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卷六 魏書六 董二袁劉傳

Volume 6: Book of Wei 6 - Biographies of Dong, the two Yuans, and Liu

Chapter 6 of 三國志 · Records of the Three Kingdoms
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1
西 使 使 西 西 使滿 西
Dong Zhuo, whose courtesy name was Zhongying, came from Lintao in Longxi. 〈According to the Record of Heroes, Zhuo's father Junya had started from a low post before becoming captain of Lunshi in Yingchuan. He had three sons. The eldest son bore the given name Zhuo (homophonous with Dong Zhuo's name but a different character) and the courtesy Menggao, and died young; the next in line was Dong Zhuo himself; and his younger brother Min bore the courtesy name Shuying.〉 As a young man he was drawn to the code of the knight-errant, often rode deep among the Qiang, and won the friendship of every prominent chief. Later he went home to farm; when chieftains rode out to join him, he went back with them, butchered his ox, and held a feast. Touched by his generosity, the chiefs went home, took up a collection, and brought him more than a thousand head of livestock. 〈The Book of Wu relates that the commandery called Zhuo to office and put him in charge of suppressing banditry. When Hu raiders swept in and seized townsfolk by the hundred, Liangzhou Inspector Chengjiu took Zhuo on as an aide, gave him cavalry, and sent him against them. Zhuo crushed the raid and tallied a thousand dead or taken. Bingzhou Inspector Duan Jiong forwarded Zhuo's name to the high ministries, and Minister of Education Yuan Wei brought him in as a secretary.〉 Toward the end of Emperor Huan's reign he entered the Yulin Guard as a candidate from a respectable family of the Six Border Commanderies. Zhuo was a formidable fighter—few could match his raw strength—and went into battle with twin quivers, loosing arrows to either side at full gallop. As army major under General Zhang Huan he earned distinction on the Bingzhou expedition, received appointment as a gentleman of the palace and a gift of nine thousand bolts of silk, and gave every bolt to his officers and men. He rose to magistrate of Guangwu, northern commandant of Shu, and colonel of the Gengji garrison in the Western Regions, then lost his post. The court recalled him to serve as inspector of Bingzhou and administrator of Hedong, 〈The Record of Heroes adds that Zhuo fought the Qiang and Hu in well over a hundred engagements.〉 Promoted to general of the household, he marched against the Yellow Turbans; his force was routed and he was punished for it. When Han Sui rose in Liangzhou, Zhuo was again made general of the household and sent west to hold the line against him. North of Wangyuan Gorge tens of thousands of Qiang and Hu hemmed him in until his supplies ran out. Zhuo feigned a fishing camp: he threw a dam across the ford on his line of retreat until the backed-up water stretched for miles, slipped his army under the embankment in secret, then burst the dam. By the time the Qiang and Hu realized what had happened and gave chase, the flood was too deep to cross. Six imperial columns had climbed onto Longxi; five were shattered. Only Zhuo brought his men out whole and took station at Fufeng. He was named general of the van, enfeoffed as marquis of Li township, and summoned to govern Bingzhou. 〈The Annals of Emperor Ling record that in Zhongping 5 Zhuo was called to the capital as minister coachman and told to hand his troops to Huangfu Song, general of the household on the left, and report to the emperor's traveling court. Zhuo memorialized: "Liangzhou is in chaos and the rebels still roam—this is the hour your servant should throw himself into the fight. My officers are eager to repay your kindness; they have blocked my carriage with pleas so heartfelt that I cannot simply march away. For now I am acting as general of the van, steadying the ranks and doing what I can at the front." The next year he was appointed governor of Bingzhou and again ordered to place his men under Huangfu Song. Zhuo answered again: "I have led troops for ten years; every rank knows me and owes me for their keep—they would gladly die for the realm. Let me take them to Bingzhou and hold the border." Twice he defied the edict—then He Jin called him to the capital.〉
2
Earlier He Jin had sent Colonel Bao Xin of Taishan to raise troops; Bao arrived in the capital and warned Yuan Shao: "Dong Zhuo commands a large army and means mischief. Strike now or he will dominate us; catch him tired from the march and you can take him." Yuan Shao flinched at Zhuo's strength and did nothing; Bao Xin went home.
3
姿 殿
When drought dragged on, Liu Hong was stripped of the ministry of works and Zhuo took his place; soon Zhuo became grand commandant with full imperial insignia and an imperial guard. He then deposed the emperor and reduced him to prince of Hongnong. Before long he murdered the former emperor and Empress Dowager He. He raised Emperor Ling's younger son, the prince of Chenliu, to the throne—this was Emperor Xian. 〈The Annals of Emperor Xian relate that when Zhuo plotted to remove the emperor, he gathered the court and declared: "Heaven and earth come first; ruler and subject come next—that is how government works. The reigning emperor is timid and weak—he cannot honor the shrines or rule the realm. I propose we follow Yi Yin and Huo Guang and enthrone the prince of Chenliu—what say you?" Lu Zhi of the secretariat objected: "The Documents tell us that after Taijia took the throne he proved unworthy, so Yi Yin confined him in the Tong palace. The king of Changyi lasted twenty-seven days and piled up a thousand crimes—Huo Guang removed him. Our present sovereign is still young and has done nothing wrong—this is not the same case." Zhuo flew into a rage and broke up the meeting, ready to execute Lu Zhi until Palace Attendant Cai Yong talked him down. On jiaxu in the ninth month Zhuo summoned the officials again and charged: "The empress dowager hounded the Yongle Dowager to her death, flouting the duties of daughter-in-law to mother-in-law and every norm of filial conduct. The boy on the throne is frail and unfit to govern. Yi Yin banished Taijia; Huo Guang cast out the king of Changyi—the classics praise both acts. The empress dowager should share Taijia's fate; the emperor, Changyi's. The prince of Chenliu is humane and dutiful—let him take the mandate." The Daily Records of Emperor Xian preserve the text of the edict: "Emperor Ling never attained the long reign of Gaozong of Shang; he left his servants all too soon. The realm looked to the new emperor, yet he proved flighty and irreverent—mourning his father with slack indifference, going about as if nothing had changed; his vicious nature became manifest, scandal spread, and he defiled both the imperial regalia and the ancestral shrines. The empress dowager abandoned every maternal duty and ruled with reckless disorder. When the Yongle Dowager died suddenly, rumor and suspicion swept the court. The three bonds anchor Heaven and earth—breaking them is the gravest of crimes. Prince Xie of Chenliu combines towering virtue with natural dignity—broad of jaw, keen of eye, the very face Yao wore in the portrait classics; in mourning he is genuinely grief-stricken and never speaks lightly; even as a child he showed the precocious gravity of King Cheng of Zhou. His good name is known throughout the realm; he should receive the great mandate and become the line that will serve the altars for ages to come. Depose the emperor and enfeoff him as prince of Hongnong. Strip the empress dowager of authority." When the secretariat finished reading the patent of deposition, no one spoke until Ding Gong rose: "Heaven scourges the Han—disaster piles upon disaster. When Ji Zhong of Zheng set aside Hu for Tu, the Spring and Autumn praised his decisive power. When ministers weigh the altars' safety and align Heaven with the throne, we hail them—long live the deed!" Because Zhuo had forced the dowager's deposition, not even the highest ministers wore mourning hemp at her funeral—only undyed cloth.〉 Zhuo became chancellor of state and marquis of Mei, was summoned without formality, wore sword and shoes in the throne hall, and had his mother titled lady of Chiyang with full household officers. He marched in with picked troops just as the palace faction tore itself apart, seized the sole power to make and unmake emperors, and laid hands on the arsenal, the treasury, and every symbol of authority—terror spread through the empire. Brutal by nature, he ruled through terror: the smallest slight invited revenge, and no one felt safe. 〈The Book of Wei notes that Zhuo's ambitions knew no bounds—he told visitors, "My face marks me for rank beyond rank." The Record of Heroes adds that to cow the capital Zhuo had Palace Secretary Rao Longzong clubbed to death for failing to surrender his sword—the whole city trembled. They broke open He Miao's tomb, dragged out the body, hacked it apart, and scattered the pieces along the road. They seized He Miao's mother, Lady Wuyang, murdered her, and dumped her in an overgrown corner of the imperial park without burial.〉 On one occasion he sent troops to Yangcheng. It was the spring communal sacrifice: villagers had gathered at their local shrines when Zhuo's soldiers butchered the men, seized carts, oxen, women, and booty, fastened severed heads to the axles, and rattled back into Luoyang boasting of a great victory over bandits. They rode through Kaiyang Gate, burned the heads for spectacle, and handed the surviving women and captured troops over as concubines and servants. He went so far as to rape palace ladies and princesses. Such was the depth of his cruelty.
4
使 便 退
At first Zhuo relied on Zhou Bi of the secretariat and Wu Qiong as colonel of the gates, along with their nominees Han Fu, Liu Dai, Kong Zhou, Zhang Zi, and Zhang Miao, to fill provincial and commandery posts. Once those men took office, however, they raised armies against Zhuo. When Zhuo learned of it, he decided Bi and Qiong had conspired against him and put them all to death. 〈The Record of Heroes identifies Zhou Bi, courtesy Zhongyuan, as a native of Wuwei. Wu Qiong, courtesy Deyu, came from Runan. Xie Cheng's Later Han History mentions a Wu Fu, style Deyu, who showed remarkable integrity even as a young commandery clerk. When his home district magistrate broke the law, the administrator ordered Wu Fu to draft the warrant and deliver it to the supervising inspector for the arrest. Wu Fu threw himself down and refused: "A lord may neglect his duty, but a minister must not betray his—why ask me to issue orders for my own district head's arrest? Give the warrant to someone else." The administrator, impressed, agreed. Grand General He Jin later took him on as an eastern-bureau aide; he rose to palace attendant, intendant of Henan, and colonel of agile cavalry. When Dong Zhuo seized power, the whole bureaucracy quaked. Wu Fu hid mail under his court robes, slipped a dagger inside his sash, and visited Zhuo hoping for a chance to strike. When their talk ended Zhuo walked him to the door—Fu spun and drove his blade at him. Zhuo was powerfully built—he lurched aside, the thrust missed, and his guards seized Wu Fu. Zhuo snarled, "Turning traitor on me?" Wu Fu shouted back, "You are no sovereign of mine, nor I your minister—where is the treason? You tear the realm apart and steal the throne—today I came to kill a traitor, nothing more; I only regret I cannot drag you to the public square and quarter you for all to see." They executed him on the spot. Xie Cheng gives Wu Fu the same style and home county as Wu Qiong but a different death scene—whether "Fu" was Qiong's alias or a second man named Wu Fu remains unclear. The sources never settle the point.〉
5
殿 使 簿 使 便使 使
In the fourth month of the third year of his reign, Minister Wang Yun, Deputy Director Shi Sunrui, and Lü Bu—once Zhuo's own general—plotted his assassination. The emperor had just recovered from an illness and held court at Weiyang Palace. Lü Bu detailed Colonel Li Su, a fellow townsman, and a dozen household guards dressed as palace sentries to seal the inner Ye Gate. He carried the imperial warrant himself. When Dong Zhuo appeared, Li Su's men closed on him. Zhuo shouted for Lü Bu. Lü Bu answered, "An edict," and cut him down, then executed his kin to the third degree. Registrar Tian Jing rushed toward the body; Lü Bu struck him down as well. Three men died in all; no one else stirred. 〈《Record of Heroes》 preserves the rhyme: "The weed that spans a thousand leagues—how lush it grows; ten days beneath the tortoise shell—and still no life." People also sang songs telling Dong to flee. Moreover there was a Daoist who wrote on cloth the character "Lu" for "Bu" to show Zhuo; Zhuo did not realize it referred to Lü Bu. Whenever Zhuo went to court he lined the road from camp to palace with armored horse and foot and walked the avenue in formal robes under escort. That day his mount balked; Zhuo hesitated, but Lü Bu urged him on, so he slipped mail under his gown and went in. The moment Zhuo fell, the sky cleared and the air lay utterly still. Dong Min, Huang Wan, and the rest of the clan sheltering at Mei tried to flee back toward the capital and were cut down by their own troops. Zhuo's mother was ninety years old; she ran to the fortress gate saying "Beg to spare my death," and immediately they cut off her head. Former Yuan retainers gave proper burial to every Yuan who had died at Mei, heaped Dong corpses beside the graves, and set them ablaze. They displayed Zhuo's body in the marketplace. Grotesquely obese, Zhuo leaked fat until it pooled on the ground and stained the weeds red. The watchman mistook the rendering fat for a lamp wick, stuffed Zhuo's navel with it, and kept a flame burning from dusk to dawn for days on end. Later his old soldiers swept up the ashes, boxed them in a single coffin, and buried the lot at Mei. Inside the fortress lay tens of thousands of jin of gold, nearly a hundred thousand of silver, and treasure heaped like hills—beyond reckoning.〉 The capital rejoiced; everyone who had toadied to Zhuo was jailed and executed. 〈Xie Cheng's 《Later Han History》 relates that Cai Yong sat with Wang Yun and sighed when he heard of Zhuo's death. Wang Yun rounded on him: "Dong Zhuo was the arch-traitor who murdered his sovereign and mutilated the bureaucracy—loathed by gods and men alike. You served as an imperial minister and owed everything to the Han; when the throne tottered you never lifted a finger in its defense, yet now you mourn the brute Heaven just struck down?" He had Yong arrested and handed to the Minister of Justice. Cai Yong pleaded: "If I erred in loyalty, I still know right from wrong—I have spent my life studying rise and fall; would I abandon the dynasty for Dong Zhuo? Forgive a rash tongue's offence and brand my face if you must—only let me finish the histories." High officials prized Cai Yong's gifts and begged Wang Yun to relent. Wang Yun replied, "Emperor Wu spared Sima Qian—and produced a history that slanders an age. The dynasty is failing and armies camp at the walls; we cannot place a sycophant at the boy emperor's elbow and invite posterity to curse us all." So Yong was put to death. I, Pei Songzhi, believe Cai Yong served Zhuo from proximity, not from partisan zeal. He knew Dong Zhuo for the scourge he was; nothing in duty required him to sigh over the tyrant's end. Even had regret slipped out, he should never have voiced it in Wang Yun's hall. Xie Cheng's account is almost certainly wrong. Sima Qian's Records are a gift to civilization; the tale that Wang Yun wished Emperor Wu had executed him earlier could not come from sound judgment. Sima Qian merely refused to whitewash Emperor Wu—where is the libel in that? Wang Yun acted from a clear conscience; if he feared no historian's pen, his quarrel with Yong should have turned on guilt or innocence—not on dread that Cai Yong might malign him—and certainly not on executing an innocent scholar. Such fabrications beggar belief. Zhang Fan's 《Han Annals》 notes that Yong won fame by exile after challenging the throne—his integrity rallied worthy men. Palace favorites hated him when he came back. He fled to the coast and for a decade drifted among the Yang lineage of Taishan. Dong Zhuo made him grand commandant aide; Yong topped the examinations for drafting clerk and within three days sat in the secretariat. Promoted to Badong, he was recalled to court as palace attendant and ended general of the household for all purposes on the left at Chang'an. Zhuo prized his genius and showered him with favor. State papers always passed through Yong's brush. When Wang Yun moved to kill him, worthies across the capital interceded; Yun wavered too late—Yong was already gone.〉
6
Li Jue and Guo Si
7
使 使 使
Earlier, Zhuo's son-in-law General Niu Fu held a separate camp at Shan and sent colonels Li Jue, Guo Si, and Zhang Ji to plunder the counties of Chenliu and Yingchuan. After Zhuo's death Lü Bu dispatched Li Su to Shan with orders to execute Niu Fu. Niu Fu fought back; Li Su fled to Hongnong and Lü Bu executed him for failure. 〈The 《Book of Wei》 calls Niu Fu a coward who could find no peace. He clutched ward-off charms and laid axe and block beside his couch for courage. Before any audience he had visitors physiognomized and divined for omens of treachery. General of the Household Dong Yue came to join Fu; Fu had divination performed, obtaining lower trigram Dui below upper trigram Li; the diviner said: "Fire overcomes metal—the hexagram of outer plot inner." Niu Fu murdered Yue at once. The 《Annals of Emperor Xian》 adds that the diviner repaid an old beating from Dong Yue.〉 A nighttime desertion panicked the camp; Niu Fu assumed mutiny, grabbed gold, and fled north over the wall with a handful of followers including Hu Chi'er, who killed him for the treasure and sent his head to Chang'an.
