Guangdong

“ Our only chance of winning is to attack indiscriminately." Then, with Li Jue on the left and Guo Si on the right, their armies swarmed over the mountains and plains. Yang Feng and Dong Cheng both fought desperately, but they only managed to escape with the carriage of the emperor and empress. The rest of the government officials, palace attendants, imperial instruments of authority, papers, records, and all of the emperor's personal effects were abandoned. Guo Si led his army into Hongnong in order to pillage whatever they could get their hands on. ”

“ When an exodus takes place from Szechuen to this province, there is little reason why Yunnan should not become one of the richest provinces in China. It has every advantage of climate, great fertility of soil, and immense mineral resources hardly yet developed. It needs population. It needs the population that dwelt in the province before the rebellion involved the death of millions. It can absorb an immense proportion of the surplus population of China. During, and subsequent to, the Taiping rebellion the province of Szechuen increased by 45,000,000 in forty years (1842-82) ”

“ It was none other than the father of the Empress, Fu Wan.
“Have you heard of Ts‘ao Ts‘ao’s wanton and perverse behaviour?” said the Emperor, drying his eyes.
“You mean the deer shooting? Who did not see that indeed? But the whole Court is full of his clan or his creatures. With the exception of the relatives of your Consort there is not one loyal enough to deal with a rebel. I have no authority and can do nothing, but there is General Tung Ch‘êng, the State Uncle, who could do it.”
“Could Uncle Tung come in to consult about this? I know he has had much experience of State troubles.” ”

“ Xuande invited the man to sit with them, and inquired as to his name. The man said, "My surname is Guan, my given name is Yu, my style name was Shouchang, [39] but then I changed it to Yunchang. [40] I am from Xieliang in the Hedong Commandery. Because there was a man from a wealthy family who was acting like a big shot and bullying everybody, I ended up killing him. I had to become a fugitive, and have been living the life of an itinerant mercenary for the past five or six years. When I heard that this area was recruiting soldiers to go smash bandit rebels, I came especially to join up." ”

“ Si said, "Yang Feng and Dong Cheng have rescued the emperor's carriage, and have departed for Hongnong. If they make it to the east of the mountains, they will be able to establish a firm foothold, and will be able to tell the whole world of their plight. This will cause all of the members of nobility to come after us, which could put the lives of our parents, siblings, and children in jeopardy." Jue said, "Zhang Ji is presently in control of Chang'an. We must not act rashly. You and I should combine our forces. If we can kill the Han ruler in Hongnong, we can divide the nation between us. ”

“ If we were to kill him now, the public would not be with us; it would be better to continue treating him as the ruler so that we can trick the nobles into coming through the pass, thereby cutting off his wings; once we have done that, we can kill him; then, the world will be ours to do with as we please." Li and Guo followed this advice, and stayed their weapons. From the top of the gate, the emperor intoned, "Wang Yun has been killed, why have your troops not withdrawn?" Li Jue and Guo Si said, "We have done a favor for the royal household, but have not yet been granted a rank of nobility. ”

“ On this day, he led out his soldiers, yelling, "Liu Bei, you country bumpkin! How dare you invade my lands!" Xuande said, "I am acting in accordance with a decree from the son of heaven to go after those who are disloyal to the emperor. Your flagrant challenge of imperial authority is a crime that cannot even be atoned by death!" Ji Ling was outraged. Raising his trident, he charged on his horse toward Liu Bei. Lord Guan shouted at him, "Such a low life as you should not try to flaunt his superiority!" He rode out on his horse and engaged Ji Ling in combat. ”

“ Yung-ling, a mountain range running N. and S., which forms the eastern buttress of the tableland of Central Asia.
Yunnan (4,000) , the extreme south-western province of the Chinese Empire; is fertile particularly in the S.; yields large quantities of maize, rice, tobacco, sugar, and especially opium, and abounds in mineral wealth, including gold, silver, mercury, as well as iron, copper, and lead; the country was long a prey to revolt against the Chinese rule, but it is now, after a war of extermination against the rebels, the Panthays, the Burmese, reduced to order. ”

