Three Kingdoms Romance

by Guanzhong Luo

  The generals lead their beaten soldiers home,

  The victors plan new deeds for days to come.

  Who offered this plan? Succeeding chapters will tell.

  CHAPTER 96. Shedding Tears, Zhuge Liang Puts Ma Su To Death; Cutting Hair, Zhou Fang Beguiles Cao Xiu.

  The proposer of the great plan that was to reunite the empire was the Chair of the Secretariat, named Sun Zi.

  “Noble Sir, expound your excellent scheme,” said the Ruler of Wei.

  And Sun Zi said, “When your great progenitor, Emperor Cao, first got Zhang Lu, he was at a critical stage in his career, but thenceforward all went well. He used to say the land of Nanzheng is really a natural hell. In the Xie Valley there are one hundred fifty miles of rocks and caves, so that it is an impossible country for an army. If Wei be denuded of soldiers in order to conquer Shu, then for sure we shall be invaded by Wu on the east. My advice is to divide the army among the various generals and appoint each a place of strategic value to hold, and let them train their forces. In a few years the Middle Land will be prosperous and wealthy, while the other two Shu and Wu, will have been reduced by mutual quarrels and will fall an easy prey. I hope Your Majesty will consider whether this is not a superior plan.”

  “What does the General think? said Cao Rui to Sima Yi.

  He replied, “Minister Sun Zi says well.”

  So Cao Rui bade Sima Yi draw up a scheme of defense and station the soldiers, leaving Guo Huai and Zhang He to guard Changan. And having rewarded the army, he the returned to Luoyang.

  When Zhuge Liang got back to Hanzhong and missed Zhao Yun and Deng Zhi, the only two generals who had not arrived, he was sad at heart and bade Guan Xing and Zhang Bao go back to afford them assistance. However, before the reinforcing parties could leave, the missing men arrived. Furthermore, they came with their army in excellent condition and not a man short, nor a horse nor any of their equipment.

  As they drew near, Zhuge Liang went out of the city to welcome them. Thereupon Zhao Yun hastily dismounted and bowed to the earth, saying, “The Prime Minister should not have come forth to welcome a defeated general.”

  But Zhuge Liang lifted him up and took his hand and said, “Mine was the fault, mine were the ignorance and unwisdom that caused all this. But how is it that amid all the defeat and loss you have come through unscathed?”

  And Deng Zhi replied, “It was because friend Zhao Yun sent me ahead, while he guarded the rear and warded off every attack. One leader he slew, and this frightened the others. Thus nothing was lost or left by the way.”

  “A really great general!” said Zhuge Liang.

  He sent Zhao Yun a gift of fifty ounces of gold, and to his army ten thousand rolls of silk.

  But these were returned as Zhao Yun said, “All armies have accomplished nothing, and that is also our fault. The rules for reward and punishment must be strictly kept. I pray that these things be kept in store till the winter, when they can be distributed among the army.”

  “When the First Ruler lived, he never tired of extolling Zhao Yun's virtues; the First Ruler was perfectly right,” said Zhuge Liang.

  And his respect for the veteran was doubled.

  Then came the turn of the four unfortunate leaders Ma Su, Wang Ping, Wei Yan, and Gao Xiang to render account. Wang Ping was called to the Commander-in-Chief's tent and rebuked.

  “I ordered you and Ma Su to guard Jieting; why did you not remonstrate with him and prevent this great loss?”

  “I did remonstrate many times. I wished to build a rampart down in the road and construct a solid camp, but the Commander would not agree and showed ill temper. So I led five thousand troops and camped some three miles off; and when the army of Wei came in crowds and surrounded my colleague, I led my army to attack them a score of times. But I could not penetrate, and the catastrophe came quickly. Many of our troops surrendered, and mine were too few to stand. Wherefore I went to friend Wei Yan for help, but I was intercepted and imprisoned in a valley and only got out by fighting most desperately. I got back to my camp to find the enemy in possession, and so I set out for Liliu. On the road I met Gao Xiang, and we three tried to raid the enemy's camp, hoping to recover Jieting; but as there was no one soldier there, I grew suspicious. From a hill I saw my colleagues had been hemmed in by the soldiers of Wei, so I went to rescue them. Thence we hastened to Yangping Pass to try to prevent that from falling. It was not that I failed to remonstrate. And you, O Minister, can get confirmation of my words from any of the officers.”

