Yang Yi learned that soldiers were blocking the way ahead, so he hurried to send scouts. They reported that Wei Yan had burned the plank road and moved troops to cut off the route. Yang Yi was alarmed.

“While the Chancellor was alive, I always calculated this man would eventually rebel. Who had expected it to happen today? My road home has now been severed. What are we to do?” Fei Yi said, “This man must have first drafted a memorial to the Son of Heaven, falsely accusing us of rebellion; therefore he burned the plank road and blocked the way back. We should also submit a memorial to the Son of Heaven, setting out Wei Yan’s treacherous intent, and only then make plans.” Jiang Wei added, “There is a small path here called Chashan. Although it is rough and dangerous, we can pass behind the burnt road by it. Write a memorial and report to the Son of Heaven at once, and set men and horses moving by that Chashan path.”

Back in Chengdu, the Emperor was restless and sleepless. He could neither eat nor lie still in peace. One night he dreamed that Jinping Mountain in Chengdu had collapsed. He awoke in terror, sat up and kept vigil till dawn, gathered civil and military officials, and brought the dream before the morning court. Qiao Zhou said, “Your servant watched the stars last night and saw a red star with horned radiance fall from the northeast to the southwest. It indicates a great calamity concerning the Chancellor. Your Majesty’s dream of the mountain collapsing is exactly in accord with this omen.”

The Emperor became even more fearful. Soon word came that Li Fu had arrived, and the Emperor quickly summoned him. Li Fu knelt and wept as he spoke, saying the Chancellor had died and reciting in detail his last words. The Emperor cried, “Heaven has abandoned me!” and collapsed on the dragon couch.

Attendants carried him to the inner palace. Empress Wu also heard and cried out without ceasing. All officials mourned; all the people wept. For several days the Emperor was so grief-stricken he could not hold court.

A report then came that Wei Yan had submitted a memorial accusing Yang Yi of rebellion. The ministers were shocked. They entered the palace and reported to the Emperor, with Empress Wu also present. The Emperor, greatly startled, ordered a close minister to break open and read it.

Its contents said:

I, Wei Yan, General Who Conquers the West and Marquis of Nanzheng, in utmost fear and trembling, kneel and report: Yang Yi has assumed command authority, raised his troops, and rebelled; he seized the late Chancellor’s spirit-carriage and intends to usher enemies into our borders. I first burned through the plank road and placed troops to defend. I respectfully submit this report.

When the reading was finished, the Emperor said, “Wei Yan is a brave general and well suited to meet Yang Yi’s men in open battle. Why then did he burn the plank road?” Empress Wu said, “It was said the late emperor once remarked that Kongming understood that Wei Yan’s heart held rebellion and often wished to behead him, yet spared him for his bravery. What was reported just now cannot be accepted so quickly. Yang Yi is a learned man, and the Chancellor entrusted him with the office of Chief Clerk. He is not one who could be dismissed so easily. If we heed this one report alone, Yang Yi and his men will certainly throw in to Wei. In this matter we must think far and long and not act in haste.”

While the ministers were still discussing, another urgent memorial from Chief Clerk Yang Yi arrived. A close official tore it open and read:

I, Yang Yi, General Who Pacifies the Armies and Chief Clerk, with utmost fear and reverence, kneeling, respectfully submit: when the Chancellor lay dying he entrusted major matters to me and ordered me to follow old procedure without altering anything; Wei Yan was to hold the rear, with Jiang Wei next in command. Now Wei Yan has ignored the Chancellor’s final words, taken his own troops, first entered Hanzhong, set fire and burned the plank road, seized the late Chancellor’s funeral cart, and plotted treachery. The turmoil rose suddenly; I submit this urgent memorial.

After hearing this, the Empress Dowager asked, “What do your eyes see?” Jiang Wan said, “By my poor judgment, Yang Yi is indeed quick-tempered and not easy to tolerate, yet he has for a long time assisted the Chancellor in grain accounts, military matters, and strategy. If the Chancellor now dead entrusted him with major affairs, he could not have been a traitor. Wei Yan, relying on former merit, has long felt insulted by everyone but Yang Yi. Since Yang Yi disdains him, his heart holds resentment; now he has burned the road, cut off the way home, and spread slander to trap him. I dare not fully guarantee we can guard against his scheme.” Dong Yun also spoke: “Wei Yan trusts his own exploits too much and often voiced grievance. He has not rebelled before because he feared the Chancellor. Now the Chancellor has just died; seizing the moment to disturb the state is inevitable. If Yang Yi were truly inept and dull-witted, the Chancellor would not have placed him there in any case.”

