Zhou Yu’s Failed Attempt to Retake Jingzhou

Zhou Yu’s Failed Attempt to Retake Jingzhou is a failed stratagem in which Zhou Yu pretends that Sun Quan’s forces will campaign into the western Riverlands on Xuande’s behalf, while secretly intending to turn against Jingzhou. Kong Ming recognizes that the proposed expedition is a cover for capturing the city and arranges a reception that becomes a warning and a trap. When Zhou Yu arrives with a fleet and about fifty thousand men, he finds Jingzhou prepared against him; his attempt to take the city collapses, and the shock of the reversal is followed by the reopening of his wound.

Political Background and the Deception

Zhou Yu’s proposal is framed as a family arrangement. He sends Lu Su to tell Xuande that Sun Quan will invade the western Riverlands for their mutual benefit, then hand the territory over as a kind of dowry in exchange for Jingzhou. The kinship language gives the offer an appearance of cooperation, but Zhou Yu privately tells Lu Su that he has no intention of marching into the west. The actual plan is to set out as if for that campaign, turn aside en route, and attack Jingzhou.

The deception plays on the precarious relationship between the allied forces and the value of the territory they contest. Zhou Yu presents the supposed western campaign as a way to settle the outstanding question of Jingzhou, but the city itself is his intended target. The contrast between the public promise and the private plan makes the proposal less a negotiation than an attempt to convert passage and apparent cooperation into a sudden seizure.

Kong Ming Reads the Proposal

Before Lu Su is received, Xuande and Kong Ming discuss how to answer. Kong Ming tells Xuande to nod and agree to whatever Lu Su proposes. Lu Su then asks that Xuande provide funds and resources when Sun Quan’s forces pass through. Xuande agrees, while Kong Ming adds that they will do all they can to entertain and support the visitors. The agreement is calculated: it encourages Zhou Yu to believe his deception has worked, while leaving Xuande’s side time to prepare.

After Lu Su leaves, Xuande asks what the exchange meant. Kong Ming identifies the familiar stratagem of claiming to pass through on one mission while intending to attack the place being passed. If Xuande goes outside the city to greet the forces, Kong Ming warns, they could kidnap him and take Jingzhou. He reassures Xuande that he has a plan and calls Zhao Zilong to give him explicit instructions. The response turns the danger of a welcoming ceremony into the means of exposing Zhou Yu’s intentions.

The Approach to Jingzhou

Lu Su reports back to Zhou Yu that his mission appears successful. Confident that he has fooled Kong Ming, Zhou Yu sails toward Jingzhou with a fleet and some fifty thousand men. At Xiakou, Mi Zhu meets him and says Xuande has made preparations. Zhou Yu asks where Xuande is; Mi Zhu replies that he is waiting outside Gong’an to greet him.

But when the fleet reaches Gong’an, nobody is there to welcome it. Zhou Yu continues onward. Near Jingzhou, he hears that two white flags are flying over the city, yet the place seems empty. These signs unsettle him: the promised reception has not materialized, and the city gives no clear indication that its defenders have abandoned it. He disembarks with three thousand picked troops, led by Gan Ning, Xu Sheng, and Ding Feng, and rides to the gate to find out what is happening.

The Plot Is Exposed

When Zhou Yu announces his arrival, armed men appear on the walls, and Zhao Zilong steps forward to challenge his presence. Zhou Yu insists that he has come to take the western Riverlands for Xuande. Zhao Zilong answers that Xuande’s side knows Zhou Yu is using the pretext of marching past to attack Jingzhou. He also invokes Xuande’s relationship to Liu Zhang: as members of the imperial family, he argues, Xuande could not sanction an attack without incurring disgrace and losing his authority.

The exchange strips away the expedition’s diplomatic cover. Zhou Yu turns back, but news arrives that a large force is approaching from several directions, led by Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Huang Zhong, and Wei Yan. The messenger says the soldiers are beyond counting and are chanting that they want to seize Zhou Yu. The episode does not describe a battle between these forces; instead, the reported encirclement and the exposure of the plan are enough to break Zhou Yu’s advance.

Reversal and Consequence

The failed stratagem reverses the roles Zhou Yu had expected to occupy. He believed Lu Su’s successful report meant that Kong Ming had been deceived; in fact, the apparent agreement allowed Xuande’s side to prepare. Zhou Yu reaches Jingzhou not as a welcomed ally on his way west, but as a commander confronted by armed defenders who have identified his real objective.

The immediate consequence is Zhou Yu’s retreat. At the shock of the news that forces are closing in, he falls from his horse, and his wound bursts open again. The episode thus links political misdirection to personal setback: the plan to recover Jingzhou fails before it can become an assault, while Zhou Yu’s physical condition worsens at the moment his confidence collapses. It also sharpens the rivalry between Zhou Yu and Kong Ming, presenting their struggle not simply as competing claims to territory but as a contest over who can read, conceal, and counter the other’s intentions.