The Three Kingdoms, Volume 1: The Sacred Oath: The Epic Chinese Tale of Loyalty and War in a Dynamic New Translation

by Luo Guanzhong

  Lu Bu, Zhang Miao, and Zhang Chao were assembled in the city but four of his major officers were out foraging for provisions. Soon Cao Cao’s army arrived. However, it did not attack for several days and then retreated a long way to set up camp. It was harvest time and the soldiers were told to cut the wheat for food. Lu Bu’s men reported this to him and he hurried over with his army, but when he saw that Cao Cao’s camp lay near a thick wood he feared there might be an ambush inside and returned to the city. When Cao Cao heard that Lu Bu had come and gone, he guessed the reason.

  “He was afraid of an ambush in the wood,” he said. “We will put up a lot of banners there to deceive him. To the west of the camp is a long embankment, but there is no water in the stream below. We will lay an ambush there for Lu Bu when he comes to burn the wood. I’m sure he will come tomorrow.”

  So he hid all his soldiers behind the embankment, except fifty drummers and some villagers, who were told to raise a great deal of noise inside the camp, to make it seem that it was not empty.

  Now Lu Bu had returned to tell his advisor what he had seen. “This Cao Cao is very crafty and full of wiles,” said his advisor Chen Gong. “You mustn’t underestimate him.”

  “I will use fire this time and burn out his ambush,” said Lu Bu.

  The following day he led a large force to Cao Cao’s camp and there he saw banners flying everywhere in the wood. He ordered his men forward to set fire to all sides. But to his great surprise there was not a single soul. He wanted to make for the camp but just then he heard the beating of drums and doubt filled his mind. Suddenly, he saw a party of soldiers moving out from behind the camp and he galloped after them to give chase.

  Then the signal bombs exploded and out from behind the embankment rushed six of Cao Cao’s most valiant officers with their men. All of them dashed toward Lu Bu. He knew that he could not withstand them all so he fled into the open country. One of his officers was killed by an arrow and two-thirds of his men were lost. The defeated soldiers ran back to tell Chen Gong what had happened.

  “We had better leave here,” said Chen Gong. “An empty city cannot be defended.”

  So he and Gao Shun, taking Lu Bu’s family with them, abandoned the city of Dingtao. When Cao Cao led his victorious army into the city he met with little resistance. Zhang Chao committed suicide and Zhang Miao fled to Yuan Shu’s palace.

  Thus the whole of Shandong fell under the power of Cao Cao. To consolidate his rule, he set out to calm the people and repair the city walls.

  In the meantime, while retreating Lu Bu fell in with the four officers who had been out foraging. Soon Chen Gong also joined him so that he was by no means broken.

  “I have but few men,” he said, “but still enough to challenge Cao Cao.” And so he took the road back toward the city to fight his enemy.

  Thus does fortune alternate, victory, defeat,

  The happy conqueror today, tomorrow may retreat.

  The fate of Lu Bu will be told in the next chapter.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Li Jue and Guo Si Fight a Bloody Battle

  Yang Feng and Dong Cheng Rescue the Emperor

  The last chapter told of the defeat of Lu Bu, and his reunion with the other officers of his army by the riverside. When all his men had joined him he began to feel strong enough to fight it out with Cao Cao once again.

  Chen Gong objected, “He is too strong to defeat right now. Wait until you find some place where you can entrench yourself first.”

  “Suppose I went to Yuan Shao?” said Lu Bu.

  “Send someone to make inquiries first.”

  Lu Bu agreed. The news of the fighting between Cao Cao and Lu Bu had, however, reached Jizhou. One of Yuan Shao’s advisers, Shen Pei, warned him, “If this savage Lu Bu gets possession of Yanzhou, he will certainly attempt to devour our district. For your own safety you should help to crush him.”

  Therefore Yuan Shao sent Yan Liang with 500,000 soldiers to help Cao Cao. Lu Bu’s spy heard of this and at once returned to tell him. Greatly disturbed, Lu Bu called in the faithful Chen Gong for consultation.

  “I hear Liu Bei has lately acquired Xuzhou. We can go to him,” suggested Chen Gong.

