Weeping At The Ancestral Temple, A Filial Prince Dies;
Marching To The West River Land, Two Leaders Competes.

The news of the fall of Mianzhu and the deaths in battle of Zhuge Zhan and Zhuge Shang, father and son, brought home to the Latter Ruler that danger was very near, and he summoned a council.

Then the officials said, "Panic has seized upon the people, and they are leaving the city in crowds. Their cries shake the very sky!"

Sorely he felt his helplessness. Soon they reported the enemy were actually near the city, and many courtiers advised flight.

"We do not have enough troops to protect the capital. Leave the city and flee south to the seven counties of Nanzhong," said they. "The country is difficult and easily defended. We can get the Mangs to come and help us."

But Minister Qiao Zhou opposed, saying, "No, no, that will not do. The Mangs are old rebels. To go to them would be a calamity."

Then some proposed seeking refuge in Wu: "The people of Wu are our sworn allies, and this is a moment of extreme danger. Let us go thither."

But Qiao Zhou also opposed this, saying, "In the whole course of past ages no emperor has ever gone to another state. So far as I can see, Wei will presently absorb Wu, and certainly Wu will never overcome Wei. Imagine the disgrace of becoming a minister of Wu and then having to style yourself minister of Wei. It would double the mortification. Do neither. Surrender to Wei, and Wei will give Your Majesty a strip of land where the ancestral temple can be preserved, and the people will be saved from suffering. I desire Your Majesty to reflect well upon this."

The distracted Latter Ruler retired from the council without having come to any decision. Next day confusion had become still worse. Qiao Zhou saw that matters were very urgent and presented a written memorial. The Latter Ruler accepted it and decided to yield.

But from behind a screen stepped out the fifth of the Emperor's sons, Liu Chan, Prince of Beidi.

Liu Chan shouted at Qiao Zhou, "You corrupt pedant, unfit to live among people! How dare you offer such mad advice in a matter concerning the existence of a dynasty? Has any emperor ever yielded to the enemy?"

The Latter Ruler had seven sons in all---Liu Rui, Liu Dao, Liu Zhong, Liu Zan, Liu Chan, Liu Xue, and Liu Ju. But the ablest, and the only one above the common level of people, was this Liu Chan.

The Latter Ruler turned feebly to his son and said, "The ministers have decided otherwise: They advise surrender. You are the only one who thinks that boldness may avail, and would you drench the city in blood?"

The Prince said, "While the First Ruler lived, this Qiao Zhou had no voice in state affairs. Now he gives this wild advice and talks the most subversive language. There is no reason at all in what he says, for we have in the city many legions of soldiers, and Jiang Wei is undefeated in Saber Pass. He will come to our rescue as soon as he knows our straits, and we can help him to fight. We shall surely succeed. Why listen to the words of this dryasdust? Why abandon thus lightly the work of our great forerunner?"

The Latter Ruler became angry at this harangue and turned to his son, saying, "Be silent! You are too young to understand Heaven's will!"

Liu Chan beat his head upon the ground and implored his father to make an effort.

"If we have done our best and defeat yet comes, if parents and children, lords and ministers have set their backs to the wall and died in one final effort to preserve the dynasty, then in the shades of the Nine Golden Springs we shall be able to look the First Ruler in the face, unashamed. But what if we surrender?"

The appeal left the Latter Ruler unmoved.

The Prince cried, "Is it not shameful in one day to throw down all that our ancestors built up with so great labor? I would rather die."

The Latter Ruler, now very angry, bade the courtiers thrust the young man out of the Palace. Then he ordered Qiao Zhou to prepare the formal Act of Surrender. After it had been written, three officers---Adviser Zhang Shao, Imperial Son-in-Law Commander Deng Liang, and Minister Qiao Zhou---were sent with it and the Hereditary Seal to the camp of Deng Ai to offer submission.

Every day Deng Ai's horsemen rode to the city to see what was afoot. It was a glad day when they returned reporting the hoisting of the flag of surrender. The general had not long to wait. The three messengers soon arrived and presented the letter announcing surrender and the seal therewith. Deng Ai read the letter with great exultation, and took possession of the seal. He treated the envoys courteously, and by their hands sent back a letter to allay any anxiety among the people. In due time they reentered the city and bore this missive to the Latter Ruler, and they told him they had been treated well. The Latter Ruler read the letter with much satisfaction. Then he sent Minister Jiang Xian to order Jiang Wei to surrender.

Then Li Hu, Chair of the Secretariat, carried to the victorious Deng Ai the statistical documents of the resources of the kingdom:

2,800,000 households, 9,140,000 souls, 102,000 active armed soldiers of all ranks, and 40,000 civil employees. Besides, there were granaries with 4,000,000 carts of grain, treasuries with 3,000 pounds of gold and silver and 200,000 rolls of silks of many qualities, and many unenumerated but precious things in the various storehouses.

