Guan Yu brings a really big knife to a land dispute.

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Welcome to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms Podcast. This is episode 84.

Last time, after Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang gave Dongwu another runaround over Jing Province, Sun Quan said enough was enough and demanded that his top commander Lu Su do something. Lu Su decided to invite Guan Yu, the guardian of Jing Province, to a banquet on Dongwu’s side of the river, where Lu Su would press for the return of the province, and if Guan Yu refused, Lu Su would unleash an ambush to kill him.

Guan Yu was not blind. He knew it was a trap, but perhaps blinded by pride, he decided not only to attend the banquet, but to only take a handful of men with him. On the morning of the feast, Lu Su’s men spotted a single boat, manned by just a few people, coming toward them in the distance. The boat bore a red flag that flapped in the wind, and the flag displayed the giant character for Guan. As the boat drew closer, they saw Guan Yu sitting on board, dressed in a green battle robe and sporting a blue-green head scarf. Next to him was his faithful follower Zhou (1) Cang (1), who carried his Green Dragon Saber. Behind them stood eight or nine stout men, each wearing a broadsword around his waist.

Lu Su was taken aback, partly by Guan Yu’s awesome appearance and partly by how few men he had brought with him. I mean, I know this guy is not dumb. He knows he’s walking into a trap, right? Well, in any case, Lu Su welcomed Guan Yu into the banquet hall and the wine began to flow. But even as he raised his cup to toast Guan Yu, Lu Su was so intimidated that he dared not look Guan Yu straight in the eye. For his part, Guan Yu simply talked and laughed like nothing was going on.

After they had been drinking for a while, Lu Su got down to business.

“General, I have something to say, and I hope you will lend me your ear,” Lu Su said. “Previously, the imperial uncle asked me to vouch for him to my lord so that he may borrow Jing Province as a temporary foothold. He promised to return it after he conquered the Riverlands. Now, he has the Riverlands, but Jing Province still has not been returned. Isn’t he breaking his promise?”

“This is a state matter and should not be discussed at a banquet,” Guan Yu said.

But Lu Su was not going to be dismissed so easily.

“My lord only has the piddly region of the Southlands, and yet he was willing to lend Jing Province to your master when he had just been defeated and had nothing,” Lu Su said. “Now that your lord has Yi Province, it’s only right that he should return Jing Province. Even though the imperial uncle has agreed to give back three counties, you, general, refuse to obey. How is that right?”

“At the Battle of Red Cliff, my brother personally braved slings and arrows to lead the destruction of the enemy,” Guan Yu said. “How can such merits go unrewarded? How can you come and ask for that territory now?”

Well, first of all, it’s a little bit of an exaggeration to say Liu Bei braved slings and arrows at the Battle of Red Cliff, because from what I can remember, he pretty much just sat and watched as Zhuge Liang gave out orders, and then sat and watched as his generals did the fighting. Second, it’s a huge overstatement to say he led the destruction of the enemy, since, hello, Dongwu did do the bulk of the Cao Cao-busting.