Beihai is the setting for a siege and rescue that changes the course of Xuande’s involvement in the struggle against Cao Cao. When a Yellow Headband army cuts off the city, Taishi Ci carries Kong Rong’s appeal to Xuande; the resulting relief not only saves Beihai but persuades Xuande to join the effort to assist Tao Qian against Cao Cao’s invasion.

A local power and its appeal

Kong Rong, a twentieth-generation descendant of Kong Fu Zi and a former child prodigy, governs Beihai. He is initially unsure whether to help Tao Qian oppose Cao Cao: he has no personal grievance against Cao Cao, yet recognizes him as a dangerous enemy. Beihai’s vulnerability soon makes that political hesitation immediate. A large Yellow Headband force arrives, ravages the surrounding area, demands food, and threatens to sack the city. Its siege cuts Beihai off from outside aid.

Tao Qian’s adviser Mi Zhu proposes seeking support from local governors, including Kong Rong and Tian Kai in Qingzhou. Mi Zhu himself goes to Beihai to plead for Kong Rong’s help. The episode places the city within a network of neighboring powers and mutual appeals, but the siege makes clear that Beihai cannot rely on alliances in the abstract: it needs assistance that can reach its walls.

Taishi Ci brings help

As the besieged Kong Rong watches the situation worsen, a lone rider fights his way through the rebels and reaches the city gate. It is Taishi Ci. He explains that his mother, remembering Kong Rong’s kindness to her, ordered him to come to the city’s aid. His arrival is therefore both a military intervention and the return of a personal debt of gratitude.

Taishi Ci offers to take a thousand men against the besiegers. Kong Rong instead judges that Xuande, who is not far away, can bring the force needed to lift the siege. Taishi Ci accepts the task of carrying Kong Rong’s message. He rides out of Beihai with the rebels in pursuit, fighting off many before they abandon the chase. The city’s appeal thus depends on two successive acts of initiative: Taishi Ci breaks through to reach Kong Rong, then risks the return journey to summon a larger ally.

The siege is lifted

Xuande answers the appeal by setting out from Pingyuan with Zhang Fei, Guan Yu, and three thousand warriors. Though the rebels greatly outnumber them, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Taishi Ci charge toward the city gate while Xuande leads the main divisions against the rest of the besieging army. The attack throws the rebels into confusion and sends them fleeing; Beihai is relieved.

The rescue is a coordinated operation rather than a single heroic arrival. Taishi Ci’s familiarity with the crisis and the gate assault help open a way into the city, while Xuande’s main force strikes the larger rebel army. The decisive result is the end of the isolation that had made Beihai’s position so precarious.

From relief to resistance

After the siege, Kong Rong asks Xuande to join him in helping Tao Qian and opposing Cao Cao’s assault on the province. Xuande, like Kong Rong earlier, says that he has no personal quarrel with Cao Cao. Kong Rong’s experience under siege has changed his judgment: he is now convinced that Cao Cao’s devastating invasion must be resisted, and he persuades Xuande to give his word to join him. Xuande returns to his base to recruit more men, including Zhao Zilong.

Beihai’s importance in the narrative lies in this political consequence. The city is not presented merely as a place rescued from attack; its siege turns hesitation into resolve and makes relief the starting point for a wider alliance. Once Xuande joins the others at Xuzhou, he proposes making one final appeal to Cao Cao, arguing that Tao Qian had no part in the killing of Cao Cao’s family. Beihai thus connects a local defense to the larger effort to prevent Cao Cao’s campaign from devastating Tao Qian’s territory.