From the beginning,

Zhuge Liang, whose courtesy name was Kongming, released Meng Huo and the other captives. Yang Feng and his son were each granted offices and titles, and the cave troops were heavily rewarded. Yang Feng and his companions thanked him and departed. Meng Huo and the others returned to Silver Pit Cave by night.

Outside the cave were three rivers: the Lu River, the Gannan River, and the Xicheng River. The three streams came together there, so the place was called Three Rivers. North of the cave lay nearly three hundred li of open plain, rich with all kinds of things. Two hundred li to the west was a salt well. Another two hundred li to the southwest reached the Lu and Gannan waters. Three hundred li to the south stood Liangdu Cave; within that cave system, mountains enclosed it. Silver ore came from those mountains, which is why it was called Silver Pit Mountain. In the mountains stood palaces and towers as the barbarian king’s stronghold. They built an ancestral hall and called it “Family Ghost.” It was used for cattle-killing and horse-slaughter sacrifices, with the rite called “Oracle Ghost.” Each year they also sacrificed and offered sacrifices to this spirit for the Shus and people from outer regions. When a person fell ill, he would refuse medicine and instead pray to wizard-shamans, a practice called “Medicine Ghost.” There were no formal criminal codes there, but crimes were still punished by beheading. When girls came of age, they bathed together in the streams with men and were free to pair as they wished; parents did not intervene. This custom was called “Learning by Arts.”

When the seasons and rains came in due order, they planted rice. If the grain did not ripen, they killed snakes for soup and cooked elephants for rice.

In each ward, the first household was called the cave lord, and the next one was the tribal chieftain. On the first and fifteenth of each lunar month, they all gathered in Three Rivers City to trade and barter. These were their customs.

Meng Huo gathered more than a thousand kinsmen and followers in the cave and said, “I have been humiliated by Shu soldiers many times, and I have sworn to repay them. What strong plan do you all have?” Before he finished, one man answered, “I can present one man who can break Zhuge Liang.” The men looked there. It was Meng Huo’s brother-in-law, now chief of the Eighth District, called Dailai Cave Lord. Meng Huo was overjoyed and asked quickly, “Who is he?”

Dailai Cave Lord said, “The chief beyond the southwest is King Mùlù of the Banyan Cave. He is deep in rites and sorcery. When he sets out, he rides an elephant and can summon wind and rain. Tigers, leopards, wolves, poisonous snakes, and venomous scorpions always follow him. He also commands thirty thousand divine soldiers, all ferocious. If he sends a formal letter and receives respectful treatment, I can go in person to petition him. If this man grants support, what fear is there of Shu soldiers?”

Meng Huo rejoiced and ordered his uncle by marriage to write and go. Then he ordered King Duosi to guard Three Rivers City as a forward barrier.

Kongming then marched with troops straight to Three Rivers City. He saw at a distance that the city was bounded by the river on three sides and open on the fourth by dry land, so he sent Wei Yan and Zhao Yun, whose courtesy name was Zilong, each with a corps, to assault the dry approach. When the army reached the city foot, the barbarians on the walls loosed crossbow and ballista volleys all at once. There were many bowmen in the cave; each crossbow released ten bolts at once, every arrowhead poisoned. Anyone struck saw skin and flesh rot until the five viscera were exposed, and then died. Zhao Yun and Wei Yan could not win. They returned to Kongming and reported the poisoned arrows.

Kongming rode in a small cart to the front, examined the situation, and then ordered the army to pull back several li to camp. The barbarians watched the Shu army retreat far away, laughed loudly and rejoiced, and assumed the Shus had retreated in fear. So they slept deeply and securely that night, sending no sentries on reconnaissance.

After the withdrawal, Kongming kept the camp closed and gave no orders for five days. Toward dusk on the fifth, a slight wind rose from the left. Kongming sent the order: “Every unit must bring one strip of collar cloth and answer check at the first watch hour. Anyone without one will be beheaded.” All the commanders were perplexed, but the troops prepared.

At the first watch hour, he sent another order: “Every unit must bring one bundle of earth. Anyone without one will be beheaded.” Again they were all confused, but all prepared.

