#wang ji

Sima Shi appointed the cishi of Jingzhou, Wang Ji, to be acting jianjun, with the Tally, to command the Xuchang troops. Wang Ji said to Sima Shi, “The rebellion of Huainan has not broken out because the lower officials and the people are bent on making disturbances. Guanqiu Jian and the others tricked and coerced them. It is because they are afraid they will be put to death on the spot that they are massed together. When our main forces come near they will crumble and disperse, and the severed heads of Guanqiu Jian and Wen Qin will be brought to your headquarters before the morning has passed.”

Sima Shi followed this advice and appointed Wang Ji to the vanguard. But he soon recalled his order and made Wang Ji stay behind at Xuchang. Wang Ji opined, “Guanqiu Jian and the others, in spite of the fact that they can afford to make a deeper incursion with their troops, have not advanced for a long time. This means that their deception and falsity have been exposed, and that the multitude is suspicious and refractory. For us not to display our arms at this moment and thus meet the wishes of the people, but instead to halt the army and heighten the ramparts, would look as if we are timorous and faint-hearted. This is not the way to conduct a campaign.

If Guanqiu Jian and Wen Qin seize the population to increase their forces, and the military households of the areas in the rebels’ hands become more and more disloyal—those under the coercion of Guanqiu Jian and his group, knowing how great their crimes are, will not dare to return to us—we will only be putting our army on useless terrain and facilitating the spread of treachery and wickedness. If the Wu should make use of them, Huainan will be ours no more. Qiao, Pei, Ru and Yu [10] will be in danger, and we shall have made a great mistake. The army should advance rapidly and take possession of Nandun. In Nandun, there is the big storehouse, containing provisions for the army for forty days. We would be making our defense in a strong city and taking advantage of the grain stored at hand. ‘To be beforehand with others takes the heart out of them.’ This is the essential point for conquering the rebels.”

Wang Ji repeatedly petitioned and was finally heeded. The army advanced and occupied the bank of the Yinshui.