So a memorial was written and soon followed the envoy to Chienyeh. When the king read it he found therein many arguments against attacking Chin and exhortations to exercise a virtuous rule instead of engaging in hostilities. It angered him.

"They say he has come to an understanding with the enemy, and now I believe it," said the king.

Thereupon he deprived Lu of his command and took away his commission and degraded him in rank. Another general, Sun Chi, was sent to supersede Lu. And none dared to intervene.

King Hao became still more arbitrary and of his own will changed the year-style once more. Day by day his life became more wanton and vicious.

The soldiers in every camp murmured with anger and resentment, and at last three high officers, led by the senior Prime Minister, boldly and earnestly remonstrated with the king for his many irregularities. They suffered death. Within ten years more than two score ministers were put to death for doing their duty.

King Hao maintained an extravagantly large guard of five legions of heavy cavalry, and these men were the terror of everyone.

Now when Yang Hu, on the Chin side of the frontier, heard that his opponent had been removed from his command and that the conduct of the king had become wholly unreasonable he knew that the time was near for him to overcome Wu. Wherefore he presented a memorial.

"Although fate is superior to man, yet success depends upon human effort. Now as the danger of Chiang and Huai are not as those of Chienko, while the ferocity of Sun Hao exceeds that of Liu Ch'an, the misery of the men of Wu exceeds that of the dwellers in the west. Our armies are stronger than ever before, and if we miss this opportunity to bring the whole land under one rule, but continue to weary our men with continual watching and cause the world to groan under the burden of militarism, then our efficiency will decline and we shall not endure."

When Ssuma Yen read this he gave orders for the army to move. But three officers, led by Chia Ch'ung, opposed it, and the orders were withdrawn. Yang Hu was disappointed and said, "What a pity it is that of ten possible vexations one always meets with eight or nine!"

In the fourth year of the period Yang Hu went to court and asked leave to retire on account of ill health. Before granting him leave to go, the king asked him what means he would propose to settle the state.

He replied, "Sun Hao is a very cruel ruler and could be conquered without fighting. If he were to die and a wise

successor sat upon his throne, Your Majesty would never be able to gain rossession of Wu."

"Suppose your army attacked now; what then?" asked the king.

"I am now too old and too ill for the task," replied Yang. "Some other bold and capable leader must be found."

He left the court and retired to his home. Toward the end of the year he was nigh unto death, and the king went to visit him. The sight of his kit g at his bedside brought tear lo une eyes of the faithful old sol It 1 dica a myriad times.

I could never requite Your Majesty," said he.

The king also wept, saying, "My great grief is that I could not take advantage of your abilities to attack Wu. Who now is there to carry out your design?"

Hesitatingly the sick man replied, "I am dying and must be wholly sincere. The General Tu Yü is equal to the task, and is the one man to attack Wu."

The King said, "How beautiful it is to bring good men into prominence! But why did you write a memorial recommending certain men and then burn the draft so that no one knew?" The dying man answered, "I bowed before the officials in open court, I besought the kindness of the private attendants, but all in vain."

So he died, and Ssuma Yen wailed for him and then returned to his palace. He conferred on the dead leader the posthumous rank of Tai-fu and the title of Marquis. The traders closed their shops out of respect to his memory, and all the frontier camps were filled with wailing. The people of Hsiangyang, recalling that he loved to wander on the Hsien Hills, built there « rupie to him and set up a stone and sacrificed regularly at the seasons. The passers-by were moved to tears when they read Yang's name on the tablet, so that it came to be called "The Stone of Tears."

I saw the fragments of a shattered stone
One spring time on the hillside, when, alone,
I walked to greet the sun. The pines distilled
Rig drops of dew unceasing; sadness filled

My heart. I knew this was the Stone of Tears,
The stone of memory sad of long-past years.

On the strength of Yang's recommendation Tu Yü was placed over Chingchou, and the title of "Guardian of the South" was conferred upon him. He was a man of great experience, untiring in study and devoted to the Tso Chuan, the book of history composed by Tso Ch'iu-ming upon the record "Spring and Autumn." In hours of leisure a copy was never out of his hand and when he went abroad an attendant rode in front with the beloved book. He was said to be "Tso Chuan mad."

Tu went to Hsiangyang and began by being kind to the people and caring for his soldiers. By this time Wu had lost by death both Ting Fêng and Lu K'ang, its two most famous. leaders.

The conduct of the King of Wu waxed worse and worse. He used to give great banquets whereat intoxication was universal. He appointed Rectors of Feasts to observe all the faults committed by guests, and after these banquets all offenders were punished, some by flaying the face, others by gouging out the eyes. Every one went in terror of these Rectors.

Wang Chün, Governor of Yichou, sent in a memorial advising an attack upon Wu. He said, "Sun Hao is steeped in vice and should be attacked at once. Should he die and be succeeded by a good ruler we might meet with serious opposition. The ships I built seven years ago lie idle and rotting; why not use them? I am seventy years of age and must soon die. any one of three events happen, the death of Sun Hao, the destruction of these ships, or my death, then success will be difficult to ensure. I pray Your Majesty not to miss the tide."

If

At the next assembly of officers King Ssuma Yen said to them, "I have decided to act; I have received similar advice from two officers."

At this arose Wang Hun and said, "I hear Sun Hao intends to march north and has his army ready. Report says it is formidable and would be hard to defeat. I counsel to await another year till that army has lost its first vigour."

