The Three Kingdoms, Volume 3: Welcome the Tiger: An Epic Chinese Tale of Loyalty and War in a Dynamic New Translation

by Luo Guanzhong

  Zhuge Xu tried to defend himself. “Jiang Wei was very deceitful. He pretended that he was going to take Yongzhou. I was so worried about the safety of the city that I went to rescue it. And he took the opportunity to get away. I followed him to the pass, but unfortunately I was defeated.”

  However, Zhong Hui showed no understanding but angrily ordered him to be put to death.

  At this the army inspector Wei Guan tried to intercede. “Although Zhuge Xu is guilty, he is a subordinate of General Deng’s. If you kill him, it might hurt the general’s feelings.”

  Zhong Hui replied, “I have a command from the Emperor and orders from the Duke of Jin to attack Shu—even if it were Deng Ai himself who committed the fault, I would behead him.”

  All the others did their best to dissuade him. Finally he conceded and Zhuge Xu was put in a prisoner’s cage cart and sent to Luoyang, where his fate would be decided by Sima Zhao; his remaining men were added to Zhong Hui’s army.

  All this was duly reported to Deng Ai, who became furious in his turn and said, “His rank and mine are the same. I have held a frontier post for years and done a great deal in the country’s service. Who is he that he gives himself such airs?”

  His son Deng Zhong tried to appease his wrath. “Father, you know the saying, ‘A little impatience may upset a great design.’ Your quarrels with him will inevitably undermine important businesses of the country. I hope you will bear with him for the time being.”

  Seeing the wisdom of his son’s words Deng Ai dropped the subject, but in his heart anger still burned. Then he rode to call upon his colleague, escorted by a dozen or so followers. When his arrival was announced, Zhong Hui asked his attendants how many men Deng Ai had brought with him.

  “Only a dozen riders,” they replied.

  Zhong Hui had several hundred men drawn up about his tent. Deng Ai dismounted and entered the camp, where he was welcomed into the main tent by his host and the two men saluted each other. Deng Ai quickly noticed that his rival’s army was highly disciplined and he began to feel rather ill at ease. He decided to probe what plan Zhong Hui had in mind.

  “General, your capture of Hanzhong is a great fortune for the state, and you can now settle on a plan to seize Sword Pass,” he said provocatively.

  “What is your own superior idea, General?” asked Zhong Hui.

  Deng Ai repeatedly declined to answer, saying that he was incapable of suggesting any good plans, but Zhong Hui pressed him for a response.

  “In my opinion,” answered Deng Ai at last, “we might cut through some byroads around Yingping to get to Deyang in the Hanzhong region, from where we can direct a surprise attack on the capital, Chengdu. Jiang Wei will have to abandon this place to go to the city’s rescue, and you, General, can easily take the Sword Pass. The victory will all be yours.”

  “An excellent plan!” exclaimed Zhong Hui in joy. “General, you lead your men there at once, and I will be waiting here for the good news of your success.”

  They had some wine together and then Deng Ai took his leave. After seeing him off, Zhong Hui went back to his own tent and said to his officers, “They say Deng Ai is able, but judging from what he said today I think he is but of mediocre talent.”

  When they asked him why he thought so, he continued: “The Yinping byroads are fringed by high mountains and steep hills, virtually impassable. Suppose the enemy posts some hundred men to hold the most critical points and seal off Deng Ai’s way of retreat, his men will all starve to death. I will go by the main roads, and there is no reason why I shouldn’t overcome Shu.”

  So he prepared scaling ladders and ballistae to besiege Sword Pass.

  Deng Ai went out of the main gate of Zhong Hui’s camp and mounted. Turning to his followers, he asked, “What does Zhong Hui think of me?”

  They replied, “From his words and the way he said them, we think he held a poor opinion of your plan, General, and was only pretending to agree with you.”

  “He thinks I can’t capture Chengdu, and that’s a good enough reason why I must take it.”

  Back at his own camp, he was asked by his son and the others about his meeting with Zhong Hui.

