Three Kingdoms

by Luo Guanzhong (Moss Roberts trans. )

  But loyal Wang Yun deployed a subtle maid,

  Who turned Lü Bu against his master Zhuo.

  Dong Zhuo cut down, the realm again knew peace,

  Till Li Jue and Guo Si avenged their lord

  And plunged our hallowed realm in misery.

  Their civil strife brought king and queen to grief.

  Allegiance broken, Heaven's Mandate failed:

  Ambitious heroes carved our hills and streams.

  Let every future king keep vigil keen

  For our nation's precious harmony,

  Lest living souls be ground into the earth

  And stain our soil with blood unjustly shed.

  To read these pages must break every heart,

  As men once sighed for great Zhou's glory gone.

  They warn the prince to stabilize his rule,

  And watch who holds the sword that guards the laws.

  Li Jue fought off Guo Si's attack and moved the royal pair to the palace at Mei, placing them in the custody of his nephew Li Xian. Li Xian dismissed the imperial staff and reduced the provisions for the attendants, who went wan from hunger. The Emperor sent someone to beg five bushels of grain and some ox bones for his servants, but Li Jue said angrily, "We send up food morning and night. What else does he want?" Finally he delivered some spoiled meat and moldy grain. The Emperor said, reproachfully, "How these traitors bully us!" "Your Majesty," Privy Counselor Yang Qi urged, "Li Jue is a cruel and violent man. Try to bear things as they are and not cross him." The Emperor lowered his head and kept silent. Tears soaked his sleeves.

  Suddenly a new message came: "A band of soldiers, spears and swords gleaming in the sun, gongs and drums shaking the heavens, is coming to save the Emperor." But when the Emperor learned it was Guo Si, he despaired again. Outside the wall at Mei fearful shouts rang out as Li Jue confronted Guo Si. "I have treated you most generously," swore Li Jue, pointing his whip at Guo Si. "How could you plot to kill me?" "Traitor!" cried Si, "I have every reason to kill you." "I am guarding the Emperor," retorted Li Jue. "Is that treason?" "You are abducting the Emperor," countered Guo Si, "not protecting him." "Let's not waste words," Li Jue said, "or men. Let's settle it between ourselves. The winner takes the Emperor."

  In front of their lines the two generals went at each other. Ten passages-at-arms produced no victor. Grand Commandant Yang Biao rode up and parted the combatants. "I have invited the court to settle your quarrel," he announced. Generals Li Jue and Guo Si withdrew to their respective camps.

  Yang Biao and Zhu Jun convened more than sixty courtiers and officials. The body first presented themselves at Guo Si's camp to urge compromise, but Guo Si took them all captive. "We came," they protested, "in a spirit of good will. Why treat us like this?" "If Li Jue can seize the Emperor," Guo Si replied, "why can't I seize you?" "One holds the Emperor, the other the court. What do you want?" cried Yang Biao. Guo Si threatened Yang Biao with his sword. An Imperial Corps commander, Yang Mi, pleaded with Guo Si, who released Yang Biao and Zhu Jun but detained the senior lords and ministers. Yang Biao turned to Zhu Jun and said, "We two servants of the court can neither protect nor rescue our liege. We have lived in vain." The two high ministers wrapped their arms around each other and wept until they fell faint upon the ground. Zhu Jun took ill and soon passed away.3 For two more months the killing continued day after day as Li Jue and Guo Si fought on. The loss of life was beyond reckoning.

  Now Regent-General Li Jue, having a penchant for the occult, often summoned sorceresses to his camp. These women communicated with the gods by beating a drum and going into a trance. Jia Xu had often protested the practice, but in vain. Mindful of Jia Xu's attitude, Privy Counselor Yang Qi secretly appealed to the Emperor: "Your servant has observed that Jia Xu, though enjoying Li Jue's confidence, has not forgotten his duty to his liege. Your Majesty should consult with him." As Yang Qi was speaking, Jia Xu himself arrived. The Emperor dismissed his attendants and, weeping, addressed the man: "My lord, can you feel pity for the Han court and protect our safety?" Jia Xu prostrated himself. "Such has ever been my desire," he responded. "Let Your Majesty say no more. I shall devise a plan." The Emperor mastered his tears and thanked Jia Xu.

  Shortly after, Li Jue entered the royal presence, a sword buckled to his waist. The Emperor paled. "Guo Si has proved disloyal," Jue said. "He has detained the senior lords and ministers and meant to abduct Your Majesty. But for me, you would have been their captive." The Emperor raised his folded hands to his forehead in salute and thanked him. Li Jue left, and Huangfu Li entered. The Emperor received him in audience.

