Three Kingdoms

by Luo Guanzhong (Moss Roberts trans. )

  In the eleventh month of the following year13 Sun Quan attacked Huang Zu. They fought on the Great River, and Huang Zu's forces were demolished. But Sun Quan's commander, Ling Cao, racing ahead on a skiff into Xiakou, was shot down by Gan Ning, Huang Zu's commander. The slain man's son, Ling Tong, a lad of fifteen, took a desperate chance and recovered his father's body. Seeing that the situation was unfavorable, Sun Quan brought his forces back to the Southland.

  Sun Quan's younger brother, Sun Yi, governor of Danyang, was an inflexible, hard-drinking man whose excesses had been known to drive him to beat his men.14 The district military inspector, Gui Lan, and the assistant governor, Dai Yuan, had long desired to murder Governor Sun Yi. Together with one of the governor's attendants, Bian Hong, the two officials decided to conspire against him.

  Sun Yi had prepared a grand banquet on the occasion of a gathering of the generals and county prefects in the capital town of Danyang. On the day of the feast Sun Yi's wife, Lady Xu, a beautiful and intelligent woman, skilled at divination, cast a hexagram in the Book of Changes signifying dire misfortune. She urged her husband not to attend the reception, but he ignored her pleas and joined the festivities. Afterward, as the guests were dispersing, Bian Hong, armed with a knife, followed Sun Yi out the gate and cut him down.

  The principal conspirators, Gui Lan and Dai Yuan, then charged their fellow plotter, Bian Hong, with the crime, and he was publicly beheaded. The murderers proceeded to plunder the governor's household, seizing his property and female attendants. Gui Lan found himself attracted to Sun Yi's wife and said to her, "I have avenged your husband's death, and you will have to live with me or die." "With my husband dead so recently," Lady Xu said, "I cannot bear to serve another yet. Would it be asking too much to wait until the last day of the month? Then, after I make the offerings and remove my mourning robes, we can solemnize the relationship." Gui Lan agreed.

  Lady Xu summoned two confidants of the late governor's, Sun Gao and Fu Ying. Tearfully she appealed to them: "My husband often spoke of your loyalty and honor. Those two villains, Gui Lan and Dai Yuan, murdered my husband, then blamed Bian Hong and punished him for it, all the while helping themselves to our property and servants. Gui Lan even tried to possess me. I pretended consent to allay his suspicions. Now if you two could get word to Sun Quan and devise a plan to take care of the villains, my husband's death would be avenged and my honor redeemed; I would be eternally grateful." With that, Lady Xu flung herself to the ground.

  Tears stood in the men's eyes. "We two," they said, "have ever been grateful for the late governor's generosity. We did not follow him in death only because we were trying to avenge him. What you command is ours to perform." And they sent secret messages to Sun Quan.

  On the day appointed for the ceremony Lady Xu concealed her husband's two commanders behind the curtains in an inner chamber and commenced the sacrificial ritual in the main hall. That done, she removed her mourning attire, bathed and perfumed herself, and dressed seductively. She spoke to everyone with artful ease and gracious self-possession. Gui Lan was elated when informed of her behavior.

  That night Lady Xu invited Gui Lan to her quarters, where she had prepared a feast. After he had drunk deeply, she led him to the inner chamber. Intoxicated as he was, the delighted guest went in. "Commanders, come forth!" Lady Xu cried out. Gui Lan had no time to defend himself. The two armed men leaped into view. Fu Ying felled Gui Lan with a single stroke of his blade, Sun Gao followed up with another cut, and Gui Lan lay dead. Lady Xu then sent Dai Yuan an invitation to the banquet; he too was killed when he arrived at the hall. All the followers and family members of the two slain murderers were executed. Lady Xu resumed her mourning attire and sacrificed the heads of her enemies before the altar of her dear lord, Sun Yi.

  Before long Sun Quan himself arrived in Danyang with a party of soldiers. Since the two criminals had already been dispatched by Lady Xu, Sun Quan appointed Sun Gao and Fu Ying garrison commanders, put them in charge of Danyang, and took the widow, his sister-in-law, home with him that he might care for her for the rest of her life. The Southland celebrated Lady Xu's strength of character. A later poet wrote:

  So able and so chaste—in this world all too rare!—

  The widow lured two villains into her cunning snare.

  Vassals base chose treachery, vassals loyal chose death;

  To this Southland heroine does any man compare?15

  Now all the rebels in the Southland had come under Sun Quan's control. And he had more than seven thousand war-boats on the Great River. At Sun Quan's behest Zhou Yu became supreme commander of the Southland's land and sea forces.

