A Cup of Daytime Wine, A Grand Tale
The meeting concluded on that note, and Cao Cao would soon draft a memorial requesting that the Emperor’s edict be sent to Hebei.
As the strategists withdrew, Xun Yu took the lead in bidding farewell and formally introduced Guo Jia to the others.
Yet Cheng Yu wore a distinctly displeased expression, and Xun You—who had already clashed with him once—offered only the most perfunctory greeting before departing. Still, the fact that Xun Yu was taking the pair with him suggested he intended to speak with them privately and act as mediator.
“Ziye, my lord.”
“What is it?”
“I’ve come all the way to Luoyang. I need a place where I can comfortably knock back a cup or two in broad daylight.”
Guo Jia was already demanding wine in the middle of the day.
“You’ve renovated an inn in Luoyang and are living there, correct? If I stop by, I should at least be able to catch a whiff of alcohol, no?”
“Drinking itself isn’t a problem, but I won’t be the only one there.”
“Ah, if you’re talking about your wife, that’s no issue at all. When I first arrived, I thoroughly enjoyed the vegetable porridge she distributed. I’d like to give her a gift in return.”
So Cai Yan had given out porridge to the citizens of Luoyang, and Guo Jia had happily accepted a bowl.
“Well then, shall we share a cup of daytime wine together?”
“Uh… well… for now…”
In the end, I brought him home.
Fortunately, after hearing the situation, Cai Yan welcomed our guest Guo Jia warmly and immediately began preparing food in the kitchen.
“I prepared it in a hurry, so I’m not sure if it will suit your taste.”
“Aigoo, sister-in-law, I already learned how excellent your cooking is when I received that porridge last time. Your skill is truly remarkable.”
Sister-in-law?
Well, Guo Jia was five or six years older than both me and Cai Yan, so… I suppose it made sense.
Cai Yan brought out a jar of fine liquor she had obtained from the Wei merchant guild, along with various seasoned vegetables and egg dishes she had quickly prepared as appetizers.
Thanks to her efforts, the atmosphere truly felt like a proper tavern.
“You’ve obtained a beautiful, skilled cook who is also intelligent and virtuous. For a man, that is the greatest blessing.”
“Hahaha, I’ll gladly accept that compliment.”
“In that case, please give her this later.”
“Hm?”
Guo Jia reached into his robes and handed me a calligraphy brush.
It appeared quite old. The handle was decorated with intricate wood carvings, and the bristles were soft and finely made—a clear masterpiece.
“I acquired it back in Yan Province. Its distinctive feature is the character ‘Cai’ engraved inside the handle.”
“!”
Could this be one of the brushes Cai Yong used in his lifetime?
If so, had Guo Jia brought it from the beginning, intending it as a gift for my wife so he could naturally arrange a meeting with me?
“Come, let’s have a cup.”
When I raised my cup, Guo Jia did the same and drained it in one go.
“Ah~ Excellent. A drinking session is good whether it’s day or night.”
The late Xi Zhicai had been the same. Guo Jia shared that eccentric personality and love of alcohol. The only difference was that this man seemed equally sharp whether sober or drunk.
“So, what is the reason you requested a daytime drinking session just to speak with me?”
“That’s something we should discuss after a few more cups.”
Guo Jia held out his empty cup for a refill, and I poured as he wished.
After downing five cups in succession, he picked up some of the seasoned vegetables my wife had made with his chopsticks, chewed thoughtfully, and spoke.
“They say the Cao clan in Qiao County of Yan Province has many talents, but I’ve been wanting to meet you just as much as I wanted to meet the Inspector of Yan Province.”
“You mean after my grand-uncle?”
“The story of how you gathered renowned knights from Xu Province to stop a bandit horde and rescued the Grand Tutor. How you suppressed the rebellion of the powerful clans in Yan Province. How you rescued the Emperor from Chang’an and escorted him to Luoyang. All of these were accomplished by you alone.”
The details were slightly different, but… well.
“And when I saw you volunteer to serve as envoy to Hebei this time, I thought, ‘Ah, this man is truly destined for greatness.’”
Guo Jia’s characteristic ‘~heyo’ speech style somehow felt rather endearing when I listened to it.
“I volunteered because I believed I could safely earn merit.”
“Safe? You truly think it’s safe?”
“My grand-uncle is the Inspector of Yan Province, and my great-grand-uncle is the Grand Tutor.”
At that moment, Guo Jia let out a short laugh, gulped down his wine, and said,
“Then when exactly did Yuan Shao become part of the Polluted Faction?”
“…Oh!”
“Yuan Shao is a man who observed three years of mourning twice—for the Pure Faction, not the Polluted one.”
This fellow’s words were crude, but his grasp of the situation was astonishingly sharp.
I needed to explain this properly.
In the chaotic late Han period that served as the backdrop for the Three Kingdoms, two major factions existed: the Pure Faction and the Polluted Faction.
The Pure Faction consisted of local powerful clans and scholar-officials—loyal and righteous men who upheld filial piety and ritual propriety.
The Polluted Faction, on the other hand, revolved around the Emperor and court politics—central powers centered on eunuchs and consort clans.
Cao Cao’s great-grandfather, Cao Teng, had served Emperors Shun, Chong, Zhi, Huan, and even the current Emperor’s father, Ling—making him the very definition of the Polluted Faction. His son, our current Grand Tutor Cao Song, despite being a veteran minister, carried the stigma of having purchased the position of Grand Assistant for a hundred million coins.
