Now the fire in the camp had been raised by Jin Yi’s men, and he himself had led his servants to assist his friends in fighting. Hence when Wang Bi came to his door there was but the womenfolk left in his house. When his wife heard the clamor at the door she thought Jin Yi had come back, and before opening the door she asked, “Have you killed Wang Bi?”
This was a great shock to him, but it told Wang Bi that his friend was involved in the plot. Therefore he fled further to the house of Cao Xiu and told him that Geng Ji and Jin Yi had raised a disturbance. Cao Xiu immediately armed himself, mounted, and led a troop to suppress the uprising. He found fires on all sides, and the Tower of the Five Phoenixes was also caught in flames. The Emperor had fled into the recesses of the palace, and Cao Cao’s trusted palace guards defended the palace like grim death.
In the city the crowd was shouting, “Slay Cao Cao and restore the Hans.”
By this time the disturbance had also reached Xiahou Dun, who had been commanded by Cao Cao to watch over the capital, and had camped five li from the city. When he saw the conflagration start up he mobilized the army and surrounded the city with his main force, while sending a body of soldiers to reinforce Cao Xiu within the capital.
Inside the city fighting went on all night. Without reinforcements the small band of loyalists were entirely on their own. Soon it was reported that Jin Yi and the Ji brothers had been slain. Geng Ji and Wei Huang tried to escape from one of the gates, but they ran into Xiahou Dun’s main force and were captured. The few men with them were all killed.
When the fighting subsided, Xiahou Dun went into the city and detailed his men to put out the fires. He also rounded up the whole households of the five organizers of the uprising. Then he sent a dispatch to Cao Cao, who sent back orders to execute Geng Ji and Wei Huang and put to death in public all the members of the five families. He also told him to arrest every official of the court and send them all to Yejun.
Xiahou Dun took his two chief prisoners to the place of execution.
Geng Ji shouted fearlessly, “Alive I have failed to slay you, Cao Cao— dead I will be a vengeful spirit to smite you.”
The executioner struck him on the mouth with his sword, so that blood gushed out, but he continued to curse as long as he could. His comrade Wei Huang dashed his face on the ground crying, “Hateful! Hateful!” and ground his teeth till he broke them to fragments. And he died.
Who can with outstretched hands uphold the sky
Or thrones maintain by simple loyalty?
Han’s day was done; two would avert the doom,
But failed, they carried anger to their tombs.
Xiahou Dun carried out his chief’s orders and sent the arrested officials to Yejun. There, Cao Cao set up two flags, one red and one white, on the drill ground. Then he addressed the officials.
“In this recent rebellion some of you went out to extinguish the fire, while some of you stayed inside. Those of you who went to put out the fire, stand by the red flag; and those of you who remained indoors, go to the white flag.”
The officials thought to themselves, “Certainly there can be nothing wrong in trying to put out a fire.” So most of them placed themselves under the red flag—only about a third went to the white one.
Then the order was given to seize all those by the red flag.
They protested. “We are innocent!” they cried.
Cao Cao said, “At that time your intention was not to put out the flames but to aid the rebels.”
All of them, three hundred or more victims, were taken down and executed by the banks of the Zhang River, while those who stood under the white flag were rewarded with gifts and allowed to return to the capital.
Since Wang Bi had died from his arrow wound and was buried with great honor, Cao Xiu was given command of the Imperial Guard. To replace all the executed court officials, Cao Cao made a number of new appointments. Zhong Yao was created prime minister and Hua Xin became a chief minister.
The occasion was also used to create six levels of marquis, with three grades in each, so eighteen in total. There were seventeen types of marquis in regions within the passes. And all these marquises had golden seals of office with purple ribbons. There were also sixteen grades of marquis in regions both inside and outside the passes. They had silver seals with tortoise ornaments on the back and black ribbons. There were five classes of Da-fu with fifteen grades, and these had brass seals with chain ornaments and black ribbons. And with all these various grades of rank and nobility reorganized, the court was entirely transformed. There were new ranks and new men for every office.