  Following this advice, Lu Bu started toward Xuzhou. When Liu Bei learnt of his coming, he wanted to go out and welcome him as a brave warrior. Mi Zhu was strongly against receiving him at all, saying that he was a cruel, bloodthirsty beast. “If you receive him, he will harm you,” he added.

  But Liu Bei replied, “How would misfortune have been avoided if he had not attacked Yanzhou? He cannot be our enemy now that he is seeking asylum.”

  “Brother, you’re really too kind. Although it may be as you say, it’s better to get prepared,” said Zhang Fei.

  The new prefect went out of the city to welcome Lu Bu and the two chiefs rode in side by side. They proceeded to the official residence and there, after the elaborate ceremonies of reception were over, they sat down to talk.

  Lu Bu said, “After Wang Yun and I succeeded in slaying Dong Zhuo, there arose the rebellion of Li Jue and Guo Si. I drifted about from one place to another in the northeast and most of the nobles seemed unwilling to receive me. When Cao Cao wickedly invaded this district and you, sir, came to its rescue, I aided you by attacking Yanzhou and thus diverting a portion of his force. I did not expect then that I would be the victim of a vile plot and lose my officers and men. Now I have come to offer myself to you so that we may together accomplish great designs. What do you say to this, sir?”

  Liu Bei replied, “When the late prefect died there was none to administer Xuzhou and so I assumed that task temporarily. Now that you are here, General, I should certainly yield this place to you.”

  So saying he handed to Lu Bu the insignia and the seal. Lu Bu was on the point of accepting them when he saw Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who stood behind the prefect, glaring at him with angry eyes, so he put on a smile and said, “I am nothing but a fighting man, how could I rule a place like this?”

  Liu Bei repeated his offer. Chen Gong said, “A strong guest does not intimidate his host. You need not fear, sir.”

  Then Liu Bei did not insist any longer. Banquets were held and lodgings prepared for the guest and his retinue. Lu Bu returned the feast the next day and Liu Bei went with his two brothers. Halfway through the banquet, Lu Bu invited his guest into the private quarters and the brothers followed him. Lu Bu told his wife and daughter to bow to their benefactor. As Liu Bei again showed excessive modesty, Lu Bu said, “My good younger brother, you needn’t be so very modest.”

  Zhang Fei heard what he said and his eyes glared. “Our brother is one of the royal family. What sort of a man are you that dares call him ‘younger brother?’” he cried. “Come out and I will fight you three hundred bouts.”

  Liu Bei hastily checked the impulsive Zhang Fei and Guan Yu persuaded him to go away. Then Liu Bei apologized to Lu Bu: “My unruly brother talks wildly after drinking. I hope you will not blame him.”

  Lu Bu said nothing. Soon after, the guests departed. But as he escorted Liu Bei to his carriage he saw Zhang Fei galloping up with his spear set for combat.

  “Lu Bu, you and I will fight that duel of three hundred!” he shouted.

  Liu Bei told Guan Yu to check him.

  The next day Lu Bu came to take leave of his host. “Thank you for kindly receiving me but I fear your brothers and I cannot agree. I will seek some other asylum.”

  “General, if you go, my fault becomes grave. My rude brother has offended you and I will make him apologize to you later. Would you care for a temporary sojourn in the town of Xiaopei, where I was encamped for some time? That place is small and mean, but it is near and I will see to it that you are supplied with all you need.”

  Lu Bu thanked him and accepted the offer. He led his men there and took up residence. After he had gone, Liu Bei blamed Zhang Fei for his rudeness.

  But this is not our concern for the moment. Let us return to Cao Cao. After he had subdued the
whole of Shandong, he reported this to the throne and was rewarded with the title of General of Eminent Virtue and created a lord. At this time the rebellious Li Jue had made himself Chief Minister of War, and Guo Si styled himself Grand Commander. Their conduct was abominable but no one dared to criticize them. Two ministers, Yang Biao and Zhu Jun, said to the Emperor in private: “Cao Cao has a large army and many capable advisors and officers; it would be well for the country if he could lend his support to the imperial family and help to rid the government of these two evil men.”

  His Majesty wept, “I have long been insulted and bullied by these villains and should be very glad to have them removed.”

  “I have thought of a plan to estrange Li Jue and Guo Si and so make them destroy each other. Then Your Majesty can call Cao Cao in to cleanse the court,” said Yang Biao.

