Sayfa 160 / 266

[Li Ching once said that if you could make your soldiers afraid

of you, they would not be afraid of the enemy. Tu Mu recalls an

instance of stern military discipline which occurred in 219 A.D.,

when Lu Meng was occupying the town of Chiang-ling. He had given

stringent orders to his army not to molest the inhabitants nor

take anything from them by force. Nevertheless, a certain officer

serving under his banner, who happened to be a fellow-townsman,

ventured to appropriate a bamboo hat belonging to one of the

people, in order to wear it over his regulation helmet as a

protection against the rain. Lu Meng considered that the fact of

his being also a native of Ju-nan should not be allowed to

palliate a clear breach of discipline, and accordingly he ordered

his summary execution, the tears rolling down his face, however,

as he did so. This act of severity filled the army with wholesome

awe, and from that time forth even articles dropped in the

highway were not picked up.]