As we all know, the image of Ma Dai in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" was vividly displayed before Zhuge Liang left Qishan six times, which can be described as frequent activities and has always been subordinate to the account. However, after Zhuge Liang's death, Ma Dai's related stories gradually fell silent, and descriptions of his whereabouts disappeared without a trace. So, where did Ma Dai disappear? There are various speculations circulating among the people, the most popular version of which is that he quietly led his family away from Shu Han. The reason seems to be closely related to his performance in the last years of Zhuge Liang's life.
According to the original work: "Kong Ming was excited to witness Sima Yi being introduced into the valley by Wei Yan. Faced with the raging flames lit by Ma Dai, both sides were determined to stop the other with all their might. At this time, there was a sudden heavy rain from the sky, and the fire extinguishing operation came to naught, and the generals who reported that Sima Yi, who had fled the valley, arrived in time, and Kong Ming was stunned when he learned it. ”
In this plan, Zhuge Liang waited for Sima Yi and his army to strayed into the trap of the upper valley, while Wei Yan led five hundred elite soldiers to act as bait. However, in the process of implementation, the current variables have taken a huge turn in the whole plan. Not only did Ma Dai mistakenly lead the flames into the valley, but he also nearly brought destruction to his own people. This made Ma Dai, who knew Zhuge Liang's intentions, feel guilty, and was severely reprimanded for this. Despite the brutal punishment, Ma Dai still stuck to his post and strictly followed the instructions of his superiors.
Zhuge Liang pretended to execute Ma Dai, and everyone pleaded for the love general, but in the end, he was only able to replace the original sacred life punishment with forty military sticks, and at the same time revoked his positions as general of Pingbei and Marquis Chen Cang, and only retained his status as a disbander. Subsequently, Zhuge Liang secretly ordered Fan Jian to convey instructions and ordered Ma Dai to inform Wei Yanchang that Shi Yangyi was responsible for planning the scheme. After Ma Dai accepted the secret mission, his heart was full of joy, and he took the initiative to plead guilty to Wei Yan the next day, saying that his actions were not intentional, but in accordance with Yang Yi's instructions. At the same time, he put all the responsibility on Yang Yi and successfully led the contradiction to the other party.
As time passed, everything was staged in an orderly manner according to Zhuge Liang's pre-planned script: when Yang Yi opened the bag in the shadows and learned its contents, he was ecstatic, quickly put on his sleeve, stood in front of the military formation, arrogantly pointed at Wei Yan, and challenged him, declaring that if Wei Yan could immediately shout 'Who dares to kill me' three times in a row, he would be a real man, and I would immediately give away the city of Hanzhong. Wei Yan, who was deeply stimulated, was furious, immediately drew his sword and stepped on the war horse, and roared loudly: "Yang Yi, you villain, listen up!" If Kong Ming is still alive, I can be a little jealous; Now that he has returned to the west, who else in the world is worthy of my fear? Don't say three sounds, what does it matter if it's 30,000 sounds? As soon as the words fell, a voice suddenly came from behind, shocking the audience - "I dare to kill you!" With a flash of cold light, a stream of blood instantly erupted from Wei Yan's neck, and then he fell to the ground. The one who cut off Wei Yan's head turned out to be Ma Dai.
It turned out that when Zhuge Liang burned down Muzha Village, he planned to wipe out Sima Yi and Wei Yan, so he arranged Wei Yan's 500 elite team as bait. It's a pity that it rained heavily and the plan failed, so Zhuge Liang pretended to shift the responsibility to Yang Yi, and then severely punished Ma Dai, but privately waited for a suitable moment through a series of deployments to relieve the hatred in his heart, so as to get rid of Wei Yan, a thorn in his side.
Wei Yan, who was deeply wronged, finally became a victim of the political struggle; However, Yang Yi, who was originally regarded as smart and clever, eventually became the scapegoat for this dispute. After that, Yang Yi felt that he could not be reused, and complained angrily: "If I could have led the army to defect to Cao Wei when the prime minister had just died, why would I be trapped here and endure loneliness now!" ”
This news reached the ears of the Hou Lord, and the Hou Lord immediately summoned Jiang Wan and others to discuss. At this time, Fei Yuan stepped forward and spoke to the rear master: "As far as the minister knows, Yang Yi has slandered and accused Wei Yan many times before, which led to his betrayal. Everyone knows this. When the latter heard this, he was furious and immediately ordered Yang Yi to be arrested and interrogated, and finally convicted and decided to be beheaded. Jiang Wan said on the side: "Although Yang Yi is at fault, he has followed the prime minister to make great achievements, so he should not be sentenced to beheading." On the contrary, we can reduce him to a common man. The latter lord listened to Jiang Wan's advice, so he demoted Yang Yi to Jiajun in Hanzhong and became an ordinary citizen. Yang Yi, who was ashamed, was so discouraged that she chose to hang herself.
Since then, the territory of Shu Han has been stable and peaceful. It wasn't until the moment when Yang Yi committed suicide that all the mysteries were finally solved. When Zhuge Liang was alive, he had already noticed the huge flaws in Wei Yan and Yang Yi, and decided that neither of them was an excellent person who could assist the queen, and it might even cause negative effects. Therefore, Zhuge Liang is alive and strongly suppresses these two generals. However, after Zhuge Liang passed away, no one could suppress them anymore. When the talents of Shu Han withered in the later period, they had to continue to use these two generals. Therefore, after Zhuge Liang died, he skillfully used his legacy to get rid of these two generals.
Wei Yan became an innocent soul in this political dispute, and he did not understand the truth until his death. And Yang Yi was forced to bear all the responsibility caused by this dispute. So, who is the real behind-the-scenes**, the real mastermind and executor? We don't know, because Ma Dai, a direct participant in this struggle, seems to have recognized the potential risks, or perhaps not long ago, Zhuge Liang had shown him a clear path. In any case, since then, Ma Dai has completely retired and has always been far from the center stage of the history of the Three Kingdoms.