Having established the new government, Cao Cao invited all his advisers to a banquet in his private quarters. There he announced:16 "Liu Bei has posted his army in Xuzhou and controls the province. Recently Lü Bu went over to him after suffering a major defeat at Chang'an, and Bei has installed him in Xiaopei. What can we do to prevent them from combining against us? That would be a dire threat indeed!" Xu Chu responded promptly, "Give me fifty thousand of our finest, Your Excellency,17 and I'll deliver their heads!" But Xun Wenruo took a different approach. "No one," he said to Xu Chu, "questions your bravery. But the possibilities of intrigue must also be considered. We cannot rush headlong into war, having hardly settled into Xuchang. I have an idea, though, which I'll call 'Two Tigers Fight for Food.' Now, Liu Bei's position is still unofficial. Why not petition the Emperor to confirm Liu Bei as protector of Xuzhou, and secretly instruct him to get rid of Lü Bu? If Bei succeeds, he should be manageable enough without that fierce warrior—when the time comes. And if he fails, Lü Bu will kill him. This is my 'two tigers trick.'" Cao Cao approved the plan and petitioned the Emperor, who accordingly sent his envoy to Xuzhou to appoint Liu Xuande as General Who Brings Justice to the East, to honor him with a fief as lord of Yicheng precinct, and to empower him as protector of Xuzhou. The envoy also carried the secret instructions.
In Xuzhou, Liu Xuande was preparing to felicitate the Emperor on his move to Xuchang when the envoy arrived. Xuande received him outside the city walls, accepted the imperial honors, and hosted the envoy at a grand banquet. "My lord," the envoy began, "we grant this gracious decree by virtue of General Cao's earnest recommendation to the throne." Xuande expressed thanks, and the envoy delivered the special communication. Xuande read it and said, "This requires further deliberation." The banquet adjourned, and the envoy was entertained in the guesthouse.
Xuande spent the night conferring over the Emperor's instructions.18 "Lü Bu," Zhang Fei said, "is a faithless and unscrupulous fellow. There's no reason not to kill him." "He came to us in desperation," Xuande replied. "It would dishonor us to kill him." "He'll only bite the hand," Zhang Fei said. But Xuande would not give his consent.
The next day Lü Bu visited his host and said, "I hear you have received an imperial appointment, and I have come to congratulate you." Xuande thanked him modestly. At that moment Zhang Fei entered with drawn sword, but Xuande swiftly blocked him. "Why does he always want my life?" Bu cried. "Cao Cao says you have no honor and told my brother to kill you!" Zhang Fei said grimly, but Xuande shouted Zhang Fei out of the room. Then he led Lü Bu to his private chambers and showed him Cao Cao's confidential letter. "So," said Lü Bu after reading it, "the villain would like to turn us against each other." "Have no fear," Xuande assured him, "I will never do so dishonorable a deed." Lü Bu thanked his host repeatedly, and the two continued drinking for some time.
Later, Lord Guan and Zhang Fei demanded, "Why did you spare him?" "Because," replied Xuande, "Cao Cao expects Lü Bu and me to combine forces and attack him— unless he can get us to devour each other. I can't let him use me like that!" Lord Guan saw the point, but Zhang Fei said, "I wanted to kill him and prevent trouble, that's all." "That would not be an honorable act," responded Xuande.
The next day Xuande sent the envoy back to the capital to thank the Emperor and to inform Cao Cao that his special instructions would require time to plan and execute. The envoy told Cao Cao that Xuande had not killed Lü Bu. Cao Cao consulted Xun Wenruo. "Your plan didn't work," Cao said. "What next?" "I have another," Wenruo answered, "called 'Drive the Tiger to Swallow the Wolf.' Have Yuan Shu notified that Liu Bei has secretly petitioned the throne for authority to take control of his district Nanjun. Yuan Shu should attack Bei. When that happens, openly mandate Liu Bei to subdue Yuan Shu. With Shu and Bei locked in struggle, Lü Bu will waver." Cao Cao agreed to the plan and sent a man to Yuan Shu as well as a forged decree to Xuande.
