Three Kingdoms

by Luo Guanzhong (Moss Roberts trans. )

  The triumphant Zhou Yu had returned to camp, rewarded his troops, and sent news of the victory to Sun Quan. After nightfall Zhou Yu surveyed the scene from a height: the glow in the west reached the horizon. "The fires and torches of the northern army," his aides said. Shocked, Zhou Yu decided to investigate Cao's naval encampment himself the following day. He ordered a two-tiered boat outfitted with drums and other instruments. Accompanied by his ablest commanders, all armed with longbows or crossbows, he boarded and set out.

  The craft threaded its way upriver. When it reached the edge of Cao Cao's camp, Zhou Yu dropped anchor. The instruments began playing, and Zhou Yu observed how the camp responded. "They have mastered the finest points of naval warfare," he exclaimed. "Who's in general command?" "Cai Mao and Zhang Yun," his assistants reported. "Longtime residents of the Southland, they're skilled in naval tactics," Zhou Yu mused. "I'll have to put them out of the way before I can defeat Cao." At that moment Cao Cao was informed of the spy ship's presence and ordered it captured. Zhou Yu saw Cao Cao's signal flags in motion and had the anchor raised; the oarsmen had pulled the two-tiered vessel more than ten li into open water by the time Cao Cao's boats came forth. Finding the Southland vessel out of range, the captains returned and reported to Cao Cao.

  Cao Cao conferred with his commanders. "Yesterday," he said, "we lost a battle and our momentum. Now they've sailed in again, close enough to spy on our camp. How car we defeat them?" As he spoke, one man stepped forward and said, "Zhou Yu and I have been close since childhood when we were students together. Let me try my powers ot persuasion on him and see if I can get him to surrender."1 Cao Cao turned a grateful eye on the man. It was Jiang Gan (Ziyi) of Jiujiang, a member of his council. "You are or good terms with Zhou Yu?" Cao Cao asked. "Your troubles are over, Your Excellency, said Jiang Gan." When I go south, I shall not fail. "" What will you need? "asked Cao." A page to accompany me, two servants to row me across. "Cao Cao, immensely pleased regaled Jiang Gan with wine and saw him off. The envoy, dressed in hempen scarf and plain weave robe, sped downriver, straight to Zhou Yu's camp. His arrival was announced—" An old friend comes to pay a call "—just when Zhou Yu was in conference Delighted by the news, he turned to his commanders and said," The 'persuader' has come. " Then he told each of them what to do, and they left to perform their duties.

  Zhou Yu adjusted his cap and garb and, surrounded by several hundred in brocade clothes and decorated hats, came forth. Jiang Gan approached boldly and alone, save for his one young attendant who was dressed in plain black. Zhou Yu received him with low bows. "You have been well since we parted, I trust," said the visitor. "My friend, you have taken great trouble, coming so far to serve as Cao Cao's spokesman," Zhou Yu responded.2 Taken aback, Jiang Gan said, "We have been apart so long, I came especially to reminisce. How could you suspect me of such a thing?" With a smile Zhou Yu answered, "My ear may not be so fine as the great musician Shi Kuang's, but I can discern good music and good intentions too."3 "Dear friend," Jiang Gan replied, "if this is how you treat an old friend, I must beg my leave." Still smiling, Zhou Yu took Jiang Gan by the arm and said, "I was afraid, brother, that you were working for Cao, that's all. If you have no such purpose, there is no need to rush. Please stay." And so the two of them went into the tent. After the ritual greetings they seated themselves, and Zhou Yu summoned the notables of the south to meet his friend.

  Chief officials and generals in formal dress and subordinate officers and commanders clad in silvered armor entered shortly in two columns. Zhou Yu had each dignitary introduced to Jiang Gan and seated in one of two rows to the side. A great feast was spread and victory music performed. Wine came too, round after round. Zhou Yu addressed the assembly: "Here is one of my schoolmates, a close friend. Although he has come from north of the river, he is not serving as a spokesman of Cao Cao's cause. Set your minds at ease on that score." He then removed the sword at his side and handed it to Taishi Ci, saying, "Wear the sword and supervise the banquet. We will speak of friendship today and nothing else. If anyone so much as mentions the hostilities between Cao Cao and the lord of the Southland, take off his head!" Taishi Ci acknowledged the order and sat at the feast, his hand resting on the sword. Terror-stricken, Jiang Gan said little.

