Meng Da (?-228), zi degree, this character Zi Jing, because Liu Bei's uncle's name was Liu Zi Jing, changed the word to avoid secrecy. Fufeng Gun(扶風郡郿人), a figure of the Three Kingdoms period. For Meng Da, he was originally a subordinate of Liu Zhang, the mu of Yizhou, and later surrendered to Liu Bei. However, in 220 AD, Meng Da betrayed Liu Bei and defected to Cao Pi. After Meng Da came to Cao Wei, he was reused, and was crowned as the General of Shanqi Changshi and Jianwu, and was given the title of Marquis of Pingyang Ting, Cao Pi also combined the three counties of Fangling, Shangyong, and Xicheng into a new city, making it the new city Taishou, which can be said to be reused, Meng Da and Huan Jie and Xiahou Shang were friendly, and once attacked Liu Feng with Xiahou Shang and Xu Huang, thus making a battle achievement for Cao Wei.
However, for Meng Da, it was also used by Liu Bei, for example, when Liu Bei and Liu Zhang fought a decisive battle, they let Meng Da guard The Guigui and other places, which was equivalent to handing over the retreat to Meng Da. So, the question is, what are the reasons why Meng Da betrayed Shu Han, is it just because he did not rescue Guan Yu and was afraid of being punished?
One
Specifically, in 219 (the twenty-fourth year of Jian'an), after the Battle of Hanzhong, Meng Da attacked Fangling from Zigui to the north, and Fangling Taishou Puqi was killed by Meng Da's men. After Fangling was captured, Meng Da continued to attack Shangyong, and Liu Bei privately worried that Meng Da would not be able to take Shangyong County alone, so he ordered Liu Feng to command Meng Da's army under the waters of Hanzhong and join Meng Da in Shangyong.
After Meng Da and Liu Feng captured Shangyong and other counties, Guan Yu launched the Battle of Xiangfan. When Guan Yu besieged Fancheng and Xiangyang, he asked Liu Feng and Meng Da to send troops to help themselves. At that time, Guan Yu's side was in sight of victory, while Shangyong and other places had just been annexed and the people's hearts were unstable, so Liu Feng and Meng Da refused Guan Yu's request. Unexpectedly, the situation quickly took a sharp turn for the worse. After Guan Yu's defeat, Meng Da was often invaded by Liu Feng for fear of being punished, coupled with his disagreement with Liu Feng, so he led more than 4,000 families to surrender to Cao Wei.
After Meng Da surrendered to Cao Wei, he also hoped that Liu Feng could also surrender to the State of Wei. At that time, Emperor Cao Pi of Wei sent Xiahou Shang to lead Xu Huang, Meng Da, and other armies to attack the eastern three counties. Meng Da wrote to Liu Feng to persuade Liu Feng to surrender, but Liu Feng refused. Later, as Meng Da said, after Liu Feng returned to Chengdu, he was indeed given death. Liu Feng sighed and said, "I regret not listening to Mencius. ”
Therefore, it is very obvious that Meng Da betrayed Liu Bei, on the one hand, because he was worried about Liu Bei's blame. As we all know, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei had deep feelings, and as early as the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, these three people participated together in the war to quell the Yellow Turban Uprising. For Guan Yu, he had been treated favorably by Cao Cao, but Guan Yu still chose to return to Liu Bei. In this regard, Liu Bei naturally trusted Guan Yu very much, so he handed over Jingzhou to Guan Yu to guard the town.
Two
Now, Guan Yu was defeated and killed, and Meng Da and others did not rescue him, although it was not the main responsibility. However, Meng Da was originally a demotion general, and now he has left a bad impression in Liu Bei's mind, and in the future, he will be difficult to reuse in Shu Han. In other words, even if Liu Bei did not execute Meng Da, the latter would hardly have a foothold in Shu Han, which was obviously an unacceptable consequence for Meng Da, who liked to speculate.
On the other hand, being bullied by Liu Feng became a catalyst for Meng Da to turn to Cao Pi. If Liu Feng was just an ordinary general, Meng Da could play Liu Bei after being bullied by him, and even fight back. However, Liu Feng is Liu Bei's adopted son, because of his special status, this makes Meng Da also difficult to attack. Therefore, after Guan Yu was killed, Meng Da was again worried about being punished, and he was very dissatisfied with Liu Feng, and under the influence of two emotions, he made the decision to leave Shu Han.
Three
In addition, in the author's opinion, Meng Da's betrayal of Shu Han actually has a certain relationship with Fazheng's illness and death. In the early years of Jian'an, the world was in chaos, and Meng Da and Fa Zheng entered Shu together to attach themselves to Liu Zhang. In 211 (the sixteenth year of Jian'an), when Liu Bei entered Shu, Liu Zhang sent Meng Da and Fa Zheng to meet Liu Bei, and Liu Bei ordered him to garrison Jiangling, and after Shu Ping became the Taishou of Yidu. For Meng Da, Fa Zheng can be described as his best friend, and the two of them have surrendered to Liu Zhang, betrayed Liu Zhang again, and surrendered to Liu Bei. However, in 219 AD, after the Battle of Hanzhong, Fa Zheng died, which not only made Liu Bei very sad, but also led to Meng Da's increasing isolation in Shu Han.
Among the Wenchen warlords of the Shu Han Dynasty, Meng Da was neither a concubine who had followed Liu Bei for many years, nor was he from the Jingzhou region like Zhuge Liang, Wei Yan, Huang Zhong, Jiang Huan, Fei Yi, Ma Chen, Ma Liang, and others, and Meng Da was not a native of Yizhou, which prompted him to have no civilian generals to trust except Fazheng. In this regard, in the author's opinion, in 220 AD, if Fa Zheng had not died of illness, Meng Da probably would not have turned to Cao Wei, at least Fa Zheng would have strongly dissuaded Meng Da.
Four
Finally, after coming to Cao Wei, Meng Da was rewarded by Cao Pi and was friendly with Huan Jie and Xiahou Shang, and Meng Da attacked Liu Feng with Xiahou Shang and Xu Huang. However, in 227 AD, after Cao Pi's death, huan jie and Xiahou Shang were already dead, and Meng Da, because of his uneasiness, tried to return to Shu Han under the lure of Zhuge Liang. As a result, for Meng Da, it is obviously very insecure. When Cao Pi, Huan Jie, Xiahou Shang, and others were all alive, Meng Da naturally had no thoughts of betrayal. However, now that these protagonists and friends have died, Meng Da is co-opted by Zhuge Liang.
However, Meng Da also had a gap with Wei Xingtai shou Shen Yi, who leaked Meng Da's plan, and Sima Yi wrote a letter to appease Meng Da and secretly sent troops to discuss. In 228 AD, Meng Da believed that it would take at least thirty days for Sima Yi to lead an army to negotiate, so when Sima Yi marched 1,200 miles within eight days, it completely disrupted Meng Da's deployment and became an important reason for Meng Da's defeat.
In this context, Sima Yi besieged Shangyong for sixteen days, and Meng Da's nephew Deng Xian and his general Li Fu Kaicheng surrendered, so Sima Yi broke the city and beheaded Meng Da, and spread the capital luoyang. Meng Da had a son, Meng Xing, who was the overseer of the Hui Dynasty, and was relocated back to Right Fufeng in the first year of Xianxi (264 AD). In general, Meng Da was as capricious as Lü Bu, and in the context of many betrayals of the lord, Meng Da was eventually betrayed by his nephew Deng Xian, the general Li Fu, and others, so he was beheaded by Sima Yi. From this point of view, Meng Da's ending is obviously not worthy of sympathy.