  Zhuge Liang bade him retire, and sent for Ma Su. He came, bound himself, and threw himself on the earth at the tent door.

  Zhuge Liang got angry, saying, “You have filled yourself with the study of the books on war ever since you were a boy; you know them thoroughly. I enjoined upon you that Jieting was most important, and you pledged yourself and all your family to do your best in the enterprise; yet you would not listen to Wang Ping, and thus you caused this misfortune. The army is defeated, generals have been slain and cities and territory lost, all through you. If I do not make you an example and vindicate the law, how shall I maintain a proper state of discipline? You have offended and you must pay the penalty. After your death the little ones of your family shall be my care, and I will see that they get a monthly allowance. Do not let their fate cause you anxiety.”

  Zhuge Liang told the executioners to take Ma Su away.

  Ma Su wept bitterly, saying, “Pity me, O Minister, you have looked upon me as a son; I have looked up to you as a father. I know my fault is worthy of death, but I pray you remember how King Shun employed Yu, after executing his father. Though I die, I will harbor no resentment down in the depths of the Nine Golden Springs.”

  Zhuge Liang brushed aside his tears and said, “We have been as brothers, and your children shall be as my own. It is useless to say more.”

  They led the doomed man away. Without the main gate, just as they were going to deal the fatal blow, High Counselor Jiang Wan, who had just arrived from Capital Chengdu, was passing in. He bade the executioners wait a while, and he went in and interceded for Ma Su.

  “Formerly the King of Chu put Minister Chen Dechen to death, and his rival Duke Wen of Jin rejoiced. There is great confusion in the land, and yet you would slay a man of admitted ability. Can you not spare him?”

  Zhuge Liang's tears fell, but he said, “Sun Zi maintains that the one way to obtain success is to make the law supreme. Now confusion and actual war are in every quarter; and if the law be not observed, how may rebels be made away with? He must die.”

  Soon after they bore in the head of Ma Su as proof, and Zhuge Liang wailed bitterly.

  “Why do you weep for him now that he has met the just penalty for his fault?” said Jiang Wan.

  “I was not weeping then because of Ma Su, but because I remembered the words of the First Ruler. When in great stress at Baidicheng, he said: 'Ma Su's words exceed the truth, and he is incapable of great deeds.' It has come true, and I greatly regret my want of insight. That is why I weep.”

  Every officer wept. Ma Su was but thirty-nine, and he met his end in the fifth month of the sixth year of Beginning Prosperity (AS 228).

  A poet wrote about him thus:

  That was pitiful that he who talked so glib

  Of war, should lose a city, fault most grave,

  With death as expiation. At the gate

  He paid stern law's extremest penalty.

  Deep grieved, his chief recalled the late Prince's words.

  The head of Ma Su was paraded round the camps. Then it was sewn again to the body and buried with it. Zhuge Liang conducted the sacrifices for the dead and read the oration. A monthly allowance was made for the family, and they were consoled as much as possible.

  Next Zhuge Liang made his memorial to the Throne and bade Jiang Wan bear it to the Latter Ruler. Therein Zhuge Liang proposed his own degradation from his high office.

  “Naturally a man of mediocre abilities, I have enjoyed your confiden
ce undeservedly. Having led out an expedition, I

  have proved my inability to perform the high office of leader. Over solicitude was my undoing. Hence happened disobedience at Jieting and the failure to guard Chi Valley. The fault is mine in that I erred in the use of people. In my anxiety I was too secretive. The 'Spring and Autumn' has pronounced the commander such as I am is blameworthy, and whither may I flee from my fault? I pray that I may be degraded three degrees as punishment. I cannot express my mortification. I humbly await your command.”

  “Why does the Prime Minister speak thus?” said the Latter Ruler. “It is but the ordinary fortune of war.”

  Minister Fei Yi said, “The ruler must enhance the majesty of the law, for without law how can people support him? It is right that the Prime Minister should be degraded in rank.”

  Thereupon an edict was issued reducing Zhuge Liang to the rank of General of the Right Army, but retaining him in the same position in the direction of state affairs and command of the military forces. Fei Yi was directed to communicate the decision.

