Another reign title, Bao Ding, was adopted the next year, and two officials, Lu Kai and Wan Yu, were appointed left and right prime ministers. At this time the imperial residence was in Wuchang. The people of Yangzhou had to send supplies upstream against the current and suffered exceedingly. There was no limit to the ruler’s extravagance—the public treasury was cleaned out and the income of private households was exhausted.
At length Lu Kai ventured to present a memorial:
“No natural calamity has fallen upon the land yet the people starve; no public work is in progress, yet the treasury is empty. I am bitterly distressed. In the past, after the fall of the House of Han the three kingdoms maintained a tripartite rule of the empire. But as a result of their own folly, the houses of Cao and Liu have lost their kingdoms to Jin. This is clearly a lesson for us today. Foolish I may be, but I would protect the state for Your Majesty’s sake. The land here in Wuchang is rugged and futile, not suitable as a royal capital. Besides, children in the street are chanting: ‘Better to drink the water of Jianye than eat the fish of Wuchang, better to die in Jianye than to live in Wuchang.’ This shows the longing of the people as well as the will of Heaven. Now the country does not have enough supplies in store for a year’s use, and all resources will soon be exhausted. The officials of all grades are vexed and distressed with exorbitant taxes.
“In the times of the Great Emperor (Sun Quan), the palace women totaled less than a hundred, but the number has increased to a thousand since the days of Emperor Jing (Sun Xiu). This is the most extravagant waste of money. Moreover, Your Majesty is surrounded by unsuitable attendants, who are split into cliques, and plot to harm the loyal and drive away the virtuous. All these things undermine the state and weaken the people. I beg Your Majesty to reduce all forms of forced labor and remove grievances for taxes, decrease the number of palace women, and purge the court of dishonest officials. This will please Heaven, win the support of the people, and ensure the security of the state.”
But the Emperor was displeased, and instead of reforming his ways he began yet another large project for the building of a new palace, even ordering the officials of the court to go to the hills to collect timber for the construction. He also called in a soothsayer and told him to divine for him to find out if he could attain the whole empire. The soothsayer reported a very propitious sign and assured the Emperor that he, riding in his chariot with the green canopy, would enter Luoyang in the year of geng-zi.* And the Emperor was pleased.
He said to Hua He, “The late Emperor listened to your advice and sent officers to place hundreds of defensive camps along the river, with the veteran general Ding Feng in over all command. Now I desire to seize the former territory of Shu to avenge the wrongs of the ruler of Shu. Which place should be my first target?”
Hua He replied, “Now that Chengdu has fallen and the throne there has been overturned, Sima Yan will assuredly desire to absorb this land. Your Majesty should cultivate virtue to placate your people. That would be the best policy. If you insist on waging war it will be like throwing hemp to put out a fire and the result can only be your own destruction. Pray consider this carefully.”
But Sun Hao exploded, “I desire to take this opportunity to restore the old heritage yet you utter such ill-omened words? Were it not for your long service, I would slay you and expose your head as a warning.”
He ordered his guards to hustle the minister out.
Leaving the court Hua He sighed: “It is a shame that ‘ere long our beautiful country will pass to another.”
From then on he shut himself inside his house and did not attend court. Then the Emperor ordered General Lu Kang to camp his army at the entrance of the Yangtze in order to attack Xiangyang.
Spies reported this in Luoyang and it was forwarded to Sima Yan, ruler of Jin. When he heard that the army of Wu threatened to invade Xiangyang he called a council.
Jia Chong stood forth and said, “I hear Sun Hao is devoid of virtue and indulges himself in vice. Your Majesty should command Yang Hu to hold this army at bay, and let him attack when internal troubles arise in Wu. Victory will then be easy.”
Delighted with this proposal, Sima Yan sent an envoy to Xiangyang with an edict ordering Yang Hu to oppose the Wu army. Consequently Yang Hu mustered his troops, ready to meet the foe.
