The Three Kingdoms Volume 1 (28 page)

Lu Bu said nothing. Soon after, the guests departed. But as he escorted Liu Bei to his carriage he saw Zhang Fei galloping up with his spear set for combat.

“Lu Bu, you and I will fight that duel of three hundred!” he shouted.

Liu Bei told Guan Yu to check him.

The next day Lu Bu came to take leave of his host. “Thank you for kindly receiving me but I fear your brothers and I cannot agree. I will seek some other asylum.”

“General, if you go, my fault becomes grave. My rude brother has offended you and I will make him apologize to you later. Would you care for a temporary sojourn in the town of Xiaopei, where I was encamped for some time? That place is small and mean, but it is near and I will see to it that you are supplied with all you need.”

Lu Bu thanked him and accepted the offer. He led his men there and took up residence. After he had gone, Liu Bei blamed Zhang Fei for his rudeness.

But this is not our concern for the moment. Let us return to Cao Cao. After he had subdued the whole of Shandong, he reported this to the throne and was rewarded with the title of General of Eminent Virtue and created a lord. At this time the rebellious Li Jue had made himself Chief Minister of War, and Guo Si styled himself Grand Commander. Their conduct was abominable but no one dared to criticize them. Two ministers, Yang Biao and Zhu Jun, said to the Emperor in private: “Cao Cao has a large army and many capable advisors and officers; it would be well for the country if he could lend his support to the imperial family and help to rid the government of these two evil men.”

His Majesty wept, “I have long been insulted and bullied by these villains and should be very glad to have them removed.”

“I have thought of a plan to estrange Li Jue and Guo Si and so make them destroy each other. Then Your Majesty can call Cao Cao in to cleanse the court,” said Yang Biao.

“How will you manage it?” asked the Emperor.

“Guo Si’s wife is very jealous and we can take advantage of her weakness to bring about a quarrel.”

So the Emperor gave a secret edict for Yang Biao to act accordingly.

Yang Biao’s wife was then instructed to make an excuse to visit Madam Guo at her house. In the course of their conversation, she said, “There is talk of a secret liaison between the General, your husband, and the wife of Minister Li. It is a great secret, but if Minister Li knew it he might try to harm your husband. I think you ought to stop them from seeing each other again.”

Madam Guo was surprised. “I have wondered why he sometimes spends the night at their home,” she said, “but I did not think there was anything shameful connected with it. I should never have known if you had not told me. I must put a stop to it.”

By and by, when Madam Yang took her leave, her hostess thanked her warmly for the information she had given. Several days passed and Guo Si was again invited to dinner at Li Jue’s home. His wife said, “This Li Jue is very deep and one cannot fathom his designs. As the saying goes, ‘Two heroes cannot exist side by side’. If he tries to poison you, what would become of your poor wife?”

Guo Si paid no attention to her words but she finally prevailed on him to stay at home. In the evening, wine and food arrived from Li Jue’s house and Guo Si’s wife secretly put poison into the delicacies before she set them before her husband. He was going to taste them at once but she said, “It’s unwise to consume things that come from outside. Let’s try them out on a dog first.”

They did and the dog died. This incident aroused Guo Si’s suspicion of his friend Li Jue.

One day at court, Li Jue again persuaded Guo Si to have dinner at his place. After Guo Si arrived home in the evening, rather drunk because of too much wine, he happened to have a stomach upset. His wife said she suspected poison and hastily administered an emetic, which relieved the pain. Guo Si began to feel angry.

“We planned our grand scheme together. Now he wants to harm me. If I don’t get in the first blow, I’ll be his victim.”

So Guo Si began to prepare his force for a sudden attack on Li Jue. Very soon this was told to Li Jue and he, in his turn, grew angry. “How dare Guo Si plot against me?”

Then he assembled his men and went to attack Guo Si. Several hundred thousand soldiers were involved in the conflict and the quarrel became so serious that they fought a pitched battle beneath the city walls. The common folk suffered greatly as they were plundered by both armies.

