old　off　the　soldiers　to　various　places　to　work　in　the　fields；　and　therefore　provide　for　future　needs。　We　had　been　unwittingly　captured。〃

Sima　Yi　set　them　free　and　bade　them　begone。

〃Why　spare　them？〃　asked　Xiahou　He。

〃There　is　nothing　to　be　gained　by　the　slaughter　of　a　few　mon　soldiers。　Let　them　go　back　to　their　own　and　praise　the　kindliness　of　the　Wei　leaders。　That　will　slacken　the　desire　of　their　rades　to　fight　against　us。　That　was　the　plan　by　which　Lu　Meng　captured　Jingzhou。〃

Then　he　issued　general　orders　that　all　Shu　prisoners　should　be　well　treated　and　sent　away　free。　However；　he　kept　rewarding　those　of　his　army　who　had　done　well。

As　has　been　said；　Gao　Xiang　was　ordered　to　keep　pretended　convoys　on　the　move；　and　the　soldiers　of　Wei　attacked　and　captured　them　whenever　they　saw　them。　In　half　a　month　they　had　scored　many　successes　of　this　sort；　and　Sima　Yi's　h