After transmigrating as Guo Jia and surviving his brush with death, he had planned to keep serving Cao Cao.
But when he saw with his own eyes Cao Cao turning a blind eye to his subordinate Cheng Yu using human flesh as military rations, all to feed the army, and witnessed the aftermath of the massacre in Xu Province, where “white bones lay exposed in the wild,” his modern education shook his worldview to its core.
He realized that Cao Cao’s policy of “appointing men solely for their talent” was only a temporary measure. In the end, he would still compromise with the powerful clans, and the common people would remain mere weeds in this age of chaos.
So Guo Jia decided he was done working for someone else! Taking advantage of Cao Cao’s absolute trust in him, he used the excuse of heading south to Jingzhou to gather intelligence. In truth, he secretly reached out to military officers from humble backgrounds, such as Huang Zhong, Gan Ning, and Wei Yan, who had yet to be given their due. On the eve of the Battle of Red Cliffs in 208, while Cao Cao, Sun Quan, and Liu Bei were locked in fierce conflict, Guo Jia suddenly raised the banner of rebellion in Jingnan’s four commanderies, including Changsha and Lingling. He seized Jingzhou and declared himself ruler...
