Liangzhou was one of the Thirteen Thorn History Departments established in the Han Dynasty, and it was located in the area of present-day Gansu and Ningxia. Although this area was incorporated into the territory of the Central Plains Dynasty in the Western Han Dynasty, its main inhabitants have always been the Qi and Qiang people. Therefore, the soldiers in the Liangzhou area are not only more effective in combat, but also easy to form the strength of the divided side. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Dong Zhuo grew up in Liangzhou to make friends with the Qiang people. In the sixth year of Zhongping (189), Dong Zhuo led the Liangzhou army to depose the Shao Emperor and establish Liu Xie on the throne (for the Han Emperor), thus usurping the power of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
After Dong Zhuo was killed, Ma Chao and Han Sui divided one side, and also became a thorn in Cao Cao's eye and a thorn in his flesh. After Ma Teng entered the capital, his son Ma Chao commanded the troops, elected Han Sui as the governor, and rebelled against Cao Cao. After being defeated by Cao Cao, Ma Chaoxian attached himself to Zhang Lu in Hanzhong, but eventually surrendered to Liu Bei and became a general of the Shu Han Dynasty. So, the question is, Ma Chao Han Sui divided one side, Ma Chao eventually surrendered to Liu Bei, so what is the final outcome of Han Sui?
One
Han Sui (?) –215), originally known as Han Yue (汉約), courtesy name Wenyue (文約), was a native of Jincheng Commandery (金城郡, in present-day Lanzhou, Gansu). A general at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, one of the heroes of the late Han Dynasty. In March of the second year of Zhongping (185), Han Sui and others led tens of thousands of cavalry to attack Sanfu under the banner of killing eunuchs, which meant that Han Sui officially divided one side and competed with the Eastern Han Dynasty. In the face of Han Sui, who had raised an army, the Han Ling Emperor sent the left-riding general Huang Fusong and the Zhonglang general Dong Zhuo to conquer, but they were not able to conquer, and the strength of Bian Han Sui and others was further expanded, with 100,000 people, and the world was shaken.
In this regard, in the author's opinion, also from Liangzhou, Han Sui once competed with Dong Zhuo. Moreover, in the mutual competition, Dong Zhuo also had no way to take Han Sui. From 185 AD onwards, to his death in 215 AD, Han Sui had at least thirty years of military division at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. From the perspective of time, Han Sui is obviously a relatively senior prince, and he can persist for 30 years during the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, which obviously reflects Han Sui's ability. In the second year of Chuping (191), Dong Zhuo entered Chang'an and invited Han Sui and Ma Teng to jointly plan an attack on the Shandong generals.
Two
For Dong Zhuo, although he threatened the Son of Heaven to order the princes, he still needed the support of Han Sui and Ma Teng. However, Han Sui and Ma Teng did not defect to Dong Zhuo and prepared to raise an army against Dong Zhuo. In the seventh year of Jian'an (202), Emperor Xian of Han made Ma Teng the general of Zhengnan and Han Sui the general of Zhengxi, allowing them to open a government and summon subordinates. In the sixteenth year of Jian'an (211), Han Sui and others' army of 100,000 marched to Tongguan. On this basis, Ma Chao, Han Sui and Cao Cao launched a head-on battle. Under Cao Cao's divisive meter, a gap was created between Han Sui and Ma Chao.
Therefore, Cao Cao first sent light horses to challenge, and after a long battle with Ma Chao, he sent elite cavalry to carry out a pinch attack, break Ma Chao, and kill Cheng Yi, Li Kan, and so on. Han Sui and Ma Chao fled to Liangzhou. After being defeated by Cao Cao, Ma Chao was exiled and eventually defected to Liu Bei in 214 AD, becoming one of the Five Tiger Generals of the Shu Han Dynasty. Correspondingly, Han Sui continued to divide the Liangzhou area in order to continue to compete with Cao Cao. In other words, compared to Ma Chao, Han Sui has stronger strength in the Liangzhou area.
Three
In May of the seventeenth year of Jian'an (212), Cao Cao killed all of Han Sui's descendants in Jingshi, which prompted Han Sui to hate Cao Cao even more. In Luo Guanzhong's Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Han Sui surrendered to Cao Cao. However, in the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Han Sui not only did not surrender to Cao Cao, but almost went to the land of Bashu to defect to Liu Bei. In the nineteenth year of Jian'an (214), Han Sui asked Yan Xing to take Xiping Commandery (西平郡), but Yan Xing betrayed him, defected to Cao Cao, and responded to Xiahou Yuan by attacking Han Sui at night.
Disappointed by Yan Xing's betrayal, Han Sui expressed to his confidant Cheng Gongying that he intended to retreat from Qiangzhong to Shu and become dependent on Liu Bei. From the situation at that time, the pattern of the crowd chasing the deer in the Central Plains was basically over, that is, the trend of Cao Cao, Sun Quan, and Liu Bei's three major forces was very obvious. Because of the enmity between him and Cao Cao, Han Sui could not surrender to the other side, and as for Sun Quan in Jiangdong, it was difficult to defect because of the distance. Therefore, he surrendered to Liu Bei and became a more suitable choice for Han Sui.
Four
In the end, however, when Han Sui spoke out about his intention to attach himself to Liu Bei, his confidant Cheng Gongying objected, believing that Han Sui had been in the army for decades, and now he had failed. But one should not abandon one's prestige in the Xiliang area and turn to others. On this basis, Cheng Gongying offered Han Sui a plan to first hide in the Qiangyu tribe and re-recruit his followers, waiting for the opportunity to return. After some consideration, Han Sui decided to retreat to Qiangzhong with thousands of followers, and because Han Sui had once been benevolent to the Qiang people, he was protected by the Qiang people. In the twentieth year of Jian'an (215), Cao Wei's general Xiahou Yuan returned to Hanzhong, and even Xiahou Yuan had nothing to do with Han Sui.
For Han Sui, tens of thousands of troops from Qianghu gathered to attack Yanxing, showing his tendency to make a comeback. However, it is a great pity that han Sui died of illness soon after. Even more lamentable, after Han Sui's death, Tian Le, Yang Kui, Koji Yan, and Jiang Shi beheaded Han Sui and sent it to Cao Cao (who was killed by his subordinates), at the age of more than seventy. In general, at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Han Sui was a prince who existed for a long time, such as Han Sui's military start, which was completely earlier than Dong Zhuo, Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu and others. Later in his career, because of Cao Cao's tight steps, Han Sui once wanted to defect to Liu Bei, but because of the persuasion of his subordinates, he failed to make the trip. In this regard, the "Edict of the Duke of Jinwei as the King of Wei" records: "Han Sui, Song Jian, Southern Stuttering, Shu, the group of rebels and subordinates, Tu Wei Sheji." ”