Three Kingdoms Romance

by Guanzhong Luo

  They went. Nearing Mianzhu they met the army under Zhuge Zhan. Both sides prepared for battle. The Shu armies adopted the Eight Diagrams formation and presently, after the usual triple roll of drums, Shi Zuan and Deng Zhong saw their opponents' ranks open in the center, and therefrom emerge a light carriage in which sat a figure looking exactly as Zhuge Liang used to look when he appeared on the battlefield. Everybody knew the Taoist robes and the feather fan. The standard bore his name and titles: “The Han Prime Minister Zhuge Liang”.

  The sight was too much for Deng Zhong and Shi Zuan. The cold sweat of terror poured down them, and they stammered out.

  “If Zhuge Liang is still alive, that is the end of us.”

  They led their army to flee. The troops of Shu came on, and the army of Wei was driven away in defeat and chased a distance of seven miles. Then the pursuers sighted Deng Ai and they turned and retired.

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

  “We saw Zhuge Liang leading the enemy,” said Deng Zhong, “So we ran away.”

  “Why should we fear, even if they bring Zhuge Liang to life again? You ran away without cause, and we have lost. You ought both to be put to death.”

  However, they did not die, for their fellows pleaded for them, and Deng Ai's wrath was mollified. Then the scouts came in to say that the leader of the army was a son of Zhuge Liang, and they had set up on the carriage a wooden image of the late strategist.

  Deng Ai, however, said to Deng Zhong and Shi Zuan, “This is the critical stage; and if you lose the next battle, you will certainly lose your lives with it.”

  At the head of ten thousand troops, they went out to battle once more. This time they met the vanguard led by Zhuge Shang, who rode out alone, boldly offering to repulse the leaders of Wei. At Zhuge Zhan's signal the two wings advanced and threw themselves against the Wei line. The center portion of the Wei line met them, and the battle went to and fro many times, till at length the force of Wei, after great losses, had to give way. Both Deng Zhong and Shi Zuan being badly wounded, they fled and the army of Shu pursued and drove the invaders into their camp.

  Shi Zuan and Deng Zhong had to acknowledge a new defeat, but, when Deng Ai saw both were severely wounded, he forbore to blame them or decree any penalty.

  To his officers Deng Ai said, “This Zhuge Zhan well continues the paternal tradition. Twice they have beaten us and slain great numbers. We must defeat them, and that quickly, or we are lost.”

  Then Military Inspector Qiu Ben said, “Why not persuade their leader with a letter?”

  Deng Ai agreed and wrote a letter, which he sent by the hand of a messenger. The warden of the Shu camp gate led the messenger in to see Zhuge Zhan, who opened the letter and read:

  “Deng Ai, General Who Conquers the West, writes to Zhuge Zhan, General of the Guard and Leader of the army in

  the field.

  “Now having carefully observed your talent in attack, I see you are not equal to your most honored father. From the moment of his emergence from his retreat, he said that the country was to be in tripod division. He conquered Jingzhou and Yiazhou and thus established a position. Few have been his equal in all history. He made six expeditions from Qishan, and, if he failed, it was not that be lacked skill; it was the will of Heaven.

  “But now this Latter Ruler is dull and weak, and his kingly aura is already exhausted. I have a command from the Son of Heaven to smite Shu with severity, and I already possess the land. Your capital must quickly fall. Why then do you not bow to the will of Heaven and fall in with the desires of people by acting rightly and coming over to our side? I will obtain the rank of Prince of Langye for you, whereby your ancestors will be rendered illustrious. These are no vain words if happily you will consider them.”

  The letter made Zhuge Zhan furiously angry. He tore it to fragments and ordered the bearer thereof to be put to death immediately. He also ordered the escort to bear the head of the messenger to the camp of Wei and lay it before Deng Ai.

  Deng Ai was very angry at this insult and wished to go forth at once to battle. But Qiu Ben dissuaded him.

  “Do not go out to battle;” said he, “rather overcome him by some unexpected stroke.”

  So Deng Ai laid his plans. He sent Wang Qi, Governor of Tianshui, and Qian Hong, Governor of Longxi, to lie in wait in the rear while he led the main body.

