Peace Ends, and Cao Cao Means to Be Cao Cao

After Liu Bei returned, Cao Cao's great host came safely home as well.

Bathed in the emperor's extravagant praise, Cao Cao settled into the Grand General's office at his leisure, and the banquet celebrating Zhang Fei and Mi Zhu's return was every bit as splendid. Everyone was happy. The tale, it seemed, had ended well.

But if things only ever ran so smoothly, what kind of age of chaos would this be?

Each of them had cleared the obstacle before his eyes. The time had come to think of what followed—and to speak of it.

"So I says to him, I did. 'Aigoo! Lord Grand General~ my congratulations to you~ Just how starved for talent are you, that you'd take in a widow and set yourself up as her nephew's brand-new uncle~?' That's what I told him."

"Hahahaha! Brother Mengde must have caught that one square on the jaw!"

Liu Bei laughed until he clutched his belly, the first time in a long while, and Guan Yu drained his cup in silence before he spoke.

"If he had taken offense and done you any harm in that moment, Yide, I would have taken Cao Cao's head."

"Now, now, Yunchang. It would never have come to that. It all ended well enough, did it not?"

Zhang Fei glanced at me then and snorted.

"Master Baijin, strange thing—everything you said came true, didn't it? A ghost. An outright ghost."

"I merely inferred a little more than the next man."

Drinking with the three brothers, I had become, for all practical purposes, a standing guest at their table.

"Still, Brother Mengde's got a mean streak in him. Wasn't even a scab worth picking, and there he goes demanding the enemy general's aunt warm his bed."

"Brother, you know the funnier part? When he came back, he brought the woman with him."

"He did what? How in the world?"

Well, now. That I wanted to hear myself.

Zhang Fei had blown the whole bargain apart on the spot, and yet—

"Cao Cao tells the general who surrendered that he'll let him keep his lands and his troops just as they are, and that he'll formally name him Grand Administrator of Nanyang. Then on the way home some procurer of a fellow turns up, calls her a hostage of Zhang Xiu's household, and drags that widowed aunt along. Didn't he just."

Cao Cao's obsession was a frightening thing.

In that situation any ordinary man would have let the wrecked deal lie and gone home. He had gotten his hands on her all the same.

"Asks, bold as you please, how he could ever abduct a woman for a hostage—but his mouth was hung clean from ear to ear."

"Heh. The people of Nanyang Commandery won't know which way to turn."

"I cannot find a shred of warmth in me for such a man. And that creature is Grand General of Han."

Liu Bei laughed, hollow and helpless, while Guan Yu tore into Cao Cao without mercy.

"Imperial Uncle, send someone you can trust to Nanyang."

"Hm?"

"Soothe Zhang Xiu. Cao Cao's conduct will have enraged him. Win over the men at his side. Sooner or later Zhang Xiu will come to the capital, and there is no shortage of usable talent beneath him."

"Right you are. Jia Xu, wasn't it? There's one fellow getting on in years, and after the surrender the whole handover and all the bargaining went through him."

"Begin with that man. Please set your hand to it."

Liu Bei heard me out and nodded.

"If Baijin says so, then I ought to send someone. Zhang Xiu and Jia Xu, you say? Hmm."

For the present, we would go on adding to our side.

Meanwhile, in Grand General Cao Cao's own residence, they were speaking of what came after the war.

"Ah... ah..."

"A true beauty, isn't she? Not the face alone—this skin, and the aching way she comes undone. What that fellow An Min did was insolent, and yet I've lost all wish to scold him for it."

Lady Zou, wife of the dead Zhang Ji and aunt to Zhang Xiu, had been brought safely into the inner quarters.

She sat upon Cao Cao's knee while he kneaded the ripe swell of her hips, and he drank in the cries she gave under his hands as if they were a sweet strain of song.

"My lord. It is Wenruo."

"Enter."

"!?"

