The Three Kingdoms Volume 1 (54 page)

In the meantime, Liu Bei was still unaware of what had happened to his youngest brother. As he drew near Cao Cao’s camp he heard a great noise. Then he was attacked in the rear and very soon had lost half of his force. Next came Xiahou Dun to assault him. Liu Bei fled but was again pursued by Xiahou Yuan. Glancing about, he found he had less than fifty men supporting him. He hastened in the direction of Xiaopei.

But before long he saw that place in flames. He had to change his plan and went toward Xiapi. However, he found the whole countryside swarmed with his enemy and it was impossible for him to get through. He thought to himself, “Yuan Shao has told Sun Qian that I can find refuge with him if things go awry. I’d better go to him till I can form some other plan of my own.” So he decided to take the Qingzhou road but it was also blocked. He finally managed to escape into the open country and made his way north. He was not pursued but his few remaining followers were all captured.

He hastened alone toward Qingzhou, traveling more than three hundred
li
a day. When he reached the city he called the guards to open the gate for him. The guards asked who he was and went in to tell their master Yuan Tan, the eldest son of Yuan Shao. The young man was greatly surprised, but he opened the gates and went to meet Liu Bei, whom he treated with due respect.

Liu Bei told him about his defeat by Cao Cao and expressed his wish for asylum. He was invited to stay at the guesthouse temporarily, while the young man wrote to inform his father. Then he provided an escort to accompany Liu Bei on his journey further north.

At the border of Pingyuan he was met by Yuan Shao himself with a big retinue. Liu Bei offered a humble obeisance, which Yuan Shao hastened to return and said, “I have been very distressed that, on account of my son’s illness, I failed to come to your aid. It is great joy to see you now—the one desire of my life is satisfied.”

Liu Bei replied, “I am but a wretched man of ill fortune. I have long desired to serve under you, but fate has hitherto denied me that privilege. Now, attacked by Cao Cao, my family lost, I remembered that you, General, are generous enough to receive men from all sides. Therefore I have put aside my feeling of shame to come to you. I trust that I may be found worthy and one day I will prove my gratitude.”

Yuan Shao was very pleased and treated him exceedingly well. So from then on Liu Bei settled down in Jizhou with Yuan Shao.

After the capture of Xiaopei, Cao Cao pressed on toward Xuzhou. After a short struggle and the flight of the majority of the defenders, the city was surrendered by Cheng Deng. Cao Cao led his army into the city, restored order, and pacified the people. His next target was Xiapi, where Guan Yu was holding out and guarding Liu Bei’s family.

Xun Yu said, “Guan Yu is there, protecting his brother’s family, and he will defend the city to the last. If you do not take it quickly Yuan Shao will get it.”

“I have always admired Guan Yu, both for his fighting skills and his noble character. I want him to enter my service. Better send someone to persuade him to come over to my side.”

“He will not do that,” said Guo Jia, “His sense of loyalty is too firm. I fear anyone who goes to speak with him will be harmed.”

Then a man stepped out and said, “I know him slightly and I will go.”

The speaker was Zhang Liao. Cheng Yu said to him, “Though you are an old acquaintance of his I don’t think he is the kind of person to be persuaded. But I have a scheme that will leave him with no alternative and then he will have to enter the service of our minister.”

They set the fatal trap beside the lordly tiger’s tail,
They hide the hook with fragrant bait to catch the mighty whale.

How was Guan Yu going to be entrapped? This will be told in the next chapter.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Guan Yu Proposes Three Conditions on Top of a Hill

Cao Cao Breaks the Siege at Baima

A
t
the close of the last chapter Cheng Yu was about to disclose his plan to induce Guan Yu to betray his brothers. He said, “As Guan Yu is an unusually brave warrior, he can only be reached by superior strategy. Let us send some of the soldiers who have recently surrendered into Xiapi, where they can say they have escaped. They will thus be our men in the city. Then arrange an attack and a feigned defeat to entice Guan Yu to move away from the city. In the meantime, send veteran troops to cut his escape route. Only then can Zhang Liao go and talk to him.”

Cao Cao accepted the scheme and a few score of the men who had lately been Liu Bei’s men in Xuzhou were sent to Xiapi. Guan Yu believed the story they told him and let them stay in his place.

After this part of the game had been played, Xiahou Dun led 5,000 men to offer battle. At first Guan Yu would not accept the challenge; however, provoked by men sent to hurl insults at him from the foot of the wall, his temper got the better of him and he moved out with 3,000 soldiers. They exchanged some ten bouts and then Xiahou Dun turned to run away. Guan Yu pursued. His opponent stopped and engaged him for a few bouts and fled again. Thus alternately fighting and retreating, he succeeded in enticing Guan Yu to move away from the city for twenty
li
. Then Guan Yu, suddenly remembering the risk to the city, turned his men homeward.

