Three Kingdoms Romance

by Guanzhong Luo

  “I think you are grieving because the Ruler of Wei does not use you,” replied Sima Shi.

  “But they will send for you presently,” said Sima Zhao. The prophecy was not long in fulfillment, for even then the bearer of the command stood at the gate, and the servant announced a messenger from the court bearing a commission.

  As soon as he heard its terms, Sima Yi set about ordering the armies of Wancheng. Soon came a messenger from Governor Shen Yi of Jincheng with a secret message for Sima Yi. The messenger was taken into a private chamber, and his message was that Meng Da was on the point of rebellion. The leakage of this news was due to Li Fu, a confidential subordinate of Meng Da, and Deng Xian, Meng Da's nephew. Li Fu and Deng Xian went to confess the plot in exchange for a promise of amnesty.

  Sima Yi smote his forehead.

  “This is the Emperor's great good fortune, high as heaven itself. Zhuge Liang's army is at Qishan already, and all people's courage is at the brink of breakdown. The Emperor must go to Changan, and if he does not use me soon, Meng Da will carry out his plan; his plot will succeed and both capitals will be lost. Meng Da is surely in league with Zhuge Liang, and if I can seize this Meng Da before he makes any move, that will damp Zhuge Liang's spirits and he will retreat.”

  His elder son Sima Shi remarked, “It is necessary to memorialize the Throne.”

  “No,” replied his father, “that would take a month, and delay would mean failure.”

  Sima Yi gave orders to prepare to advance by double-rapid marches and threatened death to all loiterers. In order to avert suspicion, he sent letters to Meng Da by the hand of Military Adviser Liang Ji to tell Meng Da to prepare to join the expedition.

  Sima Yi quickly followed Liang Ji. After two days' march Sima Yi fell in with an army of General Xu Huang over the hills.

  Xu Huang got an interview with Sima Yi, and he said, “The Emperor has arrived at Changan to lead an expedition against Shu. Whither is the Commander-in-Chief going?”

  Sima Yi, in a low voice, said to him, “Meng Da is on the verge of rebellion, and I am going to seize him.”

  “Let me go as your van-leader,” said Xu Huang.

  So Xu Huang's troops were joined to the expedition and marched in the van. Sima Yi commanded the center, and his sons brought up the rear.

  Two days farther on, some of the scouts captured Meng Da's confidential messenger, and with him Zhuge Liang's reply. Sima Yi promised the man his life if he would tell all he knew. So the messenger told all about the letters and messages he had taken from one to the other.

  When Sima Yi read, he remarked, “All able people think the same way. Our plan would have been foiled by Zhuge Liang's cleverness unless, by the good luck of the Emperor, this messenger had been captured. Now Meng Da will be helpless.”

  The army pressed on still more rapidly.

  Meng Da had arranged for his stroke with Governor Shen Yi of Jincheng and Governor Shen Dan of Shangyong and was awaiting the day he had fixed. But Shen Yi and Shen Dan were only pretending to abet him, although they went on training and drilling their troops to keep up appearances till the soldiers of Wei could arrive. To Meng Da they pretended delay in their transport as the reason for being unable to start. And he believed them.

  Just then Liang Ji came, and when he had been ceremoniously received, he produced the order from Sima Yi and said, “The Commander-in-Chief has received the edict of the Emperor to call in all the forces in this area, and he has sent me to direct you to hold your troops in readiness to march.”

  “On what day does the Commander-in-Chief start?” asked Meng Da.

  “He is just about starting now, and is on the way to Changan” replied Liang Ji.

  Meng Da smiled inwardly, for, this being so, he saw success before him. He gave a banquet to Liang Ji; and after Liang Ji took his leave, Meng Da sent to his fellow conspirators — Shen Yi and Shen Dan — to say the first step must be taken next day by exchanging the banners of Wei for those of Han and marching to attack Luoyang.

  Then the watchmen reported a great cloud of dust in the distance as though an army was coming. Meng Da was surprised and went up on the ramparts to see for himself. Soon he made out the banner of Xu Huang leading. He ran down from the wall and in a state of trepidation ordered the raising of the drawbridge. Xu Huang still came on and in due time stood on the bank of the moat.

