Three Kingdoms Romance Read online

  Two heroes new to war's alarms,

  Ride boldly forth to try their arms.

  Their doughty deeds three kingdoms tell,

  And poets sing how these befell.

  Their leader fallen, the rebels threw away their weapons and fled. The official soldiers dashed in among them. Many thousands surrendered and the victory was complete. Thus this part of the rebellion was broken up.

  On their return, Liu Yan personally met them and distributed rewards. But the next day, letters came from Imperial Protector Gong Jing of Qingzhou saying that the rebels were laying siege to the chief city and it was near falling. Help was needed quickly.

  “I will go,” said Liu Bei as soon as he heard the news.

  And he set out at once with his own soldiers, reinforced by a body of five thousand under Zhou Jing. The rebels, seeing help coming, at once attacked most fiercely. The relieving force being comparatively small could not prevail and retired some ten miles, where they made a camp.

  “They are many and we but few,” said Liu Bei to his brothers. “We can only beat them by superior strategy.”

  So they prepared an ambush. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, each with a goodly party, went behind the hills, right and left, and there hid. When the gongs beat they were to move out to support the main army.

  These preparations made, the drums rolled noisily for Liu Bei to advance. The rebels also came forward. But Liu Bei suddenly retired. Thinking this was their chance, the rebels pressed forward and were led over the hills. Then suddenly the gongs sounded for the ambush. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei poured out from right and left as Liu Bei faced around to meet the rebels. Under three-side attack, the rebels lost heavily and fled to the walls of Qingzhou City. But Imperial Protector Gong Jing led out an armed body to attack them, and the rebels were entirely defeated and many slain. Qingzhou was no longer in danger.

  Though fierce as tigers soldiers be,

  Battle are won by strategy.

  A hero comes; he gains renown,

  Already destined for a crown.

  After the celebrations in honor of victory were over, Commander Zhou Jing proposed to return to Youzhou. But Liu Bei said, “We are informed that Imperial Commander Lu Zhi has been struggling with a horde of rebels led by Zhang Jue at Guangzong. Lu Zhi was once my teacher, and I want to go to help him.”

  So Liu Bei and Zhou Jing separated, and the three brothers with their troops made their way of Guangzong. They found Lu Zhi's camp, were admitted to his presence, and declared the reason of their coming. The Commander received them with great joy, and they remained with him while he made his plans.

  At that time Zhang Jue's one hundred fifty thousand troops and Lu Zhi's fifty thousand troops were facing each other. Neither had had any success.

  Lu Zhi said to Liu Bei, “I am able to surround these rebels here. But the other two brothers, Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang, are strongly entrenched opposite Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun at Yingchuan. I will give you a thousand more troops, and with these you can go to find out what is happening, and we can then settle the moment for concerted attack.”

  So Liu Bei set off and marched as quickly as possible to Yingchuan. At that time the imperial troops were attacking with success, and the rebels had retired upon Changshe. They had encamped among the thick grass. Seeing this, Huangfu Song said to Zhu Jun, “The rebels are camping in the field. We can attack them by fire.”

  So the Imperial Commanders bade every man cut a bundle of dry grass and laid an ambush. That night the wind blew a gale, and at the second watch they started a blaze. At the same time Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun's troops attacked the rebels and set their camp on fire. The flames rose to the very heaven. The rebels were thrown into great confusion. There was no time to saddle horses or don armor; they fled in all directions.

  The battle continued until dawn. Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao, with a group of flying rebels, found a way of escape. But suddenly a troop of soldiers with crimson banners appeared to oppose them. Their leader was a man of medium stature with small eyes and a long beard. He was Cao Cao, a Beijuo man, holding the rank of General of the Flying Cavalry. His father was Cao Song, but he was not really a Cao. Cao Song had been born to the Xiahou family, but he had been brought up by Eunuch Cao Teng and had taken this family name.

  As a young man Cao Cao had been fond of hunting and delighted in songs and dancing. He was resourceful and full of guile. An uncle, seeing the young fellow so unsteady, used to get angry with him and told his father of his misdeeds. His father remonstrated with him.

  But Cao Cao made equal to the occasion. One day, seeing his uncle coming, he fell to the ground in a pretended fit. The uncle alarmed ran to tell his father, who came, and there was the youth in most perfect health.

