As Jiang Wei gave the order to withdraw, Liao Hua protested: “A general in the field does not always accept the ruler’s commands. Though an imperial edict has arrived, we should not move yet.” Zhang Yi added: “The men of Shu have grown weary of constant campaigning year after year. Now that we have won a victory, let us pull back our forces to calm the people’s hearts, and then plan anew.” Jiang Wei nodded. “You speak wisely.” He ordered the army to retreat in good order, with Liao Hua and Zhang Yi guarding the rear against any pursuit by Wei forces.
Deng Ai led his troops in pursuit, but when he saw the Shu army withdrawing in perfect formation—banners neat, ranks steady—he sighed. “Jiang Wei has truly mastered the methods of the Sleeping Dragon, Zhuge Liang himself!” Fearing an ambush, he halted his advance and returned to his camp on Mount Qi.
Jiang Wei arrived in Chengdu and sought an audience with the Later Ruler, Liu Shan, asking why he had been recalled. The emperor replied: “I was concerned that you had been so long on the frontier, wearying the soldiers. I summoned you back for no other reason.” Jiang Wei said: “Your servant had already taken the camp at Mount Qi and was on the verge of a great victory. To abandon it now is to throw away our gains. This must be the work of Deng Ai’s spies, sowing discord between us.” The Later Ruler fell silent. Jiang Wei pressed on: “I swear to destroy the rebels and repay the kindness of the state. Your Majesty must not listen to petty men who stir up suspicion.” After a long pause, the emperor said: “I do not doubt you. Return to Hanzhong for now. When Wei is troubled by internal strife, you may campaign again.” Jiang Wei left the court with a heavy heart and departed for Hanzhong.
When Dang Jun returned to the camp on Mount Qi and reported these events, Deng Ai said to Sima Wang: “When ruler and minister are at odds, rebellion is sure to follow.” He sent Dang Jun to Luoyang to inform Sima Zhao. Sima Zhao was overjoyed and began to contemplate an invasion of Shu. He asked Jia Chong, his Protector of the Army: “What do you think of attacking Shu now?” Jia Chong replied: “We cannot. The emperor is already suspicious of you. If you leave the capital, trouble will surely erupt at home. Last year, a yellow dragon was seen twice in a well at Ningling. The courtiers presented congratulations, calling it an auspicious omen. But the emperor said: ‘This is no auspicious sign. The dragon is the symbol of the sovereign. It should dwell in the heavens above or roam the fields below. To be trapped in a well is a sign of confinement and distress.’ He then composed a poem called ‘The Hidden Dragon.’ Its meaning clearly points at you.”
Of him, history records a verse: “Alas, the dragon is trapped, unable to leap into the deep. Above, it cannot soar to the Milky Way; below, it cannot be seen in the fields. Coiled at the bottom of a well, loaches and eels dance before it. Its fangs and claws hidden—I too share this fate!”
When Sima Zhao heard this, he flew into a rage. “This man wants to do what Cao Fang did! If I do not act first, he will destroy me.” Jia Chong said: “I am willing to serve you and deal with him day or night.” It was the fourth month of the fifth year of Ganlu in the Wei dynasty. Sima Zhao entered the court with his sword at his side. Cao Mao rose to greet him. The assembled ministers all proclaimed: “The Grand General’s virtue and merit are towering. He should be made Duke of Jin and granted the Nine Bestowments.” Cao Mao bowed his head and said nothing. Sima Zhao’s voice grew harsh: “My father, my brother, and I have rendered great service to Wei. To be made Duke of Jin—is that not fitting?” Cao Mao could only reply: “I dare not refuse.” Sima Zhao sneered: “And that poem, ‘The Hidden Dragon’—it compares us to loaches and eels! What kind of courtesy is that?” Cao Mao was speechless. Sima Zhao descended from the hall with a cold laugh, and all the officials trembled in fear.
Back in his private chambers, Cao Mao summoned the Attendant-in-Ordinary Wang Chen, the Imperial Secretary Wang Jing, and the Cavalier Attendant Wang Ye for a secret council. Tearfully, the emperor said: “Everyone knows that Sima Zhao plots usurpation! I will not sit idly by and suffer deposition and humiliation. You must help me punish him!” Wang Jing protested: “We cannot. In ancient times, Duke Zhao of Lu could not endure the Ji family’s power and was driven into exile. Today, authority has long rested with the Sima clan. All the ministers, high and low, have abandoned loyalty and flocked to the traitor. Your Majesty’s personal guard is too weak—there are no men willing to die for you. If you do not endure this, disaster will be immense. We must act slowly, not rashly.” Cao Mao cried out: “If this can be endured, what cannot? My mind is made up! What fear is there in death?” He then went to inform the empress dowager. Wang Chen and Wang Ye said to Wang Jing: “The crisis is upon us. We cannot bring destruction upon our own clans. Let us go to Sima Zhao’s mansion and confess, to save our lives.” Wang Jing roared in fury: “When the ruler is troubled, the minister is shamed; when the ruler is disgraced, the minister dies. Would I dare harbor disloyalty?” Seeing Wang Jing would not join them, Wang Chen and Wang Ye went straight to report to Sima Zhao.
