#qin yilu

[ttoca]

Li Qian and Qin Yilu

Two of Cao Cao’s most valued lieutenants, of whom sadly not much is known. So I’m putting my own spin on things.

Li Qian of Jiyin first meets Cao Cao when the young prodigy first take sup office in the capital as a Captain of the North Wall Gate. Li Qian serves as his Adjutant and demonstrates a forthright and honourable character which Cao Cao admires greatly. One might be surprised the famously crafty Cao Cao gets on so well with a man of upright morals but Li Qian understands Luoyang very well and knows that it’s no safe place for good-hearted men. While Cao Cao isn’t afraid to play dirty, respect for the law means a great deal to him and in this, the two are united and Li Qian rises beside Cao Cao as a stalwart and much-valued officer. Through Li Qian, another legend is born; that of his nephew, Li Dian.

Qin Yilu has never been a lucky individual and ever since his father, Qin Jie, raked up massive gambling debts with the powerful Cao Song, the boy was a hostage of the Cao family and became a friend of the young, impressionable Cao Aman. As Qin Yilu’s prospects improve beside Cao Cao’s, he uses his one reliable skill, that of being ignored and dismissed by others, to his advantage as he begins serving as Cao Cao’s spy, send into the courts of enemy lords to watch, listen, learn and pass on information. Qin Yilu’s no slouch in military matters either; while his father was a terrible gambler, he was an excellent commander of troops and as a commander of irregular militia, Qin Yilu can be counted on to appear in the most perilous of places, largely ignored by the majority of the enemy, ready to provide support for Cao Cao. One matter that a Cao Cao arranged when the two were young was Qin Yilu’s marriage to another hostage of the Cao family, Miss Du Jiaojun.

[craftercat]

Northern Wei Part 10: Tuoba Gui's Succession

In the last part we discussed the later years of Tuoba Gui's, and how he became paranoid and purged his officials a bit too much. In this part, we will discuss Tuoba Gui's succession - specifically his attempt to change the succession to be father-son succession.

DAI SUCCESSION

In the early state of Dai, primogeniture was not used as the metric to define succession rules. Instead, rulers were selected based on who the tribes and the previous ruler wanted to be the new king, which was often not a son at all.

For example, Tuoba Xilu was succeeded by his youngest brother Tuoba Chao, even though another brother Tuoba Luguan was older than Tuoba Chao (WS001), and we know that Tuoba Xilu had sons (WS014). Tuoba Chao was succeeded by his nephew Tuoba Fu, the son of another brother who died before Tuoba Xilu, but Tuoba Fu was the youngest son of said brother, and had two older brothers, Tuoba Yituo and Tuoba Yilu (WS001).

When Tuoba Fu died, he was succeeded by his uncle, the aforementioned Tuoba Luguan (WS001), despite having sons of his own (WS014). After the death of Tuoba Luguan, his part of Dai passed to Tuoba Yilu (WS001), even though we know that Tuoba Luguan had sons of his own (WS014). After a succession struggle the throne was passed to Tuoba Yulu, the son of Tuoba Fu. He was soon murdered by Princess Qi, who held influence over the next emperor, Tuoba Henu (Tuoba Yituo's son), to the point that Shi Le's envoys called Dai a "女國" (WS001).

Later on, there was a succession struggle between Tuoba Yulu's son Tuoba Yihuai and Tuoba Henu's brother Tuoba Hena. Tuoba Yihuai was made king by the tribal chiefs, and he was deposed when the tribal chiefs switched allegiance to Tuoba Hena. This shows the power of the tribal chiefs in influencing succession. Tuoba Yihuai became emperor again due to being provided a foreign army by Shi Hu and a tribal rebellion against Tuoba Hena (WS001).

In an incident telling of Dai's succession, Tuoba Yihuai, on his deathbed, issued an edict to bypass his young sons (we know from WS014 he had sons) and make Tuoba Shiyijian, his younger brother, the new king instead (WS001). However, because Tuoba Shiyijian was in Ye, the tribal chiefs first wanted to establish an older prince, and then Tuoba Gu, but Tuoba Gu rejected the offer and went to Ye in Tuoba Shiyijian's place instead (WS014).