  The Emperor knew that Huangfu Li was a skillful talker and a townsman of Jue's, so he instructed him to arrange a truce between the two generals. Huangfu Li took his mandate to Guo Si's camp. "If Li Jue will deliver the sovereign," Guo Si said, "I will release the court." Huangfu Li then went to see Li Jue and said, "His Majesty has directed me to settle your quarrel with Guo Si because I am from Xiliang and also your townsman. Guo Si has already complied. What do you say?" "I was responsible for defeating Lü Bu," said Li Jue. "And I have upheld the court for four years, a signal service which the world recognizes. Guo Si is no more than a horse thief who takes it upon himself to defy me by holding the court captive. For this I am sworn to execute him. Observe our ample forces, my lord, and tell me if I can't defeat him."

  "I cannot agree," replied Huangfu Li. "Let me remind you of the legend of Hou Yi of the Youqiong.4 He relied only on his marksmanship to govern and ignored all else. As a result he was wiped out. More recently we have had the example of Imperial Preceptor Dong Zhuo, whose power you yourself witnessed. Lü Bu was well loved by Dong Zhuo, yet he turned against him, and in no time Dong Zhuo's head was on display at the capital gate. Thus power alone counts for little. Now you hold the highest military office as well as the seals of authority. Your kinsmen and descendants occupy illustrious positions. The dynasty has not been stingy with its favor. Guo Si has detained the court, but you have detained the Most Honored. Whose offense is graver?" Li Jue angrily drew his sword and said, "Has the Son of Heaven sent you here to slander me? I'll have your head to begin with!" Cavalry Commander Yang Feng pleaded, "If you kill the Emperor's messenger, Guo Si will have good cause to mobilize against us, and the lords of the realm will support him." Jia Xu added his own admonition, and Li Jue relented.

  Jia Xu next urged the messenger, Huangfu Li, to depart. But the moment he was out of Li Jue's presence, the messenger began screaming, "Li Jue refuses the decree. He wants to kill the Emperor and take the throne!" "How can you say such things?" cried Privy Counselor Hu Miao. "You will suffer for it." Huangfu Li retorted, "Hu Miao, are you not a servant of the Han as well as I? You have fallen in with traitors. 'When the liege is wronged, the vassal dies'—that's the code we live by. If Li Jue kills me, it is only my due." Huangfu Li continued to revile Li Jue. When the Emperor learned of it, he sent the messenger back to Xiliang.

  Li Jue's army was composed largely of Xiliang men, with the support of the Qiang tribesmen.5 When Huangfu Li returned to Xiliang, he spread the rumor that anyone aiding Li Jue's rebellion would suffer the consequences. As a result, many soldiers became disaffected, and Li Jue began to lose control of his army. Li Jue sent Wang Chang of the Imperial Tiger Escort to bring Huangfu Li back, but Wan Chang regarded Huangfu Li as a loyal and honorable man and simply reported that he could not be found. At this time Jia Xu secretly informed the Qiang: "The Son of Heaven is aware of your loyal devotion and of your sufferings through these long wars. He authorizes you to return to your home districts. Rewards will follow." The Qiang, who had resented Li Jue's refusal to confer rank and reward, took this opportunity and defected.

  Jia Xu next appealed to the Emperor: "Li Jue is greedy and reckless. His army is falling apart, and he is losing heart. It is time to tempt him with an important post." The Emperor issued a decree appointing him regent-general. Li Jue exclaimed in delight, "This is due to the prayers of the sorceresses," and rewarded them—but
not his soldiers. Li Jue's cavalry commander Yang Feng complained to Song Guo, "We face death every day from arrow and missile. Are those witches' services greater than ours?" "Why not kill the traitor and save the sovereign?" Song Guo suggested. "Set a fire in the main army base as a signal," said Yang Feng. "I will be ready outside." The two men agreed to act on the second watch. However, someone informed Li Jue of the conspiracy, and he executed Song Guo; so when Yang Feng arrived at Li Jue's camp, no signal was given. Instead, he was met by Li Jue himself. The two armies fell upon each other and battled wildly until the fourth watch. Unable to defeat Li Jue, Yang Feng took off with his troops to Xi'an.

