About Ma Chao selling his friends

It should be Peng Chao!

Yi Zhongtian's review of the Three Kingdoms mentioned Peng Chao when Liu Bei was an enemy of the nobles. Brother Tu and others believed that Peng Chao was just a commoner, not a nobleman, and refuted Mr. Yi's arguments. I do not intend to agree with Tu and other people here, nor do I intend to oppose Yi Zhongtian. I just want to discuss the death of Peng Chao with all netizens.

What kind of person is Peng Chao? When we watched "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", we didn't seem to notice this person. Indeed, like Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, Ma Chao, Pang Tong, and Fazheng, he didn't seem to have a big enough name or enough stories. However, this man is a handsome guy in the history of the Three Kingdoms. History says that he was "eight feet long and very handsome." Do you think he is important? Generally, he seems to be ignored in the history of the Three Kingdoms. However, if you read "Three Kingdoms" carefully, you will find that he is closely related to the above-mentioned people and has a great influence on the history of Shu Han.

This Peng Chao has the courtesy name Yongnian. He is from Guanghan, Yizhou. Before Liu Bei entered Shu, he was just a little person. "The official in the state is nothing more than a secretary," and later he was slandered by everyone. He was "conscripted as a disciple" by Liu Zhang, the shepherd of Yizhou. He was a beautiful reform-through-labor prisoner. The reason why he is so hated by so many people is probably due to his character shortcomings. He is "proud in appearance and ignored by many" just like the well-known Mi Heng. In his eyes, he only looked up to Qin Mi, the master of sophistry who "chatted" with Zhang Wen, the envoy of Soochow, in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and said, "Although the sun goes out in the east, it must return to the west." So it is natural to be ostracized.

Later Liu Bei came. As a result, Peng Chao "had to face the storm" and wanted to join him. So he went to see Pang Tong first. This handsome guy was really crazy. He didn’t know Pang Tong at all. He had guests at that time, but he climbed onto Pang Tong’s bed and lay down on him. He said to Pang Tong, “We’ll have a good talk after your guests leave.” Talk." Pang Tong's guest left and came to talk to him, but he asked to prepare food first and then talk after eating. So we not only took care of meals, but also took care of accommodation. As a result, we talked for several days, "unifying the great good". In addition to Pang Tong, there was another important adviser, Fazheng, who had always known Peng Chao. So the two jointly recommended him to Liu Bei. When Liu Bei talked to him, he "also thought it was strange." "Chai Chao promoted military affairs, instructed the generals, and served as envoys, and his knowledge increased day by day." Later, after Chengdu was captured, Liu Bei led Yizhou as a pastor and promoted Peng Chao to " Engage in governance." Zhizhong and Biejia should be the very high chief executives of a state. Their status may be second only to the state pastor and higher than the county prefect. At the beginning, Lu Su said to Liu Bei, "Pang Shiyuan is not a talented person. He can only show his talent when he is assigned to the administrative and other duties." But Liu Bei initially only asked Pang Tong to be a small county magistrate. After Zhuge Liang recommended him again, he was allowed to work in Zhongzhong. Now Peng Chao's official position is to govern the country. He was instantly promoted to this position without any transition. It can be seen how much Liu Bei values ??this handsome guy.

I think the reason why Peng Chao was so highly regarded by Liu Bei was definitely not because he was good-looking or could brag. It should be said that in taking Yizhou, he was not only the former enemy commander, but also the general staff officer. He has the merit of making suggestions. He once said in "Letter to Zhuge Liang" that "I met the Duke in Jiameng, and he talked about it from the palm of my hand. He discussed the affairs of the world, the meaning of the overlord, and the strategy of conquering Yizhou. The Duke also worried about the Ming Lord, that is, the prime minister "We have no way of knowing what strategy he proposed, but we seem to feel that there is a tacit understanding between Peng Chao, Pang Tong, Fazheng, and Liu Bei on many aspects of the conquest of Shu. of. Otherwise, a commoner would not be drawn as a kindred spirit by these heroes at the same time, let alone be given the right to command the former enemy. It can even be speculated that Pang Tong's strategy was based on Peng Chao. Because Peng Chu had lived in Shu for many years, he knew all aspects of the people and geography here. If Pang Tong's plan was not fully aware of these background information, it would be purely risky. When Peng Chao met Pang Tong, in addition to being arrogant and casual, he should have such a well-thought-out plan and conversational skills that he would be impressed by Pang Tong.