Kongming gave yet another order: “All units, bring your earth bundles to the foot of Three Rivers City for handover. The first to arrive will be rewarded.” Hearing this, the army quickly packed clean soil and hurried to the city foot. Kongming had all the soil piled into a sloped ramp. Those who gained the wall first would receive first merit. So over ten thousand Shus, plus more than ten thousand newly enrolled men, cast their soil together at once before the wall. In a moment, the heaps became a mound and pressed up to the city wall. At a hidden signal, all Shu soldiers climbed in. The barbarians sent out their crossbows only to be mostly seized, and the rest fled and abandoned the city. King Duosi was killed in the chaos.

Kongming’s Shus separated the routes and slaughtered through. He took Three Rivers City; all treasure taken there was distributed to the army. A shattered band of barbarians fled back to tell Meng Huo, “King Duosi is dead. Three Rivers City is lost.”

Meng Huo was in dread. While he was still worrying, word came that the Shu soldiers had already crossed the river and camped before his own cave.

Suddenly, a single laugh rang out from behind the screen as one figure emerged: “If you are truly a man, how could you lack intelligence? I am a woman, yet I will fight with you.”

Meng Huo looked and saw it was his wife, Lady Zhu Rong. She had long lived in the southern barbarians and was of the Zhu Rong lineage; she was famed for her flying knives, never missing.

Meng Huo rose and thanked her. Lady Zhu Rong rejoiced, mounted, and led several hundred fierce chiefs and fifty thousand cave soldiers from Silver Pit Palace to oppose the Shus. As they had barely turned out of the cave mouth, a contingent stopped them; at its front rode the Shu general Zhang Ni. When the barbarians saw him, they spread out in two lines.

Lady Zhu Rong had five throwing knives tucked behind her, and held a long spearstaff nearly eight chi in length. She sat her curly-mane horse, red-bay in color. Zhang Ni admired the sight in silence. They charged and engaged at speed. After only a few turns of battle, Lady Zhu Rong turned her horse and withdrew.

Zhang Ni chased. In midair one flying knife dropped. He raised his arm to block, and it struck his left arm. He spun and fell from horseback. The barbarians shouted once, seized Zhang Ni, and took him away.

When Ma Zhong heard Zhang Ni had been captured, he moved in and was at once bound as well. Seeing Lady Zhu Rong standing with spear upright and horse reined in, Ma Zhong, burning with rage, rushed forward and was about to fight, but he tripped from his mount and was also captured. Then all were taken into the cave to meet Meng Huo.

Meng Huo offered them seats and celebrated. Lady Zhu Rong barked for the axe and sword men to bring out Zhang Ni and Ma Zhong for execution. Meng Huo stopped her: “Kongming once released me five times. If I were to kill these generals now, that would be unrighteous. Also, they were captured and surrendered in this cave. I did not refuse then. Since this was all an arrangement, we can execute them later after taking Kongming himself.”

Lady Zhu Rong obeyed his words and drank and feasted.

The shattered barbarian survivors came to report this to Kongming. He immediately summoned Ma Dai, Zhao Yun, and Wei Yan and gave each his plan. The next day the barbarians reported they had entered the cave. They said Zhao Yun was waiting for battle. Lady Zhu Rong mounted and rode out to meet him.

The two clashed in a few passes. Zhao Yun turned his horse and withdrew. Lady Zhu Rong feared an ambush and turned back with her men. Later, Wei Yan came and led troops into combat. Lady Zhu Rong urged her horse forward and met him in battle. As the engagement tightened, Wei Yan pretended to lose and broke away; Lady Zhu Rong did not pursue.

The next day Zhao Yun again brought troops and fought her. She met him and after only a few passes he again feigned retreat. She did not chase and instead began to withdraw to the cave, but then Wei Yan sent his whole force forward with loud insults. Lady Zhu Rong instantly drew her staff to strike him. Wei Yan turned his horse and rode away.

In fury she chased him. Wei Yan then spurred through a mountain-side side track. Suddenly there was a loud sound behind him. He looked back and saw Lady Zhu Rong off her saddle and falling. Ma Dai had been hiding there and used a strap rope to trip her. He captured her and took her back to the main camp.

