All
eyes turned toward the speaker, High Minister Jia Kui, and the young prince
commanded him to undertake the mission. So he went out of the city and sought
to speak with Cao Zhang. Cao Zhang came quickly to the point.
"Who
has the late Prince's seal?" asked he.
Jia Kui replied seriously, "There is an eldest son to a house, and
an heir-apparent to a state. Such a question from your lordship is
unbecoming."
Cao Zhang held his peace,
and the two proceeded into the city to the gates of the Palace.
There
Jia Kui suddenly asked him, "You come as a mourner or as a rival
claimant?"
"I am come as a mourner. I never had any ulterior motive."
"That
being so. Why bring in your soldiers?"
Whereupon
Cao Zhang ordered his escort to retire, and entered the city alone.
When
the Cao brothers met, they fell into each other's arms and wept.
Then Cao Zhang yielded
command of all his army, and he was directed to go back to Yanling and guard
it. He obediently withdrew.
Cao
Pi, being now firmly established, changed the name of the period of his rule to
the Prolonged Wealth Era, the First Year (AD 220). He made Jia Xu Grand
Commander, Hua Xin Prime Minister, and Wang Lang High Minister, and made many
promotions. To the late Prince, he gave the posthumous title of the King of
Great Might, and buried him in Gaoling.
To
the superintendence of the building of King Cao's tomb, Cao Pi nominated Yu
Jin, but with malevolent intent. For when Yu Jin reached his post, he found the
walls of the rooms decorated with chalk sketches depicting the drowning of the
seven armies and the capture of himself by Guan Yu. Guan Yu was looking very
dignified and severe. Pang De was refusing to bow to the victor, while Yu Jin
himself was lying in the dust pleading for his life.
Cao
Pi had chosen this method of putting Yu Jin to open shame, because Yu Jin had
not preferred death to the dishonor of capture, and had sent an artist on
purpose to depict the shameful scenes. When Yu Jin saw them, shame and rage
alternately took possession of him till he fell ill. Soon after he died.
War waged he for many a year,
Yet fell prey to craven fear.
None can know another's heart,
Drawing tigers, with bones start.
Soon
after the accession, Hua Xin memorialized the Prince of Wei, saying, "The
Lord of Yanling has cut himself loose from his army and gone quietly to his
post, but your other two brothers did not attend the funeral of their father.
Their conduct should be inquired into and punished."
Cao
Pi took up the suggestion and sent commissioners to each.
They
who were sent to the younger quickly returned to report: "Cao Xiong, the
Lord of Xiaohuai, had hanged himself rather than suffer for his fault."
Cao
Pi ordered honorable burial for Cao Xiong and gave him the posthumous title of
Prince of Xiaohuai.
Soon
after, the envoy to Linzi returned to report: "The Lord of Linzi, Cao Zhi,
is spending his time in dissipation, his especial boon companions being two
brothers named Ding Yi and Ding Yin. They were very rude. When we presented
ourselves, Cao Zhi sat bolt upright, but would not say a word. Ding Yi used
insulting words, saying, 'King Cao intended our lord to succeed, but was turned
there from by the slanderous tongues of certain among you. As soon as he is
dead, your master begins to think of punishment for his own flesh and blood.'
"The
other brother Ding Yin said, 'In intellect our lord leads the age, and he ought
to have been heir to his father. Now, not only does he not succeed, but he is
treated in this harsh way by a lot of courtiers of your sort, ignorant of what
genius means.'
"And then Cao Zhi, in a fit of anger, had ordered his lictors to
beat the chief envoy and turn him out."
This treatment of his
messenger annoyed Cao Pi greatly, and he dispatched a force of three thousand
Imperial Tiger Guards under Xu Chu to arrest his brother and all his immediate
surroundings.
When
Xu Chu arrived Linzi, the Gate Commander stopped him. Xu Chu slew that general
and entered the city, unchallenged.
He
went to the residence and found Cao Zhi and all his companions dead drunk.
So
he bound them, put them into carts, and sent them to court in Yejun. He also
arrested all the officers of the palace.
Cao Pi's first order was to
put to death Ding Yi and Ding Yin. The two brothers were not wholly base; they
had a reputation for learning, and many were sorry for them.
Cao
Pi's mother, Lady Bian, was alarmed at the severity of the new rule, and the
suicide of her youngest son wounded her deeply. When she heard that Cao Zhi had
been arrested and his comrades put to death, she left her palace and went to see
her eldest son.
As soon as he saw her, the
Prince hastened to meet her. She began to weep.
"Your
brother has always had that weakness for wine, but we let him go his way out of
consideration for his undoubted ability. I hope you will not forget he is your
brother and that I bore you both. Spare his life that I may close my eyes in
peace when I set out for the deep springs."
