The New Governor (Part 1/2/3)

[Xiang Yu]

Victory

Cao Cao slipped to one knee to lift the body that had sprayed blood across the battlefield. It had turned limp over time, and he instinctively pushed his hand under the bodies back to push it back up, so that the head lolled uselessly against his padded torso. The body had not moved, but he had caught its gaze at a world that was slowly vanishing before them. He had even seen them blink and for a moment he had thought he saw peace on their face, but then they jolted and the eyes turned sullen and cold beneath him.

“Miss.” He said feverishly.

“No point talking to her.” Replied one of his officers, “She’s speaking with the devil now.”

Cao Cao turned back to his officers as they had finished and paused. Their bodies had been filled with dirt and blood.

“How did this happen?” He asked, “How did any of it turn out like this?”

They did not reply, though Cao Cao had suspected such a response from men of little intellect. There was nothing to justify the acts he had just witnessed, no meaning to the chaos that the city had fallen. Indeed the city had fell and the turbans purged, but what was a victory when the people suffered a similar fate to those they banished in hopes of saving the innocent?

Cao rose from the floor, leaving the corpse to slide down his body and twist. He did not look down, nor did he turn to his officers. He gazed ahead, at the city and its living residents. He had not spoken to them, or called out for peace since he had arrived and he believed it was finally time to do so.

“Call for a meeting. I will speak with Pu Yang and all the villages that are close at hand. I shall declare my plans tomorrow.” He turned to his leading officer Cao Hong and nodded, “so be there.”

They moved at his command. Leaving him alone on the field of battle. He had still seen the flags of his allies ahead and the banners of other regional lords who had come to offer their assistance. They had finished with their looting and were steadily turning their armies north and south, away from the disease they had caused and from the death they had wrought. It did not bother him. He had smelled far worse in his youth and he turned to Pu Yang for one last time before taking his own leave. He would return tomorrow and then they would see their new governor speak.

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Part 2 due tomorrow.

[Xiang Yu]

Pu Yang. It had once stood as a provincial state of the Yuzhou province, governed by Lu Dai of the Han administration and son to the magistrate of the region. It had fallen; only weeks after the Han had succumbed to the troubles of the turban rebellion, whose masses had grown to substantial amounts over the coming years. It had not shocked him, the loss, but rather disappointed him when he had heard the news in Chen Liu, and so he had marched – and he had conquered.

Now, the city stood as the rows of the dead were carried through the busy streets of Pu yang. The city, a once lively place stood deserted, its inhabitants either dead or missing whilst those who did survive died of illness, wounds of war or the increased poverty that had come as a steady result of the insurgence.

It was nothing new to the world, and Cao Cao stood among the many rows of the city to accept that. He stood to look at those who had died, and then to overlook the dead whsislst protecting the city from further harm. He had done it all morning, waking up early when the hues of orange had yet to settle across the open dew sky. Now, he did not want to proceed to the city centre, where the platform had been erected and where men would stumble to his aide out of desperation and guilt. They could have stopped this, they would think – and the world would come tumbling down at the notion of having repelled the disease before it had spread.

It was too late now, and he knew they would realise that at some point, but whilst the hope of victory still tasted of anything but death or bitterness he saw the opportunity to act. He was not cruel, he wasn’t...he was just foolhardy.

“Cao Hong.” He said to his officer, “Let’s go.”

Cao Hong had served him well, and he too had risen early that morning to attend the matters that pressed their hands. They were warriors, but they were humans – and so they tried their best to clean up the dead and treat the wounded, even if they were turban or not.

After, they assembled the platform planks leading to the city centre, and stood gazing ahead at the masses that had gathered. The letters and notices had reached far and wide, and a large host of men had come to hear about the victory of the allied forces.

“Citizens of Pu yang, inhabitants of our glorious country…I beseech you!”

He smiled as he spoke and allowed a moment to settle. The crowd jeered and the soldiers of Wei stood united before them. It was time.

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Part 3 will be done later/or tomorrow.

[Xiang Yu]

The crowd had settled as Cao Cao and the other former magistrates and ministers assembled the wooden platform. The day, that had started off grey with rain had ceased, leaving rays of light to shine on the beacon that had been erected in front of the wooden fort.

Cao Cao was at the fore, with his leading officers behind him in orderly rows. Their armour had been cleaned, their swords polished and they stood behind him as a rigid mountain ready to bless his whim. It would do, he knew and Cao Caos shifted again in his state.

“It is a day of great remorse!” He said to the crowd. “A day of sorrow and remembrance.”

The people had all ceased in their talks as Cao Cao addressed them, a look of yearning on his face, his words left the crowd with the eerie echo of his voice to settle over them like a shrouded blanket. He turned, pointing a finger to each of his officers.

“Today we have brought justice to this city; today we have brought an end to the months of suffering endured.”

He would continuously pause, his eyes forever watchful as the men before him gazed up at their sodden ruler.

“But it has come with great expense. The city is in ruins and my coffers alone cannot undo the damage that has been created. And so citizens of Pu Yang, I am forced into an ultimatum. I can either increase the tax and the poverty to restore order, or I can be generous and kind.”

He turned to Li Dian, and the general nodded firmly. “But I have already decided what I am to do, and the means necessary to do it. I will not tax you for an entire year, nor will I bestow upon you any gifts of heartache or burden. I ask only that you work on the cities repairs, in knowing satisfaction that you will not be taxed as a result of such labour. This…is kindness; it is generosity, one that far surpasses words of kindness.”

“But you.” He opened his arms and smiled, “You, who have suffered and who have felt the wrath of the turbans dying sting have a choice. I offer you this. Join me in my quest to secure these lands, to prevent such atrocities from happening again, or move to Pu yang and help rebuild a once beautiful city. I have called all villages and towns of this region for that very purpose.”

Li Dian stood forward as Cao cao spoke, and bowed low to the crowd. Cao Hong followed, before other officers of merit joined the event. “These are the generals who fought for your safety, these are the men who helped form this coalition into defeating the Turbans who have so far plagued these lands, and although Zhang Jiao is dead – the remnants yet live, growing and praying on the lives and innocents of others. I will find them…you have my word on that – and I shall defeat them once and for all. The Han sis not dead, this is only a challenge, but a challenge that is to be met with blood and guts, with sword and shield and bow and arrow. It sis this challenge that defines us, for what we do now, right now – will reflect the choices presented to this country, to these lands. I beseech you, join me – and let us secure these lands once more, or help this cities restoration. I can no stronger case. I know of the losses, of the dead – and I have tried so diligently to prevent it, but I cannot defend a land without an army. I cannot enact justice and vengeance without men who feel their destiny entwined with mine. I ask….to put aside your families, your friends, your farms and look to the greater good of this nation. A man cannot produce what is taken from him, and without action even the small towns and villages will be threatened by the insurgence that has plagued the Han Dynasty. So in the name of my father, and of my ancestors – join me and together let us destroy this plague…let us wipe it from the earth so that we may return to our homes knowing it to be safe, for it to be secure!”

He closed his arms and his generals stood their step back.

“I will have recruitment offices assembled for two weeks. I hope to see you soon.”

[Hiei]

And the people of Pu Yang, desperate and broken from the recent skirmish, fall easily into the charm of Cao Cao's words. He was their beacon of hope in a dark time like this, and they would follow him as long as he looked to their needs.

Rewards:

• 500 Gold
  
• 150 Peasants

Due to difference in characters currently, perks are not recommended as a reward