A command to cease warlike preparations was the result of this counsel. The king betook himself to his private chamber where he engaged in a game of wei-ch'i, with Chang Hua as opponent. While at the game, another memorial arrived; it was from Tu Yü. It read:

"Formerly Yang Hu explained his plans confidentially to Your Majesty, but did not lay them before the court. The result has been much debate and conflict of opinion. In every project there are pros and cons, but in this the arguments are mostly in favour. The worst that can happen is failure. Since last autumn the proposed attack has become generally known, and, if we stop now, Sun Hao will be frightened and remove the capital to Wuch'ang, repair his fortifications in Chiangnan and move his threatened people out of danger. Then the capital cannot be assaulted, nor is there anything left in the countryside to rob. Hence next year's attack will also fail."

Just as the King finished reading, Chang Hua pushed back the board, rose and drew his hands into his sleeves, saying, "Your Majesty's skill in war is almost divine, your state is prosperous and the army strong; the King of Wu is a tyrant,

Now you can

his people are miserable and his country mean. easily conquer him, and I pray that there be no further hesitation."

"How could I hesitate after your discourse?" said the king. Thereupon he returned to the council chamber and issued his commands. Tu Yü was given chief command and was to attack Chiangling; Wang Yu, of Langya, to attack Ch'uchung; Wang Hun to go up against Hêngchiang; Yang Jung to move against Wuch'ang; Hu Fên to attack Hsiak'ou. And all divisions were under the orders of Tu Yü. In addition to the land forces, two large fleets were to operate on the river. A separate force was sent away to Hsiangyang.

The King of Wu was greatly alarmed at the news of such armies and fleets, and he called to him quickly his Prime Minister Chang Ti and two others, Ho Chih and Hsi Hsiu, to consult how to defend his land. The Prime Minister proposed to send Wu Yen to meet the enemy at Chiangling, Sun Hsin to Hsiak'ou, while he himself took command of a camp at Niuchu, ready to lend help at any point.

The King approved his dispositions and felt satisfied that he was safe by land. But in the privacy of his own apartment he felt miserable, for he realised that no preparations had been made against an attack by water. Then Ts'ên Hun asked the king why he bore a sad countenance and King Sun Hao told him of his dread of the enemy navy.

"But I have a scheme that will smash all their ships," cried Ts'en.

"What is it?" asked the King, pleased to hear this.

"Iron is plentiful. Make great chains with heavy links and stretch them across the river at various points. Also forge many massive hammers and arrange them in the stream so that when the enemy's ships sail down before the wind they will collide with the hammers and be wrecked. Then they will sail no more."

Blacksmiths were soon at work on the river bank welding the links and forging the hammers. Work went on day and night, and soon all were in place.

As has been said Tu Yü was to attack Chiangling, and he sent Chou Chih with eight hundred sailors to sail secretly along the river to Lohsiang. There they were to make a great show of flags along the bank and among the trees. Drums were to be beaten and bombs exploded during the day and many fires lighted at night to give the appearance of a great army.

So Chou sailed to Pashan. Soon after the army and the marine forces made a simultaneous advance, but the navy of Wu, under Sun Hsin, came up, and at the first encounter Tu Yü's army retired. Sun Hsin landed his men and pursued. But in the midst of the pursuit a signal bomb sounded and Sun Hsin was attacked on all sides. He tried to retire, but the

army he had been pursuing, Tu's force, turned back too and joined in the attack.

Wu's losses were very heavy, and Sun Hsin hastened back to the city. At the ramparts the men of Chin mingled with his own and so entered the gates. They raised signal fires on the walls. This manœuvre amazed Sun, and he said that the northern men had surely flown into the city. He made an effort to escape, but the leader of Chin, Chou Chih, unexpectedly appeared and slew him.

A fleet of the ships of Wu had accompanied Sun Hsin. The admiral, Lu Ching, saw on the south shore a great standard bearing the name of Tu Yü. He became alarmed and landed to try to escape, but was soon found and slain.

At his position at Chiangling Wu Yen heard of these defeats and knew his position was untenable, so he fled. However, he was soon captured and led into the presence of the victorious. general.

"No use sparing you," said Tu Yü, and he sentenced the prisoner to death.

Thus Chiangling was captured and all the districts along the Hsiang and Yüan rivers as far as Huangchou, which surrendered at the first summons.

Tu Yü sent out officers to soothe the people of the conquered districts, and they suffered nothing from the soldiery. Next he marched toward Wuch'ang, and that city also yielded. So the glory of Tu Yü was very great.

Tu summoned his officers to a council to decide upon attacking Chienyeh. Hu Fu said, "A whole century's raiding will not reduce it completedly. The time of the spring rise of waters is near and our position is precarious. We should do well to await the coming spring."

Tu Yü replied, "In the days of old, Yo I obtained the aid of the west and overcame Ch'i in one battle. Our prestige is now high and success certain, easy as the splitting of a bamboo, which seems to welcome the knife after the first few joints have been overcome. We shall meet no great opposition."

So he gave orders to the various leaders to move in concert against the city.

Now Wang Chün had gone down the river with his naval force. From his scouts he heard of the chains and the hammers that had been laid in the river to hinder his progress. But he only smiled. He constructed great rafts of timber and placed on them straw effigies of men in armour and sent them down river with the current. The defenders of Wu took them for real men and, alarmed by their numbers, fled in panic. Then the great hammers were lifted out of the stream and the rafts drifted on.

Moreover, on the rafts they laid great torches many fathoms long, and very thick, made of straw soaked in linseed oil.