  Fei Yi bore the edict into Hanzhong and gave it to Zhuge Liang, who bowed to the decree. The envoy thought Zhuge Liang might be mortified, so he ventured to felicitate him in other matters.

  “It was a great joy to the people of Shu when you, O Minister, captured the four northwest counties,” said he.

  “What sort of language is this?” said Zhuge Liang, annoyed. “Success followed by failure is no success. It shames me indeed to hear such a compliment.”

  “His Majesty will be very pleased to hear of the acquisition of Jiang Wei.”

  This remark also angered Zhuge Liang, who replied, “It is my fault that a defeated army has returned without any gain of territory. What injury to Wei was the loss of Jiang Wei?”

  Fei Yi tried again. “But with an army of one hundred thousand bold veterans, you can attack Wei again.”

  “When we were at Qishan and Chi Valley, we outnumbered the enemy, but we could not conquer them. On the contrary, they beat us. The defect was not in the number of soldiers, but in the leadership. Now we must reduce the army, discover our faults, reflect on our errors, and mend our ways against the future. Unless this is so, what is the use of a numerous army? Hereafter every one will have to look to the future of his country. But most diligently each of you must fight against my shortcomings and blame my inefficiencies; then we may succeed. Rebellion can be exterminated and merit can be set up.”

  Fei Yi and the officers acknowledged the aptness of these remarks. Fei Yi went back to the capital, leaving Zhuge Liang in Hanzhong resting his soldiers and doing what he could for the people, training and heartening his troops and turning special attention to the construction of apparatus for assaults on cities and crossing rivers. He also collected grain and fodder and built battle rafts, all for future use.

  The spies of Wei got to know of these doings in the Lands of Rivers and reported to Luoyang. The Ruler of Wei called Sima Yi to council and asked how Shu might be annexed.

  “Shu cannot be attacked,” was the reply. “In this present hot weather they will not come out, but, if we invade, they will only garrison and defend their strategic points, which we should find it hard to overcome.”

  “What shall we do if they invade us again?”

  “I have prepared for that. Just now Zhuge Liang is imitating Han Xin when he secretly crossed the river into Chencang. I can recommend a man to guard the place by building a rampart there and rendering it absolutely secure. He is a nine-span man, round shouldered and powerful, a good archer and prudent strategist. He would be quite equal to dealing with an invasion.”

  The Ruler of Wei was very pleased and asked for his name.

  “His name is Hao Zhao, and he is in command at Hexi.”

  The Ruler of Wei accepted the recommendation, and an edict went forth promoting Hao Zhao to General Who Guards the West, and sending him to command in the county of Chencang.

  Soon after this edict was issued, a memorial was received from Cao Xiu, Minister of War and Commander of Yangzhou, saying that Zhou Fang, the Wu Governor of Poyang, wished to tender his submission and transfer his allegiance, and had sent a man to present a memorandum under seven headings showing how the power of the South Land could be broken and to ask that an army be dispatched soon.

  Cao Rui spread the document out on the couch that he and Sima Yi might read it.

  “It seems very reasonable,” said Sima Yi. “Wu could be quite destroyed. Let me go with an army to help Cao Xiu.”

  But from among the courtiers stepped out Jia Kui, who said, “What this man of Wu says may be understood in two ways; do not trust it. Zhou Fang is a wise and crafty man and very unlikely to desert. In this is some ruse to decoy our soldiers into danger.”

  “Such words also must be listened to,” said Sima Yi. “Yet such a chance must not be missed.”

  “You and he might both go to the help of Cao Xiu,” said the Ruler of Wei.

  Sima Yi and Jia Kui went. A large army, led by Cao Xiu, moved to Huancheng. Jia Kui, assisted by General Man Chong and Governor Hu Zhi of Dongwan, marched to capture Yangcheng, and facing the East Pass. Sima Yi led the third army to Jiangling.

  Now the Prince of Wu, Sun Quan, was at the East Pass in Wuchang, and there he assembled his officers and said, “The Governor of Poyang, Zhou Fang, has sent up a secret memorial saying that Cao Xiu intends to invade. Zhou Fang has therefore set out a trap for Cao Xiu and has drawn up a document giving seven plausible circumstances, hoping thereby to cajole the Wei army into his power. The armies of Wei are on the move in three divisions, and I need your advice.”