Lady Zou, ravished nearly to the limit, startled violently at the word that Xun Yu was coming in. She burrowed into Cao Cao's arms and trembled. Cao Cao only swept his palm down that skin and spanked the curve of her backside.

"The hour is late, and it would be poor courtesy to step into the bedchamber. I shall make my report from outside the door."

"What a fellow you are. Very well. What is it?"

Knowing perfectly well what was underway within, Xun Yu deliberately remained outside and spoke with nothing but his shadow cast across the threshold.

"The transfers have been arranged as you directed. They are ready to go up as a memorial at first light tomorrow."

"Are they? Once we submit them, I want to see whose face turns purple first."

"Understood. Also, Yuan Shao of Jizhou has once again refused the post of Grand Commandant, and he has sent a further letter."

"What did he say?"

"That if we wish him to enter the court at Xudu, we are to send our families to Yecheng."

"...Ah!"

For an instant Cao Cao's hand tightened, and Lady Zou let out a thin cry.

"That old man Chen Ji had the right of it. Not content to crush me under rank, now he wants my family for hostages as well?"

So said Cao Cao, even as he held the real hostage of Nanyang in his grasp. He put the question lightly to Xun Yu beyond the door.

"Wenruo. If I send Brother Xuande's host to the front and scrape together everything I can to face Yuan Shao myself, what comes of it?"

"Even at full strength, it will be difficult. You need five years more."

"Heh. Heh heh heh..."

"But yield the Grand Generalship to Yuan Shao, and while he campaigns against the Black Mountain bandits and Gongsun Zan we can finish the transfers and clear every obstacle. Three years will then suffice. I shall draw the strategy for you, my lord."

At Xun Yu's firm answer Cao Cao laughed aloud and nodded.

"Before I hand this seat to Brother Yuan, the housekeeping must be finished."

"Make your first mark the Yuan house of the south, not the Yuan house of the north."

"You mean Yuan Shu?"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Our spies report that after the rumor of Sun Jian carrying off the Imperial Seal when Luoyang burned and the Han imperial house vanished, word has come through the people of Yangzhou that the seal now rests in Yuan Shu's hands."

"The greatest bandit of them all—the one who gathered the robber bands—means to play with a jade far above his station."

"He will make an excellent example."

Xun Yu finished, bowed, and withdrew. When his shadow was gone, Cao Cao hauled Lady Zou, still seated on his knee, hard against him.

The night was very long, and Cao Cao enjoyed the pleasures of Xudu to the full.

Some time later, Cao Cao personally submitted a memorial distributing rewards according to merit. Its contents were nothing short of shocking.

"Your Majesty, pray enact these appointments! As Grand General, I humbly implore you."

...He had crossed the line.

Cao Cao had openly packed the military of the outer court with his own men. Dong Cheng, an imperial in-law, received the Generalship of the Guards over the palace, and even Wu Zilan—a senior minister who had fled Chang'an with them—was made a general.

And the highest any of us rose was colonel?

Ah. Liu Bei was Left General, and Guan Yu, though he had not taken the field, was Commander of the Tiger-Brave Imperial Guards, so that much could stand. Zhang Fei had been a Gentleman of the Household for only a few months, but with merit like this he ought to have been given a colonel's post.

What was this, then? He was gorging himself on offices in the open.

The moment I moved to speak, Liu Bei caught my hand and stopped me.

"!"

"Brother Mengde is getting ahead of himself. Even so, do not step forward."

"...Something has already been spoken of, hasn't it?"

"Baijin, trust me. The promotions our people did not receive today—I will see to them in time."

Then, for the present, I would yield.

I knew Liu Bei carried a larger design. What remained to watch was who would check the rise of Cao Cao's faction. Dong Cheng, father of Noble Consort Dong, had been confirmed as General of the Guards, his place among the imperial in-laws made secure. So then the empress's father, the imperial kinsman Fu Wan, or some other elder minister...

"Your Majesty! Your servant Yang Biao, Grand Master of Splendid Happiness! I hold these appointments to be unjust!"

