Zhao Yun was the model of a perfectly balanced commander. He possessed flawless morals, sharp intellect, and peak physical prowess. Because his mind operated so quickly, a horrifying realization surfaced in his heart the moment that specific nickname registered.
His pupils trembled.
Yet Zhang Fei was still shouting, blissfully unaware of the storm he had just kicked up. "Who the hell is this Yunmei? There are no women in the army! Could it be some camp follower brought by that Cao thief?"
Guan Yu raised his hand and slapped Zhang Fei squarely on the back of the head. "Shut your mouth, Yide!"
Then he turned and said in a steady voice, "Zilong, do not be troubled. In my view, the people of later ages must hold you in great affection to give you such a name. Did the light screen not say you would become the God of War at Changban, charging through Cao's camp seven times in and out? Let us watch first."
There was nothing else to be done. Zhao Yun nodded slowly, forced his spinning thoughts to settle, and returned his gaze to the light screen. But in his mind, he could not help but think: Hmph. If we were not separated by a thousand years, I would have a few words for these people from the future.
The image shifted.
The view pulled back like a hawk soaring high into the sky, and suddenly a detailed three-dimensional topographical map straight from the twenty-first century appeared right before the eyes of all the late Han officials and generals gathered there.
[Lightscreen]
[In the year 217 AD the Shu Han faction officially kicked off the Battle of Hanzhong. You have to understand a campaign this big can never be won in one single glorious charge. It is more like a long drawn out tug of war. Both sides test each other, race to outlast each other in supplies, and hunt for that one fatal opening. This battle was going to stretch on for a very long time.
First let's take a look at the commanders on both sides. For Shu Han the leaders joining the fight include Zhang Fei, Ma Chao, Zhao Yun, Huang Zhong, Fa Zheng, and Huang Quan.
Over on Cao Wei's side the generals defending the region are Xiahou Yuan, Cao Xiu, Cao Zhen, Cao Hong, Zhang He, Xu Huang, and Guo Huai.]
The gathered officials and generals exchanged glances.
They had all heard of Ma Chao. As for Fa Zheng and Huang Quan, none present knew them, yet the light screen had already declared them as allies. The sensation was strangely novel.
Zhang Fei asked, "So Second Brother is guarding Jingzhou at this time?"
Zhuge Liang calculated briefly and nodded. "Jingzhou cannot be entrusted to anyone but Yunchang."
Jian Yong leaned back in his chair, tossed a piece of dried fruit into his mouth, and listed off intelligence like he was reading a family grocery list.
"I have heard a few rumors about Fa Zheng," Jian Yong mumbled while chewing. "He is said to be the treasured grandson of the famous scholar Fa Zhen. His ancestor was Fa Xiong, the former Governor of Nan Commandery. As for Huang Quan... if my memory serves, he is currently serving as a Registrar over in Yi Province."
As half a wandering scholar, Jian Yong had spent his entire career running errands for Liu Bei. He specialized in building relationships, sharing drinks, and gathering local gossip. Digging up the background details of obscure officials was basically his favorite hobby, and he did it effortlessly.
"They are all strong enemies," Guan Yu offered in a short, clinical tone.
Zhang He and Xu Huang needed no introduction. Both were seasoned and deadly fighters forged in battle. As for Cao Xiu, Cao Zhen, and Cao Hong those three had loyally followed Cao Cao ever since he first raised his militia to take down the tyrant Dong Zhuo. Anyone who managed to survive decades of nonstop bloody fighting without getting killed had naturally grown into a truly terrifying veteran commander.
"Ha this is nothing! We have old Huang on our side!" Zhang Fei roared with laughter and gave Huang Zhong a heavy slap on the shoulder completely unfazed by the enemy's impressive lineup.
The sudden loud compliment made Huang Zhong's face turn bright red with happy pride.
[Lightscreen]
[Back in 217 AD Liu Bei sent Zhang Fei, Ma Chao, Wu Lan, and Lei Tong out to launch a lightning surprise attack on Wudu. They quickly beat the local Governor and took control of Xiabian city.
Now here is where it gets really interesting. That Governor of Wudu was a man named Yang Fu courtesy name Yishan and he hailed from Tianshui. Same hometown as Jiang Wei by the way. And get this — Yang Fu was the man who basically wiped out Ma Chao's entire family. These two were about as mortal enemies as you can get.
We modern people tend to heap a whole lot of praise on Yang Fu. Most history books paint him as the righteous hero standing tall against the evil Ma Chao. But honestly if you look at the facts without picking sides it is not quite that simple. Ma Chao's rebellion was never just a clear cut black and white story.
