In the seventh month of the fourth year of the Jian'an Era, seizing the lull after defeating Yuan Shao, Cao Cao led his troops back to Xuchang.
He had only one purpose: move the capital! Move it before Yuan Shao marched south!
Cao Cao had originally proposed this matter in the second month, but it had been forcibly delayed until the seventh month.
The main reason was the movements of Yuan Shao and Liu Bei's two factions—this, too, was Qin Tian's scheme.
To prevent Cao Cao from moving the capital, they had corresponded with Yuan Shao and urged him to send troops into Hedong, while having Guan Yu threaten from the Runan direction.
Under these circumstances, Cao Cao's routes for moving the capital north or south were directly threatened by the two factions.
After all, traveling north from Nanyang to Guanzhong required crossing several hundred li of the Nanyang Plains.
Both Liu Biao and Liu Bei might lead troops to intercept them, and there was no telling what might happen on the road.
As for entering Guanzhong from Luoyang by way of Hongnong, before Hedong was completely stabilized, moving the capital would invite pursuit from Yuan Shao's cavalry!
Thus, if Cao Cao wanted to move the capital safely, he had to open up a route entirely under his control.
Beyond that, there was another matter Cao Cao could not help but fear: obstruction from the assembled officials.
The foremost among them was Xun Yu, an important minister whose seniority under Old Cao was second only to Qin Tian's.
With Qin Tian's departure, Xun Yu had unexpectedly begun clashing with Cao Cao ahead of time.
Most directly, after Cao Cao marched north, Xun Yu had thwarted Dong Zhao's plan to move the Son of Heaven ahead of everyone else.
Cao Cao