“ Somewhat discontentedly P‘ei Yüan-shao accepted the situation and marched off, while his one-time colleague joined the train of Kuan Yü and they went toward Junan. They travelled quickly for some days and then they saw a city on a hill. From the natives they heard that the city was called Kuch‘êng and that a few months before a warrior had suddenly appeared, driven out the magistrates and taken possession. Then he had begun to recruit men, buy up horses and lay in stores. ”

“ Then Ts‘ao Ts‘ao said, “Liu Pei has his army at Hsüchou and he carries on the administration of the prefecture. Lü Pu fled to him when defeated and Pei gave him Hsiaop‘ei to live in. If these two agreed to join forces and attack, my position would be most serious. What precautions can be taken?”
Then rose Hsü Ch‘u, saying, “Give me five legions and I will give the Minister both their heads.”
Hsün Yü said, “O Leader, you are brave, but you are no strategist. You cannot start sudden war just as the capital has been changed. However, there is a certain ruse known as The Rival Tigers. ”

“ We should dwell behind the cloistered walls of the palace. Major affairs of state should be delegated to senior ministers, who consult with each other on their own. This is a good thing for the nation, do you really want to personally run things?" Empress Dowager Dong flew into a rage, saying, "It was you who poisoned Consort Wang out of spite and jealousy. It is only because your son is the emperor, and the mighty He Jin is your brother, that you dare speak such non-sense! I could command the general of fast cavalry to cut off your brother's head with a wave of my hand!" ”

“ He then held talks with Guo Si, Zhang Ji and Fan Chou, saying, "Although Lü Bu is brave, he lacks a strategic mind, and is not worth worrying about. I will take my army and block the opening to the valley. Every day, I will draw him into a fight. General Guo will take his army and flank Bu, taking his rear. We will do it the same way that Peng Yue did when he circled to the rear of Chu: sounding the gongs will mean to advance, and beating the drums will mean to retreat. Zhang and Fan will split up, and make a two-pronged direct assault on Chang'an. ”

“ Xuande said, "My two brothers, which of you can watch over the city while I'm gone?" Lord Guan said, "I would like to watch over the city." Xuande said, "Sooner or later, I will want to discuss things with you. How can we be separated from each other?" Zhang Fei said, "I would like watch over the city." Xuande said, "You're not capable of watching over the city. For one thing, after you've been drinking, you become brazen and beat the soldiers. For another thing, you don't take your duties seriously, and don't heed the advice of others. ”

“ For more than 200 years, the Court had always acted in deep kindness to those foreigners of great distances. Our ancestors had always treated them with respect. During the reign of Daoguang Emperor and Xianfeng Emperor, said foreigners began to be allowed to trade with China, and yet they begged for the permission to preach the teaching of Christ, since the teaching was for the good of the people ”

“ 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. ”

“ Emperor Xian leaned out over the side and asked, "You ministers have not submitted a formal request to the imperial court, but instead have entered Chang'an without authorization. What is your intention?" Li Jue and Guo Si looked up and addressed the emperor, saying, "Senior Grand Tutor Dong was an important national-level senior minister of Your Majesty's, but was murdered by Wang Yun for no reason. We have come to seek vengeance, not to start a rebellion. All we want is to see Wang Yun, and we will withdraw our forces." ”

“ It's like leading a tiger into a group of lambs." Fu responded, "I am a former employee of the Yuan family, and I know that my abilities do not match those of Benchu. The ancients would select men of talent and then defer to them. Why are you all so jealous of him?" Geng Wu sighed, saying, "Jizhou is done for!" After that, more than thirty people abandoned their posts; only Geng Wu and Guan Chun remained hidden outside of the city walls, in anticipation of Yuan Shao's arrival. ”

