So he ordered to be put to death the governor and all his family to the number of two score.
But when he was told that Yang Fu had urged his master to hold out and therefore should be executed, Ma Chao was opposed to this and said that Yang Fu had but done his duty. To show his appreciation of Yang Fu’s sense of loyalty he even employed him and two of his friends in his own army. These two friends were named Liang Kuan and Zhao Qu.
One day Yang Fu went to his new chief and said, “My wife has died in Lintao—I wish to take leave for two months to bury her.”
Therefore he was granted leave and went away. But instead of going home he went to see his maternal cousin Jiang Xu, who was in command at Licheng and whose mother, then an old lady of eighty-two, was Yang Fu’s aunt. When Yang Fu saw her he said, in tears: “The city I had to defend is lost; my master is dead; and yet I have survived him. I am ashamed to look you in the face. Now this Ma Chao has slain the governor without reason, and every man in the region hates him. Yet my cousin sits still and does nothing about this. Is this fitting conduct for a state servant?”
He wept bitterly. The old lady, moved by his grief, called in her son and reproached him, “You are also to blame for the death of the governor.” Then turning once more toward Yang Fu, she asked, “But you have surrendered to Ma Chao and, more than that, you have entered his service. Why do you want to destroy him now?”
Yang Fu replied, “I did so only to preserve my miserable life till I can avenge my master.”
“But Ma Chao is terribly strong and difficult to destroy,” said his cousin.
“Not very difficult,” replied Yang Fu, “for though he is bold he is not resourceful. I have already planted two friends by his side, and they would help us against him if you would only raise a force.”
“What is to the point of delay?” said the old lady. “Is there anyone who will not have to die? To perish in the way of loyalty and righteousness is to die a worthy death. Do not worry about me. If you do not listen to your cousin, I will die at once so that you may be free to make up your mind.”
There was now no excuse for delay, and Jiang Xu had to act. He summoned two of his officers, Yin Feng and Zhao Ang, and took counsel with them.
Now Zhao Ang had a son, Yue, who was an officer in the army of Ma Chao. Although he had consented to take part in the action against his son’s chief, he was very upset in his heart. He returned home and said to his wife, “I have today been led into a scheme to destroy Ma Chao and avenge the governor. But our son is there in his service, and he will certainly put him to death as soon as he hears that we are against him. What is to be done?”
But his wife replied angrily, “Should anyone grudge even his own life to avenge the death of his lord? How much less a son? If you let the thought of your son stay your hand then I will die at once.”
This decided the matter, and without further discussion Zhao Ang decided to join the expedition. The army was soon on its way. Jiang Xu and Yang Fu went and camped at Licheng; the other two, Yin Feng and Zhao Ang, camped by the Qi Mountains. The wife of Zhao Ang sold her jewels and went in person to her husband’s camp to reward his soldiers.
The fears of Zhao Ang concerning the fate of his son were only too soon justified. At the first news of the army marching against him, Ma Chao beheaded the young man. A force was sent to Licheng, and the men under Jiang Xu and Yang Fu went out to oppose it. The two leaders on the avenging side went to battle dressed in mourning white. They railed at Ma Chao, calling him a traitor, wicked and rebellious.
Ma Chao angrily dashed at them, and the fight began. But how could these two have the least hope to resist Ma Chao? Badly smitten, they turned to flee. Ma Chao pursued them. However, the situation soon turned sour for the victor, as he heard the shouting of soldiers behind him and found that he was attacked in the rear by another force. Thus he was between two forces and had a double battle to fight. As he turned toward this new enemy, those he had been pursuing returned again to the fight. And while engaged with these two, there suddenly appeared a third force under Xiahou Yuan, who had just received orders from Cao Cao to combat Ma Chao.
Attacks on three sides simultaneously proved too much for Ma Chao, who was compelled to flee, his force in utter confusion. He retreated all night and at dawn reached his own city of Jicheng. But when he hailed the gate, a flight of arrows was the response. Soon after, the two friends of Yang Fu, Liang Kuan and Zhao Qu, appeared and reviled him from the ramparts above. More than this, they dragged his wife up upon the wall, murdered her before his very eyes, and threw the bloody body at his feet. They followed this cruel act by the murder in like manner of his three young sons and more than a dozen members of his family. And all their dead bodies were flung from the wall.