Back in 211 AD Cao Cao marched his army toward Hanzhong. Right away Han Sui and Ma Chao rose up in revolt. They joined forces with Zhang Lu and handed Cao Cao a humiliating defeat at the Battle of Tong Pass. The famous novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms even made up a pretty hilarious scene where Cao Cao had to cut off his beard and throw away his robe just to escape being recognized and caught.]
Right at that moment the screen shifted. Wen Mang played a dramatic clip straight from the classic 1994 TV series.
The whole room went dead silent in stunned awe. They watched an actor clearly marked as Ma Chao gallop forward on horseback, spear pointed ahead, and yell at the top of his lungs.
"The one in the red robe is Cao Cao!"
The actor playing Cao Cao went into a total panic. He tore off his red robe and threw it into the dirt.
"The one with the long beard is Cao Cao!"
The actor playing Cao Cao pulled out a dagger and frantically sawed off his fake beard while running for his life.
"The one with the short beard is Cao Cao!"
The actor playing Cao Cao grabbed a tattered battle flag, wrapped it around his head, and fled into the distance looking like a miserable beggar.
For a moment the side hall was flooded with pure delight. Everyone fought hard to hold back their laughter.
Liu Bei, ever the thoughtful leader, turned to explain this strange sight to his confused officials. "This must be a form of theatrical Nuo play. The future generations clearly invented these stage dramas based on our historical deeds to entertain themselves."
With that simple explanation Jian Yong, Mi Zhu, and Sun Qian caught on right away.
Mi Zhu's merchant instincts kicked in at once. 'This futuristic kind of Nuo play with such realistic costumes and no wooden masks was clearly way better than the boring dances they put on in the markets these days.'
"What a shame treacherous Cao Cao did not actually die right there in the dirt!" Zhang Fei smacked his lips loud and shook his head in genuine disappointment.
"Yide, you laughed louder than anyone in this room just now," Huang Zhong pointed out dryly. "The Lightscreen clearly said this scene was made up. Do not go treating it like real history."
Guan Yu meanwhile had one hand clamped tight around his own magnificent chest-length beard. He looked completely lost in thought.
The Lightscreen had mentioned before that he would meet his end at a place called Maicheng. Would some enemy commander out there yell "The one with the long beard is Guan Yu" while hunting him down?
Guan Yu snorted coldly. 'If anyone ever dares to shout "the long-bearded one is Guan Yu," they will learn the difference between a beard and a blade.'
Jian Yong stopped chewing his dried fruit. He pinched his fingers together as he worked through the exact timeline of events. Then he slowly shook his head.
"Ma Teng is dead."
In that single moment, the joy in the room vanished. A heavy, suffocating stillness settled over everyone.
They had all forgotten a critical fact. Just the year before, Cao Cao had forced Ma Teng and his whole family to move right into the heart of Yecheng, effectively holding them hostage to keep Ma Chao in check.
"Cao Cao figured Zhang Lu would turn to Ma Chao and Han Sui for backup," Kongming said calmly, waving his feather fan slowly. "So he took Ma Teng into his grasp first, hoping it would paralyze the warlords of Liangzhou. He never expected Han Sui and Ma Chao would march their armies regardless."
Ma Teng was meant to be the leash that held Ma Chao back. But Ma Chao had chosen to move anyway, loud and clear for all to see. He did not care about his father's life. To keep his authority and show he meant business, Cao Cao had no choice. Ma Teng would be executed.
Ma Chao's cold ruthless call left everyone in the room unsure how to judge him. Their first instinct was to call him a heartless wolf who had no respect for his own father. But the Screen had also just shown that Ma Chao would one day come over to their side and become a founding pillar of the Shu Han Empire.
That made things really awkward. It was hard to badmouth someone who was going to be your colleague one day.
[Lightscreen]
[Back in 211, Cao Cao pulled his army back after his defeat. Then in 212, Ma Chao started fighting again. He teamed up with Zhang Lu and took control of several commanderies in Liangzhou, killing Inspector Wei Kang in the process. The local elites all surrendered one by one. Xiahou Yuan led his troops to put down the rebellion but got beaten back.
In 213, Yang Fu and Jiang Xu turned against Ma Chao and wiped out his whole family. Ma Chao struck back hard by massacring Jiang Xu's entire clan. Xiahou Yuan then marched forward and finally defeated Ma Chao.
By 214, Ma Chao had fled all the way to Hanzhong to seek shelter under Zhang Lu. Later that same year, he left Zhang Lu and joined Liu Bei.
Now if you look closely, this whole mess follows the exact same pattern we saw play out in Jiangdong. Ma Chao tried to rule through fear and brute strength. He bullied the local gentry, seized their land, and killed anyone who dared stand in his way. But you cannot run a region like that forever. Sooner or later, the people you crushed will find a way to crush you right back.