From this, it can be seen that succession rarely went from father to eldest son. Instead, succession was often based on seniority and prone to influence by foreign states and powerful women.

TUOBA GUI'S SUCCESSION

Tuoba Gui had to deal with some of these challenges on his rise to power. Many of the tribes believed that his uncle Tuoba Kuduo should be king because he was an adult as opposed to the 15-year-old Tuoba Gui, but Tuoba Gui called in a Later Yan army to defeat him (WS015). His mother's tribe, the Helan tribe, also played an important part in his rise to power (WS083).

Tuoba Gui likely learned from his own experience that it was time to do away with the old method of succession and to establish a direct father-son succession in Northern Wei. In 403, Tuoba Gui started to give out titles to his sons, the oldest of whom (Tuoba Si) was 11. They were not only made princes, but also high-ranking generals, and Tuoba Si was also made a prime minister (WS002). Of course, these titles were honorary ones and carried little real power given their ages. He also gave titles to Tuoba Qian's son Tuoba Yue.

As well, Tuoba Gui suppressed the members of his family who had earned military merit. Tuoba Zun was executed for having sexual relations with the Princess Taiyuan (unclear what her relation to Tuoba Gui was) when he was drunk (WS015). He also recalled Tuoba Yi from his position in the provinces, though Tuoba Yi continued to take part in military expeditions until the expedition against Later Qin (WS015).

Instead of killing Tuoba Yi [1], Tuoba Gui instead chose a different way to consolidate his idea of father-son succession. In 408, Tuoba Si's eldest son Tuoba Tao was born. Tuoba Gui was very happy at the birth of his grandson, as it showed a continuation of his lineage. However, he also issued a summon for Tuoba Yi at night (WS015).

When Tuoba Yi arrived, Tuoba Gui asked him if he was frightened by a night summon. Tuoba Yi responded by saying that he trusted Tuoba Gui and though he was surprised by a night summon, he was not afraid. Tuoba Gui thus told him of Tuoba Tao's birth. Tuoba Yi congratulated him and started to sing and dance, and they drank together until dawn. Tuoba Gui then summoned the rest of his ministers, and he publicly gifted Tuoba Yi (WS015).

I'm not sure how much of this is real on the part of Tuoba Yi and how much of this is pre-rehearsed, but what I do think is going on is that Tuoba Gui wanted Tuoba Yi to show his loyalty to his own lineage, represented by Tuoba Tao. He summoned Tuoba Yi at night to test his loyalty to him, and when he announced Tuoba Tao's birth, Tuoba Yi paid his respects, which was intended as a symbol to the old tribes that Tuoba Yi was giving up his status as a successor under seniority to make way for Tuoba Gui's own line. Whether Tuoba Gui wanted Tuoba Tao specifically to inherit doesn't matter; what mattered is that he represented Tuoba Gui's descendants.

Whether Tuoba Yi really thought it was time to give up his succession rights or if he was acting to preserve his life is unclear. It does appear that Tuoba Yi was aligned with the interests of the reformist Xianbei and was more open to academic discussions with Han scholars (WS015), and this new succession system was based on the Han system of father-son inheritance. However, Tuoba Yi had also earlier plotted to kill Tuoba Gui, so he may have still been ambitious to be emperor himself and was respecting Tuoba Tao to defend himself against a paranoid Tuoba Gui (WS015).

EARLY LIFE OF TUOBA SI

Last time I discussed Tuoba Gui's moves to attempt to centralise his authority over Northern Wei to mixed effect. In 409, Tuoba Gui decided the time was ripe to finally establish his heir. But first, let's introduce Tuoba Si and Tuoba Shao, because they will be very important, especially Tuoba Si.

