The Three Kingdoms, Volume 3: Welcome the Tiger: The Epic Chinese Tale of Loyalty and War in a Dynamic New Translation (51 page)

“Did you take leave of Sima Yi?” asked Cao Zhen.

“Yes,” replied Zhang He.
“His instruction to me was: ‘If we win, the men of Shu will not leave—but if we lose they will withdraw at once.’
Now our side has missed the chance for success.
Have you been to find out what the men of Shu are doing?”

“Not yet.”

Then he immediately sent out some scouts, who confirmed Sima Yi’s prediction.
There were flags flying in the Shu camp, but the men had been gone two days.
Cao Zhen regretted very much but it was too late for him to do anything.

In Chencang Wei Yan had received his chief’s secret order, and he also broke camp that night and hastened toward Hanzhong.
Spies at once informed Wang Shuang, who hurried in pursuit.
After about twenty
li
he came in sight of Wei Yan’s ensign.

As soon as he got within hailing distance he shouted, “Do not flee, Wei Yan.”

But no one looked back, so he again pressed forward.
Then he heard his men behind him shouting, “There is a blaze in the camp outside the wall.
The enemy may have set a trap for us.”

Wang Shuang pulled up and, turning, saw the towering flames.
He hastily drew off his men.
Just as he passed a hill, a horseman suddenly flew out of a wood.

“Here is Wei Yan,” shouted the horseman.

Wang Shuang was too startled to defend himself and fell at the first stroke of Wei Yan’s sword.
His men thought this was only the beginning of an ambush, so they scattered—but in fact Wei Yan only had thirty men with him, and they moved off at leisure toward Hanzhong.

No man could better Zhuge Liang’s foresight;
Brilliant as a comet where it flashed:
Advance or retreat he maneuvers at will.
On Chencang road he ordered Wang killed.

Now let us reveal Zhuge Liang’s secret order to Wei Yan: “Keep back thirty men and hide beside Wang Shuang’s camp.
When he leaves to pursue your men, light a fire in his camp.
When he returns, fall upon him suddenly and kill him.”
The plan being successfully carried out, Wei Yan followed the retreating army into Hanzhong and handed over his men.
Then feasts were given to reward the army.

In the Wei camp Zhang He, who failed to come up with the retreating enemy, presently returned.

Suddenly Hao Zhao sent a man to say that Wang Shuang had met his end.
This loss grieved Cao Zhen so deeply that he fell ill and had to return to Luoyang.
He left Zhang He, Sun Li, and Guo Huai to guard the various roads to Chang’an.

At a
court held by Sun Quan, Prince of Wu, he was informed of Zhuge Liang’s two expeditions and Cao Zhen’s loss of officers and men.
Thereupon all his officials urged him to attack Wei to try to gain the northern territory.
Sun Quan listened but could not make up his mind.

Zhang Zhao said, “I have heard that a phoenix has lately appeared in the hills east of Wuchang and a yellow dragon has been seen repeatedly in the Yangtze.
My lord, your virtue matches that of the ancient emperors Yao and Shun, and your sagacity equals that of kings Wen and Wu.
Therefore you should first assume the supreme title of Emperor and then raise an army.”

Many other officials supported Zhang Zhao’s proposal and they finally persuaded Sun Quan to decide upon a date to accede to the throne.
They prepared an altar to the south of Wuchang, and on that day his courtiers formally requested him to ascend the altar and assume the position of emperor.

Yellow Dragon was chosen as the reign title.
Sun Jian, the deceased father of the new emperor, was posthumously given the title of Emperor Wu Lie; his mother was made Empress Wu Lie; and his elder brother, Sun Ce, Prince Huan of Changsha.
His son, Sun Deng, was made Heir Apparent.
A high rank, Companion of the Heir Apparent, was conferred upon the eldest son of Zhuge Jin and the second son of Zhang Zhao.

This son of Zhuge Jin was named Zhuge Ke, a person of medium height, and very clever.
He was especially apt at repartee.
Sun Quan liked him very much.
When he was six he went with his father to a banquet.
Sun Quan noticed that Zhuge Jin had a long face, so he told a man to lead in a donkey, and he wrote Zhuge Jin’s name on it with chalk.
Everyone roared.
But the boy went up and added two characters, making it read, “Zhuge Jin’s donkey.”
The guests were astonished at his quick wit.
Greatly pleased, Sun Quan gave him the donkey as a present.

Another time, at a large official banquet, Sun Quan sent the boy to pour wine to all present.
When he came to Zhang Zhao, the old man declined it.
“This is not showing proper courtesy to an old man.”

“Can you make him drink?” asked Sun Quan.

Zhuge Ke took the order and went to the old gentleman again.
“You remember Minister Lu Shang of old?
He was ninety and yet he gripped the signaling flag and wielded the battle-ax of an army commander in the field.
He never said he was old.
Nowadays in battle we put you, sir, in the rear, but at the banquet we give you, sir, a front place.
How can you say we do not pay proper courtesy to old age?”

Zhang Zhao could not reply, and so had to drink.
This sort of precocity endeared the boy to Sun Quan, and now he made him companion of his son.

Zhang Zhao’s son was chosen for honor on account of the eminent services of his father.

Gu Yong became prime minister.
Lu Xun was made a high-ranking general, to assist the Heir Apparent in the custody of Wuchang.

Sun Quan returned to Jianye, where the whole court turned their thoughts toward the suppression of Wei.
Only Zhang Zhao opposed it and advised his lord to attend to internal reform.

“It is not appropriate to begin Your Majesty’s new reign with a war.
I deem it better to put aside weapons and promote learning by establishing schools to give the people the blessings of peace.
Send an envoy to Shu and propose a renewal of our former league and promise to share the empire with them.
Then plan carefully how to conquer the north.”

