Three Kingdoms Romance

by Guanzhong Luo

  The House of Wei displaced the House of Han

  And Jin succeeded Wei; so turns fate's wheel

  And none escape its grinding. Zhang Jie the true

  Stood in the way and died. We pity him.

  Vain hope with one small hand to hide Taishan Mountains.

  The Emperor-elect was requested to ascend the high place, and there received the great salute. Cao Huang then descended, robed himself as a minister and took his place as the first of subjects.

  Sima Yan now stood upon the terrace, supported by Jia Chong and Pei Xiu. Cao Huang was ordered to prostrate himself, while the command was recited, and Jia Chong read:

  “Forty-five years have elapsed since, in the twenty-fifth year of Rebuilt Tranquillity, the House of Han gave place to

  the House of Wei. But after forty-five years, the favor of Heaven has now left the latter House and reverts to Jin. The merits and services of the family of Sima reach to the high heavens and pervade the earth. The Prince of Jin is fitted for the high office and to continue the rule. Now His Majesty the Emperor confers upon you the title of Prince of Chenliu; you are to proceed to the city of Jinyong, where you will reside; you are forbidden to come to court unless summoned.”

  Sadly Cao Huang withdrew. Sima Fu, Guardian of the Throne, wept before the deposed Emperor and promised eternal devotion.

  “I have been a servant of Wei and will never turn my back upon the House,” said he.

  Sima Yan did not take this amiss, and out of admiration he offered Sima Fu the princedom of Anping. But Sima Fu declined the offer.

  The new Emperor was now seated in his place, and all the officers made their salutations and felicitated him. The very hills rang with “Wan shui! O King, live forever!”

  Thus succeeded Sima Yan, and the state was called Great Jin and a new year-style was changed from Great Glory, the second year, to Great Beginning, the first year (AD 265). An amnesty was declared. Since then Wei Dynasty ended.

  The kingdom of Wei had ended.

  The Founder of the Dynasty of Jin

  Took Wei as model; thus the displaced emperor

  Was named a prince, when on the terrace high

  His throne he had renounced.

  We grieve when we recall these deeds.

  The new Emperor conferred posthumous rank upon his grandfather, his uncle, and his father: Sima Yi the Original Emperor, Sima Shi the Wonderful Emperor, and Sima Zhao the Scholar Emperor. Sima Yan built seven temples in honor of his ancestors: Sima Jun, the Han General Who Conquers the West; Sima Jun's son, Sima Liang, Governor of Yuzhang; Sima Liang's son, Sima Juan, Governor of Yingchuan; Sima Juan's son, Sima Fang, Governor of Jingzhao; Sima Fang's son, Sima Yi the Original Emperor; and Sima Yi's sons, Sima Shi the Wonderful Emperor and Sima Zhao the Scholar Emperor.

  All these things being accomplished, courts were held daily, and the one subject of discussion was the subjugation of Wu.

  The House of Han has gone for aye,

  And Wu will quickly follow.

  The story of the attack upon Wu will be told next.

  CHAPTER 120. Recommending Du Yu, An Old General Offers New Plans; Capturing Of Sun Hao, Three Kingdoms Becomes One.

  When Sun Xiu, the Ruler of Wu, knew that the House of Wei had fallen before the Jins, he also knew that the usurper's next thought would be the conquest of his own land. The anxiety made him ill, so that he took to his bed and was like to die. He then summoned to his bedside his Prime Minister, Puyang Xing, and his heir, Sun Wan. But they two came almost too late. The dying Ruler, with his last effort, took the Minister by the hand, but could only point to his son. Then he died.

  Puyang Xing left the couch and called a meeting of the officers, whereat he proposed to place the heir on his father's throne.

  Then Wan Yu, Left Army Inspector, rose and said, “Prince Sun Wan is too youthful to rule in such troublous times. Let us confer the throne to Sun Hao, Lord of Wucheng.”

  Zhang Bu, General of the Left Army, supported his election, saying, “Sun Hao is able and prompt in decision. He can handle the responsibilities of an emperor.”

  However, Puyang Xing was doubtful and consulted the Empress Dowager.

