In 88 BC, there was an assassination attempt against Emperor Wu of Han.
Emperor Wu's son Liu Zhu was made crown prince at the age of 7, and as he grew older, he had a disagreement with Emperor Wu because of his leniency and benevolence, and Emperor Wu, who was harshly punished, had said that Liu Zhu was "not like himself", and slowly became estranged from Empress Wei and crown prince Liu Zhao.
A Western Han Dynasty Zhao guoren named Jiang Qi, proficient in medical skills, his sister Nengge Shanwu married Liu Dan, the prince of King Zhao, whose name was Liu Pengzu, was Emperor Wu's brother, Jiang Qi became a guest of King Zhao because of his proficiency in medical skills, once Jiang Qi discovered that Liu Dan was fornicating in the palace of King Zhao, Liu Dan asked people to hunt down and kill Jiang Qi, Jiang Qi fled to Chang'an, changed his name to Jiang Chong, reported Liu Dan's behavior to Emperor Wu, Liu Dan was imprisoned, and Jiang Chong began to serve as an official in the Han Dynasty.
When Emperor Wu was a cool official in the Han court, Jiang Chong was also a cool official, the crown prince Liu Zhao did not like severe punishment, and there was a contradiction with Jiang Chong, after Wei Qing's death, the prince lost his dependence, Jiang Chong was afraid that after the prince ascended the throne, he would kill him, so he colluded with some people to lie to Emperor Wu that there was deception in the palace, and during the reign of Emperor Wu, there were several cases of witchcraft cursing others, Emperor Wu was convinced of the theory of witchcraft, so he asked Jiang Chong to investigate this matter, Jiang Chong took people to the tai womb to dig three feet into the ground, and took out the small Tong people prepared in advance to frame the prince, and the prince killed Jiang Chong in anger The eunuch Su Wen escaped to report to Emperor Wu, and then there was the "Scourge of witchcraft" in Emperor Wu's later years, which had a profound impact on the politics of the Western Han Dynasty. Crown Prince Liu Zhao, empress dowager Wei Zifu committed suicide one after another.
Involved in the scourge of the witchcraft were three brothers Ma Heluo, Ma Tong, and Ma Ancheng, who were descendants of the famous general Ma Fujun Zhao Of the Warring States period, and later took Ma Fujun's horse as his surname, all three of whom were officials in the Wu Dynasty at that time, had a good relationship with JiangChong, and participated in the action of framing the prince.
Three years after the scourge of the Wu Clan, someone wronged Emperor Wu for being the crown prince, and Emperor Wu ordered an investigation into the matter, proving that the matter of the Wu Clan was purely fictitious, so he executed the Jiangchong clan and Su Wen, and the chancellor Liu Quyao, who was involved in this matter, and the family of the general Li Guangli of the Second Division, was actually fighting against the Xiongnu, because he wanted to atone for his defeat, he surrendered to the Xiongnu, and a year later he was framed and died for fighting with the Han people who had first surrendered to the Xiongnu.
The crimes of the three Brothers of the Ma clan have not yet been discovered, but the situation is also precarious, when they are about to catch up with them, the three of them decided to attack first and get rid of Emperor Wu of Han, on a dark night in 88 BC, the three sneaked into Emperor Wu's palace to assassinate Emperor Wu, but Emperor Wu was discussing things with the ministers Jin Ilju and Shangguan Jie, Jin Ilju found the three Ma clan who had sneaked in, Jin Ilju first went up and hugged the neck of Ma and Luo who were walking in the head, and threw Ma and Luo on the ground, and Shangguan Ji quickly called for the guards to come in and catch the three of them.
Emperor Wu ordered Huo Guang, Jin Ilju, and Shangguan Ji to interrogate the three Ma clans, and after the crimes were made clear, the three ma clan members were executed and the three yu dang were eliminated. Jin Ilju and Shangguan Ji were honored as marquises for their escorts.
Why does the "Historical Record" record that the three people are surnamed Ma, while the "Book of Han" records that the three people are surnamed Mang? Originally, Ma Tong's great-grandson was Ma Yuan, a famous general of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and Ma Yuan's daughter was Empress Mingde of Liu Zhuang, the second emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and Empress Mingde, disgusted by the rebellious behavior of her ancestors, changed their surname to "Mang".