East of the River , livre ebook

PaMat Publishing - M Thorne T. P.

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

618 pages

English

Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

It is the end of the 2nd Century, and Han Dynasty China is a divided place. Jiangdong - 'East of the River' - forms part of the south-eastern province of Yang, and it is far from prosperous. When the Yellow Turban Rebellion threatens to engulf the empire, the valiant 'Tiger of Jiangdong', Sun Jian, steps forward to fight for his underdeveloped region and the nation as a whole: his career takes him to the rebel-held northwest and the imperial capital, where the tyrant Dong Zhuo holds power. At the same time, others - such as Taishi Ci - fight for justice in an era where heroes are increasingly rare and power-hungry warlords are the norm.In the aftermath of the Dong Zhuo crisis, Sun Jian is inextricably tied to the nobleman Yuan Shu, who has increasingly dangerous ambitions: inevitable tragedy looms as Sun Jian is forced to fight the forces of Jing Province Governor Liu Biao, and the responsibility for the Sun clan's future soon passes to Jian's eldest son Sun Ce.Sun Ce would first serve Yuan Shu through lack of choice, but as the political twists and turns of the era offer new opportunities, Ce is able to follow a path that eventually builds the foundations for the famous 'Three Kingdoms era' that became part of history, myth and legend.

Sujets

Historical fiction

Informations

Publié par	PaMat Publishing
Date de parution	23 avril 2015
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9780957500471
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0200€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

EAST OF THE RIVER
~ HOME OF THE SUN CLAN ~
BY T. P. M. THORNE
COVER ART BY T. P. M. THORNE

Published by PaMat Publishing

Copyright 2015 T. P. M. Thorne

All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study,research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs andPatents Act 1988, no part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrievalsystem, or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, electrical,chemical, mechanical, optical, photocopying, recording or otherwise - withoutthe express written permission of the copyright owner. Enquiries should bedirected to the author of this work.

The author, T. P. M. Thorne, has asserted the right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

http://tpmthorne.com/

For any enquiries, email the author at enquiries@tpmthorne.com

This version of the work is for online publication only.

Cover art: an artistic representation of China during the Han Dynasty; the region known asJiangdong (lit. River East , which translates more accurately to East of theRiver ) is shaded in light green (it is an approximate representation). Theregion is also known (more or less) as southern Yang Province, encompassing(clockwise from left) Yuzhang, Danyang, Wu, Guangling and Kuaiji Prefectures.The Sun family (who serve as protagonists in this work) hail from Wu Prefecture(Sun Jian, father of the founder of Eastern Wu, came from Fuchun in Wu)

Table of Contents FOREWORD PROLOGUE: DISCUSSING THE FUTURE ACT I: THE TIGER OF JIANGDONG CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 3 CHAPTER 4 CHAPTER 5 CHAPTER 6 CHAPTER 7 CHAPTER 8 CHAPTER 9 CHAPTER 10 CHAPTER 11 CHAPTER 12 CHAPTER 13 ACT II: THE EASTERN PASS COALITION CHAPTER 14 CHAPTER 15 CHAPTER 16 CHAPTER 17 CHAPTER 18 CHAPTER 19 CHAPTER 20 CHAPTER 21 CHAPTER 22 CHAPTER 23 CHAPTER 24 CHAPTER 25 CHAPTER 26 ACT III: THE SHACKLED TIGERS CHAPTER 27 CHAPTER 28 CHAPTER 29 CHAPTER 30 CHAPTER 31 CHAPTER 32 CHAPTER 33 CHAPTER 34 CHAPTER 35 CHAPTER 36 CHAPTER 37 ACT IV: THE SECOND PRODIGY CHAPTER 38 CHAPTER 39 CHAPTER 40 CHAPTER 41 CHAPTER 42 CHAPTER 43 CHAPTER 44 CHAPTER 45 CHAPTER 46 CHAPTER 47 ACT V: THE RECLAMATION OF DANYANG CHAPTER 48 CHAPTER 49 CHAPTER 50 CHAPTER 51 CHAPTER 52 CHAPTER 53 CHAPTER 54 CHAPTER 55 CHAPTER 56 CHAPTER 57 CHAPTER 58 ACT VI: THE KUAIJI CAMPAIGN CHAPTER 59 CHAPTER 60 CHAPTER 61 CHAPTER 62 CHAPTER 63 CHAPTER 64 CHAPTER 65 CHAPTER 66 CHAPTER 67 CHAPTER 68 CHAPTER 69 ACT VII: THE GREAT PACIFICATION CHAPTER 70 CHAPTER 71 CHAPTER 72 CHAPTER 73 CHAPTER 74 CHAPTER 75 CHAPTER 76 CHAPTER 77 CHAPTER 78 CHAPTER 79 CHAPTER 80 CHAPTER 81 CHAPTER 82 CHAPTER 83 CHAPTER 84 CHAPTER 85 CHAPTER 86 CHAPTER 87 ACT VIII: PARTINGS AND MEETINGS CHAPTER 88 CHAPTER 89 CHAPTER 90 CHAPTER 91 CHAPTER 92 CHAPTER 93 CHAPTER 94 CHAPTER 95 CHAPTER 96 CHAPTER 97 CHAPTER 98 CHAPTER 99 CHAPTER 100 CHAPTER 101 CHAPTER 102 ACT IX: A GRAND DESIGN CHAPTER 103 CHAPTER 104 CHAPTER 105 CHAPTER 106 CHAPTER 107 CHAPTER 108 CHAPTER 109 CHAPTER 110 CHAPTER 111 CHAPTER 112 CHAPTER 113 CHAPTER 114 CHAPTER 115 CHAPTER 116 CHAPTER 117 CHAPTER 118 CHAPTER 119 CHAPTER 120 EPILOGUE: EVALUATING THE PRESENT CHARACTER PROFILES AND NAME PRONUNCIATION GUIDE PEOPLE PLACES MISCELLANEOUS

