Since I have nothing to blog about… I have decided to include some random stories from Chinese history… *HCS: Historical Chinese Story
General Zhou Yu, also known as Zhou Gongjin, was 1.8m tall, handsome and elegant. His wife, Xiao Qiao, was the younger of the two Qiao sisters, who were well known for their beauty. The couple – an intellegent man and a beautiful woman – were regarded as the model of perfet marriage. When Zhou Yu was 34 in Ad208, he was enraged to hear Zhuge Liang, special envoy from the kingdom of Shu, suggest that he should hand over his beloved wife to Cao Cao, the chief of the Wei kingdom. Zhou Yu was jealous of Zhuge Liang, who was seven years younger but who was so intellegent and well informed that he seemed to know everything. He seized this opportunity to try and get rid of him.
“I will fight against Cao Cao, who claims to be acting under the orders of the emperor. He is also most powerful now as he has recently gained Jingzhou. What weapons should we use against Cao Cao on the great Yangtze River, sir?” Zhou Yu asked.
“As we are going to fight on boats, I think bows and arrows are the best weapons.”
Zhou Yu was secretly pleased when he heard that remark. Then he said: “That’s right. I think so, too. Unfortunately, we don’t have enough arrows. Could you please see to the matter, Sir? I hope you won’t refuse.”
“How many arrows do you need, general? And when?”
“Will 10 days be enough to make a hundred thousand arrows?” Zhou Yu asked.
“Cao Cao’s army is approaching rapidly and will soon be here. I’m afraid we cannot wait that long.”
“Then how many days do you suggest?” Zhou Yu asked, feeling even more pleased.
“Three days,” Zhuge Liang said.
“Are you joking? If you can’t hand over the arrows in three days, there will be severe punishment for you. You’ll be beheaded,” Zhou Yu said.
Surprisingly, Zhuge Liang did not seem to care. He said: “Sure, sure. Please send 500 soldiers to the river side three days from now to fetch the arrows.”
Zhou Yu thought: “This is not my fault. It is you who seek death for yourself.”
He immediately ordered brush and ink and wrote the contract. Both sides of the boats were tied sheaves and sheaves of straw which were overed by cloth. The boats were manned by 20 good sailors.
The third day came when Zhuge Liang was due to hand over the arrows. There was a thick fog that morning. At four o’clock, Zhuge Liang ordered that the boats be paddled across the river to the opposite side of Cao Cao’s army camp. Then he ordered the soldiers to beat the drums and raised a loud battle cry at the enemy.
Cao Cao woke up with a start. The sky was still dark. There was heavy fog on the river. He was afraid that there might be an ambush, so he did not dare approach the invading boats. Instead, he ordered 10 000 soldiers to shoot arrows at them.
In a while, the sheaves of straw on one side of the boats were covered with arrows. Zhuge Liang then told the sailors to turn the boats around so that the arrow-overed sides faced their own camp. The other side was soon covered with arrows too.
Day broke. Zhuge Liang gave the orders and the soldiers on the 20 boats shouted together: “Thank you for your arrows, Prime Minister Cao!” Then they hurried back to their own camp. The 500 soldiers sent by Zhou Yu took down the arrows and put them in the storehouse. There were more than a hundred thousand of them. In fact, Zhuge Liang had predicted three days earlier that there would be heavy fog that morning. This made Zhou Yu admire him all the more but it also made him even more jealous. Meanwhile, Cao Cao was very depressed at having lost the arrows. He felt he had been fooled. Someone suggested a plan for revenge…
To be continued…
