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WARNING: THIS CHAPTER MAY KICK ASS! SERIOUSLY.
Ahhhhh, the plot thickens, and things are getting very interesting for Cao Cao. His "pet tiger", Liu Bei, has escaped his cage and has returned to Xuzhou. And in the north, the (perhaps still somewhat) mighty Yuan Shao, with his massive army, has utterly defeated Gongsun Zan and has now turned his eyes southward. At the opening of the 3rd Century, clouds obscure the sun, and thunder rolls on the Central Plains...
As the inevitable confrontation between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao draws ever the nearer, I will take a moment to say a few words about their history with each other.
Yuan Shao was born in Ruyang, in Henan, a town under the jurisdiction of the then-capitol, Luoyang. Cao Cao was born in the nearby town of Qiao. Both youths being members of the nobility, it is said that they were, in fact, childhood friends, which lends a certain dramatic and tragic element to their encounters in later years...
In the years preceeding those described by the novel, Yuan Shao made a name for himself, aiding partisans during the Second "Disaster of Partisan Prohibitions", and eventually becoming one of He Jin's most trusted officers. Meanwhile, Cao Cao was making a name of his own as a district captain in the capitol, Luoyang, demonstrating the blindness of justice by having the uncle of eunuch Jian Shuo flogged half to death for carrying a weapon inside the walls.
Then, in 184, came the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Yuan Shao remained in the capitol, aiding He Jin as he may, and Cao Cao gained more fame with a decisive victory over rebels at Yingchuan.
The Rebellion over, Cao Cao returned to the capitol, where he and Yuan Shao both served He Jin With the assassination of He Jin by the Ten Eunuchs and the arrival of Dong Zhuo and his Flying Bear Army into the capitol, and the deposition of Emperor Liu Bian in favor of Liu Xian, Yuan Shao left the capital in disgust and went north. Cao Cao later also left the capitol, with a price on his head, after a botched assassination attempt against Dong Zhuo.
Advised to placate Yuan Shao, who was, indeed, the Eldest Son and Heir to one of the most prestigious and influential clans in the Han nobility, Dong Zhuo appointed Shao Commander of Bo Hai (modern day Cangzhou, Hebei), and thus Yuan Shao secured a territorial power base. Cao Cao fled home to Qiao, and raised an army to attack Dong Zhuo, gaining the services of many heroic individuals (Cao Ren, Xiahou Dun, and Xiahou Yuan to name but a few). Around this time, Yuan Shao seized control of He Nei, across the Yellow River from the capitol. He had, with the connivance of Han Fu, intended to enthrone Liu Yu, Imperial Protector of Youzhou, as the new Emperor in order to lend legitimacy to his Coalition against Dong Zhuo. However, Liu Yu declined this honor...
The two of them joined forces with other great noble Lords in a coalition to topple Dong Zhuo, but internal strife trumped many of the Coalitions goals, and ultimately, the Coalition fell apart. Yuan Shao returned to the north, seizing control of Jizhou from Han Fu, and warring with the other hero of the region, Gongsun Zan. And throughout the 190's, Shao would be a threat to Cao Cao's growing power, but ONLY a threat, as Yuan Shao was busy with Gongsun Zan at the time. This gave Cao Cao the opportunity to accomplish many great things on the Central Plains: The defeat of the Qingzhou Yellow Scarves (and the subsequent creation of the Qingzhou Elites), the seizure of the Emperor's person from Yang Feng and Han Xian, the conquest of Xu Zhou and the utter defeat of Lu Bu, and the consolidation of power in the Central Plains into Cao Cao's capable hands.
By late 199, however, Gongsun Zan had been defeated, and now, at the behest of Liu Bei, Yuan Shao readies his massive army of a million soldiers (by this time, Yuan Shao controls virtually the entire north of the Empire) to march south on Cao Cao. However, one's reputation was an extremely important thing in the late Han, and Yuan Shao could not simply attack Cao Cao without some noted justification. To have done so would simply have been political suicide. So Yuan Shao, via the talented late-Han minister, Chen Lin, authored one of the absolutely most spectacularly insulting letters one monarch has ever addressed to another. I'm very pleased to report that that letter, in its entirety, is to be found in this very chapter.
Yuan Shao was one of THE major heroes of the early parts of the book, and at one point, he appears to really have been a loyal servant of the Han. Though the character of Yuan Shao might have changed a bit throughout the story, he remains a Hero of the Three Kingdoms, and THE man to beat. In order to secure Wei's status as the predominant force in the lands of the Han, Cao Cao will HAVE to overcome Yuan Shao. There were two battles in the Three Kingdoms period that were far more important than all the rest. This is the prelude to the first of those extremely important battles, Guan Du.
This is probably my favorite chapter thus far produced, and I hope that you all laugh as much at the sheer arrogance of Yuan Shao as he delivers his manifesto against Cao Cao. I know I certainly enjoy this one. I hope you do too!