The Three Kingdoms Volume 1 (11 page)

“My horse is too weak to go fast.”

Dong Zhuo turned to his adopted son and said, “Some good horses have come in from Xiliang. You go and pick one out for Meng-de.” And the young man left.

He’s doomed to die, thought Cao Cao. He thought to strike then but, knowing how powerful Dong Zhuo was, he wanted to make sure of his blow. Now Dong Zhuo was very fat and he could not remain sitting for long, so he rolled over and lay facing inwards.

“Now’s the time,” thought Cao Cao, and he at once took the dagger in his hand. But just as he was to deal the fatal blow, Dong Zhuo happened to look up and in the big mirror he saw Cao Cao drawing a dagger behind him.

“What are you doing, Meng-de?” he asked, turning suddenly.

Cao Cao, in a panic, dropped on his knees and said, “I have a choice sword here which I want to present to Your Benevolent Lordship.” At that moment Lu Bu was already outside the chamber with the horse.

Dong Zhuo took it and found that it was over a foot long, inlaid with seven treasures and had a very sharp edge—a fine sword indeed. He handed the weapon to Lu Bu and Cao Cao took off the sheath, which he also gave to the young man.

Then they went out to look at the horse. Cao Cao thanked the minister and said that he would like to try riding it. So Dong Zhuo told his men to bring him saddle and bridle. Cao Cao led the horse out of the house, leaped into the saddle and urged his horse to gallop away at full speed toward the southeast.

Lu Bu said, “It seemed to me Cao Cao was going to stab you just now. Only when he was exposed did he present the sword.”

“I suspected him too,” said Dong Zhuo. Just then Li Ru came in and they told him about it.

“He has no family here but lives quite alone by himself,” said Li Ru. “Send for him now. If he comes without any suspicion then the sword was meant as a gift, but if he makes excuses he intended assassination. And you can arrest him.”

So Dong Zhuo sent four prison warders to call Cao Cao. They were gone for a long time and then came back with the news that he had not returned to his lodging but had ridden in haste out of the east gate. When he was questioned by the gate wardens he said that he was on an urgent mission for the minister and gone off at full speed.

“He was afraid that he might be found out so he fled. There is no doubt that he meant to stab you,” said Li Ru.

“And I trusted him so much,” cried Dong Zhuo in a rage.

“There must be accomplices—when we catch him we will know,” said Li Ru.

Dispatches and images of the fugitive were sent out everywhere with orders to arrest him on sight. A large reward of money and a promise of promotion to noble status were offered to whoever caught Cao Cao, while anyone who sheltered him would be held to share his guilt.

Cao Cao escaped outside the city and fled toward his hometown. Unfortunately, while he was passing through Zhongmou, he was recognized by the guards at the gate and made a prisoner. They took him to the magistrate. Cao Cao declared that he was a merchant and his surname was Huangfu. The magistrate looked at him closely but did not speak for a long time—he seemed to be lost in thought.

Then he said, “When I was seeking a post in the capital I knew you as Cao Cao. How can you conceal your identity?”

He ordered the guards to keep him in prison until the next day when he would be sent to the capital and the reward claimed. However, late that night, the magistrate sent a trusty servant to bring the prisoner into his private chamber for interrogation.

“They say the prime minister treated you well. Why did you want to bring trouble to yourself?” asked the magistrate.

“How can swallows and sparrows understand the aspirations of the wild goose? I am your prisoner and you will give me over to Dong Zhuo for a reward. Why so many questions?”

The magistrate sent away his attendants and said to the prisoner, “Do not despise me. I am not a mere hireling, only I have not yet found the rightful lord to serve.”

“My ancestors all served under the Hans and enjoyed their bounty. I would be no different from a beast if I did not desire to dedicate myself to the empire. I had submitted to Dong Zhuo’s tyranny in the hope that I might find an opportunity to slay him so as to remove this evil for the people. I have failed this time. Such is the will of Heaven.”

“And where are you going?”

“Home to my village. I will issue a call, urging all the lords to come up with arms and join their forces in destroying the tyrant. This is what I intend to do,” said Cao Cao.

At this, the magistrate himself loosened the cord that bound the prisoner’s hands, helped him to a seat and bowed to him, saying, “You are truly a man of loyalty and justice, sir.”

Cao Cao in his turn also bowed to the magistrate and asked him his name.

“My name is Chen Gong. My aged mother and family are in another place in the east. Your loyalty to the country and your sense of justice have moved me deeply. I will abandon my office and escape with you,” said the magistrate.

Cao Cao was delighted with this turn of events. Then the magistrate prepared some money for the journey and asked his new friend to change his clothes. Carrying a sword each on their backs, they left for Cao Cao’s home village. Three days later, they reached Chenggao toward the evening. Cao Cao, pointing with his horsewhip to somewhere deep in the woods, said: “There lives my uncle, Lu Bo-she, a sworn brother of my father’s. Shall we go and ask news of my family and seek shelter for the night?”

“Very good,” agreed Chen Gong.

So they rode up to the farmhouse and dismounted at the gate. Then they went in to see the host.

“I hear they have sent stringent orders everywhere to arrest you. Your father has gone into hiding in Chenliu. How did you manage to come here?” asked the uncle.