The barbarians from the cave came to rescue, but Zhao Yun scattered them with one fierce attack.

Kongming sat upright in the command tent. Ma Dai brought Lady Zhu Rong in and Kongming ordered soldiers to untie her and seat her in a separate tent with wine to steady her. He then dispatched a messenger to Meng Huo, proposing to trade Lady Zhu Rong for Zhang Ni and Ma Zhong.

Meng Huo agreed and released Zhang Ni and Ma Zhong, returning him. Kongming then sent Lady Zhu Rong back into the cave.

Meng Huo received him with joy and anger together. Then came word that the Daini Cave Lord had arrived. Meng Huo went out to receive him. The man rode a white elephant, wearing gold-and-pearl cords and two large swords at his waist, and was surrounded by men who fed tigers, leopards, and wolves. Upon seeing him, Meng Huo knelt and wept to beg for help.

He narrated the events. King Mulu promised revenge. Meng Huo was overjoyed and held a feast.

The next day King Mulu led his cave troops and fierce beasts out. Hearing the barbarians were coming, Zhao Yun and Wei Yan formed their troops into array.

The two commanders stood side by side before the line and watched. The barbarians’ banners and equipment were unlike anything else: many wore no armor at all, bare and naked. Each carried four sharpened knives. No drums or horns sounded among them; instead they used metal sieves as signals. King Mulu had two treasured swords at his waist and held a bronze gong in his hand, riding a white elephant beneath the grand standard.

Zhao Yun said to Wei Yan, “In all the days I have stood in formation, I have never seen such figures.” As they were still pondering, King Mulu muttered spells no one could understand and shook his bell. Suddenly the wind rose violently; sand and stone flew as if in sudden rain. A war-horn sounded. Tigers, leopards, wolves, and poisonous snakes were all loosed by the wind, fangs and claws bared, charging toward them.

How could the Shu stand against them? They fell back. The barbarians pursued in a slaughtering rush, and only on the border road near Three Rivers did they turn back.

Zhao Yun and Wei Yan gathered the defeated and came before Kongming to apologize, explaining everything. Kongming laughed and said, “It was not your fault. Before I left my thatched hut, I knew the southern barbarians had a beast-mobilizing method. I prepared in Shu already the means to break this formation: There were twenty carts in the army, all sealed within. Today use half; leave half for later use.” He ordered ten carts painted red with oil containers brought under his tent, leaving ten black-oil carts in reserve.

No one knew his meaning. Kongming opened the chests: they held carved wooden and painted giant beasts, each covered in five-colored woolen threads for fur and fitted with iron claws, each large enough for ten men to ride.

He selected over a thousand stout soldiers and selected one hundred men to carry concealed smoke-fire compounds among the troops.

Next day Kongming drove the army forward swiftly and set in formation at the cave mouth. The barbarians discovered this and reported to their king. Proud in his own invulnerability, King Mulu went out with Meng Huo and the cave army.

Kongming sat on his cart, wearing a silk kerchief and fan, clad in a robe of the Way, upright and composed.

Meng Huo pointed. “The one in the cart is Zhuge Liang. If we take this man, all is decided.”

King Mulu chanted a spell and shook his bell. In an instant a violent wind rose and the beasts leapt out. Kongming stirred his fan once; the wind reversed and drove back into their own lines. Fake beasts from Shu burst forth.

To the Shus, the barbarian beasts appeared with fire in their mouths, black smoke from their nostrils, and bronze bells ringing on their bodies. They bared teeth and claws and rushed forward. The wicked beasts in their own ranks did not dare advance but fled back into the cave, crashing through and knocking down thousands of barbarians. Kongming drove the army onward; horns and drums roared as they chased and killed.

King Mulu died in the melee. Inside the cave, Meng Huo’s followers abandoned the palace halls and fled over mountains and ridges. Kongming’s main force occupied Silver Pit Cave.

The next day Kongming was preparing to split forces and capture Meng Huo when news arrived: “King Mulu of the band—wife-brother brought and called Dailai Cave Lord—has persuaded Meng Huo to surrender, but he refused. Now he has brought Meng Huo, Lady Zhu Rong, and more than a hundred kinsmen in chains to present to the Chancellor.”