  In winter, the tenth month of Jian An 12, Sun Quan's mother, Lady Wu, fell gravely ill. She called for Zhang Zhao and Zhou Yu and said to them, "Though originally a woman of Wu, I lost my parents when young and, following my younger brother, Wu Jing, settled among the Viets. Later I married Sun Jian and bore him four sons. At the birth of Ce, my eldest, I dreamed that the moon was coming into my body. When Quan, my second, was born, I dreamed that the sun had entered me. The diviners said, 'Such dreams portend great rank for your sons.' Alas, the eldest died too young, and now our patrimony passes to the second son. If I can count on you two gentlemen to concert your efforts to support him, I shall not die in vain."

  Lady Wu then spoke her final charge to Sun Quan: "I want you to serve Zhang Zhao and Zhou Yu as if they were your teachers, without lapse or negligence. Remember, my younger sister was given in marriage with me to your father. She is your mother as well. Serve her as you would have served me. Care for your younger sister, too, and marry her well." With these words she passed away. Sun Quan wailed in grief. He duly fulfilled the ceremonies of mourning and interment.

  In the spring of the following year, Sun Quan raised the question of attacking Huang Zu.16 Zhang Zhao counseled caution: "We are still in the first year of the mourning period. It is not the time for military action." But Zhou Yu countered, "Avenging a humiliation brooks no waiting period." Sun Quan was brooding over the matter when District Commander Lü Meng was announced. "I was guarding Dragon's Gorge," he said, " when Gan Ning, one of Huang Zu's lieutenants, unexpectedly surrendered. Gan Ning's style is Xingba, and he comes from Linjiang in Bajun. On close questioning I found him to be a man of considerable learning, quite vigorous, and something of an 'honorable adventurer.' It seems he once led a gang of desperadoes who were active all over the region. Gan Ning always carried a brass bell at his waist. The sound of it put people to flight. He earned the nickname Bandit of the Colored Sails because he used Riverlands imported silk in his sails. Eventually he came to regret his earlier excesses, changed his ways, and entered the service of Liu Biao.

  "Soon enough Gan Ning realized that Liu Biao would accomplish nothing, and he now desires to join us. At Xiakou, however, Huang Zu detained him. The last time we defeated Huang Zu he retook Xiakou only by the efforts of Gan Ning. Even then Huang Zu treated him most stingily. The chief of guards, Su Fei, tried several times to recommend Gan Ning to Huang Zu, but Huang Zu always answered, 'Ning is a criminal who has preyed upon the people all along the river. I can't give him an important position.' So Gan Ning's resentment burned hotter and hotter.

  "At this point Su Fei invited Gan Ning to dine at his home and said to him, 'Lord Liu Biao has refused you a fitting appointment despite my recommendations. The years are passing and life is short. It's time to plan ahead. I am going to set you up as a magistrate in Zhu county. You can look for a new lord from there.'17

  "And that, my lord," Lü Meng concluded, "is how Gan Ning came to surrender to us. At first he was fearful that his having rescued Huang Zu and killed Ling Cao would be held against him, but I assured him that Your Lordship thirsted for worthy men and would never bear him a grudge, especially since he had acted out of loyalty. He has crossed the river with his men to present himself to you. I beg to know your will."

  Sun Quan was jubilant. "This defection ensures Huang Zu's defeat," he said and h
ad Gan Ning brought before him. After Gan Ning's formal salutations, Sun Quan told him, "Your coming wins our good will. There can be no thinking of old grudges. Be assured of that. We only hope you will show us the way to destroy Huang Zu." To this Gan Ning responded, "The sacred Han throne is in imminent danger. Cao Cao's ministry is bound to end in a usurpation, and Jingzhou is the place he will fight for. Its protector, Liu Biao, makes no provision for the future, and his two sons are clumsy mediocrities who could never keep what he has built up. My lord, make his territory yours—before Cao Cao makes it his. First, Huang Zu must be captured. He is old and apathetic, absorbed in profit and gain. He infringes upon the interests of his officials and exacts much from the populace. This has led to widespread disaffection. His military equipment is in disrepair; his army has no discipline. He will fall if you attack. And then—sound the drum and march west. Hold the Chu pass and aim for the Riverlands. Your hegemony can be achieved." "Precious advice," Sun Quan responded.

  Sun Quan had made Zhou Yu supreme commander of all land and naval forces. He now made Lü Meng leader of the vanguard of the front unit and Dong Xi and Gan Ning, deputy commanders. Sun Quan himself took charge of the main army, which numbered one hundred thousand. Thus the expedition against Huang Zu began.