  “I told him what I really thought but he regards me as a man of inferior ability. He considers his capture of Hanzhong an incomparable feat. But how could he have succeeded if I had not engaged Jiang Wei in Tazhong? If I capture Chengdu now, it will be much better than taking Hanzhong.”

  That night he ordered the camp to be broken, and his whole army set out toward the byroads around Yingping. About seven hundred li from the Sword Pass the men encamped. Someone told Zhong Hui about this, but he only laughed at this unwise maneuver on the part of his rival.

  From his camp Deng Ai sent a secret letter to Sima Zhao to report this. Then he called his officers to his tent and asked, “I intend to take Chengdu while it is still undefended, and success will mean unfading glory for us all. Will you follow me?”

  “Yes, we will obey your orders,” they cried. “We will defy 10,000 deaths.”

  Having obtained support from his officers, Deng Ai sent his son Deng Zhong with 5,000 men, wearing no armor but carrying axes and boring tools, for the task of improving the road at every dangerous point. They were to open up paths in the hills and build bridges over the streams to make it easier for the army to march. Then he picked 30,000 soldiers, all furnished with dry food and ropes, and advanced. After about a hundred li, he told 3,000 of his men to encamp where he left them; after another hundred li or so, another body of an equal number was told to camp on the road. The rest of the army marched on.

  From the day they started from Yingping in the tenth month of that year, they had been continuously scaling sheer cliffs and passing narrow gorges for more than twenty days and had covered over seven hundred li of uninhabited country. After the many camps they set up on the way, they had only 2,000 men left by the time they reached a range called Mount Sky Scraping. As horses could not ascend the steep hill, Deng Ai climbed up on foot. There he saw his son and all his road-building warriors weeping in grief.

  When asked about the cause of their sorrow his son replied, “West of this mountain are numerous cliffs and precipices, impossible to cut a trail. All our labor has been in vain.”

  Deng Ai reproached his son. “We have traveled over seven hundred li to get here and just beyond the mountain is Jiangyou. How can we pull back?”

  Turning to the soldiers, he added, “How can one get tiger cubs without entering a tiger’s lair? You and I have journeyed all the way here, and if we succeed we will share the fortune and the glory.”

  “At your orders, General,” they all pledged.

  Deng Ai told his men to throw their weapons down the cliff; then he wrapped himself in blankets and rolled down the rock face. Following their commander’s example, the officers who had blankets also rolled down, while the others let themselves down one after another by tying cords round their waists and clutching at branches or trees. Thus Deng Ai, his son, the 2,000 soldiers, and the road-building warriors all passed Mount Sky Scraping.

  As they put on their armor and picked up their weapons to continue, they suddenly noticed by the roadside a stone slab on which were inscribed the words, “Composed by Zhuge Liang, Prime Minister and Marquis of Wu.” The poem read:

  At the start of two fires,

  Someone will here stop by;

  Two warriors compete

  But soon both will die.*

  Deng Ai was very much startled to read the inscription. Hastily he dropped to his knees and bowed again and again before the stone slab, saying, “The marquis is a real god. How I grieve that I could not study under him.”

  The rugged peaks of Yinping pierce the sky,

  Even cranes are afraid to scale their heights.

  Deng Ai in blankets wrapped rolled down the steep,

  But the great Zhuge had foreseen this feat.

  Having slipped through Yingping without being discovered, Deng Ai continued to move forw
ard. Presently he came to a roomy camp, empty and deserted. He was told that when Zhuge Liang was alive he had posted a thousand men as a garrison at this dangerous point, but later the Second Ruler had abandoned the camp. Deng Ai heaved long sighs, amazed at the foresight of the great strategist.

  He said to his men, “Now retreat is impossible! There is no road back. Ahead lies the city of Jiangyou, where food is plentiful. Advance and you live, retreat and you die. You must fight with all your strength.”

  “We will fight to the death,” they cried.

  So without delay Deng Ai and his 2,000 men, all on foot, marched as quickly as they could to seize Jiangyou.

  The commander at Jiangyou was Ma Miao, who had heard of the fall of Hanzhong and had made some preparations for defense, but he had only guarded against the coming of the enemy from the main road. In fact, he did not really take his military duties seriously, trusting that Jiang Wei was holding the Sword Pass with his whole force.

