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crying?” he asked them.
    “The inspector is forcing the minor officials to bear false witness against Magistrate Liu. We came to beg him for mercy but he would not let us in. Instead, he sent the doorkeepers to drive us away and beat us,” they replied.
    This provoked the irascible man to fury. His eyes opened so wide that they became circles; he ground his teeth; in a moment he was off his steed, had forced his way past the scared doorkeepers into the house, and was in the rear hall. There he saw the inspector sitting on high with the official underlings paying homage at his feet.
    “You wicked oppressor of the people!” roared Zhang Fei. “Do you know me?” But before he could reply, Zhang Fei had seized him by the hair and dragged him out of the house to the hitching post in front of the town office. Lashing the inspector firmly to the post, he broke off a switch from a willow tree and started thrashing his legs very hard. Soon a dozen or so switches were broken in the beating but his anger was still not appeased.
    At this time Liu Bei was sitting in his office, contemplating his own sorrow. The noise in front reached his ear and he asked his attendants what the matter was. They told him that General Zhang had bound somebody to a post in front of the office and was thrashing him hard. Liu Bei at once went outside and was surprised to see who the victim was. He asked Zhang Fei the reason.
    “If we don’t beat this sort of corrupt official to death now, what may we expect?” demanded Zhang Fei.
    “Noble sir, save me!” cried the inspector.
    Now Liu Bei was by nature a kind and benevolent soul. So he told his brother to stop. Then Guan Yu came up and said, “You’ve rendered magnificent services to the country, brother, but all you got is this petty post of a magistrate. Today you’re even insulted by this fellow. A thorn bush is no place for a phoenix, I think. Let’s slay this fellow, give up the post, and go back home. We’ll wait until we can develop a bigger scheme.”
    Guan Yu’s words helped Liu Bei make up his mind. Hanging his official seal about the neck of the inspector, he said sternly: “You oppress people so much that you deserve to be killed. I now spare your life for the time being. If you injure people again, I will surely take your life. Now I return you the seal. We are leaving for good.”
    The inspector went to the prefect and complained, and orders were issued for the arrest of the three brothers, but they got away to Daizhou and sought refuge with Liu Hui who sheltered them after learning about Liu Bei’s noble birth.
    Back in the capital, The Ten had by this time all the power they wanted. They took counsel together and decided to put to death all those that dared disobey them. From officers who had helped put down the Yellow Turban rebels they demanded presents, and if anyone refused to do so, he would be removed from office. Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun both fell victims to these intrigues, while on the other hand the eunuchs received the highest honors. Some of them were given the rank of General of Carriage and thirteen others were ennobled. The state’s affairs went from bad to worse and cries of discontent rose all around. Consequently, rebellions broke out in Changsha led by a man called Ou Xing, and also in Yuyang led by two Zhangs, one of whom called himself “Emperor” and the other “Supreme General.” Messages asking for aid came like snowflakes but the eunuchs suppressed them all.
    One day the Emperor was having a feast in the back garden with the ten eunuchs when Liu Tao, a senior official, suddenly appeared before him showing great distress. The Emperor asked him why he was crying.
    “Your Majesty, how can you be still feasting with these people when the empire is at its last gasp?”
    “All is well,” said the Emperor. “Where is the danger?”
    Liu Tao replied: “Robbers swarm on all sides and plunder towns and cities. All this is the fault of the ten eunuchs.