by Luo Guanzhong
7The empress dowager issued a decree summoning Jin. Jin received the decree, and was going to make the trip. Chief of records Chen Lin admon- ished, "The empress dowager's decree is most certainly a plot of the ten regular attendants, you must not go. If you go, it will mean disaster." Jin replied, "The empress dowager has summoned me, what could go wrong?" Yuan Shao said, "The plot has already been leaked, the whole affair has been exposed. General, are you sure you still want to enter the palace?" Cao Cao said, "First tell the ten regular attendants to come out, and then you can go in." Jin smiled and said, "That is a childish view. I command all that is under heaven, what would the ten regular attendants dare do to me?" Shao said, "If you must go, we will escort you with a contingent of armor-clad soldiers, in order to prevent any unexpected eventualities."
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Yuan Shao and Cao Cao then each selected five hundred elite soldiers, and placed Yuan Shao's younger brother Yuan Shu in command of them. Yuan Shu, clad in full-body armor, lined up his soldiers outside of Qingsuo Gate. Shao and Cao wore straight swords on their hips, and escorted He Jin to the front of Changle Palace. The eunuchs delivered a decree from the empress; it stated, "The empress dowager has summoned the supreme general, no one else may enter." They forced Yuan Shao, Cao Cao and the others to remain outside of the Palace Gate. He Jin boldly walked straight in. When he arrived at Jiade Hall, Zhang Rang and Duan Gui came out to meet him. Jin was then surrounded, to his great surprise. In a stern voice, Rang accused Jin, "What crime did Empress Dong commit that she should be wantonly poisoned to death? You pretended to be sick, and did not even attend her funeral! You are a low-class son of a butcher, yet we recommended that your family inherit the throne, which brought you wealth and glory; but instead of repaying us with gratitude, you plotted our destruction! You said that we were dirty, but who is the clean one?" Jin panicked, and began looking for an escape route, but the palace gates were all closed. Armor-clad soldiers came out of hiding in unison, and chopped off He Jin's head. People of later generations composed a poem to lament the incident:
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The house of Han was in peril, and their days were at an end. He Jin lacked the ability to scheme, yet he controlled the offices of the three senior ministers.
On several occasions, he did not heed the advice of his loyal ministers. No wonder he should meet with the tip of a sword while in the palace!
Continued next week. Tomorrow's installment from Lays of Ancient Rome by Macaulay.
This is one of four great novels from China, published when it was the most highly civilization in the world. Map shows China at the time of this story.
Chapter Summary: How Dong Zhuo rebukes Ding Yuan in the Garden of Warmth and Brightness; Li Su wins over Lü Bu with offerings of gold and pearls.
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This translation from Wikipedia. See license CC-BY-SA.
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