The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 65

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 65:

Ma Chao Battles At Jiameng Pass;;

Liu Bei Takes Over Yizhou. 

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WARNING: IT'S THANKSGIVING DAY, IF YOU HAPPEN TO LIVE IN AMERICA. THAT MEANS A LOT OF LEFTOVER TURKEY. BETTER MAKE SOME COLD TURKEY SANDWICHES OUT OF THAT, BEFORE YOU END UP WITH A WHOLE LOT OF THE SAME THING AS YOU'LL FIND IN THIS CHAPTER'S COMMENTARY...YOU KNOW...SPOILERS. 

HAHA. I SLAY MYSELF.  

In the last chapter, of course, Ma Chao was driven from the West Valley Land (eastern Xi province, pretty much), after unwisely giving in to the urge to be a Tyrant, slaying a few people in the process, and then later on having most of his family wiped out by their next-of-kin in revenge. 

It is here that we see the recurring theme of Heaven's invisible hand turning the course of events once again. Ma Chao, you will recall, was the son and heir of Ma Teng, the unfortunate governor of Xi Liang who had been assassinated by Cao Cao a few chapters back. As such, Ma Chao had been one of the Feudal Lords in his own right...a person on equal standing with Liu Bei, Sun Quan, and even Cao Cao himself as far as his essential status in soiety was concerned. 

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The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 64

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 64:

Zhuge Liang Plans For The Capture Of Zhang Ren;;

Yang Fu Borrows Soldiers To Destroy Ma Chao. 

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WARNING: THE GUY MAKING THIS AUDIOBOOK HAS BEEN DRIVEN INTO FINANCIAL RUIN BY HIS GENEROSITY IN ALWAYS GIVING HIS ART AWAY FOR FREE. HIS ART WILL REMAIN FREE HOWEVER...HE WILL NOT CHARGE YOU FOR IT, BUT IF YOU WANT HIM TO STILL HAVE THE ABILITY TO MAKE THESE AUDIOBOOK CHAPTERS FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT, IT IS HIGHLY SUGGESTED THAT YOU MAKE A FREE WILL DONATION TO THE CAUSE. YOU CAN DO SO AT THE TOP-LEFT SIDE OF THE SCREEN BENEATH THE SITE BANNER, WHERE IS LOCATED A DONATE BUTTON. I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH...WHEN I'M TOO POOR TO AFFORD ELECTRICITY TO POWER THE COMPUTER, OR A ROOF OVER MY HEAD, OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT IS REQUIRED FOR ME TO BE ABLE TO MAKE THESE AUDIOBOOK CHAPTERS, THIS AUDIOBOOK WILL DIE AND I WILL NOT THEN BE ABLE TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. YOU CAN HELP KEEP IT FROM DYING, BY DONATING WHAT YOU MIGHT OTHERWISE HAVE SPENT ON A CUP OF COFFEE OR A VIDEO FROM NETFLIX. YOU HAVE THE ABILITY TO SAVE THIS AUDIOBOOK...I HOPE THAT YOU CHOOSE TO DO SO BY YOUR GENEROSITY. REGARDLESS, THOUGH, I WILL CONTINUE TO PUT THESE EPISODES UP FOR FREE ON THIS WEBSITE FOR YOU TO DOWNLOAD WHETHER OR NOT YOU DONATED. BECAUSE ART SHOULD BE FREE TO THE PUBLIC. THANKS.

So now it's Chapter 64, and Liu Bei is dealing with the fallout from what happened in the last chapter. What happened in the last chapter?  Well, it's been a while since I released that one from the vaults but you might remember that in the last chapter, Pang Tong was assassinated by Zhang Ren, and quite suddenly Liu Bei found himself not only bereft of his primary advisor in the invasion of Shu, but also now surrounded by enemies, his retreat cut off, and his entire dream in danger of being destroyed. (My oh my, how I can totally relate to that. I know that feel, Liu Bei. I know that feel.)

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The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 63

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 63:

Zhuge Liang Mourns For Pang Tong;

Zhang Fei Releases Yan Yan. 

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WARNING: YUP. YOU GUESSED IT. SPOILERS. 

Chapter 63: Pang Tong is assassinated.  1963: John F. Kennedy is assassinated. Coincidence?  Or Conspiracy? (If it's a conspiracy, that's one hell of a long-lived conspiracy. About 1800 years or so.)

Anyways, yeah, Pang Tong is skraight up assassinated in this chapter. Of course, the assassin, Zhang Ren, totally meant it to be Liu Bei that fell at Fallen Phoenix slope, but...well, I guess you can't be too picky in such a situation, right? Amiright? SureIam. :p

So it just got real over in Shu. Liu Bei had been told once that if he had both Sleeping Dragon and Fledgling Phoenix to support him, he need have no anxiety about being able to accomplish his great goal of reunifying the Han Empire.  Well, now, he's just lost one of those two. I'm sort of curious what "Heaven's" take on all of this was. After all, supposedly, it was "Heaven" that drove Liu Bei to mount this expedition into Shu in the first place. And now it is "Heaven" which appears to be punishing him for doing so? Make up your mind, "Heaven". 

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The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 62

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 62:

The Taking Of River Fu Pass, Yang Huai and Gao Pei Perish;

The Siege Of Luocheng, Huang Zhong and Wei Yan are Rivals. 

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WARNING: WHO GOT THE SPOILERS? WE GOT THE SPOILERS! WHO GOT THE SPOILERS? WE GOT THE MUTHATRUCKIN' SPOILERS! BEEYATCH!

So here we are at Chapter 62. And I'm getting pretty tired of writing long, drawn out commentaries for these. Sitting here staring at my computer screen until my eyes glaze over isn't quite all that it's cracked up to be, I guess. But I suppose, it's a labor of love. Or it's a labor of something, at any rate. So, time to get the tedious commentary-writing over with...for this chapter anyways.  This is the Chapter, by the way, where the battle for Yizhou and the greater Ba-Shu region begins to heat up. For that matter, it's also the chapter where Wei Yan and Huang Zhong's fledgling rivalry begins to heat up.

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The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 61

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 61:

In The River, Zhao Zilong Recovers Liu Shan;

With One Letter, Sun Quan Repulses Cao Cao. 

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WARNING: SPOILERS AND STUFF.

Chapter 61. I can't really say I have much comment on this chapter, except that I find it awesome that Lady Wu (the Dowager Marchioness of the Southland and the mother of its ruler, Sun Quan) is like the only person in the entire novel that seems to voice the objection to these guys using women as mere pawns in their games of war and politics. You go, girl. Lady Wu, the east Asian world's first feminist?

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The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 60

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 60:

Zhang Song Turns The Table On Yang Xiu;

Pang Tong Proposes The Occupation Of Shu. 

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WARNING: BEWARE THE IDES OF SPOILERS. BEWARE. BEWARE, I SAY.

Annnd, you've waited a long time for this. Thank you for your patience. Your patience is about to be rewarded, because this is the first of several chapters I'm posting to the feed today for your listening enjoyment. Know what else it is, though?  It's Chapter 60, also known as, the "Oh my freaking lord, after four years of making these we are FINALLY at the halfway point of the story" Chapter. Phew. I don't know if it's been as tiring for you guys to listen to these, but it's certainly been quite tiring for me to make 'em. Not that I'm going to stop or anything. When you get 60 chapters through a 120 chapter book, it's sort of pointless to turn back, isn't it?

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