[This Liu Yuan may have shared the surname Liu, but it was an imperial freebie—issued, not inherited.]
Back when Cao Cao truly held the reins, his control over the frontier was no joke. The northern borders weren't some loose curtain anyone could slip past.
The clearest proof was the Battle of White Wolf Mountain.
Zhang Liao led the army straight into the Wuhuan heartland and personally cut down their chanyu, Tadun. With that single strike, the Wuhuan collapsed—leadership gone, morale shattered, resistance erased.
That campaign alone earned Cao Cao a permanent place in the highlight reel of Han history.
And Zhang Liao rode that momentum all the way into legend.
Later generations would call him the God of Xiaoyao Ford, and Tang dynasty scholars praised him with a line that practically glowed with admiration:
"Wei Qing opened the frontier; Zhang Liao expanded the land.
The Cavalry Commandant Piao Yao, the Captive-Taking General."
Wei Qing, Zhang Liao, Huo Qubing, Li Guang—
the Four Great Generals of the Han.
[Once historians start grouping you with Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, you're no longer being evaluated. You're being used as the measuring stick.]
Liu Bei finally exhaled.
He couldn't help it. Words like "attacking Luoyang" sounded rebellious no matter how you dressed them up. Add the surname Liu to the mix, and it went from suspicious to personally threatening.
If this really turned out to be one of his descendants…
That would be a disgrace echoing through the ancestral temple.
The other generals, meanwhile, were quietly fired up.
Four Great Generals.
Huang Zhong frowned. "If we're naming great generals, how does the Marquis of Huaiyin not make the list?"
Zhao Yun answered calmly. Frontier-born, frontier-raised—this logic was second nature to him.
"The Tang dynasty's view isn't much different from ours. These four earned merit by killing foreign tribes. The Marquis of Huaiyin did not. That may be why he was excluded."
Guan Yu wasn't listening.
His eyes were fixed on the words "expanded the land."
Expanding Han territory. These Tang scholars truly favored Zhang Liao. To think that an old acquaintance—once just another northern man—would blaze such a radiant path.
"So Wen Yuan is this so-called God of Xiaoyao Ford."
Privately, Guan Yu and Kongming had already reasoned it out. Xiaoyao Ford pointed straight to a Sun–Cao clash. Given the terrain, it had to be Sun Quan growing careless with an oversized army, while Zhang Liao borrowed a page from the Marquis of Huaiyin—selecting elite troops and striking mid-crossing.
Such a move demanded planning, nerve, and personal courage.
This God of Xiaoyao Ford was undeniably a great general.
He just hadn't expected him to be someone he knew.
Zhang Fei smacked his lips. "Second Brother, don't forget—Xiaoyao Ford isn't far from Mai Castle. When you and your big nephew got boxed in, maybe this 'God of Xiaoyao Ford' pitched in too."
Guan Yu: "..."
Note :History is merciless. Zhang Fei is worse.
[As for the Xiongnu, Cao Cao followed the old Han playbook: divide them, fracture them, watch them closely. Five leaders from Liu Bao's generation were all granted the imperial Liu surname, splitting the Southern Xiongnu into five divisions. Each division was assigned a Han adjutant commander.
Surveillance down to the bone. Efficient. Thorough. Extremely Han.]
Liu Yuan, Liu Bao's son, was sharp, ambitious, and acutely aware of opportunity. When the War of the Eight Princes tore the Jin dynasty apart, he seized Bingzhou and declared a state called "Han," citing the excuse of "a younger brother inheriting after an elder's death."
Then he did something truly deranged.
He posthumously honored Liu Shan as Emperor Xiaohuai.
[Yes. That Liu Shan.]
Liu Bei had been prepared to praise Cao Cao's handling of the Xiongnu. Even the surname business, uncomfortable as it was, could be justified as serving the Han.
But the moment he heard "honored Liu Shan as Emperor Xiaohuai," he exploded.
"You think you're worthy?!"
The assembled officials nearly broke. Every last one of them was fighting desperately to keep a straight face.
