Chapter 90 89 Move the capital to Xucheng

After Dong Zhuo's rebellion, the Eastern Han Dynasty existed in name only and lost control of the states and counties in various places.Bureaucrats and tyrants from all over the country took the opportunity to compete for territory, forming large and small separatist forces.The relatively powerful ones include Yuan Shao in Jizhou, Yuan Shu in Nanyang, Liu Biao in Jingzhou (about present-day Hubei and Hunan provinces and part of Henan, Guizhou, Guangdong, and Guangxi), and Xuzhou (about the north of the Yangtze River in present-day Jiangsu and southeast of Shandong) Tao Qian, Lu Bu, etc., they fought with each other, and they fought in the dark.Tens of thousands of people were massacred in the melee, and desolate scenes without human habitation appeared in many places.

Cao Cao had very little influence.Later, he defeated the Yellow Turban Army that had invaded Yanzhou (now the southwestern part of Shandong Province and the eastern part of Henan Province, Yanyinyan), and established a stronghold in Yanzhou.He also selected part of the elite forces from the surrendered soldiers of the Yellow Turban Army to expand the armed forces.Later, he defeated Tao Qian and Lu Bu and became a powerful separatist force. In 195 A.D., Li Jue and Guo Si in Chang'an had a firefight, and his relative Dong Cheng and a group of ministers fled Chang'an with Emperor Xian and returned to Luoyang.The palace in Luoyang had already been burnt down by Dong Zhuo, and there were broken bricks and tiles, thorns and weeds everywhere.When Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty arrived in Luoyang, he had no palace and lived in an official's dilapidated house.Some civil and military officials had no place to live, so they had to build a thatched shed next to the broken wall to shelter from the wind and rain.The biggest difficulty is that there is no source of food.Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty sent people to go around, asking officials from all over the country to deliver food to the court.But everyone is busy grabbing land, and they don't pay attention to the emperor at all, and no one is willing to send food.

The court ministers had no choice but officials below Shang Shulang had to dig wild vegetables by themselves.How could these pampered officials endure this hardship? Some ate a few meals of wild vegetables before falling down on the edge of the broken wall and starving to death. At this time, Cao Cao was stationing troops in Xucheng (now Xuchang, Henan). Hearing the news, he summoned his advisers to discuss whether he should welcome Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty. The counselor Xun Yu (sound yu) said: "In the past, Jin Wengong sent troops to send King Zhou Xiang back to Luoyi (now Luoyang) and became the overlord; Han Gaozu mourned Emperor Yi, and everyone in the world turned to him. Such examples are not common in history. Not much. Now that the emperor has arrived in Luoyang, he is in dire straits. If the general can welcome the emperor, this is just to obey the wishes of the people. If we don’t pick him up in time, we will miss the opportunity if we let others go to greet him first.”

After hearing this, Cao Cao thought it made sense, and immediately sent Cao Hong to lead a team to Luoyang to meet Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty. Dong Cheng and other ministers were afraid of Cao Cao, so they sent troops to stop Cao Hong's troops.Later, Cao Cao went to Luoyang in person and explained to them that Luoyang was short of food.There is food in Xucheng, but the transportation is inconvenient, so the emperor and ministers were asked to move there temporarily.So as not to suffer from cold and starvation here. Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty and his ministers heard that there was food in Xucheng, and they all wished to move the capital as soon as possible.In 196 AD, Cao Cao welcomed Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty to Xucheng. Since then, Xucheng has become the temporary capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty, so it is called Xudu.

Cao Cao built a palace for Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty in Xudu, and let Emperor Xian officially go to court.Cao Cao proclaimed himself a general, and began to issue orders to the powerful states and counties in the name of Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty. First of all, he issued an imperial edict to Yuan Shao in the name of Emperor Xian, blaming him for having a large army and only expanding his power to attack other states and counties instead of helping the court. Although Yuan Shao was powerful, he was nominally a courtier of Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty. After receiving the imperial edict, he had no choice but to present a memorial to defend himself.

Cao Cao named Yuan Shao Taiwei in the name of Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty.This time, Yuan Shaoke became angry.He felt that Cao Cao was a general, and he was under Cao Cao, which was too embarrassing.He said angrily: "Cao Cao would not be here today if it wasn't for me. Now he uses the name of the emperor to order me to rise up." His last memorial resigned the Taiwei. Cao Cao felt that his position was not yet solid, and he did not want to fall out with Yuan Shao, so he gave Yuan Shao the title of general.He changed his name to Chariot General. Xu Du's situation has temporarily stabilized.But as time passed, the food supply for a large number of officials and troops became difficult.After ten years of chaos, there is famine everywhere.If the food problem in Xudu is not resolved, everyone will not be able to stay.An official, Zaoyi (sound zhi), proposed a method to Cao Cao called "Garn Tian".He asked Cao Cao to recruit the exiled peasants to the outskirts of Xudu to reclaim wasteland, and the government would rent him farm tools and animals.Half of the grain harvested each year goes to the government and half goes to the farmers.

Cao Cao accepted Zaoyi's suggestion and issued an order to garrison the fields.The wasteland near Xudu was quickly reclaimed.After a year, the land that had been barren had a bumper harvest.The suburbs of Xudu alone received one million hu of public grain.Cao Cao also implemented the garrison system and set up field officials in the states and counties under his jurisdiction.From then on, wherever the garrison system was implemented, the barns were full. Cao Cao used the name of the emperor to order the world, and adopted the method of farming to solve the problem of military rations. He also absorbed a group of talented advisers such as Xun You, Guo Jia, and Man Chong, and his strength became even stronger.