Meanwhile the two tyrants Li Jue and Guo Si plotted to assassinate the Emperor. Their comrades Zhang Ji and Fan Chou counseled, “If you kill His Majesty now, the people will not accept it. Better to keep him as a figurehead, lure the other warlords into the city, strip them of their strength, and only then remove the Emperor—then we may seize all under Heaven.”
Li Jue and Guo Si agreed, sheathing their blades. On the palace balcony the Emperor called, “With Wang Yun gone, why do our troops still occupy the capital?”
Li Jue answered, “We serve the Imperial House. Since our merits have yet to be rewarded with rank, we dare not withdraw.”
The Emperor replied, “What rank do you seek?”
Li Jue, Guo Si, Zhang Ji, and Fan Chou each presented official commissions they had inscribed themselves, demanding high office—and the Emperor, powerless, acceded. Li Jue was made General of Chariots and Cavalry and Marquis of Chiyang, Prefect of the Masters of Writing, with ceremonial sword and tablet; Guo Si became General of the Rear and Marquis of Meiyang, likewise endowed with authority; Fan Chou was named Right General and Marquis of Wannian; Zhang Ji took the title of General of Agile Cavalry and Marquis of Pingyang, garrisoned at Hongnong. Li Meng, Wang Fang, and others were appointed minor officers.
At last they bowed in gratitude, marched out of the palace, and set about retrieving Dong Zhuo’s remains. Gathering what fragments of bone and skin they could find, they had artisans carve a likeness in fragrant cedar, draped it in royal robes, entombed it in a grand coffin, and prepared an elaborate funeral on a propitious date at Mei Fortress.
On the appointed day, however, a violent thunderstorm broke, flooding the plain waist-deep and shattering the coffin with bolts of lightning—its contents were hurled into the rain. Li Jue waited for fair weather and tried again—but the same dreadful tempest returned. Three times they attempted reburial; three times nature herself seemed to rend the tomb open and consume the relics with thunder and flame. Heaven’s anger against Dong Zhuo was manifest.
With Li Jue and Guo Si firmly in power, the capital fell under their cruelty. Secret agents watched the Emperor’s every movement, and all appointments were made at the tyrants’ whim. To placate the warlords, they summoned General Zhu Jun to court, gave him the rank of Grand Marshal, and placed him in joint charge of state affairs.
One day a messenger arrived from the west: Ma Teng, Governor of Xiliang, and Han Sui, Inspector of Bingzhou, were advancing on Chang’an with some one hundred thousand troops, declaring their intent to avenge the tyrant’s murder. In truth the two generals had already sent envoys into the capital and bribed the Minister of the Gate Ma Yu, the Censor Zhang Shao, and the Colonel Liu Fan to serve as secret allies. These three men persuaded the Emperor to issue secret edicts commissioning Ma Teng as General Who Pacifies the West and Han Sui as General Who Guards the West, entrusting them with the task of exterminating the tyrants.
When Li Jue, Guo Si, Zhang Ji, and Fan Chou learned of the western armies’ approach, they met to devise defense. Their counselor Jia Xu advised, “Such distant forces cannot sustain themselves here. Dig deep fortifications, hold fast, and wait them out. Within a hundred days their provisions must fail, and they will retreat—then we may pursue and capture them.”
Li Meng and Wang Fang protested, “This is folly! Better we lead 10,000 crack troops, slay Ma Teng and Han Sui at the head of their columns, and present their severed heads to our banner!”
Jia Xu shook his head, “If we engage in open battle, we shall surely be defeated.”
Li Meng and Wang Fang countered, “Then let us be the first to die—if we fail, we shall willingly pay the penalty!”
Jia Xu turned to Li Jue and Guo Si: “Two hundred li west of the capital lies Mount Zhizhi, with a narrow pass. Station Generals Zhang Ji and Fan Chou there with minimal forces; let Li Meng and Wang Fang draw the enemy to attack them, then ambush the western troops from behind.”
Li Jue and Guo Si accepted this plan. They dispatched fifteen thousand men to Li Meng and Wang Fang, who joyfully set out to camp two hundred eighty li from Chang’an.