Yang Hu had been well-loved by his army and the people since he came to defend Xiangyang. Whenever men of Wu who had previously yielded wished to return to their own country, he would allow them to leave. He also reduced the number of soldiers on patrol duty. Instead, he set his men to till the soil, and they cultivated an extensive area of eight hundred hectares. When he first arrived the army did not even have grain for a hundred days, but by the end of a year he had a ten-year reserve of provisions.
When he was with his army Yang Hu often wore a light fur coat bound by a broad sash and no armor. His personal guards numbered only about a dozen.
One day his officers came to his tent to say that spies spotted great laxity in the enemy’s camp, and they wished to attack.
But Yang Hu replied, “You mustn’t underestimate Lu Kang, for he’s a very good strategist. Formerly his master sent him to attack Xiling, and he slew Bu Chan and many of his officers. I was too late to save them. So long as he remains in command I will remain on the defensive. I won’t attack till there is trouble and confusion among our enemies. To be rash and not await the proper moment to attack is to invite defeat.”
They found his words wise and only strove to defend their own boundary. One day Yang Hu and his officers went out to hunt, and Lu Kang happened to have chosen the same day to embark on a hunting expedition.
Yang Hu gave strict orders to his men not to cross the boundaries, and so they hunted only in the territory of Jin, never straying into that of Wu.
Lu Kang sighed. “General Yang has maintained a strict discipline over his men. We can’t attack him.”
In the evening, after both parties had returned, Yang Hu ordered an inspection of the slaughtered game and sent over to the other side any that had been first struck by the men of Wu.
The men of Wu were greatly pleased and went to report this to Lu Kang, who sent for the bearers of the game and asked, “Does your officer drink wine?”
They replied, “Only when it is really good wine.”
“I have some very old wine,” replied Lu Kang, smiling. “I am going to ask you to take it to your general as a gift. Tell him that I have brewed the wine for my own consumption, and I am sending him this in return for his courtesy during yesterday’s hunt.”
The bearers promised to deliver his message and left with the wine.
“Why do you give him wine?” asked Lu Kang’s officers.
To their amazement, he replied, “Well, I can’t accept his courtesy without offering him something in return.”
The bearers of game returned with the wine and told their commander everything Lu Kang had said. Yang Hu said with a smile, “So he knows I can drink.”
He had the jar opened and the wine poured out to drink.
“This might be a trick,” cautioned an officer. “General, you should not drink it right now.”
“Lu Kang is no poisoner,” replied the general.
And he finished the whole jar. The friendly contact thus begun continued, and messengers frequently passed from one camp to the other.
One day Lu Kang sent a messenger to inquire after Yang Hu, who asked, “Is General Lu well?”
The man said that Lu Kang had been ill for several days.
“I think he suffers from the same ailment as me,” said Yang Hu. “I have some remedies ready prepared. Take some to him.”
The man took the medicine back to see Lu Kang, whose officers were suspicious: “Yang Hu is our enemy. His medicine is surely harmful.”
But Lu Kang replied, “How can Yang Hu be a poisoner? Have no suspicions.”
He drank the concoction. The next day he was feeling quite well, and when his staff came to
congratulate him he said, “If he tries to use virtue to counter our violence, he will defeat us without fighting. Now let us see to the safety of our own boundaries and not try to gain any slight advantage.”
The officers all obeyed his command. Soon after, a special envoy from the Emperor of Wu came. Lu Kang welcomed him and asked him the purpose of his visit.
“The Emperor commands you to start an offensive, and not to let the men of Jin invade us first.”
“You may return and I will send a memorial immediately,” replied Lu Kang.
The envoy left. Soon a memorial was written and sent to the Wu capital. Some courtier presented it to the Emperor, who opened it and read the text. The memorial listed in detail the reasons why Jin could not be attacked then, and exhorted the Emperor to exercise a benign rule and reduce punishments. It also implored him to consider domestic security more important than military expansion. The memorial threw the Emperor in a rage and he cried, “I hear he has come to an understanding with the enemy, and this proves it!”
Then he deprived Lu Kang of his military power and degraded him in rank. Another general, Sun Ji, was sent to supersede Lu Kang. None of the courtiers dared to intervene.