  Huang Zu summoned his counselors as spies and scouts reported these developments back to Jiangxia.18 He appointed Su Fei his chief general, assigned Chen Jiu and Deng Long to the vanguard, and mobilized the entire district. The two van leaders led a squad of war-boats and blocked the passage near Miankou.19 Each boat held a thousand archers and crossbowmen. Heavy ropes linked the craft to steady them. When they sighted the Southlanders, the defenders rolled their drums and let fly volleys of arrows, driving the invaders back several li.

  Gan Ning said to Dong Xi, "Having come this far, we can't turn back." They put five thousand crack troops on one hundred small craft; each carried twenty rowers and thirty men in armor. Steel swords in hand, braving the oncoming bolts, the sailors of the south drove toward the long junks. Drawing alongside, they severed the heavy ropes, causing the junks to drift away from each other. Gan Ning leaped onto the main ship and cut down Deng Long. Chen Jiu abandoned his ship.

  Lü Meng sprang at once into a small boat, rowed directly into the enemy fleet, and set the junks afire. Chen Jiu struggled ashore, but Lü Meng, heedless of all risk, raced ahead of him and felled him with one stroke through the chest. By the time Su Fei arrived at the bank to assist, the Southlanders had already gained the shore in overpowering force. Huang Zu was routed. Su Fei took to his heels but was captured handily by Pan Zhang and brought to Sun Quan's ship. Sun Quan had him caged pending the capture of Huang Zu so that he could execute the two together. He then hastened on to Xiakou in full force. Indeed:

  Slighted by Liu Biao, the Bandit of the Colored Sails

  Blasted apart the war-junks of Huang Zu.

  Huang Zu's fate hung in the balance.

  Read on.

  39

  Jingzhou's Heir Pleads Three Times for Advice;

  The Director General Makes His Debut at Bowang

  The attack Sun Quan delivered against Xiakou had wiped out Huang Zu's whole force. Huang Zu abandoned Jiangxia and fled west toward Jingzhou.1 Anticipating his line of flight, Gan Ning had posted an ambush outside the eastern gate of Jiangxia. When the defeated commander hurried through with a few dozen mounted followers, he found Gan Ning's men massed across the way, shouting in unison. From horseback Huang Zu said to Gan Ning, "I always did right by you in the old days. Why do you threaten me now?" Scowling, Gan Ning replied, "All I ever got for my service was the title River Bandit. Do you have anything else to say?" Denied mercy, Huang Zu wheeled about and galloped off. Gan Ning pursued him.

  A fresh commotion signaled the arrival of another Southland commander, Cheng Pu. Gan Ning suspected Cheng Pu had come to take credit for the capture of Huang Zu, so he drew his bow, felled Huang Zu, and severed his head. He subsequently rejoined Cheng Pu, and the combined force rode back to Sun Quan. Gan Ning presented the enemy commander's head, and Sun Quan stored it in a wooden box until he could return to the Southland and offer it at his father's altar.2 The leader of the Southland rewarded his army handsomely and elevated Gan Ning to district commander. Then he had to decide whether to hold the city captured from Huang Zu.

  "Jiangxia is too far from our bases to defend," Zhang Zhao argued. "Pull the men back. Liu Biao will attack us the moment he hears of Huang Zu's fate. Let him come. His overextended troops will soon yield to our well-rested soldiers, and then we can carry our counterattack as far as Jingzhou's capital and capture it." Sun Quan approved Zhang Zhao's advice and withdrew all units to the south.

  Meanwhile, Su Fei was in the prisoner's cage. He appealed through someone for Gan Ning's help. "Su Fei did not even have to mention it," Gan Ning told the emissary. "I could never forget how he helped me." The Southland forces returned and Sun Quan ordered Su Fei executed so that his head could be placed with Huang Zu's on Sun Jian's altar.

  Gan Ning came before Sun Quan to plead for his former patron: "Without Su Fei, I'd be a pile of bones underground and never would have come to serve under you, General. His offense, I grant, is capital. But in view of his past kindness to me, I beg to redeem him with the office and rank you have so generously granted." "For your sake only," Sun Quan said, "I pardon him—but what if he escapes?" "He would be too grateful to do that," Gan Ning assured him. "But if he does, I will answer for it with my head." Thus Su Fei was spared, and Huang Zu's head alone was offered at the sacrificial altar.