Li Hu arranged that the ceremony of surrender should take place on the first day of the twelfth month.

The wrath of Prince Liu Chan swelled high as heaven when he heard that his father had actually arranged the date of his abdication.

Girding on his sword, he was setting out for the Palace when his Consort, Lady Cui, stopped him, saying, "My Prince, why does your face bear this look of terrible anger?"

He replied, "The army of Wei is at the gates, and my father has made his Act of Surrender. Tomorrow he and all his ministers are going out of the city to submit formally, and the dynasty will end. But rather than bow the knee to another, I will die and go into the presence of the First Ruler in the realms below."

"How worthy; how worthy!" replied she. "And if my lord must die, I, thy handmaid, prays that she may die first. Then may my Prince depart."

"But why should you die?"

"The Prince dies for his father and the handmaid for her husband. One eternal principle guides us all."

Thereupon she dashed herself against a pillar, and so she died. Then Liu Chan slew his three sons and cut off the head of his Consort that he might sever all ties to life lest he be tempted to live. Bearing the head of the princess in his hand, he went to the Temple of the First Ruler, where he bowed his head, saying, "Thy servant is ashamed at seeing the kingdom pass to another. Therefore has he slain his Consort and his sons that nothing should induce him to live and forego death."

This announcement recited, he made yet another to his ancestors.

"My ancestors, if you have spiritual intelligence, you know the feelings of your descendant."

Then he wept sore till his eyes ran blood, and he committed suicide. The people of Shu grieved deeply for him, and a poet has praised his noble deed.

 [hip, hip, hip]
Both king and courtiers, willing, bowed the knee,
One son alone was grieved and would not live.
The western kingdom fell to rise no more,
A noble prince stood forth, for aye renowned
As one who died to save his forbears' shame.
With grievous mien and falling tears he bowed
His head, declaring his intent to die.
While such a memory lingers none may say
That the Han Dynasty has perished.
[yip, yip, yip]
 

When the Latter Ruler knew of the death of his son, he sent people to bury him.

Soon the main body of the Wei army came. The Latter Ruler and all his courtiers to the number of sixty went out three miles from the north gate to bow their heads in submission, the Latter Ruler binding himself with cord and taking a coffin with him. But Deng Ai with his own hands loosened the bonds and raised the Latter Ruler from the ground. The coffin was burned. Then the victorious leader and the vanquished Emperor returned into the city side by side.

 [hip, hip, hip]
Wei's legions entered Shu,
And the ruler thereof saved his life
At the price of his honor and his throne.
Huang Hao's vicious counsels had brought disaster
Against which Jiang Wei's efforts were vain.
How bright shone the loyalty of the faithful one!
How noble was the grandson of the First Ruler!
Alas! It led him into the way of sorrow.
And the plans of the First Ruler,
Excellent and far-reaching.
Whereby he laid the foundations of a mighty state,
Were brought to nought in one day.
[yip, yip, yip]
 

The common people rejoiced at the magnanimity of Deng Ai, and met the returning cavalcade with burning incense and flowers. The title of General of the Flying Cavalry was given to the Latter Ruler and other ranks were given to the ministers who had surrendered.

Deng Ai requested the Latter Ruler to issue one more proclamation from the Palace to reassure the people, and then the conquerors took formal possession of the state and its granaries and storehouses. Two officers---Governor of Yizhou Zhang Shao and Minister Zhang Jung---were sent into the counties and territories to explain the new situation and pacify malcontents, and another messenger was sent to exhort Jiang Wei to yield peaceably. A report of the success was sent to Capital Luoyang.

Huang Hao, the eunuch whose evil counsels had wrought such ruin to his master, was looked upon as a danger, and Deng Ai decided to put him to death. However, Huang Hao was rich, and he gave bribes to Deng Ai's people, and so he escaped the death penalty.

Thus perished the House of Han. Reflecting on its end a poet recalled the exploits of Zhuge Liang the Martial Lord, and he wrote a poem.

 [hip, hip, hip]
The denizens of tree-tops, apes and birds,
Most lawless of crested things, yet knew
And feared his mordant pen. The clouds and winds
Conspired to aid him to defend his lord.
But nought awaited the leader's precepts, wise
To save; with base content the erstwhile king
Too soon surrendered, yielding all but life.
In gifts Zhuge Liang was peer with
Guan Zhong and Yue Yi,
His hapless death compared with
Zhang Fei's and Guan Yu's;
Sad sight, his temple on the river's brink!
It wrings the heart more than the tearful verse
Of the Liangfu songs he most loved.
[yip, yip, yip]
 

In due time Minister Jiang Xian reached the Saber Pass, and gave Jiang Wei the Latter Ruler's command to surrender to the invaders. Jiang Wei was dumb with amazement at the order; his officers ground their teeth with rage and mortification. Their hair stood on end with anger; they drew their swords and slashed at stones in their wrath.

Shouted they, "While we are fighting to our death, the Latter Ruler has yielded!"