Soon after, the Wei emperor Cao Mao emerged from the palace, ordering his guard Jiao Bo to gather some three hundred palace attendants and servants. Shouting and beating drums, they marched out. Cao Mao, sword in hand, mounted his chariot and commanded his men to drive straight to the Southern Gate. Wang Jing threw himself before the chariot, weeping bitterly as he pleaded: “Your Majesty leads a few hundred men against Sima Zhao—this is like driving sheep into a tiger’s mouth! You will die for nothing! I do not begrudge my own life, but this course is impossible!” Cao Mao said: “My army has already set out. Do not block my way.” They advanced toward the Cloud-Dragon Gate.
Suddenly, Jia Chong appeared in full armor on horseback, flanked by Cheng Cui on the left and Cheng Ji on the right, leading thousands of armored imperial guards. They charged forward with a great cry. Cao Mao raised his sword and shouted: “I am the Son of Heaven! Do you dare to enter the palace and slay your emperor?” The guards, seeing Cao Mao, hesitated and dared not move. Jia Chong shouted to Cheng Ji: “What did the Lord Sima keep you for if not for this very day?” Cheng Ji grasped his halberd and looked back at Jia Chong. “Kill him or bind him?” Jia Chong replied: “The Lord Sima’s order—only a dead one.” Cheng Ji leveled his halberd and charged straight at the chariot. Cao Mao roared: “Would a base fellow dare such insolence?” Before he could finish, Cheng Ji’s halberd pierced his chest, knocking him from the chariot. A second thrust drove the blade through his back, and Cao Mao lay dead beside his chariot. Jiao Bo raised his spear to resist but was killed by a single stroke of Cheng Ji’s halberd. The rest fled. Wang Jing came running up, cursing Jia Chong: “Rebel! How dare you murder the emperor!” Enraged, Jia Chong ordered his men to bind Wang Jing and sent word to Sima Zhao. Sima Zhao entered the palace, and seeing Cao Mao dead, feigned great shock, beating his head against the chariot and weeping. He then ordered the news sent to all the ministers.
The Grand Tutor Sima Fu entered and found Cao Mao’s corpse. He laid the emperor’s head on his own lap and wept, saying: “It is my sin that Your Majesty was murdered!” He placed the body in a coffin and stored it in the western hall of the side palace. Sima Zhao convened a meeting of all the officials. Everyone came except the Chief Clerk of the Imperial Secretariat, Chen Tai. Sima Zhao ordered Chen Tai’s uncle, the Imperial Secretary Xun Yi, to summon him. Chen Tai wept bitterly and said: “People compare me to my uncle, but today my uncle is not my equal.” He put on mourning garments and entered, weeping and bowing before the imperial coffin. Sima Zhao, still feigning tears, asked: “What should be done about today’s affair?” Chen Tai replied: “Only by executing Jia Chong can we apologize to the realm.” Sima Zhao pondered for a long time, then asked: “What is the next best course?” Chen Tai answered: “There is only something greater than this—I know no lesser course.” Sima Zhao said: “Cheng Ji is guilty of high treason. He shall be executed by slicing, and his clan exterminated to the third degree.” As he was being taken away, Cheng Ji cursed Sima Zhao: “This is not my fault! Jia Chong gave me your order!” Sima Zhao ordered his tongue cut out first. Cheng Ji cried out in injustice until his death. His brother Cheng Cui was also executed in the marketplace, and their entire families were wiped out.
A poet of the time lamented: “In that year, Sima Zhao commanded Jia Chong, and the emperor’s crimson robe was stained red at the Southern Gate. Yet he blamed Cheng Ji alone and exterminated his clan, thinking the realm’s soldiers and people would turn a deaf ear.”
Sima Zhao also ordered Wang Jing’s entire family seized and thrown into prison. As Wang Jing sat in the court of the Commandant of Justice, he saw his mother brought in chains. He kowtowed and wept: “Your unfilial son has brought disaster upon his loving mother!” His mother laughed heartily and said: “Who does not die? What I fear is only a death without meaning. To give up my life for this cause—what regret could there be?” The next day, Wang Jing’s entire family was taken to the Eastern Market. Mother and son went to their deaths smiling. All the citizens of the city, high and low, shed tears.