"I also admire his ability, Mother, and have no intention to hurt
him. But I would reform him. Have no anxiety as to his fate," said Cao Pi.
So
the mother was comforted and withdrew. The Prince then went to a private room
and bade them call his brother.
Said
Hua Xin, "Surely the Princess-Mother has just been interceding for your
brother. Is it not so?"
"It
is so," replied the Prince.
"Then
let me say that Cao Zhi is too clever to be content to remain in a humble
station. If you do not remove him, he will do you harm."
"I
must obey my mother's command."
"People say your brother simply talks in literature. I do not
believe it myself, but he might be put to the test. If he bears a false
reputation, you can slay him; if what they say is true, then degrade him, lest
the scholars of the land should babble."
Soon Cao Zhi came, and in a
state of great trepidation bowed low before his elder brother, confessing his
fault.
The Prince addressed him,
saying, "Though we are brothers, yet the proper relation between us of
prince and minister must not be overlooked. Why then did you behave
indecorously? While the late Prince lived, you made a boast of your literary
powers, but I am disposed to think you may have made use of another's pen. Now
I require you to compose a poem within the time taken to walk seven paces, and
I will spare your life if you succeed. If you fail, then I shall punish you
with rigor."
"Will
you suggest a theme?" asked Cao Zhi.
Now
there was hanging in the hall a black and white sketch of two bulls that had
been fighting at the foot of a wall, and one of them had just fallen dead into
a well. Cao Pi pointed to the sketch and said, "Take that as the subject.
But you are forbidden to use the words 'two bulls, one bull, fighting, wall's
foot, falling, well, and dead'."
Cao
Zhi took seven paces and then recited this poem:
"Two butcher's victims lowing walked along,
Each head bore curving bones, a sturdy pair,
They met just by a hillock, both were strong,
Each would avoid a pit newly dug there.
They fought unequal battle, for at length
One lay below a gory mass, inert.
It was not that they were of unequal strength
Though wrathful both, one
did not strength exert.”This
exhibition of skill amazed the Prince and the whole court. Cao Pi thought he
would use another test, so he bade his brother improvise on the theme of their
fraternal relationship, the words "brotherhood" or
"brother" being barred. Without seeming to reflect, Cao Zhi rattled
off this rhyme:
"They were boiling beans on a beanstalk fire;
Came a plaintive voice from the pot,
'O why, since we sprang from the selfsame root,
Should you kill me with anger hot?'”
The
allusion in these verses to the cruel treatment of one member of a family by
another was not lost upon Cao Pi, and he dropped a few silent tears.
The mother of both men came
out at this moment from her abiding place and said, "Should the elder
brother thus oppress the younger?"
The
Prince jumped from his seat, saying, "My mother, the laws of the state
cannot be nullified."
Cao Zhi was degraded to the rank of Lord of Anxiang. He accepted the
decision without a murmur and at once left his brother's court by horse.
Cao
Pi's accession was the signal for a set of new laws and new commands. His
behavior toward Emperor Xian was more intemperate than his father's had ever
been.
The
stories of his harshness reached Chengdu and almost frightened Liu Bei, who
summoned his counselors to discuss what he should do.
Said
he, "Since the death of Cao Cao and the accession of his son, the position
of the Emperor has changed for the worse. Sun Quan acknowledges the lordship of
Wei, and its influence is becoming too great. I am disposed to destroy Sun Quan
in revenge for the death of my brother. That done. I will proceed to the Capital
District and purge the whole land of rebellion. What think you?"
Then Liao Hua stood out from the ranks of officers and threw himself
upon the earth, saying with tears, "Liu Feng and Meng Da were the true
cause of the death of your brother and his adopted son. Both these renegades
deserve death."
Liu
Bei was of the same opinion and was going to send and arrest them forthwith,
but here Zhuge Liang intervened and gave wiser advice.
"That is not the way. Go slowly or you may stir up strife. Promote
these two and separate them. After that you may arrest."
The
Prince of Hanzhong saw the prudence of this procedure and stayed his hand. He
raised Liu Feng to the Governorship of Mianzhu, and so separated the two
delinquents.
Now
Peng Yang and Meng Da were old friends. Hearing what was afoot, the former
hastened home and wrote warning his friend. The letter was confided to a trusty
messenger to bear to Meng Da. The messenger was caught as he went out of the
city and carried before Ma Chao, who thus got wind of the business. He then
went to Peng Yang's house, where, nothing being suspected, he was received
kindly and wine was brought in. The two drank for some time.
When
Ma Chao thought his host sufficiently off his guard, he said, "The Prince
of Hanzhong used to look on you with great favor. Why does he do so no
longer?"
The
host began to rave against his master.
"The
obstinate old leather-belly! But I will find some way to pay him out."
In
order to see to what lengths he would go, Ma Chao led him on, saying,
"Truth to tell, I have long hated the man too."