  “Settle this with the officials;” she replied, “I am a widow and know nothing of such matters.”

  Finally Sun Hao won the day, and in the seventh month he was enthroned as Emperor of Wu, and the first year of his reign was Prosperous Beginning (AD 264). Sun Hao was the son of Sun He, a former Heir Apparent, and grandson of Sun Quan the Great Emperor. The excluded prince, Sun Wan, was consoled with the title of Prince of Yuzhang. Posthumous rank was given to his late father, Sun He the Scholar Emperor, and his mother, Lady He, the Scholar Empress. The Veteran Leader Ding Feng was made Commander of the Right and Left Armies.

  However, the year-style was changed to Sweet Dew the very next year. The new ruler soon proved himself cruel and oppressive and day by day grew more so. Sun Hao indulged in every form of vice and chose Eunuch Cen Hun as his confidant and favorite. When Prime Minister Puyang Xing and General Zhang Bu ventured upon remonstrance, both, with all their family, were put to death. Thereafter none dared to speak; the mouth of every courtier was “sewn up.”

  Another year-style, Treasured Paramount, was adopted the next year (266), and the responsibility of the Prime Minister's office was shared by two officers, Lu Kai the Left and Wan Yu the Right.

  At this time the imperial residence was in Wuchang. The people of Yangzhou shouldered heavy tribute and suffered exceedingly. There was no limit to the Ruler's extravagance; the treasury was swept clean and the income of the royal domain exhausted.

  At length Lu Kai, Left Prime Minister, ventured a memorial, saying:

  “No natural calamity has fallen upon the people, yet they starve; no public work is in progress, yet the treasury is

  empty. I am distressed. The country under the Hans has fallen apart and three states have arisen therefrom. Those ruled by the Caos and the Lius, as the result of their own folly, have been lost in Jin. Foolish I may be, but I would protect the state for Your Majesty against the evils we have seen in the other divisions. This city of Wuchang is not safe as a royal residence. There is a rhyme concerning it, the gist of which is that it is better to drink the water of Jianye than eat the fish of Wuchang, better to die in Jianye than to live in Wuchang. This shows the regard of the people as well as the will of Heaven. Now the public storehouses are nearly empty; they contain insufficient for a year's use. The officers of all grades vex and distress the people and none pity them.

  “In former times the palace women numbered less than a hundred; for years past they have exceeded a thousand. This is an extravagant waste of treasure. The courtiers render no disinterested service, but are split into cliques and cabals. The honest are injured and the good driven away. All these things undermine the state and weaken the people. I beg Your Majesty to reduce the number of officers and remove grievances, to dismiss the palace women and select honest officers, to the joy of the people and the tranquillity of the state.”

  But the Ruler of Wu was displeased, and showed his contempt for the minister's remonstrance by beginning to collect material for the building of a new palace complex to be called the Reflected Light Palace. He even made the officers of the court go into the forest to fell trees for the work.

  The Ruler of Wu called in the soothsayer Shang Guang and bade him take the cast and inquire as to the attainment of empire.

  Shang Guang cast a lot and replied, “All is propitious, and in the year of the 'mouse' your blue umbrella will enter Luoyang.”

  And Sun Hao was pleased.

  He said to Minister Hua Jiao, “The former rulers listened to your words and sent generals to various points and placed defensive camps along the rivers. And over all these was set Ding Feng. Now my desire is to conquer Han and avenge the wrongs of my brother, the Ruler of Shu. What place should be first conquered?”

  Hua Jiao replied, “Now that Chengdu has fallen and the Throne t
here been overturned, Sima Yan will assuredly desire to absorb this land. Your Majesty should display virtue and restore confidence to your people. That would be the best plan. If you engage in war, it will be like throwing on hemp to put out a fire; the hemp only adds to the blaze. This is worthy of careful consideration.”

  But Sun Hao grew angry and said, “I desire to take this opportunity to return to my real heritage. Why do you employ this ill-omened language? Were it not for your long service, now would I slay you and expose your head as a warning.”

  He bade the lictors hustle Minister Hua Jiao from his presence, and Hua Jiao left the court.

  “It is pitiful,” said Hua Jiao. “Ere long our silky, beautiful country will pass to another.”