  Then Xu Huang called out, “Let the traitor Meng Da yield quickly!”

  Meng Da, in a rage, opened upon him with arrows, and Xu Huang was wounded in the forehead. He was helped to a place of safety while the arrows flew down in great numbers. When the soldiers of Wei retired, Meng Da opened the gates and went in pursuit. But the whole of Sima Yi's army soon came up, and the banners stood so thick that they hid the sun.

  “This is what Zhuge Liang foresaw!” said Meng Da despairingly. The gates were closed and barred.

  Meanwhile the wounded general, Xu Huang, had been borne to his tent, where the arrow head was extracted and the physician attended to him. But that night he died. He was fifty-nine. His body was sent to Luoyang for burial.

  Next day, when Meng Da went up on the wall, he saw the city was entirely surrounded as with a girdle of iron. He was greatly perturbed and could not decide what to do. Presently he saw two bodies of troops coming up, their banners bearing the names of his fellow conspirators — Shen Yi and Shen Dan. He could only conclude that they had come to his help, so he opened the gates to them and went out to fight.

  “Rebel, stay!” cried they both as they came up.

  Realizing that they had been false, he turned and galloped toward the city, but a flight of arrows met him, and the two who had betrayed him, Li Fu and Deng Xian, began to revile him.

  “We have already yielded the city!” they cried.

  Then Meng Da fled. But he was pursued, and as he and his horse were both exhausted, he was speedily overtaken and slain. They exposed his head, and his soldiers submitted. Sima Yi was welcomed at the open gates. The people were pacified, the soldiers were rewarded and, this done, a report of their success was sent to Cao Rui. Cao Rui ordered the body of Meng Da to be exposed in the market place of Luoyang, and he promoted Shen Yi and Shen Dan and gave them posts in the army of Sima Yi. He gave Li Fu and Deng Xian command of the cities of Xincheng and Shangyong.

  Then Sima Yi marched to Changan and camped. The leader entered the city to have audience with his master, by whom he was most graciously received.

  “Once I doubted you;” said Cao Rui, “but then I did not understand, and I listened to mischief-makers. I regret it. You have preserved both capitals by the punishment of this traitor.”

  Sima Yi replied, “Shen Yi gave the information of the intended revolt and thought to memorialize Your Majesty. But there would have been a long delay, and so I did not await orders, but set forth at once. Delay would have played into Zhuge Liang's hands.”

  Then Sima Yi handed in Zhuge Liang's letter to Meng Da, and when the Emperor had read that, he said, “You are wiser than both the great strategists of old — Wu Qi and Sun Zi.”

  The Ruler of Wei conferred upon the successful leader a pair of golden axes and the privilege of taking action in important matters without first obtaining his master's sanction.

  When the order was given to advance against the enemy, Sima Yi asked permission to name his leader of the van, and nominated Zhang He, General of the Left Army.

  “Just the man I wished to send,” said Cao Rui, smiling. And Zhang He was appointed.

  Sima Yi took his army off Changan and marched it to the camp of the Shu army.

  By strategy the leader shows his skill;

  He needs bold fighting men to work his will.

  The result of the campaign will appear in the next chapter.

  CHAPTER 95. Ma Su's Disobedience Causes The Loss Of Jieting; Zhuge Liang's Lute Repulses Sima Yi.

  Beside sending Zhang He as van-leader of Sima Yi, Cao Rui appointed two other generals, Xin Pi and Sun Li, to assist Cao Zhen. Xi
n Pi and Sun Li each led fifty thousand troops.

  Sima Yi's army was two hundred thousand strong. They marched out through the pass and made a camp.

  When encamped, Sima Yi summoned Zhang He to his tent and admonished him, saying, “A characteristic of Zhuge Liang is his most diligent carefulness; he is never hasty. If I were in his place, I should advance through the Ziwu Valley to capture Changan and so save much time. It is not that he is unskillful, but he fears lest that plan might miscarry, and he will not sport with risk. Therefore he will certainly come through the Xie Valley, taking Meicheng on the way. That place captured, he will divide his force into two, one part to take Chi Valley. I have sent Cao Zhen orders to guard Meicheng strictly and on no account to let its garrison go out to battle. The generals Sun Li and Xin Pi are to command the Chi Valley entrance, and should the enemy come, they are to make a sudden attack.”

