In 219, in order to capture Hanzhong, Liu Bei led his army north, and as a result, at the Battle of Dingjun Mountain, the general Huang Zhong beheaded Cao Cao's famous general Xiahou Yuan. Since then, in addition to the national vendetta, the Xiahou Yuan family and the Shu Han regime have added another layer of family feud. However, no one expected that thirty years later, Xiahou Yuan's son would actually disregard the hatred of the country and the family, betray Cao Wei, and defect to the Shu Han regime.
Xiahou Yuan had seven sons, and the second son Xiahou Ba, who defected to Shu Han. Xiahou Ba's relationship with the Cao Wei regime was very close, and his mother Ding Shi was the sister of Cao Cao's original wife. When Xiahou Yuan was killed that year, Xiahou Ba", "often cut his teeth and wanted to repay Shu", always wanting to avenge his father. However, in the face of Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition, Cao Wei basically took a defensive position, and it was not until 230 that Xiahou Ba was given his first chance.
However, this military operation ultimately failed, but Xiahou Ba's performance was not bad. In 239, Emperor Ming of Wei fell ill and died, leaving him alone with Sima Yi and Cao Shuang. Since Xiahou Ba's cousin married Cao Zhen's sister, Cao Shuang attached great importance to the Xiahou family. At that time, Cao Wei had four major "military regions", which were respectively responsible for the generals Zhengxi, Zhengnan, Zhengbei, and Zhengdong. Xiahou Xuan was appointed as the general of Zhenxi, while Xiahou Ba was appointed as the Protector of Shu, the Right General, and the Marquis of Bochangting.
Xiahou Xuan was Xiahou Ba's cousin, and the two nephews were in charge of military command of the Western Front. During Xiahou Ba's tenure, "Tun Longxi, his adopters and rongs, and won his favor". In 247, the Qianghu chieftains in the Wei state rebelled, and the Shu Han general Jiang Wei led an army to respond, and Xiahou Ba led an army to defeat Jiang Wei, successfully preventing the rendezvous between Shu Han and Qiang Hu. The following year, Xiahou Ba once again repelled Jiang Wei's attack.
However, no one expected that in 249, Xiahou Ba suddenly "rebelled", fled into Hanzhong, and surrendered to Shu Han. It turned out that in this year, a major event that changed the fate of the Wei state occurred. Sima Yi took advantage of the opportunity of Cao Shuang and the Wei lord Cao Fang to leave the city and the Gurudwara Tombs, launched a coup d'état, forced Cao Shuang to surrender his military power, and seized cao Wei's military and political power, known in history as the "Change of GaopingLing". After Sima Yi seized power in the imperial court, he began to cut off the military power of those close to Cao Shuang.
Xiahou Xuan, who was the general of Zhenxi, bore the brunt of this, and Sima Yi summoned him to Beijing in the name of the imperial court, and at the same time appointed Guo Huai as the general of Zhenxi. Xiahou Xuan did not think much of it and resolutely returned to the capital Luoyang. Xiahou Ba, on the other hand, was very uneasy, and he was mainly based on two factors. First, he was a close confidant of Cao Shuang; second, he had a poor relationship with Guo Huai, the new general of The Western Expedition. Thinking of this, Xiahou Ba was very scared, and after thinking about it again, he made the decision to flee to Shu Han.
Xiahou Ba's doing so also had his considerations, because he was related to Liu Chan, the emperor of the Shu Han Dynasty! It turned out that the empress dowager Liu Chan was the daughter of Zhang Fei, and Zhang Fei's wife was Xiahou Yuan's niece. When Xiahou Yuan was killed that year, it was Zhang Fei's wife who stood up and "please bury it." In other words, Xiahou Ba was still Liu Chan's uncle! In the end, Xiahou Ba, after going through hardships and dangers, came to Chengdu under the help of Shu Han.
When Liu Chan summoned Xiahou Ba, he said, "Father Qing was killed in the ear between the lines, and it was not my ancestor's hand blade. Then he pointed to his son and said, "This nephew of the Xiahou clan is also." Liu Chan was very kind to Xiahou Ba, and was made a cheqi general. Later, Xiahou Ba followed Jiang Wei's Northern Expedition and killed tens of thousands of Wei troops in the Battle of Taoxi. Xiahou Ba, who defected to Shu Han alone, remained in the State of Wei but was not killed, "pardoning Bazi with Yuan's old xun and migrating to Lelang County".
Resources:
1. Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms; 2. Zizhi Tongjian