In the end, an elder statesman rose.

"The Grand General's merit in this war was great. Even so, that his kinsmen should obtain so many posts in the army is an injustice. Should the generals of the outer court come to be composed entirely of the Cao and the Xiahou, the discord it breeds will be grave indeed."

"The Grand Minister of Agriculture, Sha Sunxu, offers a word. I too deem this an excessive scattering of offices, and I submit that the Grand General's promotions ought to be decided at a later time."

Around Yang Biao, the ministers who had come all this way from Chang'an—Grand Minister of Agriculture Sha Sunxu, Palace Attendant Dai Chong, Master of Writing Feng Shi, Gentleman of the Household Hou Qi, and the rest—cried out with one voice, begging that the appointments be stayed.

"It seems..."

"We need not step in. Things will change after this as well."

The emperor clutched his head, glancing from Cao Cao to the elder ministers beside him, and let out a long sigh.

"We... shall deliberate with care. Withdraw."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Cao Cao withdrew with surprising ease.

When the audience broke up, Liu Bei quietly paid Cao Cao his respects.

"Xuande, will you walk with me? Ah—and the Deputy Imperial Censor as well."

Cao Cao called the two of us on, and as we left the great hall and made for the Grand General's office he said, as if in passing:

"I mean to look after the comrades who labored through all this. In exchange, I will be the one who pays."

"Brother Mengde, do you mean to do that thing you spoke of some time past?"

"Hahahaha. Just so, Left General."

So this was what Liu Bei had told me before. Then I ought to say it outright.

"It is truly regrettable. That a Grand General of such brilliance should step down from the post of his own accord."

"I have done as much as a provisional Grand General can do in a provisional capital. I will make my intention plain to the Grand Minister of Agriculture and the Grand Master of Splendid Happiness, and in place of my own descent I will ask ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠once more that my comrades be raised."

He was using his head, and using it well. Give Yuan Shao the Grand Commandantship, seat himself as Grand General, and the moment he heard that Yuan Shao was posting armies all along the Yellow River he had been ready to throw the office away. He had taken the method of handling Yuan Shao that Chen Ji had lectured into him and put it to work. Knowing in advance that Yuan Shao would refuse the Grand Commandantship, he had enjoyed every power the Grand General's seat could grant, parceled offices out among the Cao and Xiahou kinsmen, bound his faction tight, and then written himself a very handsome exit.

Liu Bei's telling me not to step forward had surely been of a piece with it: keep the present alliance with Cao Cao intact, and press any discord down as far as it would go.

"Left General, I will formally memorialize the restoration of the Three Excellencies, and I will recommend loyal ministers to them."

"This man, too, will recommend one worthy gentleman for one of the three seats."

"Heh heh heh. I shall continue to rely on you both. I ought to have a frank word with the Grand Master of Splendid Happiness as well."

Once Cao Cao's party had gone, I spoke to Liu Bei at once.

"His power at court swells by the day. At some line, we must put a brake on it."

"I know. But thus far it has only the look of reward for the greatest merit, and for all he has done."

"And if a day comes when he holds the whole court—what will you do then?"

"I will never let it go so far. You are here, and so am I."

We would have to grow the strength of Xuzhou and Yuzhou quickly, and through our own base show that we could mass troops about Xudu and field a force able to stand against Cao Cao whenever we wished. If Cao Cao was gathering the strength to face Yuan Shao, then we would gather the strength to face Cao Cao.

"I mean to recommend Yide and Zijing for the chancellorships of Chen and of Liang. If the central posts are closed to us, then the provincial ones."

"Imperial Uncle, he will surely meet the Grand Master of Splendid Happiness around evening, over that memorial from earlier, once he has resigned the Grand Generalship."

"Most likely."

"Please warn the men under the Grand Master who spoke against it today to take care."

"Surely Brother Mengde would not go so far, merely because they blocked a memorial..."

"If not, I will go and tell them myself."