8
西 使
When Li Jue's column returned, Niu Fu was already dead and the army saw no choice but to disband. No pardon arrived, and rumor said Chang'an meant to massacre every officer from Liangzhou—they were terrified and rudderless. Jia Xu persuaded them to march west, drafting recruits along the route until more than a hundred thousand men ringed Chang'an. 〈《Spring and Autumn of the Nine Provinces》 reports that Li Jue's officers at Shan were paralyzed with fear and clung to their camps. Hu Wencai and Yang Zhengxiu were Liangzhou magnates whom Minister Wang Yun had long distrusted. When Li Jue rose, Yun summoned Hu and Yang to appease the eastern camps—yet greeted them with contempt: "What are those rats east of the passes plotting? Go deliver that message yourselves." The pair rode east—and returned at the head of an army.〉 They joined Zhuo's old officers Fan Chou, Li Meng, and Wang Fang to besiege Chang'an. Ten days later the walls broke; Lü Bu fought in the streets and bolted. Li Jue's men looted the capital and butchered everyone they met until corpses choked the lanes. They strung up Wang Yun's corpse in the marketplace to punish him for killing Zhuo. Zhang Fan's the cited text states: Bu's army was defeated, stopped horses outside the Azure Gate, said to Yun: "You can leave." Wang Yun answered, "Saving the dynasty was always my aim; if I fail, I die with it. The boy emperor has only me; I will not run while crisis reigns. Tell the lords east of the mountains that I thanked them and begged them to remember the realm." Li Jue and Guo Si poured through the gates, camped at the southern palace Ye Gate, and slaughtered Minister Coachman Lu Kui, Grand Herald Zhou Huan, Colonel Cui Lie, and Colonel Wang Qi. Officials and civilians died beyond counting. Wang Yun led the emperor to Xuancheng Gate to escape the fighting; Li Jue's officers kowtowed below. The emperor said to Jue and others: "You—do not make might and blessing—and yet release troops rampaging—what do you intend?" Jue and others said: "Dong Zhuo was loyal to Your Majesty, yet without cause was killed by Lü Bu. They styled themselves avengers of Zhuo, not rebels. They pledged to surrender to the Minister of Justice once their duty was done." When Wang Yun was flushed from hiding, Li Jue executed him together with more than ten members of his household. Every soul in Chang'an wept. Wang Yun, courtesy Zishi, came from Qi in Taiyuan commandery. In youth he had great integrity; Guo Tai saw him and marveled, said: "Master Wang in one day a thousand li—talent of a king's assistant." Despite Guo Tai's seniority, they became sworn friends. All three excellencies sought him; he governed Yuzhou, appointed Xun Shuang and Kong Rong as aides, and rose to intendant of Henan and minister of the secretariat. As minister of education he upheld the throne with exemplary dignity; emperor and court leaned on him completely. Even Dong Zhuo deferred to him and left day-to-day governance in his hands. Hua Qiao argued that a gentleman stands on integrity, wins by strategy, and finishes in righteousness—citing Wang Yun's patient tolerance of Dong Zhuo while sapping his strength and waiting to expose his crimes. With the realm thus rescued, patience was virtue, partition of power was duty, and timing was wisdom rather than trickery—strategy and righteousness met in one loyal purpose.〉 Storms burst over Zhuo's tomb at Mei; floodwater poured into the vault and washed the coffins adrift. Li Jue became general of chariots and cavalry, marquis of Chiyang, colonel director of retainers, and bearer of imperial credentials. Guo Si took the post of general of the rear and marquis of Meiyang. Fan Chou became general of the right and marquis of Wannian. The three dominated the court. 〈《Record of Heroes》 names Li Jue a native of Beidi. Guo Si came from Zhangye and also went by the name Duo.〉 Zhang Ji became general of agile cavalry on the right, marquis of Pingyang, with troops at Hongnong.
9
西西 使
That year Han Sui and Ma Teng capitulated and marched their armies to the capital. The court named Han Sui general who guards the west and sent him home to Liangzhou, while Ma Teng became general who conquers the west and garrisoned Mei. Ma Yu of the palace secretariat joined advisers Zhong Shao and Liu Fan in a plot for Ma Teng to storm the city while they acted as fifth columnists against Li Jue. Ma Teng advanced to Changping Terrace; the conspiracy surfaced and the plotters bolted for Huaili. Fan Chou routed Ma Teng, who raced back to Liangzhou. Fan Chou then stormed Huaili and killed Ma Yu and his confederates. The capital region still held hundreds of thousands of families, but Li Jue's men pillaged every settlement until famine set in; within two years cannibalism had all but consumed the living. 〈The Annals of Emperor Xian state: at that time the capital had just been moved; many palace women lacked clothing; the emperor wished to open the imperial wardrobe silks to give them, but Li Jue refused, saying, "The palace has clothes—why make more?" An edict ordered over a hundred imperial studs sold and twenty thousand bolts of sundry silk issued from the treasury—matching the horse receipts—to aid ministers and destitute commoners alike. Li Jue said "My depot stores are already thin," and loaded everything into his camp. Jia Xu said "This is His Majesty's wish—it cannot be refused," but Jue would not listen.〉
10
便 宿 殿輿 使 輿使 輿 輿 使 羿 竿 便 使
As the warlords jockeyed for supremacy they murdered Fan Chou and absorbed his command. 〈The Nine Provinces Spring and Autumn relates that Fan Chou chased Han Sui and Ma Teng all the way to Cangcang. Han Sui told Fan Chou, "Fortunes reverse overnight—who can predict them? Our dispute was never a private feud; it served the Han. We hail from the same commandery; even if we have crossed briefly, the greater cause should reunite us—let us part on honest words. If chance should part us unkindly, will we ever stand face to face again?" They brought their horses together, gripped forearms, talked at length, and separated. Jue's elder brother's son Li followed Chou; Li returned and reported to Jue "Han and Fan exchanged horses and words"—not knowing what they discussed—but suggesting fond intimacy. Li Jue concluded Fan Chou was plotting with Han Sui behind his back. Fan Chou planned to march east through the passes and pressed Li Jue for more men. Li Jue summoned him to a conference and killed him across the table.〉 Guo Si and Li Jue turned on each other and battled through the capital streets. 〈The Stratagem Summary notes that Li Jue kept inviting Guo Si to banquets and sometimes kept him overnight. Guo Si's wife dreaded Li Jue bedding her husband's concubines and set out to drive the allies apart. When Jue sent gifts, his wife took fermented beans for poison; when Si was about to eat, his wife said: "Food from outside—perhaps there is treachery!" Thereupon she picked out the "medicine" to show him, saying: "One tree cannot shelter two bulls—I already doubted whether my lord truly trusted Minister Li." The next time Li Jue feasted him, Guo Si drank to blackout. Guo Si thought he had been poisoned and forced emetic dung-water down his throat before he felt safe. From that moment they nursed grudges and marched against each other.〉 Li Jue caged the emperor in his camp, torched the palaces, looted offices, and stockpiled the court's regalia in his own house. 〈The Daily Records report that when Guo Si tried to escort the throne to his lines, a night deserter warned Li Jue, who sent his nephew with thousands to encircle the palace and fetch the sovereign in three chariots. Yang Biao protested, "No true emperor has ever lived in a minister's compound. A righteous cause must win the world; this action is wrong." Li Xian answered flatly that the general's mind was made up." One carriage held the emperor, one Lady Fu, one Jia Xu with Zuo Ling; everyone else marched behind on foot. The same day Li Jue shifted the court to the northern redoubt, stationed guards on the gate, and sealed the emperor away from the world. Attendants looked starved; despite midsummer heat their hearts froze. The emperor requested five hu of grain and five sets of ox bones to give those around him; Jue said: "Morning gruel already fills the hall—why bother with grain?" He sent putrid bones that reeked too foul to eat. The emperor raged and prepared to call Li Jue to account. Palace Attendant Yang Qi submitted a sealed memorial: "Jue is a man of the border marches, habituated to barbarian ways; now he also knows his own acts are treasonous and often wears a sullen look; he means to escort the equipage to Huangbai Fortress to vent his spite. He urged the emperor to swallow his wrath rather than provoke open rupture." The emperor accepted the counsel. Li Jue had once camped at Huangbai, which fed his plan to drag the throne there. When Minister Zhao Wen refused his schemes, Li Jue walled him up inside the stockade. When Wen heard Jue wished to move the imperial equipage, he wrote Jue: "You earlier claimed to avenge Lord Dong, yet in truth you butchered the royal city and slaughtered great ministers—the realm cannot excuse such deeds household by household. Now petty grudge breeds catastrophe while the people burn—yet still no awakening comes. Imperial commands for peace lie ignored while imperial grace drains away—and still he would haul the throne to Huangbai; this old man cannot fathom it. The Book of Changes says one stumble is a lapse, the second is drowning deeper, the third without reform brings ruin down upon one's head. Make peace, withdraw the host, save emperor and commoners alike—is that not the blessing?" Li Jue roared for Zhao Wen's blood. Only after cousin Li Ying, once Zhao Wen's secretary, pleaded for days did Li Jue relent. The emperor, hearing of Wen's letter, asked Palace Attendant Chang Qia: "Jue does not know good from evil; Wen's words cut too deep—it makes one cold at heart." Chang answered that Li Ying had smoothed the affair." The emperor set his mind at ease.〉 Li Jue dispatched every ranking minister to Guo Si as peace envoys; Guo Si took them hostage. 〈Hua Qiao records that Guo Si banqueted the ministers while plotting Li Jue's destruction. Yang Biao demanded whether civil war could continue while one warlord caged the emperor and another the ministers." Guo Si nearly ran Yang Biao through; colonel Yang Mi and others talked him down and won the captives' release.〉 Month on month the allies slaughtered one another by the ten thousands. 〈Li Jue surrounded himself with shamans who danced, drummed to gods, sacrificed to the six Ding spirits, and trafficked in every dark charm. East of the ministries they erected a shrine to Dong Zhuo, sacrificed cattle and sheep there, then wandered the corridors begging audiences like mourners. Li Jue belted three swords and kept yet another edge bundled with his whip. Courtiers faced steel and answered in kind, crowding the throne with bared weapons. When Jue addressed the emperor he sometimes said "enlightened Your Majesty," sometimes "enlightened Emperor," and for the emperor related Guo Si's misdeeds; the emperor also answered as he wished. Jue was pleased, went out saying "The enlightened Your Majesty is truly a sage ruler," and thereupon trusted himself, believing he had truly won the Son of Heaven's heart. Even so, he still did not wish close attendants to bear swords beside the emperor, saying to people "Do these fellows intend to plot against me? Why else were they armed?" Palace Attendant Li Zhen, Jue's countryman, always communicated with Jue, telling Jue "The reason they bear swords is that camp discipline demands it—such is state precedent." Li Jue finally relaxed. The emperor sent herald Huangfu Li—a Liangzhou man famed for diplomacy—to mediate between Li Jue and Guo Si. Huangfu Li visited Guo Si first; Guo Si bowed to the mandate. He went to Jue; Jue refused, saying: "I have merit in campaigning against Lü Bu; I have assisted government four years; the Three Adjuncts are clear and still—the realm knows it. Guo "Duo" is a horse-rustler—how dare he rank with us? I will destroy him. You are a Liangzhou man—see my legions: more than a match for him? Duo again holds the Excellencies hostage; his conduct is such—yet you would side with Guo Duo; I, Li Jue, have the stomach to know the difference." Li answered: "Formerly the Youqiong archer Hou Yi trusted his good shooting, never thought of hardship, and so perished. Dong Zhuo had court backing, kinsmen, and Lü Bu—yet in a moment his head spiked the gate: strength without guile. Now you wield the court, the axes, the offices, the kin network—total power. Guo Si seizes ministers while you grip the emperor—which of you is the greater criminal? Zhang Ji, Guo Si, and Yang Ding conspire while the gentry back them. Yang Feng, a White Wave chieftain, still knows the general's conduct is wrong; though the general showers him with honor, he will not give his all." Li Jue cursed Huangfu Li out of the camp. At the palace gate Li reported Li Jue's defiance and insolence. Favorite Hu Miao pressured the herald to soften the wording. He also said to Li: "General Li treats you generously—moreover Duke Huangfu became Grand Commandant through General Li's effort." Huangfu Li sneered that a chief attendant should never mouth such tripe." Miao said: "Considering you have lost General Li's favor—perhaps it will not be easy! What was it to Hu Miao?" Huangfu Li swore he owed the dynasty his life; if Li Jue murdered him for honesty, fate had spoken." The emperor, hearing the blunt tone, hurried Huangfu Li away before Li Jue learned every word. Li Jue's tiger guardsman Wang Chang called him back at the gate. Wang Chang knew an honest man when he saw one—he waved Huangfu Li onward and lied that the chase missed him. The court commissioned Li Gu to invest Li Jue as grand minister of agriculture, seat above the three dukes. Li Jue credited spirits for his fortune and showered money on every medium.〉
