221 AD

The year 221 marks a decisive turn in the struggle over who could claim the Han legacy: Cao Pi’s accession prompted Xuande to proclaim himself emperor in order to continue the Han line, and Xuande’s new reign immediately became bound to a campaign against Sun Quan for Guan Yu’s death. The same late summer also brought the crisis that led Fan Jiang and Zhang Da to plot against Zhang Fei, as his harsh demands for preparations collided with the timetable of the war.

A contested Han succession

After Cao Pi accepted the throne, officials in Chengdu urged Xuande to take the imperial title. Xuande was alarmed by the proposal, regarding it as a potentially rebellious act. Kong Ming and the other officials argued instead that Cao Pi had usurped the Han and that Xuande, as a descendant of the House of Liu, should take up the responsibility of restoring its lineage. The competing claims made the succession more than a change of ruler: both sides invoked precedent and the Mandate of Heaven to present their actions as legitimate.

Xuande’s proclamation portrayed his accession as the preservation of the Han against Cao Pi, following Cao Cao’s seizure of power. It said that he had consulted others and accepted the burden despite his fear. He took the jade seal of authority after repeatedly appearing to refuse the title. His family received imperial rank, his son Shan was named heir apparent, and Kong Ming became prime minister. These arrangements established the new court’s succession and administration as well as its claim to continue the Han.

From accession to war

The new reign did not begin with a period of consolidation. The day after his proclamation, Xuande declared that the oath made in the Peach Orchard bound him to avenge Guan Yu by attacking Sun Quan. Many objected, but Xuande persisted. In late summer, he set out with a combined force of 750,000 men. The rapid movement from accession to war tied the new emperor’s authority to the obligations of sworn brotherhood and revenge, even as it exposed his decision to opposition within his own camp.

Zhao Zilong was among those who challenged the course of action, and Xuande’s decision proceeded despite protest. His stated purpose was to avenge Guan Yu; the campaign therefore placed personal and fraternal loyalty at the centre of the new regime’s first major undertaking. The year’s events show how the claim to restore the Han and the commitment to punish Sun Quan became intertwined, rather than separate political and military questions.

Zhang Fei’s preparations and the plot against him

As Xuande’s army prepared to march, Zhang Fei was at Langzhong, where he ordered his troops to be ready within three days and required their banners and surcoats to be white, the colour of mourning. The next day, Fan Jiang and Zhang Da told him that the preparations could not be completed so quickly. Zhang Fei responded by ordering both men flogged and demanding that everything be ready by the following day on pain of execution.

The two officers feared that they would be killed if they failed to meet the demand. They began plotting to escape their expected fate by killing Zhang Fei first, reasoning that his drunkenness might give them an opportunity to approach him. The evidence records the beginning of their plan, not its eventual outcome. Their conspiracy forms a stark counterpoint to the campaign’s public language of loyalty and vengeance: the war set in motion by Xuande’s decision also intensified the danger within the ranks of his own forces.