“Turmoil”: Battle for the Han Empire sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne
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“Who was so cruelly murdered by Gongsun Zan, who still hankers after this province and Qing as well,” Yuan Shao
complained. “But my hands are tied: I am forbidden from marching against him, by imperial decree! But whose decree…?
I am currently a vassal of men that slaughtered my clan!”
“I have the man that probably did it as a next-door neighbour,” Cao Cao sighed. “I tell you, I will not
rest until Lü Bu is a corpse.”
“…But you do not intend to march into Xu again…?” Yuan Shao asked before taking a sip of his heated tea.
“…That would be encroachment into your domain,” Cao Cao replied coldly. “I vowed to you that I would not.”
“…Good,” Yuan Shao replied before taking a second sip.
The mood was souring: Cao Cao sought a lighter discussion - if indeed it could be called that - by saying, “Liu Yan faltered.”
“What a fool he was, allying with the Qiang!” Yuan Shao chortled. “Still, the other lot managed to obtain
support from Yufuluo.”
“He’s still dipping in and out of Yan with his bandit friends,” Cao Cao complained. “I wish he’d either make
peace with his brother and join the confederacy, or surrender, or… or something. He used to lend aid to Han
armies… now he’s little more than a thief.”
“Liu Yan used to be a ceremonial director, didn’t he…?” Yuan Shao said. “Now he’s a dead
criminal. Oh, I know I could thank him, in a way, for the power-devolvement idea, but at the same time, it’s the reason
we’ll probably not have peace for the next ten years.”
“…Is that how long you see it going on for…?” Cao Cao prompted.
“Oh, yes,” Yuan Shao chortled. “I’m not far off pacifying Bing, now, I think… and when the proper
moment arises, I’ll ignore the regents’ silly decree and march on Yòu Province. Once my son Tan and I have dealt
with Gongsun Zan and taken Qing and Yòu, and once I’ve coerced my puppet governor in Xu, Liu Bei, to kill Lü Bu,
that leaves Central Province, Jing, Yi, Yang and Hanzhong.”
Cao Cao sipped his tea and listened quietly.
“My upstart brother will get bored eventually I think, and ‘come home’,” Yuan Shao continued. “Until
then, he’ll make silly deals with the likes of Gongsun and Sun Ce, but what of it…? Liu Biao is ostensibly an ally, but
I’ll still rein him in at some point, since I doubt he’ll stay ‘neutral’ - or to use another word, cowardly -
for long. We can deal with the White Wave Bandits and the Black Mountain Bandits together, and then that leaves Li Jue and Guo Si,
and Yi and Hanzhong. With Liu Yan gone, I don’t see Yi being independent for long; that wretched cultist Zhang Lu will
try and seize the place, and Liu Zhang will need allies to keep it.”
“Your advisers are very thorough,” Cao Cao joked.
Yuan Shao frowned and said, “Of course I have to admit that these are ideas that have been bandied about at
court… I’m sure that your court is the same.”
“Of course!” Cao Cao chuckled. “I’m not so clever… Chen Gong was my brains in the early days, and
now I have… other men.”
“Yes… ‘Wenruo’,” Yuan Shao scoffed. “Wasn’t he one of mine?”
“Be fair,” Cao Cao retorted. “Xun Wenruo came to me; Zhou Renming went to you. Men make their own choices.”
“…I suppose you’re right,” Yuan Shao sighed. “It’s strange; as children, we happily lent one-another
things, didn’t we? Now I get annoyed when friends ‘borrow’ my vassals. I know that it isn’t exactly the same, but-”
“I do understand,” Cao Cao promised. “…I nearly passed up some really fine men because of where they came
from. Yu Jin, from Wang Lang… and Dian Wei, from Zhang Miao.”