The Desolate Land, Its Name Xuchang

Cao Cao stepped down from his position as Grand General and recommended Yuan Shao as his successor.

He also granted Yuan Shao the symbolic bow and arrows authorizing him to suppress the rebels of Hebei, along with the jie that conferred the power to appoint and command generals on campaign, the jiejue that allowed him to punish those who held such authority, and even the huben privilege of maintaining a personal guard with inviolable status.

In contrast, Cao Cao retained the position of Minister of Works among the Three Dukes. Tasked with civil engineering and water control, he gained the authority to restore Luoyang.

And at last, Xiahou Dun returned.

As expected, Xiahou Dun had been scouting the Yuzhou region on Cao Cao’s orders. He spoke to Cao Cao with blunt force.

Yuzhou was vacant. When I considered the details, the timing was astonishing. We had secured the Emperor’s edict far earlier than in the original history.

Originally, after Inspector Guo Gong’s death, Yuan Shu, Tao Qian, and Liu Biao would have cast covetous eyes on the province. History dictated that Cao Cao and Yuan Shu would clash over Yuzhou. But because we had claimed the Emperor so quickly, we could occupy the empty territory at the perfect moment and finish the conquest in one stroke.

Having heard Xiahou Dun’s report, Cao Cao immediately summoned Xun Yu.

Xun Yu grasped the situation instantly. Cao Cao gave a firm nod.

Xun Yu was a man who acted the moment Cao Cao gave an order. Cao Cao turned to me, clapping a hand on my shoulder.

These days Cao Cao carried himself with far greater ease. The nervous tension that once clung to him had vanished.

Thus, in the second year of Xingping, through the memorial Xun Yu prepared and Cao Cao submitted, we received imperial approval to conquer Yuzhou.

Cao Cao, serving as Minister of Works and General of the Household, raised thirty thousand troops and marched into Yuzhou. Just as Xiahou Dun had reported, we took the province in merely fifteen days with almost no bloodshed.

One place in particular drew Cao Cao’s keen interest.

Cheng Yu readily agreed from beside Cao Cao, while the other strategist Xun You nodded in silent approval.

We had finally reached Xuchang. At this time it was still simply called Xu County. Once the temporary capital was built, it would be known as Xudu.

While I altered history in small ways, I had wanted the major events of Romance of the Three Kingdoms to unfold as closely as possible. This development had fallen perfectly into place. I decided the time had come to unleash all the preparations I had built up.

The stage had been prepared. It was time to deliver my lines.

"Ever since I first followed you to war, Uncle, you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠have accomplished everything we see before us."

No matter how much of it was my own doing, I had to lay the groundwork this way or he would never accept the credit. I continued.

"From the time I first arrived from Xu Province, you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠willingly included me in every strategy meeting. During the invasion of Xu Province, instead of slaughtering the people you ordered their great migration to Yanzhou. As a result, hundreds of thousands of civilians have gathered across Yanzhou’s lands."

Cao Cao slapped his knee atop his horse and nodded vigorously.

"Secondly, when we were in Puyang that day, Uncle, you told me: ‘Any true base must be able to house tens of thousands of troops. Cities on that scale are Ye City in Hebei, Nanjun in Jing Province, Chang’an in Guanzhong, and Xiapi in Xu Province.’ Now you stand in a position where you can expand even modest cities to that very scale."

We possessed both the manpower and the authority to carry it out.

"Finally, the astronomical sums of gold and the military rations needed to feed both soldiers and civilians—are they not being sent season after season by the Grand General in Hebei, who offers more than double the requested amount out of ‘profound loyalty to the Han’?"

This was how all my preparations had borne fruit.

Without the need for ‘Great Filial Piety,’ we had a surplus of labor. Rising to Minister of Works granted authority. The successful negotiations in Hebei meant Yuan Shao willingly supplied the gold. By following the original history so closely, I could wield my knowledge of the Three Kingdoms freely while creating an ever-stronger Cao army that continued to receive buffs beyond the original timeline. The combination was perfect.

Cao Cao was already preparing to establish Xu County as the temporary capital. Whether the restoration of Luoyang would allow the Liu clan to continue its line or usher in the beginning of the Cao clan’s own history remained to be seen.

"Father!"

Cao Ang came galloping up on horseback. He had occupied Xu County on Cao Cao’s orders, scouted the surrounding region, and returned.

