Battle Royale of the Sinners

June 1st, 190 A.D.

Qiao Army of Cao Cao attacked Xiaopei County, which was defended by Zang Ba and Cao Bao of Yuan Shao.

Zang Ba and Cao Bao were once a subordinate of Tao Qian, and they were a part of Mi Zhu's faction. As they had been coaxed by Guo Jia beforehand, both of them opened the city gates and surrendered to Cao Cao.

Cao Cao's initial 30,000 soldiers increased to 45,000, but he was not satisfied.

Inside Xiaopei government hall, Cao Cao met with all former subordinates of Tao Qian.

Zang Ba and Cao Bao were the only generals in this city. Each commanded an army of 7,500 men, which had been transferred to Cao Cao's main force.

Wang Lang, a minor official, also served here.

In history, Wang Lang advised Tao Qian to form an alliance with Dong Zhuo after the anti-Dong Zhuo campaign, which both forces later reconciled with each other. Because of this action, the Han Court under Dong Zhou rewarded and entitled Wang Lang as the governor of Kuiji Commandery.

However, he lost his territories to Sun Ce afterward. Kong Rong, an old friend, sent a letter to invite him to Xuchang and served Cao Cao, and Wang Lang accepted. Under the Cao's banners, Wang Lang became one of the elite ministers that Cao Pi and Cao Rui respected.

Wang Lang held a role as Minister of Public Works under Cao Pi and was in charge of developing the country's domestic. After Cao Rui took over, Wang Lang's position shifted to Minister of the Masses, which was one of the three dominant titles along with Minister of Public Works and Minister of War.

As the butterfly effect had taken a full-swing, Wang Lang did not get his promotion. He still worked in Xiaopei as a minor official.

Pu Jing accounted for all names of the officials and generals that had surrendered. Once he noticed Wang Lang's name, he whispered to Cao Cao, "Please make sure to keep Wang Lang in check. He's a friend of Kong Rong, so he can be used to draw Kong Rong over."

Cao Cao clicked his tongue, "Vice versa, Kong Rong can also pull Wang Lang over, right? Can we just get rid of him before he becomes a spy for Zhang Tong?"

"You shouldn't. Wang Lang is a talented individual. He seems useless to you right now, but he will shine when he is older."

"Tell me about his achievements in your world."

For a minute, Pu Jing narrated the up-and-down life of Wang Lang.

Listening to the tales of how Wang Lang became an important figure for his children, Cao Cao satisfied.

"Make sure he doesn't contact with Kong Rong."

"Understood, my lord."

.

The sudden attack at Xiaopei was not the end.

Cao Cao's forces from Jibei, led by Cao Ren, detoured around Mount Taishan and sieged Langye County by surprise.

A similar incident occurred. Chen Gui and Chen Deng, who was Langye County's protectors, surrendered to Cao Ren without a fight.

As if Cao Cao had scheduled the attack, Xiaopei and Langye fell on the same day!

Seven days later, the news about the fallen cities reached Yuan Shao in Xiapi.

Instead of getting panicked, Yuan Shao was calm.

Inside Xiapi's main government building, Yuan Shao sat on the throne. Yan Liang and Tian Feng were by his sides while remaining 200 minor officials gathered in the room to discuss the invasion.

All Yuan Shao's subordinates and his sons argued how they should fight back against Cao Cao. All of them wanted to volunteer to be a commander in this campaign against Cao Cao.

The noise buzzed, yet Yuan Shao kept his silence.

Yuan Tan, Yuan Shang, and Yuan Xi kept making noises.

"Father, give me the cannon crews and 30,000 soldiers! I can squash those traitors like bugs!"

"Father, I only need 10,000 men and the cannons. Allow me to prove my worth to you!"

"Father, allow me to prove myself that I'm still your emperor son! I can kill Cao Cao with only cannon crews!"

Yuan Shao gazed at his sons and sighed. Although Tong was merciful enough to release all of his family members after all the feuds they had, Yuan Shao regretted that he did not have enough times to educate his sons.

Everyone was impudent and greedy. At this rate, the next generation of the Yuan Clan might be doom.

Tian Feng read through his lord's facial expression. He coughed.

"All cannon crews and cannons are for the defense of Xiapi. None of you can use it other than our lord."

Yuan Tan bellowed, "Silence, bootlicker! Had it not because of my father, you wouldn't have stood here today. Know your place! This is a family's business!"

Tian Feng's eyebrows twitched in anger, but he kept his cool.

"I merely followed the instruction and relaid his words. Simply put, my instruction just now was his words."

At this moment, Yuan Shao rolled his eyes, "We will not move from Xiapi. We'll fight them in a siege battle."

Everyone stopped talking and looked at their lord. They bowed and acknowledged his decision.

However, all of Yuan's sons were not happy with this order. As they were still young and inexperienced in warfare, they thought that they would be invincible as long as they had cannons.

.

After the meeting, Yuan Tan slipped out of the inner city to the military camp. His goal was the mercenary platoon under Miao Cai, aka Xiahou Yuan.

He met with Xiahou Yuan, Guo Jia, and Xu Chu in their command tent.

Without any introduction, Yuan Tan questioned them, "How much does it cost to hire all of you?"

Xiahou Yuan raised his eyebrows, confused.

"And, who might you be?"

"Just answer my question. I have the money!"