  After the ritual, a feast was held to congratulate the civil and military officials. As the wine was circulating one man rose, uttered a cry, and went for Gan Ning with drawn sword. Gan Ning used a chair to parry the attack. Sun Quan recognized the assailant as Ling Tong. Gan Ning had shot and killed his father, Ling Cao, while still in the service of Huang Zu at Jiangxia. Now Ling Tong wanted revenge.3 Intervening, Sun Quan said, "When Gan Ning killed your father, he was bound to another lord. He was doing what he had to do. Now that we are all in the same family, old grudges must be forgotten—for my sake." "Blood debts must be paid!" Ling Tong shouted, pressing his forehead to the ground in front of Sun Quan, who, along with the officials present, tried to talk Ling Tong round. But the young warrior kept staring angrily at Gan Ning. Sun Quan made a quick decision to reassign Gan Ning to Xiakou with five thousand men and one hundred war-junks.4 Gan Ning thanked him and left. At the same time Sun Quan appointed Ling Tong District Commander, Filial and Heroic, an offer the indignant son reluctantly accepted.5

  The defense of the Southland was now begun in earnest, with a great boatbuilding campaign and the deployment of troops along the banks of the Great River. Sun Quan assigned his brother, Sun Jing, to guard Wujun while he positioned the main army at Chaisang.6 Zhou Yu directed maneuvers on the Poyang Lakes daily, preparing his marines for the next invasion of Jingzhou.

  The spies that Xuande had sent south now returned to Xinye with the following intelligence: "The southerners have struck. Huang Zu is dead. They're digging in at Chaisang." Xuande was discussing the new developments with Kongming when he was summoned by Liu Biao. Kongming said, "Since the Southland has routed Huang Zu, Liu Biao will want to see you to help plan his revenge. I'll go along to weigh the possibilities and advise you accordingly." Xuande agreed. He left Xinye in Lord Guan's hands and, joined by Kongming, went to the capital of the province. Zhang Fei and five hundred men escorted him.

  As they rode, Xuande asked Kongming, "What should I say to Liu Biao?" "First of all," Kongming advised, "you must apologize for the incident at Xiangyang when you fled the banquet. Then, if he orders you to undertake a punitive expedition against the Southland, decline—no matter what he says. Tell him you need time to go back to Xinye and get your forces into condition."7 Xuande approved. In Jingzhou the two men settled into a government guesthouse while Zhang Fei stood guard outside the city.

  Liu Biao received Xuande and Kongming.
The necessary formalities performed, Xuande expressed regret for his offense. "I am well aware, worthy brother," Liu Biao said, "of the mortal danger you were in. I was fully prepared to behead Cai Mao then and there to satisfy you but was induced by many appeals to forgive him. Will my worthy brother kindly not take offense?" "It was not really General Cai's doing," Xuande replied. "I assume the plot was hatched by his subordinates."

  "Now that we have lost Jiangxia," the protector of Jingzhou continued, "and Huang Zu has met his death, I have called you here to take part in planning our retaliation." "Huang Zu was a violent sort," Xuande responded, "quite incapable of using men.8 That's how he brought on this catastrophe. Now if we mobilize and march south, Cao Cao could strike from the north. What then?" "The years weigh on me," Liu Biao said. "My ailments multiply. I cannot cope with the affairs of this province. Worthy brother, if you come to assist me, you will become ruler of Jingzhou after I pass away." "Elder brother," Xuande cried out, "do not say that nor imagine that I would presume to undertake such a responsibility."

  At this point Kongming eyed Xuande, who continued, "We must allow more time to devise a sound strategy." Xuande excused himself and returned to his lodgings. "My lord," Kongming said to him, "Liu Biao was ready to put the province in your hands. Why did you decline?" "The Protector," Xuande replied, "has treated me with consummate consideration and etiquette. To exploit his moment of peril by seizing his estate is the last thing I could bring myself to do." "What a kindhearted lord," Kongming said with a sigh.

  While this discussion was going on, Liu Qi, the eldest son of Liu Biao, entered and tearfully importuned Xuande and Kongming. "My stepmother will suffer my existence no longer," he said. "I may be killed at any moment. Rescue me, uncle, for pity's sake." "This is a family matter, nephew," Xuande replied. "You cannot come to me with it." Xuande turned to Kongming, who was smiling faintly. "Yes," he said, "this is a family matter, with which I would not presume to acquaint myself." Afterward Xuande escorted the lad out and whispered to him, "Tomorrow I shall have Kongming return your call. Make sure to say thus and so ..." Xuande proposed a ruse to obtain Kongming's advice, adding, "He should have some ingenious suggestions for you." Liu Qi thanked Xuande and left.