Novel scene
Yang Fu Borrows Troops to Defeat Ma Chao 楊阜借兵破馬超
About this event
This is the scene from the chapter title of Chapter 64 of the Romance, "Yang Fu Borrows Troops and Defeats Ma Chao," the passage depicting the Battle of Lucheng. Yang Fu, who has stayed under Ma Chao after Ma Chao took the city of Ji, persuades his cousin Jiang Xu to raise troops, and Liang Kuan and Zhao Qu, left behind in the city, shut the gates and kill Ma Chao's wife and children, so that Ma Chao, chased even by Xiahou Yuan, flees to Zhang Lu in Hanzhong. Romance, Ch. 64 §33–47
Chen Shou's text records this affair in the biography of Yang Fu in Records of Wei 25 and the biography of Ma Chao in Records of Shu 6, and the plot of the Romance follows the biography of Yang Fu almost exactly. Records, Wei 25 §27–32Records, Shu 6 §29
In the Romance
In Chapter 64 of the Romance, Ma Chao, having been in the land of the Qiang for over two years, seizes the provinces and commanderies of Longxi, leaving only the city of Ji. When Xiahou Yuan cannot come to the rescue without orders from Cao Cao, the Inspector Wei Kang opens the city gates and surrenders even though Yang Fu tearfully tries to stop him, and Ma Chao, saying the surrender is insincere, beheads Wei Kang's household of more than forty. Ma Chao spares Yang Fu for having kept to righteousness and employs him as Military Adviser, and also makes Liang Kuan and Zhao Qu, whom Yang Fu recommends, military officers. Romance, Ch. 64 §33–35
Obtaining leave on the pretext of burying his wife, Yang Fu meets his cousin Jiang Xu and his aunt at Licheng and tearfully pleads with them to attack Ma Chao, and Jiang Xu's mother scolds her son and urges him to act. Jiang Xu joins hands with Yin Feng and Zhao Ang, and Zhao Ang, who hesitates because his son Zhao Yue is under Ma Chao, makes up his mind at the words of his wife, Lady Wang. Jiang Xu and Yang Fu encamp at Licheng, and Yin Feng and Zhao Ang at Mount Qi. Romance, Ch. 64 §36–40
The enraged Ma Chao beheads Zhao Yue, attacks Licheng and defeats Jiang Xu and Yang Fu, but is caught in a pincer attack by Yin Feng and Zhao Ang and by Xiahou Yuan, who comes under Cao Cao's orders, and is defeated. When he returns to the city of Ji, Liang Kuan and Zhao Qu behead Ma Chao's wife and three young sons on the wall and throw them down, and Ma Chao raids Licheng and kills Jiang Xu's mother. Yang Fu, blocking his way again, holds on even after receiving spear wounds in five places and losing seven kinsmen, and Ma Chao flees to Zhang Lu with Pang De and Ma Dai. Cao Cao enfeoffs Yang Fu as Marquis Within the Passes. Romance, Ch. 64 §41–47
Where the Romance differs
Wei Kang's surrender: In Chapter 64 of the Romance, Wei Kang surrenders and Ma Chao beheads his household. In the biography of Yang Fu in the Records, the city of Ji held out from the 1st month to the 8th month before the Inspector and the Administrator opened the city gates, and Ma Chao entered and had Yang Ang kill the Inspector and the Administrator. Romance, Ch. 64 §33–34Records, Wei 25 §27–28
Where and when the uprising took place: In the Romance, Jiang Xu and Yang Fu encamp at Licheng and fight Ma Chao. In the biography of Yang Fu, Yang Fu raised troops with Jiang Xu at Lucheng in the 9th month of the 17th year of Jian'an (212), and the biography of Ma Chao records that Ma Chao attacked Lucheng but could not take it. The Annals of Emperor Wu in Records of Wei 1 place the killing of Ma Chao's wife and children by Zhao Qu and Yin Feng in the 1st month of the 19th year of Jian'an (214). Ma Chao's raid on Licheng and killing of Jiang Xu's mother, and Yang Fu's five wounds, are the same as in the Romance. Romance, Ch. 64 §40–41 · 45–46Records, Wei 25 §31–32Records, Shu 6 §29Records, Wei 1 §136
Xiahou Yuan's relief: In the Romance, Xiahou Yuan attacks Ma Chao from the flank on the very day of the uprising. In the biography of Xiahou Yuan in the Records, when Ma Chao, having fled to Hanzhong, came back and besieged Mount Qi, Jiang Xu and others asked for help, and Xiahou Yuan, without waiting for Cao Cao's instructions, sent Zhang He ahead and drove Ma Chao away. Romance, Ch. 64 §42Records, Wei 9 §18–19
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.