Xiahou Yuan did not like Yuan Tan's attitude. He was about to chase the arrogant young man out, but Guo Jia stopped him.

Guo Jia cupped his fist and bowed to Yuan Tan, "We're currently working under master Yuan Shao. Unless we have enough gold to pay for the termination of our contract, we can't serve anyone else."

Yuan Tan did not give up, "How much, then?"

"Our forces have increased to 10,000 men, so the termination cost is 10,000 gold, and we have to return 5,000 gold to master Yuan."

"That's cheap. I'll pay for it!"

"Also, our monthly pay is 1,000 gold during peacetime. In wartime, it becomes 10,000 gold a month."

"That's also cheap! I'll pay for it!"

"Very well, then. Please pay us the contract termination cost and one-year worth of our salary. Then, we shall work for you."

Yuan Tan jumped with joy. With this, he would have a private army of 10,000 men.

As long as he had an army, his influence in the court should contain more weight.

"Just wait here! I'll bring my money for you!"

Yuan Tan dashed away from their tent.

Guo Jia snickered as he shook his head, "We just score bonuses for our men."

Xiahou Yuan scoffed, "I don't like that fool."

"He's Yuan Tan, the eldest son of Yuan Shao."

"You knew?"

"Yeah, I did my homework. I didn't expect that Yuan Tan would have come here, though."

"Won't this affect our general plan?"

"Nah, it's better to have him around. At least, we have an alternate plan if Mi Zhu refuses to open the gate. By the way, how are other fronts?"

"Langye and Xiaopei is under our lord's hands. Everybody surrendered to him as planned."

"Tell our lord to siege Pengcheng. Then, he has to stop and wait for the reinforcement from Sun Jian."

Xiahou Yuan wanted to ask why they have to stop, but he followed through with this strategist's instruction anyway. Since Guo Jia had paved his ways for them with his stratagems, Xiahou Yuan had faith in this youth.

.

June 9th.

Yuan Tan and Yan Liang met each other in the military camp. Both of them handled the transfer of the mercenary troops.

In the afternoon, Yuan Tan met with Xiahou Yuan again, "I've brought my gold, and I handled the formality stuff. You work for me now."

Xiahou Yuan and the others bowed, "We greet young master Yuan Tan."

"HAHAHA! You are all educated. I like it. Come, you generals will move into my courtyard. You will be my household members from now on."

"… Thank you, young master."

All 10,000 planted soldiers moved to Yuan Tan's designated territories outside of Xiapi County wall. Meanwhile, all commanders, Xu Chu, Guo Jia, and Xiahou Yuan lived inside the inner city within Yuan Tan's private manor. They joined Yuan Tan's faction now.

The transferring mercenary news did not escape from Tian Feng's ears. He reported this movement to his lord.

"My lord, I think the first young master is plotting something behind your back. Can you arrange men to watch over their movement?"

Yuan Shao waved his hand, "Ignore it. It's just a childish boasting. It's good to have him learning about military and leadership the hard way. It's a lesson for his future."

"Lord, we are fighting Cao Cao right now. It's not a time to educate your sons with an unorthodox way. You should restrict every movement in your cities, so we can restrict any spying activity."

"And what can they do? At best, they will just be snooping around and report to their lords sooner or later. They are like cockroaches, Yuanhao. We find one, but nine others escape. It's an endless circle! Let's not wasting our time hunting for the endless spies, shall we?"

"Lord, I still-"

"Stop there, Yuanhao. I have enough headache for the day. I want to rest."

"…"

In the end, Yuan Shao refused to follow Tian Feng's advice. Without someone to rely on, Tian Feng turned to Yuan Shang, who was once the false emperor.

Although Yuan Shang was young, Tian Feng was confident that this teenage should be more intelligent than the other Yuans.

As soon as Tian Feng told Yuan Shang about his thought, Yuan Shang repeatedly nodded.

"I thought so as well! Our intelligence control should be a priority during the wartime. I'll assign my men to watch my older brother's men!"

Tian Feng was elated. He bowed to Yuan Shang and used this third son's token to arrange a counter-spy team to monitor Yuan Tan and Xiahou Yuan.

However, this move caused a misunderstanding among Yuan Shao's followers that Tian Feng had joined Yuan Shang's faction.

.

June 10th.

Yuan Xi, who heard the news about all accomplishment of his brothers, was fumed with jealousy. He also wanted to poach his father's men into his faction, so he would gain a footing in the court.

Since Yuan Shang got Tian Feng and Yuan Tan got the mercenaries, Yuan Xi turned to Yan Liang and other officers.

Unfortunately, Yan Liang refused to meet with Yuan Xi as he was too busy dealing with the upcoming war against Cao Cao.

The other officers also refused to join Yuan Xi's faction since he did not have his father's charisma or noteworthy achievement for their respect.

Without anyone to rely upon, Yuan Xi met with his father.

Yuan Shao listened to Yuan Xi's story with a wide smile. He patted Yuan Xi's shoulder, "You can work under me. Sometimes, you don't need to compete with others, but you can support others to survive."

"B-But, I want to be a clan lord, too."

"You don't have supporters at the moment. I think you should earn some reputation by accomplishing a deed or learn from your others. Before I can be a clan lord, I have to earn my right. Have I told you that I competed with my younger brother for this position?"