The Emperor asked, “If Wei Yan truly rebels, what is the strategy to meet him?” Jiang Wan said, “The Chancellor has long doubted him and surely had left instructions to Yang Yi. If Yang Yi had not trusted those instructions, could Wei Yan have withdrawn into the valley mouth? He will take the bait.”

Not long after, Wei Yan submitted yet another memorial, charging that Yang Yi had rebelled. In the midst of reading it, Yang Yi sent another memorial, claiming Wei Yan had turned traitor. The two presented counterarguments in succession. Then Fei Yi arrived. The Emperor called him in, and Fei Yi recounted fully how Wei Yan had been disloyal.

The Emperor said, “Then let Dong Yun go with command and, with good words, attempt to win him over.” Dong Yun obeyed the edict and left.

Wei Yan burned the road, stationed men at South Valley, and blocked the pass; he believed the move had succeeded. He did not expect Yang Yi and Jiang Wei to slip past the road at night and come up behind South Valley.

Fearing for Hanzhong, Yang Yi ordered the vanguard commander, He Ping, to advance with three thousand men first. Then Yang Yi and Jiang Wei led their troops and the casket toward Hanzhong.

He Ping’s men came straight to the rear of South Valley, beating drums and crying out. A sentry horse reported to Wei Yan that Yang Yi had sent He Ping via Chashan’s small path to meet in battle from behind. Enraged, Wei Yan quickly buckled on his harness, mounted, drew his saber, and came out to intercept.

The two formations closed in a circle. He Ping rode forward and shouted, “Rebel Wei Yan, where are you?”

Wei Yan shouted back, “You helped Yang Yi rebel and yet dare to curse me?”

He Ping said, “The Chancellor is newly dead and his bones still warm. How dare you rebel?” Then he raised his whip and pointed to the soldiers, “All of you are men of Xichuan; in Sichuan dwell your parents, wives, and children, brothers, and old friends. When the Chancellor ruled, he never treated you harshly. Now do not aid the rebel. Each should return to your hometown and await reward.”

The troops heard this and shouted together; most of them broke apart.

Wei Yan grew furious, whipped his horse and charged directly toward He Ping. He Ping set his spear to meet him. The battle lasted only a few exchanges. He feigned a retreat, then turned to run. Wei Yan chased him hard. A hail of bows and crossbow bolts flew from the other soldiers. Wei Yan turned his horse back. As the army broke up in confusion, Wei Yan was wild with rage, surged forward, and killed several men, but he could not stop them all. Only the three hundred men under Ma Dai remained unmoved.

Wei Yan said to Ma Dai, “Master, if you truly aid me in your heart, I will repay you after the matter is done.” Then he and Ma Dai pursued He Ping.

He Ping led his men to a quick withdrawal. Wei Yan gathered the shattered troops and spoke with Ma Dai:

“If we turn to Wei, what then?”

Ma Dai replied, “My lord’s words are not wise at all. Why should a great man kneel to another when he can shape his own fortune of domination? In my judgment your wisdom and courage are whole enough. Who in the two Sichuan regions dares resist you? I swear that together we first take Hanzhong, then strike into the Two Sichuan regions.”

Wei Yan rejoiced, and with Ma Dai pressed his men straight toward Nanzheng. Jiang Wei was on the city walls there and saw Wei Yan and Ma Dai displaying their martial prowess as they surged forward like a driving wind.

Jiang Wei at once ordered the hanging bridge hauled up. Wei Yan and Ma Dai shouted together, “Surrender at once!”

Jiang Wei sent word to Yang Yi, “Wei Yan is fierce, and Ma Dai’s assistance makes him formidable. Though our troops are few, what path can turn him back?”

Yang Yi said, “Before he died, the Chancellor left a secret pouch and warned: ‘When facing Wei Yan in battle, only then may it be opened.’ We must take it out and read now.”