Cao Cao then remembered Guan Lu’s warning about a conflagration in the capital and wished to reward the soothsayer for his prescience, but he would accept nothing.
Meanwhile, Cao Hong arrived in Hanzhong with an army. Placing Xiahou Yuan and Zhang He in command of key positions, he himself led his troops to counter the men of Shu. At that time Zhang Fei, assisted by Lei Tong, was holding Baxi, while Ma Chao was stationed at Xiabian and had sent Wu Lan out as van leader to reconnoiter. On the way he encountered Cao Hong—Wu Lan wanted to retreat but a minor officer, Ren Kui by name, urged him to fight.
“Our enemy has only just arrived. If we do not dishearten them how can we return and face our chief?” he argued. So saying, he rode out to challenge. Cao Hong himself accepted his challenge, and Ren Kui succumbed in the third encounter. Cao Hong pressed on, and Wu Lan was driven off in a serious defeat. When he returned to see Ma Chao, he was blamed for his rash action.
“Why did you attack without my orders and bring about this defeat?”
“It was the fault of Ren Kui, who would not listen to me.”
Ma Chao told him to hold the city firmly and not to go out and fight. On the other hand, he sent a report to Chengdu and awaited orders for further actions. Seeing that Ma Chao remained inactive for several days running, Cao Hong suspected some ruse was being planned, and retreated to Nanzheng. Here he was visited by Zhang He, who asked his chief why he had retreated following the successful attack.
“Ma Chao declined to come out to fight. I suspected some ruse was being designed,” he replied. “Besides, when I was at Yejun, I heard that that wonderful soothsayer, Guan Lu, foretold the loss of a major officer here. So I thought I should be careful.”
Zhang He laughed. “General, you’ve been a fighting man for half your lifetime and yet you heed the sayings of a soothsayer! I may be of small wit, but I’ll take Baxi with my own troops. The seizure of that city will be the key to the capture of the whole of Shu.”
“The commander at Baxi is Zhang Fei,” said Cao Hong. “He’s no ordinary man to meet. We must be careful.”
“All the others fear this Zhang Fei, but I look upon him as a mere nobody! I’ll capture him this time!”
“But if you fail, what then?”
“Then I will pay the penalty of death.”
Cao Hong made him put this down in writing, and then Zhang He set out on the campaign.
The proud are often defeated,
The rash seldom succeed.
What happened to Zhang He will be told in the next chapter.
Footnotes
* An ancient book of divination, probably the work of several Confucian scholars in the periods of Warring States and Qin Dynasty. The traditional Chinese theory of the interplay of ying and yang was first expounded in this book.
* The Chinese way of writing “nineteen” is to put a “ten” first and then a “nine” (10+9), while for “ninety-nine” it is to write a “nine” first, then a “ten” and another “nine” (9+10+9). Hence it is possible to insert a “nine” before the “ten.”
* See Chapter Seventy-One for an explanation of these four lines.
* According to the lunar calendar, the fifteenth of the first month is celebrated as the lantern festival, when every household would make special lanterns and hang them out for all to see. The tradition is still observed to a lesser degree today.
CHAPTER
SEVENTY
Fierce Zhang Fei Takes Wakou Pass by a Clever Scheme
Aged Huang Zhong Captures Mount Tiandang by a Stratagem
Zhang He’s army, with which he felt so sure of victory, consisted of 30,000 men, who were in three camps protected by hills. These camps were named after the three hills Dangqu, Mengtou, and Dangshi respectively. Leaving half the men in each camp to maintain a defense he set out with the other half to capture Baxi.
The news soon reached Baxi, and Zhang Fei called in his colleague Lei Tong for counsel. Lei Tong said, “The country here is dangerous and the hills are precipitous, excellent for ambushing. You go out to give battle, General, and I will prepare a surprise attack to aid you. We are certain to capture Zhang He.”