  “But your uncle said you were in a fit; are you better?” said his father.

  “I have never suffered from fits or any such illness,” said Cao Cao. “But I have lost my uncle's affection, and he has deceived you.”

  Thereafter, whatever the uncle might say of his faults, his father paid no heed. So the young man grew up licentious and uncontrolled.

  A man of the time named Qiao Xuan said to Cao Cao, “Rebellion is at hand, and only a man of the greatest ability can succeed in restoring tranquillity. That man is yourself.”

  And Ho Yo of Nanyang said of him, “The dynasty of Han is about to fall. He who can restore peace is this man and only he.”

  Cao Cao went to inquire his future of a wise man of Runan named Xu Shao.

  “What manner of man am I?” asked Cao Cao.

  The seer made no reply, and again and again Cao Cao pressed the question.

  Then Xu Shao replied, “In peace you are an able subject; in chaos you are a crafty hero!”

  Cao Cao greatly rejoiced to hear this.

  Cao Cao graduated at twenty and earned a reputation of piety and integrity. He began his career in a county near Capital Luoyang. In the four gates of the city he ruled, he hung up clubs of various sorts, and he would punish any breach of the law whatever the rank of the offender. Now an uncle of Eunuch Jian Shuo was found one night in the streets with a sword and was arrested. In due course he was beaten. Thereafter no one dared to offend again, and Cao Cao's name became heard. Soon he became a magistrate of Dunqiu.

  At the outbreak of the Yellow Scarves, Cao Cao held the rank of General and was given command of five thousand horse and foot to help fight at Yingchuan. He just happened to fall in with the newly defeated rebels whom he cut to pieces. Thousands were slain and endless banners and drums and horses were captured, together with huge sums of money. However Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang got away; and after an interview with Huangfu Song, Cao Cao went in pursuit of them.

  Meanwhile Liu Bei and his brothers were hastening toward Yingchuan, when they heard the din of battle and saw flames rising high toward the sky. However, they arrived too late for the fighting. They saw Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun to whom they told the intentions of Lu Zhi.

  “The rebel power is quite broken here,” said the commanders, “but they will surely make for Guangzong to join Zhang Jue. You can do nothing better than hasten back.”

  The three brothers thus retraced their steps. Half way along the road they met a party of soldiers escorting a prisoner in a cage-cart. When they drew near, they saw the prisoner was no other than the man they were going to help. Hastily dismounting, Liu Bei asked what had happened.

  Lu Zhi explained, “I had surrounded the rebels and was on the point of smashing them, when Zhang Jue employed some of his supernatural powers and prevented my victory. The court sent down Eunuch Zhuo Feng to inquire into my failure, and that official demanded a bribe. I told him how hard pressed we were and asked him where, in the circumstances, I could find a gift for him. He went away in wrath and reported that I was hiding behind my ramparts and would not give battle and that I disheartened my army. So I was superseded by Dong Zhuo, and I have to go to the capital to answer the charge.”

  This story put Zhang Fei into a rag
e. He was for slaying the escort and setting free Lu Zhi. But Liu Bei checked him.

  “The government will take the proper course,” said Liu Bei. “You must not act hastily!”

  And the escort and the three brothers went two ways.

  It was useless to continue on that road to Guangzong, so Guan Yu proposed to go back to Zhuo, and they retook the road. Two days later they heard the thunder of battle behind some hills. Hastening to the top, they beheld the government soldiers suffering great loss, and they saw the countryside was full of Yellow Scarves. On the rebels' banners were the words “Zhang Jue the Lord of Heaven” written large.

  “We will attack this Zhang Jue!” said Liu Bei to his brothers, and they galloped out to join in the battle.

  Zhang Jue had worsted Dong Zhuo and was following up his advantage. He was in hot pursuit when the three brothers dashed into his army, threw his ranks into confusion, and drove him back fifteen miles. Then the brothers returned with the rescued general to his camp.

  “What offices have you?” asked Dong Zhuo, when he had leisure to speak to the brothers.

  “None,” replied they.

  And Dong Zhuo treated them with disrespect. Liu Bei retired calmly, but Zhang Fei was furious.

