“Intention”: War for the Han Frontier sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne

-

JavaScript is off/unavailable on your browser. You will not be able to experience this website as it was intended without JavaScript enabled.

Kong Rong sighed miserably and said, “You put your case well. But I will be watching and listening carefully when we are at court, looking for signs of the truth, whatever that may be. Cao Cao might not be the worst villain of the age, but he is a villain nonetheless, and I fear for the Han while is so powerful and there are no good men with the might to oppose him, only selfish ones.”
“We will protect the Han,” Wang Lang replied. “So long as men like us continue to support the Han, it will never die.”
“...Yes,” Kong Rong agreed.
“And now I must go!” Wang Lang chuckled as he got to his feet. “I must prepare for the meeting, as must you.”
Kong Rong got to his feet, clasped his hands together and bowed humbly; Wang Lang reciprocated the gesture and departed.

*************

4

The Han Imperial court was structured in much the same way as it had been for decades; the great assemblies were, like the infrastructure, largely unchanging. Bearded men filed into the grand hall by the dozens to kneel on the floor in front of the gilded imperial throne; they wore matching brown robes and tough black caps to cover their hair, and their white-socked feet made little noise as they shuffled to places that were predetermined by rank. Shoes were forbidden, as were weapons; only the guards, who were typically eunuchs, could carry arms with the purpose of defending their sovereign.
     The Xuchang court was smaller than the ‘true’ courts of the western capital Chang’an, where the Han Dynasty was born, or the eastern capital Luoyang, where it was reborn following Wang Mang’s usurpation of the mandate and founding of his own short-lived dynasty over a hundred years earlier; Cao Cao had made the best palace that his resources could fund, but everyone knew that there would need to be a return to Luoyang - which was still being reconstructed - at some point. Some suggested a return to Chang’an now that the threat of Dong Zhuo’s minions, such as Li Jue and Guo Si, had been ended once and for all, but a greater threat existed in the form of the Qiang tribes and disaffected rebel militias, so the idea was quickly dismissed. Xuchang was, as Emperor Xian had once remarked, ‘a suitable temporary solution to the crisis’, and it would have to remain so at least until one nearby threat to Luoyang’s safety - Yuan Shao’s vast army in neighbouring Ji Province - was dealt with.

<< Main Product Page

<< Previous Page

Next Page >>