11
輿 使 使 西 輿 輿
General Yang Feng and clerk Song Guo plotted Li Jue's murder; discovered, they mutinied. Li Jue's army peeled away and his strength ebbed. Zhang Ji marched from Shan to broker peace, and the emperor slipped free as far as Xinfeng and Baling. 〈The Daily Records of Emperor Xian state: at first when the Son of Heaven went out to Xuancheng Gate and was about to cross the bridge, several hundred of Guo Si's troops blocked the bridge asking: "Is this the Son of Heaven?" The imperial carriage could not move forward. Several hundred of Li Jue's troops all grasped great halberds to left and right of the imperial equipage; Palace Attendant Liu Ai shouted loudly: "It is the Son of Heaven." Attendant Yang Qi lifted the curtain so the soldiers could see inside. The emperor addressed the soldiers: "If you do not withdraw, how dare you press close upon the Most Exalted?" Guo Si's men fell back. Once across the span the escort thundered long live the Han.〉 Guo Si tried again to march the court back to Mei. The emperor sprinted to Yang Feng's lines; Yang Feng smashed Guo Si's assault. Guo Si bolted into the hills while Yang Feng and Dong Cheng shepherded the throne toward Luoyang. Li Jue and Guo Si regretted their truce, reunited, and overtook the fleeing court at Caoyang in Hongnong. Yang Feng called Han Xian, Hu Cai, and Li Yue down from the hills for a pitched battle against the two tyrants. Yang Feng lost; Li Jue butchered the bureaucracy and dragged the harem toward Hongnong. 〈Minister Shi Sunrui died in the soldier riot. Local gazetteers describe Shi Sunrui as Junrong of Fufeng, heir to a long academic lineage. He mastered the family curriculum and rose through prestigious offices. Once Dong Zhuo fell he became grand minister of agriculture and senior counselor. Every dukedom round considered him for the top jobs. Men like Zhou Zhong, Huangfu Song, Chunyu Jia, Zhao Wen, Yang Biao, and Zhang Xi took high rank yet insisted Shi Sunrui deserved precedence. After the court settled at Xu it rewarded Sunrui's son Meng with the Danjin marquisate. Shi Meng, style Wenshi, was a scholar and friend of Wang Can. Exchanging poems at parting—the verses survive in Wang Can's anthology.〉 The court fled Shan, forded the Yellow River without wagons, and stumbled barefoot into Dayang with only empress and ladies-in-waiting. 〈The Annals of Emperor Xian state: at first debaters wished the Son of Heaven to float down the river eastward; Grand Commandant Yang Biao said: "Your servant is a man of Hongnong—from here east there are thirty-six rapids—not what the ten-thousand-chariot ought to follow." Liu Ai said: "Your servant formerly was magistrate of Shan and knew its peril—even with pilots ships overturn—how much more now without pilots—the Grand Commandant's plan is correct." They abandoned the river plan. For the northern crossing Li Yue rounded up boats. The bluff proved too steep until Dong Cheng proposed lowering the sovereign with braided reins. Eunuch Fu De donated bolts of silk from the empress's grip to splice a rope sling. The burly colonel Shang Hong hoisted the emperor down the cliff onto the ferry. Later boats picked up stragglers who clawed aboard until sailors slashed their fingers loose—so many fell into the bilge they could be scooped by handfuls.〉 Yang Feng and Han Xian installed the court at Anyi where the emperor rode an ox-drawn cart. A handful of intimates—Yang Biao, Han Rong, and a dozen attendants—remained. Han Xian, Hu Cai, and Li Yue took eastern, western, and northern commands alongside Yang Feng and Dong Cheng. Han Rong brokered with Li Jue and Guo Si for the return of hostages, ministers, and a few wagons. Locusts and drought emptied the granaries; courtiers lived on wild greens and dried fruit. 〈The Wei Shu pictures the sovereign camping inside a thorn fence without barred doors. Soldiers sprawled on the briars to gawk at council and jostled one another for sport. Warlords executed ministers at whim. Common troops pelted the colonel director of retainers when he passed. Generals sent servant girls to the palace or forced wine on the emperor while attendants screamed themselves hoarse trying to refuse. They petitioned ranks for every camp follower and shook down the populace for gifts. Choppers and orderlies became colonels; seal engravers carved chops with awls when presses ran out.〉 The warlords pulled in different directions until stores vanished. Yang Feng, Han Xian, and Dong Cheng marched the emperor home to Luoyang. They slipped Ji Pass and Zhi Road while Zhang Yang fed the column and earned nomination as grand minister of agriculture. Zhang Yang's deeds appear in his memoir. Luoyang lay in ashes—officials hacked through ruins and sheltered under broken walls. Every governor hoarded troops and ignored the summons. Clerks scavenged firewood until clerks starved in the alleys.
12
Ma Teng and Han Sui
13
西
Cao Cao then brought the emperor to Xu. Han Xian and Yang Feng refused discipline, pillaged Xu-Yang, and Liu Bei cut them down. 〈Liu Bei invited Yang Feng to parley and pinned him at table. Han Xian, bereft of allies, tried to bolt for Bingzhou until Zhang Xuan ambushed him at Zhuqiu.〉 Dong Cheng served Cao Cao briefly before conviction and death. In Jian'an 2 Pei Mao led western generals against Li Jue and extirpated his house to the third degree. 〈An edict spiked Li Jue's head for display.〉 Guo Si's officer Wu Xi ambushed him near Mei. Zhang Ji starved into banditry in Nanyang, fell to villagers of Rang, and nephew Zhang Xiu inherited the army. Hu Cai stayed in Hedong and died by feud; Li Yue wasted away sick. Han Sui and Ma Teng warred back in Liangzhou until Ma Teng entered Luoyang as minister of the guards while Ma Chao led his veterans. In year 16 Ma Chao joined Han Sui and the Liangzhou coalition until Cao Cao shattered them. See the annals of Cao Cao's campaigns. Han Sui fled to Jincheng and died under his own officer's blade. Ma Chao seized Hanyang while Ma Teng's kin paid with mass execution. Zhao Qu's uprising drove Ma Chao to Zhang Lu, then Liu Bei, until he died in Shu.
14
姿 使
Yuan Shao, style Benchu, came from Ruyang in Runan. His great-grandfather Yuan An served as minister of education. Four generations of Yuan ministers tilted the empire. 〈Hua Qiao describes Yuan An as Shaogong—scholarly and formidable. As Chu governor he reopened the king's treason case and spared hundreds of families. He rose to minister of education under Emperor Zhang and fathered Yuan Jing of Shu. Yuan Jing's brother Yuan Chang became minister of works. Yuan Yang succeeded his father as grand commandant. Yuan Yang's eldest sons Ping and Cheng died young—the latter had held general of the household on the left. Younger brothers Feng and Wei each rose to the three dukes. The Wei Shu praises the Yuans for indiscriminate generosity. Anyone passing their gate rich or poor left satisfied—the realm flocked to them. Yuan Shao was Yuan Feng's illegitimate son and Yuan Shu's half-brother but posthumously adopted to Yuan Cheng. Yuan Cheng—style Wenkai—won every magnate from Liang Ji down with blunt charm. Therefore the capital made a rhyme for him: "When things don't work—ask Wenkai."〉 Shao looked the part of a leader, humbled himself before talent, and befriended the young Cao Cao. He graduated from general's secretary to attendant censor. 〈Orphans say the elder Yuans doted on him after his father's death. They enrolled him early as a gentleman and named him magistrate of Puyang before twenty—already famed for integrity. He doubled mourning for mother and nominal father—six years in the hut. Emerging from mourning he screened visitors—only national reputations earned audience. He ran with Zhang Chao, He Yong, Wu Wei, Xu You, and Wu Fu—every daring soul of the capital. He spurned every appointment letter. Regular Palace Attendant Zhao Zhong said to the various Yellow Gates: "Yuan Benchu sits making reputation—does not respond to summons yet nurtures fighting men—do not know what this boy intends?" Shao's uncle Wei heard of it and rebuked him: "You will destroy our family!" Only then did Shao accept He Jin's call-up. Your servant Songzhi investigates: the Wei Shu says "Shao—Feng's bastard son—went out to succeed uncle Cheng." If true, Shao may have been Cheng's natural son. Mourning a birth mother while adopted broke canonical silence—Songzhi doubts the tale. Neither source settles the genealogy.〉 He rose from colonel of the central army to colonel director of retainers.
15
使 便使 殿 殿
After Emperor Ling's death He Jin joined Yuan Shao to purge the palace eunuchs. 〈The Xu Hanshu states: Shao sent client Zhang Jin to persuade Jin: "Yellow Gates and Regular Palace Attendants have held power long—moreover Yongle Dowager conspired with the various attendants solely for profit—the general ought to order the realm and remove calamity for within the seas." He Jin accepted Zhang Jin's counsel and sealed his pact with Yuan Shao.〉 The empress dowager refused. They called Dong Zhuo westward to intimidate the palace. The eunuchs rushed to He Jin and offered to accept any posting he dictated. Yuan Shao begged He Jin to strike at once—three times—and was refused; instead He Jin set Yuan Shao over capital investigators and Yuan Shu over two hundred tiger guards meant to relieve armed eunuchs at the palace doors. Duan Gui forged an imperial summons, lured He Jin inside, assassinated him, and threw the palace into riot. 〈The Nine Provinces Spring and Autumn states: at first Shao persuaded Jin: "Yellow Gates and Regular Palace Attendants through generations have grown too mighty—their awe fills within the seas—formerly Dou Wu wished to execute them yet was harmed by them—only because speech leaked and because he used Five Camps soldiers as troops. Capital-born guards feared eunuchs; Dou Wu pointed those troops at the palace and watched them defect straight back to their tormentors. He Jin commanded crack metropolitan troops loyal enough to die—fortune favored a coup. Victory would immortalize him beside ancient exemplars. Let edict-backed troops seal the palace without stepping inside the inner halls." He Jin first agreed—then wavered like a fool. Shao feared Jin's change—coerced Jin: "Now mutual intrigue is already accomplished—the situation already exposed—why does the general not decide early? Procrastination breeds disaster." He Jin refused—and fell.〉 Yuan Shu's tiger guards torched the Jiade Palace wing to smoke the eunuchs out. The eunuchs bolted with Emperor Shao and Prince Xie toward Xiaoping Ford. Yuan Shao killed Xu Xiang and unleashed a slaughter of every man without a full beard. Clean-shaven innocents stripped to prove their sex; even kindly eunuchs died. Such was the indiscriminate bloodshed. More than two thousand perished. The chase drove Duan Gui and his party into the Yellow River. The boy emperor stumbled back to Luoyang.