  “We have just rescued this menial in a bloody fight,” cried Zhang Fei, “and now he is rude to us! Nothing but his death can slake my anger.”

  Zhang Fei stamped toward Dong Zhuo's tent, holding firmly a sharp sword.

  As it was in olden time so it is today,

  The simple wight may merit well,

  Officialdom holds sway;

  Zhang Fei, the blunt and hasty,

  Where can you find his peer?

  But slaying the ungrateful would

  Mean many deaths a year.

  Dong Zhuo's fate will be unrolled in later chapters.

  CHAPTER 2. Zhang Fei Whips The Government Officer; He Jin Plots To Kill The Eunuchs

  Dong Zhuo was born in the far northwest at Lintao in Longxi. As the governor of Hedong, Dong Zhuo himself was arrogant and overbearing. But the day he had treated Liu Bei with contumely had been his last, had not Liu Bei and Guan Yu restrained their wrathful brother Zhang Fei.

  “Remember he has the government commission;” said Liu Bei, “who are we to judge and slay?”

  “It is bitter to take orders from such a wretch; I would rather slay him! You may stay here if you wish to, but I will seek some other place,” said Zhang Fei.

  “We three are one in life and in death; there is no parting for us. We will all go hence.”

  So spoke Liu Bei, and his brother was satisfied. Wherefore all three set out and lost no time in traveling until they came to Zhu Jun, who received them well and accepted their aid in attacking Zhang Bao. At this time Cao Cao had joined himself to Huangfu Song, and they were trying to destroy Zhang Liang, and there was a great battle at Quyang.

  Zhang Bao was commanding some eighty thousand troops. The rebel had led his army to a strong position in the rear of the hills. An attack being decided upon, Liu Bei was the van leader. On the rebel side a general of Zhang Bao, Gao Sheng, came out to offer battle. Liu Bei sent Zhang Fei to smite Gao Sheng. Out rode Zhang Fei at full speed, his spear ready set. After a few bouts Zhang Fei wounded Gao Sheng, who was unhorsed. At this Liu Bei signaled the main army to advance. Then Zhang Bao, while still mounted, loosened his hair, grasped his sword, and uttered his incantations. Thereupon began the wind to howl and the thunder to roll, while a dense black cloud from the heavens settled upon the field. And therein seemed to be horsemen and footmen innumerable, who swept to attack the imperial troops. Fear came upon them, and Liu Bei led off his troops, but they were in disorder and returned defeated.

  Zhu Jun and Liu Bei considered the matter.

  “Zhang Bao uses magic,” said Zhu Jun. “Tomorrow, then, will I prepare counter magic in the shape of the blood of slaughtered swine and goats and dogs. This blood shall be sprinkled upon their hosts from the precipices above by soldiers in ambush. Thus shall we be able to break the power of their shamanic art.”

  So it was done. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei took each a thousand troops and hid them on the high cliffs behind the hills, and they had a plentiful supply of the blood of swine and goats and dogs and all manners of filthy things. And so next day, when the rebels with fluttering banners and rolling drums came out to challenge, Liu Bei rode forth to meet them. At the same moment that the armies met, again Zhang Bao began his magic and again the elements began to struggle together. Sand flew in clouds, pebbles were swept along the ground, black masses of vapor filled the sky, and rolling masses of foot and horse descended from on high. Liu Bei turned, as before, to flee and the rebels rushed on. But as they pressed through the hills, the trumpets blared, and the hidden soldiers exploded bombs, threw down filth and spattered blood. The masses of soldiers and horses in the air fluttered to the earth as fragments of torn paper, the wind ceased to blow, the thunder subsided, the sand sank, and the pebbles lay still upon the ground.

  Zhang Bao quickly saw his magic had been countered and turned to retire. Then he was attacked on the flanks by Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, and in rear by Liu Bei and Zhu Jun. The rebels were routed. Liu Bei, seeing from afar the banner of “Zhang Bao The Lord of Earth,” galloped toward it but only succeeded in wounding Zhang Bao with an arrow in the left arm. Wounded though he was, Zhang Bao got away into the city of Yangcheng, where he fortified himself and was besieged by Zhu Jun.

