Novel scene
A Clever Plan of False Surrender Comes to Nothing 假投降巧計成虛話
About this event
This scene is the episode named in the chapter title of Chapter 119 of the Romance, "A clever plan of false surrender comes to empty words," the passage in Zhong Hui's Rebellion in which Jiang Wei's plan of surrendering falsely and egging on Zhong Hui collapses when the Wei generals rise up, and Zhong Hui, Jiang Wei and Deng Ai die one after another. The Romance gives Jiang Wei's age at death as fifty-nine. Romance, Ch. 119 §1 · 6 · 16–19
Chen Shou recorded this in the Biographies of Zhong Hui and Deng Ai, Records of Wei 28, and the Biography of Jiang Wei, Records of Shu 14. The Biography of Zhong Hui says that on the 18th day of the first month of the 1st year of Xianxi (264), beginning with Hu Lie's troops, the soldiers of the various armies rose up and killed Jiang Wei and Zhong Hui, and the Biography of Deng Ai records that Tian Xu and others, sent by Wei Guan, beheaded Deng Ai west of Mianzhu. Records, Wei 28 §127–128 · 81Records, Shu 14 §48
In the Romance
In Chapter 119 of the Romance, Jiang Wei advises Zhong Hui to have the Army Supervisor Wei Guan arrest Deng Ai, reckoning that if Deng Ai killed Wei Guan his rebellion would be laid bare; but Wei Guan first wins over Deng Ai's lieutenants with proclamations and at dawn seizes Deng Ai and his son in their beds and puts them in prison carts. To Zhong Hui, who now has Deng Ai's troops in his grip as well, Jiang Wei cites the cases of Han Xin and the grandee Zhong and urges him either to retire into hiding or to lay good plans early, and he sends the Later Sovereign a secret letter saying that if he endures a few days of humiliation, Jiang Wei will set the altars of state at peace again. Romance, Ch. 119 §1–6
When Zhong Hui, on receiving a letter that Sima Zhao has come to Chang'an, makes up his mind, saying that even if he falls back to Western Shu he will be at least a Liu Bei, Jiang Wei advises him to put forward a forged testamentary edict of Empress Dowager Guo and offers to serve as his vanguard. At the feast for the Lantern Festival, Zhong Hui draws his sword, makes the generals sign their names, and confines them in the palace, and Jiang Wei tells him to bury those who will not comply in a pit. But Qiu Jian informs Hu Lie of this, and Hu Lie's son Hu Yuan and the generals of the various camps, together with Wei Guan, agree to storm in at midday on the 18th day of the first month. Romance, Ch. 119 §7–14
Jiang Wei, about to go out to kill the Wei generals, suddenly collapses with a pain in his chest, and at that moment troops pour in from all sides. Zhong Hui falls, struck by arrows, and Jiang Wei cries, "My plan has failed; this is the will of Heaven!" and cuts his own throat. Wei Guan, saying that if Deng Ai returns there will be no place for him, has Tian Xu behead Deng Ai and his son at Mianzhu, and Zhang Yi, the heir apparent Liu Xuan and Guan Yi, Marquis of Hanshou Village, also die amid the confused troops. Romance, Ch. 119 §15–19 · 22
Where the Romance differs
Jiang Wei's plan: In Chapter 119 of the Romance, Jiang Wei incites Zhong Hui to act while secretly sending the Later Sovereign a letter saying he will restore the altars of state. The Biography of Jiang Wei in the Records states only that Zhong Hui was so close to Jiang Wei that they rode in the same carriage and sat on the same mat, and that he intended to give him fifty thousand troops and make him his vanguard; Jiang Wei's plan and secret letter are not in Chen Shou's text. Romance, Ch. 119 §5–6Records, Shu 14 §48
How Deng Ai was arrested: In Chapter 119 of the Romance, Zhong Hui, at Jiang Wei's prompting, has Wei Guan arrest Deng Ai. In the Biography of Zhong Hui in the Records, when an edict ordered Deng Ai brought in a prison cart, Sima Zhao (King Wen), fearing that Deng Ai might not obey, had Zhong Hui advance on Chengdu, and the Army Supervisor Wei Guan went ahead and admonished them with the King's handwritten order, whereupon Deng Ai's army all laid down their arms. Romance, Ch. 119 §1–3Records, Wei 28 §121
Jiang Wei's death: In Chapter 119 of the Romance, Jiang Wei collapses with a pain in his chest and then cuts his own throat. In the Biography of Zhong Hui in the Records, Jiang Wei led Zhong Hui's attendants in the fight and killed five or six men with his own hand, but was cut down by the crowd. Romance, Ch. 119 §16–17Records, Wei 28 §128
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.