  So he retired. And the Ruler of Wu ordered Lu Kang, General Who Guards the East, to camp his army at Jiangkou in order to attack Xiangyang.

  Spies reported this in Luoyang, and it was told the Ruler of Jin. When Sima Yan heard that the army of Wu threatened to invade Xiangyang, he called a council.

  Jia Chong stood forth, saying, “I hear the government of Wu, under its present ruler, Sun Hao, is devoid of virtue and the Ruler of Wu has turned aside out of the road. Your Majesty should send Commander Yang Hu

  to oppose this army; and when internal trouble shall arise, let him attack, and victory will then be easy.”

  The Ruler of Jin issued an edict ordering Yang Hu to prepare, and so he mustered his troops and set himself to guard the county.

  Yang Hu became very popular in Xiangyang. Any of the soldiers of Wu who desired to desert to the other side were allowed to come over. He employed only the fewest possible troops on patrol duty. Instead he set his soldiers to till the soil, and they cultivated an extensive area, whereby the hundred days supplies with which they set out were soon increased to enough for ten years.

  Yang Hu maintained great simplicity, wearing the lightest of garments and no armor. His personal escort and servants numbered only about a twenty.

  One day his officers came to his tent to say that the spies reported great laxity in the enemy's camp, and they wished to attack.

  But Yang Hu replied, “You must not despise Lu Kang, for he is able and crafty. Formerly his master sent him to attack Xiling, and he slew Bu Chan and many of his generals, before I could save that city. So long as Lu Kang remains in command, I shall remain on the defensive. I shall not attack till there be trouble and confusion among our enemies. To be rash and not await the proper moment to attack is to invite defeat.”

  They found him wise and said no more. They only kept the boundaries.

  One day Yang Hu and his officers went out to hunt, and it happened that Lu Kang had chosen the same day to hunt. Yang Hu gave strict orders not to cross the boundary, and so each hunted only on his own side.

  Lu Kang was astonished at the enemy's scrupulous propriety.

  He sighed, “The soldiers of Yang Hu have so high a discipline that I may not make any invasion now.”

  In the evening, after both parties had returned, Yang Hu ordered an inspection of the slaughtered game and sent over to the other side any that seemed to have been first struck by the soldiers of Wu.

  Lu Kang was greatly pleased and sent for the bearers of the game.

  “Does your leader drink wine?” asked he.

  They replied, “Only fine wines does he drink.”

  “I have some very old wine,” replied Lu Kang, smiling, “and I will give of it to you to bear to your general as a gift. It is the wine I myself brew and drink on ceremonial occasions, and he shall have half in return for today's courtesy.”

  They took the wine and left.

  “Why do you give him wine?” asked Lu Kang's officers.

  “Because he has shown kindness, and I must return courtesy for courtesy.”

  When the gift of wine arrived and the bearers told Yang Hu the story of their reception, he laughed.

  “So he knows I can drink,” said Yang Hu.

  He had the jar opened, and the wine was poured out. One of his generals, Chen Yuan, begged him to drink moderately lest there should be some harm come of it.

  “Lu Kang is no poisoner,” replied Yang Hu.

  And he drank. The friendly intercourse thus begun continued, and messengers frequently passed from one camp to the other.

  One day the messengers said that Lu Kang was unwell and had been ailing for several days.

  “I think he suffers from the same complaint as I,” said Yang Hu. “I have some remedies ready prepared and will send him some.”

  The drugs were taken over to the Wu camp.

  But the sick man's officers were suspicious and said, “This medicine is surely harmful; it comes from the enemy.”

  Lu Kang cried, “What! Think you that old Uncle Yang Hu would poison a person? Do not doubt.”

  He drank the decoction. Next day he was much better; and when his staff came to congratulate him, he said, “If our opponents take their stand upon virtue and we take ours upon violence, they will drag us after them without fighting. See to it that the boundaries be well kept and that we seek not to gain any unfair advantage.”

  Soon after came a special envoy from the Ruler of Wu to urge upon Lu Kang prompt activity.

  “Our Emperor sends orders for you to press forward,” said the envoy. “You are not to await a Jin invasion.”