  Gu Yong stood forth, saying, “There is only one man fit to cope with the present need; he is Lu Xun.”

  So Lu Xun was summoned and made Grand Commander, General Who Pacifies the North, Commander-in-Chief of all the State Armies, including the Royal Corps of Guards, and Associate Assistant in the Royal Duties. He was given the White Banners and the Golden Axes, which denoted imperial rank. All officers, civil and military, were placed under his orders. Moreover, Sun Quan personally stood beside him and held his whip while he mounted his steed.

  Having received all these marks of confidence and favor, Lu Xun wanted two persons to be his assistants. Sun Quan asked their names, and Lu Xun said, “There are Zhu Huan, General Who Fortifies Prowess, and Quan Zong, General Who Calms the South. These two should be in command.”

  Sun Quan approved and appointed Zhu Huan and Quan Zong as Commander of the Left and Commander of the Right respectively.

  Then the grand army, comprising all the forces of the eighty-one counties of the South Land and the levies of Jingzhou, seven hundred thousand troops in total, was assembled and marched out in three divisions, Lu Xun in the center, with Zhu Huan and Quan Zong supporting him left and right with the other two columns.

  Then said Zhu Huan, “Cao Xiu is neither able nor bold; he holds office because he is of the blood. He has fallen into the trap laid by Zhou Fang and marched too far to be able to withdraw. If the Commander-in-Chief will smite, Cao Xiu must be defeated. Defeated, he must flee along two roads, one Jiashi on the left, the other Guichi on the right, both of which are precipitous and narrow. Let me and my colleague go to prepare an ambush in these roads. We will block them and so cut off their escape. If this Cao Xiu could be captured, and a hasty advance made, success would be easy and sure. We should get Shouchun, whence Xuchang and Luoyang can be seen. This is the one chance in the thousand.” “I do not think the plan good,” said Lu Xun. “I have a better one.”

  Zhu Huan resented the rejection of his scheme and went away angry. Lu Xun ordered Zhuge Jin and certain others to garrison Jiangling and oppose Sima Yi and made all other dispositions of forces.

  Cao Xiu neared Huancheng, and Zhou Fang came out of the city to welcome him and went to the general's tent.

  Cao Xiu said, “I received your letter and the memorandum, which was most logical, and sent it to His Majesty. He has set in motion accordingly t
hree armies. It will be a great merit for you, Sir, if the South Land can be added to His Majesty's dominions. People say you are insufficient in craft, but I do not believe what they say, for I think you will be true to me and not fail.”

  Zhou Fang wept. He seized a sword from one of his escort and was about to kill himself, but Cao Xiu stopped him.

  Still leaning on the sword, Zhou Fang said, “As to the seven things I mentioned, my regret is that I cannot show you all. You doubt me because some persons from Wu and Wei have been poisoning your mind against me. If you heed them, the only course for me is to die. Heaven only can make manifest my loyal heart.”

  Again he made to slay himself. But Cao Xiu in trepidation threw his arms about him, saying, “I did not mean it; the words were uttered in jest. Why do you act thus?”

  Upon this, Zhou Fang, with his sword, cut off his hair and threw it on the ground, saying, “I have dealt with you with sincerity, Sir, and you joke about it. Now I have cut off the hair, which I inherited from my parents, in order to prove my sincerity.”

  Then Cao Xiu doubted no more, but trusted him fully and prepared a banquet for him, and when the feast was over Zhou Fang returned to his own.

  General Jia Kui came to Cao Xiu, and when asked whether there was any special reason for the visit, he said, “I have come to warn you, Commander, to be cautious and wait till you and I can attack the enemy together. The whole army of Wu is encamped at Huancheng.”

  “You mean you want to share in my victory,” sneered Cao Xiu.

  “It is said Zhou Fang cut off his hair as a pledge of sincerity; that is only another bit of deceit. According to the Spring and Autumn Annals, Yao Li cut off his arm as a pledge of loyalty before he assassinated Qing Ji; mutilation is no guarantee. Do not trust Zhou Fang.”

  “Why do you come to utter ill-omened words just as I am opening the campaign? You destroy the spirit of the army,” said Cao Xiu.

  In his wrath he told the lictors to put Jia Kui to death. However, the officers interceded, saying, “Before the march, killing our general is not favorable to the army. O General, spare him until after the expedition.”