Tuoba Si was Tuoba Gui's eldest son [2], born in 392 (WS003). His mother was Consort Liu, the daughter of Liu Juan, and he had an older sister also born to Consort Liu, Princess Huayin. Consort Liu was Tuoba Gui's favourite concubine, and she was even entrusted with managing the affairs of the back palace. However, she never became empress because she was unable to craft a golden statue, so Empress Murong was made empress instead [3] (WS013).

Tuoba Gui was very happy by having a son late in age [4], and so he declared a general pardon (WS003). According to official history, Tuoba Si was the perfect heir: intelligent, shrewd, lenient, resolute and always acting according to propriety, which earned him Tuoba Gui's respect (WS003). This is the typical positive description of an emperor, but this does seem to be accurate to the character that Tuoba Si showed after becoming emperor.

Tuoba Shao was Tuoba Gui's second son, born in 394. His mother was Consort Helan, the sister of Princess Dowager Helan and therefore Tuoba Gui's aunt. At one point when Tuoba Gui was visiting the Helan tribe [5], he saw Consort Helan, and wanted to take her as his concubine. However, Princess Dowager Helan advised him against it, as she believed that her sister was too beautiful and said that she was already married. Tuoba Gui, however, secretly sent people to kill her first husband and made her his concubine (WS016).

Aside from the messed up circumstances of his parents' marriage, Tuoba Shao apparently grew up to be violent. He was said to be vicious and not follow moral instruction, and he would often go out to rob people and kill animals for entertainment (WS016). I do think that this description is probably over-exaggerated to emphasise Tuoba Shao's lack of suitability for the throne, but it's all we have to go on, and his later acts don't have him coming across as a saint.

Tuoba Gui was once angry at Tuoba Shao, and punished him by having him hung upside down in a well until he was almost dead and then pulling him out. Tuoba Si tried to correct Tuoba Shao's behaviour by rebuking him, but this only worsened the relationship between the siblings (WS016). Tuoba Si was terrified of his brother (and probably also his violent and paranoid father), especially as Tuoba Gui favoured Tuoba Shao. As he felt afraid that Tuoba Shao would harm him, he would go out to the mountains to pray for divine blessings (WS108).

I think that the rivalry between the brothers had links to the political factions at the time. Tuoba Si was known for being interested in Han literature and history, and for his respect towards Confucian scholars (WS003). This would have made him more appealing to the reformist groups in court and the Han gentry, while setting him apart from many other noble boys in Northern Wei at the time who primarily cared about military matters and didn't really care about scholarship (WS084).

Tuoba Shao, due to his mother from the Helan tribe (and perhaps he did have some kind of military talent or strength that appealed to people) would have earned more support from conservatives. This can be seen later on during his attempt to seize power where he actually did enjoy considerable support from the old tribes (WS016). Tuoba Shao may also have been preferred by the old tribes as he was presumably in better health than Tuoba Si, who was known to be constantly ill (WS035).

ATTEMPT TO MAKE TUOBA SI CROWN PRINCE

Either way, by the seventh lunar month of 409, Tuoba Gui seems to have decided on making Tuoba Si crown prince, and so he killed his mother Consort Liu [6] (WS003, timing in WS105).

The WS claimed that this was an old custom of the Tuobas (WS013), but this is not featured anywhere in Dai succession, and examples are only recorded from Tuoba Gui onwards. Therefore, I think it's more likely that Tuoba Gui started this custom to further promote father-son succession and eliminate female influence that Dai succession was prone to.

Tuoba Gui summoned Tuoba Si to tell him of the decision, alluding to the example of Emperor Wu of Han killing Consort Zhao from the Han dynasty (WS003). Tuoba Si was known for his filial piety, and he was very saddened by his mother's death, which made his father furious with him. Tuoba Si returned to the palace where he continued to cry day and night for his mother. When Tuoba Gui found out, he summoned Tuoba Si again (WS003).