  “How will you manage it?” asked the Emperor.

  “Guo Si’s wife is very jealous and we can take advantage of her weakness to bring about a quarrel.”

  So the Emperor gave a secret edict for Yang Biao to act accordingly.

  Yang Biao’s wife was then instructed to make an excuse to visit Madam Guo at her house. In the course of their conversation, she said, “There is talk of a secret liaison between the General, your husband, and the wife of Minister Li. It is a great secret, but if Minister Li knew it he might try to harm your husband. I think you ought to stop them from seeing each other again.”

  Madam Guo was surprised. “I have wondered why he sometimes spends the night at their home,” she said, “but I did not think there was anything shameful connected with it. I should never have known if you had not told me. I must put a stop to it.”

  By and by, when Madam Yang took her leave, her hostess thanked her warmly for the information she had given. Several days passed and Guo Si was again invited to dinner at Li Jue’s home. His wife said, “This Li Jue is very deep and one cannot fathom his designs. As the saying goes, ‘Two heroes cannot exist side by side’. If he tries to poison you, what would become of your poor wife?”

  Guo Si paid no attention to her words but she finally prevailed on him to stay at home. In the evening, wine and food arrived from Li Jue’s house and Guo Si’s wife secretly put poison into the delicacies before she set them before her husband. He was going to taste them at once but she said, “It’s unwise to consume things that come from outside. Let’s try them out on a dog first.”

  They did and the dog died. This incident aroused Guo Si’s suspicion of his friend Li Jue.

  One day at court, Li Jue again persuaded Guo Si to have dinner at his place. After Guo Si arrived home in the evening, rather drunk because of too much wine, he happened to have a stomach upset. His wife said she suspected poison and hastily administered an emetic, which relieved the pain. Guo Si began to feel angry.

  “We planned our grand scheme together. Now he wants to harm me. If I don’t get in the first blow, I’ll be his victim.”

  So Guo Si began to prepare his force for a sudden attack on Li Jue. Very soon this was told to Li Jue and he, in his turn, grew angry. “How dare Guo Si plot against me?”

  Then he assembled his men and went to attack Guo Si. Several hundred thousand soldiers were involved in the conflict and the quarrel became so serious that they fought a pitched battle beneath the city walls. The common folk suffered greatly as they were plundered by both armies.

  Then a nephew of Li Jue’s suddenly surrounded the palace, put the Emperor and Empress in two carriages, and carried them off. The palace attendants were made to follow on foot. As they went out of the rear gate they met Guo Si’s army, who began to shoot arrows at the cavalcade. They killed many attendants before Li Jue’s army came up and forced them to retire.

  Without asking for the Emperor’s permission, the carriages were driven out of the palace and into Li Jue’s camp, while Guo Si’s men plundered the palace and carried off all the women who remained to their camp. Then the palace was set on fire.

  As soon as Guo Si heard of the whereabouts of the Emperor he came over to attack Li Jue’s camp. The Emperor was greatly alarmed.

  Li Jue went out to give battle. His enemy could not prevail and retreated temporarily. Then Li Jue removed the imperial captives to Meiwu with his nephew as jailer. Supplies were reduced and hunger showed itself on the faces of the attendants. The Emperor sent someone to Li Jue to request five measures of rice and five sets of bullock bones for his attendants. The tyrant angrily replied, “The court gets food morning and evening; why ask for more?”

  He deliberately sent them putrid meat and rotten grain that was too smelly to eat. The Emperor was greatly annoyed at the new insult.

  Yang Qi, one of his attendants, entreated him to be patient. “He is very cruel. Under the present circumstances, Your Majesty has to put up with this and must not provoke him.”

  The Emperor lowered his head and was silent, but tears fell on his garments. Suddenly, someone came in with the tidings that a force of cavalry, their sabers glittering in the sun, was approaching to rescue them. Then they heard the gongs beat and the roll of the drums.

  The Emperor told him to find out who it was. But it was Guo Si, and sadness fell again. Presently there arose a great shout, for Li Jue had gone out to fight with his opponent.

  “I treated you well. Why did you try to kill me?” asked Li Jue.

  “You are a rebel, why should I not slay you?” Guo Si retorted.

  “You call me rebel when I am guarding the Emperor?”

