In the third chapter of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Dong Zhuo received He Jin’s secret edict and dispatched troops to the capital to eliminate the eunuch faction. However, instead of entering the city directly, Dong Zhuo’s forces stationed themselves at Mianchi, approximately 150 kilometers west of Luoyang.
He Jin sent envoys to welcome Dong Zhuo at Mianchi, but Dong Zhuo halted his troops and did not advance.
— Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Chapter 3
Why did Dong Zhuo choose to restrained his troops and made no move when He Jin’s envoys arrived to welcome him into the capital?
Uncertainty in Luoyang: Unintensified internal strife and lack of justification
He Jin’s purpose in summoning Dong Zhuo was to use external military force to threaten the empress dowager and eunuchs, forcing them to compromise, not to engage in actual combat within the palace. At this time, a superficial balance between He Jin and the eunuchs still existed in Luoyang. The internal strife had not yet intensified, and Dong Zhuo lacked a clear justification to enter.
If he rushed to deploy troops, he would be subordinated to He Jin, unable to autonomously control power. Dong Zhuo was waiting for a better opportunity to transform his military advance from “He Jin’s order” to “the court’s urgent need.” He intentionally delayed until no one in Luoyang could stabilize the chaotic situation, forcing the court and officials to rely on him, thus laying the groundwork for his subsequent monopolization of power.
Dong Zhuo’s assessment of his own strength
Although Dong Zhuo commanded tens of thousands of elite Liangzhou troops (one of the most powerful local forces in the late Eastern Han Dynasty), he needed to cautiously evaluate the balance of power in Luoyang, which was “away territory”. Initially, Dong Zhuo brought only 3,000 vanguard troops into the Central Plains (reinforcements arrived later). If he entered the capital at this time, his forces would be insufficient to suppress all armed factions in the city.
Dong Zhuo was not truly inactive at Mianchi; he was secretly mobilizing more troops to prepare for an overwhelming entry into the capital:
- Deceiving Opponents: Dong Zhuo initially sent only 3,000 vanguard troops near Luoyang, creating the illusion of weak forces and no ambition to seize power, thereby lowering the vigilance of all factions in Luoyang.
- Secret Reinforcements: During the delay, Dong Zhuo summoned tens of thousands of elite Liangzhou troops from his northwestern base to Mianchi, forming a military advantage. By the time he entered the capital, he commanded enough troops to suppress all armed forces in Luoyang (including incorporated remnants of He Jin’s forces and Bingzhou troops after persuading Lü Bu), completely eliminating the risk of being expelled by local forces.
“Watching the Tigers Fight”: Weakening He Jin and the eunuchs through internal strife
Dong Zhuo knows well that He Jin and the eunuchs were the two core forces in Luoyang. His choice to halt the troops and not move was essentially allowing—even secretly pushing—them toward a final confrontation. The goal was to abandon the short-term objective of helping He Jin eliminate the eunuchs and instead pursue the long-term outcome of mutual destruction between He Jin and the eunuchs.
- For He Jin: Weakening His Dominance: He Jin summoned Dong Zhuo to the capital intending to use external troops as deterrence to force the eunuchs to compromise. If Dong Zhuo had entered quickly, He Jin could have used Dong Zhuo’s strength to control the situation and become the biggest winner. However, Dong Zhuo’s delay rendered He Jin’s deterrence strategy ineffective, forcing him to personally confront the eunuchs in the palace. Ultimately, due to indecisiveness and arrogance, He Jin was assassinated by the eunuchs. His death turned his imperial guards into “leaderless troops,” creating conditions for Dong Zhuo to later incorporate He Jin’s remnants.
- For the Eunuchs: Accelerating Their Downfall: After He Jin’s death, scholars like Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, under the pretext of avenging the Grand General, led troops into the palace and killed all Ten Regular Attendants and eunuch factions. The eunuch group was destroyed, leaving Luoyang without a core force to balance the outer court and external warlords.
The final phase: Seizing the opportunity
In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Dong Zhuo’s “halt at Mianchi” was the first complete display of his cunning nature—he was not merely a warlord with brute force but a power usurper with patience, calculation, and strategic vision. The core of this move was to avoid confronting the chaotic situation head-on but to wait for the situation to deteriorate as expected, ultimately reaping victory with minimum cost.
From the subsequent plot, Dong Zhuo’s inactivity was a key step in his entry into the capital to monopolize power.
Stages of Dong Zhuo’s Entry into the Capital
- Stage 1: He Jin summons troops; Dong Zhuo halts his advance to avoid internal strife in the court and preserve strength.
- Stage 2: He Jin is killed, the eunuchs are destroyed; Dong Zhuo begins advancing, waiting for a power vacuum.
- Stage 3: The young emperor is displaced; Dong Zhuo advances at full speed, gaining the reputation of rescuing the emperor.
- Stage 4: Dong Zhuo controls the court, deposes and installs emperors, and completes his power usurpation.
It was this initial inactivity and waiting for the right moment that made it possible for him to transform from a marginal warlord in the northwest into the actual ruler of the Eastern Han central government. This opened the era of warlord separatism and nationwide chaos in the late Han Dynasty. This strategic delay also profoundly reveals the power logic of the late Han: true cunning heroes never rush to enter the game but ride the wave and bide one’s time — by controlling the rhythm of events, they become the ultimate winners.
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