Rage and grief filled Ma Chao’s bosom—he almost fell from his steed. But little time was allowed for him to grieve, for Xiahou Yuan was nearly upon him. Knowing that he could not oppose this massive force with any chance of victory, he dared not fight long, but made a dash with his two bold officers to cut a way through the enemy line. Presently they fell upon Yang Fu and Jiang Xu, and after a brief battle they pressed on with their escape. In the same way they forced a passage through Yin Feng’s and Zhao Ang’s troops. However, they lost most of their few followers, and at the end only some three score remained.
At about the fourth watch they came to Licheng. In the darkness the gate guards, thinking that their master Jiang Xu had returned, opened the gate and unwittingly admitted the enemy. Once in the city the slaughter began from the south gate, and everyone, soldier or civilian, was slain. At the residence of Jiang Xu they dragged forth his aged mother. She showed no sign of fear, but reviled Ma Chao. In his anger he took his sword and slew her himself. Then they went to the houses of Yin Feng and Zhao Ang and slew all they found inside. The only person who escaped the massacre was the wife of Zhao Ang, who had accompanied her husband with the army.
But the city proved no place of safety. Xiahou Yuan with his army appeared the following day, and Ma Chao fled before him to the west. But before he had gone twenty li he came face to face with another force drawn up in battle array, led by Yang Fu. Grinding his teeth with hatred, Ma Chao set his spear and rode directly at Yang Fu, while his two officers, Ma Dai and Pang De, engaged the rear. Yang Fu, though aided by his seven cousins, was overcome. In no time all the seven cousins were slain while he himself was wounded in five places, but he still struggled on.
At that moment, however, Xiahou Yuan with his large army came up from behind and Ma Chao was again forced to escape. His followers were now reduced to less than ten, and these few continued to flee.
Cao Cao’s general, Xiahou Yuan, restored order in the district, after which he appointed Jiang Xu and the others to defend it. The wounded man, Yang Fu, was sent to the capital in a carriage. When he arrived he saw Cao Cao, who offered him the title of marquis. But Yang Fu declined the honor, saying, “I have neither the credit of sustaining a successful defense nor the merit of dying a martyr in the fall of the city. Death should be my punishment. How could I accept the honor?”
Cao Cao praised him and did not insist.
Having escaped from their pursuers, Ma Chao and his few followers decided to seek shelter with Zhang Lu in Hanzhong. Zhang Lu received them gladly, for he thought with such a bold warrior in his service he could certainly get possession of Yizhou in the west and repel Cao Cao in the east. To secure his loyalty, he even thought of making Ma Chao his son-inlaw. But when he discussed this with his men, one of them, called Yang Bo, objected.
“Remember how he brought misfortune to his wife and family. How could you give your daughter to him?” said Yang Bo.
Zhang Lu agreed and thus abandoned this idea. But a certain busybody told Ma Chao about all this and the latter, greatly annoyed, began to nurture the thought of destroying Yang Bo. Meanwhile, Yang Bo and his brother Yang Song also conspired to destroy Ma Chao.
At this time Liu Zhang’s envoy arrived in Hanzhong,
begging for assistance against the invader Liu Bei. Zhang Lu refused. Soon, another envoy was sent by Liu Zhang on the same errand. He first went to see Yang Song and pointed out to him the inter-dependence of their two sides, standing next to each other like the lips and teeth. He further promised that his master was willing to hand over twenty towns if aid was offered. These words won over Yang Song, who led him to see his master. The envoy repeated his argument and laid the matter before him so cogently that Zhang Lu promised his help.
One of Zhang Lu’s officers tried to dissuade him by pointing out the old enmity between him and Liu Zhang, but another man suddenly stood out and said, “Useless I may be, but if you will give me some troops I will capture this Liu Bei and force Liu Zhang to yield the twenty towns he has promised.”
The land’s true lord goes west and then
Hanzhong sends forth its bravest men.
Who made this bold offer will be told in the next chapter.
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
Ma Chao Fights a Great Battle at Jiameng Pass
Liu Bei Assumes Governorship of Yizhou
It was Ma Chao who rose and said, “I have been the recipient of much kindness from you, sir, which I feel I can never repay adequately. Now let me lead an army to take Jiameng Pass, capture Liu Bei, and force Liu Zhang to yield twenty towns to you.”
