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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Help Ensure the Sanguo Yanyi Audiobook Can be Finished!

Do you like the Sanguo Yanyi audiobook? It would seem there's at least a few of you out there who like this work, despite its imperfections, and are waiting for it to be finished (as am I). Lucky you. YOU have a chance to help me make sure it can be finished. How so?

It's like this. Ladies and Gentlemen, I was going to put up a request here, with flowery language and all, to beg you guys to help me out but instead I'm just going to cut straight to the point here...some real talk for you.

I'm on the verge of ruin. Total financial ruin. Actually, I'm probably somewhat PAST the point of financial ruin, but in in the interest of downplaying my own failure as a businessman, I'm going to go ahead and just call it "on the verge" instead. Why am I on the verge of ruin?  Because like Liu Bei, I've spent years clinging to an idea of how things should be, a sense of abject rectitude that the world itself says "No way!" to. That's why. I've given my art away for free for years and years and years, doing this stuff for the love, not only because I wanted to have it but because I wanted all of you to have it too. I've given this stuff away for free for years because I think it SHOULD be free, and I'm sort of stubborn about doing what I think is the right thing to do.  Because of that, I've paid the price, year after year, as this psychopathic world with its psychopathic capitalist economy drives altruists (like I've tried to be) into the ground because the only way to make your way in this world, it would seem, is to get people to pay you. 

Now what does this have to do with you? Well, see, you've been enjoying the various works of art on this site for years, for free, and no...as a matter of fact, I DON'T hold that against you. I WANT to give this shit to you for free. I think you should have it for free. I don't think that this world should ever have put a price on art. But obviously, what I thought and how things happen to be are totally different things. Instead of things being the way I want them to be (surprise surprise), we've got a world where those who have a soft heart about these sort of things are just pretty much screwed.

So if you really like this Sanguo Yanyi Audiobook, I've got to tell you, people...there's a much, much greater chance of me being able to finish it if you guys can find it in you to donate something to the cause.

Now, I'm NOT writing this because of any intention to charge you for my work. I do NOT want to charge you for this stuff...that's why I'm asking you all to consider a voluntary donation to the "Keep the guy making this audiobook from starving and being homeless in the winter and therefore being unable to finish his audiobook" fund. If you believe in this work as much as your comments have indicated over the years, you should be glad to be a little bit generous here...So please do. You don't HAVE to be, but it's in your interest to donate, so please do. Thank you.

If you are interested in finding out how you can help this worthy cause, please contact me at baka13@gmail.com for details. Thank you. And happy holidays to you all.  

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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