The Three Kingdoms, Volume 3: Welcome the Tiger: The Epic Chinese Tale of Loyalty and War in a Dynamic New Translation (56 page)

Zhuge Liang sat in his tent, and the three officers with their ninety men were brought before him.

“It is nothing remarkable to capture you lot,” said Zhuge Liang, smiling. “I will set you free and let you return to Sima Yi. Tell him to read his books and study his strategies again before he attempts to enter a contest with me. I have spared your lives, but you must leave behind your weapons and horses.”

So, stripped of their clothes and with their faces blackened, they were made to walk back to their line. At the sight of them Sima Yi lost his temper. Turning to his officers, he cried, “After such a disgrace, how can we go back and face the court officials in the capital?”

He ordered the front, center, and rear forces of the whole army to break the enemy formation at all costs, and, grasping his sword, led his hundred bravest officers into the fray and urged his men to attack. But just as the two sides came to blows, from behind the northern army rose the rolling of drums and blaring of horns, and a force led by Guan Xing came up from the southwest and attacked. Sima Yi assigned a division from the rear to oppose him, and again turned to urge on his main body.

Suddenly the army of Wei was thrown into confusion by another attack by Jiang Wei, who came up silently and joined in the battle. Thus the Wei army was engaged on three sides by three different divisions of the enemy, and Sima Yi, now greatly startled, decided to retreat. But the men of Shu trapped him and gradually closed in. At last, with a desperate push, he forced an opening toward the south and broke through. But he had lost six or seven out of every ten of his soldiers.

The Wei army withdrew to the south bank of the Wei River and camped. Then they strengthened their defensive position.

Zhuge Liang mustered his victorious army and returned to Qishan.

At that time Li Yan of Yongan sent his officer, named Gou An, to deliver a convoy of grain. This man indulged in alcohol and loitered on the road, so that he arrived ten days late. Wrathful at the delay, Zhuge Liang upbraided him: “Grain is of the utmost importance to the army. Three days’ delay is to be punished by death. Now you are late by ten days, what can you say to that?”

He ordered the man to be taken out and put to death at once.

Yang Yi interceded. “Gou An is in the service of Li Yan, whose governing area in West Chuan is affluent in money and grain. If you put this man to death, no one there will dare to deliver grain again.”

Zhuge Liang then told the executioners to loosen the bonds and lessened the penalty to eighty blows. Then the man was allowed to leave. Filled with resentment for this punishment, Gou An took his half dozen followers and deserted to the enemy that night. He was taken before Sima Yi, to whom he related his wrongs.

“Your tale may be true, but it is hard to trust it,” said Sima Yi. “Zhuge Liang is full of guile. However, if you can render me a great service, I will ask the Emperor to make you a general of rank.”

“Whatever you ask I will do my best,” replied the deserter.

“Go to your capital and spread a tale that Zhuge Liang harbors a grudge against his lord and will one day assume the throne himself. This will get him recalled. That is the service I want from you.”

Gou An accepted the treacherous mission. In the capital he told his wicked tale to some of the eunuchs, who became alarmed and brought it before the Second Ruler.

“If that is true, what am I to do?” asked the Second Ruler, greatly surprised.

“Recall him to the capital,” said the eunuchs, “and deprive him of his military power to avoid rebellion.”

Accordingly the Emperor issued an edict to recall the army.

Jiang Wan asked, “The prime minister has repeatedly won victories since he departed for the expedition. Why is he recalled?”

“I have a private matter to discuss with him personally,” said the Second Ruler.

So the edict was issued and dispatched to Zhuge Liang. The messenger at once set out to the main camp in Qishan, where he was received by the prime minister and the edict delivered.

“The Emperor is young, and there must be some wicked officials by his side,” said Zhuge Liang with a deep sigh. “I’m on the verge of achieving some major success—why am I recalled? If I don’t go, I will be disobeying my Emperor—but if I withdraw, I will never get such a chance again.”

“If the army withdraws, Sima Yi will attack,” said Jiang Wei. “What must we do?”

“I will divide the army into five divisions and withdraw in the following way. Today the first division will go. Suppose there are a thousand men in the camp, then prepare two thousand cooking places; tomorrow, prepare three thousand; the day after, four thousand and so on. Increase the cooking places as the men are gradually withdrawn.”

Yang Yi said, “In the days of old, when Sun Bin was attacking Pang Juan, he decreased cooking places as the men were increased. Why do you reverse this, sir?”

“Sima Yi is an able commander and will pursue if he knows we are retreating. But as he will be wary of an ambush, he will send his men to count the cooking places in our camp; the increase of those will leave him in doubt as to whether our men have gone or not, and he won’t pursue. Thus we can withdraw without loss.”

The order for retreat was given.

Meanwhile Sima Yi, who anticipated that Gou An would have worked harm, waited for the retreat of the Shu army to begin his operation. He was still waiting when scouts told him that the enemy’s camps were empty. However, he did not order immediate pursuit for fear this would be another of Zhuge Liang’s ruses. Instead, he rode out himself with a small scouting party to inspect the empty camps. There he told his men to count the cooking places. The next day he sent men back to the same camp and again the cooking places were counted. They reported that there was an increase of a tenth.

