Novel scene
Jiang Wei's False Letter Defeats the Cao Army 破曹兵姜維詐獻書
About this event
"Jiang Wei's False Letter Defeats the Cao Army" is the latter scene of the chapter title of Chapter 97 of the Romance, "Zhuge Liang Submits Another Memorial to Attack Wei; Jiang Wei's False Letter Defeats the Cao Army." It covers the story up to the point where Zhuge Liang, having lost several officers to the Wei general Wang Shuang at Chencang, follows Jiang Wei's plan and sends Cao Zhen a false secret letter saying Jiang Wei will return to Wei, then lures Fei Yao, who sets out trusting it, into the Xie Valley and defeats him. It is one episode of Zhuge Liang's Northern Expeditions as the Romance depicts them. Romance, Ch. 97 §29–34 · 36–39 · 43–44
Chen Shou's text has no such scene. The Annals of Emperor Ming state only that in the 12th month of the 2nd year of Taihe (228), when Zhuge Liang besieged Chencang, Cao Zhen sent the general Fei Yao (費曜) and others to resist him. Records, Wei 3 §10
In the Romance
In Chapter 97 of the Romance, Zhuge Liang, unable to take the city of Chencang held by Hao Zhao, loses his subordinate officers Xie Xiong and Gong Qi (龔起) to Wang Shuang, the Wei vanguard come to relieve the city, and Zhang Ni is also struck in the back by Wang Shuang's meteor hammer. Jiang Wei says Chencang cannot be taken, and that if the roads are guarded and the main army strikes at Mount Qi, Cao Zhen can be captured by a stratagem. Zhuge Liang has Wang Ping and Li Hui guard the byway to Jieting and Wei Yan the mouth of the Chencang road, and advances through the Xie Valley. Romance, Ch. 97 §29–34
Cao Zhen receives Jiang Wei's secret letter from a man captured in a mountain valley. The letter says that though Jiang Wei's family has eaten Wei's salary for generations, he fell into Zhuge Liang's trap, and that if the Commander-in-Chief comes with a great army and feigns defeat, he will raise fire in the rear and burn the Shu army's grain. Cao Zhen is delighted, but Fei Yao, Central Protector of the Army and senior general, says Zhuge Liang may be behind it and sets out for the Xie Valley with 50,000 men in Cao Zhen's place to meet Jiang Wei. Romance, Ch. 97 §35–39
Three times the Shu troops fall back just as battle is about to be joined, giving the Wei troops no rest for a day and a night, and when Zhuge Liang in his four-wheeled carriage tells him to call out Cao Zhen, Fei Yao only waits for the signal fire. When fire rises behind the Shu army, Fei Yao turns and gives chase, but is badly defeated by the ambush of Guan Xing and Zhang Bao and the arrows and stones from the hills, and as he flees after meeting Jiang Wei, who tells him he meant to catch Cao Zhen but has lured Fei Yao instead, he cuts his own throat. Zhuge Liang regrets that a great plan was put to small use. Romance, Ch. 97 §40–45
Where the Romance differs
Fei Yao: In Chapter 97 of the Romance, Fei Yao is taken in by Jiang Wei's false letter, sets out and cuts his own throat. In Chen Shou's text, Fei Yao (費曜) is the general Cao Zhen sent in the 12th month of the 2nd year of Taihe (228) to resist Zhuge Liang, who was besieging Chencang, and in the biography of Wei Yan, in the 8th year of Jianxing (230), the Wei General of the Rear Fei Yao (費瑤) fights Wei Yan together with Guo Huai and is badly defeated. Romance, Ch. 97 §43–44Records, Wei 3 §10Records, Shu 10 §58
Wang Shuang: In Chapter 97 of the Romance, Wang Shuang beheads Xie Xiong and Gong Qi (龔起) outside Chencang and wounds Zhang Ni. In Chen Shou's text, the Wei general Wang Shuang pursued Zhuge Liang with cavalry when he withdrew from Chencang after his grain ran out, and was defeated and beheaded. Romance, Ch. 97 §29–33Records, Shu 5 §35
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.