“ It is the centre of a large though rather scantily populated district abounding in the great staples, rice, beans, and millet, as well as in fruit and vegetables. Formerly Yunnan stood in the forefront of opium-producing provinces, but when I was there not a poppy-field was to be seen. The last viceroy, the much respected Hsi Liang, the one Mongol in the Chinese service, himself not an opium smoker, had shown great determination in carrying out the imperial edicts against its use or production, and rather unwillingly Yunnan was brought into line with the new order. ”

“ He is a man of great integrity and broad talent. He should take charge of Xuzhou. I would like to retire to a life of leisure, so that I can restore my health." Xuande said, "Kong Wenju compelled me to come to the aid of Xuzhou out of a sense of justice. If I were to now occupy it for no good reason, the world will judge me to be without any sense of justice." Mi Zhu said, "The house of Han is now in a state of decline, and the world is turned upside down. If you desire to make a name for yourself, now is the time. Xuzhou is full of wealth and there are hundreds of thousands households. ”

“ The Imperial City, all round the Forbidden City, consists of a network of narrow streets and alleys lined with low buildings with windows of delicate lattice-work, and curved tiled roofs. Here, hidden away in silent peaceful courtyards shaded by gnarled old trees, are temples guarded by shaven priests in faded red robes. Their hangings are torn and faded, the dust lies on their altars, and the scent of the incense is stale in their courts, for the gods are dead; and yet because the dead are never forgotten in China—China that clings to her past—they linger on. ”

“ After that, all they could see were paper men and straw horses falling to the ground in great numbers. The wind and thunder stopped in an instant, and sand no longer flew all over the place. Zhang Bao saw that his magic spell had been broken and hurried to recall his troops. With Lord Guan on the left, and Zhang Fei on the right, both armies came out of hiding, while Xuande and Zhu Jun brought up the rear. The bandit rebel army suffered a major defeat. Xuande saw the general of the earth banners, and raced his horse in that direction. ”

“ Xuande rushed to stop him, saying, "The royal court naturally has the support of the people; how can you be so rash?" The soldiers surrounded Lu Zhi and departed. Lord Guan said, "Palace guard Lu has already been arrested, and someone else will be leading the army. If we go with them, we will not have anyone that we can count on for support. It would be better to return to Zhuo Commandery. Xuande followed his suggestion, and headed his troops north. ”

“ That crafty leader shore his locks when forfeit was his head,
O full of guile wert thou, Ts‘ao Ts‘ao, as every one has said.
On the first news of the approach of Tsʻao Tsʻao with an army Chang Hsiu wrote to Liu Piao for help. Then he sent out his men under command of Lei Hsü and Chang Hsien. When the array was complete Chang Hsiu took his station in front and pointing at Ts‘ao Ts‘ao railed at him saying, “O false and pretended supporter of benevolence and justice! O shameless one! You are just a beast of the forest, and absolutely devoid of humanity.” ”

“ We shall avenge the nation from above, and pacify the citizenry from below. We seek not to be born on the same day, in the same month and in the same year. We merely hope to die on the same day, in the same month and in the same year. May the gods of heaven and earth attest to what is in our hearts. If we should ever do anything to betray our friendship, may the gods in heaven strike us dead." Having completed the oath, Xuande was declared to be eldest brother, followed by Guan Yu, with Zhang Fei as the most junior brother. ”

“ However, they were easily beaten back and were chased right up to the pass.
The scouts told Lü Pu, who was then in Hsüchou, whither he had gone to start an expedition to save Hsiaop‘ei. He left the protection of his city to Ch‘ên Kuei and set out with Ch‘ên Têng.
As this latter was starting Ch‘ên Kuei said to him, “Remember the words of Ts‘ao Ts‘ao, that the business of the east is in our hands. Now is our moment for Lü Pu is about to suffer defeat.”
“Father, your son can look after the outside. But when he returns beaten you must arrange with Mi Chu to keep him out of the city. ”