Cao Cao told him what had happened and said, “If not for the magistrate, I would have been hacked to pieces by now.”

Lu Bo-she bowed low to the magistrate and said, “Thank you so much for saving my nephew and the Cao family. Without your help the entire household would be exterminated. But rest at ease now. You can spend the night in my humble cottage.”

He then rose and went to the inner chamber. After a long while, he came out and said to the former magistrate: “There is no good wine in the house. I’m going to get some for you in the West Village.” And he hastily mounted his donkey and rode away.

The two fugitives sat for a long time. Suddenly they heard the sound of the sharpening of a knife coming from the back of the house.

Cao Cao said, “He’s not my real uncle. I begin to doubt his reasons for going off. Let’s go inside and listen.”

So they quietly stepped into the back of the cottage. Soon they heard someone inside saying, “Bind first, then kill, eh?”

“As I thought,” said Cao Cao, “unless we strike first we will be taken.”

They burst into the room, swords in hand, and slew everyone they saw, male and female, eight persons in all. After this they searched the house. When they came to the kitchen they found a pig bound ready to be slaughtered.

“You are too suspicious,” said the former magistrate. “We have killed honest folk.”

They at once mounted and rode away in a great hurry. But presently they met their host coming home with two vessels of wine hanging down from the saddle and fruit and vegetables in his hands.

“Why are you leaving so soon?” asked the old man.

“Condemned people dare not linger,” said Cao Cao.

“But I have told my folk to kill a pig. Why do you refuse to spend just one night here? Please ride back with me.”

Cao Cao paid no attention but urged his horse forward. Suddenly, however, he drew his sword and rode after the old man.

“Who is that coming along?” he called out to his uncle.

The old man turned back to look and at the same instant Cao Cao cut him down from his donkey.

His companion was shocked. “You were wrong enough before,” he cried. “What now is this?”

“When he got home and saw his family killed, do you think he would let the matter drop? If he should raise an alarm and chase after us, we would certainly be in danger.”

“To kill deliberately is very wrong,” said Chen Gong.

“I would rather betray the world than let the world betray me,” was Cao Cao’s reply.

Chen Gong could say nothing. They rode on in silence for several
li
by the moonlight and then knocked on the door of a village inn for shelter.

After feeding the horses, Cao Cao went to sleep first but his companion sat thinking.

“I took him for a true man and left all to follow him, but he is actually as vicious as a wolf. If I spare him today, he will surely be the cause of trouble later.” And he drew his sword, intending to kill Cao Cao.

With a heart full of vice he is not a true man,
In no way does he differ from his foe Dong Zhuo.

The fate of Cao Cao will be told in the next chapter.

*
Feudal code of behavior that requires officials to obey their king, sons to obey their father, and wives to obey their husbands.

†
An official carries this in his hands at court for writing things on.

CHAPTER FIVE

Many Lords Respond to Cao Cao’s Call Against Dong Zhuo

The Three Brothers Fight with Lu Bu in the Battle at Tigertrap Pass

A
t
the end of the last chapter Chen Gong was about to slay Cao Cao. But the memory of why he had decided to throw in his lot with his companion’s stayed his hand. He put the sword back into the sheath and, without waiting for daybreak, rode off toward his own home-town in the east. Cao Cao awoke at daybreak and missed his companion. He thought to himself, “He thinks me brutal because of a couple of egoistic phrases I used and so he has gone. I must also push on and not linger here.”

So he traveled as quickly as possible toward home. When he saw his father he related to him what had happened and said that he wanted to dispose of all their property and enlist soldiers with the money.

“Our possessions are but small,” said his father, “and not enough to do anything with. However, there’s a scholar here by the name of Wei Hong, careless of wealth but careful of virtue, whose family is very rich. With his help we might hope for success.”

Following his father’s advice, Cao Cao invited the rich man to a feast at his home. At the feast, Cao Cao said to his guest, “The Hans have no lord of their own and Dong Zhuo is really a tyrant. He disregards the Emperor and persecutes the people, who gnash their teeth in hatred. I would restore the Hans but my means are insufficient. You are a man of loyalty and justice, sir, may I appeal to you for help?”

To this, his guest replied: “I have for so long desired this but so far have not found a man fit to undertake the task. Now that you, Meng-de, have so noble a desire, I am willing to devote my property to your cause.”

This was really joyful news for Cao Cao. So the call to arms was prepared and sent far and near. Then he established a corp of volunteers and set up a large, white banner inscribed with the words “Loyalty and Justice.” The response was rapid and volunteers came like rain drops in number.

Two of these volunteers were Yue Jin and Li Dian, who were both appointed to Cao Cao’s personal staff. Another man called Xiahou Dun was descended from a notable general’s family and had been trained from his boyhood to use the spear and the club. When only fourteen he had been attached to a certain master-in-arms. One day when someone spoke dis-respectfully of his master, he killed the man and had to live in exile for some years. On hearing of Cao Cao’s actions he came to give service, accompanied by his cousin Xiahou Yuan, each bringing a thousand or so valiant young men. In fact, these two were Cao Cao’s cousins, since his father was originally of the Xiahou family and had become a member of the Cao family only by adoption.