Kongming gave immediate orders. He summoned Zhang Ni and Ma Zhong and instructed them to do exactly as laid out. The two generals took two thousand picked men and took positions concealed in two corridors. Kongming ordered the gate guards to let the prisoners enter.

Dailai Cave Lord led axe-and-sword men and unbound Meng Huo and the others. Around a hundred of them were brought before him.

Kongming shouted, “Seize them!” The men in both corridors came out together, each taking one captive. They were all bound.

Kongming laughed: “How can your little trick hide from me? The two times you came into this cave and were captured to force surrender, I harmed you not. You believed I was sincere, so you tried deceitful surrender to lure me inside and kill me!”

He shouted to the guards, “Search their sides; of course they each carried sharp knives.”

Turning to Meng Huo, Kongming asked, “You said you would submit only when you were captured in your own hall. Today, then?”

Meng Huo replied, “This is our own prepared march to death. It is not your doing. My heart is not yet surrendered.”

Kongming said, “I have captured you six times and you still do not submit. When will that time come?”

Meng Huo answered, “When you have captured me the seventh time, then only then will I surrender from the heart and never rebel again.”

Kongming said, “The nest is broken. What need have I to worry?” and ordered the guards to remove their bonds. He shouted, “This time you are captured. If you evade again, there will be no mercy.”

Meng Huo and his company fled with heads tucked, slipping like rats.

There were more than a thousand battered barbarians left. Most were injured and fleeing. They came upon King Meng Huo. Meng Huo gathered the defeated troops and felt some ease, then consulted with Dailai Cave Lord.

“Now our cave domain has been taken by Shu soldiers,” he said. “Where can we find secure ground?”

Dailai Cave Lord answered, “There is only one kingdom that can break the Shus.”

Meng Huo asked, “Where can I go?”

Dailai Cave Lord said, “Seven hundred li to the southeast is a kingdom called Ugo. Its lord is Wutugu. He is two zhang and two chi tall, eats no grain, and lives on snakes and wild beasts. He has scales on his body, and swords and arrows cannot pierce him. His soldiers all wear rattan armor. The rattan grows in mountain gullies and hangs on stone walls. The people cut it, soak it in oil, and dry it out for six months; then they dry and soak it again, repeating it over a dozen times before making armor. Once worn it does not sink when crossing water, does not wet in water, and cannot be pierced by blade or arrow. Therefore they are called the Rattan Armor Army. The king can go now and seek him. If he helps, taking Zhuge Liang will be like slicing bamboo with a sharp knife.”

Meng Huo rejoiced and went to Ugo to meet Wutugu.

The Ugo cave had no houses or halls; everyone lived inside earthen pits. Entering the cave, Meng Huo knelt and wept as he explained what had happened. Wutugu said, “I raise my cave forces for your vengeance.” Meng Huo joyfully bowed and thanked him.

So Wutugu called two subordinate captains: one named Tuan An, the other Xini. He raised thirty thousand soldiers, all in rattan armor, and set out toward the northeast from Ugo.

They crossed one river, Taohuashui, called Peach Blossom River. Both banks were lined with peach trees, and each year their fallen leaves floated on the water. If outsiders drank it they died at once, but Ugo people who drank became even more vigorous.

Wutugu’s army camped at Peach Blossom Ford to wait for Shu troops.

Kongming sent scouts and got news: “Meng Huo has called the lord of Ugo and now thirty thousand rattan-armored soldiers are encamped at Peach Blossom Ford. Meng Huo has also gathered tribes in each band and is resisting.” Kongming heard and marched in force to the ford.

From the opposite bank they saw the barbarians; they looked less than human, terrible and ugly. Asked a local, they said the peach leaves were falling that day and the water was undrinkable. Kongming pulled his army back five li and camped, leaving Wei Yan to guard.

The next day the lord of Ugo brought a contingent of rattan-armored warriors across the river. Gold and drums thundered. Wei Yan led troops out to meet them. The barbarians rolled over the ground. Shu arrows struck the armor but could not pierce; they fell to the ground. Blades and spears also failed to enter.

The barbarians swung their sharp knives and steel hooks, and the Shu could not stand against them; they all fled. Wutugu did not chase and then withdrew.