Zhang Fei took the advice and gave 5,000 men to Lei Tong for the ambush while he himself, with double the number, went to a point thirty li away, where he encountered his opponent. The two armies having deployed in battle formations, Zhang Fei rode out and challenged Zhang He to one-to-one combat. Zhang He galloped out to meet him.
After some twenty bouts Zhang He’s men in the rear suddenly began to shout as they saw banners of Shu among some hills behind them. Zhang He dared not continue to fight after this, and he fled. Zhang Fei pursued him and Lei Tong also appeared to his front. So, trapped between two enemy forces, Zhang He lost the day. Zhang Fei and his comrade continued the chase into the night, till they drove their opponent back to his camp at the Dangqu Hill.
Zhang He reformed to defend the three camps, piling up logs and stones to create barricades, and remained behind his defenses.
Zhang Fei made a camp ten li away. The next day he went forth and offered battle, but Zhang He ignored him. Seated at the top of the hill, he drank wine to the accompaniment of trumpets and drums, and did not come down. Zhang Fei told his soldiers to shout insults, but these had no effect. On the following day, Lei Tong’s challenge again went unanswered. Lei Tong drove his men up the hill but logs and stones were rolled down, forcing him to retreat. Then Zhang He’s men in the other two camps came out to attack and Lei Tong was worsted.
On the third day Zhang Fei again offered battle, but there was no response. Again the soldiers yelled every form of insult, but from the hilltop Zhang He only replied with similar abuse.
The defensive tactics of his enemy exasperated Zhang Fei, but he was quite powerless. This stalemate lasted for more than fifty days.
Then Zhang Fei made a strong stockade just in front of the hill, where day after day he drank till he became quite drunk. And when he was thus, he would sit by the hill and revile his opponent.
About this time Liu Bei sent gifts to reward the army, and the messenger went back to tell Liu Bei that his brother was saturating himself in wine. This news startled Liu Bei, who lost no time in seeking advice from Zhuge Liang.
But Zhuge Liang was jocular, saying with a smile, “I see. Let us send him fifty vessels of the best brew of Chengdu. He probably has but poor stuff in the camp.”
“But he has always had a weakness for wine, and he used to fail because of it. Why do you want to encourage him to drink by sending him more wine?”
“My lord, can it be that you do not know your brother, even after all these years? He has always been brave and headstrong, yet when we first entered Shu he released Yan Yan, which is not what a dumb warrior would have done. Now he has been wrapped in a deadlock with Zhang He for nearly two months; every day after drinking, he sits in front of the hill and abuses his enemy, treating him with sheer contempt. This is not mere indulgence in wine, but a scheme to get the better of Zhang He.”
“This may be so,” replied Liu Bei, “but there is no harm in being more cautious. Let Wei Yan go and help him.”
Zhuge Liang sent Wei Yan with the wine, and the carts set out, each flying a yellow flag with writing in large characters: Fine wine for the troops at the battlefield.
When Wei Yan reached the camp he handed over the wine, which he said was a gift from their lord. And Zhang Fei received it with due respect.
He told Wei Yan and Lei Tong to take a troop each and move out on the two wings when they saw a red flag hoisted up. Then he had the wine laid out and began to drink, while soldiers put up a great display of flags and rolling of drums.
Spies reported all this to Zhang He on the hilltop and he came out to look for himself. There he saw his opponent seated in his tent drinking, while two soldiers wrestled before him for his amusement.
“He humiliates me too much,” said Zhang He, and he gave orders to prepare for a night attack on the enemy camp. His own men should do the raiding and the other two camps were to support them.
There was little moonlight that night, and Zhang He took advantage of the darkness to steal down the side of the hill and to the front of the enemy camp. From a distance he saw Zhang Fei drinking in his tent amid a blaze of lights. With a loud yell he dashed into the tent, and at the same time drums rolled on the hilltop in support of the advance. But Zhang Fei just sat there without stirring in the least. Zhang He rushed forward, thrust fiercely with his spear, and pierced his opponent. Zhang Fei toppled over but, lo! it was a Zhang Fei of straw! Zhang He hastened to turn back. At that moment he heard a string of explosions and a warrior appeared before him, barring his way. It was the real Zhang Fei, as the big, round eyes and thundering voice quickly made clear.
