The five tigers in Guan Yu's heart will be Zhang Fei, Ma Chao, Zhao Yun, Huang Zhong, and Wei Yan
In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the fragmentation of the social pattern led to the phenomenon of the rise of the heroes. The loose governance of the imperial court has made all forces emerge one after another, forming a situation of "competing for deer".
They fought each other in an unprecedentedly tragic battle, and in the end, after countless tests of life and death, only three power groups stood out in the troubled times, namely the Northern Wei State led by Cao Cao, Jiangdong led by Sun Quan, and Shuzhong led by Liu Bei.
The Sichuan region, which originally belonged to Sun Quan, fell into the hands of Liu Bei because of Cao Cao's strength. Liu Bei joined forces with Sun Liu and defeated Cao Cao in the Battle of Chibi. After that, Liu Bei took advantage of Sun Quan's seizure of Hefei and successfully incorporated Sichuan into his sphere of influence.
Although the territory of this area is not large, it is full of talents, the most notable of which is the five tiger generals of Shu Han, who are the ceiling of Shu Han. However, Guan Yu did not agree with Huang Zhong, who joined later, and he believed that other people among the Five Tiger Generals were different from Huang Zhong.
So, why does Guan Yu have such an opinion? There are three main reasons. First of all, Huang Zhong is much older than the others. When he helped Han Xuan garrison Changsha, Huang Zhong was already over sixty years old, and although he had strong combat effectiveness, he was too old to serve the country for a long time.
Therefore, Guan Yu subconsciously looked down on Huang Zhong. Secondly, Guan Yu did not take advantage of the battle with Huang Zhong, which made him very unconvinced. Guan Yu has always had the character of "arrogant but not humiliated", and it is difficult for him to admit defeat for those who are stronger than himself.
When he fought with Huang Zhong in Changsha that year, Huang Zhong once shot an arrow into his helmet and generally gained the upper hand, so Guan Yu was dissatisfied with this.
In the Battle of Changsha, Huang Zhong was identified as a general, and although he submitted to Liu Bei, a member of the Han family, Guan Yu did not agree with his choice. There are three reasons: first, Huang Zhong was forced to submit to Cao Cao, emphasizing that he did not surrender, showing his loyalty; Secondly, Guan Yu subconsciously believed that surrender was a betrayal of the Han clan; In the end, Guan Yu felt disdainful that Huang Zhong was on an equal footing with him after the canonization of the Five Tiger Generals.
Therefore, the candidates for the five tiger generals recognized by Guan Yu include Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and himself, among which Zhao Yun is a person that Guan Yu admires in his life, and he is also the most perfect general under Liu Bei's account.
Zhao Yun is strong in martial arts, known as the first person after Lu Bu, for Cao Cao's 800,000 army, he regarded it as nothing, seven in and seven out, blood-stained armor, but finally escaped unscathed, his loyalty is unmatched.
As Liu Bei's old friend, he never gave up in danger, and even single-handedly rescued Liu Bei's son Adou in the Battle of Changbanpo. Although Zhao Yun did not bow to Guan Yu, judging from his performance, he even surpassed Guan Yu in other aspects, so he should occupy the position of the Five Tiger Generals.
Ma Chao is the youngest of the five tiger generals, his record is brilliant, in the battle of Tongguan, he led the Xiliang Iron Cavalry to break Cao Cao, so that Cao Cao cut his beard and abandoned his robe, and almost died.
From the perspective of combat effectiveness, Ma Chao may not be as good as Guan Yu, but the two have never fought each other. Despite this, Ma Chao once fought with Zhang Fei, and in terms of physical exertion, Zhang Fei was slightly better.
Although Ma Chao was heroic, Zhang Fei couldn't beat Guan Yu. Despite this, Ma Chao was recognized by Guan Yu with his young and promising characteristics and huge room for improvement.
When Guan Yu proposed to learn from Ma Chao, Ma Chao admitted defeat in a low-key manner, satisfying Guan Yu's vanity, so he won Guan Yu's approval. Among the five tiger generals, Wei Yan should also occupy a place.
Although he was only a Hanzhong Taishou when he was canonized, in Guan Yu's heart, his status was very important. During the attack on Changsha, Wei Yan showed the courage to not stick to the situation, beheaded Han Xuan, the Taishou, and dedicated the city to Liu Bei, winning Guan Yu's appreciation.
However, what really made Guan Yu recognize Wei Yan was his decision to follow Liu Bei who was in distress, and Liu Bei's power was not fully established at that time, and Wei Yan's loyalty could be seen.
After Wei Yan returned to obedience, Zhuge Liang expressed strong dissatisfaction with his actions, believing that his actions were both unrighteous and disloyal, and even beheaded him. Although Wei Yan saved his life, his status was difficult to improve because of this.
In the end, he could only become the Taishou of Hanzhong. Faced with this situation, Guan Yu could not change it, because Zhuge Liang was the core of the Shuhan Group. Although Wei Yan was widely praised for his talent and courage, he could not obtain the status of the Five Tiger Admirals, and could only hide this honor deep in his heart.