oath to be incompatible with these two!"
After saying that, he used his sword to draw a long and deep chasm on the ground. He angrily inserted the long sword in his hand on the corpse lying on the ground and shouted loudly: "Come here! Beat the drum and raise the tent!"
After a while, the war drums in the military camp began to beat. The sound of the drums was dull and long, spreading far and wide.
"Carry the body down, kill its head, and hang the body outside the tent!" Liu Bei was extremely angry and said angrily.
The soldiers guarding outside the tent did not dare to disobey, and did as Liu Bei said. They cut the body into two parts, tied the headless body with a rope, hung it on the large banner outside the tent, and cut the head into another piece.
Hanging on the gate.
As soon as the drum for raising the tent sounded, the generals of the Chu army rushed from different camps towards the central camp where Liu Bei was.
Zhang Fei was walking his horse aside. When he heard the sound of drums, he galloped on his horse and was the first to arrive at Liu Bei's military camp. The first thing that caught his eye was a human head hanging on the camp gate, followed closely by
There was a headless corpse under a large banner with the word "Chu" floating on it.
He dismounted, threw the reins to a soldier, walked straight to the camp gate, and asked, "What happened? Whose head is this?"
The soldier replied: "The scout of the Qin army sent a letter. After reading it, the king became furious. In a rage, he killed the scout with his own hands and asked us to hang the corpses in the military camp.
To show punishment.”
Zhang Fei raised his head and glanced at the head. Seeing the bloody head dripping blood, he immediately said: "Take it off, put it aside, hang it here, how can people pass it?"
"But...this is what the king wants. How dare you disobey?"
"If I tell you to take it, take it. Brother, I'm here. It's such a good camp, why does it have to be so bloody? Take it off!" Zhang Fei glared and shouted at the top of his voice.
The soldiers were afraid of Zhang Fei. They were afraid that Zhang Fei would cause trouble for them, so they took off the heads and hung them by the camp gate.
"Third brother, what happened here? Whose head is this?" Guan Yu walked from outside the camp to Zhang Fei's side, stroked his long beard on his chest, and asked.
"A Qin Army scout was killed by his eldest brother because he angered him for some reason. Second brother, let's go in and have a look. I don't know what happened. My eldest brother has always had a good temper. What happened?
Can you make big brother so angry?"
Guan Yu nodded and walked into the camp side by side with Zhang Fei.
Before entering the Chinese army's tent, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei heard Liu Bei yelling at Gao Fei and Ma Teng outside the tent. The two of them looked at each other, and no one knew what was going on.
, he opened the curtain and walked in directly.
"Brother!"
Liu Bei was already furious. He had just killed a scout with his own hands, but it was still difficult to eliminate the anger in his heart. Seeing Guan Yu and Zhang Fei coming, he hurriedly said: "Second brother, third brother, come and sit down quickly."
Guan Yu and Zhang Fei walked over, sat down respectively, and asked in unison: "Brother, what happened to make me so angry?"
Liu Bei's face suddenly became very gloomy, and his eyes that were bright just now were filled with crystal tears. It was too late, but it was too late. The tears flowed down his cheeks like a spring, and he said mournfully:
"His Majesty passed away..."
After Guan Yu and Zhang Fei heard this, they both stood up and asked hurriedly: "Brother, His Majesty has passed away? Is this true?"
"It's absolutely true. Now, before your Majesty's body is even cold, King Liang Ma Teng has already overstepped his bounds. He has changed the Yuan Dynasty and proclaimed himself the emperor, and the country was named Qin. This villain has killed thousands of people, and I swear to live with him!" Liu Bei said through gritted teeth with hatred.
After hearing this, Guan Yu's expression became sad, and soon he began to cry. While weeping, he said: "Brother, your Majesty is still young, how could he die so easily? Did Ma Teng regicide?"
Liu Bei shook his head and said: "There is another person who killed the king. He was the Feiyu Army sent by Gao Fei to sneak attack Hulao. Together with Situ Wang Yun and Taifu Ma Rixi, they cooperated inside and outside... Your Majesty, my poor Majesty.
