History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 734 Ma Xi'e, Nine Months

Ma Xiguang himself, along with Li Honggao, Deng Yiwen, Yang Di and others, were all arrested and brought back, awaiting trial and punishment by Ma Xi'e.

Ma Xi'e asked Ma Xiguang sternly, "How can you, as the successor of your father and brother, destroy the order of seniority?"

Ma Xiguang replied tremblingly: "The generals and officials supported it, and the central government (Zhongyuan Dynasty) appointed me. It was not my original intention... I didn't do it on purpose."

Ma Xi'e glanced at him with disdain and snorted coldly: "Idiot!" Then he ordered his men to imprison him first.

Ma Xi'e asked Li Honggao again why he insisted on supporting Ma Xiguang in the first place, and Li Honggao was so scared that he dared not speak. He had said something like Ma Xi'e was born out of wedlock in the first place, and now Ma Xi'e used this sentence to question him.

Ma Yin had left a will that his sons should "take over the throne from the elder brother" instead of "take over the throne from the father", as if he had anticipated that all his sons would be short-lived. After Ma Xifan's death, according to the order of succession, Ma Yin's 30th son Ma Xi'e should have succeeded to the throne, but Li Honggao and others supported Ma Xifan's half-brother, the 35th son Ma Xiguang.

So Ma Xi'e asked Li Honggao sternly why he violated the last king's will and deposed the eldest son and enthroned the youngest son. Li Honggao was speechless.

Ma Xi'e issued a sentence for Li Honggao: to be eaten alive, which means to be cut into pieces on the tip of the tongue.

Others who were tortured to death include Li Honggao's brother Li Hongjie, Tang Zhaoyin, and Yang Di. Deng Yiwen's fate was slightly better, as he was beheaded.

Afterwards, Ma Xi'e ordered to stop the looting, smashing and burning in Tanzhou City and restore order.

On December 12, Ma Xi'e officially proclaimed himself General of Tiance, Jiedushi of Wu'an, Tanzhou, Wuping, Langzhou, Jingjiang, Guizhou, and Ningyuan, Rongzhou, and King of Chu; he appointed his half-brother Ma Xicong as deputy Jiedushi; his son Ma Guangzan as the commander of the Wuping army in Langzhou; and He Jingzhen, who had made great contributions to the founding of the regiment, as the commander-in-chief of the Langzhou garrison (Yanei Du Commander).

The leaders of all important departments of Nanchu were replaced by the direct lineage of Langzhou, completing a major blood transfusion quickly. Ma Xi'e also tried to appoint a group of meritorious old officials to be his political vases, such as Tuoba Heng, but Tuoba Heng always insisted that he was ill and refused to come out.

Ma Xi'e summoned all the officials and asked for their opinions on how to deal with Ma Xiguang. "Guang-style quotations" were widely circulated, and Ma Xi'e's tone could not be too low, so he first said: "Ma Xiguang is just a cowardly and stupid idiot, who was fooled and controlled by his left and right people and had no choice. I plan to spare his life. What do you think?"

Ma Xiguang said "Don't hurt my brother" first, so Ma Xi'e must reply "I want to keep my brother alive", but this "my brother" must be eradicated. The leader wants to talk big, and the subordinates want to take the blame. Who will take the blame?
There was total silence.

Ma Xi'e was both disappointed and angry, and the scene was very awkward for a while.

At this time, Huyou stepped out of the line and strongly demanded that Ma Xiguang be killed. Ma Xi'e looked at him gratefully and found that this person was none other than Zhu Jinzhong, the vanguard under his command.

Zhu Jinzhong was punished by Ma Xiguang for violating military regulations, so he held a grudge. At this time, he was not only sharing the worries of his master, but also avenging his personal grudge. He clasped his fists and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty has fought for three years and finally got Tanzhou. As the saying goes, there is no two suns in the sky and no two masters in a country. If you keep Ma Xiguang now, you will regret it in the future!"

