Welcome to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms podcast.

This is episode 151.

Last time, the last flicker of hope for the kingdom of Shu died with Jiang Wei,

who killed himself after a failed coup that also claimed the lives of the Wei commanders Zhong Hui and Deng Ai. After order was

restored, the former Shu emperor Liu Shan was taken to the Wei capital Luoyang, where Sima Zhao

threatened to have him executed for his corrupt

ways. Just as Liu Shan was about to wet himself, other court officials said, since the

lord of Shu lost his kingdom, he surrendered to us in a timely manner. We should spare him.

So Sima Zhao appointed Liu Shan as the Duke of Anle, which translates to the Duke of Peace and Joy,

or more aptly, the Duke of Comfort.

Liu Shan got a place to live in the capital, as well as a monthly stipend, 10,000 bolts of silk,

and a hundred servants. His son and the officials who

followed him to the capital were also given titles. Liu Shan offered up his gratitude and left,

happy to escape with his head. One guy who did not escape with his head was the eunuch Huang Hao.

He had dodged death one time before,

thanks to the generous bribes he spread around, but nothing would save him now.

Sima Jiao had him taken to the public market, where he suffered a literal death by thousand cuts.

Word of Liu Shan's fate got back to Huo Ge, one of the last holdouts in the

riverlands. Huo-go, who oversaw a district in the southern tip of Shu, had sworn that if

Liu Shan was treated unkindly, he would never surrender. But now, seeing that his former

lord got a pretty good deal, Huo and his troops surrender to Wei.

The day after he was named the Duke of Comfort, Liu Shan went to Sima Zhao's residence to offer his thanks again.

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