Overthrowing Wei: Starting with Cao Cao's "I'd rather betray the world than surrender

"Ask me?"

"Yes."

"It's not asking whether I will attack Dong Zhuo," Cao Cao said. "It's asking which side I'm on."

Xiahou Dun did not respond.

He shouldn't have responded to that.

Cao Cao placed the proclamation back on the table and lightly pressed the two characters "punish Dong Zhuo" with his fingertip.

"Once the proclamation was issued, the world had already been divided into two factions."

"Those who come to me now don't want war."

"I'm afraid of standing in the wrong spot."

Xiahou Dun couldn't help but ask, "And what about our lord?"

Cao Cao glanced at him.

"I?"

He paused for a moment.

"I had no choice."

This sentence was said very softly.

But it's absolutely true.

Cao Cao knew very well that once he signed this proclamation, it would mean that he had already stood on the opposite side of Dong Zhuo.

It's not a question of whether we can win or not.

There was no way to retreat.

"How's the recruitment going?" he asked.

"Many are willing to come," Xiahou Dun replied, "but their quality varies."

"Many have the guts, but few are capable."

Cao Cao nodded.

This was exactly the outcome he had anticipated.

In the early days of chaos, those who emerge first are never the most stable.

But it's the most urgent.

"Have you chosen yet?"

"As per our lord's instructions, we will not establish any new ranks for the time being," Xiahou Dun said. "We will only register them, not assign them to teams."

Cao Cao hummed in agreement.

"right."

"Splitting into teams now would only create more trouble for ourselves."

He walked to the table and spread out a simple map.

The person marked above is not Dong Zhuo.

But -

The counties of Guandong.

Yuan Shao's camp was the most heavily fortified.

Cao Cao stared at that name for a moment.

"The alliance leader is not yet firmly established," he said.

"But everyone is already moving in that direction."

Xiahou Dun hesitated for a moment, then asked, "When does my lord plan to depart?"

Cao Cao did not answer immediately.

Instead, he asked:

"How do you think this alliance meeting will turn out?"

Xiahou Dun was taken aback.

"Isn't 'opposing Dong Zhuo' just 'opposing Dong Zhuo'?"

Cao Cao laughed.

This time, there was a hint of coldness in his smile.

"If it were really just about eliminating Dong Zhuo, then the world would be much simpler."

He pointed to several names on the map with his finger.

"Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, Liu Dai, Kong Zhou..."

"Which of these people is after Dong Zhuo?"

"What they're after is military power and the right to speak."

Xiahou Dun remained silent.

He suddenly realized something—

Cao Cao did not expect this alliance to actually overthrow Dong Zhuo.

"What does my lord mean?"

Cao Cao withdrew his hand.

"This alliance is bound to fall apart."

He spoke with great certainty.

"It's just a matter of time."

"What really matters is not who stands beside whom at the alliance meeting."

"But after they dispersed—"

He raised his head, his eyes clear and bright.

"Who can still stand?"

On the same night.

Pingyu.

The lights in the back hall of the county government office remained on.

Xu Heng sat at his desk, having not written anything for a long time.

It's not that there are no documents on the table, but rather—

These days, there are so many documents that one dares not write anything carelessly.

The report from the night patrol outside the city has just arrived.

"Nothing is amiss at the city gates."

"There is nothing to do on the official road."

"The grain transport route is unharmed."

Every line of text looks very solid.

But Xu Heng knew that the more "stable" the situation was, the less he, as a county magistrate, could handle it.

The magistrate's body has not yet been removed.

The reply from the prefecture stated "temporarily taking charge of county affairs".

Temporary photo.

These two words are like a thin sheet of ice, laid underfoot.

As long as you don't break, no one will say you're wrong no matter how steadily you walk.

But once it cracks—

What fell was never ice.

Just then, the doorman rushed in.

"Lord Xu".

"People from the county have arrived."

Xu Heng's hand paused slightly.

He didn't ask who it was.

