After Ma Xifan ascended the throne, he made no secret of his disgust for the Yuan family. The Chen family regarded the mother as the son, and also harbored resentment towards the Yuan family. This made the Yuan family panic all day long.
And Ma Xisheng's half-brother Ma Xiwang, who was the commander-in-chief of the bodyguards (commandant of the capital), naturally became a thorn in Ma Xifan's side and a thorn in his flesh, so he always put small shoes on Ma Xiwang.
Yuan knew that Ma Xifan had murderous intentions, so he took the initiative to find Ma Xifan and expressed that Ma Xiwang was willing to resign and become a monk. Ma Xifan flatly refused half of it and allowed him to resign, but he was not allowed to become a monk. Mahiwang has been under house arrest since then, with a bamboo house and a thatched gate, and is monitored 24 hours a day with open posts and hidden sentries, prohibiting him from interacting with anyone.
Soon after, Yuan died of grief and anger. After Yuan's death, Ma Xiwang also died of sorrow and anger (whether he died of sorrow and anger or was sent away by Ma Xifan is unknown).
After Mahiwang's death, Mahifan turned his attention to his other younger brother, Mahi Gao.
At that time, Ma Xigao served as the military governor of Jingjiang and Tongping Zhangshi in Guizhou. He was a kind man and had good governance in Guizhou, which was well-known among the people. However, his good political voice aroused Ma Xifan's suspicion. Pei Renxu, the supervisor of the Guizhou army, responded to his idea and reported to Ma Xifan, saying that Ma Xigao had bad intentions in buying the army's morale and was about to be defeated in Guizhou.
People always believe what they want to believe, and Ma Xifan believed that Ma Xigao had evil intentions. Just when I was thinking about how to deal with him, good news came from the border: the Southern Han Dynasty invaded! As mentioned above, the Southern Han Dynasty invaded Mengzhou and Guizhou of Southern Chu.
Therefore, Ma Xifan asked his half-brother Ma Xiguang to stay in Tanzhou, while he personally led 5,000 elite troops to Guizhou under the banner of resisting the invasion of the Southern Han Dynasty.
Ma Xigao and her son felt unprecedented fear, knowing that Ma Xifan's trip was called to eliminate chaos, but in fact it was to eliminate internal troubles. Ma Xigao's biological mother, Hua Shi, took the initiative to meet Ma Xifan and intercepted Ma Xifan's troops at Quanyi Ridge.
Hua made a profound self-examination to Ma Xifan and said: "Ma Xigao was so stupid and incompetent that he caused the enemy to invade the border and troubled His Highness to go out in person to fight. This is also the fault of my incompetence in educating my son. I hope that Your Highness will deprive me of my fiefdom and let my son go to war." I will go back and clean the palace to atone for Mahigao's sin."
With the backing of 5,000 elite troops, it is absolutely impossible for Ma Xifan to be deceived by a few words of bitterness. Ma Xifan also played the emotional card and said: "I haven't seen brother Xigao for a long time, and I heard about his ability." He is excellent and has outstanding conduct, so I want to come and see it for myself, and there is no other meaning."
After the Southern Han army heard about Ma Xifan's personal expedition, they immediately retreated from Mengzhou. When the border crisis was resolved, Ma Xifan took advantage of the situation and transferred Ma Xigao away from Guizhou and placed him in Langzhou for close surveillance.
It is gold that shines everywhere. Ma Xigao is still deeply loved by the local people in Langzhou and has quite a political reputation. After Ma Xifan heard about it, he was very unhappy. He sent people several times to spy on Ma Xigao's every move, word and deed, either overtly or covertly.
Ma Xigao was very frightened, so Shangshu claimed that he was ill and could no longer hold on to his job, and asked to resign and go home to recuperate. Politically, he completely surrendered to his brother Mahifan.
As usual, Ma Xifan disapproved and issued a consolation edict, persuading and comforting, "I can't live without you, and the people can't live without you. Please keep working and serve the people... Also, aren't you sick? It's easy to say, I will help you treat it." ." Ma Xifan sent a medical team to Ma Xigao and then poisoned him to death.
