The Battle of Hanzhong was a war between Liu Bei and Cao Cao over Hanzhong during the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty. The war was initiated by Liu Bei from the twenty-second year of Jian'an (217) to the end of May of the twenty-fourth year of Jian'an (219), and the war lasted for nearly two years. The commanders of the two warring sides were Liu Bei and Cao Cao. Liu Beifang's generals mainly included Zhang Fei, Ma Chao, Zhao Yun, Huang Zhong, Fazheng, and Huang Quan, and Cao Caofang's generals mainly included Xiahou Yuan, Cao Xiu, Cao Zhen, Cao Hong, Zhang Gao, Xu Huang, and Guo Huai.
In this battle, Liu Bei repelled Cao Cao, occupied Hanzhong, expanded his territory, and became king. For Liu Bei, the ascension to the throne of Hanzhong was his peak, because by the time Liu Bei became emperor, not only Guan Yu was killed, but the three counties of Jingzhou were also captured by Eastern Wu. However, in 219 AD, Liu Bei's side entered its heyday. On this basis, Liu Bei naturally did not forget to reward his subordinates who had followed him for many years. So, the question is, when Liu Bei was called the King of Hanzhong, who was the head of the military generals? Who is the head of the courtiers?
Head of the warriors: Guan Yu
On the one hand, in 219 AD, Liu Bei ascended the throne of Hanzhong and made Guan Yu a former general. Former general, one of the generals of the Four Directions. During the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, above the four generals, there were a few official positions such as the Great Sima (大司馬), the Great General (大將軍), the Hun Cavalry General(骠骠軍), the Charioteer General (車骠軍), and the Wei General (衛將軍). Because Liu Bei had not yet ascended the throne as emperor, it was inconvenient for him to be enthroned in a higher military general position, which prompted Guan Yu to become the head of Liu Bei's clique.
Guan Yu (?) –220), courtesy name Yunchang (云長), was a native of Xie County, Hedong County (present-day Xiezhou Town, Salt Lake District, Yuncheng, Shanxi). At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Guan Yu came to Zhuo County and became acquainted with Liu Bei and Zhang Fei. After the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out, Guan Yu followed Liu Bei to raise an army. After Liu Bei gained Xuzhou, he made Guan Yuxing too guarded. In the fifth year of Jian'an (200), Cao Cao marched east, broke Liu Bei, guan Yu was captured, so he accompanied Cao Cao to meet Yuan Shao's army at Guandu, assassinated Yuan Shao's general Yan Liang among the people, and made him the Marquis of Hanshouting, and soon resigned to Liu Bei. Later, he followed Liu Bei to the Jingzhou Mu Liu Table.
In the thirteenth year of Jian'an (208), Cao Cao entered Jingzhou, Liu Bei led the crowd to flee south, and Guan Yu came to Xiakou with him. When Cao Cao was defeated at Chibi, Liu Bei took over the counties of Jiangnan and appointed Guan Yu as the general of Xiangyang Taishou and Dangkou. Liu Beixi fixed Yizhou and made Guan Yu the town of Jingzhou. In the twenty-fourth year of Jian'an (219), Guan Yu officially launched the Battle of Xiangfan after being crowned as a former general. In this battle, Guan Yu besieged Cao Cao's general Cao Ren at Fancheng, when the Han River flooded, and the Seven Armies overseen by the left general Yu Banshou were submerged, and the general Pang De, who was often far south of Xu Du (許都, in modern Xuchang, Henan), threatened Huaxia.
Faced with Guan Yu after flooding the Seventh Army, Cao Cao sent the Pingkou general Xu Huang to the rescue, and Wu took the opportunity to attack Jiangling, and Guan Yu defeated Maicheng (maicheng) (southeast of present-day Danyang, Hubei), and captured and killed wu with his son Guan Ping. After Guan Yu was killed, he was posthumously honored as Marquis Zhuang miao. Guan Yu liked the "Left Biography", treated the pawns well and was proud of the scholars, and was known for his loyalty and righteousness in the future generations.
