Driving the Tiger to Swallow the Wolf — The Man Who Had a Town Taken without Fighting

From Chapters 14 and 16 of Romance of the Three Kingdoms

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The Counsel at Xudu

The Stratagem of Two Tigers Contending for Food

The First Move Seen Through

Driving the Tiger to Swallow the Wolf

The Tiger Leaves Its Den

The Night in Xu Province

Zhang Fei Flees

The Halberd Shot at the Camp Gate

The Romance and the Records

Conclusion

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The Counsel at Xudu

The stage is Xudu. Cao Cao had just welcomed the Son of Heaven and secured the capital. The men Cao Cao found irksome were Liu Bei in Xu Province and Lü Bu, his guest general. Liu Bei had the people's esteem; Lü Bu had strength of arm. If the two joined hands, they would become a trouble at his very heart, he thought. The strategist Xun Yu opposed sending out troops.

Xudu had only just been settled. Now was not the time to move troops lightly, he said.

The Stratagem of Two Tigers Contending for Food

What Xun Yu proposed instead was the stratagem of Two Tigers Contending for Food. By the Son of Heaven's edict, Liu Bei would be formally recognized as the lord of Xu Province. To that edict, a secret letter would be attached: Cao Cao's private order to kill Lü Bu. Set the two tigers, Liu Bei and Lü Bu, to devour each other. Whichever won, Cao Cao would not have to soil his own hands — that was the calculation.

Zhang Fei, who had read the secret letter, said: Lü Bu is a man without righteousness.

Zhang FeiWe should just kill him.

Liu Bei shook his head: to kill a man who came to rely on us in his trouble would itself be unrighteous, he said.

The First Move Seen Through

The next day, Lü Bu came to congratulate Liu Bei on receiving his appointment. Then Zhang Fei drew his sword and leapt at him.

Zhang FeiCao Cao says to kill you.

Liu Bei invited Lü Bu into an inner room and showed him Cao Cao's secret letter, just as it was. Lü Bu, in tears, said:

Lü BuThis is Cao Cao's stratagem, to make the two of us fight each other.

Liu Bei answered:

Liu BeiI will never do an unrighteous thing.

Liu Bei also instructed his younger brothers:

Liu BeiCao Cao, fearing that Lü Bu and I would join forces, tried to set the two of us at each other's throats.

The first move had failed. Liu Bei and Lü Bu had, on the contrary, deepened their bond.

Driving the Tiger to Swallow the Wolf

When Cao Cao, receiving the report, asked, Xun Yu had one more stratagem: Driving the Tiger to Swallow the Wolf (Kukodonro) — a stratagem to drive the tiger out and empty its den, and have the wolf attack that den. The tiger is Liu Bei. The leopard is the neighboring great power, Yuan Shu. And the wolf is Lü Bu. First, leak this to Yuan Shu:

Xun YuLiu Bei has petitioned the Son of Heaven and is trying to take your territory.

The angered Yuan Shu would surely attack Liu Bei. Then Cao Cao, by the Son of Heaven's edict, would order Liu Bei to attack Yuan Shu. An edict Liu Bei could not refuse. Once the tiger left its den, it would be the wolf's turn.

The Tiger Leaves Its Den

The leak set fire to Yuan Shu's anger. Yuan Shu said:

Yuan ShuThat Liu Bei, of low birth, has joined the ranks of the lords, and now aims even at my territory.

Yuan Shu gave his general Ji Ling 100,000 troops and sent them toward Xu Province. At the same time, an edict reached Xu Province ordering Liu Bei to attack Yuan Shu. His retainer Mi Zhu said:

Mi ZhuMight this, too, be Cao Cao's stratagem?

Liu Bei answered:

Liu BeiEven knowing it is a stratagem, I cannot disobey the Son of Heaven's command.

The problem was the defense in his absence. Liu Bei said to Zhang Fei: when you drink, you grow rough and beat the soldiers with a whip. Your operations are rash, too, and you do not listen to others' remonstrance.

Liu BeiWith that, you cannot hold it.

Zhang Fei swore:

Zhang FeiFrom today I will give up drink, not beat the soldiers, and listen to remonstrance.

