Sanguo - Books, Culture, Podcasts, and Revolution

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS. AND BY 'MAY', I MEAN IT PROBABLY DOES...

It's chapter 16, and the Lords of the Central Plains (If you haven't been paying attention at all up to this point, I'm referring to Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Lu Bu, and Yuan Shu) continue to play a dangerous game of intrigue against each other. The prize: the strategically important region known as the Xu Province. In the RoTK video games, this part of the story gets its own scenario, and with good reason. The events of the last several chapters (not including chapter 15, which dealt mostly with events in the Southland) have been focused on this region and the people who dwell therein.

The Xuzhou Archery banquet,

tagged

Cao Cao,

Dian Wei,

Lu Bu,

Zhang Xiu in

Thursday

Sep032009

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 14

Thursday, September 3, 2009 at 7:01PM

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 14:

Cao Cao Moves The Court To Xuchang;

Lu Bu Leads A Night Raid Against Xuzhou.

Listen:

WARNING: MUCH LIKE A SACK OF ORANGES, SOME OF WHICH ARE ROTTEN, WE GOTS SOME SPOILERS ALL UP IN THIS BEEYATCH!

You know, ^^^^ Those are getting a bit trickier to write every time.

Anyways, we've made it to Chapter 14. Cao Cao is King Shit right now. Li Jue and Guo Si got over their beef with each other, got a room, then after they were done, they decided to chase down and...get this...KILL the Emperor. But Cao Cao had this little army that he had obtained from stomping the Yellow Turbans of Qing Province into the mud. (Did I ever mention that he also at the same time obtained a big, bristly mustached man-tiger, name of Xu Zhu [or Xu Chu. I'm not quite sure which.])

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Lu Bu,

Xuzhou,

Zhang Fei in

Thursday

Sep032009

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 12

Thursday, September 3, 2009 at 5:49PM

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 12:

Tao Qian Thrice Offers Xuzhou To Liu Bei;

Cao Cao Retakes Yanzhou From Lu Bu.

Listen:

WARNING: THERE MIGHT BE SPOILERS IN THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY. BUT THERE SHOULD NEVER BE SPOILERS ON CARS. EVER. THEY'RE SO UGLY.

So now Cao Cao and Lu Bu are getting ready to get down to business. Lu Bu, at the insistence of Chen Gong and with the connivance of Cao Cao's longtime friend, Zhang Miao, has stolen the city of Puyang away from Cao Cao while His Scottishness was off in the East trying to punish Tao Qian.

tagged

Mi Zhu,

Xu Zhu,

Xuzhou,

Yanzhou in

Thursday

Sep032009

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 11

Thursday, September 3, 2009 at 4:59PM

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 11:

Liu Bei Rescues Kong Rong At Beihai;

Lu Bu Defeats Cao Cao Near Puyang.

Listen:

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.

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Beihai,

Mi Zhu,

Yu Jin,

Zhang Fei in

Thursday

Sep032009

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 10

Thursday, September 3, 2009 at 12:56PM

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 10:

Gathering Arms, Ma Teng Moves To Rescue The Emperor;

Commanding A Force, Cao Cao Marches To Avenge His Father.

Listen:

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS, AND IS PART OF A COMPLETE BREAKFAST...

Ahhhhhh, Chapter 10. Dong Zhuo's fat, bloated corpse, rejected by Mother Nature Herself, can do little but lay there and ooze gravy out of every pore. I suppose that's poetic justice there...

Meanwhile, Dong Zhuo's former generals, the ones I like to call "The Xiliang Four", have seized control of the Imperial Court in Chang'an, and the air is always heavy with the threat of violence. Li Jue and Guo Si, the leaders of this new regime, have made no secret of their desire to kill Liu Xian and rule his empire in their own names.

tagged

Guo Si,

Li Jue,

Zhang Kai in

Wednesday

Sep022009

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 6

Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at 9:27PM

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 6:

Burning The Capital, Dong Zhuo Commits An Atrocity;

Hiding The Imperial Hereditary Seal, Sun Jian Breaks Faith.

Listen:

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!

In this day and age, we tend to use the word "terrorism" a bit loosely. But Dong Zhuo was a man who knew exactly what real terrorism was, and how absolute power could get a man exactly what he wanted.

The death toll inflicted during the Pearl Harbor attack of December 7, 1941 by the Japanese Air Force numbered somewhere around 2350. The attacks of September 11, 2001 produced around 1500 confirmed victims. The removal of the Han capitol (and capital) from Luoyang to Chang'an by Dong Zhuo dwarfs those figures.