“Turmoil”: Battle for the Han Empire sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne
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“The chaos left by the rebellion of his northwest administrators - such as Zhang Miao - has probably
done little to help Xiahou maintain order,” Han Yin suggested.
“…Lü Bu will flee to Xu Province or seek peace with me,” Yuan Shu said. “Liu Bei continues
to defy me, and Cao Cao has weakened his eastern defences…”
Han Yin shook his head and said, “I don’t doubt that Cao Cao has left forces in the east of his province to
deal with Lü Bu or anything else that may arise. He has a few good advisers to replace Chen Gong, like Cheng Yu
and Xun Yu.”
“…Cao Cao will regret taking sides with my ‘cousin’, Yuan Shao!” Yuan Shu cried
as sudden anger overtook him. “That bastard peasant-spawn should never have been made head of our clan!
I am the rightful heir! I AM!”
Yuan Shu’s officials were used to his repetitive outbursts and remained silent.
“But why should we expect Cao Cao to see things clearly?” Yuan Shu scoffed. “Is he not the son of a man
of no merit that was adopted by one of those corrupt eunuchs that ruined this country and made it as it is now…?
People still blame me for the collapse of the Eastern Pass Coalition, but was my Sun Jian not the only man that confronted
Dong Zhuo…? Was he not the only one of them all that cleared the armies from the surrounding lands, entered Luoyang,
repelled Lü Bu, chased Dong Zhuo westward, put out the fires and resealed the tombs…?”
The officials murmured agreeably.
“What did Yuan Shao do, mm…?” Yuan Shu asked.
“Aiee…! Every… single… day, we have to listen to this,” one
junior official muttered involuntarily; those that heard him agreed silently and did not betray him.
“He procrastinated while a Son
of Heaven met his end like a fatted pig! He lied, made shady deals, and sought to grow his territories!” Yuan Shu continued.
“My only ‘crime’ was to challenge his record as chieftain and commander, and his response -
to turn his hitherto-idle forces away from Dong Zhuo and against his own half-brother, for that is what he is in truth -
only shows that my criticisms had touched a nerve, and is the true reason that the coalition achieved nothing!”
Some officials struggled to hide their pained expressions; Yuan Shu’s ‘challenge’ was an infamous open
letter that had spoken of Yuan Shao in a highly derogatory and offensive manner and left Shao with no alternative but to
respond aggressively in order to restore his shattered pride.
“And for all of my so-called ‘failures’, do I not have most of Yu Province, Jiujiang Prefecture, and
soon Lujiang Prefecture as well, which then gives me all of northern Yang…?” Yuan Shu continued. “While
he kills his best generals and chases his best officials away with false accusations of corruption, do I not make good use
of good men and grow my forces…? Do I have mass-murderers as my best friends…?”
The officials gave their lord the agreeable murmurings that he wanted.
“…Forgive my interruption, Lord Yuan, but you refer to Lujiang, and there are new and encouraging reports from
there,” Han Yin said. “Sun Ce has repelled a number of the bandits that were supporting Lu Kang’s spirited
defence, and we might have success there sooner than expected.”