"Then
you join Meng Da and attack, while I will win over the people of East and West
River Lands. That will make it easy enough," said Peng Yang.
"What
you propose is very feasible, but we will talk it over again tomorrow,"
said Ma Chao, and took leave.
Taking
with him the captured man and the letter he carried, Ma Chao then proceeded to
see the Prince, to whom he related the whole story. Liu Bei was very angry and
at once had the intended traitor arrested and put in prison, where he was
examined under torture to get at full details.
While
Peng Yang lay in prison, bitterly but vainly repentant, Liu Bei consulted his
adviser.
"That
fellow Peng Yang meant to turn traitor. What shall I do with him?"
"The
fellow is something of a scholar, but irresponsible," replied Zhuge Liang.
"He is too dangerous to be left alive."
Thereupon
orders were given that he should be allowed to commit suicide in gaol. The news
that Peng Yang had been made away frightened his sympathizer and friend, Meng
Da, and put him in a quandary. Further, Liu Feng's promotion and transfer to
Mianzhu arrived, and it frightened him still more. So he sought advice from two
friends and commanders, the brothers Shen Dan and Shen Yi, who lived in
Shangyong.
"My friend Peng Yang and I did much for the Prince of Hanzhong. But
now Peng Yang is dead, and I am forgotten. More than that, the Prince wishes to
put me to death. What can I do?" said Meng Da.
Shen
Dan replied, "I think I can find a plan that will secure your
safety."
"What
is it?" asked Meng Da, feeling happier.
"Desertion.
My brother Shen Yi and I have long desired to go over to Wei. You just write
the Prince of Hanzhong a memorial resigning your service and betake yourself to
the Prince of Wei, who will certainly employ you in some honorable way. Then we
two will follow."
Meng Da saw that this was his best course, so he wrote a
memorandum, which he gave to the messenger who had brought the recent
dispatches to take back with him. That night Meng Da left his post and went to
Wei.
The
messenger returned to Chengdu, handed in Meng Da's memorial, and told the story
of his desertion. The Prince was angry. He tore open the letter and read:
"In the humble opinion of thy servant, O Prince, you
have set out to accomplish a task comparable with that of Yi Yin, and to walk
in the meritorious footsteps of Lu Wang in building the fame of Dukes Wen and
Huan. When the great design was rough-hewn, you had the support of the lands of
the states of Wu and Chu, wherefore many people of ability incontinently joined
you. Since I entered your service, I have committed many faults; and if I
recognize them, how much more do you see them! Now, O Prince, you are
surrounded by famous people, while I, useless as a helper at home and inept as
a leader abroad, should be shamed were I to take a place among them.
"It is well known that when Fan Li saw certain
eventualities, he went sailing on the lakes, and Zi Fan acknowledged his faults
and stayed by the rivers. Inasmuch as one cannot take means of safeguarding
one's self at the critical and dangerous moment, I desire---as is my duty---to
go away as I came, untainted. Moreover, I am stupid and without use or merit,
merely born in these days as the sport of circumstances.
"In the days of old, Shen Sheng, though perfectly
filial, incurred the suspicions of his father and died; Wu Zixu, though
perfectly loyal, was put to death. Meng Tian, though he extended the borders of
Qin, suffered the extreme penalty; and Yue Yi, though he destroyed the might of
Qi, was the victim of calumny. Whenever I have read of these men, I have been
moved to tears, and now I am in like case and the more mortified.
"Lately Jingzhou was overwhelmed, and I, an officer of
rank, failed in my duty, not one in a hundred behaving as I should. Only I
return Fangling and Shangyong and seek service abroad. Now I desire you, O
Prince, graciously to understand, to sympathize with thy servant and to condone
the step he is about to take. Really I am but a mean man, incapable of great
deeds. I know what I am doing, and I dare to say it is no small fault.
"They say that dissolution of bonds should not occasion
recrimination, and the dismissed servant should take leave without
heart-burning. I have taken your orders many times, and now, O Prince, you must
act yourself. I write this with extreme trepidation."
But
the reading gave rise to great anger in the breast of the Prince.
"The unmerited fellow!" said he. "He turns traitor and
dares to insult me by sending a letter of farewell."
Liu
Bei was just giving orders to send a force to seize the deserter, when Zhuge
Liang interposed, saying, "You had better send Liu Feng to capture him and
let the two tigers worry each other to weakness. Whether Liu Feng succeeds or
fails, he will have to come to the capital, and you can kill him. Thus will you
cut off two evils."
Liu Bei took his advice. Orders were sent to Mianzhu, and Liu Feng
obediently led out his troops.
Now
Meng Da arrived when Cao Pi was holding a great council. When the attendants
told him that General Meng Da of Shu had come, Cao Pi summoned him to enter.
Said Cao Pi to him, "Is this a sincere surrender?"
