Luo Guanzhong

“ Guan and Zhang said, "Why don't you kill Lü Bu?" Xuande said, "Cao Mengde is afraid that I will join forces with Lü Bu and attack him. That's why he hatched this scheme. He wants the two of us to destroy each other so that he can gain the advantage. Why would I want to accommodate his wishes?" Lord Guan nodded his head in agreement. Zhang Fei said, "I just want to kill this bum in order to avoid problems in the future!" Xuande said, "That's not the gentleman's way." ”

“ When he heard that Liu Bei had petitioned the emperor to occupy his prefectures and counties, he angrily said, "Liu Bei! You're a guy who made his living by weaving straw sandals. Now that you have control over a large commandery, you want to rub elbows with the nobles. I was planning on launching an attack against you, but you beat me to the punch! What an outrage!" He then had his general, Ji Ling, raise an army of 100,000 men and march toward Xuzhou. The two armies met up at Xuyi. Xuande was outnumbered, so he pitched camp with the mountains to his back and a river to his front. ”

“ Chong said, "Have you not heard the saying, 'A good bird chooses for himself the tree upon which to perch, the talented subject chooses for himself the lord that he shall serve.'? A man who encounters a lord under whom he would be proud to serve, yet narrowly misses such a golden opportunity, is not a real man." ”

“ Xu Chu said, "Give me 50,000 crack troops, and I'll bring back the heads of both Liu Bei and Lü Bu as a gift to Your Excellency." Xun Yu said, "Your Excellency, General Xun is brave, but is not thinking strategically. We've only recently established our capital at Xu. We shouldn't prematurely cause a ruckus by using the military. I have a plan that I call 'two tigers fight each other over food.' Right now, Liu Bei is in charge of Xuzhou and is awaiting instructions from the emperor. You could petition the emperor to officially appoint Bei as the governor of Xuzhou. ”

“ People from far and near are counting on being able to have a period of relative calm. If you were to yet again relocate the emperor, the people will not be happy. However, extraordinary actions can result in extraordinary successes. You must decide." Cao took Zhao's hand in his and smiled, saying, "That was my original intention. However, Yang Feng is in Daliang and all of the ministers are at court. Won't they take exception?" Zhao said, "That's easy. First, write a letter to Yang Feng to put his mind at ease. ”

“ Emperor Gaozu of Han held a funeral for Emperor Yi, thereby winning over the populace to his side! In our time, the Son of Heaven was forced to flee. If you could really use this as a pretext to raise an army and prop up the emperor in order to satisfy the expectations of the public, it would be an exceedingly rare and brilliant strategy. If you don't act quickly, someone else will get there before us." Cao Cao was overjoyed. He was just about to raise his army, when he suddenly received a report that an imperial envoy had delivered a decree summoning him to court. ”

“ He could not bear the thought of loosing a good general in a death match, which is why he specifically sent me here to ask you to join forces with him. Why don't you cast off the darkness and embrace the light, so that we can accomplish great things together? ”

“ Somebody had reported that Li Jue and Guo Si were leading an army and would be there soon. The emperor was shocked. He asked Yang Feng, saying, "The envoy has not yet returned from the east of the mountains. What's more, the armies of Li and Guo will be here soon. What shall we do?" Yang Feng and Han Xian said, "We are willing to fight to the death with those traitors in order to protect Your Majesty." Dong Cheng said, "The city's walls will not withstand the onslaught. We do not have a lot of weapons or armor. ”

“ If the emperor granted an individual the right to carry a tally, that individual was empowered, among other things, to execute anyone who violated military orders. If the emperor granted someone the right to carry the yellow battle-axe, that person was authorized to command armies both at home and abroad.↑ From this passage, we can see that Cao Cao has, by this point, consolidated his control over both military and civil functions of government.↑ Fan Kuai was a brave general that had served under Emperor Gaozu of Han. ”

“ Xuande offered his thanks, at which point, the emissary pulled out a personal letter and handed it to Xuande. After Xuande finished reading it, he said, "Allow me to discuss this letter with my men." After the banquet had ended, the emissary was put up at the inn for the night. Xuande discussed the matter into the night with his men. Zhang Fei said, "Lü Bu is lacking in morals anyway. Why not just kill him?" Xuande said, "He came to us when he was weak; it wouldn't be right for me to kill him." Zhang Fei said, "Being a good person is hard!" Xuande did not follow his advice. ”

“ The capital at Xu belongs to Earth. If you go there, you are sure to prosper. Fire can generate Earth, and Earth can have an abundance of Trees. This fits exactly with the words of Dong Zhao and Wang Li. You will surely prosper there in the future."
17 操意遂決;次日,入見帝,奏曰:「東都荒廢久矣,不可修葺;更兼轉運糧食艱辛。許都地近魯陽,城郭宮室,錢糧民物,足可備用。臣敢請駕幸許都,惟陛下從之。」帝不敢不從;群臣皆懼操勢,亦莫敢有異議;遂擇日起駕。操引軍護行,百官皆從。行不到數程,前至一高陵。忽然喊聲大舉,楊奉、韓暹,領兵攔路。徐晃當先,大叫「曹操欲劫駕何往!」 With that, Cao made up his mind. The next day, he met with the emperor and stated his case, saying, "The eastern capital has been in a state of ruins for a long time now. ”

“ There is no army that I cannot defeat. Please look after your health, Your Majesty, for the sake of the nation." The emperor then made Cao Colonel Director of Retainers and gave him the tally and battle-axe of authority. [8] He also placed him in charge of the imperial secretaries. [9]
11 卻說李傕、郭汜,知操遠來,議欲速戰。賈詡諫曰:「不可。操兵精將勇,不如降之,求免本身之罪。」傕怒曰:「你敢滅吾銳氣!」拔劍欲斬詡,眾將勸免。是夜賈詡單馬走回鄉里去了。 Let us now turn to Li Jue and Guo Si, who, upon learning that Cao had come from afar, had decided to mount a speedy attack. Jia Xu admonished them, saying, "Don't do it. Cao commands an impressive military force. ”

“ Cao received the decree, and set a date to amass his troops.
7 卻說帝在洛陽,百事未備,城郭崩倒,欲修未能。人報李傕、郭汜領兵將至。帝大驚,問楊奉曰:「山東之使未回,李、郭之兵又至,為之奈何?」楊奉、韓暹曰:「臣願與賊決死戰,以保陛下。」董承曰:「城郭不堅,兵甲不多,戰如不勝,當復如何?不若且奉駕往山東避之。」帝從其言,即日起駕望山東進發。百官無馬,皆隨駕步行。 Let us now turn to the emperor, who was in Luoyang. There were a million things that had not yet been done. The city's walls had collapsed. Even if they had wanted to fix them, they did not have the means. ”