“He added to this by setting up minute and vexatious prohibitions so that there were nets and snares spread in every pathway, traps and pitfalls laid in every road. A hand raised was caught in a net, a foot advanced was taken in an entanglement. Wherefore the men of Yen and Yü waxed desperate and the inhabitants of the metropolis groaned and murmured in anger.
Read down the names through all the years
Of ministers that all men curse
For greed and cruelty and lust;
Than Ts‘ao you will not find a worse.
“I have investigated the cases of evil deeds in the provinces, but I have been unable to reform him. I have given him repeated opportunities hoping that he would repent. But he has the heart of a wolf, the nature of a wild beast. He nourishes evil in his bosom and desires to pull down the pillars of the State, to weaken the House of Han, to destroy the loyal and true and to stand himself conspicuous as the chiefest of criminals.
“Formerly, when I attacked the north, Kungsun Tsan, that obstinate bandit and perverse bravo, resisted my might for a year. Before he could be destroyed this Tsʻao wrote to him that, under the pretence of assisting the Imperial armies, he would covertly lead them to destruction. The plot was discovered through his messengers and Tsan also perished. This blunted Ts‘ao’s ardour and his plans failed.
“Now he is camped at the Ao Granaries with the river to strenghten his position. Like the mantis in the story, who threatened the chariot with its forelegs, he thinks himself terrible. But with the dignity and prestige of Han to support me I confront the whole world. I have spearmen by millions, horsemen by thousands of squadrons, fierce and vigorous warriors strong as Chung Huang, Hsia Yu and Wu Huo, those heroes of antiquity. I have enlisted expert archers and strong bowmen. In Pingchou my armies have crossed the T‘aihang Range and in Chingchou they have forded the Chi and T‘a Rivers. They have coasted down the Yellow River to attack his van, and from Chingchou they have descended to Wanyeh to smite his rearguard. Thunder-like in the weight of their march, tiger-like in the alertness of their advance, they converge on Lot‘ing. They are as flames let loose among light grass, as the blue ocean poured on glowing embers. Is there any hope that he escape destruction?
“Of the hordes of Ts‘ao, those who can fight are from the north or from other camps and they all desire to return home. They weep whenever they look to the north. The others belong to Yen or Yü, being remnants of the armies of Lü Pu and Chang Yang. Beaten, stern necessity forced them to accept service, but they take it only as a temporary expedient. Every