  "Since taking command of the army," Zhou Yu declared, "I have drunk no wine. But today, in the company of an old friend, with no lack of trust, let us have our fill and then some." With that, he laughed loudly and drank deeply. The toasts came thick and fast. When they had grown flushed and mellow, Zhou Yu took Jiang Gan by the hand, and the two friends strolled outside the tent. To the left and right of them stood soldiers in complete outfit, armed with dagger and halberd. "Formidable, are they not?" Zhou Yu asked. "Ferocious as bears, fierce as tigers," Jiang Gan agreed. Then Zhou Yu led his guest around behind the headquarters where hills of grain and fodder were stored. "Enough for any eventuality, don't you think?" Zhou Yu asked his guest. "'Crack troops and full bins.' Your high reputation is not for nothing," Jiang Gan agreed again.

  Feigning intoxication, Zhou Yu laughed heartily. "To think we were once students together!" he said. "Who would have foreseen a day like today?" "Brother," said Jiang Gan, "with your supreme abilities, such accomplishment is only too fitting." Gripping Jiang Gan's hand, Zhou Yu said, "As a man of honor all my life and one having the good fortune to serve a lord who appreciates me, I am as obligated to that honored bond between liege and liege man as I am by my kinsmen's love. What I say, he does. What I propose, he approves. His misfortunes and his blessings are mine as much as his. Were the great rhetoricians of old—Su Qin, Zhang Yi, Lu Jia, Li Yiji4—were they to walk the earth again, delivering speeches like cascading streams and wielding their tongues like sharp swords, they could not move me!" Having spoken, Zhou Yu burst into laughter. Jiang Gan's face was ashen. Zhou Yu led his guest back into the tent, and the general carousing resumed. Zhou Yu pointed to his commanders and said, "These are the flower of the Southland. And this gathering today shall be known as the Congregation of the Heroes." The company kept on drinking until it was time to light the lamps. Then Zhou Yu rose and performed a sword dance, singing:

  In this life a man must make his name:

  A good name is a comfort all life long.

  A lifelong comfort: Oh, let me feel the wine,

  And flushed with wine, I'll sing my wildest song.

  When he finished, the whole table laughed gaily. As the night advanced, Jiang Gan prepared to take his leave. "The wine was too much for me," he said. Zhou Yu dismissed the guests, and the commanders departed. "We have not shared a couch for many a year, my friend," Zhou Yu said. "Tonight we share a bed foot-to-foot." Again feigning intoxication, he led Jiang Gan arm in arm into his bedchamber and there collapsed, sprawling into bed fully dressed and vomiting copiously. How could Jiang Gan sleep? He lay on his pillow, listening. The drum sounded the second watch. Lifting his head, he saw the wasted candle still giving light. Zhou Yu was snoring heavily. On the table Jiang Gan noticed a sheaf of documents. He rose and stealthily looked through them: among the correspondence was a letter from Cao Cao's two naval commanders, Cai Mao and Zhang Yun. He peeked at the contents:

  We surrendered to Cao by dint of circumstance, not for wealth or rank. We have tricked the northern army by enclosing it inside the large ships. The moment we have the chance, we will deliver the traitor Cao's head to you. Someone will come with further information. Have no doubts. Herein our respectful reply.

  Jiang Gan said to himself, "So Cai Mao and Zhang Yun are in league with the Southland!'' and stowed the letter in his clothes. He was going to look at some of the other papers, but Zhou Yu turned over in bed. Jiang Gan extinguished the lamp and lay down. Zhou Yu began to mumble," My friend, wait a few days and you'll see the head of that traitor Cao! "Jiang Gan managed a reply. Again Zhou Yu said," Do stay a while . . . you'll see Cao Cao's head ... " Jiang Gan tried to question him, but saw that he had fallen fast asleep.

  Jiang Gan lay on the bed. The fourth
watch was near. He heard someone come into the tent and call out, "Is the marshal awake yet?" Zhou Yu, giving the appearance of a man startled from his dreams, asked the man, "Who is this sleeping on my bed?" "Marshal," was the reply, "you invited Jiang Gan to share your bed. Can you have forgotten?" In a repentant tone, Zhou Yu said, "I never allow myself to get drunk. I was not myself yesterday. I don't remember if I said anything." "Someone came from the north," said the man. "Lower your voice!" said Zhou Yu urgently. He then called Jiang Gan, but Gan feigned sleep. Zhou Yu slipped out of the tent. Gan listened intently. Outside someone was saying, "Zhang Yun and Cai Mao said, 'We are not able to take quick action . . .'" The remainder was spoken too low for Jiang Gan to make out.

