The Three Kingdoms, Volume 3: Welcome the Tiger: The Epic Chinese Tale of Loyalty and War in a Dynamic New Translation (85 page)

The cruel deed reached the ears of the Second Ruler, who became very angry and ordered an investigation of Liu Yan’s crime and its punishment. The judges came up with a charge against Liu Yan to the effect that, “Soldiers are not proper persons to administer a punishment to one’s wife, and the face is not a portion of the body to bear punishment; the author of this crime should be put to death in the market place.” Therefore Liu Yan was beheaded.

Thereafter, officials’ wives were forbidden to go to court. But the incident disturbed the officials, who resented the Second Ruler for his unbridled sensuality, and gradually good men left the court while the mean swarmed in. Among the sycophants of Huang Hao was a certain general named Yan Yu, whose lack of a single military achievement had not stood in the way of preferment. Hearing that Jiang Wei was with his forces at Qishan, Yan Yu persuaded the eunuch to propose to the Second Ruler that Jiang Wei should be recalled and he himself sent to command the army. The Second Ruler agreed, and the edict was issued.

Jiang Wei was attacking the Wei camps at Qishan in full force, when three edicts came, all to the same effect, recalling him to the capital. Disobedience being out of the question, Jiang Wei ceased all operations and sent the Taoyang force back first. Then gradually he and Zhang Yi withdrew.

In his camp, Deng Ai wondered at the rolling of drums all night, but by daylight he was told that the men of Shu had withdrawn and their camps were empty. Suspecting some ruse, Deng Ai did not pursue.

Arriving in Hanzhong, the army halted and Jiang Wei went with the envoy to the capital to see the Second Ruler. Here he waited ten days, and still the Second Ruler held no court. Jiang Wei was much puzzled.

One day he again went to court. At the palace gate he met Xi Zheng, a secretary.

Jiang Wei asked him, “Do you know the reason why I was recalled?”

“Why, General, don’t you know?” replied Xi Zheng, smiling. “Huang Hao wanted to give Yan Yu a chance to win merit, so he intrigued for your recall. Now they have found out that Deng Ai is too clever to be tackled, and so they have dropped this idea.”

Jiang Wei was indignant. “I will certainly slay this eunuch!”

“No, General,” Xi Zheng checked him. “You’re the successor of our great prime minister, who bequeathed to you his unfinished task. You have too heavy a responsibility to act hastily or indiscreetly. Should our lord disapprove, it would go ill with you.”

“Thank you, sir, for your good advice,” said Jiang Wei gratefully.

The next day, the Second Ruler was drinking with his favorite eunuch in the garden when Jiang Wei walked in with a few followers. However, before Jiang Wei got close someone alerted Huang Hao, who at once hid himself behind some rocks by the lake.

Jiang Wei approached the pavilion where the Second Ruler sat and made his obeisance. With tears in his eyes he said, “I had Deng Ai surrounded at Qishan when Your Majesty’s three edicts came to recall me. I wonder what has been Your Majesty’s intention.”

The Second Ruler could make no reply.

Then Jiang Wei continued, “This Huang Hao is wicked and cunning. He monopolizes power just as those ten eunuchs did in Emperor Ling’s time. Your Majesty has only to call to mind Zhang Rang in recent times, or Zhao Gao in earlier days. Slay this man quickly and the court will be purified. So will the northern territory be reclaimed.”

The Second Ruler smiled. “Huang Hao is but an attendant of no importance, one who runs errands for me. Even if he tried to gain power, he could not do anything. I used to wonder why Dong Yun seemed to hate poor Huang Hao so much. Why do you take any notice of him, General?”

“Unless Your Majesty gets rid of him now, disaster will not be far away,” said Jiang Wei, bowing his head to the ground.

The Second Ruler replied, “If you love someone, you want him to live; if you dislike him, you desire him to die. Can’t you, General, tolerate a poor eunuch?”

He ordered one of the attendants to go and call Huang Hao. When he approached the pavilion, the Second Ruler told him to ask pardon of Jiang Wei.

Huang Hao prostrated himself before the general and pleaded in tears. “I am merely attending to His Majesty’s needs day and night, and never meddle in state affairs. Pray pay no heed to what people say. My life rests in your hands, General. Pray have pity on me.”

As he finished his words he wept and bowed again. Jiang Wei left the palace, still burning with anger. Then he went to seek Xi Zheng, to whom he related what had happened.

“General, you’re in grave danger,” said Xi Zheng. “And if you’re in peril, the country will perish without you.”

“Sir, can you please advise me as to how I can secure the country and save myself?”

Xi Zheng replied, “There is a place in Longxi, called Tazhong, where the land is rich and fertile. Why don’t you, General, request the Emperor to let you lead the army there for farming and training as Prime Minister Zhuge once did? There are four advantages: first, you can gather in wheat to feed your army; secondly, you can try to seize all the towns in the Longyou region; thirdly, you can keep Wei from ever daring to invade Hanzhong; and fourthly, as you’re away from the capital with the army under your control, no one will dare intrigue against you, and you will be safe from any danger. Thus you can ensure the safety of the state and yourself. But there is no time to lose.”

“Thank you for your words of gold and jewels,” said Jiang Wei appreciatively.

Without loss of time, Jiang Wei petitioned the throne and obtained the Second Ruler’s consent. Then he returned to Hanzhong, where he assembled his officers and told them his plans.

“Our many expeditions have failed to achieve success, owing to lack of supplies. Now I’m going to take 80,000 men to Tazhong, where we will till the land and grow wheat to prepare for future campaigns. All of you are weary with prolonged fighting and may now rest your men in the valley and defend Hanzhong. The men of Wei will have to drag their grain thousands of
li
distance, struggling up hills and mountains. The drudgery will lead to exhaustion, which will result in their withdrawal. That will be the time to smite them.”