  Li Jue's position was crumbling under Guo Si's continuing attacks when the report of a new intervention startled all parties: Zhang Ji6 had arrived from Shanxi with a large army to conciliate the two generals, vowing to strike down whichever one refused. Li Jue tried to impress Zhang Ji with his good will by agreeing at once to a settlement. Guo Si could only do the same. Zhang Ji then petitioned the Emperor to move to Hongnong.7 Delighted, the Emperor said, "We have long been thinking of our eastern capital. This opportunity to return is a boundless blessing." He appointed Zhang Ji general of the Flying Cavalry, and Zhang Ji provided grain, wine, and meat for the entire court. Guo Si released the elder lords and ministers he was holding. Li Jue organized the imperial entourage, sending a few hundred of the original Royal Guard to escort the Emperor.

  The imperial procession passed Xinfeng and reached the Baling bridge. It was autumn, and a sharp west wind was blowing. Hundreds of troops clattered onto the bridge, blocking the carriages. "Who wants to pass?" a harsh voice demanded. Privy Counselor Yang Qi rode onto the bridge and answered, "The Emperor. Who dares prevent us?" Two generals stepped up to Yang Qi. "We are here," they said, "at the order of General Guo Si, to guard against spies. We will have to verify your claim." Yang Qi lifted the bead curtain and revealed the sovereign, who said, "We are here. You may retire." "Long live the Emperor!" the soldiers cried and made way for his party.

  The two generals reported the incident to Guo Si, who said, "I meant to fool Zhang Ji and take the Emperor back to Mei myself. Who gave you the authority to release him?" He promptly executed the two and pursued the Emperor with his own men. As the procession reached Huayin county, Guo Si overtook it. "Halt the train!" someone shouted. The Emperor was distraught. "Out of the wolf's lair," he lamented, "and into the tiger's mouth. What can we do?" His whole entourage trembled. Guo Si's rebels edged closer. Then, to the blast of drums another general appeared from behind a hill, unfurling a giant banner reading "Yang Feng of the Great Han." He had one thousand soldiers ready for combat.

  After fleeing from Li Jue, Yang Feng had moved his army to the foothills of the Zhongnan Mountains and, hearing that the Emperor was passing, had come to offer his services. Now his army stood opposite Guo Si's. Guo Si's general, Cui Yong, rode before the two lines and denounced Yang Feng. Feng turned to his line and called for Xu Huang, who charged out, battle-axe in hand, on a superb steed. Huang went straight for Cui Yong and cut him down in a quick exchange. Yang Feng then overpowered Guo Si's forces and drove them off some twenty li.

  The Emperor received the victor and said in a tone of solicitous appreciation, "You performed no small service in saving us." Yang Feng knocked his head on the ground and expressed his gratitude. The Emperor spoke again: "Which of your commanders has distinguished himself?" Yang Feng introduced the warrior. "This is Xu Huang, styled Gongming," he said, "from Yangjun in Hedong." The Emperor indicated his recognition of the achievement. Yang Feng then escorted the procession while runners cleared the roadway. Thus the Emperor reached Huayin, where the party rested for the night. General Duan Wei provided food and clothing, and the Emperor was quartered in Yang Feng's camp.

  Undaunted by defeat, Guo Si returned in force the following day. Xu Huang rushed out for combat, but Guo Si's men, coming from all directions, encircled the Emperor and Yang Feng. Moments later, another general emerged from the southeast and, in a riotous assault, dispersed the rebels. Xu Huang seized his advantage and rode down Guo Si's men once again. The rescuer was Dong Cheng, an imperial in-law.8 The Emperor described the recent events to him in bitter tones. "Your Majesty need worry no more," Dong Cheng said. "General Yang Feng and I have sworn to execute both Guo Si and Li Jue to restore calm in the realm." The Emperor ordered the procession to hurry toward the eastern capital, and that very night the imperial party set out for Hongnong.

  Meanwhile, Guo Si, returning in defeat, met up with Li Jue and said, "Yang Feng and Dong Cheng have escorted the Emperor to Hongnong. If the court is reestablished in the east, they will broadcast their cause to the realm and rally the lords against us. Our clans will perish." "Zhang Ji holds Chang'an now," replied Li Jue. "We must proceed with care. But what's to stop us from joining forces, killing the Emperor in Hongnong, and taking the realm for ourselves?" Guo Si agreed. The two generals, reconciled again, combined their armies and looted their way to Hongnong, leaving devastation wherever they passed.

  Yang Feng and Dong Cheng, the Emperor's new protectors, now had to meet the threat from the two generals. They turned back and confronted the rebels at Dongjian. Li Jue and Guo Si, with a much larger force, led a wild assault on both flanks of the Emperor's guard, intent on overwhelming it. Yang Feng and Dong Cheng mounted a desperate defense and managed to get the royal carriage safely out of the city, but the courtiers and palace women as well as the records of appointment, the archives, and the Emperor's household goods had to be abandoned. Guo Si entered Hongnong and looted it. The Emperor fled to Shanbei with Li Jue and Guo Si in hot pursuit.

