Luo Guanzhong

“ Empress Dowager Dong summoned Zhang Rang to her chambers to discuss the matter. She said, "At first, I helped to advance He Jin's younger sister. Now that her son has become emperor, all of the ministers from inside and outside of the palace are her trusted confidents. She has too much power; what should I do?" Rang addressed her, saying, "You could personally take over the running of the government. You could make Prince Xie the emperor, and rule on his behalf from behind a curtain. ”

“ Nowadays, the country is united, with the exception of the Yellow Turbans who are in rebellion; if we were to allow them to surrender, nothing good would come from it. If we give the bandit rebels a leg up, they will rob and plunder at will; if we cause them to lose the advantage, they can simply surrender; this emboldens the will of the bandit rebels, so it is not a good strategy." Xuande said, "We will not allow the thugs to surrender, and that's that. ”

“ Your wanting to kill the eunuchs is akin to lighting a large oven just to burn up a few hairs. You merely need to unleash your wrath quickly. If you exercise your powers in a decisive manner, then everyone will follow your lead. ”

“ By relinquishing your authority, your endeavor will surely fail, and chaos will emerge." He Jin laughed and said, "This is the view of a coward!" A man standing to the side started to clap his hands as he burst out laughing, saying, "This is as easy as turning over your hand, there is no need for excessive debate!" ”

“ Jin faked an illness, and did not attend the funeral. Colonel Director of Retainers Yuan Shao came in to see Jin, and said, "Zhang Rang and Duan Gui are spreading rumors. They are saying that you poisoned Empress Dong, and that you are plotting something major. If we do not seize this opportunity to kill the eunuchs, there will be a major catastrophe later on. In the past, Dou Wu wanted to kill them, but his secret plot was revealed, which then brought about his downfall. Right now, your allies within the military and civil bureaucracy are all stout and able men. ”

“ Jin rebuked him, saying, "What would a junior ranking officer like you know about important matters of the court!"
21 正躊躇間,潘隱至,言「帝已崩。今蹇碩與十常侍商議,祕不發喪,矯詔宣何國舅入宮,欲絕後患,冊立皇子協為帝。」 Just as they were pondering their next move, Pan Yin arrived, and said, "The emperor is already dead. Today, Jian Shuo talked things over with the ten regular attendants; the death is to be kept secret so that they can forge an imperial edict which summons Uncle He to the palace. They would like to take care of any future repercussions, and they would like to hold a ceremony to make Prince Xie the new emperor." ”

“ We now have them surrounded as if they were in an iron barrel; even if they beg to surrender, they will receive no quarter, this will inevitably be a fight to the death. Ten thousand people are of the same mind; resistance is futile. ”

“ As he was riding his horse past the inn, he spotted fifty or sixty old people, all standing in front of the gate weeping and sobbing. When Fei asked the reason, all of the old people responded, saying, "The county inspector is forcing the county clerk to cause harm to Lord Liu; we have all come to lodge our strongest protests, but have not been allowed inside. Moreover, we were beaten back by the gate guards!" ”

“ After discussing the issue with each other, they decided that anyone who did not comply with their demands should be eliminated. Zhao Zhong and Zhang Rang sent people to demand gifts of gold and cloth from the soldiers who fought the Yellow Turbans. Their plan was to petition the emperor to dismiss anyone who did not comply with their demands. Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun refused to give anything, so Zhao Zhong and his faction petitioned the emperor to have both of them removed from their posts. Moreover, the emperor gave the post of general of chariots and cavalry to Zhao Zhong. ”

“ In the days of old, during the time of Qin and Xiang, the world was in chaos, and the people had not chosen a leader. Therefore, enticing the enemy to surrender with the promise of a reward made sense. ”

“ At the time, the bandit rebels were occupying Wancheng. Jun led his army on an attack, while Zhao Hong sent Han Zhong out to fight. Jun sent Xuande, Guan and Zhang to attack the southwest corner of the city. Han Zhong gathered up all of his best troops, and deployed them to the southwest corner to defend against the enemy. In the meantime, Zhu Jun set loose a force of 2,000 armored cavalry, and made a direct play for the northeast corner. The bandit rebels feared that they would lose the city, and immediately abandoned the southwest corner so that they could regroup. ”

“ If these people do not obtain posts, it will stir up resentment among them. For the time being, we should instruct the relevant officials to register them for some minor positions. That way, it will not be too late if we need to deal with them later on." Because of this, Xuande was made magistrate of Anxi county, which was under the jurisdiction of the Zhongshan government seat. [12] A date was set for him to take up his post. Xuande led his troops back home and released them from service. He only brought a retinue of a little more than twenty men to Anxi, which included Guan and Zhang. ”

“ As the saying goes, 'to cover one's eyes while trying to catch a brambling,' this is to deceive oneself. If you are still unable to assert your will over small things, what about important matters of state? ”

“ Then, we should send emissaries to inform the entire country; the men who have made significant contributions should be given sizable rewards, [11] which will pacify the nation." The ten regular attendants submitted a written petition to the emperor which said that, "Zhang Jun is bullying the emperor." The emperor commanded the armed guards to escort Zhang Jun out of the palace. The ten regular attendants consulted with each other, saying, "This arrangement will certainly cause damage to the men who helped put down the Yellow Turbans. ”