Jian Yong grinned. "Who would've thought my lord had such a… devoted god-grandson."
Kongming stepped in smoothly. "The War of the Eight Princes mentioned earlier—judging by the name alone, another case of feudal princes tearing the realm apart?"
Zhang Fei snorted. "The Sima clan stole power and stole the world. No surprise their descendants couldn't stop rolling in the same mud."
Liu Bei forced himself to calm down.
These events were far beyond him now. And if he was honest… wasn't this still because Ah Dou failed to measure up? If Shu had lasted even twenty more years, when the Sima chaos hit Wei, restoring the Han might not have been impossible.
This child, truly…
Liu Bei decided he'd go home and beat Ah Dou again that night.
The thought alone lifted his spirits.
[What makes it even more ridiculous is that this two-province-sized regime lasted just twenty-five years, passed through four rulers, and the first two were posthumously titled Emperor Guangwen and Emperor Zhaowu.
The Eastern Jin and Sixteen Kingdoms era was a full battle royale. If you had the nerve, you jumped in. Titles like "Wen" and "Wu" were handed out like free samples.
In the end, this joke of a state was pinned to the ground and ground into paste by the Liangzhou cavalry.
And this was a full century after the Three Kingdoms—meaning these horsemen were already several versions weaker.]
Liu Bei snapped again.
"Guangwen? Zhaowu?" he snarled. "I only received Zhaolie! A state the size of a grain pellet! Xiongnu lapdogs! And they dare compare themselves to Emperor Wu?!"
Nai gong.
Zhang Fei screamed internally while maintaining flawless posture.
"Just the arrogance of Yelang," Kongming said coolly. "Laughable. That the Sima Jin fractured into sixteen states alone is—"
He shook his head. Eastern Han had thirteen provinces. Some of these 'states' probably didn't even control a single full one.
[Returning to the Three Kingdoms—Ma Chao can actually be compared to Sun Ce.
Both inherited power from their fathers.
Both held military authority.
Both faced treacherous local elites.
Sun Ce went gàgà slaughter on the Jiangdong gentry. He paid with his life—but he succeeded in carving out a foundation.
Ma Chao also went gàgà slaughter.
The difference?
Sun Ce slaughtered his enemies.
Ma Chao slaughtered his own father.
When it came to the Liangzhou elites, however, he hesitated, compromised, and was betrayed anyway.
Treating enemies better than your own father.
Ma Mengqi—he really… I'm in tears.]
Was that praise?
Kongming couldn't tell. The words looked complimentary, but the tone was doing something else entirely.
Liu Bei had already shut down.
Guan Yu stroked his beard. "The Liangzhou gentry are fickle and cunning—awed by force, never loyal by virtue. Ma Mengqi murdered his father and became despised by the world. He killed the provincial inspector and became intolerable to the court. Yet he still treated the local elites gently. His defeat was inevitable."
Jian Yong and Mi Zhu nodded grimly.
They had all tasted this poison before. The flavor was unmistakable.
Zhang Fei slapped his thigh. "Isn't Ma Chao in Liangzhou basically Lü Bu in Xuzhou? Betrayed by local elites, family wiped out. At least Lü Bu managed to keep his family alive."
…Uncomfortably accurate.
[If you can't overpower the locals, then at least bind your own people into a single fist.
Take Lü Bu—faithless and profit-driven as he was, Gao Shun still chose to die with him. The few who betrayed him did so because they truly had no way out.
Ma Chao? When he joined Liu Bei, only his cousin Ma Dai followed. Pang De would rather serve Zhang Lu than go with Ma Chao.
After Zhang Lu surrendered to Cao Cao, Pang De fought at Fan Castle carrying his own coffin, battled Guan Yu to the death, and refused to surrender. Chen Shou later praised him in Records of the Three Kingdoms as "possessing the integrity of Zhou Ke."
As for Pang De's son later joining Deng Ai, entering Shu after Liu Shan's surrender, and taking revenge on the remaining members of the Guan family—
That's a story for another chapter.]
Ma Chao truly held a royal flush…
…and managed to play every card wrong.