  One day after returning from drilling his troops, he had some wine with his wife by the stove.

  “I hear the situation at the borders is most critical,” asked Lady Li, his wife. “How is it that you are not worried at all?”

  “Such important business is Jiang Wei’s concern,” he replied. “What’s that to do with me?”

  “But you are defending this city, which is a heavy responsibility.”

  “Well, the Emperor listens only to the eunuch Huang Hao and is sunk in dissipation. I reckon disaster is very close, and if the Wei army reaches here it is better to yield. So why worry?”

  Lady Li was indignant. She spat at her husband’s face and reproached him, “You are a man yet you harbor such disloyal and treacherous thoughts. What a waste for the state to give you rank and office! How can I ever look upon your face again?”

  Ma Miao was too ashamed to attempt a reply. Just then his servants hurried in to tell him that Deng Ai had suddenly emerged from nowhere with his 2,000 men, and had already broken into the city.

  Startled, Ma Miao hastily went out to submit. He prostrated himself on the ground of the official building and said, weeping, “I have long desired to come over to Wei. Now I am willing to persuade the town’s people and my own force to surrender to you, General.”

  Deng Ai accepted his surrender and took him into his service as a guide. The local force was incorporated with his own.

  Suddenly it was reported that Lady Li had hanged herself. Deng Ai asked Ma Miao for the reason and was told the truth. Out of admiration for her virtue, Deng Ai gave orders for an honorable burial and went in person to offer sacrifices. The other men of Wei also sighed in sorrow when they heard of her noble conduct.

  The King wandered in his way and the House of Han fell,

  The Lord sent Deng Ai to smite the land.

  Pity this country, with so many warriors of renown

  But none was as noble as the lady of Jiangyou town.

  Then Deng Ai sent for his troops that had been left camping along the byroads and soon all of them assembled at Jiangyou. His next target was Fucheng.

  But one of the officers, Tian Xu by name, objected: “After such a perilous mission the men are fatigued beyond measure. We ought to rest for a few days to recover and then advance.”

  Deng Ai angrily replied, “Speed is the very soul of war. How dare you try to stir up discontent?”

  He ordered Tian Xu to be put to death, and pardoned him only after incessant pleading from the other officers.

  Then he marched his men to Fucheng. Their attack was so sudden that all officials, soldiers, and people within the city surrendered, believing that Deng Ai could only have fallen directly from the sky. News of the capture of these two places was quickly sent to the capital, and the Second Ruler began to feel alarmed. He hastily called in Huang Hao, who at once denied the report.

  “This must be a rumor,” replied the eunuch. “The wise woman and her god would never deceive Your Majesty.”

  The Second Ruler sent for the wise woman but she was nowhere to be found. In the meantime, urgent memorials fell in from far and near like snowflakes, and messengers went to and fro in constant streams. The Second Ruler called a court meeting to discuss ways to avert the danger, but the courtiers looked at each other in dismay, unable to suggest any plan.

  Finally Xi Zheng spoke out: “Disaster is imminent! Your Majesty should call in the son of the late prime minister for advice.”

  This son of Zhuge Liang was named Zhuge Zhan. His mother, Lady Huang, daughter of Huang Cheng-yan, was extraordinarily talented, though quite plain in looks. She had a good understanding of the ways of the stars and the features of the terrain. She was well versed in all kinds of books on military strategy and divination. While he was living in Nanyang Zhuge Liang had heard of her talents and proposed to marry her. Zhuge Liang owed much to her for his range of knowledge. She had survived her husband but a short time, and her last words to her son had been to be loyal and filial.

  Zhuge Zhan had been known as a clever lad and had married a daughter of the Emperor, so that he became an imperial son-in-law. Later he inherited his father’s title as Marquis of Wuxiang, and had received a general’s rank as well. But he had retired to his home, claiming illness, when Huang Hao started meddling in state affairs.

  Following Xi Zheng’s advice, the Second Ruler issued three edicts and summoned Zhuge Zhan to court. Weeping, the Second Ruler said, “Deng Ai is encamped in Fucheng and the capital is in crisis. For your father’s sake, please come and save my life.”