Meng Da replied, "I
was in fear of death for not having relieved Guan Yu. That is my only reason
for coming."
However, Cao Pi did not trust
him. Then they reported that Liu Feng was coming to arrest him, with a large
army, and had attacked Xiangyang and was challenging Meng Da to battle.
Cao
Pi said, "You seem to be true. Go then to Xiangyang and take Liu Feng. If
you bring me his head, I shall no longer doubt."
Meng Da replied, "I will convince him by argument. No soldiers will
be needed. I will bring him to surrender too."
So
Meng Da was made General Who Establishes Strong Arms, Lord of Pingyang, and
Governor of Xincheng, and sent to guard Xiangyang and Fancheng.
Now
there were two generals there already, Xiahou Shang and Xu Huang, who engaged
in reducing the surrounding territories. Meng Da arrived, met his two
colleagues, and was told that Liu Feng was fifteen miles from the city.
Whereupon
Meng Da wrote him a letter urging him to surrender.
But
Liu Feng was in no mood to surrender. Instead he tore up the letter and put the
messenger to death.
"The renegade has already made me offend against my duty to my
uncle, and now would sever me from my father so that I shall be reproached as
disloyal and unfilial," said Liu Feng.
Meng
Da went out with his army to give battle. Liu Feng rode to the front, pointed
with his sword at his opponent, and railed against him.
"Death is very near you!" replied Meng Da. "Yet you
continue obstinately in the way of foolishness and will not understand."
Liu
Feng rode out flourishing his sword. He engaged Meng Da, who ran away before
the conflict had well begun. Liu Feng pursued hotly to seven miles.
Then
he fell into an ambush and found himself attacked on two sides by Xiahou Shang
and Xu Huang. Also Meng Da returned to the attack.
Liu
Feng was forced to fly. He made straight for Shangyong, pursued all the way.
When
he reached the city and hailed the gate, he was met by a volley of arrows.
"I
have surrendered to Wei!" cried Shen Dan from the city tower.
Liu
Feng got furious and prepared to attack the wall, but the army of Wei was close
behind, and having no resting place, he set off for Fangling.
He arrived there to find
the banners of Wei set out along the walls. Then he saw Shen Yi wave a signal
from the tower, and at once there appeared from the shelter of the wall a body
of soldiers, and the leading banner displayed General of the Right Army Xu
Huang.
Liu Feng was worsted by the
ambush. Then he made for home. But he was pursued, and only a hundred riders of
his remained to him when he regained Chengdu.
Seeking
an interview with his father, he found but scant sympathy.
In
response to his petition, made prostrate, and weeping, Liu Bei said,
"Shameful son! How are you come to see me at all?"
"My uncle's mishap was not due to my refusal of help, but because
Meng Da thwarted me."
"You
eat as a man, you dress as a man; but you have no more the instincts of a man
than an image of clay or wood. What mean you by saying another wretch thwarted
you?"
Liu Bei bade the executioners expel Liu Feng and put him to death.
But
the Prince felt some compunction later when he heard of Liu Feng's treatment to
the messenger who had brought Meng Da's letter inviting him to become a
traitor. And he gave way to grief for the death of Guan Yu until he fell ill.
So no military movements were made.
After
he had succeeded to the princedom, Cao Pi raised all his officers to high rank
and had an army prepared of three hundred thousand, and maneuvered them over
the southern territories and made great feasts in the county of Qiao in the old
state of Pei, which was the land of his ancestors. As the grand army passed by,
the aged villagers lined the roads offering gifts of wine, just as when the
Founder of the Hans returned home to Pei.
When
it was announced that the Regent Marshal Xiahou Dun was near death, Cao Pi
hastened back to Yejun, but arrived too late to see him. He put on mourning for
the great leader and instituted magnificent funeral ceremonies.
In
the eighth month of that same year (AD 220), it was reported that a phoenix had
been seen to bow at Shiyi, and a jilin had appeared at Linzi, while a yellow
dragon was observed in Yejun.
Whereupon Imperial Commander Li Qu and Minister Xu Zhi discussed these
appearances, and putting them all together they concluded, saying, "Those
splendid signs presage that Wei is about to supplant Han, and the altar of
abdication should be set up."
Presently a deputation of
forty high officers, both military and civil, led by Hua Xin, Wang Lang, Xin
Pi, Jia Xu, Liu Ye, Liu Zi, Chen Jiao, Chen Qun, and Huan Jie went into the
Forbidden City and proposed to Emperor Xian that he should abdicate and yield
to the Prince of Wei, Cao Pi.
It is time to set up the Throne of Wei,
And steal the land from the Hans.
The next chapter will record the Emperor's reply.
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Cao
Zhang & Xiahou Dun & Cao Zhi & Cao Pi & Xu Zi & Pang De
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