  Scouts, sent out to get news of Huangfu Song, reported: “Commander Huangfu Song had been very successful, and Dong Zhuo had suffered many reverses. Therefore the court put Huangfu Song in the latter's place. Zhang Jue had died before Huangfu Song's arrival. Zhang Liang had added his brother's army to his own, but no headway could be made against Huangfu Song, whose army gained seven successive victories. And Zhang Liang was slain at Quyang. Beside this, Zhang Jue's coffin was exhumed, the corpse beheaded, and the head, after exposure, was sent to Capital Luoyang. The common crowd had surrendered. For these services Huangfu Song was promoted to General of the Flying Cavalry and the Imperial Protector of Jizhou.

  “Huangfu Song did not forgotten his friends. His first act after he had attained to power was to memorialize the Throne concerning the case of Lu Zhi, who was then restored to his former rank for his meritorious conducts. Cao Cao also received advancement for his services and was preparing to go to Jinan to his new post.”

  Hearing these things Zhu Jun pressed harder yet upon Yangcheng, and the approaching break-up of the rebellion became evident. Then one of Zhang Bao's officers, Yan Zheng, killed his leader and brought the head in token of submission. Thus rebellion in that part of the country was stamped out, and Zhu Jun made his report to the government.

  However, the embers of the Yellow Scarves still smoldered. Three other rebels, Zhao Hong, Han Zhong, and Sun Zhong, gathered some thirty thousand rebels and began to murder and rob and burn, calling themselves the avengers of Master Zhang Jue.

  The court commanded the successful Zhu Jun to lead his veteran and successful troops to destroy the rebels. He at once marched toward the city of Wancheng which the rebels were holding. When Zhu Jun arrived, Han Zhong went to oppose him. Zhu Jun sent Liu Bei and his brothers to attack the southwest corner of the city. Han Zhong at once led the best of his troops to defend the city. Meanwhile Zhu Jun himself led two thousand of armored horsemen to attack the opposite corner. The rebels, thinking the city being lost, abandoned the southwest and turned back into the city to help the defenders. Liu Bei pressed hotly in their rear, and they were utterly routed. They took refuge in the city which was then invested. When famine pressed upon the besieged, they sent a messenger to offer to surrender, but Zhu Jun refused the offer.

  Said Liu Bei to Zhu Jun, “Seeing that the founder of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang the Supreme Ancestor, could welcome the submissive and receive the favorable, why reject these?”

  “The conditions are different,” replied Zhu Jun. “In those old days disord
er was universal and the people had no fixed lord. Wherefore submission was welcomed and support rewarded to encourage people to come over. Now the empire is united, and the Yellow Scarves are the only malcontents. To receive their surrender is not to encourage the good. To allow brigands, when successful, is to give way to every license, and to let them surrender when they fail is to encourage brigandage. Your plan is not a good one.”

  Liu Bei replied, “Not to let brigands surrender is well. But the city is surrounded as by an iron barrel. If the rebels' request be refused, they will be desperate and fight to the death, and we can hardly withstood a myriad of such men. Moreover, in the city there are many times that number, all doomed to death. Let us withdraw from one corner and only attack the opposite. They will all assuredly flee and have no desire to fight. We shall take them.”

  Zhu Jun saw that the advice was good and followed it. As predicted the rebels ran out, led by Han Zhong. The besiegers fell upon them as they fled, and Han Zhong was slain. The rebels scattered in all directions. But the other two rebel chieftains, Zhao Hong and Sun Zhong, came with large reinforcements, and as they appeared very strong, the imperial soldiers retired, and the new body of rebels reentered Wancheng.

  Zhu Jun encamped three miles from the city and prepared to attack. Just then there arrived a body of horse and foot from the east. At the lead was one general with a broad open face, a body as an alert tiger's, and a torso as a lofty bear's. His name was Sun Jian. He was a native of Fuchun in the old state of Wu, a descendant of the famous Sun Zi the Strategist.

  When he was seventeen, Sun Jian was with his father on the River Qiantang and saw a party of pirates, who had been plundering a merchant, dividing their booty on the river bank.

  “We can capture these,” said he to his father.

  So, gripping his sword, he ran boldly up the bank and cried out to this side and that as if he was calling his men to come on. This made the pirates believe the soldiers were on them and they fled, leaving their booty behind them. He actually killed one of the pirates. In this way be became known and was recommended for office.