However, he should not be too proud. Just like Xu You after the Battle of Guandu, if he angered Xu Chu, he only had one chance to die. Peng Chao's self-respect for his merits also aroused Zhuge Liang's dissatisfaction. When we read "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", we see Zhou Yu's stinginess and Zhuge Liang's generosity everywhere. But when we read "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", it is just the opposite. What we see everywhere is Zhuge Liang's stinginess. Zhuge Liang is one of the historical figures I admire, but it is an indisputable fact that great men can also be petty. It turns out that Zhuge Liang was also a person who was lenient on the outside and taboo on the inside. Most of the people with the same name as him in the Shu Kingdom were among the people he suppressed. Including Peng Chao, Liao Li, Li Yan, Wei Yan, Liu Yan and others, there is no exception. During this period, Pang Tong died, and Fazheng, Peng Chao, and Zhuge Liang were the famous people around Liu Bei at this time. Fa Zheng did evil things, and Zhuge Liang was helpless against him because of Liu Bei's protection. But regarding Peng Chao, he often made snitches. Although he was very close to Peng Chao on the surface, he often slandered him in private. Therefore, after listening to his many reports, Liu Bei also became more cautious about Peng Chao. In this way, it would be easy to find his faults with a magnifying glass. So I gradually distanced myself from him. Later, he was simply demoted to Jiangyang, a small county, to be the prefect.

However, this is only the cause of the story we want to tell, not the result. Before Peng Chao left for his new post, he visited Ma Chao. Ma Chao was also one of the great contributors to the establishment of Shu. He had just joined Liu Bei not long ago, so he might have had some ideological fluctuations.

So Ma Chao asked tentatively, "You are talented and highly respected by the lord. He thinks that you are on par with Zhuge Liang and Fa Zheng. Why are you sent to a small county now? What do you think of this?" In fact, he This sentence is obviously suspected of fanning the flames. He has ulterior motives, just to avoid chaos in the world. But Peng Chao was too frivolous and naive. If he hides it and spy on Ma Chao, Ma Chao might reveal his true colors. But Peng Chao actually naively regarded him as his confidant. He immediately cursed, "This old man is too ridiculous, do you need to say more?" His words were meant to scold Liu Bei, and his dissatisfaction with Liu Bei was clear. (Of course, the original word is not "old man", but "Lao Ge". Some people think that "Ge" also means old. Some people say that Ge refers to military reform, and Lao Ge means veteran ruffian and old gangster.) Later he said to Ma Chao, "What are you doing?" Outside, I am inside, and the world is not stable." Ma Chao was shocked when he heard this. This person spoke so openly that I just thought he was a master planner and wanted to cooperate with him, but he said it without reservation, so rashly, and so bad at keeping confidentiality. If he said this, If I tell others again, wouldn’t it mean that I don’t even have a foothold? So when he heard Peng Chao's lofty ideals, he was shocked and became silent. As soon as Peng Chao left, Ma Chao immediately reported the incident.

