羊祜闻陆抗罢兵，孙皓失德，见吴有可乘之机，乃作表遣人往洛阳请伐吴……司马炎观表，大喜，便令兴师。——贾充、荀罥、冯罥三人，力言不可，炎因此不行。祜闻上不允其请，叹曰：‘天下不如意事，十常八九。今天与不取，岂不大可惜哉！’至咸宁四年，羊祜入朝，奏辞归乡养病。炎问曰：‘卿有何安邦之策，以教寡人？’祜曰：‘孙皓暴虐已甚，于今可不战而克。若皓不幸而殁，更立贤君，则吴非陛下所能得也。’炎大悟曰：‘卿今便提兵往伐，若何？’祜曰：‘臣年老多病，不堪当此任。陛下另选智勇之士，可也。’
遂辞炎而归。是年十一月，羊祜病危，司马炎车驾亲临其家问安。炎至卧榻前，祜下泪曰：
‘臣万死不能报陛下也！’炎亦泣曰：‘朕深恨不能用卿伐吴之策。——今日谁可继卿之志？’祜含泪而言曰：‘臣死矣，不敢不尽愚诚：右将军杜预可任；若伐吴，须当用之。’
炎曰：‘举善荐贤，乃美事也；卿何荐人于朝，即自焚奏稿，不令人知耶？’祜曰：‘拜官公朝，谢恩私门，臣所不取也。’言讫而亡。炎大哭回宫，敕赠太傅、巨平侯……晋主以羊祜之言，拜杜预为镇南大将军都督荆州事……此时吴国丁奉、陆抗皆死，吴主皓每宴群臣，皆令沉醉；又置黄门郎十人为纠弹官。宴罢之后，各奏过失，有犯者或剥其面，或凿其眼。
由是国人大惧。晋益州刺史王罥上疏请伐吴……晋主览疏，遂与群臣议曰：‘王公之论，与羊都督暗合。朕意决矣。’……命镇南大将军杜预为大都督，引兵十万出江陵；镇东大将军琅琊王司马罥出涂中……杜预军威大振，遂大会诸将，共议取建业之策……孙皓闻晋兵已入城，欲自刎。中书令胡冲、光禄勋薛莹奏曰：‘陛下何不效安乐公刘禅乎？’皓从之，亦舆榇自缚，率诸文武，诣王浚军前投降……自此三国归于晋帝司马炎，为一统之基矣。此所谓‘天下大势，合久必分，分久必合’者也。后来后汉皇帝刘禅亡于晋泰始七年，魏主曹奂亡于太安元年，吴主孙皓亡于太康四年，皆善终。”（第一二○回）
Yang Hu had kept informed of Sun Hao’s loss of virtue after the removal of Lu Kang. Realizing thatthe time to attack the Southland had come， he petitioned the court in Luoyang to authorize the invasion...
Delighted with Yang Hu’s memorial， Sima Yan ordered his forces to mobilize. But Jia Chong， Xun Xu，and Feng Dan objected strenuously and succeeded in preventing the invasion. When Yang Hu learnedhis petition had been denied， he sighed and said，‘How rarely things go one’s way in this world！ AHeaven-sent opportunity will pass untaken. What could be more lamentable？’In the fourth year of XianNing，‘Universal Tranquility’(A.D.278)， Yang Hu went to court and begged permission to retire to hishome village to restore his health. Sima Yan asked him，‘Have you any recommendation for the security ofour kingdom？’Yang Hu answered，‘Sun Hao’s tyranny has reached the extreme of violence and cruelty.
