On Pang Tong's advice Xuande sent a man to Chengdu. He was received at the pass at the River Fu by Yang Huai and Gao Pei. Leaving Gao Pei to guard the pass, Yang Huai accompanied Xuande's envoy into Chengdu, where Liu Zhang accepted the petition. After reading it, Zhang asked Yang Huai why he had escorted the envoy. "Solely on account of this appeal," Yang Huai replied. "Since entering our region, Liu Bei has exhibited benevolence and virtue and has won the people's love thereby. He therefore means us harm. His present request for men, money, and grain must not be honored. To do so would be to add kindling to the fire."
"Xuande and I are like brothers," Liu Zhang replied. "How can I fail him?" Someone stepped forward and said, "Liu Bei's a crafty owl. To keep him in Shu is like letting a tiger into your house. And now to grant him what he requests is to add wings to that tiger." The speaker was Liu Ba (Zichu) from Zhengyang in Lingling. His argument gave Liu Zhang pause. Then Huang Quan, too, urged his opposition. Liu Zhang consequently decided to lend Liu Bei four thousand inferior troops and only ten thousand bushels of grain. He sent his answer to Xuande and told Yang Huai and Gao Pei to guard the gateway to Chengdu.
Liu Zhang's envoy presented the letter to Xuande at Jiameng Pass. "I hold off your enemies," the outraged Xuande cried, "wearing myself out in mind and body, while you amass wealth and stint rewards. Is that the way to get the troops to give their utmost?" So saying, he destroyed the letter and stood up, denouncing Liu Zhang. The envoy ran back to Chengdu. Pang Tong said, "My lord, you give too much importance to humanity and honor. Today your display of anger has ended your friendship with Liu Zhang." "If so, what can be done?" asked Xuande. "I have three strategies," Pang Tong replied. "I pray Your Lordship, choose one and make use of it."
"Well?" said Xuande. "All you have to do," Pang Tong replied, "is to select your best men and make a lightning raid on Chengdu. That's the best plan. Yang Huai and Gao Pei are two famous generals of Shu. They have tough troops guarding the entrance to Chengdu. If you pretend to be seeking passage back to Jingzhou, they will come to see you off. Put them to death then and there, take the pass, and capture Fu; then take Chengdu. That's the second-best plan. Retire to Baidi and then go back to Jingzhou by rapid marches and make further plans there. That's the least preferable. If you stay here brooding, you are in for more trouble than you can get out of." Xuande replied, "Director General, plan one is too impetuous, plan three too slow. The second seems best. Let's try it."
Xuande wrote to Liu Zhang to say that Cao Cao had ordered Commander Yue Jin to Qingni township with more men than could be held off, that he had to help defend Qingni1 himself, and that he was writing to bid farewell because there was no time to take leave in person. When the letter reached Chengdu, Zhang Song assumed that Xuande really was returning to Jingzhou, so he drafted a letter to Xuande himself. While he was looking for a courier, his brother Zhang Su, governor of Guanghan, arrived. Zhang Song hid the letter in his sleeve and began chatting idly. Zhang Su became suspicious at his brother's aimlessness. Song poured wine for Su and in offering the cup dropped the letter on the ground. One of Su's men recovered it. After the party ended, he showed it to Su. It read:
Recently I made my views known to the imperial uncle. Everything I wrote was sound and sensible. Why have you yet to act? "Rough in conquest, smooth in rule" is what the ancients prized. Everything lies in your hands. I cannot grasp why you are leaving for Jingzhou now. When you get this, march on Chengdu at once. I will coordinate from within. You must not let yourself down.
Astounded by what he had read, Zhang Su thought, "My brother conspires to treason. I shall have to turn him in." He took the letter directly to Liu Zhang and denounced Zhang Song for plotting to deliver the Riverlands to Liu Bei. Liu Zhang cried in outrage, "All along I have treated him generously. How could he plot against me?" He ordered Zhang Song's family executed in the center of the city. A later poet expressed his regret:
Though gifted with a memory most rare,
Zhang Song let the crucial secret fall.
Before Xuande's kingly cause was crowned,
He fell to bloody swords before his town.
