In the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a famous advisor in the state of Shu---Zhuge Liang. His wisdom and talent were outstanding and many stories about him have been carried on down to our day. One of them is called "a heated argument with a group of learned men".
In 208 A.D., Cao Cao led his army, and prepared for an attack on Liu Bei of Shu. It was very critical. Liu Bei thought if he could join up with Sun Quan of Eastern Wu, the situation would certainly change for the better. Consequently he assigned Zhuge Liang to meet Sun Quan immediately, in the hope of persuading him to resist Cao Cao with Liu Bei. However, many ministers of Sun Quan who feared the strength of strong Cao Cao, proposed to surrender. When they saw Zhuge Liang come to Sun Quan, they one after another beseeched him with difficult questions in order to persuade him to back down.. In the face of these difficulties, Zhuge Liang was not nervous. He was calm and answered fluently, which left the ministers speechless. In the end, Sun Quan was moved by Zhuge Liang's wisdom and eloquence. They resisted Cao together which changed the situation of the war.
词语注释:
东汉:(dōnghàn)PN. the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-220)