He can be conquered without a battle. But if Sun Hao should pass from the scene and a capable sovereigncome to the throne， Your Majesty may find the Southland difficult to conquer.’Sima Yan， inspired by thesewords， asked，‘Would you be willing to lead the invasion now？’‘My years are many and my health ispoor，’Yang Hu answered.‘I doubt I could undertake the mission. But if Your Majesty could find someoneelse—some shrewd， bold warrior—it could be done.’So saying， Yang Hu took leave of Sima Yan andreturned to his home village. In the eleventh month of that year Yang Hu’s condition worsened， and SimaYan made a personal visit to his home to express his concern. As he came near the sickbed， Yang Hu saidtearfully，‘Ten thousand deaths could not repay all I owe Your Majesty.’Sima Yan cried to.‘How sorelywe regret our failure to adopt your plan to invade Wu，’he said，‘for who today can bring your purpose tofulfillment？’Choking back his tears， Yang Hu replied，‘As death approaches， I must fulfill my humblefealty. Du Yu， General of the Right， is the one to entrust with the task. He is the man to lead the attack onWu.’Sima Yan responded，‘Recommending the worthy and able is something to be proud of. Why did youburn your memorials of recommendation and prevent anyone from learning of them？’Yang Hu said，‘Torecommend someone in open court so that later he could show his gratitude to me privately was something Ichose to avoid.’And with those words Yang Hu passed away. Sima Yan loudly lamented Yang Hu’s deathall the way back to his palace. There he issued an order posthumously naming Yang Hu imperial guardianand lord of Juping... On Yang Hu’s recommendation， the ruler of Jin Honored Du Yu as chief commander，Queller of the South， with authority over Jingzhou province... By this time both Ding Feng and Lu Kang ofthe Southland had died. Whenever the ruler of Wu， Sun Hao， feasted his vassals， he would order them to getthemselves drunk. He had also given ten officers of the Inner Bureau the power to impeach officials. Afterthe banquets these Inner Bureau eunuchs would present cases against various offenders to the throne. Thosefound guilty were punished by having the skin peeled from their faces or their eyes gouged out. This struckterror into the hearts of the people. Wang Jun， imperial inspector for Yizhou under Jin， petitioned for aninvasion of the Southland... The ruler of Jin perused the memorial and consulted with his officials.‘WangJun’s views coincide with what Yang Hu once proposed，’he said.‘We are therefore resolved.’...Heordered Chief Commander Du Yu， Queller of the South， to assume the position of first field marshal and leada force of one hundred thousand against Jiangling； Supreme Commander Sima Zhou， prince of Langye andQueller of the East， to go forth against Tuzhong... When Sun Hao heard that Jin troops had entered the City ofStones， he prepared to cut his throat. His private secretary， Hu Zhong， and the director of the palace officials，Xue Rong， petitioned，‘Perhaps Your Majesty should follow model set by Liu Shan， now lord of Anle.’SunHao approved the suggestion. Accompanied by a coffin， his hands tied behind him， Sun Hao led his civiland military officials into the presence of Wang Jun， and there before the army he tendered his allegiance insurrender... Thereafter， the Three Kingdoms came under the rule of the Jin Emperor， Sima Yan， who laid thefoundation for a united realm， thereby fulfilling the saying，‘The empire， long united， must divide， and longdivided， must unite.’Liu Shan， the Illustrious Emperor of the Eastern Han， had passed away in the seventhyear of the Jin reign period Tai Shi，‘Magnificent Inception’(A.D.271). Cao Huan， ruler of Wei， passedaway in the first year of Tai An，‘Magnificent Peace”(A.D.302). Sun Hao， ruler of Wu， passed away in thefourth year of Tai Kang，‘Magnificent Prosperity’(A.D. 283). All died natural deaths.”(Chapter 120)
2.5 复习讨论题
2.5 Questions for Revision and Discussion
（1）Why does the author Luo Guanzhong display his clear-cut inclination to extol Liu Bei anddisparage Cao Cao？
（2）为什么《三国演义》不仅值得一读而且在影响中国人为人处事的态度和言谈举止诸方面仍有生命力？
（2）Why does the novel The Romance of the Three Kingdoms not only well merit a reading butalso continue to have vitality in Chinese attitudes and behaviour？
（3）你如何看待罗贯中的人生？罗贯中是如何创作《三国演义》的？
（3）How do you think of Luo Guanzhong’s life？ How did Luo Guanzhong come to create TheRomance of the Three Kingdoms？
（4）你认为《三国演义》的主题是什么？为什么值得我们思考？
（4）What do you think are the themes of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms？ Why are theyworth our while to think over？
（5）《三国演义》在艺术上取得了哪些伟大的成就？
（5）What are the great artistic excellences of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms？
（6）论三国应用文化的研究。
（6）On the Study of the Applied Culture of the Three Kingdoms.
（7）你如何看待汉少帝的人生？
（7）How do you think of Han Emperor Shao’s life？
（8）你如何看待汉献帝的人生？从他的人生中吸取了什么教训？
（8）How do you think of Han Emperor Xian’s life？ What lessons are you going to draw from hislife？
（9）你如何看待吕布的人生？为什么吕布只能称雄一时而终究没有安身之地或成就正义大业？
（9）How do you think of Lü Bu’s life？ Why can Lü Bu only swagger like a conquering herofor a time but not have a base of his own or any cause of justice after all？
（10）为什么说曹操是我国历史上杰出的战略家？他是一位着名的政治家？
（10）Why is it said that Cao Cao is an outstanding strategist in Chinese history？ A notedstatesman？
（11）从文本中举例说明曹操作为一个成功的开创者所具有的良好品质。
（11）Cite some examples to show that Cao Cao has good qualities a successful founder shouldhave.