FOREWORD

This is the thirdwork that I have completed that is based in the Three Kingdoms era of Chinathat spanned the late 2nd to late 3rd Centuries. It was never my intention todo three books originally, else I would not have had Sun Quan s court inEastern Wu be so heavily represented in Crouching Dragon: The Journey of ZhugeLiang . On the other hand, I was keen to avoid the accusation that I had a biastoward the Shu Han faction led by Liu Bei and served by Zhuge Liang, andseeing things from the perspective of Shu s ally and rival, Eastern Wu, was keyto that. This book is intended as a partial tribute to what was perhaps themost impressive feat of the entire era.

The Sun family were- according to their patriarch and dynastic founder of sorts, Sun Jian -descended from Sun Tzu (or Sunzi), the author of the Chinese military bible Art of War (not to be confused with the later Machiavelli work of the samename, though many have). However, by the late 2nd Century, Sun Jian s branch ofthe Sun clan was serving as minor officials that lived and worked in the mainlyimpoverished southeast of China. Sun Jian made the most of opportunities thatwere presented to him in chaotic times, and he was soon a legend of his day, respectedand feared by most if not all of the northern warlords, despite being a nominalvassal of the ambitious warlord Yuan Shu. After Sun Jian s death, Sun Ce - Jian seldest son - would be as tenacious and courageous as his father had been, creatinga new and prosperous territory in a previously-neglected part of the land,firstly as a vassal of Yuan Shu like his father and then as an independentwarlord: Ce s brother Quan inherited his legacy and built a new nation fromthat territory that endured for 80 years.

Of the three famouskingdom-founding warlords - Cao Cao (who rose to become Han Prime Minister andpaved the way for his son, Cao Pi, to usurp the Han and found the Cao WeiDynasty), Liu Bei (who ostensibly founded the kingdom of Shu Han to honour thefallen Han Dynasty and continue it), and Sun Quan of Eastern Wu - the last ofthese is often treated as a tertiary force due to Quan s inconstant alliancewith Shu Han, and that is entirely unfair to say when being impartial. The Sunsdid not have connections to the ruling family to justify a governing mandate asLiu Bei did, nor did they have the Han Emperor as a guarantor and an army thatoutnumbered their opponents by more than 3-to-1 as Cao Cao did, butnonetheless, Eastern Wu was the last of the Three Kingdoms to perish, andwithout the unique achievements of the Suns, the Three Kingdoms era wouldnever have happened at all. This work is my researched interpretation - withsome justifiable dramatic license, as always - of most of the achievements ofthe first two of the three patriarchs of Eastern Wu - Sun Jian and Sun Ce - andthe people that helped them: I hope that you enjoy it.

T. P. M. Thorne, the author

PROLOGUE: DISCUSSING THE FUTURE

An era of divisionwas about to begin in Eastern Han Dynasty China. An eight-year-long feudbetween two sibling noblemen had recently ended with the death of one of them,which allowed many to hope that the chaos was now at an end: those that knewthe political situation knew that the worst was yet to come.

Two men of thesouth - a tall, handsome man called Zhou Yu and a short, unimpressive gentlemancalled Lu Su - left the scene of a barely-diffused incident and retreated toZhou Yu s home so that they could talk. Both were dressed in statesman s robes,but their concerns were military. I ll say it again,Gongjin: for a moment there, I thought it was all for nothing! Lu Su chuckledas he followed Zhou Yu - whose style/courtesy name was Gongjin - into hisliving quarters. And I ll say thisagain, Zijing: it was a moment of weakness, Zhou Yu replied. It isn t thefirst, and it won t be the last, I accept that but enough. We need to talk. But I thought thatwas what we were going to talk about, Lu Su replied uneasily. No, Zhou Yu said. That was merely a prompt for me to speak with you now. You and I, we ve oftendiscussed the future of the south: now we must do so seriously, for we are themen that will shape that future. Lu Su grinned andlaughed dismissively. Stop it, Zijing, Zhou Yu scolded. Stop what ? Lu Sugiggled. I ve no rank to speak of! What future am I shaping ? You have my wordas your friend, Lu Zijing: I will fight for your recognition as a pillar ofthis fine new state that we re building, Zhou Yu replied. Your kindnesstoward me cannot go unrepaid. The state thatyou speak of is not so much a state as an idea at the moment, Lu Su suggested. Jiangdong is still badly underdeveloped, and apart from a fine military it- That will quicklychange, Zhou Yu insisted. Even with all of the threats that we face, thatwill change. Even though Lord Sun is not himself after having to abandon hiscampaign in Jing Province to deal with this new threat from the regime inLujiang Prefecture, that will change. Even after what we have just witnessed,that will change. Are you talking tome or yourself ? Lu Su joked. Zhou Yu was notsure: he had known the charismatic Sun Ce - the son of the hero Sun Jian - fora decade, and the two were more like brothers than friends. Shackles ofservitude had been replaced by the pressures of leadership, but the chaos thathad enveloped them since their you