Chapter 63

When Cao Cao was in Jibei, he had received the surrender of a million Yellow Turbans from Qingzhou. At that time, Yuan Shao was still engaged in a fierce battle with Gongsun Zan. His son, Yuan Tan, along with Gongsun Zan’s generals Tian Kai, Shan Jing, and Liu Bei, had been fighting from the winter of the second year of Chuping until the fourth year, nearly two years. The Yuan family finally completely seized Qingzhou, which had been a buffer zone, and it was said that “the state was plundered, and there was no green grass in the fields.”

After Gongsun Zan’s main force was defeated at Jieqiao, he once again moved south into Ji Province, but he returned defeated. He then turned around and attacked and killed the Governor of Youzhou, Liu Yu. Yuan Shao took advantage of the chaos in Youzhou to brutally suppress the Black Mountain Yellow Turbans led by Yu Du, and then joined forces with Lu Bu, who had fled from Chang'an, to attack Zhang Yan, extending his influence into Bingzhou.

According to the original history, during this period, Cao Cao was in Yanzhou, trying to integrate the million Yellow Turbans from Qingzhou, but with little success. By the end of the third year of Chuping, Yuan Shu, whose grain supply had been cut off by Liu Biao, was forced to lead his troops eastward, invading Chenliu, but was defeated by Cao Cao. Cao Cao then launched an attack on Xuzhou under the pretext of avenging his father, one of the reasons being the lack of grain, which led him to raid the recently harvested Xuzhou.

However, due to the emergence of Xun, the history of Xuzhou and Yanzhou was completely changed. Li Qian was sent as an envoy to Xuzhou and, having secured the support of Cao Hong and Chen Deng, he encountered no obstacles. Cao Hong even advised Tao Qian, saying that occupying Hua, Fei, and Rencheng was a waste of resources and that it would be better to give Cao Cao a face and withdraw all troops—Cao Hong was Tao Qian’s most favored minister, and his words carried more weight than Chen Deng’s. Tao Qian immediately agreed and ordered the withdrawal of both armies from Yanzhou, with Cao Bao returning to Tancheng and Zang Ba and others moving north to Juxian to prevent the chaos in Qingzhou from spreading to Xuzhou.

As for the supplies Cao Cao requested, Tao Qian generously provided a million hu of grain and lent 400 oxen for plowing—oxen were too valuable to give away freely.

Tao Qian was already old and only wanted to serve as the governor until his death, then pass the position to his son. But he couldn’t decide whether to pass it to Tao Shang or Tao Ying. He saw Mi Zhu supporting Tao Shang and Cao Hong supporting Tao Ying, which caused him headaches. However, this was a show orchestrated by the Mi and Cao families to divert Tao Qian’s attention from grooming his sons.

But soon, good news arrived. Because Xuzhou had a good harvest the previous year, Tao Qian sent a large amount of supplies and 3,000 troops to support the Henan Governor, Zhu Jun, in Luoyang, and recommended him to be the General of Chariots and Cavalry. Tao Qian’s intention was to use Zhu Jun to check Li Jue and Guo Si in Chang'an. However, Li and Guo, following the advice of Jia Xu, summoned Zhu Jun to Chang'an, and the loyalist followed the order. After Zhu Jun returned to the capital, Li and Guo, to appease Tao Qian, had the court appoint Tao Qian as the Governor of Xuzhou. Tao Qian was overjoyed and ordered the city of Tancheng to be decorated and feasted for five days.

Cao Cao, upon receiving the supplies from Xuzhou and learning that Cao Bao and others had withdrawn, was elated. With this, the large-scale land reclamation project led by Ren Jun could proceed, and Cao Cao even appointed Zao Zhi, the magistrate of Dong'e, as his deputy—this was strangely identical to the original history.

However, the butterfly effect had only affected Yanzhou and Xuzhou, not other prefectures. Liu Biao, following the original plan, cut off Yuan Shu’s grain supply, forcing him to advance north and invade Chenliu, where he was defeated by Cao Cao’s forces and retreated to Shouchun. Cao Cao took this opportunity to invade Yuzhou and quickly brought most of it under his control.

In the autumn of the fourth year of Chuping, the land reclamation project began to show results, and the first major harvest was achieved. Cao Cao, now with a well-supplied army, began a full-scale expansion—this time, instead of attacking Xuzhou and Tao Qian as in the original history, he aimed to crush Yuan Shu. In this timeline, Cao Cao’s hatred for Yuan Shu was much greater than in the original history.

Cao Cao’s army of 60,000, half of whom were from Qingzhou, received additional support from Tao Qian, who sent 5,000 troops led by the司马 (military commander) Lu You. Yuan Shu’s army of 50,000 engaged Cao Cao’s forces in Runan, specifically in the areas of Ruyin and Shen County. Initially, Cao Cao made good progress, winning several battles, but Yuan Shu then allied with the Yellow Turban leaders He Yi, He Man, Liu Pi, Huang Shao, and Gong Du from Runan and Yingchuan, who attacked Cao Cao’s forces from the flanks. These Yellow Turban leaders each commanded several thousand troops, mostly old and weak, but together they numbered over 20,000 and were familiar with the terrain, making them difficult to deal with. Cao Cao was forced to send Cao Ren, Cao Hong, and Yue Jin with 30,000 troops to suppress them, which left his main force facing Yuan Shu undermanned, and they were forced to halt and face off across the Ying River.