Liu Bei asked the civil official Chen Deng to assist him, and set out at the head of 30,000 troops. Liu Bei faced Ji Ling's army at Xuyi and formed his camp against the river and the mountains. Guan Yu exchanged thirty bouts with Ji Ling, evenly matched. The standoff between the two armies continued.

The Night in Xu Province

Meanwhile, in Xu Province, Zhang Fei was holding a farewell banquet. His elder brother's charge was to give up drink after today. So today only, let us all drink the night away, he said. The cup came before Cao Bao. Cao Bao declined, saying he had given up drink, but Zhang Fei forced him to drink: what is a fighting man who will not drink?

The drunken Zhang Fei had Cao Bao, who had declined a second time, beaten with a whip for disobeying an order. Cao Bao said: my daughter's husband is Lü Bu. Hearing that name, Zhang Fei grew angrier still: beating you is the same as beating Lü Bu. With no one to stop him, the whipping reached fifty strokes.

That night, Cao Bao sent a secret letter to Lü Bu in Xiaopei: Liu Bei is away, and Zhang Fei is drunk. Tonight, Xu Province can be taken. The strategist Chen Gong said: Xiaopei is not a place to stay long. If we let this opening pass, regret will remain. Lü Bu went ahead with 500 cavalry and, at the fourth watch of the night, arrived beneath Xu Province's town.

Cao Bao's soldiers opened the town gate. In the darkness, Lü Bu's army poured into the town all at once.

Zhang Fei Flees

Zhang Fei was woken while still drunk, hurriedly put on his armor, and took up his serpent spear. But the drink had not left him, and his strength would not come. Lü Bu, too, knowing Zhang Fei's valor, did not pursue deeply. Guarded by eighteen horsemen, Zhang Fei escaped through the east gate. Liu Bei's family was left behind in the town.

Zhang Fei cut down the pursuing Cao Bao with a single thrust at the riverbank. But the town would not come back. Lü Bu, having entered the town, calmed the people, and placed guards at Liu Bei's residence so that no one would touch it. Zhang Fei reached Liu Bei's camp and reported everything as it was.

The town and his family were lost. He had not kept his elder brother's charge either. Zhang Fei drew his sword and tried to take his own life. His elder and younger brothers desperately stopped him. Liu Bei said quietly: do not rejoice in what you have gained.

Liu BeiDo not grieve for what you have lost.

The Halberd Shot at the Camp Gate

But then, afterwards: Yuan Shu gave Ji Ling tens of thousands of troops and had him attack Liu Bei at Xiaopei. Liu Bei, with few troops, asked Lü Bu for help. Lü Bu thought:

Lü BuIf Liu Bei is absorbed by Yuan Shu, the next to be targeted will be me.

Lü Bu invited the generals of both armies to a banquet in his own camp. At the banquet, Lü Bu said: I will stop this fight.

Lü BuWatch.

Lü Bu had his halberd set up beside the gate, stepped back 150 paces, and took up his bow. If my arrow strikes the small branch of that halberd, both armies will withdraw their troops. If it misses, fight as you please. Lü Bu drew his bow to the full. The loosed arrow pierced the very center of the halberd's small branch.

Astonished, Ji Ling withdrew his troops, as promised. This is the halberd shot at the camp gate (Enmon Shageki). Cao Cao's stratagem succeeded as far as having Xu Province taken. But beyond that, things did not roll as he intended. Lü Bu, who was supposed to be the wolf, now protected Liu Bei.

The Romance and the Records

Here, let us separate the sources. Two Tigers Contending for Food, Driving the Tiger to Swallow the Wolf, and the halberd shot at the camp gate are all scenes from the Romance. In the historical record, too, the broad outline remains, of Lü Bu attacking from behind while Liu Bei fought Yuan Shu. But neither the names of the two stratagems, nor the exchanges of secret letters and leaks, are written in the historical record.

It is the construction of Chapter 14 of the Romance.

Conclusion

To sum up: Cao Cao hardly moved his own troops at all. With only the Son of Heaven's edict and the movements of men's hearts, he drew the tiger out of its den and had the wolf attack the den. He had a town taken without fighting. The man who made that contrivance was the strategist Xun Yu.