Then a nephew of Li Jue’s suddenly surrounded the palace, put the Emperor and Empress in two carriages, and carried them off. The palace attendants were made to follow on foot. As they went out of the rear gate they met Guo Si’s army, who began to shoot arrows at the cavalcade. They killed many attendants before Li Jue’s army came up and forced them to retire.

Without asking for the Emperor’s permission, the carriages were driven out of the palace and into Li Jue’s camp, while Guo Si’s men plundered the palace and carried off all the women who remained to their camp. Then the palace was set on fire.

As soon as Guo Si heard of the whereabouts of the Emperor he came over to attack Li Jue’s camp. The Emperor was greatly alarmed.

Li Jue went out to give battle. His enemy could not prevail and retreated temporarily. Then Li Jue removed the imperial captives to Meiwu with his nephew as jailer. Supplies were reduced and hunger showed itself on the faces of the attendants. The Emperor sent someone to Li Jue to request five measures of rice and five sets of bullock bones for his attendants. The tyrant angrily replied, “The court gets food morning and evening; why ask for more?”

He deliberately sent them putrid meat and rotten grain that was too smelly to eat. The Emperor was greatly annoyed at the new insult.

Yang Qi, one of his attendants, entreated him to be patient. “He is very cruel. Under the present circumstances, Your Majesty has to put up with this and must not provoke him.”

The Emperor lowered his head and was silent, but tears fell on his garments. Suddenly, someone came in with the tidings that a force of cavalry, their sabers glittering in the sun, was approaching to rescue them. Then they heard the gongs beat and the roll of the drums.

The Emperor told him to find out who it was. But it was Guo Si, and sadness fell again. Presently there arose a great shout, for Li Jue had gone out to fight with his opponent.

“I treated you well. Why did you try to kill me?” asked Li Jue.

“You are a rebel, why should I not slay you?” Guo Si retorted.

“You call me rebel when I am guarding the Emperor?”

“You have abducted him—do you call that guarding?”

“Why so many words? Let us settle the matter in a single combat without the aid of soldiers; the winner will take the Emperor and leave.”

So saying the two fought in front of their armies, but neither could prevail over the other. Then they saw Yang Biao come riding up to them, crying, “Rest a while, Commanders! I have invited the officials to mediate a peace between you.”

Therefore the two leaders retired to their camps. Soon Yang Biao, Zhu Jun, and three other officials came up and went to Guo Si’s camp first, but to their horror, they were all thrown into confinement.

“We came with good intentions,” they moaned, “and we are treated like this.”

“Li Jue has run off with the Emperor, why can’t I get his officials?” asked Guo Si.

“One has the Emperor and the other, his officials. What are you up to?” said the peacemaker, Yang Biao.

Guo Si lost patience and drew his sword, but one of his officers persuaded him not to slay the speaker. Then he released Yang Biao and Zhu Jun. The others, however, were kept in custody.

“Here we are, two officials of the throne, and we cannot help our lord. We have been born in vain,” said Yang Biao.

Throwing their arms about each other, they wept and fell swooning to the ground. When Zhu Jun went home, he fell seriously ill and soon died.

Thereafter the two adversaries fought every day for nearly three months, each losing many men.

Now Li Jue was a firm believer in black magic. He often called witches to beat drums and summon spirits to his camp. His chief advisor, Jia Xu, used to remonstrate with him, but to no avail.

Yang Qi said to the Emperor: “I find that Jia Xu, although a close friend of Li Jue’s, does not seem to have lost his loyalty to Your Majesty. I think Your Majesty should ask him for help.”

Just then Jia Xu himself arrived. The Emperor sent away his attendants and said to him in tears, “Will you not pity the Hans and save my life?”

Jia Xu prostrated himself on the ground and said, “That is my strongest wish. But say no more, Your Majesty, let your servant try to work out a plan.”

The Emperor dried his tears. Soon Li Jue came in with his sword girded on. The Emperor was so terrified that his face became the color of clay.

