Chapter Five: A forged imperial edict is issued: all towns respond to Lord Cao; Breaking through the soldiers at the pass: the three heroes (Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei) battle Lü Bu.
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Let us now turn to Chen Gong, who was about to kill Cao Cao; he suddenly had a change of heart, thinking, "I followed him to this place for the sake of the country; killing him would be immoral. It would be better if I just left him here, and went somewhere else." He returned his straight sword to its scabbard, and mounted his horse. Not waiting until daylight, he headed to DongCommandery by himself. When Cao awoke, he did not see Chen Gong, and thought, "This guy heard me say a couple of things, suspected me of being inhumane, and left me here. I should go at once; I cannot stay for long." He then went to Chenliu that same evening, looked for his father, and told him the whole story. He wanted to use his family's financial resources to enlist conscript soldiers. His father said, "We have limited means, and I'm afraid that we will not succeed. There is a local government official who received his post based on his record of filial piety and honesty, whose name is Wei Hong. He has shown a willingness to disperse money in order to uphold justice, and his family is super wealthy. If we can get him to help out, we could make it work."
Cao arranged for a banquet, and then invited Wei Hong to his house. He told him, "Today, the House of Han is without a ruler and Dong Zhuo has seized power. He is committing fraud against the emperor and causing harm to the people; everyone in the nation is gnashing their teeth in frustration. I would like to use my strength to help the country, but I regret that my strength alone is insufficient. You are a loyal servant of the empire; I boldly ask for your help." Wei Hong said, "I have been of this mind for quite some time, but regret that I have not yet found any heroes. If you are really determined, Mengde, I am willing to help out by making my family's financial resources available to you." Cao was overjoyed; he then issued a forged imperial edict, which was carried at top speed along every byway. Later, when he was gathering conscript soldiers, he planted a white recruitment banner with the words "loyalty to the empire" written on it. After not more than a few days, he had raised a massive volunteer army. They were lined up side by side, each man like a tiny drop of rain in a great storm.
One day, a man from the Kingdom of Wei in Yangping offered his service to Cao Cao;[1] his surname was Yue, his given name was Jin, and his style name was Wenqian. Another man, from Juye in Shanyang, also offered his service to Cao Cao; his surname was Li, his given name was Dian, and his style name was Mancheng. Cao kept them both as field generals. There was also a man from Qiao in the State of Pei; his name was Xiahou Dun, and his style name was Yuanrang; he was a descendant of Xiahou Ying. He had trained with the spear and staff since he was little. When he was fourteen, he found a teacher, and began his formal training in the military arts. A person had insulted his teacher, so Dun killed him and fled the area. When he heard that Cao Cao was raising an army, he and his younger kinsman, Xiahou Yuan, each came with one thousand fierce warriors. These two men were originally kinsmen of Cao's. Cao's father Cao Song was originally a son of the Xiahou clan, adopted into the Cao family; because of this, they were kinsmen.
After not more than a few days, two other members of the Cao family, Cao Ren and Cao Hong, lent their assistance by each leading more than a thousand troops. Cao Ren's style name was Zixiao, and Cao Hong's style name was Zilian. The two of them were highly skilled in warfare, and proficient in all of the military arts. Cao was overjoyed, and began training the soldiers and cavalry right there within the village. Wei Hong used a considerable amount of his family's financial resources to purchase body armor and banners. Provisions came from all over, in numbers too great to count.
When Yuan Shao obtained the forged imperial edict, he gathered everyone under his command, both military and civilian alike. He led a total of 30,000 soldiers from Bohai to meet up with Cao Cao and form an alliance. Cao drafted an official call to arms, which was to be sent to all of the commanderies. The call to arms read:
Cao and his associates, solely in the interest of justice, do hereby declare before all under heaven: Dong Zhuo has deceived the gods of heaven and earth, destroyed our nation and murdered our emperor; he has defiled the palace, and caused harm to the citizenry; he is as savage as a wolf, and inhumane as well; his crimes have piled up! Today, we abide by a secret decree from the emperor. We have conscripted a large army, and pledge to rid the land of Huaxia of this evil; we shall exterminate this pack of murderers. We have raised an army which seeks to uphold justice, and give vent to the public's outrage. We shall support the imperial household, and save the common people. This official call to arms is effective immediately upon receipt.
All of these forces, which varied in size from thirty thousand to ten or twenty thousand, and which were led by either civil officials or military generals, converged on Luoyang.