“I knew Zhuge Liang was up to his tricks. And sure enough, he has increased his men as the increase of cooking places shows. If we pursue, he will be ready for us. Better retreat and await another opportunity.”

So there was no pursuit, and Zhuge Liang returned to the capital without losing a single man.

Later Sima Yi was informed by local inhabitants that when Zhuge Liang retreated they had seen him increase the cooking places, but not the number of men.

Casting his eyes heavenward, Sima Yi heaved a deep sigh. “Zhuge Liang has tricked me again. He is really too resourceful for me.”

And so he led his army back to Luoyang.

When players of equal skill are matched, then victory hovers between;
When talents of the same depth meet, then conceit quietly leaves.

What happened when Zhuge Liang reached the capital will be told in the next chapter.

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND ONE

Leaving Longshang Zhuge Liang Disguises Himself as a God

Hurrying to Sword Pass Zhang He Falls into a Trap

B
y
means of the artifice just described, Zhuge Liang withdrew his army safely into Hanzhong, whereas Sima Yi also retreated to Chang’an. Zhuge Liang distributed rewards to his officers and men for their services and then went to the capital to see the Second Ruler.

“Your Majesty recalled me just as I was on the point of seizing Chang’an,” he said. “What is the important matter?”

The Second Ruler could not reply. After quite a while he said, “I missed you very much so I called you back. That is all.”

Zhuge Liang replied, “I do not think that was your own intention. Some slanderous courtier must have put the idea into Your Majesty’s head that I cherished ulterior motives.”

Hearing this the Second Ruler fell silent, unable to answer.

Zhuge Liang continued, “I owe your late father such great kindness that I pledged to devote my life to his great design. But if vile influences are permitted to work at home, how can I destroy the rebels without?”

“It was wrong of me to listen to the talk of some eunuchs and recall you on an impulse. Now it is all clear to me and I regret it very much.”

Zhuge Liang interrogated the eunuchs and thus found out the rumor had stemmed from Gou An. He at once ordered the man to be arrested, but the traitor had already fled to Wei. The eunuchs who had influenced the Second Ruler were put to death, and all the others were expelled from the palace. He also upbraided Jiang Wan and Fei Yi severely for failing to detect evil persons and advise the Emperor correctly.

Zhuge Liang then took leave of the Second Ruler and returned to Hanzhong, where he immediately began preparations for a new expedition. A message was sent to Li Yan, ordering him to supervise the necessary supplies for the army.

Yang Yi said, “The soldiers were wearied during previous expeditions, and the supplies were not regular. I think this time we can divide our men into two bodies. First, send half the army to Qishan for three months, and at the end of that time exchange them for the other half, and so on, alternately. In this way, their energies will be conserved and we can work steadily toward the conquest of the north.”

“That’s exactly what I’d like to do,” said Zhuge Liang. “The conquest of the north is not a matter to be achieved in haste. We really must develop a longterm plan.”

Therefore the army was divided, and each half would campaign for one hundred days at a time, after which it would be relieved by the other force. Full penalties would be enforced for any laxity and failure to maintain the periods of active service.

In the spring of the ninth year of Jian Xing the army once more took the field against Wei. In Wei it was the fifth year of the reign of Tai He.

When the Emperor of Wei heard of this new invasion he summoned Sima Yi at once and asked him for advice.

“Now that my friend Cao Zhen is no more, I am willing to do all I can to destroy the rebels.”

The Emperor was gratified by this ready offer, and honored Sima Yi with a banquet. The following day came urgent news of Shu’s attack and the army was ordered to move without delay. The Emperor, riding in his state chariot, escorted Sima Yi out of the city. Then Sima Yi took the road to Chang’an, where he met with leaders of various forces for a council of war against Shu.

Zhang He offered to guard Yong and Mei, but Sima Yi said, “Our front division is not strong enough to face the enemy’s whole force. If we further divide our army it won’t be a wise scheme. Perhaps it’s better to leave a troop to guard Shanggui while the rest of us all move to Qishan. Will you lead the van?”

Exhilarated, Zhang He said, “I have always been most loyal and wish to devote myself entirely to the service of the state. So far I have not met a commander who really appreciated my sincerity, but now that you confer upon me a post of such responsibility, I will defy any sacrifice.”

So Zhang He was appointed van leader while Guo Huai was told to hold the various districts in Longxi. The other officers marched with the major army along different routes.

Scouts ascertained that the main force of Shu was directed toward Qishan, and their van leaders, Wang Ping and Zhang Ni, had left Chencang and crossed Sword Pass to reach Ye Valley via San Pass.

Hearing this, Sima Yi said to Zhang He: “Zhuge Liang is advancing in full force. He certainly intends to reap the wheat in Longxi for his army’s provisions. You camp here to hold Qishan, while Guo Huai and I will go over to Tianshui to foil the enemy’s plan to gather the harvest.”

So Zhang He took 40,000 men to hold Qishan, and Sima Yi went westwards to Longxi.