16
便 退
Dong Zhuo asked Yuan Shao to endorse deposing Emperor Shao for Prince Xie. At that time Shao's uncle Wei was Grand Tutor—Shao falsely consented—said: "This great affair—when going out ought to consult the Grand Tutor." Dong Zhuo snarled that the Liu line deserved extinction." Yuan Shao answered with silence, hand on sword, and stalked out. 〈The Annals of Emperor Xian state: Zhuo wished to depose the emperor—said to Shao: "The emperor is dim and ignorant—not lord of ten thousand chariots. Prince Xie was the worthier choice. Men may show petty wit yet prove gross fools—yet what choice remained? Had Dong Zhuo forgotten Emperor Ling's lesson? The memory burned him with bile." Shao said: "The Han house has lorded the realm some four hundred years—grace deep and rich—the myriad people have borne them long. The boy had committed no known crime—replacing heir with younger brother would convulse the empire." Zhuo said to Shao: "Brat! Who ruled if not Dong Zhuo? Resistance meant death. Did Yuan Shao mistake his sword for blunt iron?" Yuan Shao answered that steel ran beyond Dong Zhuo's belt alone." He swept out with blade half drawn. Pei Songzhi doubts Yuan Shao could have traded such insults unscathed. Had Dong Zhuo truly called him brat mid-negotiation, neither man would have left the room breathing. Real statesmen neither swagger nor flee—and hardly pick fights with tyrants unarmed. The anecdote fails every test of sense.〉 Yuan Shao bolted for Ji province. Palace Attendant Zhou Bi, Colonel of the City Gates Wu Qiong, Consultant He Yong etc.—all were famed gentlemen—Zhuo trusted them—yet secretly acted for Shao—thereupon persuaded Zhuo: "Deposing and establishing great affair—not what ordinary men reach. They styled Yuan Shao a frightened scholar, not a rebel. Hounding him would radicalize the Yuans. Four generations of clients could arm Shandong overnight. Better give Yuan Shao a nominal post and win his silence." Dong Zhuo named him Bohai administrator and marquis of Hang township.
17
使 使 使 西使
Yuan Shao launched the Bohai coalition against Dong Zhuo. See Cao Cao's campaign annals. As alliance chief Yuan Shao styled himself general of chariots and cavalry and tried to crown Liu Yu—who declined. Han Fu later lost a battle at Anping to Gongsun Zan. Gongsun Zan invaded Ji under anti-Dong colors while aiming at Han Fu. Han Fu panicked. 〈The Record of Heroes states: Feng Ji persuaded Shao: "General raises great affair yet relies on others' supplies—if not occupying one province—there is no means to preserve yourself." Shao answered: "Ji Province troops strong—our gentlemen hungry and exhausted—suppose cannot manage—nowhere to stand." Ji said: "Can communicate with Gongsun Zan—guide him to come south—strike to seize Ji Province. Panic would make Han Fu surrender the province. Then Yuan Shao could step into the vacancy." Yuan Shao agreed—and Gongsun Zan marched.〉 When Zhuo west entered the passes—Shao returned army to Yan Ford—because Fu was panic-stricken—sent Gaogan of Chenliu and Xun Chen of Yingchuan etc. to persuade Fu: "Gongsun Zan riding victory comes south—while various commanderies respond—Yuan General Who Commands Chariots leads army eastward—this their intent cannot be known—your servant privately for general fears it." Han Fu asked what could be done." Chen said: "Gongsun leads Yan and Dai troops—their sharp edge cannot be blocked. Yuan Shao would never serve under Han Fu. Sandwiched between two armies, Ji would fall at once. The Yuans were Han Fu's old allies—better to gift them Ji than lose it in battle. Once Yuan Shao held Ji, Gongsun Zan could not compete—and would thank Han Fu. Han Fu would earn fame for virtue while sitting safe as Taishan. He urged Han Fu to yield without doubt." Cowardice made Han Fu swallow the fraud. Fu's Chief Clerk Geng Wu, Attendant Clerk Min Chun, Administrative Advisor Li Li remonstrated Fu: "Though Ji Province is rustic—it wears armor a million—grain supports ten years. Yuan Shao lived on Han Fu's supplies—a strangler's squeeze away from extinction. Why surrender the storehouse?" Fu said: "I—Yuan clan former clerk—and moreover talent not equal Benchu—measuring virtue yielding—what ancients prized—why alone do gentlemen ail!" Zhao Fu and Cheng Huan begged to fight—Han Fu refused. He handed Ji to Yuan Shao. 〈Han Fu had ten thousand crossbowmen at Heyang. When they learned of the betrayal they raced downstream from Meng Ford. They sailed hundreds of boats past Yuan Shao's camp at night—infuriating him. Fu etc. arrived—said to Fu: "Yuan Benchu's army lacks peck of grain—each already scattered—though there are Zhang Yang and Yufuluo newly attached—not willing to be used—insufficient to resist. Their militia could crush Yuan Shao in days. Han Fu need only rest easy." Han Fu abdicated and moved into Zhao Zhong's old mansion. He sent his son with the seals to Liyang for Yuan Shao.〉 Yuan Shao became governor of Ji.
18
Ju Shou and Tian Feng
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西 使 使 使 便 殿 便 西 鹿 使 使 輿
Attendant Ju Shou Note: Ju rhymes with "pickle."〉 Persuaded Shao: "General at weak crown ascended court—then broadcast name within the seas; At Dong Zhuo's coup he stood firm. His lone ride east unnerved Dong Zhuo. North of the Yellow River Bohai welcomed him. He rallied Ji into a power feared north of the Yellow River. Turn east and Qingzhou yields. Sweep the Black Mountains and Zhang Yan falls. Face north and Gongsun Zan dies. Overawe the tribes and the Xiongnu kneel. Hold the north beyond the Yellow River, weld four provinces into one bloc, recruit every able sword, march a million men west to rescue Luoyang and revive the Han altars—raise that standard and ask who would dare face it? Within a few years, this achievement would not be difficult." Yuan Shao cried, "That is exactly what I mean." He promoted Ju Shou to army supervisor and general who displays might. 〈The imperial biography identifies Ju Shou of Guangping as ambitious and wily. He rose through clerkships and county posts until Han Fu nominated him colonel of cavalry. Yuan Shao hired him away along with the province. Gossip adds that Yuan Shao thought the reign title Chuping echoed his style Benchu—a sign heaven backed him.〉 Dong Zhuo sent Humu Ban and Wu Xiu with orders for Yuan Shao; Yuan Shao had Wang Kuang murder the envoys. 〈Local lore lists Humu Ban among the "Eight Kitchens," philanthropists who fed wandering scholars. Xie Cheng notes Dong Zhuo tasked Humu Ban—Wang Kuang's relative—with disbanding the coalition in Henei. Wang Kuang jailed Humu Ban on Yuan Shao's orders and prepared a public execution. Ban wrote Kuang a letter: "Since antiquity no noble east of the capital has raised troops against the throne. He cited "sparing the rat for the vase": Dong Zhuo hid behind the boy emperor—striking him risked the dynasty itself. He named Ma Midi, Zhao Qi, and Yin Xiu as fellow envoys with sealed orders. The allied provinces honored the edict even while loathing Dong Zhuo. Wang Kuang's plan to execute an imperial envoy was lawless cruelty. Humu Ban was no kin to Dong Zhuo. He accused Wang Kuang of venting coalition fury on a messenger. Death did not frighten him—dying as Wang Kuang's puppet did. He threatened Wang Kuang with judgment in the next world. Their families had been tied by marriage—now they were blood enemies. Kinship had turned to feud. He forbade Wang Kuang's nephews—his own sons—from mourning him." Wang Kuang read the letter and wept over Humu Ban's boys. Humu Ban died in custody. Legend adds séances with river gods—details fill In Search of the Supernatural.〉 Dong Zhuo slaughtered the Yuan clan at Luoyang when Yuan Shao led the coalition. Knights-errant across the north rallied to Yuan Shao's banner to repay Dong Zhuo's massacre. Han Fu fled Ji for Zhang Miao's protection. 〈Yuan Shao named Zhu Han of Henei as investigator for the province. Zhu Han hated Han Fu for past snubs and stormed his compound to impress Yuan Shao. Han Fu escaped upstairs while thugs crippled his eldest son. Yuan Shao arrested Zhu Han and executed him for excess. Han Fu remained terrified and begged Yuan Shao again for escape.〉 Later Yuan Shao visited Zhang Miao for secret talks. Han Fu, overhearing whispers, imagined conspiracy and killed himself in the latrine. 〈Gongsun Zan smashed the Qingzhou rebels, moved into Guangzong, and peeled Ji commandery away from Yuan Shao piecemeal. Yuan Shao met him twenty miles south of Jie Bridge. Gongsun Zan drew thirty thousand foot in a square, ten thousand horse on the wings, and the famed White Horse corps as his hammer—armor blinding in the sun. Yuan Shao put Qu Yi's eight hundred shock troops and a thousand crossbows in front while tens of thousands formed the second line. Qu Yi's veterans knew frontier warfare—every man was elite. Gongsun Zan underestimated the van and charged with everything he had. Qu Yi's line hugged the earth until the horsemen closed, then sprang up—crossbows shredded the charge and Yan Gang fell with a thousand rider casualties. Gongsun Zan's host shattered and ran without rallying. Qu Yi chased them to Jie Bridge. Rearguard action on the bridge failed; Qu Yi stormed Gongsun Zan's camp and routed the garrison. Yuan Shao rode up late, dropped saddle and guard—thinking the battle won he kept only a handful of crossbowmen. Two thousand stray riders suddenly ringed Yuan Shao and filled the sky with shafts. Attendant Clerk Tian Feng supported Shao and wished to retreat inside an empty wall; Shao slammed his helmet on the ground and said: "A great man ought to die fighting forward—how can hiding between walls preserve life?" His escort volleyed blindly into the circle and dropped many riders. Not recognizing Yuan Shao, the horsemen hesitated. Qu Yi's arrival lifted the siege. Gongsun Zan fought frontier wars from a white horse, and the tribes warned each other, "Avoid the white horse." He formed an elite corps of white mounts—the Righteous Followers of the White Horse. Others say northern riders favored white horses anyway—hence the nickname stuck. At Boluo Ford feast Yuan Shao learned Ye had fallen to Yu Du's rebels and Li Cheng was dead. Tens of thousands of brigands packed the city. Courtiers with kin in Ye panicked while Yuan Shao sipped wine unmoved. A clerk named Tao Sheng sealed the gates, evacuated Yuan Shao's family and gentry, and convoyed them to safety at Chiqiu. Yuan Shao rewarded Tao Sheng with the generalship who establishes righteousness. He stormed the hills, slew Yu Du and Dong Zhuo's puppet governor Hu Shou. He swept north through the bandit nicknames—Left Mustache Eight Feet among them. He flattened Liu Shi, Green Bull Horn, Yellow Dragon, and the rest—tens of thousands of heads though survivors fled the tally. Yuan Shao marched back into Ye. In Chuping 4 the court commissioned Ma Midi and Zhao Qi to pacify the north. Zhao Qi rode north; Yuan Shao met him a hundred li out and accepted the edict on his knees. Zhao Qi stayed with Yuan Shao and wrote Gongsun Zan. Zan sent an envoy with a letter to Shao saying: "Minister Zhao, with the virtue of the Duke of Zhou and Duke of Shao, bears the mandate of reconciliation; he spreads court grace and shows harmony—vast as clouds parting to reveal the sun—what joy could exceed this? He cited Guangwu reuniting feuding generals in one chariot. He hoped for the same reconciliation between himself and Yuan Shao." Qu Yi grew insufferably proud—Yuan Shao executed him.〉
20
使 鹿 使 西 使巿 使 使 使