This offer delighted Zhang Lu, who sent the envoy back first through a byroad and then assigned an army of 20,000 men for Ma Chao to lead. As Pang De happened to be ill and so was unable to take part in the expedition, Yang Bo was sent in his place. A date was chosen for the army to start. Meanwhile, the messenger sent by Fa Zheng to Chengdu had returned. He told Liu Bei that Liu Zhang had been advised to destroy the crops and the granaries, move away the people, and maintain a strong defense. This news alarmed Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang greatly, for it would be a grave danger to them. However, Fa Zheng was more optimistic.
“Do not be anxious,” he said. “Though the plan is lethal, it will not be accepted by Liu Zhang.”
Surely enough, very soon they heard that Liu Zhang, unwilling to cause the people so much disturbance, had refused to accept the advice. It was a great relief to Liu Bei.
Zhuge Liang said, “Now let us try to capture Mianzhu quickly. When that town is seized, Chengdu will be as good as ours.”
Therefore he sent Huang Zhong and Wei Yan to advance first. When Fei Guan, commander at Mianzhu and brother-in-law to Liu Zhang, heard of their advance, he ordered Li Yan to go out and confront them, and the officer went out with 3,000 men. The two sides being arrayed, Huang Zhong rode out and engaged his opponent. They fought about fifty bouts but neither was able to claim victory over the other, and so Zhuge Liang ordered his men to clang the gongs to cease the battle. When Huang Zhong got back he said to the advisor, “Sir, why did you sound the gong of withdrawal just as I was going to capture my opponent?”
“Because I saw that he would not be overcome by mere force. Tomorrow when you fight with him, pretend defeat and then lead him into the hills. There will be an ambush awaiting him.”
Huang Zhong agreed to try this ruse, and so the next day he accepted Li Yan’s challenge when it was offered. After about ten bouts he and his men pretended to be worsted and fled. Li Yan pursued and was quickly lured into the hills. Suddenly, danger flashed into his mind and he hurriedly turned to go back. But there he found Wei Yan’s men blocking his way, while Zhuge Liang shouted down from a hilltop: “You had better yield—if not, there are bows and crossbows on both sides of you, ready to take your life to avenge the death of our Pang Tong.”
Li Yan hastened to dismount, threw aside his armor, and yielded. Not a man of his was hurt. He was conducted to Liu Bei, whose affable attitude immediately won his heart, so he offered to try to persuade Fei Guan to forfeit his allegiance to Liu Zhang.
“Though he is related to Liu Zhang, he and I are very close friends. Let me go and persuade him.”
Li Yan was thus sent back to the city to induce his friend to come over to Liu Bei’s side. He talked to his friend so eloquently about the kindness and virtue of Liu Bei that Fei Guan was convinced. Throwing open the city gates he, too, surrendered to the invaders.
As soon as Liu Bei entered Mianzhu he began preparations for the seizure of the capital of the west country. While thus engaged he received an urgent message to the effect that Ma Chao was making a fierce attack on Jiameng Pass and that it would certainly be lost if help was not sent quickly.
“We need Yi-de or Zi-long for this,” remarked Zhuge Liang.
“But Zi-long is away,” said Liu Bei. “However, Yi-de is here. Let us send him now.”
“Do not say anything, my lord. Let me stir him up so that he will fight his best.”
As soon as Zhang Fei heard of Ma Chao’s presence at Jiameng Pass he went to see his brother, shouting loudly, “I must take my leave, brother. I’m off to fight Ma Chao.”
Of this passionate burst of courage, Zhuge Liang pretended as if he had not heard a word. Turning to Liu Bei, he said, “That Ma Chao is invading Jiameng Pass and we have no one to drive him back unless we get Yun-chang from Jingzhou. He is the only one who can counter Ma Chao.”
“Why do you despise me, sir?” cried Zhang Fei. “Didn’t I once drive back a whole army of Cao Cao’s? Do you think I can’t deal with a stupid fellow like Ma Chao?”
Zhuge Liang said, “Well, Yi-de, last time you succeeded in holding the Long Slope Bridge against Cao Cao’s large army because he was in doubt. If he had known our real strength, you would not have fared so well. Now this Ma Chao is famous throughout the country for his valor. His six battles at the Wei Bridge forced Cao Cao to cut short his beard and throw away his robe. He very nearly slew him, too. This is no light task, and even your brother might fail.”
