Cao Pi’s five-pronged invasion plan against Shu is a coordinated attempt to turn the death of Xuande into an opportunity to destroy Shu, opening simultaneous fronts so that Kong Ming cannot answer them all. Its scale alarms the new Shu ruler, but the episode also shows the plan’s chief vulnerability: Kong Ming has anticipated its routes and built defenses before the armies can converge.

Causes and Strategic Design

Xuande’s death prompts Cao Pi to consider an immediate attack, on the grounds that a ruler’s death can throw his state into confusion. Jia Xu advises caution, but Sima Yi argues that the opportunity should not be lost. His proposal is to overwhelm Shu through five separate forces, making it difficult for Kong Ming to concentrate his response on any one front.

The design uses distinct political and military channels. Sima Yi proposes bribing the ruler in the East Liao region with gold and silk to send one hundred thousand tribesmen against Xiping Pass. A second force of one hundred thousand is to be recruited from the southern Man people. A third, also one hundred thousand strong, is to come from Wu: Sun Quan is to be offered land in return for attacking through the Three Gorges and at Fucheng. Meng Da, who has recently surrendered to Cao Pi, is assigned an attack from the west near Hanzhong. The fifth force is Wei’s regular army, commanded by Cao Zhen, advancing from Jingzhao through Yangping Pass into Shu.

These routes are not interchangeable. The proposal draws on inducements to distant rulers, a bargain with Wu, a recently transferred commander, and Wei’s own army. It seeks to make Shu’s geography a liability by threatening different approaches at once, while relying on multiple actors whose cooperation must be secured rather than assumed. Cao Pi accepts the plan immediately, and messengers are sent to set the mobilization in motion.

Alarm in Shu and Kong Ming’s Preparations

News of the five armies reaches Shu’s second ruler, Liu Shan, who is deeply alarmed. He sends for Kong Ming, only to be told that the prime minister is too ill to attend. Further officials are dispatched the next day, and again Kong Ming does not appear. After officials wait through a third day without his arrival, Liu Shan goes to see him himself. Kong Ming is standing by a fishpond, leaning on a walking stick; he apologizes, then assures the ruler that he knows about the invasion and has already arranged to meet it.

Kong Ming’s answer is not to wait until the separate armies reach Shu. He says he has acted in advance against each threatened direction. Ma Chao has been sent to the Qiang ruler and to hold Xiping Pass. Kong Ming says the tribes regard Ma Chao as blessed by Heaven, and expects his presence there to deter an attack. Against the Man force, he says, the Shu army’s continuous movement has confused its opponents and will prevent them from attacking.

He has also addressed the two threats involving former or prospective allies. Kong Ming has used a deception to make Meng Da believe that his friend Li Yan wants him to pretend to be ill rather than assist Cao Pi. Against Cao Zhen’s regular army, Zhao Zilong is already at Yangping Pass, where Kong Ming believes he can defend the route; Zhang Bao and Guan Xing have each been sent with thirty thousand troops to reinforce its security. The plan’s simultaneous fronts, intended to divide Shu’s attention, are thus met by preparations positioned along the very approaches it depends on.

The Wu Front and the Diplomatic Response

Kong Ming treats the proposed attack from Wu as a different problem. He tells Liu Shan that Sun Quan is unlikely to attack if no other forces are already engaged. That judgment makes the Wu front contingent: it depends on the wider invasion producing the conditions for Sun Quan to join in. Instead of answering it only with troops, Kong Ming proposes sending an envoy to persuade Sun Quan that cooperation with Shu better serves his interests, especially since Sun Quan has not forgotten Cao Pi’s earlier actions against him.

After Liu Shan leaves, Kong Ming speaks with Deng Zhi, an official he has noticed appearing amused. He explains the broader strategic choice: the empire is now divided among Shu, Wei, and Wu, and his aim remains to restore the Han by subduing the other two kingdoms. Deng Zhi advises against attacking Wei immediately because Wei is currently too strong and Shu’s new ruler is young, with his standing not yet established. He recommends repairing relations with Wu and combining efforts instead. With Xuande’s pursuit of revenge no longer a reason to avoid reconciliation, Deng argues, cooperation can serve Shu better over time.

Kong Ming welcomes the advice and persuades Deng Zhi to undertake the mission, despite Deng’s protest that he lacks diplomatic experience. The following day, Liu Shan formally appoints him. The response to Cao Pi’s plan therefore moves beyond defense of passes: it seeks to prevent the proposed coalition from taking shape by strengthening the relationship on which the Wu front depends.

Significance

The invasion plan turns the transition after Xuande’s death into a contest over both readiness and political alignment. Cao Pi’s court imagines that several attacks will force Kong Ming to be everywhere at once; Kong Ming’s account counters that threat with prior positioning, deception, movement, and diplomacy. The episode does not present all five armies as an accomplished invasion or report their defeat in a battle. Its focus is the plan’s conception and Shu’s response before the threatened fronts can unite.

The contrast between military pressure and diplomatic prevention is central to the episode. Kong Ming meets the routes to Xiping and Yangping with commanders and reinforcements, disrupts the expected support from Meng Da, and relies on movement to confuse the southern force. For Wu, however, he identifies persuasion and repaired relations as the decisive defense. Deng Zhi’s appointment puts that alternative into action, turning a crisis brought on by Xuande’s death into a test of whether Shu can preserve itself through preparation and alliance as well as force.