  To keep the Emperor from harm, Yang Feng and Dong Cheng adopted a twofold strategy: they sent men to arrange a truce with Li Jue and Guo Si and at the same time secretly enlisted the three leaders of the White Wave rebels (an offshoot of the Yellow Scarves), Han Xian, Li Yue, and Hu Cai, in the imperial cause. This urgent call unavoidably included Li Yue, who had inspired rebels from hill and wood. The prospect of amnesty and awards induced the rebels to rouse themselves from their camps and join Dong Cheng in a counterattack on Hongnong. Li Jue and Guo Si had already begun to attack the city. They killed the old and feeble and put the strong into the army, forcing their new conscripts into the front ranks as suicide squads. The augmented forces of the two rebel generals were overwhelming.

  Led by Li Yue, the White Wave troops gathered at Weiyang. Guo Si responded by ordering that clothing and other articles be scattered on the roads, so that the White Waves broke ranks to scramble for them. The armies of Li Jue and Guo Si then fell upon them, inflicting heavy casualties. Yang Feng and Dong Cheng had to flee north with the Emperor, the rebels close behind. "The situation is desperate," Li Yue, the White Wave leader warned. "Have His Majesty mount and go on." "No," the Emperor responded. "I cannot leave my courtiers." His weeping retinue struggled after him. The pursuers drew closer. One White Wave leader, Hu Cai, was killed. The sovereign abandoned his carriage, and Yang Feng and Dong Cheng escorted him on foot to the south bank of the Yellow River.

  Li Yue found a small boat to take the Emperor and Empress across. The cold was fierce. The royal couple struggled to the bank but found it too high to board the boat. The pursuers were almost upon them. Yang Feng said, "Tie the reins together and with them lower the Emperor down by the waist." Fu De, the Empress's brother, stepped forward, proffering ten bolts of plain silk. "I picked these up from the rampaging soldiers," he said. "Tie them together to use as a sling instead." A military aide wound the silk around the royal pair. The Emperor was lowered into the boat, followed by the Empress, whom Fu De carried aboard. Those at the water's edge who could not get on clutched at the rope anchoring the boat. Li Yue slashed away at them, and many dropped into the river. The boat came back for the courtiers after the imperial pair was ferried to the north shore. As the courtiers fought to get on, their fingers were severed. Cries of pain filled the air.

  The Emperor was left with barely a dozen of his a
dherents. Yang Feng found an ox cart to carry the royal couple into Dayang, but there was no food. They stopped for the night in a tile-roofed hut, where some elderly folk from the open country offered them millet, but it was too coarse for them to swallow. The next day the Emperor appointed the White Wave leaders as generals—Li Yue, Conqueror of the North, and Han Xian, Conqueror of the East. The procession resumed.

  Two ministers—Grand Commandant Yang Biao and Court Steward Han Rong—came and prostrated themselves before the carriage, weeping profusely. The Emperor and Empress wept too. Han Rong said, "The rebel generals have some confidence in me. I am willing to risk my life to get them to desist. I pray for Your Majesty's well-being." Han Rong then left. Li Yue asked the Emperor to rest in Yang Feng's camp, but Yang Biao urged him to proceed to Anyi and establish his capital there. The procession entered Anyi, but finding no building with an upper story, the royal couple had to stay beneath the thatched roof of a simple farmhouse without a gate. A screen of brambles on all sides took the place of an outer wall. In the farmhouse the Emperor conferred with his ministers while the generals stood guard outside.

  Li Yue controlled the court and played the tyrant, beating the courtiers and denouncing them before the throne for the slightest opposition. He purposely presented to the Emperor unpalatable wine and food, which he knew better than to decline. Together with the other White Wave leader, Han Xian, Li Yue handed the Emperor a list of nominees for high civil and military positions that included outcasts, common soldiers, sorcerers, and errand-runners—some two hundred all told. These new appointments of commandants, censors, and others were so hurried that there was no time to engrave seals; fresh ones were simply cut with chisels. Never had the decencies of court procedure been so scanted.

  Meanwhile, Han Rong's mission of conciliation to Li Jue and Guo Si bore fruit. After strenuous arguments he persuaded them to release the courtiers and the palace women. But it was a year of dearth. People were reduced to eating the leaves of jujube trees. Corpses were seen everywhere in the countryside. Zhang Yang, governor of Henei, presented grain and meat to the Emperor. Wang Yi, governor of Hedong, submitted silk and cloth. As a result, the Emperor's distress was eased.