（12）你认为曹操是个篡位者还是个开创者？为什么？
（12）Do you think Cao Cao is a usurper or a founder？ Why？
（13）界定三国合法性的标准是什么？你对这标准如何看？为什么作者罗贯中否定魏继汉的合法性？（或者：论三国的合法性）
（13）What are the criteria for defining legitimacy of the Three Kingdoms？ How do you think ofthe criteria？ Why does the author Luo Guanzhong deny the legitimacy of the Wei’s succession to Han？(Or： On the Legitimacy of the Three Kingdoms)
（14）为什么曹操被称为“三绝”中的奸绝？为什么说曹操确实是“功首罪魁非两人，遗臭流芳本一身”？
（14）Why is it said that Cao Cao is the incomparable Machiavellian of“the ThreeIncomparables”？ Why is it said that Cao Cao is really of“high merit and great evil—from a singlehand， fair honors with foulest crimes conjoined”？
（15）曹丕是如何登上帝位的？你认为他合法吗？为什么？你如何看待曹丕的人生？
（15）How does Cao Pi ascend the imperial throne？ Do you think he is legitimate？ Why？ Howdo you think of Cao Pi’s life？
（16）刘备“家贫，贩履织席为业”，如何能变成“蜀国的皇帝”呢？
（16）How can Liu Bei“who had been so poor that he had to sell sandals and weave mats tolive”become the emperor of the kingdom of Shu？
（17）你如何看待刘备的人生？你从刘备的人生中能吸取些什么经验教训？
（17）What do you think of Liu Bei’s life？ What experiences and lessons can you learn from LiuBei’s life？
（18）为什么诸葛亮即使过着隐士生活时仍能密切掌握世上正在发生的情况？
（18）Why can Zhuge Liang still have an intimate grasp of what is going on in the world evenwhen he is living the life of a hermit？
（19）你认为诸葛亮“七擒七纵”孟获对不对？为什么？为什么诸葛亮要“六出祁山”？（或：论孔明六出祁山）
（19）Do you think whether it’s right or not that Zhuge Liang has Meng Huo“seven timescaptured， seven times freed”？ Why？ Why has Kongming launched“Six offensives against the northfrom Mount Qi”？ (Or： On Kongming’s“Six offensives from Mount Qi”)
（20）你要向孔明学些什么？
（20）What are you going to learn from Kongming？
（21）你如何看关羽的人生？你打算学习关羽人生的什么经验教训？
（21）How do you think of Guan Yu’s life？ What experiences and lessons are you going to learnfrom Guan Yu’s life？
（22）你对张飞的人生有什么看法？ 你要向张飞的人生学些什么？
（22）What do you think of Zhang Fei’s life？ What are you going to learn from Zhang Fei’s life？
（23）为什么孙权的属下愿意拼死为他效命？孙权有些什么好品质？你打算向孙权的人生学些什么？
（23）Why will Sun Quan’s subordinates risk their lives to serve him？ What good qualities doesSun Quan have？ What are you going to learn from Sun Quan’s life？
（24）为什么鲁肃不愧为伟大战略家的称号？为什么说他是“大智若愚”？
（24）Why is Lu Su really worthy of the title of great strategist？ Why is it said that he is a wiseman with the looks of folly？
（25）为什么鲁肃不得不劝孙权借荆州给刘备？鲁肃对东吴作出了些什么贡献？
（25）Why does Lu Su have to talk Sun Quan into allowing Liu Bei to borrow Jingzhou？ Whatgreat contributions has Lu Su made to the Southland？
（26）为什么曹睿要把司马懿削职回乡？为什么司马懿被称为“大智若怯”？
（26）Why does Cao Rui strip Sima Yi of his office and order him back to his village？ Why isSima Yi called“the wisest man whose great wisdom often seems timid”？
（27）你如何看待司马懿的人生？你打算从司马懿的人生学些什么？（或：论司马懿的人生）
（27）How do you think of Sima Yi’s life？ What are you going to learn from Sima Yi’s life？ (Or：On Sima Yi’s Life)
（28）司马炎是如何战胜东吴并统一国家的？你如何看待司马炎的人生？
（28）How has Sima Yan conquered the Southland and unified the country？ How do you thinkof Sima Yan’s life？