A Broken Capital Awaits Its Emperor

In the seventh month of Jian’an 1 (196 CE), the fifteen-year-old Emperor Xian of Han finally returned to his longed-for homeland: Luoyang. Yet the once-glorious imperial capital lay in ruins. Though General Dong Cheng had hastily erected a temporary palace, the surrounding countryside stood desolate—fields untended, granaries empty. For the emperor and his exhausted retinue, survival became a daily struggle.

The journey from Chang’an had been a gauntlet of warlord ambushes and starvation. Now, officials who had narrowly escaped death on the road faced a new horror: cannibalism. Whispers spread of armed soldiers—oddly well-fed—preying on civilians. When Emperor Xian heard these rumors, he trembled. “This is hell on earth,” he murmured, his childhood dreams of Luoyang shattered. Guilt consumed him; his insistence on returning had led his people into this nightmare.

Warlords and Power Plays

Control of the fractured court fell to former Yellow Turban rebels Yang Feng and Han Xian, now “Generals of Chariots and Cavalry” for escorting the emperor east. Their rise incited fury among elites like Dong Cheng (a nephew of Empress Dowager Dong), who scoffed: “Bandits masquerading as generals!” Recognizing that military strength dictated power, Dong Cheng secretly reached out to an ambitious warlord: Cao Cao of Yan Province.

Cao Cao’s advisor Xun Yu had long advocated “rescuing the emperor to command the realm.” Seizing the invitation, Cao marched troops into Luoyang under the pretext of purging corrupt officials. When Han Xian saw unfamiliar soldiers flooding the streets, he fled alone to Yang Feng’s camp in Liang (modern Kaifeng). Cao executed Han’s allies, then executed his true plan: relocating the court to his stronghold of Xuchang.

The Xuchang Gambit

Cao Cao’s proposal was framed as necessity—Luoyang had no food. But his confidence stemmed from meticulous preparation. After a failed campaign two years prior (derailed by locust-induced famine), he had established military farms (tuntian) overseen by agricultural officers. That autumn, Xuchang’s granaries overflowed with 2 million hu of grain (≈40 million liters). To starving officials, relocation wasn’t coercion; it was salvation.

Emperor Xian, desperate to escape the ruins, consented. Upon arrival, he elevated Cao to “Grand General” and Marquis of Wuping. Cao then dismantled the traditional triumvirate (the Three Excellencies), consolidating power. Next, he crushed Yang Feng at Liang, sending the White Wave remnants fleeing to rival warlord Yuan Shu.

The Southern Chessboard

While Cao Cao secured the emperor, southern China simmered with rivalries:
– Xu Province: Liu Bei, inheriting rule from Tao Qian, struggled to control his guest-general—the infamous turncoat Lü Bu.
– Yuan Shu: Isolated by enemies (Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, Liu Biao), the arrogant warlord clung to his “Four Generations of Three Dukes” lineage. A scholar’s interpretation of the prophecy “The one who replaces Han shall be Dang Tu Gao” (coinciding with Yuan’s style name “Gonglu”) stoked his imperial delusions.
– Sun Ce: The “Little Conqueror,” son of late general Sun Jian, carved a domain south of the Yangtze.

Yuan Shu’s advisor Ji Ling spotted opportunity in Xu’s instability: “Lü Bu sits like a wolf at Liu Bei’s door.” When Liu Bei left to defend Huaixin, his hot-tempered brother Zhang Fei—left guarding Xiapi—provoked chaos by killing Cao Bao, a commander from Tao Qian’s faction. The city fractured along factional lines, inviting rebellion.

Legacy of a Fractured Dynasty

Cao Cao’s relocation of the Han court to Xuchang marked a pivotal shift. By controlling the emperor and grain supply, he gained legitimacy and strategic advantage—a model later replicated by dynasties like the Wei-Jin transition. Meanwhile, Yuan Shu’s hubris (declaring himself emperor in 197) made him a pariah, while Sun Ce’s expansion laid foundations for the Wu kingdom.

The tragedy of Luoyang—a microcosm of the Han’s collapse—revealed how idealism (Emperor Xian’s homecoming) collided with realpolitik (Cao Cao’s pragmatism). In the Three Kingdoms era, survival belonged to those who mastered both grain and steel.