“I will go right now, and if I don’t overcome this fellow, I’m willing to take the consequences.”
“All right,” said Zhuge Liang. “If you will put that down in writing, you may lead the vanguard.”
Turning to Liu Bei, he continued, “My lord, you can lead another division to support him and I will stay here and guard this town till Zi-long returns.”
“I also want to go,” volunteered Wei Yan.
Wei Yan was allowed to go ahead of Zhang Fei with five hundred light cavalrymen as scouts. Liu Bei was to lead the rearguard. The three forces soon left the city for Jiameng Pass.
Wei Yan and his scouts arrived first at the pass, where he fell in with Yang Bo. They engaged—but after a few bouts Yang Bo fled in defeat.
At this success Wei Yan was seized with ambition and, hoping to snatch the credit that would fall to Zhang Fei, he pursued. Presently he came across a body of soldiers all drawn up, the commander being Ma Dai. Wei Yan, thinking it was the redoubtable Ma Chao, rode toward him, whirling his sword. In less than ten exchanges Ma Dai started to run away, and Wei Yan again followed. However, Ma Dai suddenly turned back and shot an arrow, which wounded his pursuer in the left arm. Wei Yan gave up the chase and turned to flee. This time Ma Dai came after him and chased him nearly up to Jiameng Pass.
Here Ma Dai was suddenly confronted by a warrior with a thunderous voice who dashed down from the pass as on a flying steed.
It was Zhang Fei, who had just arrived. Hearing the noise of battle below the pass he had come to find out what it meant and saw Wei Yan hit by an arrow. Vaulting into the saddle, he rushed off to his rescue. Then he shouted to Ma Dai, “Who are you? Tell me your name first, then fight.”
“I am Ma Dai of Xiliang.”
“So you are not Ma Chao,” said Zhang Fei in disappointment. “Go away quickly. You are no match for me. Tell Ma Chao to come himself, and say that Zhang Fei of Yan is here.”
“How dare you treat me with contempt?” cried Ma Dai in hot anger, and he came galloping up with his spear set to thrust. But after about ten bouts he had to flee. Zhang Fei was about to pursue when a rider came up to him hastily, crying, “Don’t pursue, brother.” The rider was Liu Bei, and Zhan
g Fei stopped. The two returned together to the pass.
“I know your impulsive temper, and so I followed you. Since you’ve got the better of him you should take a good rest tonight and recuperate for the fight tomorrow with Ma Chao.”
The rolling of drums at dawn the next day declared the arrival of Ma Chao. Liu Bei looked down at him from the pass: there was Ma Chao emerging from the shade of his great standard, clad in a white robe and silver armor, with a lion helmet on his head and a belt with a wild beast clasp around his waist. Just as his attire was uncommon, so were his looks.
Liu Bei gasped admiringly. “What a fine looking young warrior! No wonder people call him Handsome Ma Chao.”
Zhang Fei wanted to go down at once, but his brother checked him, saying, “No, not yet. You must avoid the keenness of his fighting ardor.”
Thus from below Ma Chao challenged Zhang Fei, while above Zhang Fei fretted at not being allowed to swallow Ma Chao up at one gulp. Time and again Zhang Fei wanted to set out, but each time his brother checked him. And so it continued till past midday, when Liu Bei, noticing signs of fatigue and weariness among Ma Chao’s men, decided that it was the moment to let Zhang Fei go to his great fight. He picked out five hundred cavalrymen to accompany his brother and let the party go.
Ma Chao, seeing Zhang Fei coming with his force, signaled with his spear to his men to retreat the distance of a bowshot, and Zhang Fei’s riders halted. Liu Bei and the other men at the pass also came down to take their places as onlookers. Zhang Fei set his spear and rode out.
“Do you know who I am?” shouted Zhang Fei. “I am Zhang Fei of Yan.”
Ma Chao replied contemptuously, “My family has been noblemen for many generations. I certainly do not know any rustic dolts.”
This reply enraged Zhang Fei. In a moment the two steeds were rushing toward each other, and the two men raised their spears. A hundred bouts were fought but neither could prevail over the other.