It was merely the administrative office of a single province, yet it was smaller than the Cao family residence in Luoyang that had been pressed into service as a temporary imperial palace. Even though I had never met my grandfather Cao Song, the remark reminded me once again just how magnificent a mansion a family of such power possessed.

While choosing the temporary capital, we had also searched for a place where the entire Cao clan could live together and commute to the imperial palace. An ideal ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠location had presented itself.

The Jin clan ancestral residence that Cao Ang guided us to was on the same grand scale as Cao Cao’s own mansion in Yanzhou. It followed the traditional Chinese siheyuan layout. Passing through the main gate one entered the front courtyard where servants and the steward resided. Beyond that lay a garden, flanked by eastern and western wings meant to house guests and retainers. Further still were the main hall and the rear garden.

Cao Cao looked around carefully, then pointed at the wall beside the main hall. Another residence stood beyond it.

By tearing down the walls between three separate residences and joining them, the compound would become nearly the size of a royal palace. Cao Cao’s direct family would live in the central house, while the surrounding properties would house the rest of the Cao clan and the Xiahou clan together.

I blinked in surprise.

By joining the three houses, Cao Cao had essentially granted me an entire independent villa.

Paths would be built between the residences so the families could visit one another freely. Even though we would still live within Cao Cao’s overall compound, we would sleep in our own homes. Now that I was married, remaining in the main hall of his mansion would have been awkward. There were, after all, matters of adult propriety to consider.

Cao Cao decided to go on alone, leaving me behind. Since this would be the house we lived in from now on, he clearly wanted me to examine it thoroughly.

"Ah, Ziye."

"Yes?"

"That… your wife… I mean, my sister-in-law."

Cao Ang suddenly brought up Cai Yan. He fidgeted, his face flushing crimson.

"The conversation went well. My younger sister who lives with the Wei trading company and…"

He was so embarrassed he could barely speak. Ha, this boy truly took after none of Cao Cao’s lustful nature.

Not only Cai Yan but her younger sister Cai Lin had taken after their father Cai Yong. In this era, it was rare for a woman to send a man a love letter to confirm his feelings, yet she had done exactly that.

From the way Cao Ang spoke, it seemed the two were destined to be together after all.

The connection had begun with a single stick of incense Cao Ang gave me on the road to Ye in Jizhou, though I would not fully accept that bond for quite some time yet.

"…There is that as well."

After we occupied Yuzhou, the Han Dynasty’s temporary capital was officially set at Xu County by Cao Cao’s will.

What followed moved like a swift current. As Minister of Works, Cao Cao submitted another memorial. Luoyang, still not fully cleared of its ruins, once again began massive restoration works after the Emperor vacated the city.

The manpower for those works came from the refugees already in Luoyang and those who had migrated from Xu Province. After building the excellent fortress of Dongyan Castle, they had become skilled construction workers.

Xu County was renamed Xudu and established as the temporary capital. Both the Emperor and the entire Cao family moved there. The insignificant little capital of the ancient Xu state—one that had barely mattered during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods—had become the capital of the Han in the blink of an eye.

It had been an offhand remark I made while watching countless soldiers and powerful clans pour into the land that would become Xuchang. I never imagined anyone would overhear it.

"Ah, Uncle."

I had been lost in thought while gazing at Xudu. Cao Cao had heard me and taken interest.

"Ah, no. It was merely a casual remark about how this once nameless Xu County has become the capital."

Wait—this line was not supposed to appear yet!

In the original Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the name Xuchang did not arise now but much later. It was something Cao Pi would say after Cao Cao’s death, after the Han fell and the Wei dynasty was founded. Originally the capital was simply called Xudu, the capital of the Xu region. But among the three great poets of the age—Cao Cao, Cao Pi, and Cao Zhi—Cao Pi had written the verse “魏基昌于許,” meaning “The foundation of Wei shall prosper in Xu,” and thus the name Xuchang was born.

Yet I had muttered it without thinking, and Cao Cao—one of those very “Three Masters” overflowing with literary talent—had heard me.

No, that was your son Cao Pi’s poetic legacy, an achievement that would echo through the ages. And now I had stolen it by accident…

Whether I protested or not, Cao Cao laughed heartily, gazing with satisfaction at the bustling crowds filling Xudu.