The western armies rode out to meet them. Ma Teng and Han Sui rode side by side, calling out, “Traitors who turned on the Sovereign—who among you will seize them?”
At once a young general thundered from the Xiliang ranks: his face was like polished jade, his eyes like shooting stars, his torso powerful as a tiger, limbs wiry as an ape, his waist compact as a wolf’s. Mounted on a noble steed, he carried a long spear. He was Ma Teng’s seventeen-year-old son Ma Chao, styled Mengqi—already unmatched in valor.
Wang Fang leapt to meet him, but within a few exchanges Ma Chao’s spear drove Wang Fang’s horse to earth. Turning his mount, the youth wheeled back into the battle. Li Meng spurred forward to support Wang Fang; Ma Chao feigned ignorance, then at the last moment sidestepped and captured Wang Fang alive. The western troops, losing heart, fled in panic. Ma Teng and Han Sui surged forward in pursuit, routing the rebels and capturing Li Meng’s head at their camp.
Back in Chang’an, when Li Jue and Guo Si heard of their agents’ slaughter, they at last trusted Jia Xu’s counsel. They ordered their guards to remain behind the city walls, refusing to meet the west in open combat. As Jia Xu predicted, within two months the western forces’ supplies ran out. Inside the city, the palace conspirators Ma Yu, Liu Fan, and Zhang Shao revealed their treachery to Ma Teng and Han Sui, hoping to bring the capital to heel. Enraged, Li Jue and Guo Si executed them all, displaying their severed heads at the gates. Ma Teng and Han Sui, cut off and starving, retreated. Li Jue dispatched Zhang Ji after Ma Teng and Fan Chou against Han Sui; the western armies were defeated in detail. Only Ma Chao, fighting fiercely, beat back Zhang Ji’s pursuit. Fan Chou routed Han Sui near Chencang, but spared his life at his request, since both were countrymen.
At last Li Jue’s nephew Li Bie reported Han Sui’s escape to his uncle—and Li Jue resolved to punish Fan Chou. Jia Yi intervened, “The realm is unsettled; more bloodshed will only harm us. Why not invite Zhang Ji and Fan Chou to a victory banquet and settle accounts in secret?”
Overjoyed, Li Jue gave such a feast. Midway through the wine he glowered, “Fan Chou, why did you conspire with Han Sui?” Before Fan Chou could speak, executioners seized him and beheaded him on the spot. Zhang Ji, horrified, prostrated himself, but Li Jue reassured him: “Fan Chou proved traitorous—your loyalty remains.” He then handed Fan Chou’s troops over to Zhang Ji.
With the western threat repulsed, the warlords dared not challenge Li Jue and Guo Si. Jia Xu worked to restore order and cultivate capable men, yet fresh unrest soon arose in Qingzhou, where a yellow-turban rebellion flared. Wishing to subdue the mountain bandits, Grand Marshal Zhu Jun recommended a single hero—Cao Cao.
Li Jue inquired of Zhu Jun, “Where is this Cao Cao?”
“Now Governor of Dong Commandery,” Zhu Jun replied, “he commands many troops. If you send him to suppress the rebels, victory will be swift.”
Li Jue gleefully composed a secret edict and dispatched it that very night to Dong Commandery, ordering Cao Cao and Governor Bao Xin of Jibei to join forces against the rebels.
Cao Cao summoned Bao Xin and raised his banner. They marched on the rebels at Shouyang. Bao Xin charged into the mountains and was slain in battle; Cao Cao pursued the fugitives back to Jibei, where tens of thousands surrendered. He then employed these captives as advance troops. Within a hundred days, more than three hundred thousand men and women had laid down arms, and Cao Cao reorganized the fiercest five regiments as the “Qingzhou Corps,” sending the rest home. His reputation and power thus waxed daily. When his dispatch arrived in Chang’an, the court named him General Who Guards the East.