The people of Langzhou deeply regret it.
After Ma Xifan learned that Shi Chonggui, the emperor of the Central Plains, was also extravagant and pleasure-seeking, he followed his fancy and constantly presented treasures to the later Jin Dynasty, hoping that the later Jin Dynasty would give him the title of "Marshal of the City".
Shi Chonggui lamented that he could not find a confidant anywhere in the world, but he did not expect that he would have a confidant in that far away Hunan, so he issued an edict on September 17, 946, appointing Ma Xifan as the "Marshal of the Military and Horse Capital".
Before Ma Xifan could warm up the edict, he received a bolt from the blue: in December, the Khitans captured Shi Chonggui, and the later Jin Dynasty was destroyed.
Ma Xifan holds the title of "Marshal of All Soldiers and Horses", but the shelf life is too short!
Soon, the Khitan sent a ceremonial envoy to give Ma Xifan the title of "Shangfu". Shangfu, as has been explained many times before, is the greatest honor that a minister can receive since the Tang Dynasty.
The Khitans had just conquered the Later Jin Dynasty and were in urgent need of stability among their neighbors, so they offered rewards and extended favors. The envoy ceremony conveyed Yelu Deguang's sincere greetings to Ma Xifan, and said that Yelu Deguang had heard about Comrade Ma Xifan's glorious deeds and thought of Ma Xifan. Comrades are more valuable than ordinary people, so they are willing to associate with each other... In one sentence: I like you very much.
A few sweet words made Ma Xifan look as if he were a fairy, "It makes me happy to recommend Khitan to each other." I don’t even know what my last name is.
Not long after the beauty was over, another bolt from the blue came - the Khitans left the Central Plains, and the new emperor of the Central Plains was called Liu Zhiyuan.
The shelf life of "Shangfu" is also not long.
However, Ma Xifan will not feel disappointed because no matter who takes control of the Central Plains, he needs to win over the heroes of the world and give officials and nobles to the feudal princes to gain support.
However, Ma Xifan did not wait for the arrival of Liu Zhiyuan's reward edict. Instead, he waited for an uninvited guest first.
On the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, Ma Xifan went to the river to set up wine, and while drinking, he watched the dragon boat race and had fun with the people. His staff and guests toasted to each other in a happy mood.
Suddenly, without any warning, Ma Xifan jumped up and shouted: "Gao Yu is here!"
Ma Xiguang on the side comforted him: "Gao Yu has been dead for many years. Your Majesty, don't talk nonsense!"
At this time, Ma Xifan was twitching all over, confused, and his speech was slurred. Ma Xiguang hurriedly ordered someone to send him back to his home for first aid.
After returning home, Ma Xifan suddenly had nosebleeds, not flowing out, but spurting out.
When Li Cunxu overthrew the Later Liang Dynasty, Ma Yin sent Ma Xifan to Luoyang for an audience. At that time, Li Cunxu deliberately alienated Gao Yu and successfully deceived Ma Xifan. After Ma Xifan came back, he made trouble with Ma Yin. Ma Yin saw through Li Cunxu's treacherous plan and patiently persuaded Ma Xifan, saying that Li Cunxu alienated Gao Yu from us, just like he alienated Zhu Youzhen and "Wang Tiejian" Wang Yanzhang. We can't be so stupid.
Seeing that his father was stubborn, Ma Xifan went to his brother Ma Xisheng anxiously. In the end, the two brothers killed Gao Yu without telling their father.
Ma Xifan was suddenly "possessed" during the Dragon Boat Festival, yelling and claiming that he saw Gao Yu coming to ask for his life. He soon became terminally ill, sometimes awake and sometimes comatose. In his sober moments, Ma Xifan realized that he did not have much time left, so he asked his half-brother Ma Xiguang to "supervise the regent of the country" (judge all internal and external officials).
Just three days later, during the day on May 8, Ma Xifan, who was on his deathbed, suddenly screamed in terror again, claiming that Gao Yu was coming again. That night, Ma Xifan died of illness in Tiance Mansion, Tanzhou, at the age of 49 due to ineffective treatment.