Yuan Shao never wanted Emperor Xian; he sent Guo Tu to Hedong. Guo Tu urged escorting the throne to Ye—Yuan Shao refused. 〈The Biography of Emperor Xian states: Ju Shou urged Shao: "For generations your house has aided the throne and embodied loyalty. While warlords claimed righteousness they carved up the realm and ignored the boy emperor. Secure Ji first, move the court to Ye, and dictate orders in the emperor's voice." Yuan Shao nearly agreed. Guo Tu and Chunyu Qiong said: "The Han house has declined too long—how hard it would be to revive it now! They cited the contest for the empire's deer—first snatcher wins. Keeping the emperor nearby meant endless memorials and trapped autonomy." Shou said: "Welcoming the court is supreme righteousness and timely grand strategy; if you do not strike soon someone else will. Fortune favored the swift." Yuan Shao let the moment pass. Pei Songzhi flags conflicting sources on Guo Tu versus Ju Shou.〉 Cao Cao took the emperor to Xu, seized Henan, and drew Guanzhong in. Yuan Shao tried to tug the court toward Juancheng—Cao Cao refused. The emperor named Yuan Shao grand commandant, then grand general, marquis of Ye. 〈Yuan Shao raged that ranking below Cao Cao insulted him after saving Cao's life repeatedly." Cao Cao yielded the grand generalcy to placate him.〉 Yuan Shao refused the marquis title. Some time passed. He destroyed Gongsun Zan at Yijing and swallowed his army. 〈Registrar Geng Bao whispered that the red Han had yielded to Yuan yellow destiny." Yuan Shao aired Geng Bao's letter before headquarters. They called it treason—Yuan Shao executed Geng Bao to clear his name. The Nine Provinces Spring and Autumn states: Shao summoned Zheng Xuan of Beihai but failed to honor him; Zhao Rong hearing said: "Worthy men are the gentleman's beacon. Wise men were the court's compass. No ruler could afford to alienate the wise. Lose the gentleman's beacon and action becomes impossible." The Record of Heroes preserves that the Founding Ancestor composed the Dong Zhuo Song—its words say: "When virtue shows no flaw—yet calamities seldom stay their course. At the drinking bout Zheng Xuan collapsed mid-toast; Guo Jingtu died beneath garden mulberries." Such lines imply Zheng Xuan passed peacefully. Other histories omit the anecdote—Pei preserves it here.〉 He sent eldest son Tan to Qingzhou; Ju Shou remonstrated Shao: "This must become the beginning of calamity." Yuan Shao brushed him off—each son deserved his own command." 〈The Nine Provinces Spring and Autumn carries Shou's remonstrance: "The proverb runs—one rabbit bolts across the crossroads and ten thousand chase it—yet once one man catches it every greedy runner stops—because shares have been fixed. Ancient rule compared heirs' merit and cast lots when tied. Look backward at fallen houses—forward at orderly succession." Yuan Shao insisted four provinces would test his sons." Ju Shou left muttering that ruin began that hour." Yuan Tan began as army supervisor until Cao Cao formally titled him inspector. West of the Yellow River he barely held Pingyuan. He smashed Tian Kai, besieged Kong Rong, and won coastal crowds eager for any protector. Yet Yuan Tan trusted flatterers, chased pleasure, and ignored the lean harvests. Sycophants Hua Yan and Kong Shun became his intimates. Honest Wang Xiu kept title without trust. He still feasted scholars who praised his salon. His brother-in-law's garrison looted streets while bandits ravaged fields beyond. His recruiters shook down counties—bribes bought exemption—honest peasants were dragged from hedgerows like game. Registers shrank from ten thousand families to hundreds—tax yield fell below a third of quota. Scholars refused his summons. He could not punish men who ignored military deadlines yet stayed home with kin.〉 He gave Yuan Xi Youzhou and nephew Gao Gan Bingzhou. He stacked Shen Pei, Feng Ji, Tian Feng, Yan Liang, and a hundred thousand veterans for the march on Xu. 〈Shiyu lowers the count to fifty thousand foot and eight thousand horse. Sun Sheng evaluates: investigating Wei Wu's remark to Cui Yan "Yesterday I examined your province's household registers—could raise three hundred thousand troops." If Ji alone yields three hundred thousand liable men, four provinces imply far more. Yuan Shao's full levy surely neared the hundred-thousand mark. The Biography of Emperor Xian states: when Shao would march south Ju Shou and Tian Feng remonstrated: "Campaigns drag year after year—the people are exhausted—granaries empty—levies and labor still crushing—this is the state's grave worry. Send laurels to Luoyang first—then heal the farms. If rebuffed, declare Cao Cao blocks the emperor—then chip away from Liyang with river fleets and border raids. Three patient years could win without a rash clash." Shen Pei and Guo Tu said: "Art of War teaches—tenfold strength surrounds—fivefold attacks—when evenly matched fight. They argued Yuan Shao's northern host could crush Cao Cao outright. Delay forfeited easy victory." Shou said: "Those who rescue chaos and punish cruelty—call them righteous armies; Sheer bulk betrayed arrogance. Righteous armies conquer—pride precedes fall. Marching on Xu flouted the emperor Cao Cao shields. Strategy—not raw numbers—decides Temple victories. Cao Cao's troops outclass Gongsun Zan's trapped rabble. Ju Shou called Yuan Shao's rush suicidal hubris." Tu et al. said: "King Wu campaigned against Zhou—not called unrighteous—how much less striking the Cao clan—how call it nameless! They demanded strike while zeal burned. They cited Yue accepting Heaven's gift—Wu refusing—and ruin. They mocked Ju Shou as timid clerk blind to opportunity." Yuan Shao sided with the hawks. Tu et al. therefore slandered Shou—"He supervises inside and outside—awe shakes three armies—if his influence swells—how restrain him? They cited the Yellow Stone stratagem—rival principals destroy regimes. Generals abroad should not spy on palace secrets." Yuan Shao grew suspicious of Ju Shou. He split Ju Shou's authority with Guo Tu and Chunyu Qiong—three coequal commands marched south.〉
21
祿 輿 退 仿 使使 便 使
Earlier Cao Cao posted Liu Bei against Yuan Shu in Xu. After Yuan Shu died Liu Bei slew Che Zhou and fortified Pei. Yuan Shao sent cavalry to reinforce Liu Bei. Cao Cao's Liu Dai and Wang Zhong failed against them. In Jian'an 5 Cao Cao marched east himself. Tian Feng begged Yuan Shao to strike Cao Cao's rear—Yuan Shao refused because his son was ill—Tian Feng beat the earth with his cane in despair." Cao Cao arrived and scattered Liu Bei. Liu Bei bolted to Yuan Shao. 〈The Wei Clan Spring and Autumn preserves Yuan Shao's proclamation to commanderies: "We hear enlightened rulers plot peril to master change—loyal ministers ponder hardship to seize initiative. It compares Cao Cao to Zhao Gao of doomed Qin. It cites Lu clan dictatorship under Empress Lü. It praises Zhou Bo's coup restoring Emperor Wen. It vilifies Cao Teng and Cao Song as corrupt parasites. It brands Cao Song a purchased minister. It mocks Cao Cao as eunuch spawn loving chaos. It praises Yuan Shao's coalition against Dong Zhuo. It recounts recruiting Cao Cao as a useful cur. It lists Cao Cao's early defeats. It describes restoring Cao Cao after defeats. It accuses Cao Cao of tyranny after promotion. It cites Bian Rang's murder. It narrates Cao Cao's losses to Lü Bu. It spins Yuan Shao's rescue of Cao Cao in Yan as undeserved mercy. When the court fled east chaos reigned. It says Yuan Shao tasked Cao Cao with guarding the emperor. It paints Cao Cao's takeover of the Han bureaucracy. It cites Yang Biao's torture. It condemns Zhao Yan's summary execution. It accuses Cao Cao of robbing Liang tombs. It lists invented tomb-raiding offices. It compares Cao Cao to tyrant Jie despite high office. It piles on legal cruelty against commoners. History recorded none greedier than Cao Cao. It claims Yuan Shao tried patience first. It brands Cao Cao a traitor plotting Han's death. It recounts the year-long siege of Gongsun Zan. It claims Cao schemed with Gongsun Zan against Yuan Shao. Messengers exposed the plot—Gongsun Zan died—and Cao's scheme collapsed. It mocks Cao Cao's defense at Ao Granary as mantis versus wheel. The letter claims Han majesty and allied might—millions of halberds, hosts of Hu horse, champions like the Zhong Huang and Yu Huo sort, bows and crossbows at full draw—Bingzhou crosses Taihang, Qingzhou fords the Ji and Luo, the main host rides the Yellow River to strike his front, Jingzhou drives on Wan and Ye to clutch his rear—thunder stride and tiger steps closing on Cao's camp like a torch to dry thistle or the sea swallowing live coals—what could survive? Han discipline hangs by threads. It claims seven hundred soldiers cage the emperor. It calls allies to redeem the dynasty." Chen Lin drafted this manifesto.〉
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使 宿 退
Yuan Shao moved on Liyang and sent Yan Liang against Liu Yan at Baima. Ju Shou warned Yan Liang's temper made him a reckless lone spear." Yuan Shao ignored him. Cao Cao relieved Liu Yan, engaged Yan Liang, and took his head. 〈The Biography of Emperor Xian states: when Shao was about to depart Ju Shou assembled his clan—distributed wealth to them saying: "When power stands—awe lacks nothing—when power dies—even one body cannot be preserved—alas!" A kinsman asked why Ju Shou despaired when Yuan Shao outnumbered Cao Cao." Shou replied: "By Inspector Cao of Yanzhou's brilliant strategy—and moreover embracing the Son of Heaven as asset—though we conquered Gongsun Zan the masses are truly exhausted—and generals grow arrogant while the lord grows proud—the army's defeat happens in this undertaking. He quoted Yang Xiong—the six states' swagger doomed them—just like Yuan Shao.〉" Yuan Shao crossed the Yellow River to Yan Ford and sent Liu Bei and Wen Chou forward. Cao Cao shattered the probe, killed Wen Chou, and took Yuan officers in a second clash. Yuan Shao's host reeled. 〈The Biography of Emperor Xian states: when Shao would cross the river Ju Shou remonstrated: "Victory and defeat transform—cannot fail to examine closely. Hold Yan Ford, probe Guandu, and keep an escape line open." Yuan Shao ignored him. Ju Shou stared at the ford and predicted doom." He resigned on grounds of illness. Yuan Shao stripped Ju Shou and handed his men to Guo Tu.〉 Cao Cao drew back into Guandu. Ju Shou again said: "Northern troops are numerous yet ripe vigor does not match the south—southern grain is empty and few yet goods and wealth do not match the north; Cao Cao needed quick fights—Yuan Shao needed a war of attrition. Stretch the campaign across seasons." Yuan Shao refused again. The allies edged toward Guandu; an early clash favored Yuan Shao until Cao Cao rallied behind walls. Yuan Shao lofted towers and earthworks and shot volleys until Cao's men cowered under shields. Cao Cao answered with traction trebuchets Yuan troops nicknamed thunderbolts. 〈The Wei shi chunqiu says that since antiquity there were arrows and stones, and a transmitted saying says, "When the hui moves, drum." The Shuowen says, "Hui means launching stones." Thereupon they made stone-launching carts.〉 Yuan Shao mined toward Cao Cao's lines. Cao Cao counter-mined and torched Yuan supply columns. Stalemate exhausted civilians—many shifted loyalty toward Yuan Shao—while Cao's magazines ran dry. Ju Shou begged escorts for the grain convoy and a flank guard against raids." Yuan Shao declined again. Chunyu Qiong camped at Wuchao forty li behind Yuan's front. Cao Cao left Cao Hong and slipped five thousand men to burn Wuchao by night. Yuan Shao's relief cavalry broke and ran. Cao Cao wiped out Chunyu Qiong's command. Before Cao Cao returned, Gao Lan and Zhang He defected. Yuan Shao and Yuan Tan forded north with a handful of riders. Captured soldiers who feigned surrender were buried alive. 〈Zhang Fan tallied eighty thousand Yuan dead.〉 Ju Shou fell captive before he could escape north. 〈Ju Shou shouted that capture was not capitulation." Cao Cao greeted an old acquaintance with grim humor." Shou replied: "Ji Province misplanned—therefore fled defeat. Brains and strength spent—capture was inevitable." Cao Cao invited Ju Shou to rebuild the realm." Ju Shou answered that kin still hostage to Yuan Shao made survival dishonorable." Founding Ancestor sighed: "Had I obtained you early—the realm would not worry me."〉 Cao Cao honored him lavishly. Ju Shou died plotting escape back to Yuan Shao.
23
使 鹿 姿 退 使
At first when Shao marched south Tian Feng persuaded Shao: "Lord Cao skillfully uses troops—transformations without pattern—though masses are few—cannot be lightly treated—better endure long. Fortify Ji, raid Henan by rotating thrusts, exhaust Cao Cao's reserves. Without tiring Yuan troops you could finish Cao in two years. Now discard Temple victory strategy—and decide victory defeat on single battle—if not according wish—regret cannot reach." Yuan Shao ignored Tian Feng. Yuan Shao had Tian Feng chained for spreading defeatism. After Shao's army defeated—some told Feng: "You surely will be honored." Feng said: "If army had profit—I surely would survive—now army defeated—I surely die." Shao returned—said to attendants: "I did not use Tian Feng's words—surely am mocked by him." He executed Tian Feng. 〈Pei cites Tian Feng as Yuanhao of Julu or Bohai. Tian Feng was brilliant and mourned parents with harsh austerity—never smiling during mourning. Learning earned regional fame. He rose through the Grand Commandant's bureau to attendant censor. When eunuchs butchered scholars Tian Feng quit office. Yuan Shao's humble summons drew Tian Feng back as attendant clerk. He urged welcoming Emperor Xian—Yuan Shao refused. Later Yuan Shao followed his advice against Gongsun Zan. Feng Ji poisoned Yuan Shao against Tian Feng's blunt honesty. When Shao's army defeated—earth collapsed fleeing north—masters and followers nearly gone—all armies beat breasts weeping: "Had Tian Feng been here—not reached this." Shao said to Feng Ji: "Ji Province folk hearing our army defeated—all ought pity me—only Tian attendant clerk earlier remonstrated stopping me—different from multitude—I also ashamed face him." Ji again said: "Feng hearing general's retreat—clapped hands greatly laughed—joyful his words proved." The lie sealed Tian Feng's death. At first Founding Ancestor hearing Feng did not follow army—joyfully said: "Shao surely defeated." When Shao fled routed—again said: "Had Shao used Tian attendant clerk's plan—not yet know-able." Sun Sheng ranks Tian Feng and Ju Shou with Zhang Liang and Chen Ping. Lords must gauge advisers—ministers must gauge patrons. Wise ruler plus loyal minister builds empire—dim lord plus worthy minister invites ruin. Tian Feng marched into the tyrant's jaws knowing death waited. Feudal retainers may resign—Tian Feng owed Yuan Shao no blind loyalty. The Classic of Poetry sanctions fleeing chaos for righteous rule."〉 Yuan Shao dressed benevolent yet nursed lethal envy—his temper mirrored such deeds.
24
Rebel towns in Ji fell to Yuan Shao's counterstrokes. His defeat broke his health—he died within seven years of grief.