  Zhuge Zhan also wept and said, “My father and I received so much kindness from the late Emperor and generosity from Your Majesty that no sacrifice is too great for me to render. Pray give me command of all the troops in the capital, and I will fight to the finish with the enemy.”

  So the soldiers, 70,000 in all, were placed under his command. When he had taken leave of the Second Ruler, he collected his troops and called the officers together.

  “Who dares to lead the van?” asked Zhuge Zhan.

  A young officer came forth and said, “Father, as you have taken command, I will be the van leader.”

  It was his eldest son, Shang, then just nineteen. He had studied military books and made himself an adept in martial arts. His offer pleased his father very much, and so he was appointed van leader. The army left the capital to meet the enemy.

  In the meantime the traitor, Ma Miao, had presented Deng Ai a book of maps, showing all the mountains, rivers, and roads that lie along the three hundred and sixty li route from Fucheng to Chengdu. The maps also indicated clearly whether these natural barriers and roads were wide or narrow and where the dangerous points lay. Deng Ai was alarmed after studying the maps.

  “We can’t just stay here and hold Fucheng,” he said. “If the men of Shu hold the hills in front of the city we will fail. And if we delay further Jiang Wei will arrive and our army will be threatened.”

  He at once called in his son and Shi Zuan to whom he said, “Take a troop and go straight to Mianzhu to keep back any Shu soldiers sent to stop our march. I will follow as soon as I can. But hasten—if you let the enemy forestall you and seize the strategic points, I will put you to death.”

  They went as commanded. Nearing Mianzhu, they came upon the army commanded by Zhuge Zhan. Both sides deployed for battle. As the two Wei officers reined in their horses beneath the standard, they saw their opponents had arrayed their men in eight lines. After three drum rolls, the banners of the Shu formation opened in the center, and there emerged a four-wheeled chariot, escorted by dozens of officers, in which sat a figure who looked exactly like Zhuge Liang, with his silk headdress, the feather fan, and the Taoist robe. Beside the chariot rose a yellow standard embroidered with the words: ZHUGE LIANG, PRIME MINISTER OF HAN AND MARQUIS OF WU.

  The sight scared the two Wei officers, who broke out in a cold sweat of terror. Turning to their men, they cried, “So Zhuge Liang is still alive—we are doomed!”

  Hastily they retreated. Th
e men of Shu came on, and the army of Wei was driven away in defeat and chased a distance of twenty li. There the pursuers sighted Deng Ai coming with reinforcements and halted. Both sides called off the battle.

  When Deng Ai had camped, he called the two officers before him and reproached them for retreating without fighting.

  “We saw Zhuge Liang leading the Shu army,” said Deng Zhong, “so we ran away.”

  “What do I fear, even if Zhuge Liang comes back to life again? Your retreat without cause has resulted in this defeat. I must execute both of you at once to observe the military law.”

  The other officers pleaded earnestly for them, and finally Deng Ai’s wrath was mollified. Then he sent out scouts to reconnoiter, who returned to say that the commander of the Shu army was the son of Zhuge Liang, and the van leader his grandson, while the figure on the carriage was a wooden image of the great strategist.

  Deng Ai said to his son and Shi Zhan: “Success or failure depends on this battle. If you lose again you will certainly lose your lives with it.”

  At the head of 10,000 men they went out to battle once more. On the Shu side, Zhuge Shang, grandson of Zhuge Liang, rode out alone boldly. Bracing himself, he repulsed the two Wei officers. At Zhuge Zhan’s signal the two wings charged into the Wei line, dashing to and fro dozens of times, and the men of Wei suffered another major defeat with heavy casualties. Both officers being wounded, they fled, and the army of Shu pursued for more than twenty li before encamping to hold the invaders at bay.

  The two Wei officers returned to see Deng Ai, who could not bring himself to punish them, seeing that they were wounded.

  To his officers he said, “Shu has Zhuge Zhan to continue his father’s work with skill. Twice he has beaten us and slain over 10,000 of our men. We must defeat him quickly or calamity will await us.”