Ma Xi'e immediately said that what he said made sense and ordered Ma Xiguang to be executed. Ma Xiguang's wife was dragged to the downtown area and beaten to death with a stick.

According to the "New Records of the Three Chus", Ma Xiguang was hanged to death, but his body was kept intact. This was Ma Xi'e's last and only act of mercy. Before his death, Ma Xiguang was still reciting Buddhist scriptures. Peng Shihao collected his body and buried it outside the East Gate.

The historian's evaluation of Ma Xiguang began with the ancient proverb "If you don't make a decision when you should, you will suffer the consequences." Then he pointed out that Ma Xiguang missed two opportunities to save himself and turn things around. One was when Ma Xi'e went to mourn, and the other was the "Battle of Pushezhou" after the war broke out. Ma Xiguang let the tiger go back to the mountain because of "don't hurt my brother", which planted the root of disaster. When someone found out that Ma Xichong was acting as a traitor for Ma Xi'e and proposed to kill him, Ma Xiguang not only "don't hurt my brother", but also let Ma Xichong serve as a military supervisor in the civil war. It was really a mysterious operation.

Finally, the historian's final verdict on Ma Xiguang was that he "admired Song Xiang's empty words and caused Yuan Tan's real disaster."

Duke Xiang of Song was the legitimate son of Duke Huan of Song. When Duke Huan of Song died, he took the initiative to give up the right of inheritance to his illegitimate brother Mu Yi. Mu Yi refused to accept it. Firstly, he was a illegitimate brother, and secondly, his younger brother was able to give up the country, which showed his great benevolence and virtue, so he was even less worthy of the inheritance. In order to let his younger brother succeed to the throne with peace of mind, Mu Yi fled to the state of Wei, so his younger brother succeeded to the throne and became Duke Xiang of Song.

This was Duke Xiang of Song's first glorious moment, and his "beauty of giving up the country" was praised by the world.

After he succeeded to the throne, Duke Xiang of Song was ambitious and wanted to dominate the princes, so he formed factions and created two opposing camps. Later, Duke Xiang of Song proposed to hold a "G7 summit" and invite seven neighboring princes to the meeting, including the enemy of Song, Chu.

Duke Xiang of Song emphasized that this was a peaceful negotiation and asked everyone not to bring troops to avoid accidental shootings. We are all civilized and well-educated people.

Someone advised him that the Chu people were not trustworthy and suggested that he take the army with him to prepare for any unexpected event.

Duke Xiang of Song said that he was the first to propose not bringing troops, so how could he break the rules? So he refused to bring troops and went to the meeting alone.

As a result, the Chu people really secretly brought troops and kidnapped the very silly and naive Duke Xiang of Song to Chu. Later, under the mediation of Lu, the Chu people released Duke Xiang of Song.

This was the first time Duke Xiang of Song made a stupid mistake, but not the last.

Song and Chu finally came into direct conflict. The two countries lined up at the Hongshui River, and the famous "Battle of Hongshui" broke out. In terms of military strength, Chu had the upper hand, so the Chu army crossed the river to attack. Someone suggested that Duke Xiang of Song "strike the enemy halfway across the river", but Duke Xiang of Song said that we are a benevolent and righteous army, how can we do such a despicable thing to take advantage of others' misfortune? Wait until they cross the river and set up their array, and then we will fight openly and honorably.

As a result, the State of Song was badly defeated. Duke Xiang of Song was also shot in the thigh by an arrow. He died the following year from this wound.

Before his death, he still insisted on his "benevolence, righteousness, and morality" values, emphasizing that on the battlefield, one cannot attack an already injured enemy, cannot attack an elderly person with gray hair, cannot hide in a dangerous pass to shoot the enemy, and cannot attack an enemy that has not formed a battle array...

His half-brother Mu Yi was so angry that he immediately retorted: "Then why don't we just become slaves to the enemy? Why bother fighting?"

Historically, there have been mixed reviews of Duke Xiang of Song. Some say he was a true gentleman, while others say he was an unrealistic romanticist. Some people include him in the "Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period."

(End of this chapter)