Why was Ma Teng exterminated? Why is Ma Chao the last of the Five Tiger Generals?

Ma Teng was killed purely because his son Ma Chao "cheated his father". As for the last one of Ma Chao's "Five Tiger Generals", I wonder what the word "last" means? If he can still join in the end, it is because of Ma Chao's great contribution. If we talk about rankings, Ma Chao is not the last one at all. In the novel, the last one is Huang Zhong, and Ma Chao is fourth. There are no five tiger generals in history, and the five-man Chao ranked third in the history books. In the ranking of the five official positions, Ma Chao was second or third before Guan Yu died, and Ma Chao was even first after Liu Bei became emperor.

Let’s first talk about Ma Teng’s family being exterminated. The theory in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is that Ma Teng participated in Dong Cheng's "Belt Order Conspiracy" to get rid of Cao Cao. The matter was reported by Dong Cheng's family. Except for Liu Bei's escape, all seven people involved were killed. Later, Ma Chao avenged his father. Not at all. In official histories such as "Book of the Later Han Dynasty", "Three Kingdoms", and "Zi Zhi Tong Jian", there are different records of the participants in the Yidai Zhao Incident. General Secretary Xi Jinping wrote that Dong Cheng, Wu Zilan, Wang Zifu (one is Wang Fu), Zhong Fu, etc. Ji, Liu Bei, and Wu Shuo, but none of them mentioned Ma Teng. Moreover, Dong Cheng and others were defeated and killed in the fifth year of Jian'an. At that time, Ma Teng was still fighting in Guanzhong. He did not enter the court until the thirteenth year of Jian'an, and was not killed until the seventeenth year of Jian'an. Therefore, Ma Teng has nothing to do with this incident.

Historically, it was not Ma Chao who rebelled in revenge for his father after Ma Teng was killed, but it was Ma Chao who rebelled first and led to Ma Teng's murder. Ma Teng was originally a Xiliang warlord. He participated in the "Sanfu Rebellion" and gradually grew in strength. He became a heterosexual brother with Han Sui and became the third assistant. Later, he was recruited by the imperial court and helped Cao Cao defeat Yuan Shang's subordinate Guo Yuan. He was awarded the title of General of the Southern Conquest and opened his mansion.

In the thirteenth year of Jian'an, he turned against Han Sui, and Cao Cao granted Ma Teng the title of General and Marquis of Huaili. Later, he followed the advice of counselor Zhang Ji, expressed his loyalty to Cao Cao, gave up his military power, and entered the court as a guard. His two sons, Ma Xiu and Ma Tie, served as the governor of the carriage and the captain of the cavalry. They all entered the court as officials, and the rest of their family members moved to Cao Cao's control. He lived in Yecheng, and only his eldest son Ma Chao continued to lead Ma Teng's tribe, and was granted the title of General and Dutinghou. He still occupied Huaili and intimidated the three assistants.

As a result, in the 16th year of Jian'an, Cao Cao sent Zhong Yao and Xia Houyuan out of Hedong, passed through the territories of Xiliang warlords such as Ma Chao, and entered the palace of Zhang Lu in Hanzhong. Ma Chao believed that Cao Cao's move was a false way to destroy Guo, and was intended to eliminate the Xiliang warlords. He actually went to make peace with Han Sui, asking Han Sui to give up his son who was a hostage in the court, and he also gave up his father Ma Teng, and finally formed an alliance. Raised an army against Cao Cao. Cao Cao went on a personal expedition to alienate Ma Chao and Han Sui, and defeated the coalition forces in Weinan. Ma Chao retreated to Liangzhou, swept through Xiliang, and attacked Jicheng where Wei Kang, the governor of Liangzhou, was located.

Cao Cao then killed Ma Teng and sent Xia Houyuan to attack Ma Chao. Wei Kang originally surrendered to Ma Chao and ceded the city of Hebei, but Ma Chao allowed Zhang Lu's generals to kill Wei Kang, which led Wei Kang's men to rebel and kill Ma Chao's wife and children. In the end, Ma Chao lost the city and lost his land, and fled to Hanzhong to join Zhang Lu. Therefore, the murder of Ma Teng's entire clan was due to the rebellion of his son Ma Chao. Regardless of whether Cao Cao intended to attack the Xiliang warlords, Ma Chao's behavior of disregarding the life and death of his father and the entire clan and uniting with his enemy Han Sui to rebel against Cao Cao was the direct cause.

