During the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, most people's names were single characters, such as Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Guan Yu, Ma Chao, Huang Zhong, and so on. On this basis, the case of duplicate names, that is, the same name and surname, is naturally difficult to avoid. For example, during the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, there were three historical figures named "Li Feng". Among them, the first general of Li Feng Yuan Shu was killed by Cao Cao at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty; the second Li Feng was a minister of the State of Wei, and after the Gaopingling Rebellion, Li Feng participated in the plot to depose Sima Shi, and because the matter was exposed, he was eliminated by Sima Shi; the third Li Feng was the son of Li Yan, the chancellor of Shu Han, that is, he served Shu Han.
At the same time, as far as Ma Zhong, which the author wants to talk about today, there is also a case of duplicate names. During the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, there were two generals named Ma Zhong. Among them, Ma Zhong of Eastern Wu should be more familiar to everyone, because he captured and beheaded Guan Yu and Guan Ping' father and son. As for Ma Zhong of the Shu Han Dynasty, many people are relatively unfamiliar. Below, the author will talk about these two Ma Zhong during the Three Kingdoms period.
Ma Zhong (Eastern Wu)
On the one hand, as far as Ma Zhong of Eastern Wu is concerned. Ma Zhong, date of birth and death unknown, was a general of the State of Wu during the Three Kingdoms period, serving as Sima under Pan Zhang. In this regard, in the author's opinion, if it were not for the later participation in the campaign to sneak attack Jingzhou, Ma Zhong probably would not have left a record in historical materials such as the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms.
In the twenty-fourth year of Jian'an (219 AD), Guan Yu, who was guarding Jingzhou, launched the Battle of Xiangfan. In this battle, Guan Yu led an army to attack Xiangfan and other places defended by Cao Renzhen, and achieved the success of flooding the Seventh Army. For Guan Yu, because he was captured in the forbidden and killed Pound, he ushered in the peak of his martial career. However, what Guan Yu did not expect was that he had not yet enjoyed the peak and encountered the Waterloo of life. After Guan Yu's main force was dispatched, Sun Quan sent Lü Meng, Pan Zhang, and others to attack Guan Yu.
Among them, Ma Zhong, as Pan Zhang's subordinate, naturally also came to Jingzhou. Because of the betrayal of Mi Fang, Fu Shiren and others, the three counties of Jingzhou were captured by a large army led by Lü Meng. In this context, Guan Yu retreated to Maicheng, while Sun Quan cut off the rear road of the general Guan Yu with Pan Zhang and Zhu Ran, and after Pan Zhang led his army to Linfeng, he lived in the middle of the stone and encountered Guan Yu's army. In December of the same year, Pan Zhang's subordinate Sima Mazhong captured Guan Yu, Guan Ping, and the governor Zhao Lei. Guan Yu and Guan Ping were beheaded on the spot in the Linfeng area. Therefore, for Ma Zhong, not only did he capture Guan Yu's father and son, but also beheaded the famous general of the Three Kingdoms. However, after this battle, there are no historical records related to Ma Zhong in the canonical history such as the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Correspondingly, in Luo Guanzhong's Romance of the Three Kingdoms, such a plot is fictionalized, that is, when Liu Bei was fighting against Eastern Wu, Pan Zhang was killed by Guan Xing, and Ma Zhong led troops to surround and repel Zhang Bao's reinforcements. Later, Ma Zhong collected the defeated army and led the generals Mi Fang and Fu Shiren to Jiangzhu in order to avenge Pan Zhang. Mi and Fu Er found that the sergeant was dissatisfied and wanted to mutiny, so they assassinated Ma Zhong while Ma Zhong was asleep and dedicated the first rank to Liu Bei. Of course, this is after all the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" statement, which has not been supported by the relevant canonical history, so it is not enough to believe.