  Moments later Zhou Yu reentered the tent and called his friend again. Jiang Gan continued the pretense by pulling the blanket over his head and making no response. Zhou Yu took off his clothes and lay down. Jiang Gan thought, "Zhou Yu is a shrewd man. He is sure to kill me in the morning when he discovers the letter is gone." Jiang Gan rested until the fifth watch, then rose and called Zhou Yu. No answer. He put on his hood and slipped out of the tent, called his young companion and headed for the main gate. "Where to, sir?" the guard asked. "I'm afraid I have been keeping the field marshal from his work, so I am saying good-bye for now." The guard made no attempt to stop them.5

  Jiang Gan boarded his boat and sped back to see Cao Cao. "How did it go?" the prime minister asked. Jiang Gan said, "Zhou Yu is too high-minded to be swayed by speeches." Angrily Cao replied, "The mission failed. And we end up looking like fools!" "Though I could not persuade him to join us, I did manage to find out something of interest for Your Excellency. Would you ask the attendants to go out?" So saying, Jiang Gan produced the stolen letter and related point by point all that had happened in the bedchamber. "That's how the villains repay my kindness!" roared Cao Cao and summoned Cai Mao and Zhang Yun to his quarters at once. "I want you two to begin the attack," Cao Cao said to them. "The training is still unfinished. It would be risky," they replied. "And when the training is completed, will my head be delivered to Zhou Yu?" said Cao. Cai Mao and Zhang Yun could make no sense of this and were too confused to respond. Cao Cao called for his armed guards to put them to death. But the moment the two heads were brought in, Cao Cao realized he had been tricked.6 A poet of later times left these lines:

  Cao Cao, a master of intrigue,

  Fell for Zhou Yu's cunning ruse.

  Cai and Zhang betrayed their lord

  And fell to Cao Cao's bloody sword.7

  Cao Cao's commanders wanted to know the reason for the executions. But Cao Cao was unable to admit his mistake. "They flouted military rules; therefore, I had them killed," he said. The stunned commanders groaned and sighed. Cao Cao chose Mao Jie and Yu Jin to serve as the new chief naval commanders.

  Meanwhile, spies reported the executions to Zhou Yu. "I feared those two the most," he said with satisfaction. "With them out of the way, I have no problems." "Commander," said Lu Su, "if you can wage war this well, we will have nothing to worry about. Cao will be beaten." "My guess is that none of our commanders knows what happened," said Zhou Yu, "except for Kongming, who knows more than I do. I doubt if even this plan fooled him. Try to sound him out for me. Find out if he knew. And tell me right away." Indeed:

  His success in dividing his rivals would not be complete

  Until he knew what the stony-eyed observer on the side was thinking.

  Once again Lu Su went to see Kongming for Zhou Yu. Could he keep the alliance from breaking up?8

  Read on.

  46

  Kongming Borrows Cao Cao's Arrows Through a Ruse;

  Huang Gai Is Flogged Following a Secret Plan

  Zhou Yu sent Lu Su to find out if Kongming had detected the subterfuge. Kongming welcomed Lu Su aboard his little boat, and the two men sat face-to-face. "Every day I am taken up with military concerns and miss your advice," Lu Su began. "Rather, I am the tardy one, having yet to convey my felicitations to the chief commander," answered Kongming. "What felicitations?" asked Lu Su. "Why," replied Kongming, "for that very matter about which he sent you here to see if I knew." The color left Lu Su's face. "But how did you know, master?" he asked. Kongming went on: "The trick was good enough to take in Jiang Gan. Cao Cao, though hoodwinked for the present will realize what happened quickly enough—he just won't admit the mistake. But with those naval commanders dead, the Southland has no major worry, so congratulations are certainly in order. I hear that Cao Cao has replaced them with Mao Jie and Yu Jin. One way or another, those two will do in their navy!"

  Lu Su, unable to respond sensibly, temporized as best he could before he rose to leave. "I trust you will say nothing about this in front of Zhou Yu," Kongming urged Lu Su, "lest he again be moved to do me harm." Lu Su agreed but finally divulged the truth when he saw the field marshal. Astounded, Zhou Yu said, "The man must die. I am determined." "If you kill him," Lu Su argued, "Cao Cao will have the last laugh." "I will have justification," answered Zhou Yu. "And he will not feel wronged." "How will you do it?" asked Lu Su. "No more questions now. You'll see soon enough," Zhou Yu replied.