A poet of the time recorded: “In the early Han, they praised those who died for honor; in the late Han, we see Wang Jing. Truly steadfast, his heart unwavering; his will firm and pure. His integrity was as heavy as Mount Tai, his life as light as a swan’s feather. The fame of mother and son shall stand as long as heaven and earth.”
The Grand Tutor Sima Fu requested that Cao Mao be buried with the rites due a king, and Sima Zhao agreed. Jia Chong and others urged Sima Zhao to accept the abdication of Wei and ascend the throne. Sima Zhao said: “In ancient times, King Wen of Zhou possessed two-thirds of the realm but continued to serve the Shang. The sages called him supremely virtuous. Emperor Wu of Wei refused to take the throne from Han, just as I refuse to take it from Wei.” Jia Chong and the others understood that Sima Zhao had set his heart on his son Sima Yan inheriting the claim, and they pressed him no further. In the sixth month of that year, Sima Zhao installed Cao Huang, the Duke of Changdao Village, as emperor, changing the reign title to the first year of Jingyuan. Cao Huang changed his name to Cao Huan, with the style name Jingming. He was the grandson of Emperor Wu of Wei, Cao Cao, and the son of Cao Yu, the Prince of Yan. Cao Huan enfeoffed Sima Zhao as Chancellor and Duke of Jin, granting him one hundred thousand in cash and ten thousand bolts of silk. The civil and military officials all received their own rewards and titles.
Spies soon brought word to Shu. When Jiang Wei learned that Sima Zhao had murdered Cao Mao and installed Cao Huan, he rejoiced. “Now I have a righteous cause to attack Wei again.” He sent a letter to Wu, urging them to raise an army to punish Sima Zhao for the crime of regicide. At the same time, he obtained the Later Ruler’s approval and mobilized 150,000 troops, along with thousands of supply carts fitted with wooden boxes. Liao Hua and Zhang Yi were named vanguard commanders: Liao Hua to take the Ziwu Valley route, Zhang Yi the Luo Valley route, while Jiang Wei himself would march through the Xie Valley. All three forces were to converge before Mount Qi. The three armies advanced together, sweeping toward Mount Qi.
Meanwhile, Deng Ai was training his troops at the Mount Qi camp when word arrived that the Shu army was approaching from three directions. He gathered his officers for a council. The military adviser Wang Guan said: “I have a plan, but I dare not speak it openly. I have written it here for the general’s perusal.” Deng Ai took the letter, read it, and smiled. “This plan is clever, but I fear it will not deceive Jiang Wei.” Wang Guan replied: “I am willing to risk my life to carry it out.” Deng Ai said: “If your resolve is firm, you will surely succeed.” He gave Wang Guan five thousand men. Wang Guan marched through the night along the Xie Valley, where he encountered the forward scouts of the Shu army. He called out: “I am a defector from Wei! Take me to your commander!”
The scouts reported this to Jiang Wei, who ordered the rest of the defectors held back and summoned only their leader. Wang Guan fell to his knees and said: “I am Wang Guan, nephew of Wang Jing. Recently, Sima Zhao murdered the emperor and slaughtered my uncle’s entire family. My hatred burns to the bone. Now that you have raised a righteous army to punish the traitor, I have brought five thousand of my own troops to surrender. I beg to serve under your command and help exterminate the villains, to avenge my uncle.” Jiang Wei was delighted. “Since you come with a sincere heart, how could I not treat you sincerely? What I fear most is a shortage of supplies. I have several thousand supply carts at the mouth of the Sichuan River. You may transport them to Mount Qi, while I go to seize the camp there.” Wang Guan was overjoyed, thinking his deception had succeeded, and gladly accepted the task. Jiang Wei said: “You do not need five thousand men to transport supplies. Take three thousand, and leave two thousand to guide us in the attack on Mount Qi.” Fearing Jiang Wei might grow suspicious, Wang Guan took three thousand men and departed. Jiang Wei ordered Fu Qian to lead the remaining two thousand Wei defectors and follow the army for later use.
Suddenly, Xiahou Ba arrived. “Commander, why do you trust Wang Guan’s words so easily? When I was in Wei, though I did not know all the details, I never heard that Wang Guan was Wang Jing’s nephew. This is likely a deception. Please investigate.” Jiang Wei laughed. “I already know Wang Guan is a fraud. That is why I divided his forces—to turn his own scheme against him.” Xiahou Ba asked: “Please explain.” Jiang Wei said: “Sima Zhao is a villain as cunning as Cao Cao. After killing Wang Jing and exterminating his clan, would he allow a nephew to remain alive, commanding troops at the border? That is how I know it is a lie. Your insight matches my own.” Accordingly, Jiang Wei did not march out of the Xie Valley but instead laid hidden ambushes along the route to intercept Wang Guan’s spies.
