Liu Zhang looks for outside help to deal with the last outside help he brought in, while we hit pause to catch up with Ma Chao and his misadventures.

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* Graph of Key Characters and Relationships

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Welcome to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms Podcast. This is episode 81.

Last time, we left off with Zhuge Liang about to face off against Zhang Ren, the commander of the Riverlands troops guarding Luocheng, the city that Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei were besieging. The two sides squared off on the battlefield, but Zhuge Liang came out with a sorry-looking bunch of soldiers. Seeing this, Zhang Ren did not hesitate and ordered his men to charge.

As soon as they did, Zhuge Liang quickly abandoned his carriage, hopped on a horse, and led his ragtag bunch back across Golden Goose Bridge. Zhang Ren pursued him across the bridge, but as soon as he was across, he could see Liu Bei charging forth from the left and the general Yan Yan sweeping in from the right.

Recognizing that he had fallen for a ruse, Zhang Ren tried to turn back, but lo and behold, the bridge had already been taken apart, which is an impressively efficient feat by another of Liu Bei’s generals, Zhao Yun, who had orders to wait until Zhang Ren was across and then tear up the bridge. What’s more, Zhao Yun and his men now guarded the shore, which made Zhang Ren think twice about fleeing back that way. So instead, he fled south along the river.

Before he had gone but a couple miles, though, he ran into another ambush. The generals Wei Yan and Huang Zhong sprang out of the reeds with 1,000 men each. Wei Yan’s men stabbed at Zhang Ren’s riders with long spears, while Huang Zhong’s men slashed at the legs of their horses with knives. It was a disaster for Zhang Ren’s cavalry, and when the infantry behind them saw the cavalry disintegrate, no one dared to go forward.

Zhang Ren was now left with just a few dozen riders as he headed toward the back roads in the hills. But Zhuge Liang had foreseen this, too, and Zhang Ren soon ran smack dab into Zhang Fei. Zhang Ren had nowhere to go, and Zhang Fei’s men swooped in and took him prisoner. Meanwhile, the general leading the back of Zhang Ren’s troops saw what was happening and decided that now was a very good time to switch loyalties, so he surrendered to Zhao Yun.

 

Once everyone returned to camp, Liu Bei first rewarded the guy who surrendered, and then had Zhang Ren brought into the tent.

“All the generals in the region of Shu have seen which way the wind is blowing and surrendered,” Liu Bei said to him. “Why don’t you do the same?”

But unlike his former comrades, Zhang Ren did not bow.

“How can a loyal official serve two masters?!” he shouted as he glared at Liu Bei.

“You are blind to heaven’s will,” Liu Bei told him. “If you surrender, I will spare your life.”

“Even if I submit today, I will not remain submissive for long!” Zhang Ren shot back. “You should execute me quickly!”

Despite this, Liu Bei could not bear to kill the man. But Zhang Ren refused to give him an easy out, as he cursed loudly at Liu Bei until eventually, Zhuge Liang said enough was enough and told the guards to take him outside and grant him his death wish. Liu Bei lamented having to kill such a loyal man and ordered that he be buried next to Golden Goose Bridge. And honestly, despite all their rhetoric about loyalty,