by Luo Guanzhong
24Let us now take a moment to talk about Xuande, who was on his way to Yingchuan with Guan and Zhang. They heard the shouts and screams of battle, and also saw the fires lighting up the skies. They hastily led their troops into the area, but when they arrived, the bandit rebels had already fled in defeat. Xuande visited with Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun, and told them of Lu Zhi's plans. Song said, "Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao are all but finished; you must head for Guangzong, and go after Zhang Jue. Xuande, you should travel night and day so that you can render assistance."
25
Xuande obeyed orders, and immediately led his force back to where they just came from. After they had gone about half way, they saw a bunch of army horses escorting a prison wagon; inside of the wagon was none other than Lu Zhi. Xuande was shocked, and scrambled off of his horse to ask what happened. Zhi said, "I had Zhang Jue surrounded, and was about to break through his lines, but because Jue resorted to sorcery, I was unable to achieve a victory. The court sent the eunuch Zuo Feng to investigate, but he demanded a bribe from me. My answer to him was, 'We're short of army rations as it is; where am I supposed to find extra money just so I can get into the good graces of the emperor's emissary?' Zuo Feng was displeased, and sent back a petition to the court. He said that I was dug in behind a high fortress and refused to fight. He also said that I had a lax fighting spirit; because of this, the court was furious, and sent palace guard commander Dong Zhuo to lead the army in my place. I was then arrested, and am being brought back to the capital to stand trial.
Continued next week. Tomorrow's installment from Lays of Ancient Rome by Macaulay.
This is one of four great novels from China, published when it was the most highly civilization in the world. Map shows China at the time of this story.
Chapter Summary: Three brave men swear an oath of allegiance at the feast in the peach gardens; our heroes' first achievement is the vanquishing of the Yellow Turbans.
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This translation from Wikipedia. See license CC-BY-SA.
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