Soon, the sound of a signal bomb was heard and out moved two bodies of men to bar his way. They were commanded by Cao Cao’s fiercest fighters, Xu Huang and Xu Chu. Guan Yu fought his way through and hastened forward but from both sides a hundred or so archers let forth arrows that flew like locusts on the wing. Advancing was impossible and he was forced to turn back, but was again attacked by the joint forces of his two enemies. He fought furiously to drive them offand got onto the road to his own city, but soon Xiahou Dun came up again and attacked as fiercely as before. Evening came and still Guan Yu was hemmed in, so he finally went up a low hill, upon which he encamped for a rest.

He was surrounded on all sides by enemies. Looking toward his city, he saw it lit up in raging fire. But he did not know that it was the soldiers sent by his enemy that had opened the gate to Cao Cao, who had gone in with his mighty force. They had started the fire in order to upset Guan Yu, and indeed the sight alarmed him very much.

In the night he made several efforts to escape from the hill, but every attempt was checked by flights of arrows. At daybreak he prepared for one more effort, but before moving he saw a horseman riding up at full speed and he recognized him as his old acquaintance Zhang Liao. When within speaking distance, Guan Yu asked, “Have you come to fight me?”

“No,” replied Zhang Liao. “I have come to see you because of our old friendship.”

He threw aside his sword, dismounted and came forward to greet him. And the two sat down on top of the hill.

“You must have come to talk me round then,” said Guan Yu.

“Nor that either,” said Zhang Liao. “Sometime ago you saved me—how can I not save you?”

“Do you mean you have come to help me?”

“Not exactly that,” replied Zhang Liao.

“Then what are you doing here if you have not come to help me?”

“Well, at present nothing is known of the fate of your elder brother, nor whether your younger brother is alive or dead. Last night your city fell into the hands of Cao Cao, but neither soldiers nor people were harmed and guards were assigned to look after the family of Liu Bei lest they should be alarmed. I come to tell you how well they have been treated.”

“This is certainly trying to talk me round,” said Guan Yu indignantly. “Though escape is impossible I am not perturbed. I look upon death as a journey home. Go away quickly and I will go down at once to fight you.”

“The world will laugh at you when they hear of this,” said Zhang Liao, laughing loudly.

“I will die for loyalty and righteousness. Who will laugh at me?” said Guan Yu.

“You will be guilty of three faults if you die now.”

“Tell me what they are,” said Guan Yu.

“First of all, you and your elder brother pledged to live and die together in the Peach Garden. Now your brother has only suffered a defeat and you want to fight to death. If your brother rises again by and by and wants your help, where is he to find you? That would be a betrayal of the Peach Garden oath. Secondly, your brother left his family in your care and, if you should die, the two ladies would be left without a protector. That would be a betrayal of trust. Thirdly, although your military skill stands unmatched and your learning profound, yet you do not aid your brother in his noble attempt to maintain the Han Dynasty. On the contrary, you are after a vain reputation and are ready to go through fire and water to die a valiant fool. What is the sense in that? That would be a betrayal of righteousness. These are the three faults and I feel it my duty to point them out to you.”

Guan Yu thought for some time. Then he said, “You say I have three faults. What do you desire me to do?”

“You are surrounded on all sides. You will not be able to escape death if you do not yield. There is no advantage in a meaningless death. Therefore your best course is to yield to Cao Cao till you hear news of Liu Bei and can rejoin him. Thus you will ensure the safety of the two ladies and also keep inviolate the Peach Garden oath. In addition you will preserve a useful life. I hope you will reflect carefully on these three advantages.”

“You have spoken of three advantages—now I have three conditions. If the prime minister concedes then I will discard my armor. If he refuses, then I prefer to be guilty of the three faults and die.”

“Why shouldn’t the prime minister concede? He is most liberal and broad minded. Please let me hear your conditions.”

“The first is that as my elder brother and I have sworn to support the Hans I now submit to the Emperor and not to his minister, Cao Cao. The second condition is that provisions equal to my brother’s status be made for the two ladies and that no one must be allowed to approach their gates. The third is that I should be allowed to rejoin my brother as soon as I hear where he is, be it thousands of
li
away. I require all these to be satisfied—failing a single one, I will not submit. So, I think you had better hasten back and report them to Cao Cao.”

Zhang Liao lost no time in riding back to Cao Cao. When he spoke of Guan Yu’s intention to submit to the Hans but not to Cao Cao, the latter smiled and said, “I am the Prime Minister of Han, so I am Han. I grant this.”

Zhang Liao then spoke of suitable provisions for the two ladies and their security from disturbance, to which Cao Cao replied, “I will give them twice the regular amount for Liu Bei. As for securing them from being disturbed, that is simple. The ordinary domestic law is enough. Why should I not agree to it?”

Zhang Liao continued: “The last condition is that whenever he gets news of the whereabouts of Liu Bei, he must go to him.”

At this Cao Cao shook his head. “Then what is the use of my keeping him? I cannot consent to this.”

Zhang Liao replied, “You must have heard the story of the ancient scholar Yu Rang who once said that his attitude toward his king was decided by whether the king treated him as an ordinary person or as a man of genius. Liu Bei has won Guan Yu’s heart by treating him kindly and liberally—you can surely win him over by being kinder and more liberal.”

“You are quite right. I will grant the three conditions,” said Cao Cao.

Then Zhang Liao went back to the hilltop to break the news to Guan Yu.