Sun Quan saw the wisdom of the advice and approved.
He at once sent an envoy to Shu to lay the scheme of an alliance before the Second Ruler, who discussed it with his ministers.
All denounced Sun Quan as a usurper and advised their lord to reject the proposal for an alliance.
Then Jiang Wan suggested seeking the prime minister’s advice.

So the Second Ruler dispatched a messenger to Hanzhong to put the matter before Zhuge Liang.

The prime minister responded: “Send an envoy with presents to Wu to congratulate Sun Quan and ask him to commission Lu Xun to lead an army against Wei.
Then Sima Yi will be engaged in the east, and I may once more move out of Qishan to capture Chang’an.”

The Second Ruler took the advice and sent Chen Zhen to Wu, taking with him presents of fine horses, a jeweled belt, gold, and pearls to congratulate Sun Quan on his newly assumed dignity.
Delighted, Sun Quan accepted the presents and entertained the bearer before sending him off.

After the envoy was gone Sun Quan called in Lu Xun and told him about Shu’s request to launch a joint war against Wei.
Lu Xun saw through the scheme at once.

“That is Zhuge Liang’s scheme because of his fear of Sima Yi,” he said. “However, we have to since we have just formed a league with them.
We will make a show of raising an army to respond to their call.
When Zhuge Liang is fully entangled in his war with Wei, we will seize the northern plains for ourselves.”

Orders were issued to commanders in Jingzhou and other regions, requiring them to train soldiers for an expedition.

In the meantime, Chen Zhen returned to Hanzhong and reported to Zhuge Liang about his mission in Wu.
Still wary that the road at Chencang would not be easy to take, Zhuge Liang sent scouts to reconnoiter.
These returned with the news that Hao Zhao, Wei commander at Chencang, was very ill.

“That means success for me,” cried Zhuge Liang.

He called in Wei Yan and Jiang Wei, to whom he said, “Take 5,000 men and hasten to Chencang.
Attack in full force when you see a blaze.”

The two did not quite believe their chief was serious, and went to ask him the exact date of departure.

“In three days you should be ready to march.
You don’t have to come and take leave of me, but set out as soon as possible.”

After they had left his tent he summoned Guan Xing and Zhang Bao and whispered some secret instructions in their ears.
And the two left to carry out his plan.

Now when Guo Huai heard that the commander of Chencang was ill, he said to Zhang He, “Hao Zhao is very ill—you had better go and relieve him at once.
I will report to the court in the meantime.”

So Zhang He started out with his 3,000 men to relieve the sick man.

At Chencang Hao Zhao was indeed on his deathbed, and that night, when his life hung in the balance, suddenly there came the news that the men of Shu had reached the walls.
Hao Zhao hastened to order his men to defend the rampart.
But then fire broke out at each gate and a panic spread in the city.
The startling news frightened the sick man so much that he passed away just as the men of Shu stormed into the city.

When Wei Yan and Jiang Wei reached Chencang they found no sign of life: no flags flying and no watchmen beating the gong to mark the hours.
Perplexed, they dared not attack.
Then they heard an explosion and suddenly the wall was thick with flags, and there appeared the well-known figure of their prime minister.

“You’re late,” he cried.

In haste both dismounted and knelt down.
“Your strategy is really marvelous, sir!”

They were allowed to enter the city.

Zhuge Liang then explained to them: “When I heard of Hao Zhao’s serious illness, I told you to take the city in three days.
That was to conceal my real plan.
Then I ordered Guan and Zhang to muster their men—pretending to be just holding a roll call—and secretly move out of Hanzhong.
I hid
myself in their ranks.
Then the army advanced by double march to the city wall so that the enemy would be unable to summon reinforcements.
Besides, I had already planted spies inside the city to start a fire and stir up a hubbub to scare the men of Wei, who would be thrown into confusion without their commander.
And seizing the city was like turning over my hand.
As the
Art of War
says, ‘Do what your enemy does not expect you to do; attack when your enemy is unprepared.’”

They bowed again in admiration.
In commiseration Zhuge Liang allowed Hao Zhao’s family to
take his coffin back to Wei, thus to show
his loyalty to his country.

Turning once more to the two generals, he said, “Don’t take off your armor yet.
Go and launch a surprise attack on San Pass.
The troops there will certainly flee in panic at your approach.
If you delay, Wei will have sent reinforcements.”

They went.
Surely enough the defenders of the pass all fled and the capture was as smooth as Zhuge Liang had predicted.
But before they could strip off their armor they saw in the distance a great cloud of dust moving toward them—the Wei reinforcements were already near.

They marveled at the keen foresight of the prime minister.
Then they hurried up the watch tower to look and saw the approaching Wei general was Zhang He.

They then divided their men to hold crucial roads.
When Zhang He saw this, he ordered retreat.
Wei Yan followed, slaying numerous Wei soldiers.
Zhang He left in defeat.
Wei Yan returned to the pass
and sent news of their success to Zhuge Liang, who then led a force out of Chencang and Ye Valley to capture Jianwei.
The rest of the Shu army progressed steadily.
Moreover, the Emperor sent another general, Chen Shi by name, to assist in the campaign.
Soon Zhuge Liang’s main force had again moved out of Qishan and there made a camp.

Then he addressed a general assembly: “Twice have I led the army out by Qishan without success, and now I am here again.
I’m sure the men of Wei will resume the battle positions of earlier times.
They will assume that I’m going to attack Yong and Mei and will send armies to defend these cities.
But I see Yinping and Wudu are connected with the land of our country, and if I can win these cities I can drive a wedge into the Wei force.
Who will go and capture these places?”

Jiang Wei and Wang Ping offered themselves.
So the former was given 10,000 men to capture Wudu; the latter, with an equal force, went to Yin-ping.