Let us now turn to Gongsun Zan, governor of BeipingCommandery, who was leading an army of fifteen thousand elite troops past Pingyuan County in Dezhou. While they were on the move, they spotted yellow banners near a clump of mulberry trees; it was a group of men approaching on horseback. Zan saw that it was Liu Xuande. Zan asked, "It is my junior colleague, why are you here?" Xuande replied, "A while back, you saw to it that I was made governor of Pingyuan County; when I heard that a large army was passing by here, I came out especially to await your arrival so that I could invite my benefactor to come into town and rest his horses." Zan pointed to Guan and Zhang, and asked, "Who are these two?" Xuande said, "This is Guan Yu and this is Zhang Fei; they are my sworn brothers." Zan said, "Are these the same men who crushed the Yellow Turbans?" Xuande said, "It was all thanks to the efforts of these two men." Zan said, "What posts they now hold?" Xuande replied, "Guan Yu is a cavalry archer, and Zhang Fei is an infantry archer." Zan sighed, saying, "If that is the case, one might say that these two heroes have been neglected! Dong Zhuo is now causing unrest, and all of the nobles are on their way to take him down. You should abandon this lowly post, come with me to punish this rebel bandit, and help the House of Han; what do you think?" Xuande said, "I would like to go." Zhang Fei said, "If you had let me kill that scoundrel the last time, this wouldn't have happened." Yunchang said, "What's done is done; we should gather up our things and go."
Xuande, Guan and Zhang led a number of people on horseback, and followed behind Gongsun Zan. Cao Cao welcomed them as a steady stream of nobles were also arriving. Each army set up their own camp, in a string of camps that stretched more than 200 li. Cao slaughtered a bull and a horse, then convened all of the nobles to discuss plans for a military advance. Commandery governor Wang Kuang said, "Today, we come together for the sake of justice. We must decide on a leader for our alliance, and everyone must abide by that decision, before we can advance our armies." Cao said, "Members of Yuan Benchu's family have occupied the highest positions within the government for four generations,[2] and he has a lot of students and former subordinates. He is the descendent of a famous chancellor of the Han Dynasty; he should be the leader of our alliance." Shao repeatedly declined the offer. Only after everyone said, "It can be none other than Benchu." did Shao finally agree to do it. The following day, a three-level platform was erected. The banners of the five directions were placed in rows along each side;[3] a white banner, with a yak tail on top of its pole, and a gilded battle-ax were both placed on the platform.[4] Military papers and the seal of a military general were placed on the platform as well. Shao was asked to ascend the platform. Shao straightened his clothes, put on his straight sword, and solemnly climbed up. He burned incense and performed the ritual obeisance. The creed of the alliance read:
The House of Han has encountered misfortune, and the system of imperial rule has been corrupted. The traitor Dong Zhuo has seized the opportunity to wantonly cause destruction, bring disaster to the emperor, and inflict cruelty upon the people. Shao and his associates, fearing that the nation will be lost, have assembled conscript soldiers in order to deal with this national calamity. All who enter into our alliance shall work with one purpose, maintain the moral integrity of a court official, and shall not have second thoughts. Anyone who violates this alliance shall be put to death, and shall not be allowed to have descendants. The gods of heaven and earth, and the ancestral spirits, shall all bear witness to the above.
After they finished reading the creed, they smeared their mouths with blood.[5] Because of the impassioned tone of the wording, they were all weeping uncontrollably. Having smeared their mouths with blood, they now came down from the raised platform. They all escorted Shao into the planning tent. They separated into two rows and took their seats according to noble rank, official position and age. Cao made several toasts, then said, "Now that we have a leader for our alliance, each must proceed to where they are assigned; we must all help out our nation, regardless of whether we are strong or weak." Yuan Shao said, "I am not a talented man. However, I have been nominated to be the leader of this alliance. Therefore, those among us who meet with success shall be rewarded; those among us who commit an offense shall be punished. Our country has its penal system, and our army has its system of discipline. Each of you should abide by the two; we must not permit infractions." Everyone said, "We swear on our lives that we will not fail you." Shao said, "My younger brother Yuan Shu shall oversee provisions. He will deal with all of the camps and make sure that there are no shortages. More importantly, we need someone to take point, proceed directly to Sishui Pass, and pick a fight. The rest of you shall each take up a position in a strategic location, so that you can respond to the enemy's advance."