Tuoba Si wanted to go, but his subordinates told him that if he went, there was a risk that his father would severely punish or even kill him. They advised to leave and wait for his anger to subside and then enter (though in reality, Tuoba Si probably wouldn't be able to return as disobeying an imperial summon was a serious crime) (WS003). Tuoba Si was afraid of his father's punishment, so he took their advice and ran away along with two of his trusted attendants, Wang Luo'er and Chekun Lutou (WS003).

I think here is a pretty good place to stop for now. Next time we will discuss the final fate of Tuoba Yi and the death of Tuoba Gui, along with my final evaluation of him.

ENDNOTES

1 I speculated earlier that Tuoba Yi could have been Tuoba Gui's brother, sharing the same mother (Princess Dowager Helan)

2. The Songshu stated that he was Tuoba Gui's second son, but I see no reason not to follow the Weishu account that he was Tuoba Gui's eldest son.

3. I suspect there was a political motivation, as Empress Murong was proposed as an empress candidate by the ministers before she was ordered to cast the statue. It could be that Consort Liu's statue was purposefully sabotaged by Tuoba Gui or the ministers.

4. Tuoba Gui would have been 21 at this point, which does seem too early to be late in age. It could be that the Xianbei usually had children in their teens; Tuoba SI was 16 when Tuoba Tao was born.

5. It is unclear when this is. Given Tuoba Gui asked his mother's permission to take Consort Helan as his concubine, I think it was probably early in his career, around 386. If she was taken this early, she may have given birth to a daughter or to children who died young before Tuoba Shao in 394.

6. I have seen people question the story of Consort Liu's death, but I haven't yet seen them give an argument beyond "it was a private conservation" and I think that could be explained with Tuoba Gui wanting Tuoba Si to know the reason first and then becoming angry with him and so not bringing it up again. I haven't seen any real, modern historians doubt the record so far.

[1time2study4ravages]

missing from the lineup: Cao Yuan, Wang Yun, Zang Ba, Cao Bao, and so on...

[threekingdomsstuff]

Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII: Lady Du, Qin Yilu

[statesrightssunquan]

Wang Zhaoyuan’s 36 Strategems Chapter 1-Fake the News Until It’s Real

Although the 36 strategems have sometimes been accredited to Zhuge Liang, this is more fake news. Zhuge Liang’s biographers, just like Zhao Yun’s, were paid off shills. They plagiarized from the very real strategic accomplishments and genius of Wang Zhaoyuan in order to make certain losers from the inferior state of Shu (as opposed to the great state of Later Shu) seem much better. What follows are the REAL 36 strategems, written by the brilliant and occasionally inebriated mind of Wang Zhaoyuan.

1.) Deceive with invisible soldiers: Sometimes you will be caught unprepared, facing an enemy army numerically superior than your own, assuming you even have an army at all. At such a time, you should constantly make hand gestures, beckoning soldiers from your left or right, or looking over your shoulder and waving, whether the soldiers are there or not. In the midst of battle, wise commanders look past their enemies toward the horizon, dramatically pulling both hands forward and then thrusting them back, as if to call on allies from behind the enemy lines. At least a few of their adversaries will glance over their shoulders, and in that moment of vulnerability, victory is certain.

When Sun Jian had no men to speak of and encountered pirates, pretending he had the government’s support is how he vanquished his foes. When Dong Zhuo first entered the capital, he lit additional fires and planted additional flags to make it seem as if his forces were more numerous and intimidating than they actually were. Lastly, when Hefei was besieged, Jiang Ji sent out messengers with notes claiming tens of thousands of more soldiers were coming to reinforce the garrison. When Sun Quan found out, he fled even though no such men were coming. If the enemy thinks you have an army, it is as good as having one.

2.) Surrender Wan to save Wan: If the enemy’s force is overwhelming, there is no choice but to surrender. But once you have surrendered, there are many more choices, such as betraying again when the enemy least expects it. This was how Zhang Xiu survived the period of Late-Han civil war. When Cao Cao came, he surrendered, and when Cao Cao came again while sleeping with the widow of Zhang Ji, Zhang Xiu suddenly reneged on his agreement and attacked. As a result Cao Cao was utterly defeated.