…”
"Gao Fei? How is that possible? He is a smart man. No matter how stupid he is, he would never do such a thing. There must be something hidden in this." After hearing this, Zhang Fei retorted, "It must be Ma Teng who wants to be the master.
Emperor, kill Your Majesty and put the blame on Gao Fei..."
"Third brother, I'm afraid only Gao Fei knows the secret behind this. I think Gao Fei has this motive. He holds the imperial seal in his hand, and His Majesty has no heirs. If His Majesty dies, then he can publicly claim
The emperor, with his strength and courage, it is not difficult to do this. Don't forget, he was the first person to establish himself as king back then. The Han Dynasty's Chao Gang is worthless in his eyes!" Guan Yu retorted.
road.
"Second brother, you don't understand. Gao Fei really wouldn't do such a thing. Although he dared to do it, he didn't dare to openly kill the king. It must have been framed by Ma Teng. Moreover, His Majesty just passed away.
, Ma Teng proclaimed himself emperor, this is a very clear thing, if it is Gao Fei, then he should be the first person to proclaim himself emperor."
"Third brother, how can you be so sure? It seems like you know Gao Fei very well? Is it because of the dark clouds and snow horse he gave you before?" Guan Yu said with a hint of sarcasm.
"Second brother, you can take medicine indiscriminately, but you can't say anything indiscriminately. I only have elder brother in my heart!" Zhang Fei was angry.
"That's enough, stop arguing. Brothers should unite. Now is the time to test our brotherhood. No matter who killed your majesty, Ma Teng openly proclaiming himself emperor is a treason and a thief. Neither is Gao Fei."
What a good thing. If you don’t give it to Your Majesty while holding the imperial seal in your hand, you are thinking of becoming emperor. Whether it’s Ma Teng or Gao Fei, it’s all us
enemy. As a descendant of the Han Dynasty and a member of the royal family, if I cannot shoulder the responsibility when the Han Dynasty is in turmoil, then I will be ashamed of my ancestors. Dear brothers, please sit down and rest for a while.
All generals and adults are here, let's discuss how to deal with Ma Teng!" Liu Bei wiped his tears and kept secretly observing Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.
"Second brother, if you encounter Gao Fei in the future, you can fight on my behalf. This will save me from being able to kill him. Do you think there is something wrong with me!" Zhang Fei said angrily.
Guan Yu was not polite and said: "That's what I thought originally. I'm really worried about letting you go. In the battle of Juluze, weren't you the one who let Gao Fei go?"
"You..." Zhang Fei became angry with embarrassment, blowing his beard and staring in anger, but what Guan Yu said was also true. At that time, he wanted to thank Gao Fei for letting him live, and he did so just out of the word "righteousness".
However, he definitely has no intention of separating from Liu Bei and Guan Yu, let alone leaving Liu Bei alone and joining Gao Fei. In his heart, Gao Fei is a friend, Liu Bei and Guan Yu are brothers, and both are important, but if one day comes
, meeting each other again on the battlefield, he thought that he would not be merciful anymore, and would also snatch the dark clouds and snow horse from Gao Fei's crotch.
Guan Yu and Zhang Fei stopped talking, and Liu Bei also sat there quietly, waiting for the arrival of others.
Not long after, the big tent was already crowded with people. When everyone arrived, Liu Bei told everything about Gao Fei's regicide, Liu Bian's death, and Ma Teng's proclaiming emperor. Everyone present was surprised.
Military generals asked for orders to attack these two national thieves, while scribes condemned Gao Fei and Ma Teng.
Only Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Xu Shao, and Yan Yan remained silent. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were too lazy to speak, Yan Yan did not dare to speak rashly because he had just joined the Chu army's camp, and Xu Shao was extremely
Look at this matter calmly.
After Liu Bei discovered the abnormality, he said to Xu Shao: "The military advisor didn't say a word. Don't you have any opinions on this matter?"
Xu Shao said: "No. It's just that I think this thing is very strange. Gao Fei committed regicide, His Majesty died, and Ma Teng became emperor. This series of things happened all in one or two days, and it happened too suddenly. Your Majesty,