  “You have abducted him—do you call that guarding?”

  “Why so many words? Let us settle the matter in a single combat without the aid of soldiers; the winner will take the Emperor and leave.”

  So saying the two fought in front of their armies, but neither could prevail over the other. Then they saw Yang Biao come riding up to them, crying, “Rest a while, Commanders! I have invited the officials to mediate a peace between you.”

  Therefore the two leaders retired to their camps. Soon Yang Biao, Zhu Jun, and three other officials came up and went to Guo Si’s camp first, but to their horror, they were all thrown into confinement.

  “We came with good intentions,” they moaned, “and we are treated like this.”

  “Li Jue has run off with the Emperor, why can’t I get his officials?” asked Guo Si.

  “One has the Emperor and the other, his officials. What are you up to?” said the peacemaker, Yang Biao.

  Guo Si lost patience and drew his sword, but one of his officers persuaded him not to slay the speaker. Then he released Yang Biao and Zhu Jun. The others, however, were kept in custody.

  “Here we are, two officials of the throne, and we cannot help our lord. We have been born in vain,” said Yang Biao.

  Throwing their arms about each other, they wept and fell swooning to the ground. When Zhu Jun went home, he fell seriously ill and soon died.

  Thereafter the two adversaries fought every day for nearly three months, each losing many men.

  Now Li Jue was a firm believer in black magic. He often called witches to beat drums and summon spirits to his camp. His chief advisor, Jia Xu, used to remonstrate with him, but to no avail.

  Yang Qi said to the Emperor: “I find that Jia Xu, although a close friend of Li Jue’s, does not seem to have lost his loyalty to Your Majesty. I think Your Majesty should ask him for help.”

  Just then Jia Xu himself arrived. The Emperor sent away his attendants and said to him in tears, “Will you not pity the Hans and save my life?”

  Jia Xu prostrated himself on the ground and said, “That is my strongest wish. But say no more, Your Majesty, let your servant try to work out a plan.”

  The Emperor dried his tears. Soon Li Jue came in with his sword girded on. The Emperor was so terrified that his face became the color of clay.

  Li Jue said to the Emperor, “Guo Si has failed in his duty and imprisoned the court officials. He wished to slay Your Majesty and you would have been captured but for me.”

&nbs
p; The Emperor joined his hands together in salute and thanked him. He went away. Before long, Huangfu Li, an official from Xiliang, entered and the Emperor, knowing him as a man of persuasive tongue and also that he came from the same district as Li Jue, asked him to go to both factions to try to negotiate peace. He accepted the mission and first went to Guo Si, who said he was willing to release the officials if Li Jue would restore the Emperor to full liberty. He then went to the other side. To Li Jue he said, “Since I am a Xiliang man the Emperor has selected me to make peace between you and your adversary. Now Guo Si has consented to cease the quarrel—will you agree to peace?”

  “I have overthrown Lu Bu, I have upheld the government for four years, and have many great services to my credit, as all the world knows. But Guo Si, a mere horse thief, has dared to seize the officials of state and to set himself up against me. I have sworn to slay him. Look around you. Don’t you think my army large enough to break him?”

  “Not necessarily,” said Huangfu Li. “In ancient days Hou Yi,* proud of his skill in archery, gave no thought to great adversity and so perished. Lately, you have seen how powerful Dong Zhuo has been, but he was betrayed by Lu Bu who had received many benefits at his hands. In no time his head was hanging over the city gate. So mere force is not enough to guarantee safety. Now you are a high-ranking general, with all the symbols of rank and high office, and your descendants and all your clan occupy distinguished positions. You must confess that the state has rewarded you liberally. True, Guo Si has seized the officials of the state, but you have done the same to the Emperor. Who is worse than the other?”

  Li Jue angrily drew his sword and shouted, “Did the Emperor send you to humiliate me? I will cut your head first.”

  One of his officers checked him. “Guo Si is still alive,” he said. “To slay the imperial messenger would be giving him a good excuse to raise an army against you. And all the nobles would join him.”

  Jia Xu also tried hard to calm him down. The messenger of peace was urged to go away. But he would not be satisfied with failure. He remained there and cried loudly, “Li Jue will not obey the Emperor’s command. He will kill his lord to set up himself.”