Xuande received this second envoy with the fullest courtesies and accepted the command to march against Yuan Shu. "Another of Cao Cao's tricks," warned Mi Zhu. "I know," Xuande said, "but the Emperor must be obeyed." Xuande readied his forces for the appointed day. Sun Qian advised, "Before we leave, let's assign someone to defend the city." "Which of my brothers will take that responsibility?" Xuande asked. Lord Guan volunteered. "No," said Xuande, "I need you with me at all times." Zhang Fei then offered to do it. "You cannot protect Xuzhou properly," chided Xuande. "First of all, you lose your judgment after drinking and start beating the soldiers. Second, you are careless about responsibility and ignore sound advice. I would never breathe easy." "I will neither drink nor beat the men from now on," Zhang Fei vowed humbly. "And I will take advice to heart." "If you mean what you say," said Mi Zhu caustically. "In all these years I have never broken a promise to elder brother," Zhang Fei retorted. "Do I really deserve such scorn?" "I appreciate your pledge," responded Xuande. "But I could not help expressing my misgivings. Let us leave Xuzhou in Chen Deng's hands. He can see to it that our younger brother moderate his drinking in the interest of security." Chen Deng accepted the assignment. Xuande gave final instructions and set out for Nanyang with thirty thousand men.
Yuan Shu19 reacted hotly when informed that Liu Xuande had sought imperial sanction for an invasion of his region. "That miserable mat-weaver and sandal-maker!" he cried. "An upstart who took over a province and thrust himself into the ranks of the lords of the realm! I'm going to attack him! Let him scheme all he wants! I'll show that vile schemer!" So saying, Yuan Shu sent his top general, Ji Ling, and one hundred thousand men against Xuzhou. The two armies met at Xuyi.
Xuande, with far fewer troops, camped close to water and hills. Ji Ling, wielding a trident of some fifty pounds, paraded before his ranks cursing Xuande. "You country bumpkin," he shouted. "How dare you trespass on my territory?" "I hold an imperial decree," Xuande retorted, "to punish your insubordination. To resist me is a crime that not even your life could pay for." Striking his horse and brandishing his weapon, Ji Ling made for Xuande. Lord Guan dashed out first, shouting, "Save your show of strength, bastard!" After thirty bouts Ji Ling called it off, and Lord Guan rejoined his line. Ji Ling then sent Xun Zheng into the fight, but Lord Guan cried, "Let's have Ji Ling alone out here so we can all tell the cock from the chicken." To this Xun Zheng retorted, "You are an underling, known to no one—no match for General Ji!" Lord Guan closed with Xun Zheng and cut him down. Following up, Xuande sent his men in for the kill. Yuan Shu's army sustained a heavy defeat and retreated to the mouth of the river at Huaiyin. Ji Ling refused to fight again but sent soldiers to harass Xuande's camp. These were slain, and the two armies were at a standoff.
After seeing his elder brother off, Zhang Fei left Xuzhou's administrative responsibilities to Chen Deng and concerned himself only with military matters. One day he held a banquet for the various officials, at which he declared, "When my brother set out, he warned me to limit my drinking for fear of trouble. Today is our last revel: drink your fill, for starting tomorrow wine is forbidden. I need your help in guarding this city." So saying, he rose and began to toast the guests.
When Zheng Fei reached Cao Bao, Bao said, "I have always abstained." "What man of war refrains from drink!" cried Zheng Fei. "Down your wine!" Cowed, Cao Bao took the cup. Zhang Fei continued his tour, quaffing great goblets as he toasted each official. Full drunk after scores of drafts, Zhang Fei nonetheless rose to repeat the round. For the second time he stood before Cao Bao, who said, "I really cannot." "You did before," Zhang Fei urged. "Why refuse now?" But Bao stood his ground, and Fei, drunk beyond all reasoning, exploded, "You disobey my command? One hundred lashes!" The guards came for Cao Bao.
"Isn't this what Lord Xuande cautioned you against?" objected Chen Deng. "Civil officials," Zhang Fei replied, "need concern themselves only with civic affairs—and not with mine." Cao Bao made a last appeal to the drunken general: "Lord Yide—Zhang Fei—-for the sake of my son-in-law, I beg forgiveness this once." "And who might your 'son-in-law' be?" inquired
Zhang Fei. "Lü Bu," was the reply. "I was going to spare you," Zhang Fei cried, "but if you think dragging Lü Bu into this is going to scare me, I will beat you, and in so doing I am beating him as well." The guests could not calm Zhang Fei down. He gave Cao Bao fifty lashes, stopping only after agonized protests from his guests.
