“Turmoil”: Battle for the Han Empire sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne
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“…Is he Benchu…? …And… am I Mengde…?” Cao Cao whispered.
Xun Wenruo covered his face with his long sleeve and coughed nervously: he knew that the words were
not for him to hear or answer.
“…Why did so much have to change???” Cao Cao cried suddenly. “The needed changes
were made, Wenruo! Why did… how did… it all go… so wrong…?”
“If I knew, I would be better counsel than I am,” Xun Wenruo replied.
“…But I am digressing; I know that,” Cao Cao said. “Am I here because I am a friend, and he
seeks my opinions on some matter, or am I here as a subordinate…? …Am I here to discuss the disgusting
situation that our sovereign - whether he is to be truly accepted or not - endures in Chang’an…?
…Am I here to be reprimanded for my ‘failure’ to keep Lü Bu out of my province and my
difficulty in subsequently ejecting him from it…? …Or am I to be politely warned not to chase Bu
into Xu Province and ‘do any further harm to that place’, now that Benchu considers it part of his
growing sphere of influence…? …Or… or is it to ask me whether Zhang Miao suffered…?”
“…I truly wish that I knew, Lord Cao, so that I might be of better service,” Xun Wenruo replied.
“…Let it be the overdue rescue of the emperor and the court that I am here to discuss,” Cao Cao
said with a bitter tone. “That matter has gone on too long, surviving even the death of Dong Zhuo and the exile
of his evil stepson: I accept Li Jue and Guo Si’s ‘Regency’ because I lack the military might to do
something alone. Let it be that, Wenruo: let it be a discussion about ending the ridiculous feuds with his
brother-cousin Shu and Gongsun Zan, reviving the Eastern Pass Coalition and finishing what we started five years
ago! Let it be that, Wenruo, and not… not more personal nonsense, not more hankering,
not more… more…”
Cao Cao’s voice trailed; Xun Wenruo exhaled loudly in response.
Han Dynasty China did not know peace in any quarter; it was, like most of the rest of the world, a place beset with power struggles as new clans sought greater influence and older clans struggled to maintain the status quo. In the vast Roman Empire, a number of men had declared their own intent to rule and the wounds left by a crisis known as the ‘Year of the Five Emperors’ were still festering after almost two years. The victor of that war and self-appointed Emperor, Septimius Severus, had guaranteed the support of Britain’s governor and rival Clodius Albinus for his battles with the other remaining claimants by allowing Albinus to take the title ‘Caesar’ and consider himself a future ruler; but Severus was, at the same time, desperately aligning himself more closely with former emperors Marcus Aurelius and Commodus while preparing his own sons - most notably his eldest son, the future tyrant nicknamed ‘Caracalla’ - to truly succeed him. The Parthian king Vologases V - who feared Severus’ intentions for his own kingdom - had backed Syrian governor Pescennius Niger as Roman Emperor, but the latter was defeated by Severus within a year; Vologases nonetheless continued to encourage uprisings against Severus in neighbouring provinces. The embattled Septimius Severus would, however, eventually conquer his enemies and expand the reach of Roman rule; by contrast, the young Han Emperor Xian would continue to suffer great indignities as he awaited help from his feuding warlords.