"No—no! I will go myself, all the same."

Liu Bei was far too mild, and far too optimistic. He needed a sharper sense of danger.

"Within a year there will be war in some other quarter. You must prepare again."

"Mm. I will keep that firmly in mind. Ah, yes—we must also send someone to Nanyang and sound out Zhang Xiu, and this man called Jia Xu."

Not long after, Cao Cao's memorial on the transfers received the emperor's assent, and a great many officers were promoted. In accordance with it Cao Cao stepped down as Grand General, recommended Yuan Shao, Governor of Jizhou, for the post, and made plain his own wish to tend to internal administration.

Yuan Shao answered in kind and sent the emperor a letter of loyalty.

Together, of course, with a staggering quantity of gold, silver, jewels, and tax.

Months passed. It was the second year of Jian'an.

Yuan Shu of Yangzhou declared his break with Han, proclaimed himself emperor, and named his dynasty Zhong.

The court was thrown into an uproar. Every senior minister denounced Yuan Shu, proclaimed him a traitor, and called for a campaign to punish him.

"Your Majesty, the wicked and lawless Yuan Shu has committed treason, founding a state upon a house that vaunts four generations of Three Excellencies. I submit that it is right to punish him by the Son of Heaven's command."

The year had turned, and Cao Cao—no longer Grand General, but Minister of Works, one of the Three Excellencies—raised ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his voice to lay the charge.

The emperor had seen traitors enough, yet at this absurdity, a man proclaiming himself emperor, he clutched his head and ground his teeth.

"Your Majesty, Deputy Imperial Censor Zhang Qian likewise holds that we must destroy Yuan Shu's power and, by the punishment of this traitor, make Your Majesty's name known throughout the realm. Pray issue the imperial command at once, and let an army be formed!"

"Very well! Who should punish the traitor Yuan Shu?"

"Your Majesty, Deputy Imperial Censor Zhang Qian speaks again. Make Left General Liu Bei supreme commander, and have him punish the traitor!"

When I recommended Liu Bei myself, Cao Cao and his faction looked openly startled.

"Imperial Uncle Liu, you say?"

"Your Majesty, the Left General is one of the Generals of the Four Directions, and Inspector of Yuzhou. Shuchun, where Yuan Shu has usurped the imperial title, lies before the jurisdiction of the Inspector of Yuzhou. Let him punish the rebel with the court's army and the strength of Yuzhou, and bestow upon him the Son of Heaven's battle-axe."

Yuan Shu was a man Liu Bei could take.

And this was the chance for Liu Bei to hold the imperial credentials and the axe.

"Minister of Works... what is your view?"

"Your Majesty, I too believe it fitting that the Left General go. Let him command the punitive army through the office of the Left General."

"So it shall be."

First, recommend Liu Bei as supreme commander of the punitive host, and see that he received the axe.

Liu Bei prostrated himself before the emperor with a resolute face and spoke.

"Your Majesty. Your servant, Liu Bei. As a general of Han, I will without fail punish the traitors!"

"Good. I charge you with the punishment of Yuan Shu."

And so it was done.

The moment the audience ended, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Liu Bei convened a council of organization through his office as Left General. As I watched that army take shape, Cao Cao drifted over.

"Unexpected. I thought you would recommend our side instead, and pack us off on campaign."

"You are Minister of Works now, and not Grand General. Are you not?"

"Heh heh heh. Imperial Uncle Liu's whole faction at court is going. This time, too, you'll stay behind and bury yourself in the business of the court?"

It might have meant, Shouldn't you go along and serve as his military advisor? Or it might have meant, Will you be all right here alone, without Liu Bei's people to protect you?

"At a time like this, the court will have a great deal of work as well. I ask your kind regard, Minister of Works."

"Deputy Imperial Censor, I am of the same mind."

And what, exactly, do you mean to do in Xudu while Liu Bei is away?

Which is precisely why I have to remain.

Whatever the Minister of Works is planning, it will not go well. I am here.