Sun Jian, governor of Changsha Commandery, said, "I would like to be in the advance force." Shao said, "You are brave and fierce, Wentai; you may have this mission." Jian then led the main force toward Sishui Pass. The soldiers who were guarding the pass sent someone on a fast horse to the chancellor's residence in Luoyang to report the emergency. Dong Zhuo had been throwing lavish banquets everyday since assuming power. After receiving the emergency communiqué, Li Ru went straight to Zhuo and gave him the letter. Zhuo was shocked, and immediately convened all of his generals to discuss the matter. Marquis of WenLü Bu stood up and said, "Don't worry father.[6] The nobles beyond the pass are as insignificant as mustard seeds. I would like to have my division of crack troops chop off each of their heads, and hang them on the gates of the capital." Zhuo was overjoyed, saying, "I have Fengxian, so I can rest easy!"
He had not yet finished speaking, when a person standing behind Lü Bu said loudly, "'Why use an ox cleaver to kill a chicken?' We shouldn't trouble the Marquis of Wen to go personally. Cutting off the heads of all of the nobles would be as easy for me as taking something out of my pocket." Zhuo took a look at the man, who stood at a height of nine chi, had a tiger-like torso, a wolf-like waist, a panther-like head, and ape-like arms; he was from the area to the west of Hangu Pass. His surname was Hua, and his given name was Xiong. Upon hearing this, Zhuo was overjoyed. He made him captain of armed cavalry, and allotted him 50,000 horses and men. He set out to meet the enemy, traveling all night, accompanied by Li Su, Hu Zhen and Zhao Cen. One of the nobles was Bao Xin, chief minister of the Kingdom of Jibei. He thought about the fact that Sun Jian had taken point, and was afraid that he would get all the glory, so he secretly sent his younger brother Bao Zhong ahead with a contingent of 3,000 men and horses on a side road in order to pick a fight at the pass. Hua Xiong quickly led a force of 500 armored cavalry down from the pass, shouting, "Halt, you bandit rebels!" Bao Zhong rapidly retreated, but was cut down from his horse by Hua Xiong with one stroke of the sword. A large number of military officers were captured alive. Hua Xiong sent someone to take Bao Zhong's head to the residence of the chancellor, and to report news of their victory. Zhuo made Xiong a provincial military commander.
Hu Zhen, Hua Xiong's second in command, led a force of 5,000 men out of the pass to join in the battle. Cheng Pu raised his lance and galloped his horse at full speed toward Hu Zhen. After several bouts, Cheng Pu stabbed Hu Zhen in the throat, which caused him to die at the foot of his horse. Jian led his army on a frontal assault of the pass amidst a hail of arrows and rocks. Sun Jian then led his troops back to the east of the ridge, and dug in. He sent someone to Yuan Shao's location to report a victory, and then to Yuan Shu's location to requisition provisions. Someone told Shu, "Sun Jian is known as the fierce tiger from the eastern bank of the Yangtze.[9] If he smashes Luoyang and kills Dong Zhuo, it will be as though we have replaced a wolf with a tiger. If we don't give him any provisions now, his army will disperse for sure." Shu heeded this advice, and did not release any rations. Sun Jian's army went without food, and dissention sprang up within the ranks. A spy reported all of this to the forces on top of the pass. Li Su schemed with Hua Xiong, saying, "Tonight, I will lead an army down from the pass on a side trial, and attack Sun Jian from the rear of his encampment. If you attack the front of his encampment, Jian can be captured."
↑In ancient times, five different colors (green, red, white, black and yellow) were used on banners to depict the five directions: east, south, west, north and center. The banners were used for coordinating movement in battle.
↑These two items signified the start of a military expedition. The gilded battle-ax was symbolic of the power and authority of an emperor or high official.
↑Smearing one's mouth with the blood of a sacrificed animal showed one's commitment when taking an oath. Some descriptions of this ritual also imply that the blood was licked or even swallowed.
↑Lü Bu uses the term "father" out of respect. He is not actually related to him.
↑The snake lance was an unusually long lance, commonly used on horseback. The term snake refers to its length.
↑In ancient times, the swords produced in Guding garrison (古錠鎮; in present day Hebei) were famous for being sharp.
↑Between Wuhu and Nanjing, the Yangtze River flows north to south. The east side of the river is on the southern bank.
Yangping offered his service to Cao Cao;[1] his surname was Yue, his given name was Jin, and his style name was 