After the banquet Cao Bao went home with pent-up hatred for Zhang Fei. That night he sent a message to Lü Bu in Xiaopei describing Zhang Fei's barbarous behavior and adding, "Xuande has left for Huainan with his army to fight Yuan Shu; Zhang Fei is dead drunk: Xuzhou can be taken. Don't let the moment pass." Lü Bu showed the letter to Chen Gong, who said, "Our stay in Xiaopei was not meant to be permanent. A chance like this won't come again." Lü Bu agreed. Armed and mounted, he took five hundred horsemen to Xuzhou. Chen Gong and Gao Shun followed with the main army. From Xiaopei to Xuzhou was barely forty li. Lü Bu reached the city in the fourth watch. The moon was bright; the sentries on the wall suspected nothing. "I come on a secret mission for Protector Liu," Lü Bu shouted up, and a guard who was in on the conspiracy rushed word to Cao Bao, who ordered the gate opened. Lü Bu gave the signal, and his five hundred riders crashed into the city.
Zhang Fei's frantic attendants tried to shake their master out of his stupor. "Lü Bu has tricked us into opening the gate," they shouted, "and there's fighting in the city." Zhang Fei shouldered his armor, took up his eighteen-span snake-headed spear, and had scarcely mounted when Lü Bu confronted him. Zhang Fei was still unsteady, but Lü Bu feared his power and failed to press him. Eighteen cavalry commanders from Fei's home district, Yan, formed a guard around their lord and got him out of the city. But in the fighting there was no time to see to Xuande's family, and they were left behind in their quarters.
Cao Bao saw that Zhang Fei was lightly guarded and gave chase, but Zhang Fei turned on his pursuer, drove him back to the river's edge, and speared him in the back. Man and horse tumbled into the water. Zhang Fei then scraped together what soldiers he could find and headed south for Huainan. Lü Bu entered Xuzhou and calmed the populace. He kept Xuande's family secluded under guard, allowing no one to see them without permission.
Zhang Fei overtook Xuande in Xuyi and recounted his sorry tale to an appalled audience. "Is gain worth celebrating, or loss worth mourning?" Xuande responded with a sigh. "Where are our sisters-in-law?" Lord Guan demanded.20 "In Xuzhou city," Zhang Fei replied. Xuande held his peace, but Lord Guan could not suppress his accusing questions: "What did you say when we gave you the city to protect? What did elder brother caution you about? Now the city and our sisters as well are lost. What are we going to do?" In the clutches of anxiety and despair, Zhang Fei set his sword to his throat, for indeed:
Drink had driven him to acts
Which his very life could no longer redeem.
Would he take his life?
Read on.
15
Taishi Ci and Sun Ce Fight Their Hearts Out;
Sun Ce Plants His Kingdom South of the River
Zhang Fei was about to slit his own throat when Xuande seized the weapon and flung it down. Then he admonished Zhang Fei: "There's an old saying, 'Brothers are like arms and legs; wives and children are merely garments that can always be mended. But who can mend a broken limb?' We three swore in the peach garden to die together however fate might keep us apart in life. Now despite the loss of city and family, do you think I could let death part us midway in our course? In any event, the city was not mine to begin with, and Lü Bu is unlikely to harm my family. They can still be rescued. I will not let you throw your life away, good brother, for this momentary slip." So saying, Liu Xuande cried bitterly, and his two brothers, moved as well, wept with him.
Meanwhile, Yuan Shu (the object of Xuande's southern expedition) had learned of Lü Bu's coup in Xuzhou and promised him fifty thousand bushels of grain, five hundred horses, ten thousand ounces of gold and silver, and one thousand rolls of varicolored silk.1 Lü Bu, encouraged by this offer, eagerly sent General Gao Shun and fifty thousand men to attack Xuande from the rear. Xuande, however, was informed in time and under cover of foul weather managed to flee east to Guangling. Gao Shun, arriving too late, demanded the promised gifts. "You may withdraw now," was General Ji Ling's reply, "while I arrange it with my lord." Gao Shun reported the conversation to Lü Bu, who also received a letter from Yuan Shu saying, "Your general, Gao Shun, reached Xuyi, but Xuande is still at large. When he is taken, I will deliver all I promised." Lü Bu cursed Yuan Shu for bad faith and intended to attack him, but Chen Gong objected: "Yuan Shu holds Shouchun. His army is large, his supplies ample. Do not take him lightly. Instead, invite Xuande back to Xiaopei to enter our service.2 Soon we can put him in the vanguard and defeat not only Yuan Shu to the south but Yuan Shao to the north. That would give us the run of the realm." Lü Bu agreed and sent a messenger to Xuande.