Then he appointed Hu Ji to protect Hanshou, Wang Han to Yuecheng, and Jiang Bin to Hancheng. Jiang Shu and Fu Qian were ordered to hold the passes. Having made these arrangements, Jiang Wei went off to Tazhong to grow grain.

Deng Ai discovered that Jiang Wei had built more than forty camps in Tazhong, each connected with the next like the joints of a huge serpent. He sent out spies to survey the country and draw a map of these encampments, which was duly submitted to the court.

When Sima Zhao, Duke of Jin, examined the map, he was very angry. “Jiang Wei has invaded our land many times and we have been unable to destroy him. He is really my deepest worry.”

Jia Chong said, “He has learned well Zhuge Liang’s strategies and it is hard to drive him away in haste. What we need is a brave and crafty officer to assassinate him, so as to save the trouble of waging war.”

But another official objected: “That is not necessary. Liu Shan, the Second Ruler of Shu, is steeped in dissipation and confides in the eunuch Huang Hao. The high-ranking officials are concerned solely with their own safety, and Jiang Wei has gone to Tazhong to protect himself. If you send an able general to attack Shu, victory is certain. What is the need for an assassin’s dagger?”

“Excellent idea,” said Sima Zhao, laughing. “But who should I send to attack Shu?”

“Deng Ai is a rare talent,” said the official. “If he has Zhong Hui as his second, Shu will be conquered.”

“That’s exactly what I think,” said Sima Zhao.

So he summoned Zhong Hui and said to him, “I want you to lead an army to attack Wu. Will you go?”

“Your lordship’s real intention is to attack Shu, not Wu,” replied Zhong Hui.

“How well you read my mind!” laughed Sima Zhao. “But how are you going to conduct the campaign?”

“I thought that Your Lordship would desire to attack Shu, so I have already prepared maps here.”

Sima Zhao opened the maps and found they had clear and detailed markings of sites where camps were to be pitched, grain and fodder to be stored, and places where the army was to advance or to retreat.

“What an excellent general you are!” said Sima Zhao, extremely pleased. “Would you go with Deng Ai to take Shu?”

“The land of Shu is vast, and more than one army is needed. Deng Ai and I can move along separate routes.”

Zhong Hui was given the title of General–Defender of the West and the insignia of a commander-in-chief over the forces within the passes and the authority to employ the troops of the prefectures of Qing, Xu, Yan, Yu, Jing, and Yang. At the same time a commission was sent to Deng Ai giving him command of the forces outside the passes, with the title of General– Conqueror of the West. He was asked to agree on a time with Zhong Hui to launch a joint offensive against Shu.

On the following day in court, Sima Zhao mentioned his plan to attack Shu.

General Deng Dun objected: “Jiang Wei has repeatedly invaded our country, and the wars have cost us many lives. Our efforts to maintain a firm defense are yet inadequate to guarantee our own safety. How can we venture into a distant and dangerous country, inviting trouble upon ourselves?”

“I am sending a righteous army to destroy an unrighteous ruler,” cried Sima Zhao in wrath. “How dare you oppose me?”

He ordered the executioners to put the general to death, and in a minute the victim’s head was laid below the steps of the hall. All those present turned pale.

Sima Zhao said, “It has been six years since I returned from my expedition to the east, and these years have been spent in training the army and preparing the weaponry. I have long intended to wipe out both Wu and Shu. Now I will destroy Shu first, and then move downstream by water and by land to descend upon Wu and conquer the south. In this way I can eliminate both Shu and Wu. Let me give you my calculation of what forces they have in Shu: there are about 80–90,000 garrisoning the capital; only 40–50,000 guarding the frontier; and some 60–70,000 with Jiang Wei, farming the land in Tazhong. On our side, I have ordered Deng Ai to command the forces outside the passes in the Longyou region—totaling more than 100,000—to engage Jiang Wei and keep him from moving east. I am going to send Zhong Hui with 200–300,000 veterans to go to the Luo Valley and advance from three directions to seize Hanzhong. The ruler of Shu is stupid and confused. With his frontier cities in ruins and his people quaking with fear, his land is doomed to fall.”

The assembly praised him for his perspicacity.

Zhong Hui began to mobilize his troops for the expedition against Shu as soon as he received his seal of office. Apprehensive that his real target of attack should be known, he gave out that his force was directed against the south; to give substance to the pretense, he ordered the five prefectures of Qing, Yan, Yu, Jing, and Yang to construct large ships, and sent an officer, Tang Zi by name, to regions along the sea coast to collect more vessels. This move even fooled Sima Zhao, who called him in and asked him why he was building ships.

Zhong Hui replied, “If Shu hears that we intend to attack the west they will turn to Wu for assistance. So I let it be known that I am going to attack the south, to ensure that Wu will not dare to stir. Within a year Shu will be beaten and the ships will be ready, and our expedition against the south can begin. Thus everything follows in good order, does it not?”

Sima Zhao was extremely pleased. A day was then chosen for the army to start its march westward.

On the third day of the seventh mouth of the fourth year of the period Jing Yuan in Wei (
A.D.
263), Zhong Hui set out on his military campaign against Shu.

Sima Zhao escorted him out of the city for ten
li
and then returned. An official named Shao Ti whispered a word of warning to him: “My lord, you have given Zhong Hui command of a large army to go against Shu. I think he is too ambitious to be trusted with such power all to himself.”

“Do you think I’m not aware of this?” answered Sima Zhao, smiling.

“Then why have you sent him alone without a co-commander?”

Sima Zhao said something to Shao Ti, which put his doubts at rest.

Zhong went alone, although his master knew,
Occasion serving, he would be untrue.

What Sima Zhao said will be disclosed in the next chapter.

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN