History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 727: The Horses Fight for the Fold 4 Gao Yu Seeks Death
After Ma Xifan succeeded to the throne, he made no secret of his disgust for Yuan. Chen, because of her status as a mother due to her son, also harbored resentment towards Yuan, which made Yuan extremely worried.

Ma Xisheng's half-brother Ma Xiwang, who was the commander-in-chief of the imperial guards (the commander-in-chief of the imperial guards) at the time, naturally became a thorn in Ma Xifan's side, so he always made things difficult for Ma Xiwang.

Yuan knew that Ma Xifan had already made up his mind to kill him, so he took the initiative to find Ma Xifan and said that Ma Xiwang was willing to resign from his official position and become a monk. Ma Xifan flatly refused half of his proposal and allowed him to resign, but not to become a monk. Ma Xiwang was placed under house arrest from then on, living in a bamboo house with a thatched door, and being monitored 24 hours a day by guards and sentries, and was forbidden to interact with anyone.

Not long after, Yuan died of grief and anger. After Yuan's death, Ma Xiwang also died of grief and anger (whether he died of grief and anger or was sent away by Ma Xifan is unknown).

After Ma Xiwang's death, Ma Xifan turned his attention to his other younger brother, Ma Xigao.

Ma Xigao was the governor of Jingjiang Army in Guizhou and the co-prime minister. He was a kind person and had good governance in Guizhou, which was well-known among the people. However, his good reputation aroused the suspicion of Ma Xifan. Pei Renxu, the military supervisor of Guizhou, followed his idea and reported to Ma Xifan that Ma Xigao was buying off the hearts of the soldiers and had bad intentions, and that he would soon become too powerful to be eliminated in Guizhou.

People always believe what they want to believe, and Ma Xifan believed Ma Xigao's claim that he was plotting something bad. Just as he was thinking about how to deal with him, good news came from the border: the Southern Han invaded! As mentioned earlier, the Southern Han invaded Mengzhou and Guizhou in Southern Chu.

Therefore, Ma Xifan asked his half-brother Ma Xiguang to stay in Tanzhou, while he personally led 5,000 elite troops and headed for Guizhou under the banner of resisting the invasion of Southern Han.

Ma Xigao and his mother felt unprecedented fear, knowing that Ma Xifan's trip was to eliminate external turmoil but actually to eliminate internal troubles. Ma Xigao's biological mother, Hua, took the initiative to meet him and intercepted Ma Xifan's troops at Quanyi Ridge.

Hua made a profound self-examination to Ma Xifan, saying: "Ma Xigao was stupid and incompetent, and he had no way of governing. As a result, the enemy invaded the border, and Your Highness had to go to the battle in person. This was also my fault for not educating my son well. I hope Your Highness will deprive me of my fiefdom and let me go back to clean the palace to atone for Ma Xigao's sin."

With five thousand elite troops to back him up, Ma Xifan would never be fooled by a few sad words. Ma Xifan responded by playing the emotional card and said, "I haven't seen brother Xi Gao for a long time. I heard that he has excellent abilities and outstanding character, so I wanted to come and see him in person. I have no other intentions."

When the Southern Han army heard that Ma Xifan was personally leading the expedition, they immediately withdrew from Mengzhou. The border crisis was resolved, and Ma Xifan took the opportunity to transfer Ma Xigao from Guizhou to Langzhou for close surveillance.

Gold shines wherever it goes. Ma Xigao was still deeply loved by the local people in Langzhou and had a good reputation. When Ma Xifan heard about it, he was very unhappy and sent people to spy on Ma Xigao's every move, word and deed, either openly or secretly.

Ma Xigao was terrified, so he wrote a petition to the emperor, claiming that he was ill and could not continue to work, and asked to resign and go home to recuperate. Politically, he completely surrendered to his brother Ma Xifan.

As usual, Ma Xifan did not approve it and issued a conciliatory edict, persuading and comforting him, "I can't live without you, and the people can't live without you. Please insist on working and serving the people... Besides, you are sick, no problem, I will cure you." Ma Xifan sent a medical team to Ma Xigao and then poisoned him to death.

The people of Langzhou feel deeply saddened.

After learning that the Central Plains Emperor Shi Chonggui was also extravagant and pleasure-seeking, Ma Xifan tried to please him by continuously presenting precious treasures to the Later Jin Dynasty in the hope that the Later Jin Dynasty would give him the title of "Capital Marshal".

Shi Chonggui lamented that he could not find a soulmate in the world, but he did not expect that he actually had a confidant in faraway Hunan. So on September 946, 9, he issued an edict appointing Ma Xifan as the "Marshal of the Armies of All Provinces."

Before Ma Xifan could even warm up the imperial edict, he received a thunderbolt: in December, the Khitans captured Shi Chonggui and the Later Jin Dynasty fell. Ma Xifan held the title of "Marshal of the Armies of All Provinces", but the shelf life was too short!
Soon, the Khitan sent an envoy to confer the title of "Shangfu" on Ma Xifan. Shangfu, as explained many times in the previous article, is the greatest honor that a minister can get since the Tang Dynasty.

The Khitan had just destroyed the Later Jin Dynasty and was in urgent need of stability for its neighbors, so they bestowed great rewards and bestowed favors on everyone. The envoy conveyed Yelu Deguang's sincere greetings to Ma Xifan through the envoy ceremony, and said that Yelu Deguang had heard of Comrade Ma Xifan's glorious deeds, and believed that Comrade Ma Xifan was extraordinary and invaluable, so he was willing to interact with him wholeheartedly... In a word: Brother is optimistic about you.

A few sweet words flattered Ma Xifan, who was like a fairy, and "advocated by the Khitans, and became more and more proud and happy." He even forgot his own last name.

Not long after the good times began, a bolt from the blue came - the Khitans drove out of the Central Plains, and the new emperor of the Central Plains was called Liu Zhiyuan.

The shelf life of "Shangfu" is not long either.

However, Ma Xifan would not feel disappointed because no matter who ruled the Central Plains, he would need to win over the heroes of the world and promote the princes to higher positions in order to gain their support.

However, Ma Xifan did not wait for the arrival of Liu Zhiyuan's reward edict, but instead waited for an uninvited guest.

On the Dragon Boat Festival, Ma Xifan set up wine by the river, drank and watched the dragon boat race, having fun with the people. His staff and guests raised their glasses to toast each other, and everyone was having a great time.

Suddenly, Ma Xifan jumped up without warning and shouted, "Gao Yu is here!"

Ma Xiguang on the side consoled him: "Gao Yu has been dead for many years, Your Majesty, please don't talk nonsense!"

At this time, Ma Xifan was already twitching all over, his consciousness was confused, and his speech was slurred. Ma Xiguang hurriedly ordered someone to send him back to the mansion for emergency treatment.

After returning, Ma Xifan suddenly had a nosebleed. It wasn't flowing out, it was gushing out.

Li Cunxu overthrew the Later Liang Dynasty, and Ma Yin sent Ma Xifan to Luoyang to meet with the emperor. At that time, Li Cunxu deliberately alienated Gao Yu and successfully fooled Ma Xifan. After Ma Xifan came back, he spread rumors to Ma Yin. Ma Yin saw through Li Cunxu's evil plan and patiently persuaded Ma Xifan, saying that Li Cunxu's alienation of Gao Yu was just like his alienation of "Wang Tieqiang" Wang Yanzhang from Zhu Youzhen, and we should not be so stupid.

Seeing that his father was stubborn, Ma Xifan anxiously looked for his brother Ma Xisheng. Eventually, the two brothers killed Gao Yu without telling their father.

Ma Xifan was suddenly possessed by evil spirits on the Dragon Boat Festival. He screamed and claimed that he saw Gao Yu coming to kill him. He soon became seriously ill, sometimes conscious and sometimes unconscious. During his lucid moments, Ma Xifan realized that he had little time left, so he asked his half-brother Ma Xiguang to "register the country" (to judge the affairs of the internal and external departments).

Just three days later, on the afternoon of May 3, Ma Xifan, who was on his deathbed, suddenly screamed in fear again, claiming that Gao Yu had come again. That night, Ma Xifan died of illness in Tiance Mansion, Tanzhou, at the age of 5 due to ineffective treatment.

(End of this chapter)