Novel scene
Zhong Hui Divides His Army on the Hanzhong Road 鍾會分兵漢中道
About this event
This scene is the episode named in the chapter title of Chapter 116 of the Romance, "Zhong Hui divides his army on the Hanzhong roads," the passage in the Conquest of Shu by Wei in which Zhong Hui of Wei enters Hanzhong by three roads, the Xie Valley, the Luo Valley and the Ziwu Valley, beheads his vanguard Xu Yi under military law, and takes Yangan Pass. The Romance says that at this time the Later Sovereign, on Huang Hao's word, put his faith in a sorceress and ignored Jiang Wei's urgent memorials. Romance, Ch. 116 §4–5 · 15 · 19–20 · 26
Chen Shou recorded Zhong Hui's advance into Hanzhong in the Biography of Zhong Hui, Records of Wei 28, and the Biography of Jiang Wei, Records of Shu 14. The Biography of Zhong Hui says that in the autumn of the 4th year of Jingyuan (263) Zhong Hui led a host of more than a hundred thousand and entered by the Xie Valley and the Luo Valley in separate columns, beheaded Xu Yi, who was preparing the road, and, sending the Army Protector Hu Lie and others ahead, broke the pass fortress. Records, Wei 28 §103–105Records, Shu 14 §43–45
In the Romance
In Chapter 116 of the Romance, Zhong Hui gathers more than eighty generals, including Wei Guan, Hu Lie and Tian Xu, and looks for a vanguard who will open roads through mountains and bridge rivers; he gives the vanguard to Xu Yi, son of Xu Chu, sending the center column by the Xie Valley, the left army by the Luo Valley and the right army by the Ziwu Valley, and follows with a host of more than a hundred thousand. On news that the Wei army is on the move, Jiang Wei sends up a memorial asking that Zhang Yi be made to guard Yangan Pass and Liao Hua the Yinping Bridge, but Huang Hao, saying that Jiang Wei merely wants to win merit, brings in a sorceress, and the Later Sovereign believes her words and ignores Jiang Wei's memorial. Romance, Ch. 116 §3–5 · 11–15
Xu Yi, aiming to attack the Nanzheng Pass first, is badly beaten by the Marquis Wu's repeating crossbows (Liannu) that the Shu general Lu Xun (盧遜) has hidden on either side of the bridge; Zhong Hui, coming to look, nearly gets speared by Lu Xun when the earth on the bridge gives way and his horse's hooves sink in, and is saved by an arrow from Xun Kai. Having taken the pass, Zhong Hui rebukes Xu Yi for not repairing the bridge, and when the generals plead for him, citing Xu Chu's merit, he beheads him, saying that if military law is not clear he cannot command the host. Romance, Ch. 116 §15–20
Zhong Hui has Li Fu surround Lecheng and Xun Kai surround Hancheng, and goes himself to Yangan Pass. Fu Qian, guarding the pass, rejects Jiang Shu's advice to hold firm, goes down with three thousand men to fight and is surrounded by the Wei army, and meanwhile Jiang Shu raises the Wei banners on the pass and surrenders. Fu Qian fights on, crying, "Living I was a subject of Shu; dead I shall be a ghost of Shu!" and when his horse falls he cuts his own throat, and Zhong Hui obtains the grain and weapons stored at Yangan Pass. Romance, Ch. 116 §20–26
Where the Romance differs
Where Xu Yi was beheaded: In Chapter 116 of the Romance, Zhong Hui beheads Xu Yi after he himself nearly dies when his horse's hooves sink in on the bridge before the Nanzheng Pass. In the Biography of Zhong Hui in the Records, Zhong Hui had the Standard-Bearing General Xu Yi go ahead to prepare the road, and when a hole opened in a bridge and his horse's hooves sank in, he beheaded him; though Xu Yi was the son of Xu Chu and had merit with the royal house, he was not spared, and all the armies trembled. The fight at the Nanzheng Pass and Lu Xun (盧遜) are not in Chen Shou's text. Romance, Ch. 116 §15–20Records, Wei 28 §103–104
The fall of Yangan Pass: In Chapter 116 of the Romance, Zhong Hui reaches Yangan Pass in person, and Fu Qian, after Jiang Shu surrenders, fights on and cuts his own throat. In the account of Jiang Wei in Records of Shu 14, Zhong Hui sent a separate general to attack the mouth of the pass, Jiang Shu opened the gate and went out to surrender, and Fu Qian died fighting, while the Biography of Zhong Hui records that, sending the Army Protector Hu Lie and others ahead, he broke the pass fortress and obtained the grain in its storehouses. Romance, Ch. 116 §20–24Records, Shu 14 §45Records, Wei 28 §105
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.