After Lu Xun drives off the Wei army, Sun Quan of Wu hesitates over whether to join hands with Wei or with Shu. Deng Zhi, who comes as envoy from Shu, laughs even before a cauldron of boiling oil and says the two states must hold together like lips and teeth to stand against Wei. Sun Quan decides to join hands with Shu again.
In the third year of Jianxing, urgent news comes from Yi Province. Meng Huo, king of the southern Man, has raised a hundred thousand men and crossed the border. Yong Kai, governor of Jianning, Zhu Bao, governor of Zangke, and Gao Ding, governor of Yuesui, have joined him. Kongming addresses the young emperor Liu Shan. The south’s refusal to submit is a great danger to the state, so I will go and deal with it myself.
The remonstrance official Wang Lian stands in the way. The south is a land where not even grass grows and fevers spread, he says, so it is no place for the chancellor to go in person. Kongming replies. The south is far from the state and its people are not used to being governed, so they are hard to win over. Whether to be firm or gentle must be weighed as things come, so it cannot lightly be left to another.