  Zhuge Zhan happened to be close at hand seeking battle; and when he heard the enemy was near, he led out his army eagerly and rushed into the midst of the invaders. Then Deng Ai fled as though worsted, so luring on Zhuge Zhan. But when the pursuit had lasted some time, the pursuers were attacked by those who lay in wait, and the Shu troops were defeated. They ran away into Mianzhu.

  Therefore Deng Ai besieged Mianzhu, and the troops of Wei shouted about the city and watched the ramparts, thus keeping the defenders close shut in as if held in an iron barrel.

  Zhuge Zhan was desperate, seeing no way of escape without help from outside. Wherefore he wrote a letter to East Wu begging for assistance, and he gave this letter to Peng He to bear through the besiegers.

  Peng He fought his way through and reached Wu, where he saw the Ruler of Wu, Sun Xiu. And he presented the letter showing the wretched plight of Zhuge Zhan and his urgent need.

  Then the Ruler of Wu assembled his officers and said to them, “The land of Shu being in danger, I cannot sit and look on unconcerned.”

  He therefore decided to send fifty thousand troops, over whom he set the Veteran General Ding Feng, with two able assistants — Sun Yi and Ding Fung. Having received his edict, Ding Feng sent away his commanders with twenty thousand troops to Mianzhu, and he himself went with thirty thousand troops toward Shouchun. The army marched in three divisions.

  In the city of Mianzhu, Zhuge Zhan waited for the rescue which never came.

  Weary of the hopeless delay, he said to his generals, “This long defense is useless; I will fight.”

  Leaving his son Zhuge Shang and Adviser Zhang Zun (Zhang Fei's grandson) in the city, Zhuge Zhan put on his armor and led out three thousand troops through three gates to fight in the open. Seeing the defenders making a sortie, Deng Ai drew off and Zhuge Zhan pursued him vigorously, thinking Deng Ai really fled before his force. But there was an ambush, and falling therein he was quickly surrounded as is the kernel of a nut by the shell. In vain he thrust right and shoved left, he only lost his troops in the raining arrows and bolts. The troops of Wei poured in more flights of arrows, so that his army were all shattered. Before long, Zhuge Zhan was wounded and fell.

  “I am done,” cried he. “But in my death I will do my duty!” He drew his sword and slew himself.

  From the city walls his son Zhuge Shang saw the death of his father. Girding on his armor he made to go out to fight. But Zhang Zun told him, “Young general, do not go out immediately!”

  Cried Zhuge Shang, “My father and I and all our family have received favors from the state. My father has died in battle against our enemies, and can I live?”

  He whipped his horse and dashed out into the thick of the fight, where he died. A poem has been written extolling the conduct of both father and son.

  In skill he was found wanting, not in loyalty;

  But the Lord's word had gone forth,

  That the Ruler of Shu was to be cut off,

  Noble were Zhuge Liang's descendants.

  In commiseration of their loyalty, Deng Ai had both father and son buried fittingly. Then he began attacking the city vigorously. Zhang Zun, Huang Chong, and Li Qiu, the defenders, however, held the city desperately, but to no avail for their numbers being small, and the three leaders were slain. This was the end of the defense, and Deng Ai then entered as conqueror. Having rewarded his army, he set out for Chengdu.

  The closing days of the Latter Ruler were full of pain and sorrow,

  As had been those of Liu Zhang.

  The next chapter will tell of the defen
se of Chengdu.

  CHAPTER 118. Weeping At The Ancestral Temple, A Filial Prince Dies; Marching To The Western Land Of Rivers, Two Leaders Competes.

  The news of the fall of Mianzhu and the deaths in battle of Zhuge Zhan and Zhuge Shang, father and son, brought home to the Latter Ruler that danger was very near, and he summoned a council.

  Then the officials said, “Panic has seized upon the people, and they are leaving the city in crowds. Their cries shake the very sky.”

  Sorely he felt his helplessness. Soon they reported the enemy were actually near the city, and many courtiers advised flight.

  “We do not have enough troops to protect the capital. Leave the city and flee south to the Southern Land,” said they. “The country is difficult and easily defended. We can get the Mangs to come and help us.”

