“Jia Fan spoke well. The Sacred One says that extraordinary phenomena presage the destruction of a state. Now this time portents are not wanting, and wonders have been seen. A dog, dressed in red and wearing a turban, went up to the roof and walking like a man. Moreover, while a certain person living in a village south of the city was cooking his food, he saw a child in the pan, boiled to death. A great cave opened near the market place and threw out a large, fleshy body completely human save that it lacked limbs. Swords could not cut it; arrows could not penetrate it. No one knew what to call it; and when they consulted the soothsayers, they obtained the reply, 'Incomplete shape, silent mouth: a state is near destruction.' These prodigies are all inauspicious. Flee from evil and strive to walk in fair fortune's way. Make no move without most careful thought.”
This second remonstrance enraged Gongsun Yuan still more, and he sent Lun Zhi to death with Jia Fan. Both were executed in the public place.
Gongsun Yuan then prepared to make a bid for empire. He raised an army of one hundred fifty thousand,
appointed Bei Yan as Commander, and Yang Zuo as Leader of the Van. This army set out for the Middle Land.
Ruler of Wei was alarmed at the report of this rising, and sent for Sima Yi.
Sima Yi was not greatly perturbed, and said, “My forty thousand troops will be equal to the task.”
The Ruler of Wei replied, “The task is heavy, for your troops are few and the road is long.”
“The strength of an army is not in numbers, but in strategy. Aided by Your Majesty's good fortune, I shall certainly be able to bring this fellow Gongsun Yuan a captive to your feet.”
“What do you think will be the rebel's plan?” asked the Ruler of Wei.
“His high plan would be flight before our army can arrive; his middle plan would be defending his position in Liaodong; his low plan would be to try to hold Xiangping. In the last case I shall certainly capture him.”
“How long will the expedition take?”
“We have to cover one thousand five hundred miles which will take a hundred days. Attack will consume another hundred. The return will need a hundred, and with sixty days to rest we shall take a year.”
“Suppose during that year we are attacked by Wu or Shu.”
“My plans provide for that; Your Majesty need have no anxiety.”
The Ruler of Wei being thus reassured, formally ordered Sima Yi to undertake the expedition.
Hu Zun was appointed to lead the van. He went and camped in Liaodong. The scouts hastened to tell Gongsun Yuan, who sent Bei Yan and Yang Zuo to camp at Liaosui with eighty thousand troops. They surrounded their camp with a wall seven miles in circumference and placed thorny barriers outside the rampart. It seemed very secure.
Hu Zun saw these preparations and sent to tell his chief. Sima Yi smiled.
“So the rebel does not want to fight, but thinks to weary my soldiers,” said Sima Yi. “Now I am disposed to think that most of his army is within that wall, so that his stronghold is empty and undefended. I will make a dash at Xiangping. He will have to go to its rescue, and I will smite him on the way. I should score a great success.”
So Sima Yi hastened to Xiangping along unfrequented ways.
Meanwhile Bei Yan and Yang Zuo, the two generals within the walled camp, discussed their plans.
Yang Zuo said, “When the Wei army comes near, we will not fight. They will have come a long march and their supplies will be short, so that they cannot hold out long. When they retreat, we shall find our opportunity. These were the tactics Sima Yi used against Zhuge Liang on River Wei, and Zhuge Liang died before the end of the expedition. We will try similar means.”
Presently the scouts reported that the Wei army had marched south. Bei Yan at once saw the danger and said, “They are going to attack Xiangping, which they know has few troops. If that base be lost, this position is useless.”
So they broke up their camp and followed the enemy.
When Sima Yi heard it, he rejoiced, saying, “Now they will fall into the snare I have laid for them.”
Sima Yi sent Xiahou Ba and Xiahou Wei to take up position on the River Ji. They were to attack if the army of Liaodong came near them. They had not long to wait. As soon as Bei Yan and his army approached, Xiahou Ba and Xiahou Wei exploded a bomb, beat the drums, waved their flags, and came out, one force on each side. Bei Yan and Yang Zuo made a fight but soon fled to Shoushan Mountain, where they fell in with Gongsun Yuan and joined the main army. Then they turned to give battle to the Wei army.
Bei Yan rode to the front and reviled the enemy, taunted them with trickery and challenged to a fight in the open.
Xiahou Ba rode out to accept the challenge, and after a few bouts Bei Yan fell. In the confusion caused by the death of their leader, Xiahou Ba urged on his troops and drove Gongsun Yuan back to Xiangping, and Gongsun Yuan took refuge in the city.