3.) Make a sound in a random direction, and then attack at random too: When making plans, if the enemy predicts your movement, your plans are useless. To remain unpredictable, make plans, then roll a dice to see if you should follow through with them. Then in the midst of carrying out those plans, roll another dice to see if you should change your mind. With such randomness as part and parcel of your strategy, the enemy will never know whether you are retreating or attacking, or hitting their eastern walls or tunneling under their front gate, or even dancing and drinking insanely while throwing dung. Without the aid of heaven on their side, your strategies will be as mysterious as a Mulan verse.

When Zhang Xiu’s army was beleaguered, Jia Xu told him to retreat. Xiu ignored his advice and attacked, meeting with defeat. Then, however, Jia Xu told him to attack, despite recently suffering a defeat. Somehow this worked, because Cao Cao was not expecting it. But if Cao Cao had chosen his plans at random, rather than trying to read the situation logically, who knows if this would have happened the same way? Jia Xu’s strategies only worked because he could see through the plans of his enemies, but not even Jia Xu could have predicted the roll of a dice.

4.) Kill with a borrowed wife: A smart warlord should always try to take hostage the wives and family members of their enemies, as this will likely induce them to surrender. This is why Qin Yilu eventually went to join Cao Cao, as doing so ensured the security of his wife. By sleeping with Qin Yilu’s wife, Cao Cao defeated two birds with one stone as he never had to fight Qin Yilu again.

5.) Wait at leisure in times of distress: A smart strategist always acts as if his enemies are nothing. If the enemy comes with a million men, the sage acts as if they are a mere triviality, like several ants to be crushed as easily as turning one’s palm. This was why Fei Yi played weiqi when Wei invaded, and upon seeing his example, the men of Shu were not frightened by the overwhelming odds stacked against them.

6.) Burn a looted house: Pillage is an expected outcome of war, but loot is heavy and weighs the army down. If you were to suddenly set fire to your possessions, the enemy would become confused, and the range of actions you can take without being bogged down by treasure would increase. Hence when Liu Bei was raiding Cao Cao, he suddenly burned his entire camp and fled, as if to suggest he was attempting a desperate getaway due to being put in dire straits. Xiahou Dun pursued him and was soundly defeated by an ambush. In other situations, you might burn supplies or stolen weapons so as to move quicker and avoid loot falling back into an enemy’s hands.

[the-archlich]

Maybe Qin Yilu was a cuck fetishist and he got off on Cao Cao fucking his wife.

Stranger things have happened.

[fuyonggu]

In your biography of Liu Bei, It is said that when Guan Yu asked for the wife of Qin Yilu. His own wife has given him no son, would it confirm the theory that Guan Ping was surely a kid/teenager when he got killed?

The math here does seem to check out (199 for the siege of Xiapi, Guan Ping’s death in 220), assuming Guan Ping was indeed a biological son.

[ttoca]

Page 32- Balance of Power

Page 33- Imbalance of Power

So who would you leave in charge?

Better establishing Cao Boshi, Cao Cao’s smart-alecky sister.

[ttoca]

Page 29- Never A Dull Moment

Page 30- A Lot Of Growing Up To Do

Page 31- Yes...There’s More Cousins...

Introducing several more youngsters who live on the Cao estate. Qin Yilu’s fiery sister, Bonan. And the brother and sister duo, Ding Fei and Ding Yifeng, members of a lesser branch of the Ding family but more closely related to the Cao family by marital bond.

Don’t worry, I’m going to work on a Family Tree later to clarify things.

I need to work on facial consistency. That’s for sure. I’m having trouble making two facial structures look the same on the same character.