  “You may return and I will send up a memorial,” replied Lu Kang.

  So a memorial was written and soon followed the envoy to Jianye. When the Ruler of Wu, Sun Hao, read it, he found therein many arguments against attacking Jin and exhortations to exercise a virtuous rule instead of engaging in hostilities. It angered him.

  “They say Lu Kang has come to an understanding with the enemy, and now I believe it,” said the Ruler of Wu.

  Thereupon he deprived Lu Kang of his command and took away his commission and degraded him into Marching General. Sun Ji, General of the Left Army, was sent to supersede Lu Kang. And none dared to intervene.

  Sun Hao became still more arbitrary and of his own will changed the year-style once more to the Phoenix (AD 269). Day by day his life became more wanton and vicious. The soldiers in every camp murmured with anger and resentment, and at last three high officers — Prime Minister Wan Yu, General Liu Ping, and Minister of Agriculture Lou Xuan — boldly and earnestly remonstrated with the Emperor for his many irregularities. They suffered death. Within ten years more than forty ministers were put to death for doing their duty.

  Sun Hao maintained an extravagantly large guard of fifty thousand heavy cavalry, and these soldiers were the terror of everyone.

  Now when Yang Hu, on the Jin side of the frontier, heard that his opponent Lu Kang had been removed from his command and that the conduct of the Ruler of Wu had become wholly unreasonable, he knew that the time was near for him to conquer Wu. Wherefore he presented a memorial:

  “Although fate is superior to human, yet success depends upon human effort. Now as the geographic difficulties of

  the South Land are not as those of the Lands of Rivers, while the ferocity of Sun Hao exceeds that of Liu Shan, the misery of the people of Wu exceeds that of the dwellers in Shu. Our armies are stronger than ever before, and if we miss this opportunity to bring the whole land under one rule, but continue to weary our army with continual watching and cause the world to groan under the burden of militarism, then our efficiency will decline and we shall not endure.”

  When Sima Yan read this, he gave orders for the army to move. But three officers — Jia Chong, Xun Xu, and Feng Dan — opposed it, and the orders were withdrawn.

  Yang Hu was disappointed and said, “What a pity it is that of ten affairs in the world, one always meets with eight or nine vexations!”

  In the fourth year of Universal Tranquillity, in Jin calendar (AD 278), Yang Hu went to court and asked leave to retire on account of ill health.

  Before granting him leave to go, Sima Yan asked, “Do you have plans to propose to settle the state?”


  Yang Hu replied, “Sun Hao is a very cruel ruler and could be conquered without fighting. If he were to die and a wise successor sat upon his throne, Your Majesty would never be able to gain possession of Wu.”

  “Suppose your army attacked now; what then?” asked the Ruler of Jin.

  “I am now too old and too ill for the task,” replied Yang Hu. “Some other bold and capable leader must be found.”

  Yang Hu left the court and retired to his home. Toward the end of the year he was nigh unto death, and the Ruler of Jin went to visit him. The sight of his master at his bedside brought tears to the eyes of the faithful old leader.

  “If I died a myriad times, I could never requite Your Majesty,” said Yang Hu.

  Sima Yan also wept, saying, “My great grief is that I could not take advantage of your abilities to attack Wu. Who now is there to carry out your design?”

  Hesitatingly the sick man replied, “I am dying and must be wholly sincere. General Du Yu is equal to the task, and is the one man to attack Wu.”

  Sima Yan said, “How beautiful it is to bring good people into prominence! But why did you write a memorial recommending certain people and then burn the draft so that no one knew?”

  The dying man answered, “I bowed before the officials in open court, but I did not beseech the kindness of the private attendants.”

  So Yang Hu died, and Sima Yan wailed for him and then returned to his palace. He conferred on the dead

  leader the posthumous rank of Imperial Guardian and Lord of Juping. The traders closed their shops out of respect to his memory, and all the frontier camps were filled with wailing. The people of Xiangyang, recalling that he loved to wander on the Xian Hills, built there a temple to him and set up a stone and sacrificed regularly at the four seasons. The passers-by were moved to tears when they read Yang Hu's name on the tablet, so that it came to be called “The Stone of Tears.”