Wei Yan returned, chasing on to Peach Blossom Ford. He saw barbarian troops crossing with armor; the exhausted among them removed their armor and sat it on the water surface to cross. Wei Yan hurried back to camp and reported all to Kongming.

Kongming asked Lü Kai and the local guides. Lü Kai said, “I have long heard of an Ugo kingdom among the southern barbarians, where there are no civilized rules. Its rattan body armor is hard to wound. There is also the evil water of peach leaves: native people drink and become stronger, while outsiders who drink die. Facing such a barbary formation, even victory would give no real gain. Better to withdraw in good order.”

Kongming smiled. “Have I gone this far only to leave? Tomorrow I will have a strategy to pacify them.” He ordered Zhao Yun to assist Wei Yan in guarding camp and told him not to venture out lightly.

The next day Kongming rode with local guides in a small cart to an out-of-sight place on the northern bank at Peach Blossom Ford and surveyed the terrain thoroughly. When the cart could no longer pass over a steep, dangerous ridge, Kongming dismounted and walked on. He came to a mountain and saw a valley like a coiled serpent, with sheer stone walls and no trees. A broad road ran through the middle.

Kongming asked the local men, “What is this valley called?”

They answered, “This place is called Coiled-Serpent Valley. Coming out leads to the Three Rivers main road. In front of the valley’s mouth is Talan Meadow.”

Kongming rejoiced. “This is Heaven-given for my success!” he said.

He returned to the old road, climbed onto the cart, and rode back to camp. He called Ma Dai and instructed: “You have my ten black-oil casks. You will need a thousand bamboo poles. Do so with these things exactly. Use your main troops to hold both ends of Coiled-Serpent Valley and move as I said.

You have half a month. Make all this complete. If anything leaks, military law will apply.” Ma Dai received the plan and departed.

He then called Zhao Yun: “You will hold the Three Rivers Road junction behind Coiled-Serpent Valley. Prepare these materials by the appointed day.” Zhao Yun accepted.

He called Wei Yan: “Lead your core troops to camp at the Peach Blossom Ford bank. If the barbarians cross and attack, abandon the camp and run to the white-banner position. In half a month you must lose fifteen engagements and abandon seven stockades. If you lose only fourteen, do not come back to me.”

Wei Yan received the order and left, resentful. Kongming then called Zhang Yi and had him set up stockades as instructed elsewhere. He also ordered Zhang Ni and Ma Zhong, the surrendered men from the caves, to accompany and act as arranged.

Meng Huo then told Wutugu king, “Zhuge Liang has many clever stratagems; he is all ambush. Hereafter in battle, issue this order to all six armies: do not enter forested places in valleys lightly. The terrain is treacherous.”

Wutugu said, “Your thought is right. I know Chinese soldiers use deceitful plans. Let us follow this now. I will fight in front; you, lord, will teach from the rear.” Their plan was made.

A report soon came that Shu troops had set up camp on the north bank of Peach Blossom Ford. Wutugu sent two captains and crossed the rattan army over the river to fight. Before two rounds, Wei Yan broke and fled.

The barbarians, fearing an ambush, did not pursue and returned.

The next day Wei Yan made camp again. Their sentries saw this, and the barbarians crossed again to fight. Wei Yan rode out. He broke on the second engagement and fled again.

The barbarians chased for over ten li. Seeing no movement around, they then camped in the Shu camp.

The next day two captains again asked Wutugu to come. They explained this and the matter. Wutugu led his men in and gave chase, pursuing Wei Yan for one round. Shu soldiers dropped their armor and cast away spears and ran, finding a white banner ahead. Wei Yan brought only the survivors to the white-banner place; there was already a camp there, and he made his men hold it.

Wutugu pressed in pursuit. Wei Yan withdrew and abandoned that camp. The barbarians gained it.

The next day Wei Yan fought again and retreated again, running only toward the white-banner point. There was another camp there; he halted in it. The day after, they came once more. Wei Yan fought briefly and left again. The barbarians occupied another Shu camp.