Liu Zhang proceeded to gather his advisers. "Liu Bei means to steal my estate," he told them. "What is to be done?" In reply Huang Quan said, "The situation brooks no delay. Tighten control at the passes and let no man from Jingzhou through." Liu Zhang approved and had all points notified.2
Xuande brought his forces back to Fu. He notified the pass guards and asked Yang Huai and Gao Pei to come out for the formal parting. Yang Huai asked, "What is Xuande up to this time?" Gao Pei replied, "Xuande comes to get killed. Let's carry daggers and do it at the parting. That will put an end to our lord's problems." "An excellent plan!" Yang Huai agreed. The two commanders took but two hundred men down to see Xuande through the pass and on his way. The rest of the guard stayed above.
Xuande's entire force had advanced to the edge of the River Fu. Pang Tong said to Xuande, "If Yang Huai and Gao Pei come eagerly, be on your guard. If they don't come, capture the pass directly." As they were speaking, a sharp gust of wind blew down the command flag before Xuande's horse. "What does this signify?" Xuande asked Pang Tong. "It's a warning," was the reply. "Those two mean to kill you. Be prepared." Xuande accordingly donned thick armor and belted on his fine sword. The approach of the two commanders was announced. Xuande ordered his men to halt. Pang Tong instructed Wei Yan and Huang Zhong: "As many as they are, not one is to go back, cavalry or foot." Wei Yan and Huang Zhong went to carry out their orders.
Meanwhile, Yang Huai and Gao Pei, carrying concealed weapons and attended by two hundred men, had brought sheep and wine to Xuande's soldiers. Seeing no particular precautions, they secretly rejoiced at the prospects for their scheme. They entered the command tent, saw Xuande and Pang Tong seated inside, saluted, and said, "We heard the imperial uncle was taking the long trip homeward and have come to send him off with a few trifles." So saying, they offered Xuande wine. "Your responsibilities at the pass are not light," responded Xuande. "You should drink first." The visitors drank as Xuande went on: "I have something to discuss with you two in secret. Everyone else should retire." He dismissed the two hundred followers, then ordered his men to arrest the two commanders. From behind the curtains Liu Feng and Guan Ping responded instantly. Yang and Gao began to struggle, but Liu and Guan took them prisoner. Xuande shouted at them: "Your lord and I are brothers of the same clan. How dare you conspire to divide us?" Pang Tong ordered them searched, and the knives were brought forth. Tong ordered them beheaded, but Xuande hesitated. "They meant to kill Your Lordship," Tong said. "For their crime death is too generous." And so Xuande ordered Yang Huai and Gao Pei put to death in front of the tent.
Huang Zhong and Wei Yan had already taken prisoner all two hundred followers of Yang Huai and Gao Pei. Xuande summoned them before him and offered them wine to calm their fears. "Yang Huai and Gao Pei," Xuande said, "meant to turn Liu Zhang and myself against each other. They were carrying weapons to commit an assassination, and for that reason we have had them executed. None of you is involved, and none needs fear for his safety." The soldiers prostrated themselves gratefully.
Pang Tong said, "Help us get to the pass so that we can capture it, and you will be well rewarded." The soldiers assented. That night the two hundred, with Xuande's main army close behind, reached the pass. "Our commanders return on urgent business," they shouted up. "Let us in. Hurry!" Those above, hearing familiar voices, opened the barrier at the pass. Xuande's men poured in and took Fu Pass without staining their swords. Th Shu troops surrendered to a man. Xuande rewarded them well and set up his own defenses.
The next day he feasted the troops in the great hall. Warmed with wine, Xuande turned to Pang Tong and said, "Today's gathering is cause for celebration!" Pang Tong said, "To take up arms against another's state and then celebrate it is not the way a humane man wages war." "I have heard," Xuande replied, "that in ancient days King Wu celebrated his victory over Zhou. Was King Wu not a hum
ane warrior? Why are you so unreasonable? I advise you to withdraw." Pang Tong rose and laughed aloud. The attendants conducted Xuande into his private quarters. After several hours' sleep, he awoke from his stupor and, on being told that he had dismissed Pang Tong, was overcome with remorse. Early next morning he appeared in the main hall and apologized. "I was intoxicated yesterday and gave offense. Please do not remember it and hold it against me." Pang Tong spoke and laughed as if nothing had happened. "Truly I was in the wrong," Xuande insisted. "Lord and vassal both," replied Pang Tong. "Not Your Lordship alone." Xuande too laughed, and good will was restored.
