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

“That traitor...?” Cao Cao scoffed. “O, Majesty, were it only that I could tell you that he was dead, after what he tried to do... marching here at the head of an army of Yellow Turbans to seize the throne for himself while Yuan and I were kept busy with our own battles!”
“So it is confirmed, then... that he led the... ... ... but it is scarcely believable,” Emperor Xian admitted.
“But true, nonetheless,” Cao Cao sighed. “He made fools of us all, Your Majesty, and me most completely of all, as a good friend so recently - and bluntly - put it.”
Xu Yòu smiled at the reference to his recent words.
“Usurpation can be Liu Bei’s only intention,” Cao Cao continued. “Worse still, Your Majesty, that after being rightly crushed he came back again with an army of bandits; what desperate greed.”
The court was filled with agreeable murmurs.
“But he will die, I promise that,” Cao Cao insisted. “If Yuan should be made to see sense, perhaps he will reassume his place as Commander-in-Chief and help me rout Bei, who is surely the worst villain; stealer of provinces from dead men’s hands, friend to rebels and heretics, coveter of thrones... but it will probably be my task alone, for Yuan rebuffs all attempts at parley, and insists upon his rash course.”
“Then... he must be destroyed,” Emperor Xian said half-heartedly. “Proceed as you have done so far, Mister Cao.”
“I shall, Your Majesty,” Cao Cao promised. “I shall stop only when every one of Your Majesty’s enemies is vanquished.”
Emperor Xian nodded uneasily.
“Here in the east, Liu Bei, Liu Biao, Sun Quan, the Wuhuan and the Qiang are the only concerns that remain beside Yuan Shao,” Cao Cao continued. “The Wuhuan will fall alongside Yuan, the Qiang are inclined toward self-destruction. Sun Quan shows promising signs of being nowhere near as unmanageable as his brother the ‘Little Conqueror’ was, and is at worst a long-term nuisance.

Liu Biao is old and sick, and unlikely to attack us again, especially when he has a hungry Sun Quan to worry about. The constant concern is Bei: he’s a crafty owl that preys on sick, ailing governors for its main source of sustenance, which is ill-gotten land. News from Yu Province indicates that I have failed to keep him away from Jing; one way or another he’s going to reach Xiangyang City and trick Liu Biao into giving him first shelter, and then the seal of office. Left unchecked, Liu Bei will be the illegal Governor of Jing within a year.”
“That is not at all desirable if he covets the throne at any cost as reports suggest,” Emperor Xian said. “Do what must be done, Mister Cao.”
“What about enlisting help from Liu Zhang of Yi?” the official Zhong Yao asked.
“...Liu Zhang is a polite gate guard, not a warrior governor,” Cao Cao replied diplomatically. “Besides, he has to keep an eye on two of the greatest threats in the west for us, does he not...? The Nan peoples to the west of the empire are hankerers that claim Yi to be ancestral lands, and they can never be ignored. The tribes that live in the lands to the south of Jing are going to be difficult to rein in. The Di and Qiang are a minor threat to the east, but in the northwest they are the main problem before or after Zhang Lu, cultist and tyrant occupier-ruler of the founder’s domain and inspiration, the province of Hanzhong.”

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