“Intention”: War for the Han Frontier sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne
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Slander caused two of Yuan’s capable advisers - Tian Feng and Ju Shou - to be rendered ineffective and a third, Xu Yòu, to defect to Cao Cao, taking precious information with him; Generals Yan Liang and Wen Chou quickly fell in battle, and the slandered Zhang Hè defected after Xu Yòu’s revelation of the location of Yuan’s supply depot enabled Cao Cao to burn the entire army’s food supply and force a retreat. In the wake of that defeat, Ju Shou died in Cao’s custody and Tian Feng - who had been in prison since the start of the march - was sentenced to death for allegedly laughing at his master’s defeat. Yuan Shao had retreated as a broken man: he still had an army that vastly outnumbered Cao Cao’s, but he did not have the capable men to lead it.
“I... I must be resolute!” Yuan Shao said to his assembled court.
“This... this cannot be the end of it! I am Yuan Shao, Commander-in-Chief of His
Majesty’s armed forces and the only man that can stand up to the villain Cao Cao!”
“Time and again you call us here... and time and again you say such things,” the scholar
and official Cui Yan scolded. “Either act or not.”
“Do you accuse your lord of dithering, Cui Yan?” an adviser asked.
“Your choice of words, Guo Tu, not mine,” Cui Yan retorted. “Are you trying
to get me imprisoned now...?”
“Please... no more,” Yuan Shao whimpered. “I regret Tian Feng’s death greatly.
Yes, he may well have laughed, but he had a right to, for I imprisoned him for trying to tell me
the truth.”
“B-but that’s not right!” Guo Tu said. “He laughed! He laughed at your
‘foolishness’! Mister Pang, you were the one that reported it, so speak up!”
“He did,” the adviser and official Pang Ji insisted. “Is that not so,
Gao Fan...?”
The Administrator of Wei Prefecture, Gao Fan, grunted tonelessly.
“I’m a man with an army that is unrivalled anywhere in our Empire, but I
cannot beat a tiny mouse like Cao Cao,” Yuan Shao complained. “When I next meet
him on the battlefield, most of my generals and advisers will be on his side!”
“Traitors, one and all,” the young officer Ju Hu declared. “My father
died serving you loyally, and I shall not disappoint him. Zhang Hè has made a
mistake, and he’ll pay for it at my hands if I have any say in it.”
“You...?” Yuan Shao chortled. “I appreciate your bravery, young man, but
you’re no match for Zhang Hè. No, I... I must win that valiant hero back to my
cause somehow... make him see that-”
“That what?” Guo Tu heckled. “He slandered you, Lord Yuan! He intended
defection anyway!”
“That’s right!” the adviser Shen Pei cried.
Gao Fan and some of the lesser officials wanted to challenge Guo Tu and
Shen Pei, but they knew that the penalty would be career-destroying slander and
said nothing.
“At this moment, Father, it is better to rely on family,” Yuan Shao’s
heir, Yuan Tan, suggested. “I am no Yan Liang or Wen Chou... perhaps I am no
Zhang Hè... but I have taken Qing Province for you, Father, and I will toil like
a horse or dog to destroy Cao Cao for you. Give me command of a force, and-”
“I always intended it, my son,” Yuan Shao said warmly. “I have been
harmed by my defeat at Guandu: my innards tremble, my hair greys, my cheeks
sink... the sight of anything that reminds me of Cao Cao fills me with rage and
horror, so perhaps-”