“Yellow Sky”: Crisis for the Han Dynasty sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne
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“Bah… not a chance,” Cao Cao replied. “Jian Shuo is vindictive… even
worse than Cao Jie has ever been, I think. Why the emperor cannot pick more
pleasant favourites, like my adoptive grandfather, I do not know. But then the
former majesty knew a good general when he saw one… His Majesty does not.”
Yuan Shao agreed silently.
“It’s annoying, being unable to go to Luoyang,” Cao Cao continued. “I
wanted my father’s advice on a few personal matters, and I want to visit Elder
Qiao Xuan. I won’t be volunteering for the expedition, that’s for sure; I take
it that it’s to ‘warn’ the Qiang…?”
“My, you are uninformed these days,” Yuan Shao chuckled. “No, it’s a
full-scale expedition against the Khan of the Xianbei.”
“… … …That’s ridiculous!” Cao
Cao chortled. “The eunuchs would have to be utterly… … …you’re being serious, aren’t you?”
Yuan Shao nodded slowly.
“But we can’t even do anything about the Qiang or the Xiongnu, our army
is such a mess!” Cao Cao complained. “Fighting the whole Xianbei Empire is
suicide!”
“And we can do nothing about it, except shield the ‘partisans’ as we
have been doing for so long, and hope that something resembling an army comes
back, preferably without a hankering Xianbei escort,” Yuan Shao said. “Perhaps
a terrible loss might compel His Majesty to stop looking at the eunuchs as some
sort of inspired advisory council and start listening to the people that know
what they’re talking about.”
Cao Cao agreed silently; the two then moved on to more jovial topics.
A week later, Cao Cao visited his father’s residence in Pei County, Xu
Province, since he knew that his father had requested time away from the
capital. Cao Cao entered Cao Song’s grand home, and shouted, “Father!”
The servants quickly scurried away to alert Cao Song.
“…Cao’er,” Cao Song said with surprise as he met with his son. “You have
two messages: your ‘sponsor’ Sima Fang says ‘You are brave beyond words’… and
from Mister Hè Yong… he said ‘Thank
you’.”
“Ah, fine,” Cao Cao chuckled. “Well, Mister Hè’s always spoken well of
me, and Mister Sima is being kind. How are you, Father? Have you been well…?”
“You are the same, even after the farce you have embroiled yourself in,
and all the things that now transpire,” Cao Song scolded. “I suppose you are
still confident that your appraisals will prove correct… ‘Chaos’ is certainly
what we have right now.”
“I intend to live up to your
great name, if that’s what you mean,” Cao Cao retorted. “Now, a few questions,
if I may…?”
“Certainly,” Cao Song replied.
The preparations for war were, on the surface, ample. The Han army numbered 30,000 men, led by three commanders who would each take a third of that force and attack a different part of the Xianbei confederacy. Emperor Ling - who had, in his 9-year reign, not overseen a major battle - was reassured that it would be a certain victory, and it had to be, since it was a very expensive venture in terms of men and money. The Han would be attacking the Xianbei in their own familiar territory, and it was quickly made clear that the ‘barbarians’ were the better men of war.