Liu Zhang was dismayed to learn that Xuande had killed Yang Huai and Gao Pei and taken the pass at the River Fu. "Who would have thought this day would come?" he cried and assembled his advisers to discuss strategy for forcing Xuande's army back. Huang Quan said, "Reinforce Luoxian at once. That will give you control of the key road. The finest troops, the fiercest commanders will not get through." Accordingly, Liu Zhang commanded Liu Gui, Ling Bao, Zhang Ren, and Deng Xian to guard Luoxian with fifty thousand men.
On the first stage of the march Liu Gui said, "In the Damask Screen Hills dwells a remarkable man whose Taoist name is High Priest of the Azure Realm. He can foretell life and death, and things to come as well. When we march by those hills today, let's ask him how we'll fare." But Zhang Ren objected: "Warriors of mettle on their way to meet a foe don't seek answers from hermits." "I disagree," Liu Gui retorted. "The sage has said, 'Those who sincerely follow the way have foreknowledge.' A wise and lofty man may show us whether good or ill lies ahead." And so the four took fifty or sixty riders to the foot of the hills where they asked a woodcutter how to reach the sage's dwelling. Following his directions, the four ascended to a little hermitage on top of the hill.
A Taoist acolyte met them, took their names, and led them inside where the High Priest was seated on a rush mat. The four visitors bowed and expressed their wish to know of things to come. The High Priest replied, "We poor followers of the way are castaways in the wilderness; what do we know of the blessings or woes fate has in store?" Only after Liu Gui had repeated his request several times did the master call for writing brush and paper. He wrote eight lines, which he gave to Liu Gui. They read: "A dragon left, a phoenix right, he flies into the Riverlands. Young Phoenix drops to earth; Sleeping Dragon soars on high. One gain, one loss, as Heaven's lots dictate. Act as opportunity beckons and avoid perishing below in the Nether Springs."
"And our own individual fates?" Liu Gui continued. "What is ordained," the master answered, "is inevitable. No more questions." Liu Gui persisted, but the High Priest lowered his brows, closed his eyes, and made no further reply. The four climbed down the hill. "One must have faith in what these immortals say," Liu Gui commented. But Zhang Ren said, "He's a mad old fool whose words are worthless." The four remounted and proceeded to Luoxian, where they dispatched their men to guard the several strongpoints.
"Luoxian is vital to the defense of Chengdu: lose Luoxian, lose Chengdu," Liu Gui said. "The right thing would be for two of us to guard the city while the other two pitch their camps in front of the town at strategic points near the hills—to keep the enemy from approaching." Ling Bao and Deng Xian said, "We will prepare the camps." Gratified, Liu Gui assigned them twenty thousand men. They pitched camp sixty li from Luoxian, and Liu Gui and Zhang Ren guarded the city itself.
Having taken the pass at the River Fu, Xuande was deliberating with Pang Tong on how to capture Luoxian. When Liu Zhang's countermeasures—the advance of the four commanders and their men—were reported to them, Xuande convened his own commanders. "Who will win merit first," he demanded, "by seizing their forward encampments?" Veteran Huang Zhong responded promptly: "Here's a ready old soldier!" "Take your own men," said Xuande, "and proceed to Luoxian. You will be richly rewarded for taking the forts of Ling Bao and Deng Xian."
Huang Zhong, delighted, was about to set out when someone stepped forward and said, "The veteran general is too old to go. Though this junior commander has no talent, he begs to be sent." Xuande eyed the speaker—Wei Yan. "I have my orders," Huang Zhong protested. "How dare you interfere?" "The value of the elders docs not lie in their sinews," was Wei Yan's reply. "Ling Bao and Deng Xian are famed generals of Shu, in the prime of their powers. I fear you are no match for them and could well ruin our lord's cause. That is why I beg to replace you. I mean no harm." Angrily Huang Zhong said, "If you think I'm too old, perhaps you will match martial skills with me." "Here before Our Lordship," answered Wei Yan. "The winner goes—agreed?"