  But High Minister Qiao Zhou opposed, saying, “No, no; that will not do. The Mangs are old rebels, ungentle; to go to them would be a calamity.”

  Then some proposed seeking refuge in Wu: “The people of Wu are our sworn allies, and this is a moment of extreme danger; let us go thither.”

  But Qiao Zhou also opposed this, saying, “In the whole course of past ages no Emperor has ever gone to another state. So far as I can see, Wei will presently absorb Wu, and certainly Wu will never overcome Wei. Imagine the disgrace of becoming a minister of Wu and then having to style yourself minister of Wei. It would double the mortification. Do neither. Surrender to Wei, and Wei will give Your Majesty a strip of land where the ancestral temple can be preserved, and the people will be saved from suffering. I desire Your Majesty to reflect well upon this.”

  The distracted Latter Ruler retired from the council without having come to any decision. Next day confusion had become still worse. Qiao Zhou saw that matters were very urgent and presented a written memorial. The Latter Ruler accepted it and decided to yield.

  But from behind a screen stepped out one of the Emperor's sons, Liu Chan, Prince of Beidi, who shouted at Qiao Zhou, “You corrupt pedant, unfit to live among people! How dare you offer such mad advice in a matter concerning the existence of a dynasty? Has any emperor ever yielded to the enemy? “

  The Latter Ruler had seven sons in all, but the ablest, and the only one above the common level of people, was this Liu Chan.

  The Latter Ruler turned feebly to his son and said, “The ministers have decided otherwise; they advise surrender. You are the only one who thinks that boldness may avail, and would you drench the city in blood?”

  The Prince said, “While the First Ruler lived, this Qiao Zhou had no voice in state affairs. Now he gives this wild advice and talks the most subversive language. There is no reason at all in what he says, for we have

  in the city many legions of soldiers, and Jiang Wei is undefeated in Saber Pass. He will come to our rescue as soon as he knows our straits, and we can help him to fight. We shall surely succeed. Why listen to the words of this dryasdust? Why abandon thus lightly the work of our great forerunner?”

  The Latter Ruler became angry at this harangue and turned to his son, saying, “Be silent! You are too young to understand.”

  Liu Chan beat his head upon the ground and implored his father to make an effort.

  “If we have done our best and defeat yet comes, if father and son, prince and minister have set their backs to the wall and died in one final effort to preserve the dynasty, then in the shades of the Nine Golden Springs we shall be able to look the First Ruler in the face, unashamed. But what if we surrender?”

  The appeal left the Latter Ruler unmoved.

  The Prince cried, “Is it not shameful in one day to throw down all that our ancestors built up with so great labor? I would rather die.”

  The Latter Ruler, now very angry, bade the courtiers thrust the young man out of the Palace. Then he ordered Qiao Zhou to prepare the formal Act of Surrender. When it was written, three officers — Adviser Zhang Shao, Imperial Son-in-Law Deng Liang, and High Minister Qiao Zhou — were sent with it and the Hereditary Seal to the camp of Deng Ai to offer submission.

  Every day Deng Ai's horsemen rode to the city to see what was afoot. It was a glad day when they returned reporting the hoisting of the flag of surrender. The general had not long to wait. The three messengers soon arrived and presented the letter announcing surrender and the seal therewith. Deng Ai read the letter with great exultation, and took possession of the seal. He treated the envoys courteously, and by their hands sent back a letter to allay any anxiety among the people. In due time they reentered the city and bore this missive to the Latter Ruler, who read it with much satisfaction. Then he sent Minister Jiang Xian to order Jiang Wei to surrender.

  Li Hu, Chair of the Secretariat, carried to the victorious Deng Ai the statistical documents of the resources of the kingdom: 2,800,000 households, 9,140,000 souls, 102,000 armed soldiers of all ranks, and 40,000 civil employees. Besides, there were granaries with 4,000,000 carts of grain, treasuries with 3,000 pounds of gold and silver and 200,000 rolls of silks of many qualities, and many unenumerated but precious things in the various storehouses. Li Hu arranged that the ceremony of surrender should take place on the first day of the twelfth month.