It is worth noting that when Guan Yu was canonized as a former general, Zhang Fei was crowned as a right general, Ma Chao was canonized as a left general, and Huang Zhong was made a rear general. For the right general, the left general, and the rear general, the official rank is consistent with the former general. Of course, just as there will be a difference in the ranking of the left and right ministers, the ranking of former generals is generally before that of right generals, left generals, and rear generals. Therefore, Guan Yu's position at that time was naturally slightly higher than that of Zhang Fei, Ma Chao, Huang Zhong and other military generals.
The head of the Wenchen: Xu Jing
Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, Volume 38, Shu Shu VIII, Xu Lusun Jian Yi Qin Biography VIII: The first lord was the King of Hanzhong, and (Xu) Jing was taifu.
In 219, Xu Jing was given the title of Taifu (太傅) (also known as Wang Fu of Hanzhong) by Liu Bei. The official position of Taifu began in the Western Zhou Dynasty, when Zhou Gongdan served as Taifu, serving as an assistant minister and imperial teacher to the imperial court. When the emperor was young or absent, Taifu could theoretically administer the world on his behalf. During the Qin Dynasty, Taifu was abolished, that is, the three dukes were Cheng Xiang, Tai Wei, and Yu Shi Dafu, and there was no Tai Fu. However, in the Western Han Dynasty, the post of Taifu was briefly restored. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Taifu was established for a long time.
By the Three Kingdoms period, Taifu's status was even higher than that of the Three Dukes (太尉, Situ, and Sikong). For example, during the reign of Cao Rui, Sima Yi held the official position of Taiwei. After Cao Fang ascended the throne, the general Cao Shuang promoted sima yi to the position of nominal taifu in order to elevate Sima Yi. Therefore, although Taifu's position was prominent, he did not hold any real power. On this basis, Xu Jing can only be said to be the head of the nominal civil servants.
Correspondingly, when Liu Bei ascended the throne of Hanzhong, Fazheng and Zhuge Liang were the two most powerful courtiers under Liu Bei. Among them, Fa Zheng served as Shang Shu Ling, who could assist the emperor in handling the affairs of the dynasty. For example, in 234 AD, after the death of Zhuge Liang, Jiang Huan and Fei Yi, as his heirs, were enfeoffed as Shangshu Ling by the later lord Liu Chan.
Finally, Xu Jing (?) –222), courtesy name Hugh. A native of Pingyu County, Runan County (present-day Pingyu County, Henan Province). From the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Three Kingdoms period, he was a heavy minister, a famous scholar, and a critic during the Shu and Han dynasties. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Xu Jing was famous for his character evaluation with his brother Xu Shaoju. Later, he was promoted by Liu Yi as Xiao Lian and Ren Shang Shulang. He defected to Kong Ling, Chen Yi, Xu Gong, Wang Lang and others, and took refuge with his family before Sun Ce attacked Wang Lang, and was treated with courtesy by the Jiaotong Taishou Shi Xie. Subsequently, he was invited by Liu Zhang, the governor of the beneficiary prefecture, and successively served as the Taishou of Ba County, Guanghan County, and Shu County.
In 214, Xu Jing tried to defect across the wall when Liu Bei was besieging Chengdu, which was captured by Liu Zhang. Liu Bei wanted to abandon it after Shu, and under Fa Zheng's suggestion, he made it the left general Changshi. In this regard, in the author's opinion, Xu Jing changed hands many times, and even betrayed Liu Zhang, which made Liu Bei despise it at the beginning. However, at the suggestion of Fa Zheng, Liu Bei still rewarded this famous scholar to attract talents from all over the world.
In 219, Xu Jing and others persuaded Liu Bei to ascend to the throne as King of Hanzhong and obtained the official position of Taifu. In the first year of Zhang Wu's reign (221), Liu Bei declared himself emperor and appointed Xu Jing as a Situ, ranking third duke. In the second year of Zhang Wu (222), Xu Jing died. Because he did not have any real power, Xu Jing's sense of existence and role in the Shu Han Dynasty obviously could not be compared with Zhuge Liang, Fazheng and others.