As time went on the Emperor of Wu grew still more tyrannical and arbitrarily changed the reign title twice more. By the first year of the reign period of Phoenix (A.D. 272) he had become more capricious and vicious, dispatching troops for border defenses. Everyone in the state, officials as well as common folks, moaned with distress. At last, three high-ranking officials, led by the senior prime minister, boldly and earnestly remonstrated with the Emperor for his many wrongdoings, but they were all put to death. Within ten years or so more than forty loyal officials died at his hands. He also maintained an extravagantly large guard of 50,000 mailed cavalrymen, who often escorted him when he went out. The court officials lived in mortal terror and none dared to remonstrate with him.
When Yang Hu heard of the removal of Lu Kang from his command and the tyranny of the ruler of Wu, he knew that the time had come to overcome Wu. Therefore he sent a memorial to Luoyang to request permission to attack Wu. It ran briefly as follows:
“Although fortune is bestowed by Heaven, yet achievements depend upon human efforts. Now the land of Wu is not as dangerous as that of the Sword Pass in Shu, while the brutality of Sun Hao exceeds that of Liu Shan. The troubles of Wu are more serious than those of Shu whereas our armies are stronger than ever before. If we miss this opportunity to bring the whole land under one rule, but continue to send troops to confront our enemy at the borders, our country will be under the burden of constant expeditions. The days of prosperity will give way to decline and our rule will not endure.”
Sima Yan was pleased to read this and he decided to give consent for the army to move. But Jia Chong and two other officials were strongly opposed to it, and he changed his mind. When Yang Hu learned that his proposal was rejected by the Emperor, he was disappointed.
“How often things go against one’s wish!” he sighed. “What a great pity to miss this Heaven-sent opportunity!”
In the fourth year of the period Xian Ning in Jin, Yang Hu went to court and asked to retire on account of his ill health. Before granting him leave to retire, Sima Yan asked him for advice to secure the safety of the state.
Yang Hu replied, “Sun Hao is a very cruel ruler and Wu could be conquered without fighting. If unfortunately he were to die and a wise successor sat upon the throne, it would not be easy for Your Majesty to gain possession of Wu.”
The wisdom of his words suddenly dawned on Sima Yan. “Suppose you lead the army to attack it now?”
“I am now too old and too ill for the task,” replied Yang Hu. “Please choose another bold and resourceful general.”
He left the court and returned to his home. Toward the end of the year he was critically ill, and the Emperor went to visit him in his home. The sight of the Emperor at his bedside brought tears to the eyes of the old soldier.
“If I died a myriad times, I could not have repayed Your Majesty,” said the sick man.
The Emperor also wept. “I deeply regret that I cannot use your strategy to attack Wu. Who now is there to carry out your design?”
The sick general replied tearfully, “I am dying and must be wholly sincere. General Du Yu is the right man for the task. He should be employed if Your Majesty is going to attack Wu.”
Sima Yan said, “It is a good thing to bring worthy men into prominence. But why did you submit a memorial recommending certain men to court and then burn the draft so that no one would see it?”
The dying man answered, “I deem it despicable to recommend someone in open court and then receive his thanks in private.”
With these words he died. Sima Yan wailed in sorrow for him, and when he returned to his palace he conferred on the dead general the posthumous rank of Tai-fu and the title of marquis. His death was mourned everywhere. People in Nanzhou closed their shops and wept; officers and men guarding the frontier in the south wailed for him; and inhabitants of Xiangyang, recalling how he loved to visit the Xian Hills, built there a temple and set up a tablet to his memory and submitted sacrifices regularly at the four seasons. Passersby were moved to tears when they read the inscription on the tablet, which came to be named “Tablet of Tears.” In later times a poet visited the temple and composed these lines to his memory:
One morning, moved by his memory, I climbed the hill
I see fragments of a stone while spring visits Xian Hills
From the pine branches dew drops constantly fall
Could those who mourned for him then be weeping still?
On the strength of Yang Hu’s recommendation Du Yu was placed over Xiangyang, with the title General–Conqueror of the South. He was experienced and competent, untiring in study. His favorite book was Zuo Zhuan, or Zuo Qiu-ming’s Spring and Autumn Annals, a copy of which was never out of his hand while he was seated or in bed. Whenever he was out riding he would have the book brought before his horse. That was how he came to be known as “Zuo Zhuan mad” among his contemporaries. After taking the Emperor’s order Du Yu went to Xiangyang, where he comforted the people and rested the army to prepare for an invasion of Wu.