25
Sons: Yuan Tan, Yuan Xi, Yuan Shang
26
使 使 退 西 使 忿 忿 涿鹿忿 退 滿𩮜 使 使 退
Yuan Shang's looks won favor—Yuan Shao meant to name him heir but stayed silent. 〈Cao Pi's Canon contrasts elder Tan's wit with younger Shang's beauty. Lady Liu championed Yuan Shang—Yuan Shao nearly named him before dying. Lady Liu slaughtered Yuan Shao's five concubines before the corpse cooled. She shaved and inked their faces so Yuan Shao would not fancy them in the afterlife. Yuan Shang exterminated the concubines' kin as well.〉 Court factions split—Shen Pei and Feng Ji backed Shang; Xin Ping and Guo Tu backed Tan. Most advisers favored the eldest son Yuan Tan. Shen Pei engineered Yuan Shang's accession to block Xin Ping. Yuan Tan titled himself general of chariots when denied the succession. The brothers split openly. Cao Cao marched north against both brothers. Yuan Shang starved Yuan Tan at Liyang while assigning Feng Ji as minder. Yuan Tan begged reinforcements—Shen Pei refused. Yuan Tan executed Feng Ji in fury. 〈Feng Ji's style was Yuantu. When Yuan Shao fled Luoyang Xu You and Feng Ji joined him—Yuan Shao prized Feng Ji's wit. Shen Pei and Feng Ji later feuded. Someone slandered Pei to Shao—Shao asked Ji—Ji praised "Pei nature fierce straight—ancients' integrity—ought not doubt him." Yuan Shao asked, "Surely you cannot abide him?" Feng Ji answered, "Our quarrel the other day was over personal grudges; what I am arguing now is the interest of the realm." Yuan Shao accepted that and never removed Shen Pei from office. From then on Shen Pei and Feng Ji grew genuinely close.〉 Cao Cao crossed the river to strike Yuan Tan, who sent desperate appeals to Yuan Shang. Yuan Shang wanted to split his forces to help his brother yet feared Yuan Tan would seize command of them, so he left Shen Pei to defend Ye and marched in person to reinforce Tan against Cao Cao at Liyang. From spring through autumn they clashed beneath the walls until the Yuan brothers broke and fell back behind the walls. As Cao Cao prepared to invest the place, they slipped away under cover of darkness. He drove toward Ye, seized the standing grain, captured Yin'an, and withdrew his host to the capital at Xu. Cao Cao marched south against Jingzhou and brought his army as far as Xiping. The brothers then turned on each other in open war; Yuan Tan lost and fled to Pingyuan. Yuan Shang pressed him hard, so Tan dispatched Xin Pi to sue Cao Cao for aid. Cao Cao wheeled about to relieve Tan and by the tenth month had reached Liyang. 〈The Spring and Autumn of the House of Wei reports that Liu Biao wrote to Yuan Tan: "Heaven has loaded evil upon us; trouble spreads everywhere; your father is gone, and the empire grieves. Your worthy line continues the succession; men everywhere fix their hopes on you and would pour out their strength for the leader of the alliance—such loyalty survives even unto death. Yet how can it be that slander—those blue-bottle flies on your standards—flits between your two armies, splitting your arms from your body and cutting backbone from flesh! From the ancient kings and hegemons down to the Warring States, fathers and sons have turned on one another—history knows such cases well; but then they were forging kingship, securing hegemony, honoring the ancestral shrine, or fixing the succession—none ever abandoned family for strangers, hacked at his own roots, and still built a lasting achievement or a legacy for later ages. When Duke Xiang of Qi redressed a nine-generation wrong, or Shi Gai finished what Xun Yan began—the Spring and Autumn Annals honor their principle, and men of worth praise their faithfulness. Xun Yan's grievance against Qi was nothing beside Jiang Taigong's rage at Cao; nor did Shi Gai's stewardship equal yours as legitimate heir to your father's house. Besides, a gentleman in exile does not shelter with his foe—will you cast aside your father's blood-feud, renounce the tie of bone and flesh, become a byword for every age, and humiliate the allies who stood with you! The younger brother's arrogance in Jizhou is a settled matter; you who bear the greater claim must swallow pride and put the survival of the realm first; even if your lady despises you, that falls short of Duke Zhuang of Zheng and his mother; even if brothers eye each other coldly, it is not Shun and his cruel brother Xiang. Yet Duke Zhuang won reconciliation in the Great Tunnel; Xiang was enfeoffed at Youbi and lived. Forget old injuries; remember the bond you once shared; let mother and sons, elder and younger brothers, be one household again." He also wrote the Masters of Writing: "I know Xin Ping and Guo Tu stirred this strife and set womb-brothers at each other's throats—that you repeat the mythic feud of E Bo and Shi Shen and forget the ode that binds brothers in grief and loss; kinsmen clash and corpses clog the field—I hear it with a strangled heart; you walk like the living dead. The Yellow Emperor fought at Zhuolu; King Wu crushed Shang and Yan—all to purge evil and secure the throne, not to settle petty strength or vent temper. Thus even kin-slaying may be blameless, and putting a brother to death need not violate duty. You both have barely mounted your father's work; before you the altars may fall; behind you his unfinished score with Cao Cao still burns—you must serve duty alone and save the state alone. Why? Metal, wood, water, and fire need hard and soft in balance before they harmonize and benefit the people. Qingzhou men are brittle and rash and poor judges of right and wrong. You with the larger mind must cover the lesser with mercy and patience; strike Cao Cao first and settle your father's vendetta—only afterward argue who was right—would that not be best! If you look beyond this hour, master yourself, and return to propriety, raise your standards and march together for the Han house; if you stay lost and refuse to mend, even border peoples will jeer you—how shall your sworn allies still bleed for your sake? That is the hound and the hare exhausting each other so the peasant bags both. I tremble with urgency and stand like a crane, longing for word that you have reconciled. If you heal this breach, the house of Yuan may yet rise and fall with the dynasty! If not, your allies will never hope again." Neither Yuan Tan nor Yuan Shang would listen. The Annals of Han and Jin record Shen Pei's letter to Yuan Tan: "The Spring and Autumn teach that a ruler dies for his altars and a loyal minister dies at his lord's order. Whoever threatens the shrines and wrecks the realm—law and ritual weigh kin and stranger alike. So the Duke of Zhou wept through the trial of Guan and Cai; Jiyou choked on tears as he carried out the poison cup for Uncle Zhen. Why? Because duty outweighs persons—there was no choice. Once Duke Ling of Wei passed over Kuaikui for Zhe; Kuaikui broke all decency, entered Qi to usurp power, and Wei marched against him. The commentary says: "By Shi Magu's right, Kuaikui may be barred." Thus Kuaikui earned the stain of rebellion while Magu keeps an honored name as loyal servant. If father and son may so contend—what of brothers! Your father passed you over for your elder brother, then named our lord true heir—he told the ancestors and wrote it in the clan register; he called you nephew and you called him uncle—who under heaven has not heard? When your father died, our lord wore the coarsest hemp and the mourner's hut while you kept lesser vigils in the plastered room—the order of grief was plain for all to see. Then the rogue Feng Ji drew his foolish scheme, sweet-talked, and set kin at odds; you rose in fury and killed him on the spot—our lord obeyed the order and joined in passing sentence. After that the wound drained and kin stood clear-eyed again; even wary ministers kept life and honor. We drafted every Hu ally, named renowned generals, marshaled arms, chose fighters, spent treasury and granary bare—what did we withhold from you? Ruler and servants moved as one beneath your flag—we formed your battle line and paid your levies; though we emptied stores and squeezed the people, all bore it gladly and none murmured. Why? Because we poured out loyal hearts and staked every home—lip to tooth, wheel to axle—and asked no gift in return. We thought you of one mind with us, one flesh—combined strength would ward off foes and guard our hearths. Who would have guessed villains would invent lies and bait you with gain until you turned coat—forgetting duty to father and brother, heeding jackals' counsel, twisting your father's settlement of the succession, spurning mourning precedence, breaking every bond of order and legality, seizing Jizhou by force, and claiming your father's mandate. They unleashed looting bands, put cities to the sword and slew magistrates—bodies choked the fields and naked fugitives filled the wastes; some were shorn and flayed, limbs struck off—ghosts howled in darkness and the wounded screamed in the scrub. They even planned to take Ye, promising Qin and Hu troops loot, coin, and women—shares marked out in advance. Men heard them tell the ranks: "Though I still have a mother, I care only that her body stay intact." Listeners stood numb with horror, weeping bitterly—the lady mother sickens with rage behind her curtains; our officers and friends start from troubled sleep, wringing hands with nowhere to turn; we think of standing down and yielding to your designs, yet fear betraying the Spring and Autumn ideal of dying for one's order—bringing unknown grief on your mother and wrecking your father's legacy. The armies rage; every soldier nurses private spite—our lord could not refuse and met you at Guantao. Outwardly we warded off ruin; inwardly we begged your mercy—and received none—while Tuge auxiliaries wavered and broke ranks when steel met steel. Our lord won neither advance nor retreat; enemies struck front and rear; he fled the field and dared not send word. We hoped you might spare kin a little mercy and ease the pursuit—you chased every track and gave no quarter. A beast at bay will turn—even on your grim advance—yet your army dissolved like sand; that was Heaven, not mere arms. Since then we hoped you would mend your ways, master yourself, restore rite, and recover the brotherly love you once knew; but you vented wrath, shattered your own roof, craned your neck like a heron, joined enemies abroad, spread poison and steel—beacons stacked on beacons, blood for a thousand li; broken towns and starving folk crane their necks in grief—we would spare them if we could—how can we! So we marched east and held our frontier; though our camps nearly touch your suburbs we have not crossed your soil—yet at sight of your standards who could hold back a groan? We who follow Pei were household servants of your father; we acted on his order to settle the succession. Guo Tu and his ilk corrupt state and clan—the rites prescribe their punishment. So we levy this spent province to cure your fever—if Heaven moves you to strike soon, our lord will crawl and weep at your feet and we will strip for the headsman's stroke. If you refuse to relent and doom the realm, Guo Tu's head will not stay on long—our host will not stir from the field. We beg you, General, weigh what is fitting and send either the whole ring or the broken half." The Survey of Essentials reports that Yuan Tan read the letter with a hollow heart and wept atop the wall. Twisted by Guo Tu and caught in round after round of fighting, the brothers would not stop.〉 Learning that Cao Cao had marched north, Yuan Shang abandoned the siege of Pingyuan and hurried back to Ye. His officers Lü Kuang and Lü Xiang defected to Cao Cao; Yuan Tan secretly carved general's seals and slipped them to the pair.
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使 西 忿
Cao Cao saw through Tan's trick but sealed the tie with marriage to calm him, then withdrew his army. Yuan Shang left Shen Pei and Su You to defend Ye and again struck Yuan Tan in Pingyuan. Cao Cao marched on Ye, halted at the Huan fifty li out. Su You planned to open the gates; the plot surfaced, he clashed with Shen Pei inside the walls, lost, and bolted to Cao Cao. Cao Cao then drove the siege with tunnels; Shen Pei countered with inner trenches. Shen Pei's officer Feng Li opened a sortie gate and let in three hundred of Cao's men; Pei noticed and rolled boulders from the wall onto the inner gate—bars slammed shut and every man inside died. Cao Cao then ringed the city with a forty-li ditch, shallow at first as if it could be jumped. Shen Pei watched from the walls and laughed; he would not sortie for a cheap gain. In one night Cao deepened it two zhang and diverted the Zhang to flood Ye; from late spring through summer more than half the defenders starved. Yuan Shang heard Ye's peril and raced back with ten thousand men along the western hills to Yangpingting, seventeen li off beside the Fu—signal fires flashed between camp and wall. Shen Pei sortied from the north gate to link with Shang and split the ring. Cao Cao intercepted and drove Pei back; Shang broke as well and fled to a camp on a bend of the Zhang—Cao pinned him there. Before the encirclement closed, Shang panicked and sent Yin Kui and Chen Lin to sue for peace—Cao refused. Shang bolted for Lankou while Cao's van hammered the siege; Ma Yan and others surrendered mid-battle and the army collapsed—Shang fled to Zhongshan. Cao seized the baggage train, Shang's seals, insignia, and wardrobe, and paraded them before the defenders—Ye's morale shattered. Shen Pei's nephew Rong held the east gate; he opened it by night to Cao's men—street fighting followed and Pei was taken alive. Pei spoke with fierce pride and never bent a word—every witness sighed at him. They executed him. 〈The Conduct of Worthies of Antiquity relates that Shen Pei, style Zhengnan, from Wei commandery, was ardent and upright from youth, with a dignity none could breach. When Yuan Shao ruled Jizhou he gave Shen Pei his fullest trust—chief clerk and administrative aide, running the staff headquarters. When Yuan Tan withdrew, families called out for Xin Pi and Guo Tu to be allowed through—only Xin Ping's household was rounded up. When Shen Pei's nephew opened the gates, Pei watched from the southeast tower as Cao's men poured in; blaming Xin Ping and Guo Tu for ruining Jizhou, he dispatched riders to the Ye prison and had Xin Ping's family slaughtered on his word. Xin Pi was in camp; when he heard the breach he bolted for the prison to save his brother's kin—they were already dead. That day they bound Shen Pei alive and marched him to headquarters; Xin Pi and the rest met him with riding crops to the head, snarling, "Cur—this day you die for good!" Pei shot back, "Dogs—it was your kind that broke Jizhou; I only regret I never killed you! And what—can you truly spare me or take my head today?" Presently Cao had him brought in and asked, "Do you know who opened your gates for me?" Pei said he did not." Cao answered, "Your son Rong." Pei cried, "That boy was never fit for duty—yet it ends here!" Cao pressed him: "When I besieged you, why so many bowmen on your walls?" Pei said, "I regret there were not more!" Cao told him, "You served the Yuans loyally—you had little choice." He was minded to let Pei live. Pei would not bend; Xin Pi and the rest kept up such keening that Cao had him killed. Earlier Zhang Ziqian of Jizhou had defected first; he had long disliked Pei and sneered, "Zhengnan—how do you measure against me now?" Pei thundered, "You are a turncoat; I am a faithful minister—better dead than living like you!" At the block he ordered the guards to aim him northward—"My lord lies north." The cited texts by Yue Zi and Yuan Wei both claim Cao's soldiers found Shen Pei fighting at a gate, then hiding in a well, and dragged him out from there. Pei Songzhi argues Shen Pei was a steadfast martyr for the Yuans—hardly the sort to dive down a well when all was lost; that tale rings false at a glance. Whoever Yue Zi and Yuan Wei were, they lacked judgment yet scribbled reckless inventions into circulation. Fabrications like these only poison readers and mislead the young. They are villains of historiography—serious scholars dismiss them.〉 Gao Gan yielded Bingzhou; Cao Cao reinstalled him as its inspector.