When the pouch was taken out and unsealed, it said: “When you confront Wei Yan, you may open this only while on horseback.”

Jiang Wei rejoiced. “Since the Chancellor has made this warning, Chief Clerk may carry it out. I will lead the troops out and form our ranks. You may come then.”

Jiang Wei buckled on his armor and took up his spear. He led three thousand troops, opened the gate, and charged out in one surge. The drumming thundered; ranks formed.

He stood with spear leveled beneath the gate banner and shouted,

“Rebel Wei Yan! The Chancellor never wronged you. Why rebel now?”

Wei Yan sat his horse with a crossed blade and answered, “Boyue, this concerns you not. Send only Yang Yi!”

Behind the gate banner’s shadow, Yang Yi took out and opened the secret pouch. As he read, he said, “The Chancellor has long known that someday he would rebel. He left me ready. This is exactly the moment.” He rode a light horse forward, stood before the formation, pointed at Wei Yan, and laughed,

“When the Chancellor was alive, he told me you would in time betray him. He taught me to prepare, and now he has been vindicated. If you can cry out three times from horseback, ‘Who dares to kill me?’ then you can call yourself a true man of courage. I will even give you Hanzhong city.”

Wei Yan laughed. “Yang Yi, you little bastard, listen: when Kongming was alive, even then I still feared him one third. Now he is dead. Who in all under Heaven dares contest me? Do not speak of three times; shout thirty thousand times if you wish. What is difficult?”

He raised his saber, pulled the reins, and roared from his horse, “Who dares to kill me?” Before he finished the first shout, a voice from behind shouted, “I dare to kill you!” He struck up and down in one motion, and Wei Yan was cut down from the saddle.

The whole host was astonished. The one who had slain Wei Yan was Ma Dai.

In truth, when Kongming was near death he had entrusted Ma Dai with this secret plan and said to strike Wei Yan at the instant he called out. When Yang Yi had read the hidden plan, he already knew Ma Dai lay in ambush there. He acted accordingly, and thus Wei Yan was killed.

A verse later said:

Zhuge discerned Wei Yan before time and knew he would eventually rise against Xichuan. The secret-pouch strategy is hard to foresee, yet in the end success waited in front of the horse.

Not yet had Dong Yun reached Nanzheng when Ma Dai killed Wei Yan. He joined forces with Jiang Wei. Yang Yi reported all to the Emperor without delay through the night. The Emperor issued an order,

His crimes now are made clear, and yet in memory of his former service, grant him coffin and burial.

Yang Yi and the others carried Kongming’s casket back to Chengdu. The Emperor summoned all civil and military officials and officials of the court, all dressed in mourning, and led them out twenty li from the city to receive it. The Emperor cried aloud.

From the highest ministers to the scholar-officials, to officials, commoners of mountain and forest, men and women, young and old, all wept. The cries of grief shook the earth.

The Emperor ordered the casket brought into the city and set in the Chancellor’s residence. Zhuge Zhan, his son, observed mourning and entered widowlike bereavement.

When the Emperor returned to court, Yang Yi came forward in shackles and pleaded for punishment. The Emperor told an attendant to remove the bonds.

“If it were not that you could follow the Chancellor’s final instruction, when would this funeral cart have returned? And how then would Wei Yan have been suppressed? It is all your strength that preserved the great matters.”

He then named Yang Yi Central Army Adviser. Ma Dai, for his merit in defeating the rebel, was granted Wei Yan’s marquisate. Yang Yi presented the late Chancellor’s memorial letter. The Emperor read it and wept, then decreed burial plans.

Fei Yi argued, “On the Chancellor’s deathbed, he ordered him buried at Mount Dingjun, without city wall or bricks, and with no ritual offerings at all.” The Emperor approved. On an auspicious day in the tenth month of that year, he personally sent off the casket and buried him at Dingjun Mountain.

The Emperor issued an order for sacrifice and conferred the posthumous title Loyal and Martial Marquis. He ordered a temple built at Mianyang for the four seasonal offerings.

Another poem by Du Fu then appeared:

Where now may one find the Chancellor’s shrine? Beyond Jinguan’s walls stand the cypresses in dense ranks. Emerald grass by the steps wears spring’s own hue; beyond the leaves, orioles sing their lovely notes in vain. Three visits framed the realm’s great plan; through two reigns the old minister gave his heart to open the way and bring relief. Before victory came he had died in person, and to this day heroes weep with sleeves full of tears.