By this time Wu had lost both Ding Feng and Lu Kang, its two most able generals. The conduct of its ruler became even more atrocious. Every time he gave a banquet to his courtiers he would force them to get quite drunk. He appointed ten eunuchs as agents to observe the faults committed by the guests, and after such a banquet all offenders were punished—some by flaying, others through gouging out the eyes. The people of the country lived in sheer terror.
Wang Jun, Governor of Yizhou, proposed an attack upon Wu in his memorial, which said: “Sun Hao is steeped in vice and should be attacked at once. Should he die and be succeeded by a wise ruler we might find a strong opponent in Wu. Secondly, the ships that I built seven years ago are rotting daily, and it is a waste not to use them. Thirdly, I am seventy years of age and may die any day. If any one of these three events happens, the death of Sun Hao, or the destruction of these ships, or my death, then Wu will be difficult to conquer. I pray Your Majesty not to miss the good opportunity.”
After reading this Sima Yan said to his courtiers, “Wang Jun’s arguments correspond to those of General Yang’s. My mind is made up on the issue.”
But an official named Wang Hun remonstrated: “I hear Sun Hao intends to march north and has his army and equipment in full readiness. It would be hard to confront his troops while their morale is high. Better to wait another year till his army has lost its vigor.”
The Emperor approved and an edict was duly issued to cease war preparations. One day the Emperor was playing a game of wei-chi in his chamber, with Zhang Hua as opponent, when a memorial arrived from Du Yu at the frontier. In short it read:
Formerly Yang Hu confided his plans to Your Majesty alone, but failed to consult the courtiers. That was why most of them were opposed to his view. In every matter we sho
uld weigh the pros and cons and in this campaign we are going to benefit tremendously. The worst that can happen is failure. Since last autumn the proposed attack has become known, and, if we withdraw now, Sun Hao, in his dread, may move his capital to Wuchang, repair his fortifications in various southern cities, and evacuate his people. Then the cities will be hard to destroy, nor will anything be left in the countryside for us to seize as booty. Hence if we wait for another year, our campaign will also fail.
No sooner had the Emperor finished reading than Zhang Hua sprang to his feet, pushed back the chessboard, and said, his hands clasped respectfully before his chest: “Your Majesty is most skilled in war, your state is prosperous, and your people strong. But the ruler of Wu is a tyrant, his people are miserable, and his kingdom weak. Act now and you can easily conquer him. I pray Your Majesty will have no further doubts.”
“Your words are most revealing and I have no more doubts,” said the Emperor.
He at once convened a council at which he issued his commands. Du Yu was appointed commander-in-chief, and was to lead 100,000 men to attack Jiangling. Four other generals, each leading 50,000 men, were to attack the south from four points: Tuzhong, Hengjiang, Wuchang, and Xiakou. All four divisions were under the command of Du Yu. In addition to the land forces, two large fleets, consisting of tens of thousands of warships and boats, were to operate on the river. The land and marine forces numbered more than 200,000. A separate force was sent away to camp at Xiangyang to reinforce various positions.
The ruler of Wu was greatly alarmed at the news. He called quickly his prime minister, Zhang Ti, and two others, He Zhi and Teng Xun, to discuss how to drive away the enemy. The prime minister proposed sending Wu Yan to meet Du Yu at Jiangling and Sun Xin to Xiakou. He also volunteered to act as military advisor and go with two generals to Niuzhu, ready to lend help to the other forces. Sun Hao approved and the prime minister left with the army.
Sun Hao returned to his chamber looking much worried, for he realized that no preparations had been made against an attack by water. His favorite eunuch Cen Hun asked him why he looked so much in distress and his master told him of his dread of the enemy navy.
The Three Kingdoms, Volume 3: Welcome the Tiger: The Epic Chinese Tale of Loyalty and War in a Dynamic New Translation Page 65