Huang Zhong hastened from the hall and called for his sword. Xuande checked him swiftly. "No!" he shouted. "Today's campaign against the Riverlands depends entirely on the efforts of both of you. If two tigers fight, one will be wounded—and my cause will surely suffer. I appeal to you, do not continue this dispute." Then Pang Tong added, "What's the point of your arguing? Ling Bao and Deng Xian have two camps. Each of you attack one. The first to succeed gets top honors." Thus it was decided that Huang Zhong would attack Ling Bao's camp, and Wei Yan, Deng Xian's. After the two had set out, Pang Tong said, "They are likely to fight on the way. Your Lordship, follow with reinforcements." Xuande left Pang Tong guarding the town while he, Liu Feng, and Guan Ping went after Huang Zhong and Wei Yan with five thousand men.
Back at camp, Huang Zhong ordered mess ready at the fourth watch and finished by the fifth so that they could set out at dawn and approach through a ravine to the left. Meanwhile, through a spy he had planted among Huang Zhong's men, Wei Yan learned of the veteran's plans. Keeping his satisfaction to himself, Wei Yan instructed his army to prepare mess at the second watch and to march at the third so that he could reach Deng Xian's camp by dawn. The soldiers ate their fill; bells were stripped from the horses, the men gagged, flags furled, and armor bound—all to ensure silence before storming the camp.
During the third watch Wei Yan's force left camp. Halfway there, Wei Yan reflected, "Simply to attack Deng Xian's camp is no display of my prowess. I'll attack Ling Bao's camp and then Deng Xian's, so I'll have two victories to my credit." Abruptly, he ordered his troops to take the left road round the hill. By dawn they were nearing Ling Bao's position. Wei Yan's soldiers enjoyed a respite while the gongs, drums, and flags, as well as spears, swords, and other devices were arrayed for use.
Ling Bao, however, was well prepared, thanks to a sentinel's timely report. At the first shock of the bombards his men mounted and came out fighting. Wei Yan, swor upraised, raced to meet Ling Bao. The two generals tangled and fought some thirty bouts. The Riverlands troops formed themselves into two companies and surprised the Han army under Wei Yan's command. Finally, men and horses too weary to fight on after the night's march, the Han army retreated and fled. Hearing the disorganized march of his men, Wei Yan broke off his combat with Ling Bao and raced for safety. The Riverlands troops came on in hot pursuit. The Han forces sustained a grave defeat.
Before they had fled five li, the rumble of drums behind a hill announced a body of troops—led by Deng Xian himself—coming out of the ravine to bar their way. "Wei Yan! Dismount and surrender!" the call rang out. Laying on the whip, Wei Yan rode for his life, but the horse stumbled, fell forward, and flung Wei Yan to the ground. Deng Xian raced up and had raised his lance to dispatch Wei Yan when a bowstring hummed, and Deng Xian collapsed on his horse. Ling Bao was about to come and rescue Deng Xian, but a commander sprang into view crying fiercely, "The veteran Huang Zhong stands here!" and took on Ling Bao point-blank. Unable to withstand the charge, Bao turned and fled. Huang Zhong, pressing his advantage, routed the Riverlanders.
Huang Zhong's men rescued Wei Yan, put Deng Xian to death, and charged on to the campsite. Ling Bao now turned to engage Huang Zhong. They had clashed less than ten times when a mass of cavalry surged up from behind. Ling Bao abandoned his eastern camp and brought his defeated troops to the western camp, only to find the flags there completely changed. Astonished, he held his horse steady; before
him was an imposing general in gilded armor and brocade war gown—it was Liu Xuande, flanked by Liu Feng and Guan Ping. "The camp is ours!" he cried. "Where are you going?" Xuande, who had originally set out to support Huang Zhong and Wei Yan, had later seized the opportunity to capture Deng Xian's camp. Ling Bao had no exit before or behind, so he took to mountain trails, heading for Luoxian. But before he had traveled ten li, he sprung an ambush on the narrow road, and men armed with hooked poles took Ling Bao alive. Wei Yan had realized his earlier mistake and established an ambush here with the help of some Riverlands troops. Thus, they were ready for the enemy. Ling Bao was bound and delivered to Xuande.
Xuande raised the flag of amnesty, ensuring that those who laid down their arms would be spared and that anyone harming a prisoner would forfeit his life. He then informed the body of surrendered Riverlands troops: "You are natives of the Riverlands; you have parents and families here. Those willing to come over to us shall be integrated into the army. Those unwilling are free to return to their homes." The cheering of the soldiers rocked the earth.
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