Ma Zhong (Shu Han)
On the other hand, as far as Ma Zhong of shu Han is concerned. Ma Zhong(?) –249), real name Fox Duk, character Dexin. A native of Langzhong County,Bashi County (present-day Langzhong, Sichuan). A general of the Shu Han Dynasty during the Three Kingdoms period. For Ma Zhong, when he was a child, he was fostered in his grandfather's house, and his surname was Hu Du, and he later restored the Ma surname and changed his name to Zhong. When Liu Zhang occupied Yizhou, Ma Zhong was made a county official, and in the last year of Jian'an, he was elected as a filial piety and served as the county commander of Hanchang County. In the second year of Zhang Wu (222), Liu Bei was defeated by Lu Xun at the Battle of Yiling. Upon hearing this news, Yan Zhi, the Taishou of Bashi County, sent soldiers from various counties to replenish the losses of the Shu Han army and sent Ma Zhong to lead the soldiers to deliver it.
At that time, Liu Bei had retreated back to Yong'an, and after seeing Ma Zhong and talking to him, he said to Shang Shuling Liu Ba: "Although I lost Huang Quan (at that time Huang Quan was forced to surrender to Cao Wei), I also got Fox Du, this is not a lack of talents in the world!" In this regard, in the author's view, Liu Bei's praise and affirmation have undoubtedly become a watershed in Ma Zhong's life. Although Liu Bei died of illness in the White Emperor City a year later, for Ma Zhong, he nevertheless rose to prominence and became a major vassal of shu Han.
In April of the third year of Zhang Wu (223), Liu Bei died. In May, the crown prince Liu Chan succeeded to the throne and changed his name to Yuan Jianxing. In the same year, Zhuge Liang, the chancellor, opened the government and appointed Ma Zhong as the governor of men. For talents like Ma Zhong, Zhuge Liang chose to include them in his own Chancellor's Mansion. In March of the third year of Jianxing (225), Zhuge Liang sent an army to Nanzhong and appointed Ma Zhong as the Taishou of Mu Mu Commandery. In the eighth year of Jianxing (230), Zhuge Liang was stationed in Tun Hanzhong, and the Shu Han court recruited Ma Zhong to join the army as a chancellor, assisted the chief Shi Jiang huan in handling the affairs of the Xiang Mansion, and concurrently served as the governor of Yizhou. From this, it is very obvious that Ma Zhong must have obtained Zhuge Liang's one, so the latter has entrusted him with heavy responsibilities many times.
In the eleventh year of Jianxing (233), due to the excessive severity of Zhang Yi, the governor of The Capital, led to a rebellion led by Liu Ji and others in the southern central region. Therefore, Zhuge Liang, the chancellor of the Shu Han Dynasty, made Ma Zhongdai Zhang Yi the governor of Yu and went to Nanzhong to quell the rebellion. In this regard, Ma Zhong did not fail in his mission, killed Liu Ji, and quelled the rebellion. The Shu Han court made Ma Zhong the general of Fenwei and the Marquis of Boyang Ting. In the fifth year of Yanxi (242), Ma Zhong returned to the Chengdu imperial court, when Sima Jiang was stationed in Hanzhong and wanted to attack weixing and Shangyong commanderies in the wei state of Wei, but the chancellors did not approve. The imperial court then sent Ma Zhongbei to Hanzhong to announce the will of the imperial court to Jiang Huan, and since Jiang Huan was seriously ill at the time, the plan to attack Cao Wei by water was ultimately not implemented.
In the seventh year of Yanxi (244), the Cao Wei general Cao Shuang led a large army to attack Hanzhong, and the general Fei Yi went north to defend the enemy, leaving Ma Zhong in Chengdu, Pingshang Shu, and participating in the handling of imperial court affairs. After Fei Yi retreated from the enemy and returned, Ma Zhong also returned to Nanzhong. Judging from this situation, Ma Zhong's position was already very close to Fei Yi's. When Fei Yi needed to go to Hanzhong to resist Cao Wei's army, Ma Zhong became Fei Yi's replacement and was able to help him stay in the Shu Han capital Chengdu. In the twelfth year of Yanxi (249), Ma Zhong died in office, and his son Matthew succeeded to the title. During Ma Zhong's tenure as the governor of Shu, although there were occasional rebellions in the southern central region of shu han, they did not intensify, that is, they were quickly pacified. On this basis, the stability of the southern central region undoubtedly provided favorable conditions for Zhuge Liang and Jiang Wei's northern expedition to the Central Plains, which was also An important contribution of Ma Zhong to the Shu Han Dynasty. What do you think about that? Feel free to leave your views and let's discuss them together.