[ttoca]

Page 14: Brothers

Page 15: Glorious Qiao

Page 16: Fury

Page 17: The Importance Of Strategy

Page 18: A Friend Indeed

Cao Cao and Liu Hong are kind of meant to be foils to each other. Liu Hong is a descendent of Emperors and yet has nothing while Cao Cao has no origins to boast of but his family has absurd amounts of money. It’ll be reflected on later.

I hope I didn’t make Cao Cao’s luggage look too modern. I wasn’t entirely sure how to portray it.

I wonder if I can make ‘mulberries’ a meme if this ever gets off the ground.

Before anyone points it out, yes, I do realise that the blonde hair, dark skin and other physical factors are unusual, if indeed possible, in Ancient China. This is actually meant to be a nod to traditional Chinese colour culture and character design where hair and eye colour and physical features were telling of personal character rather than any place of origin. Mangas do it too, it’s called Mukokuseki. Helps to make characters distinct and hint at personality traits at first glance.

Cao Ren started small. He has a long way to go before he’s a Four-Star General holding the Southern Frontier.

Also, in the last panel, I tried to make Cao Cao have a ‘pinkie-finger extended’ mannerism but it came out looking a bit warped. I had better luck in later pages. And yes, I am aware that is it considered effeminate in China. That’s deliberate. Cao Cao is meant to look like someone you don’t really take seriously until you realise you should have done.

[1time2study4ravages]

If you keep debating this I'll have to draft your families to defend the city!

chapter 249, The Ravages of Time

[1time2study4ravages]

Don't lose your head to anger. I beg of you!

chapter 228, The Ravages of Time

[1time2study4ravages]

I've been down this path already. And this path reeks of raw stench.

chapter 219, The Ravages of Time

[1time2study4ravages]

Hungry? But, that fish is covered in raw stench.

chapter 195, The Ravages of Time

[the-archlich]

Who's Lady Du, and why would Guan Yu be asking for her?

She was the wife of Qin Yilu, an officer of Lv Bu. He’s likely the same Qin Yi who participated in Dong Zhuo’s assassination. She followed her husband to Xiapi.

According to the Shuji, Guan Yu had a thing for her. During the siege of Xiapi, he asked Cao Cao for Lady Du after the victory. Initially, Cao Cao agreed, but Guan Yu kept making the request over and over again. When the city fell, Qin Yilu was elsewhere, since he’d been sent to get reinforcements from Yuan Shu. Instead of being given to Guan Yu, Lady Du became one of Cao Cao’s concubines instead.

Qin Yilu, at that point, joined Yuan Shu, who arranged a marriage between him and a member of the imperial Liu clan. After Yuan Shu’s death in the next year, he went to join Cao Cao. This suggests that he was comfortable with the arrangement. He was made a magistrate in Pei but was soon killed when Liu Bei rebelled.

Qin Yilu’s son Qin Lang was raised as one of Cao Cao’s own, and he became a highly trusted member of the Wei court under Cao Pi and especially Cao Rui.

Two of Cao Cao’s sons (Cao LIn and Cao Gun) as well as a daughter were also born to a Lady Du, likely the same woman.

I don’t really think there’s any way to tell this story where Guan Yu doesn’t come off creepy as fuck.

[the-archlich]

Why do you fault Guan Yu for being creepily obsessed with Lady Du, but not Cao Cao even though Cao Cao was just as creepily obsessed as Guan Yu was (after all, Cao Cao was the one who made her a concubine)

When Lord Cao and Liu Bei surrounded Lu Bu at Xiapei, Guan Yu said to the Lord, “Lu Bu has sent Qin Yilu to go for help; I beg to have his wife in marriage.” The lord granted him. And right before defeating Lu, he asked the lord several more times. The lord then, suspecting that the woman was of exceptional beauty, had her fetched over first so he could have a look, and he kept her there. Guan Yu was troubled in his heart over that.

Guan Yu is the one being a creep here. He’s asking Cao Cao give him a married woman. And then repeatedly harassed him about it over and over again during the siege. That’s creepy as hell.

Lady Du probably became one of Cao Cao’s concubines just to keep Guan Yu away from her.