Within ten days, the ambushers captured a messenger sent by Wang Guan to report back to Deng Ai. Jiang Wei interrogated him, found the secret letter, and read it. The letter arranged for Wang Guan to transport supplies along a small path on the twentieth day of the eighth month and return to the main camp, while Deng Ai would send troops to meet him in the Tanshan Valley. Jiang Wei killed the messenger, changed the date in the letter to the fifteenth day of the eighth month, and instructed Deng Ai to lead his main army to the Tanshan Valley for the rendezvous. He then sent a man disguised as a Wei soldier to deliver the forged letter to the Wei camp. Meanwhile, he ordered several hundred supply carts unloaded of their grain and filled with dry brush, straw, and other combustibles, covered with blue cloth. Fu Qian was to lead the two thousand former Wei defectors, carrying the banners of a supply convoy. Jiang Wei and Xiahou Ba each took a force to lie in ambush within the valley. Jiang Shu was ordered to march through the Xie Valley, while Liao Hua and Zhang Yi advanced to seize Mount Qi.
When Deng Ai received Wang Guan’s letter, he was overjoyed and quickly wrote a reply, sending the messenger back. On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, Deng Ai led fifty thousand elite troops straight into the Tanshan Valley. From a high vantage point, his scouts saw an endless line of supply carts winding through the mountain passes. Deng Ai reined in his horse and observed. All the soldiers appeared to be Wei troops. His officers said: “The day is growing dark. Let us hurry to meet Wang Guan and escort him out of the valley.” Deng Ai replied: “The terrain ahead is full of folds and cover. If there is an ambush, we will have no room to retreat. Let us wait here.” As he spoke, two horsemen galloped up and reported: “General Wang has crossed the boundary with the supplies, but enemy forces are pursuing him from behind. He begs for immediate relief.” Startled, Deng Ai urged his men forward.
It was the first watch of the night, the moon bright as day. Shouting erupted from behind the hills. Deng Ai assumed Wang Guan was fighting there and charged around the mountain. Suddenly, a force burst out from behind a forest. At its head was the Shu general Fu Qian, who galloped forward and shouted: “Deng Ai, you base fool! You have fallen into our commander’s trap! Why not dismount and surrender?” Deng Ai was horrified. He wheeled his horse and fled. The carts burst into flames, the fire serving as a signal. From both sides, Shu troops poured out, hacking the Wei army to pieces. From every hill, voices cried: “A thousand gold pieces and a marquisate of ten thousand households for the man who captures Deng Ai!” Terrified, Deng Ai threw away his helmet and armor, abandoned his horse, and mingled with the foot soldiers, scrambling over the mountains to escape. Jiang Wei and Xiahou Ba had aimed only for the mounted commander, never expecting Deng Ai to flee on foot. Jiang Wei led his victorious troops to seize Wang Guan’s supply carts.
Wang Guan, having secretly arranged with Deng Ai, had prepared his supply train and was waiting for the signal. Suddenly, a trusted man reported: “The plan is exposed! General Deng has been routed—his fate is unknown.” Wang Guan was stunned. He sent scouts, who reported that three Shu armies were closing in from all sides, with more dust rising behind them. There was no escape. Wang Guan ordered his men to set fire to all the supply carts. In an instant, flames leaped into the sky. “The crisis is upon us!” Wang Guan shouted. “Fight to the death!” He led his troops charging westward. Jiang Wei pursued with three columns, expecting Wang Guan to try to break back to Wei. Instead, Wang Guan fled into Hanzhong. With his forces too few to risk pursuit, Wang Guan set fire to the plank roads and all the mountain passes to block the enemy. Fearing that Hanzhong itself might fall, Jiang Wei abandoned the chase of Deng Ai, took his army by a short route through the night, and hunted down Wang Guan. Surrounded on all sides by Shu troops, Wang Guan drowned himself in the Black Dragon River. His remaining soldiers were all buried alive by Jiang Wei. Though Jiang Wei had defeated Deng Ai, he had lost many supply carts and the plank roads were destroyed. He led his army back to Hanzhong. Deng Ai, with the remnants of his beaten army, returned to his camp on Mount Qi and submitted a memorial confessing his defeat, requesting demotion. Sima Zhao, recalling Deng Ai’s many past achievements, could not bear to demote him. Instead, he sent generous rewards. Deng Ai distributed all the gifts among the families of the soldiers who had fallen. Fearing another Shu offensive, Sima Zhao reinforced Deng Ai with an additional fifty thousand troops. Jiang Wei, having hastily repaired the plank roads, began planning another campaign.
Truly, the cycle of war continued: the plank roads rebuilt, the armies marched forth again, never resting until the Central Plains was conquered. What the outcome would be, let the next chapter reveal.