With spear set, he rode toward Zhang He. The two warriors fought many bouts illuminated by the gleaming light of the fire. All the while Zhang He waited in vain for assistance from his comrades in the other two camps. How could he know that his reinforcements had been driven back by Wei Yan and Lei Tong? And that the two camps were now held by his enemies? As his colleagues did not come he was quite helpless—and, to add to his discomfit, the glare of fire on the hill told him of the seizure of his own camp. Having lost all three camps, Zhang He could do nothing but flee to Wakou Pass.
So Zhang Fei won a tremendous victory. The news of the success delighted Liu Bei, and he realized then that Zhang Fei’s drinking had been part of a stratagem to entice his enemy into the open and defeat him.
Zhang He retreated to Wakou Pass, but with the loss of more than half of his army. He sent an urgent message to his chief to ask for assistance.
Cao Hong was very angry. “He would not listen to me and insisted on going. Now he has lost a key strategic point and yet he tries to seek help from me.”
So he refused to send aid. Instead, he ordered Zhang He to go out and fight. Afraid of offending his chief, Zhang He dared not disobey. Finally he decided upon a plan of action. He sent out two bodies of men to lay ambushes on some byroads in front of the pass.
Before they left, he said to them: “I will feign defeat and flee. Zhang Fei will surely follow and then you can cut off his retreat.”
However, when he marched his men out that day he met Lei Tong. The two engaged in battle and Zhang He soon ran away. Lei Tong pursued and fell into the ambush. Then Zhang He turned back and slew Lei Tong. The defeated men went back and told Zhang Fei, who came up to avenge his comrade.
Zhang He again employed the same stratagem—he feigned defeat and fled, but Zhang Fei did not pursue. Zhang He turned back to fight again and then tried the ruse a second time—but Zhang Fei, knowing full well what it meant, simply withdrew.
Back in his own camp, Zhang Fei said to Wei Yan: “Zhang He plotted the death of Lei Tong by leading him into an ambush, and now he attempts to lure me into another. Why don’t we try to catch him by his own game?”
“But how?” asked Wei Yan.
“Tomorrow I will lead a troop forward, while you follow me with a company of veterans. When his ambushing forces come out from their hiding places, you can smite them, sending half your men against each. In addition, fill the byroads with dozens of carts loaded with combustibles and raise a fire there to block the passage. In the confusion I will try to capture Zhang He and avenge the death of Lei Tong.”
Having decided on the plan, Zhang Fei went out the
next day, and Zhang He came to fight. After ten bouts, Zhang He resorted to his old trick and ran away, and this time Zhang Fei pursued. Zhang He, now fleeing, now stopping to exchange a blow or two, led his opponent through the hills and into a valley. There he halted, turning his rearguard to face the enemy and offer battle.
It was now the moment when he expected his hidden men to appear and surround Zhang Fei. But none emerged. He did not know that his ambush had been broken up by Wei Yan’s brave men and driven into the valley, where the road was filled with cartloads of combustibles, and that the valley was all aflame, blocking the way out.
Zhang Fei pressed on with the attack, and the rout was complete. Zhang He, fighting desperately, managed to get through to Wakou Pass, where he mustered the remnants of his men and set up defenses.
Zhang Fei and Wei Yan then tried to take the pass, but day after day they failed. Zhang Fei, seeing no hope of success, retreated twenty li. From this point he and Wei Yan went out to explore the country with a small following of riders to reconnoiter certain paths. While scouting they observed some bearers, men and women, clambering up a pathway, pulling down the creepers and pushing aside the grasses.
“That is the way to take Wakou Pass,” cried Zhang Fei, pointing with his whip to the wayfarers.
He ordered his soldiers not to scare the people, but to call gently and bring them to him. They soon brought the people before their leader, who spoke to them kindly and put them at ease.
“Where did you come from?” asked Zhang Fei.