Novel scene
Liu Bei Rescues Kong Rong at Beihai 劉皇叔北海救孔融
About this event
Liu Bei Rescues Kong Rong at Beihai is the former scene of the Chapter 11 title of the Romance, "Imperial Uncle Liu rescues Kong Rong at Beihai; Lü, Marquis of Wen, defeats Cao Cao at Puyang." It portrays how, at the time when Tao Qian of Xu Province, surrounded by Cao Cao, sent Mi Zhu to ask Kong Rong, Administrator of Beihai, for help, the Yellow Turban Guan Hai surrounded Beihai, and Taishi Ci, who owed Kong Rong a debt of kindness, broke through the encirclement and brought Liu Bei from Pingyuan, until Guan Yu beheaded Guan Hai. Romance, Ch. 11 §2–3 · 6–7 · 13 · 15–17
Chen Shou's text has the same affair. The biography of Taishi Ci records that when Kong Rong, Chancellor of Beihai, who had gone out to station himself at Douchang because of the rampaging Yellow Turbans, was surrounded by the bandit Guan Hai, Taishi Ci broke through the encirclement, went to Liu Bei, Chancellor of Pingyuan, and brought back three thousand elite troops, whereupon the bandits lifted the siege and scattered in flight. Records, Wu 4 §21–26
In the Romance
In Chapter 11 of the Romance, when Xu Province is surrounded by Cao Cao, the Attendant Officer Mi Zhu proposes asking Kong Rong of Beihai and Tian Kai of Qing Province for help and goes to Beihai himself. Kong Rong, a close friend of Tao Qian, intends first to send Cao Cao a letter urging peace, but the Yellow Turban Guan Hai attacks with tens of thousands of bandits and demands ten thousand dan of grain. When Kong Rong's general Zong Bao is cut down by Guan Hai's blade, Kong Rong's troops flee into the city, and Guan Hai surrounds it on all sides. Romance, Ch. 11 §2 · 6–8
The next day a man breaks through the bandits' lines with his spear leveled and shouts beneath the walls for the gates to be opened: it is Taishi Ci of Huang County in Donglai. Back from Liaodong, he had ridden there alone at the command of his aged mother, to whom Kong Rong had always sent grain and silk. When Kong Rong wishes to ask Liu Bei for help, Taishi Ci takes the letter and breaks through the encirclement, shooting down with his bow the members of Guan Hai's band who pursue him, led by Guan Hai himself with several hundred horsemen, and goes to Pingyuan. Romance, Ch. 11 §9–14
Hearing Taishi Ci, Liu Bei says, "Does Kong of Beihai know that there is a Liu Bei in the world?" and goes to Beihai with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, leading three thousand elite troops. Guan Yu beheads Guan Hai with his Green Dragon Blade within a few dozen bouts, Taishi Ci and Zhang Fei charge into the bandits' lines, and Kong Rong also comes out of the city to attack from the other side, so that the bandits are crushed and those who surrender are beyond counting. Romance, Ch. 11 §15–18
When Mi Zhu again reports Xu Province's peril at the banquet, Liu Bei sends Kong Rong on ahead, borrows two thousand troops and Zhao Yun from Gongsun Zan, and heads for Xu Province. Taishi Ci, refusing the gold and silk Kong Rong offers, returns to his mother, who, pleased that he has repaid Beihai, sends him to Liu Yao in Yang Province. Romance, Ch. 11 §19–23
Where the Romance differs
Where Kong Rong was surrounded: In Chapter 11 of the Romance, Guan Hai surrounds the city of Beihai around the time Cao Cao surrounds Xu Province, and Mi Zhu happens to be there to ask for help. In the biography of Taishi Ci in the Records, Kong Rong had gone out to station himself at Douchang because of the Yellow Turbans' raids and was surrounded there by Guan Hai, and neither Cao Cao's attack on Xu Province nor Mi Zhu appears in this passage. Romance, Ch. 11 §6–7Records, Wu 4 §21
How the encirclement was broken and Guan Hai's end: In Chapter 11 of the Romance, Taishi Ci breaks through the encirclement after stabbing several of the enemy to death, and when Liu Bei arrives, Guan Yu beheads Guan Hai. In the Records, Taishi Ci, on three mornings in a row, set up targets inside the moat, merely shot at them and went back in, until the bandits no longer bothered to get up, and then galloped through the encirclement; and on hearing that the three thousand elite troops sent by Liu Bei were coming, the bandits lifted the siege and scattered in flight. Romance, Ch. 11 §13–14 · 17Records, Wu 4 §23–24 · 26
Liu Bei's relief: In Chapter 11 of the Romance, Liu Bei goes to Beihai in person with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, leading three thousand elite troops. The biography of Taishi Ci in the Records records that Liu Bei sent three thousand elite troops to accompany Taishi Ci. Romance, Ch. 11 §16Records, Wu 4 §26
Written by 3KDEX (not yet reviewed) — The tags at the end of each paragraph link to the exact passage in the Records volume or Romance chapter it is based on.