Another poem by Du Fu:

Zhuge’s great name reaches through the universe under heaven; the ancestral minister’s image is austere and clear. Through three-way division, he devised all strategy; one feather in the clouds of ten-thousand ages. Between peers, he confronted Liu and Lu; if command were fixed, even Xiao and Cao would be cast away. Han’s Mandate has turned by fate and cannot be restored; with resolve fixed, he spent his life in the exhaustion of war duty.

When the Emperor returned to Chengdu, an attendant reported, “A border dispatch has arrived. Sun Quan of Wu has led General Zuanzong, with ten thousand men, to camp at Baqiu frontier pass. Their intent is unclear.”

The Emperor asked in alarm, “The Chancellor has just died; now the former ally Eastern Wu violates trust and invades our borders. What can be done?” Jiang Wan said, “I dare to state that Wang Ping and Zhang Ni have already brought ten thousand to Yong’an to prevent sudden turns. Let Your Majesty send one more emissary to Wu to offer mourning and to sound out the truth.”

“Let one man with eloquence go,” the Emperor said. A man came forward immediately, “Your servant volunteers.” All looked at him. He was a man from Nanyang, surname Zong, given name Yu, courtesy name Deyan, serving as Army Adviser, Right Gentleman-Guard General. The Emperor was greatly pleased and ordered Zong Yu to report mourning in Eastern Wu and at the same time test its real intention.

Zong Yu took up the command and went directly to Jinling, where he paid court audience to Wu ruler Sun Quan. After formal greetings he saw everyone there clothed in white.

Sun Quan, with sharp expression, said, “Shu and Wu have become one household. Why is your lord increasing the guard at Baidi?”

Zong Yu replied, “In my view, reinforcing Baidi and increasing the guard at Bada is simply appropriate to the present situation and does not require exchange of questions.”

Sun Quan laughed. “You are no less than Deng Zhi.” He then spoke to Zong Yu,

“I hear that Chancellor Zhuge has returned to heaven and that every day your ruler weeps and has all officials in mourning. I fear that Wei will use your grief and invade, so I increased the force at Baqiu by ten thousand as aid and nothing else.”

Zong Yu knelt and bowed in thanks.

Sun Quan said, “I have pledged alliance. How then can I violate righteousness?” Zong Yu said, “The Son of Heaven, because the Chancellor has just died, has specially ordered me to report this death.”

Sun Quan therefore took up an arrow of gold-pointed shaft and split it in two, saying, “If I violate our old alliance, may my descendants be cut off.” He also ordered that gifts of incense and silk and ritual vessels be sent so that sacrifices might be offered in Shu.

After bowing and taking leave, Zong Yu returned with Wu envoys to Chengdu and reported all before the Emperor.

“The Wu ruler,” he said, “also wept after the Chancellor died; he ordered all his court to mourn. As for sending reinforcements to Baqiu, I judge he did so only fearing Wei might take advantage; he swears no other intention. He has given this oath with the broken arrow.”

The Emperor rejoiced and rewarded Zong Yu richly and treated the Wu envoys well.

He then followed the Chancellor’s last instruction and promoted Jiang Wan as Chancellor and General-in-Chief, and made him take charge of the Secretariat; promoted Fei Yi to Prefect of the Masters of Writing to share in managing the Chancellor’s duties; promoted Wu Yi to General of Chariots and Cavalry and gave him authority to command in Hanzhong. Jiang Wei was made General Who Assists Han and Marquis of Pingxiang, and appointed to oversee personnel and troops in all regions. He was ordered to go out with Wu Yi and station in Hanzhong to prevent a Wei advance; all other generals and officers were assigned according to former offices.

Yang Yi thought himself older in service than Jiang Wan yet below him in rank; he also trusted in his own great merit and yet received no major reward. He spoke bitter words to Fei Yi: “In the first days after the Chancellor’s death, if I had delivered the whole army to Wei, would I now be sitting in such loneliness?” Fei Yi gave this in a secret memorial.

