The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 8

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 8:

Wang Yun Prepares The Chaining Scheme;

Dong Zhuo Rages At Phoenix Pavilion.

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Ahhhhhh, Chapter 8. Guess what that means? It means Dong Zhuo has ruled the Empire with an iron fist for 6 chapters now. Military might has proven useless against this man, because he has plenty of troops, the Emperor under his thumb, and the mightiest warrior in the land calling him "Dad".

And now, it is beginning to occur to the enemies of Dong Zhuo that there can be no hope as long as Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu are so closely bound together. And what does it take to topple a man whom thousands upon thousands of soldiers, and some of the mightiest heroes of the land, couldn't destroy? The answer is: A woman.

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The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 6

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 6:

Burning The Capital, Dong Zhuo Commits An Atrocity;

Hiding The Imperial Hereditary Seal, Sun Jian Breaks Faith.

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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.

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The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 5

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 5:

Cao Cao Appeals To The Powerful Lords;

The Three Brothers Fight Against Lu Bu.

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Ah...the much vaunted Chapter 5, or, as I call it, "The Coalition Against Dong Zhuo". If you've played the video games based on this novel, chances are, you might recognize this part of the story quite well. In the earlier entries of the series, this part of the plotline usually opens up the first scenario. In the later installments, it's usually like 2nd or 3rd scenario.

But I digress again. You really shouldn't let me do that, you know. ;)

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The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 4

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 4:

Deposition of the Emperor: The Prince of Chenliu Gets the Throne;

Schemes Against Dong Zhuo: Cao Cao Presents a Sword.

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Thus we come to Chapter 4, and this is a good one. In this chapter, the character of Dong Zhuo and his underlings is firmly established. The chapter picks up, naturally, where the last one left off: in the middle of an armed dispute between Hero and Villain. Yuan Shao, at this point in the story still a loyal servant of the Han, is outraged by Dong Zhuo's plan to depose the present Emperor, Liu Bian, in favor of the Emperor's younger half-brother, Liu Xian, Prince of Chenliu.

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The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 3

The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 3:

In Wenming Garden, Dong Zhuo Denounces Ding Yuan;

With Red Hare, Li Su Bribes Lu Bu.

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In this, the third installment of the Three Kingdoms saga, the true twilight of the once-mighty Han Dynasty begins. In the past four hundred years, the Han has conquered perhaps the greatest Chinese land empire in antiquity, an empire stretching from Manchuria in the north, to the Gobi Desert in the northwest, all the way down to northern Vietnam in the south. Great generals and even greater scholars made the Han a Dynasty whose influence would last centuries upon centuries beyond its own considerably long lifespan. In comparison to the great empire of the West, Rome: The Han lasted 400 years, the Western Roman Empire lasted about 476 years or so, before being finally overrun by "barbarian" tribes. However, while the last TRUE enclave of "Roman" civilization, Byzantium, fell in 1453, (and it is debatable that Byzantium was even a "Roman" Empire after the end of the reign of Justinian in the 700's, since it had indeed become very much a Greek empire), I have it on very good authority that many of the people of China even today still refer to themselves as "The People of Han", some 1800 years after the fall of the Han.

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