Yuan Shu had raided Guangling, Xuande's refuge, and killed half the defenders, so Lü Bu's offer of Xiaopei was most welcome to Xuande, but not to his brothers. "A man so dishonorable cannot be trusted," they protested. Xuande replied, "He makes us a fair offer in good will. Why question his motives?" And so they returned to Xuzhou. To dispel Xuande's doubts, Lü Bu sent his wives ahead to meet him. Lady Gan and Lady Mi told Xuande how Lü Bu had protected their home and provided for their needs. "You see," Xuande said to his brothers, "no harm has come to them." But Zhang Fei's hatred for Lü Bu was unabated. He refused to go with Xuande to thank Lü Bu and instead escorted Lady Gan and Lady Mi to Xiaopei.
Xuande expressed his appreciation to Lü Bu. "I did not intend to take over your city," Lü Bu said, "but because your brother went into a drunken rage, I had to take charge or risk losing the province." "I had intended to yield it to you all along," replied Xuande. Lü Bu then offered to step aside, but Xuande strenuously refused and took his men to Xiaopei, where they entrenched themselves. His brothers were not reconciled to the turnabout. "Bending when one must," Xuande said to them, "and accepting one's lot makes it possible to await a more favorable time. Who can contest fate?" Lü Bu had foodstuffs and cloth sent to Liu Xuande, and amity was restored between the two.
Now at Shouchun, Yuan Shu was feasting his officers when a report came in on the triumphant return of Sun Ce after his conquest of Lujiang district, which was under Governor Lu Kang. Yuan Shu summoned Sun Ce, who saluted him in the hall. After commending Sun Ce for his success in battle, Yuan Shu invited him to join the banquet.3
(Since his father's death, Sun Ce had withdrawn to the region below the Great River, gathering around him men of ability.4 Later, because Tao Qian, imperial inspector of Xuzhou, and his uncle Wu Jing, governor of Danyang, had a falling out, Sun Ce moved his mother and the whole family to Qu'e and entered Yuan Shu's service.5 Yuan Shu greatly admired Sun Ce and often exclaimed, "If I had such a son, I could die without regret." Yuan Shu appointed him Commandant Who Cherishes Loyalty. In this capacity Sun Ce had made his mark by defeating Zu Lang, governor of Jingxian, after which Yuan Shu sent him to attack Lujiang. Sun Ce was coming back fresh from his victory there.)
After the banquet Sun Ce returned to his camp feeling that Yuan Shu had been condescending to him during the festivities. He spent the moonlit night pacing the inner courtyard, brooding over the memory of his heroic father and the insignificance of his own accomplishments. A heartfelt cry broke from his lips. "What is troubling you?" asked a man who entered the yard. "When your honored father was alive, he often turned to me. If there's something on your mind, you can tell me instead of crying your heart out." The speaker was Zhu Zhi (Junli), a native of Guzhang in Danyang, who had served Sun Jian.
Mastering himself, Sun Ce offered Zhu Zhi a seat and said, "I despair of fulfilling my father's ambition." "Why not ask Yuan Shu for troops to rescue Wu Jing?" Zhu Zhi suggested. "That will give you a chance to bring the Danyang region under your control, instead of remaining cooped up here under Yuan Shu."6 At that moment another man unexpectedly entered the courtyard. "I am sympathetic to your plan," he said, "and I
would like to contribute one hundred able-bodied men." The speaker was Lü Fan (Ziheng) from Xiyang in Runan, an adviser to Yuan Shu. The three men talked on. "But I fear only that Yuan Shu will deny you the troops," Lü Fan said. "I still have the royal seal passed on to me by my late father," Sun Ce pointed out, "to offer as my pledge." "How long Yuan Shu has wanted that!" exclaimed Lü Fan. "He will supply you the troops without doubt." Thus the three men settled their plan.
The next day in audience with Yuan Shu, Sun Ce said, "My father's death remains unavenged. Liu Yao, inspector of Yangzhou, threatens my uncle Wu Jing, and I fear for the lives of my mother and family in Qu'e. I come, therefore, to beg a few thousand soldiers to take across the river in order to save my family and visit with them again. I have here the imperial seal left me by my father; I offer it to you as security." Yuan Shu had long known of this treasure. Examining it with great interest, he said, "I have no wish for your seal; however, you may leave it with me temporarily, and I will lend you three thousand men and five hundred horses. After you have pacified the region, hurry back. As your rank is still too low to wield authority, I shall propose that the court appoint you General Who Annihilates Outlaws and Commandant Who Breaks the Enemy. Set out on the designated day."
Three Kingdoms Page 20
