Luo Guanzhong

“ Tao Qian entered the city, then gathered everyone in order to deliberate on a strategy. He said, "Cao's army cannot be stopped. I should tie myself up and go to Cao's camp. I will allow myself to be cut to pieces in order to save the citizens of Xuzhou." Before he had finished speaking, someone stepped forward and said, "Governor, you have maintained law and order in Xuzhou for a long time now. The people are grateful. Even though Cao's army is vast, it cannot breach the walls of our city. You and the citizens should stay in the city and defend yourselves. ”

“ It was only when Li Jue and Guo Si heard that Li Meng and Wang Fang had been killed by Ma Chao, that they began to believe that Jia Xu had the gift of foresight. From then on, they began to make heavier use of his strategies. They concentrated their efforts on tightly defending strategic military positions. They allowed the enemy to initiate the fighting, but did not respond in kind. ”

“ Li Jue and Guo Si ordered Zhang Ji to lead an army in pursuit of Ma Teng; they ordered Fan Chou to lead an army in pursuit of Han Sui. The Xiliang army suffered a major defeat. Ma Chao stayed behind in a fight to the death, causing Zhang Ji to retreat. Meanwhile, Fan Chou was chasing Han Sui. He saw that he was about to catch up to him as they drew near Chencang. Han Sui pulled on the reins of his horse, then said to Fan Chou, "We are from the same village, you and me; why are you so merciless today?" ”

“ Bao Xin fought his way into an important stronghold, but was mortally wounded by the bandit rebels. Cao pursued the bandit rebel army all the way to Jibei, where tens of thousands of soldiers surrendered to him. Cao then employed the bandit rebels as the lead force, then spread out his own troops in all directions. There were none that did not surrender. After not more than 100 or so days, more than thirty thousand soldiers had surrendered or sued for peace. All told, more than one million men and women came to be under Cao's authority. ”

“ Li Meng and Wang Fang came forward, saying, "This is not a good plan. We would like to be given 10,000 elite troops, chop off the heads Ma Teng and Han Sui right away, then make a gift of the heads to Your Excellencies." Jia Xu said, "If we fight them immediately, we are bound to lose." Li Meng and Wang Fang simultaneously said, "If the two of us are defeated, we wish to be beheaded; but if we win, you should also be willing to lose your head to us." Xu addressed Li Jue and Guo Si, saying, "The mountains of Zhouzhi, two hundred li from Chang'an, [4] are steep and dangerous. ”

“ Presently, Li Jue, Guo Si, Zhang Ji and Fan Chou heard that the two generals were approaching, so they all got together to discuss a strategy for defending against the enemy. Their advisor Jia Xu said, "The two generals have come from afar. Our only course of action is to dig in and mount a strong defense against them. Before 100 days, their army will run out of food rations, and they will be forced to retreat. ”

“ Dian Wei One day, Xiahou Dun brought in a large man to see Cao. When Cao asked who it was, Dun said, "This man is from Chenliu. His surname is Dian, his given name is Wei, and his strength and bravery surpass those of ordinary men. He had previously been with Zhang Miao, but did not get along with some of his colleagues, and ended up killing a dozen or so men before fleeing into the mountains. ”

“ Tao Qian is a man of upstanding moral character, and wouldn't dream of abandoning his principles for the sake of his own personal gain. It is Zhang Kai who is guilty of the murder of your father, not Tao Qian. Besides, what offense has the local citizenry committed that would cause you to want to exact your revenge on them? Killing them is inauspicious. I hope that you think about this carefully, before taking action." Cao angrily said, "You abandoned me a long time ago ”

“ On the day that he received Cao's letter, he set out for Yanzhou along with his younger brother Cao De, Cao De's entire family, over 100 attendants, and over 100 carriages. On the way, they passed by Xuzhou Commandery. Tao Qian, the governor of the Commandery and whose style name was Gongzu, [20] was a warm and sincere fellow who wanted to get on Cao Cao's good side. ”

“ However, they could not have predicted that the Yellow Turbans would again rear their heads in Qingzhou, gaining several hundred thousand followers with a leader of uncommon ability, and plundering the possessions of upstanding citizens. ”

“ The two of them were marching on Chang'an, claiming that they were prosecuting bandit rebels. As it turns out, the two had sent someone into Chang'an beforehand in order to convince Imperial Attendant Ma Yu, Advisor Chong Shao, [3] and Commander of the Palace Guard Liu Fan to act as inside men, plotting against the bandit rebel faction. These three secretly petitioned Emperor Xian to appoint Ma Teng to be General who Conquers the West and Han Sui to be General who Stabilizes the West. Each of them received a secret imperial decree authorizing them to join forces and prosecute bandit rebels. ”