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WARNING: THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY MOST LIKELY CONTAINS SPOILERS. AND CIRCUS MIDGETS.
Okay, there's not really any circus midgets. Though I read somewhere that Lu Bu was actually only about 5 and a half feet tall or something like that. Hmmm, short guy. Most feared warrior in the land....Napoleon Complex, anyone?
And speaking of Lu Bu, he plays quite an important role in this chapter, as does Liu Bei. Get used to that. Because for the next several chapters, you can probably forget about Sun Ce in the South, Yuan Shao in the north, Liu Yan in the southwest, Zhang Lu and Ma Teng in the northwest, and Liu Biao in the south. It's time to get down to some gangsta shit on the Central Plains.
Liu Bei, as you may have noticed, was asked to come to the defense of Xuzhou in the last chapter, in order to fight off the army of a very pissed off Cao Cao, who had been forced to swallow a very ill-tasting dose of poetic justice. "...murdered, too, HIS family died..."
The balance of power during this part of the story rests with Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Lu Bu, all of whom seem to be involved in a three way maneuver for power and position. Sometimes Lu Bu and Liu Bei are both working against Cao Cao. Sometimes, Liu Bei and Cao Cao are working against Lu Bu. Liu Bei is like the fulcrum on some sort of teeter totter or something, with the fortunes of Cao Cao and Lu Bu swinging up and down on either side. Interesting place for Xuande to be in, if you ask me.
I have to hand it to Lu Bu. He himself might not have been the most brilliant of men, but Chen Gong, his adviser, whom one might remember served Cao Cao for a very short time much earlier in the story, is no common strategist. I've often thought it might have been very interesting to see how history might have changed if Chen Gong had lived, say, into the 220's or so. I think, in all likelyhood, Cao Cao might have had his work cut out for him. On one side of him he had Jia Xu, who seemed capable to thwart him at every corner, and on the other side of him, he had Chen Gong, who might very well have won Lu Bu the throne if Lu Bu had only listened to his advice more...
Other people of note that are introduced in this chapter: Taishi Ci, Chen Deng, and Kong Rong. Now, Taishi Ci, as you might know, was one of the greatest generals the Wu kingdom ever commanded, and even here in his introductory appearance, he shows himself to be very brave, very skilled in the use of weaponry (like the bow, for instance), and very honorable. But, as his main arena of action is not here in the northeast of the country, where this chapter takes place, I'll come back to him later. Then, there's Chen Deng. Now HERE'S a big player in chapters to come. Chen Deng, and his father Chen Gui, are very very cunning men, and in this particular point in the story, cunning is far more valuable than a large army. It's kind of a shame that Chen Deng didn't end up succeeding Tao Qian as Lord of Xuzhou. He might have gone very far. Last but not least, there was Kong Rong. Kong Rong is a character that pops up from time to time throughout the novel, but really doesn't play nearly as big a part as one would think. Yes, he's a talented and virtuous ruler in his own right. Yes, he's a direct lineal descendant of Confucius. So why didn't he play a more active role in the shaping of Imperial destiny? Your guess is as good as mine. Considering how many confucians there were in the land at that time, I would think people would have looked to him for leadership long before someone like Yuan Shu. But then, the world's a strange place sometimes....
Anyways, enjoy this, the eleventh chapter in the epic that is the Romance of the Three Kingdoms!