How Emperor Xian Escaped Chang'an and Returned East

In the previous episode, Lü Bu died at Xiapi and Cao Cao removed a major danger in the Xuzhou direction.

But Cao Cao's greatest opportunity was not only on the battlefield.

There was still an emperor in Chang'an. The lords of the realm still claimed to serve Han. Whoever brought the emperor to his side would gain a layer of legitimacy no army could easily replace.

The Young Emperor in Chang'an

After Dong Zhuo's death, Wang Yun failed to settle Dong Zhuo's former troops.

Li Jue, Guo Si, and other Xiliang commanders attacked Chang'an, killed Wang Yun, drove Lü Bu away, and placed Emperor Xian under their control.

For two years the emperor remained trapped. Local lords fought one another, and fewer people truly cared about the court.

Yet Emperor Xian was not foolish.

In 194 CE, at fourteen, he held his capping ceremony. When officials asked to choose an empress, he replied that his mother had not yet been properly buried. How could he discuss consorts? The officials then reburied Lady Wang and honored her as Empress Linghuai.

That same year, drought struck Guanzhong. Rain did not fall from the fourth to seventh month. Grain prices soared, famine filled Chang'an, and people even exchanged children for food.

Emperor Xian ordered grain from the imperial storehouse to be cooked into porridge for relief. People still died daily. Suspicious, he had grain measured and porridge cooked before him, proving that the amount should have fed more people. Officials had been stealing relief grain. He punished them, and after that the hungry at least received porridge.

The young emperor had compassion and judgment. What he lacked was control of the soldiers around him.

The Xiliang Commanders Turned on One Another

Li Jue and Guo Si controlled the court, but they were not united.

When Ma Teng and Han Sui attacked after a dispute with Li Jue, Emperor Xian tried to mediate. Li Jue instead sent Fan Chou, Guo Si, and Li Li to defeat them.

Afterward, the Xiliang commanders grew even more arrogant in court. They opened offices, recommended officials, and pushed aside the old high ministers.

Then suspicion grew among them.

Fan Chou had spoken with Han Sui during pursuit. Li Li reported this to his uncle Li Jue. Li Jue already feared Fan Chou's bravery and killed him at a banquet.

With Fan Chou dead, the main old Dong Zhuo leaders were Li Jue and Guo Si. Their mutual suspicion worsened. Later tradition says Guo Si's wife, fearing he was visiting Li Jue's household too often and might take a maid there, accused Li Jue of poisoning food. Guo Si believed her and attacked Li Jue.

The two Xiliang armies fought inside Chang'an.

The Emperor Became a Hostage

Emperor Xian sent envoys to mediate. Neither side listened.

Guo Si planned to seize the emperor. Li Jue moved first, surrounded the palace, and took the emperor into his own camp. Grand Commandant Yang Biao protested that no emperor had ever lived in a minister's house. Li Jue's men answered that the general had decided.

Officials walked behind the emperor's carriage as soldiers entered the palace, seized women and imperial goods, and burned halls, offices, and homes. Guo Si responded by taking Yang Biao and other high ministers as hostages.

One side held the emperor. The other held the ministers.

Li Jue used imperial goods and silk to reward troops and promised palace women and common women after defeating Guo Si. Guo Si bribed Li Jue's men for a night attack. Arrows flew into the imperial carriage curtains and one struck Li Jue's left ear.

Li Jue later moved Emperor Xian to the northern fort and cut off communications. Food was scarce. When the emperor asked for five dou of rice and five sets of ox bones for attendants, Li Jue sent only rotten bones.

The emperor wanted to rebuke him. Ministers urged him to endure. In that moment, even a mouthful of food was not guaranteed.

The Chance to Return East

Li Jue and Guo Si fought for months, and tens of thousands died.

When Zhang Ji came from Shan County to mediate and proposed moving the emperor toward Hongnong, Emperor Xian agreed. Hongnong was near Luoyang, and the emperor longed for the old capital.

After repeated envoys, Li Jue and Guo Si finally made peace. They first discussed exchanging sons as hostages, but Li Jue's wife could not bear it, so they exchanged daughters instead.

Danger remained. Qiang and Hu soldiers under Li Jue came to the emperor's residence asking whether the emperor was inside and where the palace women promised to them were. Emperor Xian was terrified and asked Jia Xu for help.

Jia Xu feasted the Qiang and Hu leaders, promised titles and goods, and persuaded them to leave. Once they dispersed, Li Jue's strength weakened and the eastward return became possible.

Leaving Chang'an

The imperial carriage finally left through Xuanping Gate.

As it approached a bridge, Guo Si's men blocked the road and demanded to know whether the real emperor was inside. Li Jue's men guarded the carriage with halberds, and conflict nearly broke out again.

Attendant Liu Ai shouted that this was the true Son of Heaven and lifted the curtain. Emperor Xian sat inside and angrily asked how they dared press so close to the supreme one.

The soldiers withdrew.

After crossing the bridge, soldiers shouted long live. That night the party reached Baling, starving and exhausted, and survived only because Zhang Ji provided food.

The emperor rewarded Zhang Ji and others with titles, and also continued granting offices to Li Jue, Guo Si, Yang Ding, Yang Feng, Dong Cheng, and others. These titles were both reward and pacification. With no army of his own, Emperor Xian could only use names to keep the chaotic escort moving east.

Huayin and Caoyang

Guo Si still wanted to steer the emperor toward Gaoling, where he could control him. Emperor Xian refused by fasting until Guo Si relented.

At Xinfeng, Guo Si again tried to force the emperor west. Officials secretly called Yang Ding, Dong Cheng, and Yang Feng. Guo Si's plan failed, but his men tried to use fire and disorder to seize the emperor again.

At Huayin, Duan Wei prepared clothes, carriages, and official tools, inviting the emperor into his camp. Because Duan Wei was hostile to Yang Ding, Yang Ding's side accused him of treason. Emperor Xian saw no evidence and refused to issue an edict attacking him, even when pressured until midnight.

Yang Feng, Dong Cheng, and Yang Ding attacked anyway, failed for more than ten days, and Duan Wei continued supplying the emperor's meals. The emperor ordered peace.

Then Li Jue and Guo Si regretted letting the emperor go. Zhang Ji also quarreled with Yang Feng and Dong Cheng and joined them. At Hongnong, they pursued and defeated the escort. Officials, soldiers, seals, documents, books, and archives were lost. The emperor fled to Caoyang and slept outside.

Dong Cheng and Yang Feng pretended to seek alliance while secretly calling White Wave troops, Han Xian, and Southern Xiongnu forces. Reinforced, they defeated Li Jue once, and the carriage moved east again.

But Li Jue caught up. Yang Feng suffered an even worse defeat. Many captured ministers were killed. Someone urged the emperor to mount a horse and flee alone.

Emperor Xian refused. He would not abandon the officials.

The road to Luoyang still lay ahead, and the emperor had already been seized, blocked, chased, starved, and nearly killed again and again. The next episode follows the ruined capital and the moment Cao Cao steps into the emperor's path.