The Emperor grew angry and commanded Yang Yi sent to jail and interrogated, intending to execute him. Jiang Wan spoke, “Yi has committed a fault, but these last days he achieved much while serving the late Chancellor. He should not be beheaded. Let him be demoted to commoner.”

The Emperor accepted this. Yang Yi was punished to exile in Jia County of Hanzhong as a commoner. He, ashamed and grieved, cut his own throat.

In Shu-Han’s thirteenth year of Jianxing, Wei’s Cao Rui’s third year of Qinglong, and Eastern Wu’s fourth year of Jiahe, none of the three kingdoms raised armies.

For the moment, talk turned to Wei: Cao Rui had made Sima Yi Grand Commandant, assigning him the command of troops and horse and to calm the frontiers. Sima Yi thanked him and returned to Luoyang.

At Xuchang, the Wei ruler undertook vast earthwork and timber work, building official halls. At Luoyang he erected Chaoyang Hall and Taiji Hall, and built Zongzhang Pavilion. Each rose ten zhang high. He also erected Chonghua Hall, Qingxiao Pavilion, Phoenix Tower, and Jiulong Pond, with Doctor Ma Jun supervising these works. They were all exquisitely carved, painted, roofed in blue tile and gilded brick, and blazed with light. He selected more than thirty thousand artisans and over three hundred thousand manual laborers, and they worked day and night without rest. The people were exhausted and complaints never ceased.

Cao Rui then issued an order to undertake more earthwork in Shanglin Garden, forcing all civil and military elites to carry soil and wood into it.

Minister Dong Xun submitted a memorial of urgent rebuke:

From Jian'an onward, in field battles deaths have emptied houses and ruined families; if any survive, they leave behind orphans, the elderly, and the weak. Though imperial halls are already narrow, to enlarge them should be done according to time and season, and not at the expense of the fields. Is there any benefit to useless making? Since Your Majesty honors your ministers, clothing them in crowns and embroidery and loading them in splendid carriages, making you unlike common men for this very reason, how can you now make all of them carry timber and soil, staining body and feet, draining the brilliance of the state to build useless things? Confucius said, “When the ruler treats ministers with ritual, ministers serve with loyalty.” Without loyalty and ritual how does a realm stand? I know this report may end in my death; yet I am but one hair on a cattle’s ear: life brings no worth, and death brings no loss. My brush flows with tears as I part from the world. I have eight sons. If I die, my burden falls on Your Majesty. I cannot suppress my fear and trembling.

When Cao Rui read it, he exploded, “Does Dong Xun not fear death?” His attendants urged execution.

The ruler said, “This man has always had loyalty and righteousness. Let him be demoted to commoner now. If there is another foolish word, he dies.” At this same time, Prince’s Retainer Zhang Mao, courtesy name Yancai, also memorialized, and Cao Rui ordered him executed as well.

The same day Cao Rui summoned Ma Jun and said, “I want high terraces and steep pavilions so I may converse with immortals and find the way to long life without old age.”

Jun replied, “In Han there were twenty-four emperors. Of them, Emperor Wu ruled the longest. His span was great, perhaps because he took in the qi of sunlight and moonlight. In the Chang’an palace, there is the Bailiang Terrace. Upon it stood a bronze man holding a dish called the Chenglu Disc, said to receive the vapor from the Northern Dipper at the third watch, called heavenly juice and also sweet dew. If one ground this with fine jade powder and consumed it, one could return to youth and reverse old age.”

Cao Rui was delighted. “Go now with men at night to Chang’an,” he said. “Take down the bronze man and move him to Shanglin Garden.”

Jun obeyed. He took ten thousand men to Chang’an and had wooden scaffolds built around the terrace. In no time, five thousand men with ropes and hooks were climbing and circling. The Bailiang Terrace was twenty zhang tall; the bronze column was ten chi across.

Jun first directed them to dismantle the bronze figure. In one effort they pulled it down. They saw that tears were forming in its bronze eyes and falling. All were startled. Suddenly a fierce wind struck the terrace; sand and stones flew in torrents, quickly as sudden rain. There was a single great crash as if heaven cracked and earth split. The platform tilted, columns fell, and more than one thousand were crushed.

Jun took the bronze man and the golden disc back to Luoyang and presented them to Cao Rui.

The ruler asked, “Where is the bronze pillar?”