To avoid repetition, Wei Yan, while fighting and retreating, had now failed fifteen engagements and abandoned seven camps. The barbarians surged after him with vigor. Wutugu, while breaking enemies ahead, saw heavy woodland in the roads and therefore would not advance; yet he had men look ahead. From the tree shadows they saw flags fluttering. Wutugu said to Meng Huo, “You have guessed exactly.”

Meng Huo laughed. “Zhuge Liang has now been exposed. Day after day he has won him one victory; he has taken seven camps and seven losses by our force. The Shu soldiers have run with the wind and fled. Zhuge Liang has no more stratagems left. With this one push all will be decided.”

Wutugu rejoiced and no longer thought much about the Shus.

On the sixteenth day Wei Yan, with the shattered remnant force, met the rattan army again. Wutugu led on, mounted on an elephant. His hat bore sun and moon wolf-whisker design, and his robe was netted with gold-beaded strands. Armor scales emerged below both ribs; there was a light gleam in his eyes. He shouted at Wei Yan.

Wei Yan turned and fled. The barbarians closed in hard behind.

Wei Yan took his men around Coiled-Serpent Valley and withdrew toward the white-banner. Wutugu led the massing force in hot pursuit. Seeing no woods or brush on the mountain, he believed there was no ambush and chased with confidence.

When he reached the valley, he saw dozens of black-oil casks across the road.

The barbarians shouted, “This is a Shu supply route. The king has come and abandoned the grain carts.”

Wutugu rejoiced and pushed harder. When he emerged from the valley mouth, Shu troops were nowhere in sight. Instead, logs and loose stones tumbled down, sealing the mouth.

Wutugu ordered a road cut to push through. Suddenly he saw larger and smaller vehicles ahead, loaded with dry timber, all afire. He ordered a retreat, but only then the rear ranks shouted that the valley entrance was blocked by burning timber piles. The carts were in fact filled with gunpowder and had all ignited together.

Wutugu felt no fear from no grass or trees in view and told soldiers to seek their way, but suddenly men atop the mountain hurled firebrands in every direction. Fires leapt along fuses set in the earth. Cannons flared up everywhere. Firelight roiled through the whole valley. Every rattan-armored body was hit.

The men of Wutugu and his thirty thousand rattan-armored troops were burned together while clinging together, and many died in Coiled-Serpent Valley.

From the mountain, Kongming looked down and saw the barbarians flailing in flames, hands outstretched and legs splayed. Most had had their heads and faces shattered by cannon fire. All had died in the valley; the stench was unbearable. Kongming wept and said, “Though I have done my duty for the state, this will surely shorten my life.”

His officers and soldiers all sighed with him.

Back at the camp, Meng Huo was waiting for reports when suddenly over a thousand men knelt and laughed before him. They said, “Ugo’s troops have fought the Shu army and encircled Zhuge Liang in Coiled-Serpent Valley. The king is requested to come and provide support. We were all cave folk and were forced to submit to Shu. Now knowing the king has come, we have come to help.”

Meng Huo rejoiced, leading his followers and gathered tribes, and set out by night on horseback. He ordered barbarians to guide.

As they reached Coiled-Serpent Valley, they saw flames rising and foul smoke everywhere. Realizing the trap, Meng Huo withdrew his troops, when to his left was Zhang Ni and to his right Ma Zhong, with two armies bursting out.

Meng Huo tried to meet the enemy. At one shout, most of the barbarians around him were actually Shu soldiers, and they captured Meng Huo and his gathered tribal men all at once.

Meng Huo rode out alone and broke from the encirclement, heading for a mountain path.

At that moment, a group at a hollow in the mountain, from earth and field, pushed forward a small cart. In it sat a single figure in a green-black turban, holding a feather fan, wearing a Daoist robe: it was Kongming.

Kongming shouted, “Rebel Meng Huo, what now?” Meng Huo turned his horse to run. A general flashed by and blocked the way. It was Ma Dai.

Catching him off guard, Ma Dai seized him alive.

At that time Wang Ping and Zhang Yi had already brought one army to the barbarian camp and captured Lady Zhu Rong and all old and young of that band alive.