  The wrath of Prince Liu Chan swelled high as heaven when he heard that his father had actually arranged the date of his abdication. Girding on his sword, he was setting out for the Palace when his Consort, Lady Cui, stopped him, saying, “My Prince, why does your face bear this look of terrible anger?”

  He replied, “The army of Wei is at the gates, and my father has made his Act of Surrender. Tomorrow he and all his ministers are going out of the city to submit formally, and the dynasty will end. But rather than bow the knee to another, I will die and go into the presence of the First Ruler in the realms below.”

  “How worthy; how worthy!” replied she. “And if my lord must die, I, thy handmaid, prays that she may die first. Then may my Prince depart.”

  “But why should you die?”

  “The Prince dies for his father and the handmaid for her husband. One eternal principle guides us all.”

  Thereupon she dashed herself against a pillar, and so she died. Then Liu Chan slew his three sons and cut off the head of his Consort that he might sever all ties to life lest he be tempted to live. Bearing the head of the princess in his hand, he went to the Temple of the First Ruler, where he bowed his head, saying, “Thy servant is ashamed at seeing the kingdom pass to another. Therefore has he slain his Consort and his sons that nothing should induce him to live and forego death.”

  This announcement recited, he made yet another to his ancestors.

  “My ancestors, if you have spiritual intelligence, yon know the feelings of your descendant.”

  Then he wept sore till his eyes ran blood, and he committed suicide. The people of Shu grieved deeply for him, and a poet has praised his noble deed.

  Both king and courtiers, willing, bowed the knee,

  One son alone was grieved and would not live.

  The western kingdom fell to rise no more,

  A noble prince stood forth, for aye renowned

  As one who died to save his forbears' shame.

  With grievous mien and falling tears he bowed

  His head, declaring his intent to die.

  While such a memory lingers none may say

  That Han has perished.

  When the Latter Ruler knew of the death of his son, he sent people to bury him.

  Soon the main body of the Wei army came. The Latter Ruler and all his courtiers to the number of sixty went out three miles from the north gate to bow their heads in submission, the Latter Ruler binding himself with cord and taking a coffin with him. But Deng Ai with his own hands loosened the bonds raised the Latter Ruler from the ground. The coffin was burned. Then the victorious leader and the vanquished Emperor returned into the city side by side.

  Wei's legions entered Shu,

  And the ruler thereof saved his life

  At the price of his honor and his throne.
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  Huang Hao's vicious counsels had brought disaster

  Against which Jiang Wei's efforts were vain.

  How bright shone the loyalty of the faithful one!

  How noble was the fortitude of the prince, grandson of the First Ruler!

  Alas! It led him into the way of sorrow.

  And the plans of the First Ruler,

  Excellent and far-reaching.

  Whereby he laid the foundations of a mighty state,

  Were brought to nought in one day.

  The common people rejoiced at the magnanimity of Deng Ai, and met the returning cavalcade with burning incense and flowers. The title of General of the Flying Cavalry was given to the Latter Ruler and other ranks were given to the ministers who had surrendered.

  Deng Ai requested the Latter Ruler to issue one more proclamation from the Palace to reassure the people, and then the conquerors took formal possession of the state and its granaries and storehouses. Two officers — Governor of Yiazhou Zhang Shao and Minister Zhang Jun — were sent into the counties and territories to explain the new situation and pacify malcontents, and another messenger was sent to exhort Jiang

  Wei to yield peaceably. A report of the success was sent to Luoyang.

  Huang Hao, the eunuch whose evil counsels had wrought such ruin to his master, was looked upon as a danger, and Deng Ai decided to put him to death. However, Huang Hao was rich, and by means of bribes he escaped the death penalty.

  Thus perished the House of Han. Reflecting on its end a poet recalled the exploits of Zhuge Liang the Martial Lord, and he wrote a poem.

  The denizens of tree-tops, apes and birds,

  Most lawless of crested things, yet knew

  And feared his mordant pen. The clouds and winds

  Conspired to aid him to defend his lord.

  But nought awaited the leader's precepts, wise

  To save; with base content the erstwhile king