In Yanzhou Cao Cao welcomed men of talent and valor. Two relatives of Xun family—Xun Yu (Wenruo), scion of the famed minister, and his nephew Xun You—abandoned Yuan Shao’s service and joined Cao Cao, who hailed Xun Yu as his “Zifang” and made him his Chief of Staff, and appointed Xun You as his Military Instructor.
Xun Yu said, “There is a worthy man in Yanzhou I have yet to recommend.” Cao Cao asked his name; Xun Yu answered, “He is Cheng Yu of Dong’e Commandery.” Cao Cao dispatched envoys; they found Cheng Yu reading in a mountain hut. Inviting him to join, Cao Cao also heeded Xun Yu’s urging to recruit the brilliant strategist Guo Jia.
Guo Jia recommended Liu Ye of Huainan and two other advisors, Man Chong and Lü Qian, whom Cao Cao also appointed as army officers. Man Chong and Lü Qian in turn suggested Ma Xiu of Pingqiu, whom Cao Cao brought into his service as well.
Another hero, Yu Jin of Mount Tai, arrived with hundreds of horsemen. Cao Cao, impressed by his martial bearing, appointed him Colonel of the Vanguard. Soon his ranks were filled with both able minds and seasoned veterans, and his power in Shandong was unrivaled.
Cao Cao now resolved to chastise Lu’s state of Xu Province. He sent an envoy, the official Ying Shao, to summon his father Cao Song, then in hiding at Langya in Yanzhou. The old man set out with kin and attendants in a great convoy of carts, only to be betrayed by the local governor Zhang Kai as they crossed into Xuzhou. At nightfall, a storm struck, and Zhang Kai’s men fell upon the convoy, slaughtering Cao Song and all his household at a mountain temple.
When the news reached Cao Cao, he wept bitterly. “Governor Tao Qian stood by while bandits slew my father! This vengeance I will exact on Xuzhou!”
He left Xuchang under Xun Yu and Cheng Yu, mustered every soldier he could spare—led by Xiahou Dun, Yu Jin, Dian Wei—and vowed, “Wherever we breach the city walls, let every soul fall before my sword to avenge my father!”
Hearing Cao Cao’s wrath, Tao Qian summoned his officers. Cao Bao urged fighting rather than waiting within the walls, and Tao Qian agreed. Outside the gates he arrayed his troops under a white banner reading “Revenge for the Father,” while Cao Cao rode out in simple mourning robes, brandishing his whip and shouting abuse at the Governor.
Tao Qian attempted protest: “Governor Cao, I mean no harm to you or your family—this bloodshed is the work of Zhang Kai.”
But Cao Cao exploded, “You allowed my father’s murder—how dare you speak of justice? Who will seize this craven old man?”
Xiahou Dun leapt forth, and Cao Bao pressed the assault. Yet as they clashed, a sudden tempest blew up. Wind and sand swirled so fiercely that both armies retreated in confusion.
Tao Qian reentered Xuzhou, trembling for his people. He resolved to surrender himself to Cao Cao in hopes of sparing the citizens. In council, he proposed to weave a trap, but spies discovered it. Turning instead to submit formally, he prepared his troops for a last stand at Xi’an Mountain.
At dusk General Lü Gong offered to lead a sortie. Boldly he rode out with five hundred horsemen. Cao Cao, hearing cries of challenge, galloped forth with only thirty riders—too few to confront the array. Lü Gong led him on a mountain chase and vanished into hidden ambush. As Cao Cao pursued, stone and arrows rained down, and the noble ruler fell, pierced by missiles, dying there with his steed.
Hearing the uproar, Xiahou Dun and Yu Jin hastened to his rescue. They drove off the ambushers and gathered the shattered remnant of Cao Cao’s guard—only five hundred men remained—and led them back across the river to Yanzhou.
Meanwhile, the warlord Sun Quan conquered much of Jingzhou, won support among local gentry, and sent envoys urging Cao Cao to combine forces. The season turned, and neither side could fully press its advantage.
Thus did Cao Cao avenge his father’s murder and found the bedrock of his power in the north, while Ma Teng and Han Sui returned to their domains in the west, and the realm remained sundered by the ambitions of warlords that would soon birth three kingdoms.