And here is where it gets really interesting. Cao Cao praised Yang Fu as a man of great virtue. But let us be honest for a second. When Wei Kang was killed, Yang Fu did absolutely nothing. He bowed his head, served Ma Chao, and waited for his moment. He only made his move when the time was perfect. Was that true loyalty? Or was it just clever strategy?
The plain truth is neither side was clean. Yang Fu and his allies, including Zhao Ang and his wife Wang Yi, gave up everything to get their revenge. Wang Yi even told her husband to let their own son die as a hostage just to buy time for their rebellion. Ma Chao in return slaughtered Jiang Xu's entire family in retaliation.
So who was the real hero here? The honest answer is no one. The gentry got their revenge. Ma Chao got his vengeance.]
The generals traded uneasy glances.
Was Liangzhou really that brutal, where whole families got wiped out at every turn?
Killing a provincial inspector was a terrible crime. Even with imperial power all but gone, everyone still kept up appearances. Just look at how Sun Jian and Liu Biao fought each other, but Huang Zu was the one who ended up paying the price. And then there was Wang Yi telling her husband to let their own son die just to buy time for their rebellion. What kind of world was this, where a mother would give up her own child for revenge?
Liu Bei completely agreed with what the Screen said about Yang Fu. Back when he was young, he used to think ordinary people were just simple folk. But after getting tricked and almost wiped out in Xuzhou, he learned the hard truth. The powerful clans could easily pretend to be on the side of the common people whenever it suited their own goals.
[Lightscreen]
[Alright I got a little off track there! Let's pull the focus straight back to the Battle of Hanzhong.
When Liu Bei's vanguard commander Ma Chao finally came face to face with Governor Yang Fu on the battlefield it was pure hatred at first sight. These two were mortal enemies through and through. They barely even exchanged a few blows before Yang Fu realized he was totally outmatched. He immediately turned his horse around and bolted yelling that he was going for reinforcements.
Before long three top Cao generals Cao Hong, Cao Xiu, and Cao Zhen marched their heavy troops right to the front line to back Yang Fu up. Their plan was simple and bold. They were going to smash right back in and retake Xiabian city.]
Everyone in the room felt a little mentally disoriented.
They had tuned in for a detailed breakdown of the Battle of Hanzhong, yet the narrator had dragged them all the way back to the First Battle of Hanzhong from years before.
Fine, they could handle the history lesson.
But the narrator had not even bothered to explain how Zhang Lu ended up getting wiped out before yanking the timeline straight back to the present.
Zhang Fei though was absolutely delighted. He did not care one bit about the odd pacing.
Out of the four Shu Han generals the Screen had just named in the attack on Wudu he was the only one sitting right there in the room.
"We hold a strong city on good ground! The enemy is just those three younger Cao boys! All the advantage is ours!" Zhang Fei roared with laughter that rang right off the wooden walls. "Does this mean I am finally going to bag some big merit in battle?!"
Back when the magical Screen had revealed the future it had mentioned more than once that Huang Zhong would be the one to cut down Xiahou Yuan in single combat.
Zhang Fei had been secretly burning with jealousy over it for ages. 'This old Zhang wanted his own fair share of glory too.'
Was this his moment at last? Would he finally get to step up, do what he did best, and rack up some kills of his own?
---
The cold winter air stayed locked outside the modified side hall. Inside, the energy was absolutely electric.
The leaders of Shu Han were no longer just reading reports or debating strategies in the abstract. They were sitting front row at a magical theater, watching their own grand destiny play out right across a glowing three-dimensional map.
Liu Bei reached for the wine pot and poured himself a warm cup.
Just hearing that Ma Chao would one day join his ranks had shifted his whole strategic outlook. The terrifying cavalry of Liangzhou under a man with nothing left to lose was a weapon of immense power and danger.
"just Keep watching, Yide" Liu Bei said evenly, sipping his wine. "Let us see exactly how you fare against the finest the Cao family has to offer."
Zhang Fei leaned so far forward his elbows rested on his knees. His eyes bored straight into the floating Screen like burning coals. He was fully ready to watch himself crush Cao Hong, Cao Xiu, and Cao Zhen in a glorious display of overwhelming might.
Zhao Yun meanwhile sat perfectly still and calm. The whole Changban story had long been locked away deep in his mind never to be spoken of again.
He studied the rotating three dimensional map with razor sharp focus, taking in every mountain pass, every river crossing, and every supply route. He committed every last detail to memory.
When the true Battle of Hanzhong finally began Zhao Yun had a clear plan. The true God of War from Changban would not need to charge seven times. He would strike once and finish the job right then and there.