Let’s talk about the so-called “Five Tiger Generals”. I don’t know where the questioner got the idea that Ma Chao was the last of the Five Tigers? Is it because he appears last in the novel? If you are asking why Ma Chao finally joined Liu Bei and became one of the highest-ranking generals in Liu Bei's camp (that is, the Five Tiger Generals in the novel), it is because he has a great reputation and credit.

In terms of reputation, Ma Chao has been honored for generations (his ancestor is General Fubo, Ma Yuan, the famous founding general of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and his father Ma Teng is also a high-ranking official). He is also one of the only three people in Liu Bei's camp who has received the Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty. Those who received official titles (Liu Bei's own General Zuo and Marquis Ting of Yicheng, Guan Yu's General General and Marquis Shouting of Han Dynasty, Ma Chao's General General and Marquis Duting) once again fought against Cao Cao, which shocked the Central Plains.

In terms of credit, when Ma Chao surrendered to Liu Bei, Liu Bei was besieging Chengdu. Although Liu Zhang was unable to counterattack at that time, he was more than able to defend the city. But when he heard that Ma Chao had surrendered to Liu Bei and led his army to the city, he immediately gave up the resistance and surrendered. It was also because of Ma Chao's reputation that he was the first to win Chengdu. In the subsequent battle between Liu Bei and Cao Cao for Hanzhong, Ma Chao performed outstandingly again and mobilized tens of thousands of Leiding people from the Xiliang Di tribe to support Liu Bei, which greatly made up for Liu Bei's shortage of soldiers. After the Battle of Hanzhong in the official history, Ma Chao also led the ministers to persuade Liu Bei to become the king of Hanzhong, which was also a great achievement.

Then let’s talk about the ranking. The "Five Tiger Generals" are the words of a novelist. In the 73rd chapter of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Liu Bei ascended to the throne of Hanzhong. The original text "Female Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Ma Chao, Huang Zhong is one of the Five Tiger Generals." Why is Ma Chao in last place? The last one is obviously Huang Zhong, and Ma Chao is fourth. Zhao Yun's status was deliberately elevated in the novel, so Ma Chao ranked fourth.

In history, there is no such thing as the Five Tiger Generals. However, when Chen Shou wrote "The Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms", he listed Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Ma Chao, Huang Zhong and Zhao Yun in a biography as "Guan and Zhang". Ma Huang Zhao Zhuan", in the ranking here, Ma Chao is ranked third, not last.

Finally, let’s talk about Ma Chao’s official position. Liu Bei ascended the throne as Queen of Hanzhong (that is, when the Five Tiger Generals were named in the novel), and named former General Guan Yu, General Zhang Fei Right, General Ma Chao Left, and General Huang Zhong. These were the Four Generals, belonging to the senior military generals "Generals with Heavy Titles" (this At that time, Zhao Yun was only a general of the Yi army, a second-class miscellaneous general). There is no dispute over the ranking of the four generals: the former general is first and the latter general is fourth. There is a dispute about which of the left and right generals is in front and who is behind. Because the Han Dynasty favored the right, theoretically the right general should be superior to the left general. But there is another saying that the right of civil servants is on the upper left, while the generals of military affairs are on the contrary, with the left on the upper right. I don't know whether it is true or not. Therefore, it is difficult to tell whether Ma Chao ranks second or third.

Shortly after Guan Yu's death, Liu Bei proclaimed himself emperor and made Ma Chao a hussar general and Zhang Fei a chariot general (Huang Zhong also died before Liu Bei proclaimed himself emperor). According to the system of the Han Dynasty, the military generals are headed by the general, followed by the hussar general, the chariot general, and the guard general. When the Shu Han Dynasty was first established, there was a vacancy of generals. Therefore, at this time, Ma Chao was the highest official in the Shu Han Dynasty, still above Zhang Fei.