Kongming returned to camp, ascended the command tent, and sat. He told all generals,

“Only after necessity did I use this plan, and it has cost me in virtue. I guessed they would think I had set many ambushes among the woods, while in truth I kept only banners there, no soldiers and no horses, to test their hearts. I ordered Wei Wenchang to lose fifteen engagements so as to harden his will. I saw Coiled-Serpent Valley had only one path. On both sides were bare stone and no trees; below it was sand. So I had Ma Dai lay the black-oil carts in the valley.

Inside each cart there were pre-made fire cannons, called earth mines, each containing nine smaller guns, buried at intervals of thirty paces. Bamboo segments connected them for fuses. When one ignited, the mountain cracked and split stone. I also had Zhao Zilong prepare hay carts and place them in the valley. I set large logs and loose rock on the slopes above.

I then had Wei Yan lure Wutugu and the rattan army into the valley, and once Wei Yan was released, I blocked their way and burned them. I have heard, ‘What harms water wins against fire.’ The rattan armor, though impervious to blade and arrow, is oil-soaked; fire takes it. How else could such recalcitrant barbarians be defeated?

If no one of the Wutugu folk remained alive, that is my great fault.”

All the generals knelt and said, “The Chancellor’s insight is beyond the stars and spirits to measure.”

Kongming ordered him brought in. Meng Huo knelt in the tent. Kongming ordered his bonds removed and had him taken to another tent with food and wine to calm him. He then told the steward of food and drink to sit near the couch and gave precise instructions before leaving.

Meng Huo, Lady Zhu Rong, Meng You, and Dailai Cave Lord sat drinking in the separate tent with all the household and kinsmen. Suddenly one man came in and told Meng Huo, “The Chancellor is ashamed to meet you. He has sent me to send you back, and then to summon men and horses to decide this once more.”

Meng Huo wiped tears and said, “There has never before been one captured seven times and released seven times. Though I am of outer lands, I know ritual and propriety. Is this not shameful?”

Then he and his brothers, wife, children, and all kin-knots knelt and rubbed their bare chests in apology: “By the Heavenly authority of the Chancellor, the southern people will never rebel again.”

Kongming said, “Do you now submit?”

Meng Huo wept and thanked him: “My sons and grandsons owe me for the grace that preserves life; how could they not submit?”

Kongming asked him to come to the main tent and held a celebration. He appointed him forever as Cave Lord. All captured lands were returned.

Meng Huo and his clansmen, and all barbarians present, were deeply moved and all joyfully rejoiced in leaving.

Later poets praised Zhuge Liang in verse:

With feather fan and silk kerchief, he raises the blue banner with calm command,
With seven captures he masters the barbarian king through wondrous stratagems.
His power and grace are still told in stream and cave,
And on high plains, people raise shrines to honor him.

The Chancellor’s Chief Clerk, Fei Hui, came to remonstrate:

“Chancellor, you have personally led troops into rough lands and subdued these southern peoples. Now that the barbarian king has submitted, why not place officials there and have Meng Huo guard with him?”

Kongming replied, “There are three reasons this is not easy. One: if we leave outsiders and do not leave troops, there is no food to sustain a garrison—that is the first difficulty. Two: if we leave outsiders with soldiers but no supplies, disaster becomes certain. Three: the barbarians have a long history of killing and betrayal; if outsiders stay, they will never fully trust us. So it is not easy either. Now I will leave no civilians there, bring no grain, and keep peace in the absence of strife.”

All agreed.

Thus all the barbarians felt Kongming’s kindness and raised a living temple for him. They offered seasonal sacrifices, and all called him a paternal lord. They each sent pearls, gold and jewels, red lacquer medicines, plowing oxen, and war horses for military supply, swearing not to rebel again.

The south was settled.

Kongming had finished rewarding the army, and the force withdrew to Shu, appointing Wei Yan to lead the main body as advanced guard.

Wei Yan’s army had only just reached the Lu River when dark clouds sealed above, and a fierce wind rose from nowhere over the water; sand and stones shot about and the army could not advance. He withdrew and reported to Kongming. Kongming then asked Meng Huo. It was the prelude:

The barbarian tribes beyond the frontier were only recently submitting, yet ghost soldiers by the water still ran rampant.

How this turned out will be told in the next chapter.