  The next day Zhou Yu gathered his generals together and summoned Kongming, who came eagerly. At the assembly Zhou Yu asked him, "When we engage Cao Cao in battle on the river routes, what should be the weapon of choice?" "On the Great River, bow and arrow," Kongming replied. "My view precisely, sir," Zhou Yu said. "But we happen to be short of arrows. Dare I trouble you, sir, to undertake the production of one hundred thousand arrows to use against the enemy? Please favor us with your cooperation in this official matter." "Whatever task the chief commander assigns, I shall strive to complete," replied Kongming. "But may I ask by what time you will require them?" "Can you finish in ten days?" asked Zhou Yu. "Cao's army is due at any moment," said Kongming. "If we must wait ten days, it will spoil everything." "How many days do you estimate you need, sir?" said Zhou Yu. "With all respect, I will deliver the arrows in three days," Kongming answered. "There is no room for levity in the army," Zhou Yu snapped. "Dare I trifle with the chief commander?" countered Kongming. "I beg to submit my pledge under martial law: if I fail to finish in three days' time, I will gladly suffer the maximum punishment."

  Elated, Zhou Yu had his administrative officer publicly accept the document. He then offered Kongming wine, saying, "You will be well rewarded when your mission is accomplished."1 "It's too late to begin today," said Kongming. "Production begins tomorrow. On the third day send five hundred men to the river for the arrows." After a few more cups, he left. Lu Su said to Zhou Yu, "This man has to be deceiving us." "He is delivering himself into our hands!" replied Zhou Yu. "We did not force him. Now that he has publicly undertaken this task in writing, he couldn't escape if he sprouted wings. Just have the artisans delay delivery of whatever he needs. He will miss the appointed time; and when we fix his punishment, what defense will he be able to make? Now go to him again and bring me back news."

  Lu Su went to see Kongming. "Didn't I tell you not to say anything?" Kongming began. "He is determined to kill me. I never dreamed you would expose me. And now today he actually pulled this trick on me! How am I supposed to produce one hundred thousand arrows in three days? You have to save me!" "You brought this on yourself," said Lu Su. "How can I save you?" "You must lend me twenty vessels," Kongming went on, "with a crew of thirty on each. Lined up on either side of each vessel I want a thousand bundles of straw wrapped in black cloth. I have good use for them. I'm sure we can have the arrows on the third day. But if you tell Zhou Yu this time, my plan will fail." Lu Su agreed, though he had no idea what Kongming was up to, and reported back to Zhou Yu without mentioning the boats: "Kongming doesn't seem to need bamboo, feathers, glue, or other materials. He seems to have something else in mind." Puzzled, Zhou Yu said, "Let's see what he has to say after three days have gone by."

  Lu Su quietly placed at Kongming's disposal all he had requested. But neither on the first day nor on the second did Kongmi
ng make any move. On the third day at the fourth watch he secretly sent for Lu Su. "Why have you called me here?" Su asked. "Why else? To go with me to fetch the arrows," Kongming replied. "From where?" inquired Lu Su. "Ask no questions," said Kongming. "Let's go; you'll see." He ordered the boats linked by long ropes and set out for the north shore.

  That night tremendous fogs spread across the heavens, and the river mists were so thick that even face-to-face people could not see each other. Kongming urged his boats on into the deep fog. The rhapsody "Heavy Mists Mantling the Yangzi" describes it well:

  Vast the river! Wide and farflung! West, it laps the mountains Mang and E. South, it grips the southern shires. North, it girdles the nine rivers, gathers their waters, and carries them into the sea, its surging waves rolling through eternity.

  Its depths hold monsters and strange forms: the Lord of the Dragons, the Sea Thing, the river goddesses, the Ocean Mother, ten-thousand-span whales, and the nine-headed centipede. This redoubt of gods and spirits, heroes fight to hold.

  At times the forces of yin and yang that govern nature fail, and day and darkness seem as one, turning the vast space into a fearful monochrome. Everywhere the fog, stock-still. Not even a cartload can be spotted. But the sound of gong or drum carries far.

  At first, a visible gloom, time for the wise leopard of the southern hills to seclude itself. Gradually darkness fills the expanse. Does it want the North Sea leviathan itself to lose its way? At last it reaches the very sky and mantles the all-upbearing earth. Grey gloomy vastness. A shoreless ocean. Whales hurtle on the waves. Dragons plunge and spew mist.