  “By what road will you advance?” asked Zhang He.

  “I know a road west of Qinling Mountains called Jieting, on which stands the city Liliu. These two places are the throat of Hanzhong. Zhuge Liang will take advantage of the unpreparedness of Cao Zhen and will certainly come in by this way. You and I will go to Jieting, whence it is a short distance to Yangping Pass. When Zhuge Liang hears that the road through Jieting is blocked and his supplies cut off, he will know that Xizhou is impossible to keep, and will retire without losing a moment into Hanzhong. I shall smite him on the march, and I ought to gain a complete victory. If he should not retire, then I shall block all the smaller roads and so stop his supplies. A month's starvation will kill off the soldiers of Shu, and Zhuge Liang will be my prisoner.”

  Zhang He took in the scheme and expressed his admiration, saying, “O Commander, your calculation exceeds human!”

  Sima Yi continued, “However, it is not to be forgotten that Zhuge Liang is quite different from Meng Da; and you, as leader of the van, will have to advance with the utmost care. You must impress upon your generals the importance of reconnoitering a long way ahead and only advancing when they are sure there is no ambush. The least remissness will make you the victim of some ruse of the enemy.”

  Zhang He, having received his instructions, marched away.

  Meanwhile a spy had come to Zhuge Liang in Qishan with news of the destruction of Meng Da and the failure of his conspiracy.

  “Sima Yi marched rapidly in eight days to Xincheng. He had Shen Yi, Shen Dan, Li Fu, and Deng Xian plot against Meng Da from within. Meng Da had not been able to do anything and was killed. Now Sima Yi has gone to Changan, when he has marched through the pass with Zhang He.” Zhuge Liang was distressed.

  “Meng Da's destruction was certain,” said he. “Such a scheme could not remain secret. Now Sima Yi will try for Jieting and block the one road essential to us.”

  So Jieting had to be defended, and Zhuge Liang asked who would go. Ma Su offered himself instantly.

  Zhuge Liang urged upon him the importance of his task.

  “The place is small, but of very great importance, for its loss would involve the loss of the whole army. You are deeply read in all the rules of strategy, but the defense of this place is difficult, since it has no wall and no natural defenses.”

  “I have studied the books of war since I was a boy, and I may say I know a little of the art of war,” Ma Su replied. “Why alone is Jieting so difficult to hold?”

  “Because Sima Yi is an exceptional man, and also he has a famous second in Zhang He as leader of the van. I fear you may not be a match for him.”

  Ma Su replied, “To say nothing of these two, I would not mind if Cao Rui himself came against me. If I fail, then I beg you to behead my whole family.”

  “There is no jesting in war,” said Zhuge Liang.

  “I will give a written pledge.”

  Zhuge Liang agreed, and a written pledge was given and placed on record.

  Zhuge Liang continued, “I shall give you twenty-five thousand veterans and also send an officer of rank to assist you.”

  Next he summoned Wang Ping and said to him, “As you are a careful and cautious man, I am giving you a very responsible position. You are to hold Jieting with the utmost tenacity. Camp there in the most commanding position so that the enemy cannot steal by. When your arrangements are complete, draw a plan of them and a map of the local topography and let me see it. All my dispositions have been carefully thought out and are not to be changed. If you can hold this successfully, it will be of the first service in the capture of Changan. So be very, very careful.”

  After Ma Su and Wang Ping had gone and Zhuge Liang had reflected for a long time, it occurred to him that there might be some slip between his two leaders, so he called Gao Xiang to him and said, “Northeast of Jieting is a city named Liliu, and near it an unfrequented hill path. There you are to camp and make a stockade. I will give you ten thousand troops for this task; and if Jieting should be threatened, you may go to the rescue.”

  After Gao Xiang had left, and as Zhuge Liang thought Gao Xiang was not a match for his opponent Zhang He, he decided there ought to be additional strength on the west in order to make Jieting safe. So he summoned Wei Yan and bade him lead his army to the rear of Jieting and camp there.