One evening at dusk, Cao Cao and his cousin Xiahou Dun returned from inspecting the camp and dismounted in front of the main tent. Xiahou Dun remarked, “I didn’t expect these stirrups to be so useful.” Cao Cao nodded and lifted the wooden stirrup on his horse to take a closer look, saying, “Seeing this stirrup, I can’t help but think of Hongfu.”

This was shortly after Xun had joined Cao Cao’s forces. One day, while they were riding out of Juancheng on some business, Cao Cao noticed the new contraption on Xun’s feet and pointed with his whip, asking, “Hongfu, what is this?”

Xun, who had already explained the stirrup many times, didn’t answer but instead used his legs to stand up in the stirrups and twisted his waist. Cao Cao’s squinted eyes widened like quail eggs, and he leaped off his horse to examine the stirrup. Xun, startled, quickly pulled his foot out and dismounted. Cao Cao examined the stirrup for a long time, looking at it from all angles, and then tapped it with his whip, making a “tang tang” sound. “Iron? That’s too wasteful. Can it be made of wood?”

Xun replied, “It might not be durable, but it would serve the same purpose.” Cao Cao thought for a moment and said, “Find sturdy wood and paint it. It should work—our cavalry should all be equipped with this, this...” Xun interjected, “Stirrup.” He thought that the stirrups used in ancient Korea and Japan were made of wood and painted, and they should work.

“Right, stirrup,” Cao Cao pointed with his whip, “Then it’s all up to you, Hongfu.” This was Xun’s first important task.

Thinking back to this, Cao Cao smiled as he held the stirrup. But then he sighed and turned to Xiahou Dun, “What a pity, Zhicai, his life was cut short. After Zhicai’s death, I’ve been thinking, do you think Hongfu could take his place?”

Xiahou Dun frowned, “Hongfu is talented, but he’s too young—I think the person recommended by Xun Wenyi, Guo Jia, might be more suitable.”

“What’s wrong with being young? When I was the Northern Commandant of Luoyang, how old was I? Besides, Guo Fengxiao is only a few years older than Hongfu.” Cao Cao’s thoughts suddenly drifted, and as he put down the stirrup and entered the tent with Xiahou Dun, he nodded toward the east and asked, “Have you checked over there?”

Xiahou Dun nodded. Cao Cao asked, “How is it?”

Xiahou Dun pursed his lips, “Not good, just a bunch of extras. Speaking of Xuzhou, the thousands of Danyang soldiers around Tao Qian are very strong, followed by Zang Ba’s personal guards, but the rest...” he chuckled.

Cao Cao sat down in the center of the tent and chuckled, “The Danyang soldiers? They are Tao Qian’s bodyguards and wouldn’t be sent to help us. Remember when we suffered a defeat at Xingyang and went to Danyang to recruit soldiers...”

Before he could finish, a messenger from Liang reported, “There is an urgent envoy from Liang.”

“An urgent envoy?” Cao Cao and Xiahou Dun exchanged glances and gestured for the envoy to enter. The tent curtain was lifted, and a small officer, covered in dust, rushed in, knelt on one knee, and presented a wooden tablet. Xiahou Dun took the tablet and passed it to Cao Cao, who, while untying the rope, asked, “What urgent matter could there be in Liang? Could there be a rebellion?”

The officer, out of breath, replied, “General, a few days ago... Chengyang’s magistrate was transporting grain into our territory and was ambushed by Yuan’s troops near Lumen Pavilion. All the grain was burned...”

Cao Cao was shocked and stood up, asking loudly, “Yuan’s troops have reached Liang... What about the magistrate of Chengyang?” The officer replied, “He is likely dead in the chaos.”

“Oh!” Cao Cao cried out and fell back, “Alas, Hongfu, how tragic, Hongfu!”

Xiahou Dun quickly rushed to support him, “My lord, don’t grieve. Although Hongfu is a civil official, he is skilled in archery and horsemanship and does not have the appearance of an early death. I will immediately lead the troops to Liang to eliminate Yuan’s troops and find Hongfu...”

“You...” Cao Cao paused, then regained his composure, “You don’t go, let Miaocai go, he moves quickly...” He suddenly remembered something and turned to the officer, “How many troops does Yuan have? Who leads them?” The officer reported, “Three to five hundred, all cavalry, no banners, unknown commander.” Cao Cao immediately called out, “Summon Miaocai and have him lead 700 cavalry to suppress them!”

As he spoke, a commotion was heard outside the tent. The curtain was lifted again, and a general rushed in without permission. Cao Cao and Xiahou Dun were startled and both reached for their swords. The general knelt and shouted, “My lord, something terrible has happened!”

Cao Cao, recognizing him as Li Qian’s son, Li Zheng, asked, “Xiu Cheng, why are you here? What’s wrong?”

Li Zheng, in a panic, reported, “Zhang Miao, Chen Gong, Xu Si, and Wang Kai have rebelled and welcomed Lu Bu into Yanzhou, claiming to replace you as the Governor of Yanzhou. All the counties and cities of Yanzhou, except for Juancheng and Fan, have defected and are now under Lu Bu’s control!”

“Oh!” Cao Cao cried out and fell back...

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