Zhuge Liang has a little homonymical fun with Zhou Yu as they discuss whether the Southlands should fight or submit to Cao Cao.

* Transcript

* Text of the “Bronze Bird Tower Rhapsody”

* Again, no map or key characters graph this week, as we are still in Chaisang and we don’t meet any new significant characters.

Transcript

PDF version

Welcome to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms Podcast. This is episode 54.

Last time, Zhuge Liang had just ticked off Sun Quan by telling him that if he had any doubts about his own strength, then he should just throw in the towel now and surrender to Cao Cao. When a displeased Sun Quan asked him, “Well why doesn’t your master surrender to Cao Cao?”, Zhuge Liang basically told him, “My master is too great a man to surrender.” This slight did not go over well with Sun Quan, and he stormed off in a huff, which caused his adviser Lu (3) Su (4) to admonish Zhuge Liang for his poor choice of words.

Zhuge Liang, however, simply looked up and laughed.

“How can he be so intolerant? I know how to defeat Cao Cao. But he didn’t ask me, so I didn’t tell him.”

“If you really have a good idea, then I will ask my lord to come seek your counsel,” Lu Su said.

“Cao Cao’s millions are like ants in my eyes. I need only to raise my hand, and they would be crushed to dust.”

Hearing this confident boast, Lu Su was convinced enough to go see Sun Quan, who at this time was still fuming.

“Zhuge Liang went too far!” Sun Quan said angrily.

“Your servant admonished him thusly, too,” Lu Su said. “But he laughed and said that your lordship was too intolerant. He knows how to defeat Cao Cao, but will not share it lightly. Your lordship should ask him.”

Sun Quan’s demeanor did a 180 when he heard this. “So Zhuge Liang does have an idea! He was just inciting me with words. I almost ruined everything because of a momentary lapse in judgment.”

So Sun Quan accompanied Lu Su back into the main hall and invited Zhuge Liang back in.

“I recklessly sullied your great name just now; please forgive me,” Sun Quan apologized.

Zhuge Liang responded magnanimously. “My words offended you. Please forgive me.”

Sun Quan then invited Zhuge Liang into the private quarters and served wine.

 

After a few rounds of wine, Sun Quan said, “Cao Cao’s enemies included Lü Bu, Liu Biao, Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, Lord Liu, and me. Now, everyone has been wiped out except Lord Liu and me. I must not give the Southlands over to another man’s control. Of that, I am certain. And none but Lord Liu can help me resist Cao Cao, but he has just suffered a defeat. So how can he withstand this coming calamity?”

“Despite my master’s recent defeat,” Zhuge Liang said, “Guan Yu still has 10,000 crack troops, and Liu Qi has another 10,000 at Jiangxia (1,4). Cao Cao’s army is exhausted from the great distance it has traveled. When he was chasing my lord, his light cavalry traversed a hundred miles in one day. They are like an arrow at the end of its flight. It’s too weak even to pierce silk. Besides, the northerners are not used to naval warfare. The soldiers and civilians of Jing Province obey Cao Cao only out of fear, not loyalty. If you and my lord can join forces and act as one, we will defeat Cao Cao for sure. Once he is defeated, Cao Cao will no doubt retreat back to the north, leaving Jing Province and the Southlands in a strong position and bringing about a tripod balance of power. Victory or defeat rests in your hands today. It is up to you.”