In fact, I estimate that Peng Chao’s move does mean to unite with Ma Chao to conquer the world. Because he knew that once he became the governor of Jiangyang, it would be very difficult to do the same thing as governing the country or driving away from home. Liu Bei's career is now at its peak, but he is beginning to decline. For the sake of his future, he must change jobs. Nowadays, the world is in chaos, full of variables, and there are countless opportunities. So who is the most suitable? For now, Ma Chao is the most suitable. Peng Chao said in "Letter to Zhuge Liang" why he chose Liu Bei because "I had trouble with the princes in the past and thought that Cao Cao was tyrannical, Sun Quan was unruly, and his power was weak. Only his lord had the weapon of overlord, and he could cooperate with him to build a business." "To achieve governance, one has the ambition to do something light." What he wants to achieve is hegemony, and what he wants to assist are the future overlords and those who have the tools to be overlords now. Of course Liu Bei had to count, but being decoupled from his own destiny, he had to start all over again. So, what about Ma Chao? Ma Chao is a man who refuses to be mediocre. He is ambitious, has a good mass base, and has good skills. It is said that he has had enough of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's anger. The two have the same problem. As soon as he heard Ma Chao's tone, he immediately made his attitude clear. Isn't this the purpose of his visit? It's a pity that he saw the wrong person. Ma Chao was not what he imagined.

What kind of person is Ma Chao? In fact, Peng Chao's fellow countryman Wang Shang has come to the conclusion that he is an unsuitable partner. "Old Biography of Yibuqi" records that Ma Chao's father Ma Teng had contact with Liu Zhang's father Liu Yan. Later, Ma Chao also wanted to unite with Liu Zhang, but Liu Zhang's adviser Wang Shang advised him that "super brave but not benevolent, it is inevitable If you don't think about righteousness, you can't talk about it." He is a villain who sees profit and forgets profit, and is someone who cannot be relied on. However, Peng Chao probably only heard about the past cooperation between Ma Jiajun and Yizhou, but did not see Ma Chao's character clearly, and was betrayed by Ma Chao.

After Ma Chao betrayed him, he easily gained Liu Bei's appreciation and shocked others. We cannot say that this move has frightened Fa Zheng, but at least it has the effect of killing the chicken and scaring the monkey, making other people with double-minded intentions uneasy. Ma Chao's doing this not only deepened Liu Bei's trust in him, but also resolved the hostility of Liu Bei's direct lineage. It was also a turning point in his transformation into a direct lineage force of the Shu Han Dynasty. If it was said that Zhuge Liang wanted to get rid of Peng Chao and return his master Chu Wuming, now there is irrefutable evidence and the guilt is conclusive.

First of all, Peng Chao scolded Liu Bei. It was disrespectful and disloyal to scold his master because he was a servant. For this reason, Liu Bei could not spare him in the first place. And colluding with Ma Chao to rebel is even more unforgivable. Is it tolerable, or is it too mature? Aren't you asking for your own destruction? Although Peng Cha later wrote to Zhuge Liang to explain, he did not know that Zhuge Liang, whom he had always regarded as a friend, was actually the killer behind his death. You see, Zhuge Liang is such a person. If he wants to let someone go, turn a blind eye or close an eye, it will be over. For example, what would he say about Fa Zheng? If Fa Zheng hadn't made so many contributions to him, what would the Lord have done? How about it. If these defense words are applied to Peng Chao, alarmism is completely appropriate. If Zhuge Liang wants to defend him, it means that he, Peng Chao, is dissatisfied with his lord's personnel arrangements and is arrogant about his own abilities. He thinks that the world's affairs can be settled for his lord with his martial arts and Ma Chao's martial arts. But now that he was arranged to be a governor in a remote county, he felt that it was a bit unfair, so he complained, drank some wine, and made rude remarks. He insulted his lord, which is an unforgivable crime. But now that he has meritorious service, the lord should not argue with him. Now is the time to employ people, so he should be given a lighter punishment to appease the people in the world. In this way, the most you can do is cut your job and become a civilian or immigrate to somewhere else. But it's good that Zhuge Liang didn't pursue his previous mistakes. He was the one who settled the accounts when dealing with Liao Li and Li Yan. So Peng Chao was executed.

Peng Chao died not only from the power struggle within the Shu Han regime, but also from the betrayal by the middle forces, and even from an aborted rebellion. Is Peng Chu unjust? Not unjust. But the fate is a bit pitiful.