Counting on His Family

Romance of the Three Kingdoms
by Luo Guanzhong
Today's excerpt from Chapter 5.  Previously

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One day, a man from the Kingdom of Wei in Yangping Commandery offered his service to Cao Cao; his surname was Yue, his given name was Jin, and his style name was Wenqian. Another man, from Juye in Shanyang Commandery, also offered his service to Cao Cao; his surname was Li, his given name was Dian, and his style name was Mancheng. Cao kept them both as field generals. There was also a man from Qiao in the State of Pei; his name was Xiahou Dun, and his style name was Yuanrang; he was a descendant of Xiahou Ying. He had trained with the spear and staff since he was little. When he was fourteen, he found a teacher, and began his formal training in the military arts. A person had insulted his teacher, so Dun killed him and fled the area. When he heard that Cao Cao was raising an army, he and his younger kinsman, Xiahou Yuan, each came with one thousand fierce warriors. These two men were originally kinsmen of Cao's. Cao's father, Cao Song was originally a son of the Xiahou clan, adopted into the Cao family; because of this, they were kinsmen.

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After not more than a few days, two other members of the Cao family, Cao Renand and Cao Hong, lent their assistance by each leading more than a thousand troops. Cao Ren's style name was Zixiao, and Cao Hong's style name was Zilian. The two of them were highly skilled in warfare, and proficient in all of the military arts. Cao was overjoyed, and began training the soldiers and cavalry right there within the village. Wei Hong used a considerable amount of his family's financial resources to purchase body armor and banners. Provisions came from all over, in numbers too great to count.

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Continued next week. Tomorrow is Poetry Day here at Literature Daily.

More About This Story

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: A forged imperial edict is issued: all towns respond to Lord Cao; breaking through the soldiers at the pass: three heroes battle Lü Bu.

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This translation from Wikipedia. See license CC-BY-SA