Bloodshed in Xuchang: A Doomed Uprising Against Cao Cao
"Impatience is karma; patience is blessing." — This ancient proverb found a tragic fulfillment in Jin Yi, a seventh-generation descendant of Ji Mi, a loyal lord of the Western Han Dynasty.
When Cao Cao was crowned King of Wei and installed his trusted chief clerk Wang Bi to command the army in Xuchang, this loyal descendant of the Han imperial bloodline saw dancing despair in the flames beneath his ancestral bronze lamp. Confronted with the reality that Emperor Xian had been reduced to a puppet, Jin Yi resolved to unite loyal Han officials including Ji Ben, the imperial physician, and Geng Ji, to launch a fatal strike on the Lantern Festival, the first month of the twenty-third year of Jian'an.
Their plan was elaborate yet fatal: Ji Miao and Ji Mu, sons of Ji Ben, would lead dare-to-die troops to raid Wang Bi's residence by night, kill the Cao army commander, rescue the Son of Heaven, then send beacon signals to coordinate a pincer attack with Guan Yu. However, when torches lit up the night sky above Wang Bi's mansion, the Cao general, though wounded in the shoulder by a stray arrow, narrowly escaped to his military camp. The mortally wounded Wang Bi identified the rebel leaders to Yan Kuang, General of the Gentlemen of the Household, before his death, and a bloody suppression unfolded at once.
Bloodshed in the Streets: A Tragic Dirge of the Fall of Five Hundred Clans
The Cao army's reaction far exceeded Jin Yi's expectations. Elite troops led by Yan Kuang swept through the streets, cutting down the loyalists like wheat. Ji Ben and his sons were nailed to burning gateposts by crossbow bolts, and the imperial physician's office, once filled with the scent of medicinal herbs, turned into a slaughterhouse.
Five days later, Cao Cao's black banners descended upon Xuchang like clouds hanging from the sky. The King of Wei, who had traveled day and night from Ye City, stood before the blood-stained palace and issued a cruel choice: "Those who fought the fire, stand to the right; those who did not, stand to the left."
After the officials stood in terrified alignment, he sneered and declared: "Those who did not fight the fire turned a blind eye to chaos — their hearts deserve death. Those who did took the chance to set fires — their crimes deserve death."
The blood of hundreds of clans stained the winter jasmine blooming in early spring.
The last sight Jin Yi saw on the execution ground was circling crows and his own head rolling into the wilderness. This rebellion lasted only two days, yet triggered months of purges. The officialdom of Xuchang was completely reshuffled, and all attendants around Emperor Xian were replaced. As Jin Yi lamented before his death: "Men's memories are shorter than a fish's." This final struggle of loyal souls of the Han Dynasty soon vanished into the dust of history.
Wolf Smoke in the North: Wuhuan Rebellion and Cao Zhang's Mighty Victory
Before the bloodshed in Xuchang faded, war flared up again in the north.
Qian Qian, Administrator of Dai Commandery recalled by Cao Cao, had warned anxiously: "The barbarians refuse to be disciplined; replacing the commander will surely spark rebellion." Sure enough, in the fourth lunar month of summer, the twenty-third year of Jian'an, the Wuchen Di tribe of the Wuhuan in Dai Commandery rebelled first, followed by three other Wuhuan tribes.
Cao Cao immediately appointed his son Cao Zhang acting General of Xiao Cavalry to march against them. The fierce warrior, skilled in riding and archery since childhood, lived up to his father's expectations. He defeated the main Wuhuan force north of the Sangang River, and even compelled the Xianbei chieftain watching the battle to surrender without fighting. The northern grasslands returned to peace.
Fierce Battle in Hanzhong: Liu Bei's Arduous Northern Expedition
Meanwhile, Liu Bei, Cao Cao's chief rival, was quietly marching toward Hanzhong.
In the twenty-third year of Jian'an, Liu Bei dispatched Zhang Fei and Ma Chao to station at Gushan, but their ruse was seen through by Cao Xiu, a subordinate general of Cao Hong: "Would they make such a fanfare if they truly planned to raid the grain supplies?"
Cao Hong struck decisively, killing Wu Lan, a general under Liu Bei, and forcing Zhang Fei and Ma Chao to retreat. After the initial defeat in the first Battle of Hanzhong, Liu Bei withdrew to Yangping Pass to stand off against Xiahou Yuan and Zhang He, only to be severely defeated by Xu Huang at the Mamingge Path. His repeated attacks on Guangshi, held by Zhang He, also ended in failure.
In desperation, Liu Bei urgently sent for reinforcements from Zhuge Liang in Yi Province. Faced with the dilemma — "sending troops would destabilize the rear; not sending would imperil the front line" — Yang Hong, a administrative aide, woke Zhuge Liang with one remark: "Hanzhong is the throat of Yi Province; its survival binds the state's fate."
Zhuge Liang then poured all of Yi Province's strength into the reinforcement effort, dispatching troops and grain, and recommending Yang Hong, a native of Yi Province, as acting Administrator of Shu Commandery to stabilize the rear.
Reinforced, Liu Bei knew time was pressing. For Cao Cao had personally led a grand army toward Chang'an in the seventh lunar month of autumn, and the decisive battle for Hanzhong was about to begin.
Historical Insight: The Fatal Trap of the Impatient
Jin Yi's tragedy confirmed the philosophical thought at the beginning: "Constant dripping wears away the stone, not in a single day."
This hasty anti-Cao uprising failed due to underestimating the Cao army's combat power and lacking unified command, eventually leading to the annihilation of hundreds of clans.
Cao Cao's strategic composure in suppressing the rebellion, repelling the barbarians, and fighting in Hanzhong, together with the resilience of Liu Bei's faction in adversity, together composed the turbulent events of the twenty-third year of Jian'an.
As new rebellions broke out in the Nanyang region over exorbitant taxes and corvée, how would this "capable minister in times of peace, treacherous hero in times of chaos" respond to crises on multiple fronts? The wheel of history turned slowly in blood and fire.