And Yuan Shao?
Although the Yuan family of the Four Generations and Three Dukes had originally been classified as Polluted, Yuan Shao himself had followed the will of the Pure Faction. By observing three years of mourning twice—once for his father and once for his adoptive father—he was recognized as Pure Faction through and through, even more so than most of its members.
At the time, the man who commanded both Cao Cao and Yuan Shao was the Grand General He Jin—uncle to the late Emperor Shao, half-brother to the current Emperor, and brother to Empress He.
To check the power of the eunuch faction, He Jin had heavily promoted members of the Pure Faction. Yuan Shao, originally Polluted but supported by the Pure Faction, joined hands with Cao Cao, who shared his ideals.
After He Jin was assassinated by the Ten Attendants, his sister Empress He and his nephew the Emperor were brutally murdered by Dong Zhuo. In his fury, Yuan Shao raised an army, slaughtered the Ten Attendants and the remnants of the Polluted Faction, and became the leader of the coalition against Dong Zhuo, who had deposed Emperor Shao and killed Empress He.
Could such a man—the leader of the Pure Faction who now held Hebei with power rivaling Dong Zhuo’s—possibly listen to the words of ‘Grand Tutor Cao Song, a man of the Polluted Faction’? He might reluctantly obey an edict issued in the Emperor’s name once or twice, but eventually he would turn hostile toward our faction, which held the Emperor in name only, and become uncooperative.
If things deviated further, more self-proclaimed supporters of the Pure Faction—those whose backs were warm and bellies full—would gradually increase in number and begin voicing discontent toward Cao Song and Cao Cao.
“It’s quite a complicated story. In the end, justifications can always be manufactured, but the probability that General Yuan of Hebei will rise up in this manner is one hundred out of one hundred—ten out of ten, in my view.”
“You see it that way?”
“Of course, since we send letters, they will respond with memorials of their own. It won’t be a fight with swords, but a battle of brushstrokes!”
Listening to Guo Jia’s explanation made the historical context of justifications and factional backgrounds feel truly fascinating. But fascination aside, we still had to find a solution.
“Moreover, even though the current Inspector of Yan Province and the Grand Tutor are the ones safeguarding the Emperor, we are by no means in an advantageous position.”
“Why is that?”
“I mentioned I came from Yingchuan in Yu Province, yes? After the previous Inspector died, the region became a vacant land with no local governor. Both Liu Biao, Inspector of Jing Province, and General of the Rear Yuan Shu have been exerting influence there. Knowing that His Majesty is in Luoyang, did either of them make a move?”
Absolutely not.
Both men had established their own little kingdoms within their territories, living like kings while completely ignoring the central government. There was no chance they would obey.
General of the Front: Gongsun Zan.
General of the Rear: Yuan Shu.
General of the Right: Yuan Shao.
Only the position of General of the Left remained vacant…
These were the Four Generals who were supposed to protect the Son of Heaven under the Grand General. In the current situation, the post of General of the Left should naturally be granted to one of the Cao or Xiahou clans here in Luoyang.
“In the end, Ziye, you are going to negotiate with General of the Right Yuan Shao—the very center of the Pure Faction—who has not lifted a single finger to help even though the Emperor barely escaped the hands of traitors and reached Luoyang.”
Hearing those words only deepened my interest.
I was the only one here who possessed knowledge of the future while living in this era.
That gave me even greater confidence that I could resolve this matter if I went myself.
“I can definitely settle that negotiation.”
“Truly?”
“The Hebei faction will continue to flaunt its power toward the central government regardless of General of the Right Yuan Shao’s official title. And as you said, Bonghyo, they are ultimately a ‘fat cow’ that must be dealt with using ‘justification.’”
When I called them a cow, Guo Jia’s eyes sparkled with amusement. He burst into loud laughter.
“Hahaha, exactly. A generous milk cow that gives us milk and even bears us calves.”
Guo Jia continued,
“However, that is only a justification for striking down those who oppose the Han royal house. In order to expand our power and establish authority moving forward, we must secure the support, trust, and favor of the Han imperial family and His Majesty.”
That was correct.
It wasn’t as if we were already considering abdication, nor had Cao Cao ever said, ‘I deliberately enthroned the Emperor because I wanted him to yield the throne to me.’
Anyway, though it was only daytime drinking, the conversation proved extremely enlightening.
Throughout, Cai Yan continued to serve excellent appetizers, and Guo Jia eventually emptied the entire jar of wine. He left with a hearty laugh.
After the drinking session, I took Cai Yan upstairs to the second-floor room for a nap to sober up.
When I woke in the evening, Cai Yan’s face lit up with joy when I told her I had found ‘the brush her father once used.’ At the same time, when I mentioned I would likely go to Hebei as envoy, she worried deeply but immediately set about preparing new shoes and clothes for me.
“By the way, my lady.”
“Yes?”
“Once I return from Hebei, I plan to ask both my great-grand-uncle and grand-uncle for permission to return to Qiao County.”
“Qiao County, you mean?”
“My mother is there.”
“…Ah!”
“Although we are already living together, I have only informed her by letter so far. We have not yet held a proper wedding ceremony. Once the situation in Luoyang stabilizes, shouldn’t we hold the formal rites?”
“It is a wise decision.”
I embraced Cai Yan and felt her soft, warm body against mine.
Simply holding her gave me strength.
So, I would return safely from Hebei.