Jun said, “The column weighs a million jin; it cannot be moved.”

The Emperor ordered the bronze column broken apart and transported to Luoyang, then melted and cast as two bronze figures named Wengzhong and set outside Sima Gate; he cast also two bronze animals, dragon and phoenix. The dragon stood four zhang high and the phoenix over three zhang, and they were placed before the hall.

Within Shanglin Garden, he also ordered strange flowers and odd trees planted and rare birds and beasts raised.

Grand Tutor Yang Fu then memorialized:

I have heard that Yao still kept a straw-and-mat house; Shun dwelt in simple halls, and all realms were at peace. Yü and Wen also lived plain, yet the empire was at rest and worked in harmony. In the past even in Yin and Zhou one could set halls with only three feet and nine mats. The virtuous and enlightened rulers of old never ruined their people by building grand residences; not even once did they spend beyond the people’s strength. Jie made jade halls and elephant stables; Zhou Xuan built tilted palaces and stables for deer, and both met ruin. King Ling of Chu raised the Zhanghua halls and brought collapse upon himself and his dynasty; Qin Shi Huang built Epang Palace, and disaster struck his son in turn, so Qin collapsed in two generations. Whoever does not measure the people’s strength and follows only private desire of eye and ear—none of those has avoided ruin. Let Your Majesty take Yao, Shun, Yü, Tang, Wen, and Wu as law, and use Jie, Zhou, Chu, and Qin as warning; but this one instead seeks indulgence in buildings, as if delighting in ornament, and will surely invite danger. A ruler is the head of the state; ministers are its shoulders and arms. Life and death are one, and gain and loss are shared. Though I am clumsy and timid, can I fail in speaking as a remonstrating minister? My words are not keen enough to awaken Your Majesty. I wet my mourning garments and stand ready for severe punishment.

When the memorial came in, Cao Rui did not heed it. He kept pressing Ma Jun to finish the high terraces, install the bronze man, and place the Chenglu Disc.

He again decreed that hundreds of beautiful women across the land be recruited into Shanglin Garden.

Officials submitted repeated objections and memorials, but Cao Rui listened to none.

Cao Rui’s empress, Lady Mao, came from Henan. In earlier days, while Cao Rui was still Prince Pingyuan, she was deeply favored. After he became emperor he made her empress. Later he became infatuated with Lady Guo, and Lady Mao lost favor. Lady Guo was beautiful and clever; Cao Rui was much taken with her, daily seeking amusement with her. He did not leave the inner palace for a month.

In that spring, in the third month, flowers thronged Shanglin Garden. Cao Rui and Lady Guo went there to enjoy them and drink. Lady Guo said, “Why do you not invite the Empress to join us?”

Cao Rui said, “If she were present I could not swallow even a drop.” He ordered palace attendants in secret not to let Lady Mao know.

When Lady Mao heard that the Emperor had spent a month outside the main palace, she took more than ten women and went to the Cuilihall. She sat there and heard clear music in the distance, and asked, “Where is this music being played?” A palace official replied, “It is your Majesty with Lady Guo in the imperial garden, enjoying flowers and wine.”

Lady Mao was upset and returned to the palace. The next day, in a small carriage, she went out, and happened to meet Cao Rui in a winding corridor.

She smiled and said, “Your Majesty’s outing to the North Garden was no slight joy.”

Cao Rui grew angry, had all attendants from the previous day captured and cried, “Yesterday in the North Garden I ordered that no one tell Lady Mao of what was happening. How has this been spoken aloud?” He ordered all attendants from that outing to be executed.

Lady Mao was greatly shocked and returned to the palace. Cao Rui immediately issued an edict granting Lady Mao death and elevating Lady Guo to empress. No court official dared to intercede.

One day, the Inspector of Youzhou, Guanqiu Jian, submitted a memorial reporting that in Liaodong, Gongsun Yuan had rebelled, taking the title King of Yan and establishing the era Shao-Han, first year. He had built a palace, made offices, raised troops, and invaded, stirring the northern border.

Cao Rui was startled, immediately gathered civil and military officials, and discussed mobilizing troops to drive back Yuan.

It came to this:

They had only begun to exhaust China with earthwork and timber, and already saw war rise from the outer marches. How this turned out will be told in the next chapter.