From the Start, a Cao Wei Farmer Joins Guan Yu

In the final years of the Eastern Han dynasty, Cao Cao imposed harsh labor services and taxes in the north to sustain his ongoing wars, including the Battle of Red Cliffs, the Hanzhong Campaign, and the Battles of Xiangfan. The burden was especially heavy in Henan and northern Jingzhou, near the front lines, and public resentment continued to mount.

Sun Lang, a resident of Luhun County near the Xiangfan front, joined forces with locals to resist the harsh rule of Cao Wei. Seeing the military advantage Guan Yu gained by flooding the seven armies, he realized that the locals alone could not stand against Cao Wei’s regular forces, so he took the initiative to move south and join Guan Yu...