established the new court in Xuchang. Even more
powerful now with the emperor in his control,
Cao Cao quickly subdued his rivals such as Yuan
Shu, Lu Bu and Zhang Xiu, culminating in his
greatest military victory, over Yuan Shao in the
famous Battle of Guandu despite being
outnumbered 10-to-1. Cao Cao pursued the
defeated Yuan clan and finally united northern
China, which later served as the foundation for the Kingdom of Wei.
Sun Ce builds a dynasty in Jiangdong
Meanwhile, an ambush had violently concluded Sun Jian's life in a war with Liu Biao, fulfilling his own rash oath to heaven. His eldest son Sun Ce then delivered the Imperial Jade Seal as tribute to rising royal pretender Yuan Shu of Huainan, in exchange for much needed reinforcements. Now, like the proverbial tiger that has been given claws, he soon secured himself a state in the rich riverlands of Jiangdong, on which the Kingdom of Wu would eventually be founded. Tragically, Sun Ce also died at the height of his career from illness under stress of his terrifying encounter with the ghost of Yu Ji, a venerable magician whom he had falsely accused and executed in jealousy. However, his successor and younger brother Sun Quan, led by skilled advisors Zhou Yu and Zhang Zhao, proved to be a masterful and charismatic ruler, inspiring hidden talents from across the land such as Lu Su to join his service, while raising a strong military which would truly receive a trial by fire in Cao Cao’s great southern campaign.
Liu Bei's unrealized ambition
Liu Bei, along with his sworn brothers Guan Yu and Zhang Fei had sworn allegiance to the Han Dynasty
(in the famous Oath of the Peach Garden) and
pledged to do their best to serve the emperor and the common people. However, their goals and ambitions
had not been realized till the later part of the novel.
Liu Bei, ever since he had successfully quelled the Yellow Turban Rebellion, was not recognized for his efforts and was made only the magistrate of a small county. Later, Liu Bei joined Gongsun Zan and
participated in the war against Dong Zhuo. Cao Cao invaded Xuzhou as a revenge against Tao Qian, the
governor of Xuzhou who unknowingly allowed his
subordinate to kill Cao Cao’s father. Liu Bei led his troops from Pingyuan to help Tao Qian and Tao
passed on his post as Governor of Xuzhou to Liu Bei before he died. At that same time, Lu Bu was at war with Cao Cao as he also longed to dominate China
ever since he had killed Dong Zhuo. Lu Bu was
defeated by Cao Cao and he sought refuge under Liu Bei. Later, Lu Bu repaid Liu Bei’s kindness with evil and seized control of Xuzhou. Liu Bei was forced to join forces with Cao Cao and they defeated Lu Bu.
Lu Bu was executed and Liu Bei became officially
recognized by Emperor Xian as the Emperor’s Uncle.
Liu Bei plotted with some officials to kill Cao Cao as Cao Cao wielded far too much power and had the intention of usurping the throne. Liu Bei failed to kill Cao Cao as the plot was exposed. He seized control of Xuzhou but lost to Cao Cao when Cao Cao led his troops to conquer Xuzhou. Liu Bei got control of Runan with help from some former Yellow Turban rebels but was defeated once again by Cao Cao in battle. Liu Bei had no
choice but to move to Jingzhou to seek Liu Biao’s protection. Liu Biao treated Liu Bei with respect and put him in charge of Xinye. At Xinye, Liu Bei recruited the talented Zhuge Liang personally and slowly built up his forces.
Battle of the Red Cliffs
Cao Cao, who declared himself the Prime Minister, led his troops to attack southern China after uniting the north. At Xinye, he was defeated twice by Liu Bei’s forces but Liu Bei lost Xinye and had to move to Jingzhou. Unfortunately, Liu Biao had died by then and left Jingzhou split between his two sons Liu Qi and Liu Cong. Liu Bei led the civilians of Xinye to Xiangyang, where Liu Cong ruled but Liu Bei was denied entry. Liu Cong later surrendered to Cao Cao, and Liu Bei had no choice but to move to Jiangxia where Liu Qi ruled. On the way, Liu Bei and the civilians were pursued by Cao Cao’s troops and several innocent civilians were killed. Liu Bei and his men managed to reach Jiangxia where he established a strong foothold against Cao Cao’s invasion.
To resist Cao Cao’s invasion, Liu Bei sent Zhuge Liang to persuade Sun Quan in Jiangdong to form an alliance. Zhuge Liang managed to persuade Sun Quan to form an alliance with Liu Bei against Cao Cao and stayed in Jiangdong as a temporary advisor. Sun Quan placed Zhou Yu in command of the forces of Jiangdong (East Wu) to defend against Cao Cao’s invasion. Zhou Yu felt that the talented Zhuge Liang would become a future threat to East Wu and tried several times to kill Zhuge, but failed. In the end, he had no choice but to co-operate with Zhuge Liang for the time being as Cao Cao’s armies were at the border. Cao Cao was defeated at the Battle of Red Cliffs by the combined forces of Liu Bei and Sun Quan and forced to flee back to Jingzhou.
Traditional site of Red Cliffs
Tension between Liu Bei and Sun Quan
After the great battle at the Red Cliff, East Wu and Liu Bei vied for control of Jingzhou. Zhou Yu led the troops of East Wu to attack Jingzhou and gained a victory, but eventually Jingzhou ended up in Liu Bei’s hands, as Zhuge Liang had advised Liu Bei to seize Jingzhou while Zhou Yu and Cao Cao’s forces were at war. Zhou Yu was extremely unhappy and reported the matter to Sun Quan. Sun Quan dispatched Lu Su to Jingzhou to negotiate with Liu Bei for Jingzhou. Again and again, Liu Bei refused to hand over Jingzhou to East Wu. Sun Quan had no choice but to use new strategies suggested by Zhou Yu to take Jingzhou. One of these was the Beauty Scheme, in which
Sun Quan lured Liu Bei to Jiangdong (where he intended to hold Liu Bei hostage in exchange for Jingzhou) by pretending to betroth his younger sister to Liu Bei. However, Zhuge Liang outwitted Zhou Yu, and Liu Bei returned to Jingzhou safely with his new wife. Zhou Yu tried and failed repeatedly to take Jingzhou. After being infuriated by Zhuge Liang twice, Zhou Yu eventually coughed out blood. The third time, he coughed out even more, and died unconscious.
Ma Chao
In the northwest, Ma Chao started a campaign against Cao Cao to avenge his father, Ma Teng, who was killed by Cao Cao. Ma Chao’s forces were formidable as he had the support of Han Sui and troops from the Qiang minority. However, Cao Cao managed to defeat Ma Chao’s forces by using cunning strategies to make Ma Chao and Han Sui turn against each other. Han Sui defected to Cao Cao and Ma Chao was left stranded. Ma Chao later sought refuge under Zhang Lu of Hanzhong, and eventually joined Liu Bei.
Liu Bei controls Xichuan and Jingzhou