I didn't ask many people.

"Please come in," he said.

The sound was very steady.

He was so composed that even he himself was somewhat surprised.

⸻

Two people arrived.

One in literature and one in martial arts.

The official in charge of the prefecture was surnamed Han.

Wu was a military officer from the prefecture, and he came in armor.

The two entered the hall but did not sit down.

The prefectural government made its first statement:

"Xu, the county magistrate."

Upon hearing this form of address, Xu Heng immediately sensed that the visitor's intentions were not good.

He stood up, straightened his clothes, and bowed to the two men.

"Your humble servant is here."

He only nodded slightly.

The armored general stood to one side, offering no response.

Han unfolded the document and read it aloud:

"The proclamation against Dong Zhuo has been issued; all counties should prepare military supplies."

"To Pingyu County—"

He paused for a moment, then looked up at Xu Heng.

"Recruit one thousand soldiers."

There was silence in the hall for a moment.

Xu Heng knew very well what was going on.

From the moment this document was issued, the county had already taken sides and was no longer heeding the imperial edict. The world was about to descend into chaos, or rather, it already was.

Xu Heng did not respond immediately.

Ya Jiang then took a half step forward, his voice low and deep:

"It must be completed within ten days."

The words weren't harsh, but they carried the uncompromising nature typical of the military.

Xu Heng then spoke:

"May I ask?"

"Are these thousand men regular soldiers or auxiliary personnel?"

Han replied calmly:

"With the march imminent, the names of the soldiers are to be included in the register."

This statement is very clear.

—It wasn't a temporary transfer of laborers, it was a forced conscription.

Xu Heng's hand tightened slightly inside his sleeve.

Pingyu is no more than one county.

With spring planting approaching, the departure of a thousand able-bodied men meant something he understood better than anyone.

But he did not refute it.

Instead, he asked another question:

How do I access the roster?

The clerk continued:

"The county will select them."

"In the county, only numbers matter."

Upon hearing this, Xu Heng understood.

The pot belongs to the county.

Number is from the county.

Whether it succeeds or not is not up to them.

Xu Heng remained silent for a moment, then finally replied:

"Your humble servant... obeys."

Han nodded, as if this was the answer he had expected.

He closed the document and added another sentence:

"Pingyu has been more peaceful than I expected along the way."

The official in charge of the prefecture paused for a moment before adding, "County Magistrate Xu is a capable administrator."

After saying that, he didn't linger any longer.

The tooth will then turn around, and the nail plates will rustle softly.

The two men did not look back as they left the hall.

As soon as the hall door closed, the sound of the wind blew through the corridor.

Xu Heng stood still, not sitting down immediately.

⸻

After seeing off the people from the prefecture, Xu Heng stood in front of the hall for a long time without moving.

A night breeze blew by, causing the lamplight to sway.

He suddenly realized something:

Pingyu has been pushed onto the table.

It's no longer about "whether we can stabilize the situation".

But -

Should we confess?

Hand over the person.

wage war.

Entrusting the future.

And he, the county magistrate who was "temporarily in charge of county affairs,"

At this moment, I stand in the middle of all choices.

Taking a step back will lead to chaos in the city.

Furthermore, it remains the same.

Xu Heng slowly exhaled.

Turning to the clerk, he said:

"Go and invite Lü Ding."

The clerk was taken aback.

"Now?"

"Now." Xu Heng nodded.

"Just say—"

He paused for a moment.

The voice was kept extremely low.

"The county has come to request troops."

⸻

The night was dark.

Outside the city, the lights in Lüjiazhuang shone brightly and steadily.

When the clerk rode up, Lü Ding was at the edge of the drill ground, watching the changing of the guard.

The torches shone on the armor.

tidy.

Quiet.

The clerk dismounted, bowed, and spoke.

Lü Ding did not respond immediately.

He simply looked up and glanced at the night sky.

Then he nodded.

"understood."

"Go back and tell Magistrate Xu."