  But Wei Yan thought this rather a slight, and said, “As leader of the van, I should go first against the enemy; why am I sent to a place where there is nothing to do?” “The leadership of the van is really a second-rate task. Now I am sending you to support Jieting and take post on the most dangerous road to Yangping Pass. You are the chief keeper of the throat of Hanzhong. It is a very responsible post and not at all an idle one. Do not so regard it and spoil my whole plan. Be particularly careful.”

  Wei Yan, satisfied now that he was not being slighted, went his way.

  Zhuge Liang's mind was at rest, and he called up Zhao Yun and Deng Zhi, to whom he said, “Now that Sima Yi is in command of the army, the whole outlook is different. Each of you will lead a force out to Chi Valley and move about so as to mislead the enemy. Whether you meet and engage them or not, you will certainly cause them uneasiness. I am going to lead the main army through the Xie Valley to Meicheng. If I can capture that, Changan will fall.”

  Zhao Yun and Deng Zhi took the orders and went off.

  Zhuge Liang appointed Jiang Wei as leader of the van, and they marched to the Xie Valley.

  When Ma Su and Wang Ping had reached Jieting and saw what manner of place it was, Ma Su smiled, saying, “Why was the Prime Minister so extremely anxious? How would the Wei armies dare to come to such a hilly place as this?”

  Wang Ping replied, “Though they might not dare to come, we should set our camp at this meeting of many roads.”

  So Wang Ping ordered his soldiers to fell trees and build a strong stockade as for a permanent stay.

  But Ma Su had a different idea.

  “What sort of a place is a road to make a camp in? Here is a hill standing solitary and well wooded. It is a heaven-created point of vantage, and we will camp on it.”

  “You are wrong, Sir,” replied Wang Ping. “If we camp on the road and build a strong wall, the enemy cannot possibly get past. If we abandon this for the hill, and the troops of Wei come in force, we shall be surrounded, and how then be safe?”

  “You look at the thing like a child,” said Ma Su, laughing. “The rules of war say that when one looks down from a superior position, one easily overcomes the enemy. If they come, I will see to it that not a breastplate ever goes back again.”

  “I have followed our Commander-in-Chief in many a campaign, and always he has carefully thought out his orders. Now I have studied this hill carefully, and it is a critical point. If we camp thereon and the enemy cut off our water supply, we shall have a mutiny.”

  “No such thing,” said Ma Su. “Sun Zi says that victory lies in desperate positions. If they cut off our water, will not our soldiers be desperate and fight to the death? Then everyone of them will be worth a hundred. I have studied the books, and the Prime Minister has always
asked my advice. Why do you presume to oppose me?”

  “If you are determined to camp on the hill, then give me part of the force to camp there on the west so that I can support you in case the enemy come.” But Ma Su refused. Just then a lot of the inhabitants of the hills came running along saying that the Wei soldiers had come.

  Wang Ping was still bent on going his own way, and so Ma Su said to him, “Since you will not obey me, I will give you five thousand troops and you can go and make your own camp; but when I report my success to the Prime Minister, you shall have no share of the merit.”

  Wang Ping marched about three miles from the hill and made his camp. He drew a plan of the place and sent it quickly to Zhuge Liang with a report that Ma Su had camped on the hill.

  Before Sima Yi marched, he sent his younger son to reconnoiter the road and to find out whether Jieting had a garrison. Sima Zhao had returned with the information that there was a garrison.

  “Zhuge Liang is rather more than human,” said his father regretfully when Sima Zhao gave in his report. “He is too much for me.”

  “Why are you despondent, Father? I think Jieting is not so difficult to take.”

  “How dare you utter such bold words?”

  “Because I have seen. There is no camp on the road, but the enemy are camped on the hill.”

  This was glad news.

  “If they are on the hill, then Heaven means a victory for me,” said his father.

  At night Sima Yi changed into another dress, took a small escort, and rode out to see for himself. The moon shone brilliantly, and he rode to the hill whereon was the camp and looked all round it, thoroughly reconnoitering the neighborhood. Ma Su saw him, but only laughed.

  “If Sima Yi has any luck, he will not try to surround this hill,” said he.

  Ma Su issued an order to his generals: “In case the enemy come, you are to look to the summit for a signal with a red flag, when you shall rush down on all sides.”

  Sima Yi returned to his camp and sent out to inquire who commanded in Jieting. They told him Ma Su, brother of Ma Liang.