Li Jue said to the Emperor, “Guo Si has failed in his duty and imprisoned the court officials. He wished to slay Your Majesty and you would have been captured but for me.”

The Emperor joined his hands together in salute and thanked him. He went away. Before long, Huangfu Li, an official from Xiliang, entered and the Emperor, knowing him as a man of persuasive tongue and also that he came from the same district as Li Jue, asked him to go to both factions to try to negotiate peace. He accepted the mission and first went to Guo Si, who said he was willing to release the officials if Li Jue would restore the Emperor to full liberty. He then went to the other side. To Li Jue he said, “Since I am a Xiliang man the Emperor has selected me to make peace between you and your adversary. Now Guo Si has consented to cease the quarrel—will you agree to peace?”

“I have overthrown Lu Bu, I have upheld the government for four years, and have many great services to my credit, as all the world knows. But Guo Si, a mere horse thief, has dared to seize the officials of state and to set himself up against me. I have sworn to slay him. Look around you. Don’t you think my army large enough to break him?”

“Not necessarily,” said Huangfu Li. “In ancient days Hou Yi,
^*
proud of his skill in archery, gave no thought to great adversity and so perished. Lately, you have seen how powerful Dong Zhuo has been, but he was betrayed by Lu Bu who had received many benefits at his hands. In no time his head was hanging over the city gate. So mere force is not enough to guarantee safety. Now you are a high-ranking general, with all the symbols of rank and high office, and your descendants and all your clan occupy distinguished positions. You must confess that the state has rewarded you liberally. True, Guo Si has seized the officials of the state, but you have done the same to the Emperor. Who is worse than the other?”

Li Jue angrily drew his sword and shouted, “Did the Emperor send you to humiliate me? I will cut your head first.”

One of his officers checked him. “Guo Si is still alive,” he said. “To slay the imperial messenger would be giving him a good excuse to raise an army against you. And all the nobles would join him.”

Jia Xu also tried hard to calm him down. The messenger of peace was urged to go away. But he would not be satisfied with failure. He remained there and cried loudly, “Li Jue will not obey the Emperor’s command. He will kill his lord to set up himself.”

One of the Emperor’s attendants hastened to shut his mouth. “Do not utter such words. You will only bring harm upon yourself.”

But Huangfu Li shrieked at him as well. “You are also an official of the state and yet you even back up the rebel. As the saying goes, ‘When the Emperor is put to shame his ministers die’. If it were my lot to suffer death at the hands of Li Jue, so be it!”

And he continued with a torrent of abuse. When the Emperor heard of the incident, he at once called in Huangfu Li and sent him away to his home in Xiliang.

Now the majority of Li Jue’s men were from Xiliang and he had also relied on the assistance of Qiang tribe soldiers. Huangfu Li had spread the story among them that Li Jue was a rebel and so were those who helped him, and that there would be a day of heavy reckoning. His words were readily believed and the morale of the soldiers sank. Li Jue sent one of his officers to arrest Huangfu Li; but the officer had a moral sense and, instead of carrying out his master’s order, returned to say he could not be found.

Jia Xu tried to work on the feelings of the Qiang soldiers. He said to them in secret, “The Emperor knows you are loyal to him and have suffered from military campaigning. He has issued a secret command for you to go home and then he will reward you liberally in future.”

The tribesmen had a grievance against Li Jue for not paying them, so they listened readily to the persuasions of Jia Xu and deserted. Then Jia Xu said to the Emperor, “Li Jue is greedy and unresourceful. Now he is enfeebled with the departure of the tribesmen. If you heap honors upon him, Your Majesty, he can be bought.”

The Emperor agreed and raised him to the rank of Supreme Commander of the Army. This delighted him greatly and he credited his promotion to the power of the witches’ prayers and incantations. He rewarded them most generously.

But his army was forgotten. Yang Feng was angry and he said to his colleague Song Guo: “We have taken all the risks and exposed ourselves to stones and arrows in his service, yet instead of giving us any reward he ascribes all the credit to those witches of his.”