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西 西
While Cao Cao pressed Ye, Yuan Tan snapped up Ganling, Anping, Bohai, and Hejian and struck Yuan Shang in Zhongshan. Shang bolted to Gu'an to Yuan Xi while Tan absorbed his entire army. As Cao prepared to move against him, Tan pulled back into Pingyuan and Nanpi and camped at Longcou. In the twelfth month Cao sat at his gates; Tan refused battle, slipped away by night to Nanpi, and pitched camp along the Qing River. In the first month of Jian'an 10 he stormed the place and executed Yuan Tan, Guo Tu, and their faction. Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang were driven off by their generals Jiao Chu and Zhang Nan and fled to the Liaoxi Wuhuan. Jiao Chu proclaimed himself inspector of Youzhou, herded the commandery heads into abandoning the Yuans for Cao, massed tens of thousands, cut white horses for the covenant, and cried, "Defy this order and die!" The ranks stood mute and stepped forward one by one to swear. When his turn came, Han Heng said, "The Yuans favored me; now they fall and I can neither save them nor die with them—I have failed their charge; but I will not turn north and bow to the Caos." The whole hall went white at his words. Jiao Chu answered, "Great ventures rest on principle; success does not hinge on one man—let Han Heng keep his honor and shame the rest into loyalty." Gao Gan rose in revolt, arrested the Shangdang prefect, and seized Hukou Pass. Cao sent Yue Jin and Li Dian but they failed to storm it. In the eleventh year Cao Cao marched against Gao Gan. Gao Gan left Xia Zhao and Deng Sheng to defend the city, rode to the chanyu for help and got none, then fled south toward Jingzhou with a handful of horsemen—the Shangluo commandant ran him down and killed him. The cited text notes that commandant Wang Yan of Shangluo bagged Gao Gan and earned a marquisate; his wife wept indoors, sure his new rank meant concubines who would steal his love.〉 In the twelfth year Cao Cao marched into Liaoxi against the Wuhuan. Shang and Xi joined the Wuhuan against Cao, broke, and fled to Liaodong; Gongsun Kang trapped and executed them and sent the heads south. The cited text says Shang was bold and coveted Kang's troops; he whispered to Xi, "Once we land Kang will greet us-brother and I can fell him together and still carve out Liaodong." Kang reasoned, "Without those two heads I have nothing to offer Cao Cao." So he hid his best fighters in the stable yard, then welcomed the brothers in. When they stepped inside Kang's men sprang from hiding, trussed them, and left them seated on the ice. Shang shivered and asked for a mat; Xi snapped, "Our heads are bound for a long journey—who needs straw!" Then the axes fell. Yuan Tan's courtesy name was Xiansi. Yuan Xi's courtesy name was Xianyi. Yuan Shang's courtesy name was Xianfu. The cited text adds that Yuan Shang had a younger brother Mai who escaped to Liaodong with him. The cited text identifies Mai as Shang's nephew. The matter remains unclear.〉 Cao Cao honored Han Heng's integrity and called him repeatedly; Heng never answered and died at home. The cited text calls Han Heng, style Zipei, a man of Dai-clear-minded, gracious, and magnanimous. Orphaned young, he cared for his elder brother and sisters, and kinsmen praised his devotion.〉
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使 宿使 西 使西 退 使
Yuan Shu, style Gonglu, was Yuan Feng's son and Yuan Shao's cousin. He made his name as a bravo. Recommended filial and incorrupt, he rose through court and field commands to colonel who repels the enemy and general of the household rapid as tiger. When Dong Zhuo moved to depose the emperor he named Yuan Shu general of the rear; Shu feared Zhuo's reach and bolted to Nanyang. Sun Jian of Changsha had just killed Nanyang prefect Zhang Zi, leaving Shu to occupy the commandery. Nanyang held millions of households, yet Shu taxed without mercy, lived in riotous excess, and broke the people. At odds with Yuan Shao and Liu Biao alike, he allied north with Gongsun Zan; while Shao feuded with Zan and courted Liu Biao to the south. The cousins split their alliances—each chasing distant friends over kin nearby. The cited text records contemporary argument that Lingdi had forfeited the mandate, leaving a child emperor raised by usurpers who knew not his mother's blood. Governor Liu Yu of Youzhou was revered; Yuan Shao and allies meant to enthrone him for stability and wrote Shu. Shu saw the Han failing and nursed his own ambition—so he refused Shao under cover of righteous principle. Shao wrote again: "You and Han Fu pledged an enduring order—a sovereign who could revive the dynasty for every shore. Now Chang'an seats a boy with no imperial kin; every minister flatters Zhuo—who could trust that court! Stand troops on the passes and let the western faction suffocate itself. Raise a worthy sovereign in the east—peace may yet return—why hesitate! Your clan was butchered—have you forgotten Wu Zixu—would you still bow north? Heaven punishes defiance—think again." Shu answered, "The emperor is wise as youthful King Cheng of Zhou. The traitor Zhuo seized chaos to cow the bureaucracy—that is only a passing scrape for the Han. The realm still reels—yet you would compound the wound. Is it not slander to say the Son of Heaven has no legitimate bloodline! Our house bred loyalty across generations. The grand tutor stayed loyal though he foresaw Zhuo's evil—duty held him at court. Families perished and fugitives scattered—yet allies rallied; if we waste this hour to avenge the realm and wash private shame, I own no such counsel. You cite our slaughter—Zhuo's crime—not the Han throne? The monarch's word is Heaven's—Heaven brooks no feud—let alone a pretender's decree! Our hearts burn to destroy Zhuo—nothing else matters."〉" He marched into Chenliu. Cao Cao and Yuan Shao together smashed Yuan Shu's host. Shu bolted to Jiujiang, murdered Yangzhou inspector Chen Wen, and seized the province. Your servant Songzhi checks the Yingxiong Ji: "Chen Wen, courtesy name Yuanti, was a man of Runan. He had served as Yangzhou inspector and died of illness in office. Yuan Shao placed Yuan Yi over Yangzhou; Yi broke, fled to Pei, and soldiers cut him down. Yuan Shu next named Chen Yu to Yangzhou. Chen Yu, style Gongwei, hailed from Xiapi. Chen Yu had taken Yangzhou when Shu lost at Fengqiu and marched on Shouchun—Yu shut the gates. Shu fell back to Yinling, mustered another strike at Chen Yu, who broke and ran for Xiapi." Songzhi concludes that Chen Wen was not murdered by Yuan Shu—at odds with the principal account.〉 He named Zhang Xun, Qiao Rui, and others to the post of grand general. After Li Jue took Chang'an he courted Yuan Shu, making him general of the left, marquis of Yangzhai, and credential-bearer, and sent Grand Tutor Ma Midi on a tour to deliver the commission. Yuan Shu stripped Ma Midi of his imperial staff, held him, and refused to release him. The cited text commentaries call Ma Midi, style Wengshu, a kinsman of Ma Rong. He studied under Ma Rong in his youth and won office on learning and ability. He helped Yang Biao, Lu Zhi, and Cai Yong collate the palace books, rose through the nine chamberlains, and reached the top of the ladder. The cited text says Yuan Shu asked to see Ma Midi's staff, then kept it; he mustered a thousand camp followers to hound the old man for posts. Ma Midi scolded him: "Your forebears knew how to invite worthies—what is this hounding?—do you think you can press the ducal offices at sword point!" He begged to leave; Yuan Shu held him fast. Stripped of his credentials and broken in spirit, he died of shame and rage.〉
30
The Pei chancellor Chen Gui of Xiapi had trained under the late grand commandant Chen Qiu. Yuan Shu and Chen Gui were both great-clan men and had roamed together in youth. He wrote: "When Qin failed, every warlord reached for the prize—wit and courage won the prize in the end. The world is coming apart again—this is the hour for men of mettle. We are old friends—will you not take me for an ally? In a great venture you would be my right arm and breast." Chen Gui's middle son Ying was in Xiapi; Yuan Shu took Ying hostage to drag his father in. Chen Gui wrote back: "Qin's end was wanton slaughter—misery across the land until the people could not breathe and the realm split. These are bad years, but nothing like Qin's tyranny. General Cao answers heaven's call, restores law, and will scourge traitors until the realm is quiet—the signs are plain. I hoped you would shore up the Han with single purpose—yet you court rebellion and step into the fire—does that not wound you! Turn back while you can—you may yet escape ruin. As an old friend I speak blunt truth—harsh to the ear, yet it is kindness like raising the dead. Ask me to trim my sails to your plot—even at the cost of my life I will not."
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簿 漿
In winter of Xingping 2 the emperor lost at Caoyang. Yuan Shu gathered his court and said, "The Han grows feeble and the realm seethes. Four generations of Yuans have served as ministers of state—the people look to us—if I claim the mandate, what say you?" None dared speak. Registrar Yan Xiang said, "Zhou rose from Hou Ji to King Wen on piled virtue; even holding two-thirds of the realm they still served Shang. Your house is great but not as Zhou was at its peak; the Han is weak but no tyrant like Di Xin." Yuan Shu glowered and said nothing. He seized on Henei Zhang Jiong's forged prophecy and declared himself emperor, The cited text says Yuan traced his line to Chen-heir of Shun-so earth following fire fit the cosmic turn. He also read the tag: "The one who replaces Han shall be the height by the road." He decided his name fit the riddle and styled his line the Zhong house.〉 He renamed the Jiujiang prefect "grand governor of Huainan." He filled out a court and held suburban sacrifices like an emperor. His harem swelled to hundreds in damask while grain and meat piled high, The cited text tells of metropolitan inspector Feng Fang's daughter-a famed beauty who fled to Yangzhou; Yuan Shu saw her from the wall, took her in, and doted on her. His consorts poisoned by jealousy told her, "Noble ladies win respect by soft tears and plaintive airs." She played along and wept whenever Shu appeared; he mistook it for depth of feeling and cherished her more. They strangled her and strung her above a privy; Shu assumed she had died heartsick and buried her with honor.〉 Meanwhile troops froze and starved; the Jiang-Huai corridor emptied until neighbors fed on one another. Lü Bu had crushed him once and Cao Cao again; he fled to Lei Bo and Chen Lan in the Qian hills—who turned him away—leaving him terrified and cornered. He meant to yield his bogus throne to Yuan Shao and join Yuan Tan in Qingzhou—he took sick on the march and died. The cited text quotes his letter to Yuan Shao: "The Han has slipped away-boy emperors tugged by strings while warlords carve the map like the Warring States-might alone decides. The Yuans were heaven's choice—omens blazed for them. You hold four provinces and a million hearths—none match your armies or your renown. Can Cao Cao prop a corpse and raise ashes?" Yuan Shao quietly agreed. The cited text says Lei Bo barred him for three days until his men starved; he staggered to Jiangting, eighty li short of Shouchun. The cooks reported thirty hu of chaff left. The heat was brutal; he craved honey water—there was no honey. He slumped on a camp cot, sighed, then howled, "Is this Yuan Shu's end!" He fell under the couch and spat more than a dou of blood—dead.〉 His family fled to his old client Liu Xun in Lujiang; after Sun Ce crushed Liu they were rounded up again. His daughter entered Sun Quan's harem; his son Yuan Yao became a court gentleman; Yao's daughter married Sun Quan's son Fen.
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姿 使 使 使
Liu Biao, style Jingsheng, came from Gaoping in Shanyang. He won fame young as one of the Eight Handsome. Zhang Fan's the cited text lists Liu Biao among eight worthy allies from his commandery-sometimes styled the Eight Watchers. The cited text counts Liu Biao among the Eight Friends with Chen Xiang, Fan Pang, Kong Yu, Yuan Kang, Tan Fu, Zhang Jian, and Cen Zhi. Xie Cheng's the cited text says Liu Biao studied under Wang Chang. Wang Chang governed Nanyang with austere zeal. At seventeen Liu Biao urged him: "Extravagance must not shame superiors, thrift must not grind inferiors—that is balance—Qu Boyu blushed to be the only sage. If you spurn Confucius for the hermits' pose you only court empty fame!" Wang Chang replied, "Few slip who hold the line. Besides, I mean to buck fashion."〉" He stood over eight chi—imposing in bearing. From grand-general's aide he became colonel of the northern camp. When Lingdi died Liu Biao replaced Wang Rui as Jingzhou inspector. As war flared east of the passes Liu Biao gathered men and camped at Xiangyang. Sima Biao's the cited text says southern Jingzhou teemed with clan-bandits; Yuan Shu held Luyang and all Nanyang. Su Dai held Changsha and Ju Yu Huarong—each defied the inspector with arms. Liu Biao rode alone into Yicheng and took counsel from Kuai Liang, Kuai Yue, and Cai Mao. Liu Biao said, "The southlands swarm with bandit chiefs who owe me nothing—Yuan Shu will exploit that—ruin is near! I must raise troops but fear no one will answer—what now?" Kuai Liang said, "Men withhold loyalty when kindness fails; they riot when justice fails; apply benevolence and duty and the people will flow to you like water—why fret over levies?" He turned to Kuai Yue, who said, "Peace wants benevolence; chaos wants craft. Armies win on men, not numbers. Yuan Shu is bold but hesitant; Su Dai and Ju Yu are mere soldiers—little threat. The bandit chiefs are greedy brutes—loathed by their own men. Men I have cultivated—offer them gain and they will bring their hosts. Execute the worst, win the rest. Survivors hunger for peace—hear your virtue and they will flock with babies on their backs. With troops and loyalty secure Jiangling and Xiangyang—the eight commanderies fall to a single summons. Yuan Shu may come—he can do nothing." Liu Biao said, "Zirou speaks like Yongji—noble but slow. Yidu's scheme is Jiufan's war counsel." He sent Kuai Yue to lure the chiefs—fifty-five came and lost their heads. He seized their followers or drafted them on the spot. Only Zhang Hu and Chen Sheng held Xiangyang until Kuai Yue and Pang Ji talked them down—south of the river went quiet.〉
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使 使 退 使 使
While Yuan Shu held Nanyang he allied with Sun Jian to seize Jingzhou and sent Jian against Liu Biao. Sun Jian died of a stray shaft and his army broke—Yuan Shu never beat Liu Biao. When Li Jue and Guo Si took Chang'an they courted Liu Biao—general who guards the south, Jingzhou governor, marquis of Chengwu, with credentials. The court moved to Xu; Liu Biao sent tribute yet kept Yuan Shao as northern ally. Aide Deng Yi warned him—Liu Biao ignored the counsel, The cited text quotes him: "I serve the court within and honor my northern pact without-the duty every honorable man owes the age. Why should my aide alone object?"〉" Deng Yi quit on grounds of illness and never served him again. Zhang Ji invaded Jingzhou, struck Rang, and fell to a stray arrow. All Jingzhou officials congratulated him; Biao said: "Ji came in desperation; as host I failed in courtesy, and it came to crossed blades—that was never this governor's wish. I accept condolences, not congratulations." He sent envoys to enroll Zhang Ji's soldiers. The soldiers heard and gladly submitted. Changsha prefect Zhang Xian rose against Liu Biao, The cited text identifies Zhang Xian as a native of Nanyang. He had governed Lingling and Guilin and won the river country's trust, but he was stiff-necked and would not bend. Liu Biao despised his character and slighted him at court. Zhang Xian nursed a grudge and broke away.〉 Liu Biao invested him for years without breaking the city. When Zhang Xian died, Changsha raised his son Zhang Yi; Liu Biao crushed Yi, seized Lingling and Guilin to the south and the Han basin to the north, ruled thousands of li, and fielded more than a hundred thousand men. The cited text adds that once the province was pacified, Liu Biao founded schools, recruited classicists, and had Qi Kai and Song Zhong draft subcommentaries on the Five Classics-the so-called Later Recension.
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使 使 使
While Cao Cao and Yuan Shao faced off at Guandu, Liu Biao promised Yuan Shao reinforcements but never sent them, refused to help Cao Cao, and tried to sit between the Yangtze and Han while the empire burned. Han Song and Liu Xian told him: "Warriors swarm and the two strongest lock horns—the scales tip with you. If you mean to strike, strike while they tire each other. If not, pick a side with conviction. You command a hundred thousand men but only watch. Fail the worthy and snub the peacemaker—both camps will blame you; neutrality is a fantasy. Cao Cao draws every able man; once Yuan Shao falls he will march south—you cannot hold him off. Your safest course is to submit Jingzhou to Cao Cao—he will repay you richly; you keep fortune for life and leave an heir a legacy—that is the secure path." Kuai Yue agreed; Liu Biao wavered and sent Han Song north to read Cao Cao's mind. Han Song came back praising Cao Cao and urging Liu Biao to send a son as hostage. Liu Biao suspected treason and nearly executed Han Song; he tortured Song's escort, found no plot, and relented. The cited text quotes Liu Biao telling Han Song: "The realm is chaos; Cao Cao holds the emperor at Xu-go see what you can learn." Han Song answered: "Sages bend principle when they must; lesser men hold to it. I am one who holds the line. A minister owes his lord unto death once names are fixed; I have sworn myself to you—I will cross fire or flood at your word. From what I saw, Cao Cao is brilliant and will restore order. If you honor the throne and join Cao Cao, Chu thrives for generations—send me; If plans stay unsettled and the court gives me office, I serve the emperor—not only you. Ministers owe the throne first—I could not die solely for you. Think hard before you send me—do not regret your pledge." Liu Biao sent him; events unfolded as Han Song warned—the court named him palace attendant and Lingling prefect, and he returned praising emperor and Cao Cao. Biao thought him double-minded—assembled several hundred subordinates—deployed troops to confront Song—furious—held the baton about to execute him—berating: "Han Song dares harbor two minds!" The crowd panicked and begged Han Song to beg forgiveness. Han Song stood firm: "You broke faith with me—not I with you!" He repeated every word of their bargain. Lady Cai intervened: "Han Song is the pride of Chu; his defense is honest—you have no cause to kill him." Liu Biao jailed him instead.〉 Outwardly the scholar-governor, inwardly Liu Biao was jealous and suspicious—this was his way.
35
使
Liu Bei sought refuge; Liu Biao fed him well but never gave him real command. The cited text says Liu Bei urged a strike on Xu while Cao Cao marched on Liucheng; Liu Biao refused. When Cao returned he told Liu Bei, "You were right—I missed my chance." Liu Bei answered: "The empire is torn and battles never end—who can say the last chance has passed? Win the next opening and today's regret vanishes."〉" In Jian'an 13 Cao Cao marched on Jingzhou; Liu Biao died before he arrived.
36
His youngest son was Liu Cong.
37
使 涿
Liu Biao and his wife favored young Liu Cong; Cai Mao and Zhang Yun backed them, so they banished elder Liu Qi to Jiangxia and installed Cong. The brothers became bitter foes. The cited text says Liu Qi raced home when his father fell ill. Qi's nature was kind and filial—Mao and Yun feared Qi would see Biao—father and son move each other—and there again be intent to entrust the succession—saying: "The general ordered you to pacify and oversee Jiangxia—as the state's eastern bulwark—the duty is weightiest; To rush home now would enrage your father and worsen his sickness—that would be unfilial." They barred the gate; Liu Qi wept and left.〉 Yue, Song, and eastern-cao clerk Fu Xun and others urged Cong to submit to the Grand Progenitor—Cong said: "Now with you gentlemen we hold all Chu lands—guard the former lord's enterprise—to watch the realm—why can we not?" Xun answered: "Rebellion and submission have a great pattern—strong and weak have a fixed momentum. To defy the emperor is rebellion; infant Chu cannot match the central court; Liu Bei cannot equal Cao Cao. All three counts doom any resistance to the imperial host. Tell me, are you Liu Bei's peer?" Cong said: "I am not his equal." Xun said: "If truly Liu Bei is insufficient to withstand Lord Cao—then though securing Chu lands—is insufficient to preserve oneself; if he can, he will not long obey you. Do not deceive yourself." When Cao Cao reached Xiangyang, Liu Cong capitulated. Liu Bei bolted for Xiakou. The cited text describes Fu Xun, style Gongti, as imposing, learned, and shrewd judge of men. He served at court, then Jingzhou, earned a noble rank for swaying Liu Cong, and under Emperor Wen became palace attendant; in Jingzhou he called Pang Tong half a hero and predicted Pei Qian's integrity, Pang Tong joined Liu Bei and ranked below Zhuge Liang; Pei Qian rose to imperial secretary—both fulfilled his verdict. In Wei he foretold Wei Feng's rebellion. His nephew Fu Gu has his own biography. The cited text states: Wang Wei urged Liu Cong: "Cao Cao-having obtained the general's surrender-Liu Bei already fled-surely will relax without precaution-advance lightly with a thin column; a few thousand ambushers in the defiles could capture him. Seize Cao and you awe the realm—more than a single victory, you might pacify the north by edict. Such chances do not come twice." Liu Cong refused. The cited text states: Early Jian'an-Jingzhou children's rhyme said: "Eight nine years begin wanting to decline-to the thirteenth year none left." Since Zhongping only Jingzhou stayed rich under Liu Biao—by Jian'an 8–9 decline should start. That meant Lady Liu's death and the collapse of his officers. "None left" meant Liu Biao's death and the realm's mourning. At that time at Huarong a woman suddenly wept and cried: "Jingzhou will have great mourning." Her words exceeded bounds—the county thought it demonic speech—imprisoned over a month—suddenly in prison wept: "Inspector Liu dies today." Huagu lay hundreds of li away; riders confirmed Liu Biao's death and freed her. Continuing again she sang: "Never expected Li Li to become noble person." Soon Cao Cao took Jingzhou and named Li Li of Zhuo, style Jianxian, as governor.〉
38
耀 祿 祿 姿 西 使 使
Cao Cao made Liu Cong Qingzhou inspector and a full marquis. The cited text carries edict: "Chu has Yangtze and Han rivers and mountains' peril-later restored first territory and contended with Qin-Jingzhou is its old ground. Inspector Liu long ruled those people. His sons split the inheritance—survival was unlikely yet could have dragged on. Liu Cong spurned a regional throne, chose virtue over territory, honored duty over armies, and sought an honorable legacy for his house— more than Bao Yong quitting Bing or Dou Rong leaving the Hexi league can express. Even a province and marquisate barely repay him; he has begged to return south. His inspector title sounds grand but pay is thin. Grant his wish—name Liu Cong grandee remonstrant and attach him to headquarters."〉" Fifteen men including Kuai Yue received marquisates. Kuai Yue became superintendent of the imperial household; The cited text traces Kuai Yue to Kuai Tong-deep-minded and commanding. He Jin summoned him as eastern bureau clerk. Kuai Yue urged He Jin to purge the eunuchs; He Jin stalled. Kuai Yue fled to Ruyang, helped Liu Biao pacify Jingzhou, and watched He Jin fall. The court named him Zhangling prefect and marquis of Fan ting. When Jingzhou was pacified—the Grand Progenitor wrote Xun Yu saying: "I am not pleased gaining Jingzhou—pleased gaining Kuai Yidu." He died in Jian'an 19. Dying, he wrote Cao Cao asking protection for his kin. Cao Cao answered: "May the dead revive—I will not shame my pledges to the living. Few favors I gave went unpaid. If their ghosts hear, they will know I kept faith."〉" Han Song became grand herald; The cited text calls Han Song, style Degao, from Yiyang. Poor but scholarly from youth. He spurned court summons and hid in the Li hills until chaos came. When the Turbans rose he fled south; Liu Biao made him chief clerk, then attendant clerk. He condemned Liu Biao's suburban sacrifices and fell from favor. His mission to Xu appears above. After Jingzhou fell Han Song was dying; they invested him grand herald in camp.〉 Deng Yi became palace attendant; 〈from Zhangling.〉 Liu Xian rose to imperial secretary; Most of Liu Biao's staff earned high rank. The cited text paints Liu Xian, style Shizong, as scholar of Huang-Lao and Han ritual. As Liu Biao's chief clerk he delivered memorials to Xu and met Cao Cao. At the time guests all assembled—the Grand Progenitor asked Xian: "How did Governor Liu sacrifice to Heaven?" Xian answered: "Governor Liu entrusted to Han house's inner kin—occupying herdsman's place—yet encountering kingly way not yet pacified—crowds of villains blocking the road—embracing jade and silk yet nowhere to send tribute—revising memorials yet unable to reach the imperial audience—thereby sacrificing at suburb to Heaven and earth—declaring bright sincerity." The Grand Progenitor said: "Who are the crowd of villains?" Liu Xian answered: "Look around—they are everywhere." The Grand Progenitor said: "Now I have bear and tiger warriors—infantry and cavalry one hundred thousand—bearing decree punishing crime—who dares not submit?" Xian said: "Han way declines—the myriad beings wither—already lacking loyal righteous gentlemen aiding and supporting the Son of Heaven—pacifying within the seas—making myriad regions return virtue—yet hindering troops indulging cruelty—saying none match oneself—that is Chiyou and Zhi Bo appearing today." Cao Cao fell silent. He named Liu Xian Wuling prefect. After Jingzhou fell Liu Xian served Han then Wei as imperial secretary. His nephew Zhou Buyi of Lingling, style Yuanzhi, was a prodigy; Cao Cao offered a princess and Zhou declined. Cao Cao thought Zhou matched his brilliant son Cao Chong. After Chong died Cao Cao feared Zhou Buyi and plotted his death. Emperor Wen remonstrated saying cannot—the Grand Progenitor said: "This person is not what you can rein." He sent killers for Zhou Buyi. Zhi Yu records Zhou dying at seventeen with four essays. The cited text says graverobbers opened Liu Biao's tomb in Jin Taikang, eighty years later. Corpse and wife looked alive and smelled fragrant for li.〉
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Section heading introducing the historian's closing judgment.
40
The historian calls Dong Zhuo savage and cruel beyond recorded precedent. The cited text ties Lintao's bronze omens to Zhuo's rise and fall- when Zhuo fell the realm shattered—perhaps fate moved it.〉 Yuan Shu drowned in excess and squandered his own glory. 〈Pei Songzhi notes tyrants like Jie or Qin took years to expose their crimes; Zhuo seized power for fewer than three years yet calamity towered and poison spread everywhere. His cruelty outdid wolves. So "no precedent in records" fits him. But commentary already says "thief cruel"—again says "without benevolence"—thief cruel, without benevolence—in wording redundant. Yuan Shu had no merit yet proclaimed himself emperor—men of honor and common ghosts despised him. Though again respectful frugal restraining use—still must overturn ruin without leisure—and commentary only says "extravagant lewd not finished"—not sufficient to see his great evil.〉 Yuan Shao and Liu Biao looked the part of heroes and won fame. Liu Biao spanned the south, Shao the north, yet each was outwardly generous, inwardly suspicious, indecisive, wasted talent, spurned good counsel, set concubine sons over true heirs, and lost their legacies to ruin. Xiang Yu ignored Fan Zeng and lost his realm; Yuan Shao's execution of Tian Feng was a greater folly than Xiang Yu's!
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