【Beyond the North】

At the end of the first century AD, although Yuan Shao took the unification of the north as his main goal, Yuan Shao was not inactive in addition, on the contrary, Yuan Shao also laid a lot of chess pieces on the Central Plains continent out of his own interests and in order to balance the princes who threatened him.

As early as the second year of Chuping (191), in order to prevent the further expansion of his younger brother Yuan Shu's power, Yuan Shao sent Zhou Ang to assassinate Dong Zhuo when Sun Jian, the assassin of Yuzhou, under Yuan Shu, led the troops to capture Sun Jian's garrison Diyang City, forcing Sun Jian to interrupt the offensive against Dong Zhuo, which was also the fuse for the complete break between Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu.

Later, Gongsun Zhan's younger brother Gongsun Yue of Yuan Shu sent Gongsun Chan to help Sun Jian crusade against Zhou Ang, and Gongsun Yue died in the middle of the arrow, which also cast a shadow on the relationship between Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zhan, and Zhou Ang was finally defeated by Sun Jian and was repulsed.

In addition to Yuzhou, the competition between Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu in Yangzhou is also quite fierce. Zhou Ang's brother Zhou Xin was the Taishou of Danyang in Yangzhou, and after Yuan Shu was defeated by Yuan Cao's coalition army and retreated to Yangzhou, Yuan Shu once sent Wu Jing to crusade against Zhou Ang and took Danyang from him.

According to the "Heroes", Yuan Shao once appointed his brother Shanyang Taishou Yuan after the death of Chen Wen, the assassin of the former Yangzhou, but Yuan Yi was defeated by Yuan Shu and killed by soldiers on the way to the north.

Because Yuan Shao's main forces were in the north, and the Central Plains and the south were far away, he was often beyond his strength and could not contend with Yuan Shu, who was close at hand, and his power in the south was basically eradicated by Yuan Shu.

Historically, Yuan Shao's biggest ally in the south was Liu Biao, and they have always maintained good relations. At the beginning, Yuan Shao co-opted Liu Biao and Cao Cao in order to fight against the alliance of Yuan Shu, Gongsun Zhan, and Tao Qian. At that time, Liu Biao controlled Yuan Shu's supply line, so Yuan Shu sent his general Sun Jian to crusade against Jingzhou, hoping to eliminate Liu Biao, but Sun Jian was too careless and was killed by Huang Zu, and Yuan Shu's southern expedition failed.

Liu Biao then cut off Yuan Shu's supply, causing Yuan to turn his attention to Cao Cao in Yanzhou. After Cao Cao grew stronger, he coerced the Son of Heaven and ordered the princes, Yuan Shao felt Cao Cao's personal threat to him, so he once again allied with Liu Biao to fight against Cao Cao. It can be said that in the Three Kingdoms era, Liu Biao was one of Yuan Shao's most loyal allies.

Of course, Yuan Shao's most important chess piece to the south of it is still Cao Cao, and Yuan Shao has supported Cao Cao many times in history, not only because of the friendship between the two, but also because of Yuan Shao's need to protect his own interests.

In the "Jizhou Pair", Yuan Shao's first step in seizing the world was to obtain the four northern states, and at the beginning, Yuan Shao had two powerful opponents in the north, Gongsun Zan on the outside and the Montenegrin Army on the inside, so at that time, Yuan Shao urgently needed a stable rear, that is, the stability of Yanzhou in the south of Jizhou, to avoid the situation of enemies on all sides, and to concentrate on fighting against the enemy in the north.

As early as the Liu Dai period in Yanzhou, Yuan Shao had a very good relationship with him, and even put his family members in Liu Dai's mansion for a time. Then Liu Dai, the original assassin of Yanzhou, died in battle during the crusade against the Yellow Turban Army, and Cao Cao soon ascended to the throne.

Yuan Shao and Cao Cao also had a long honeymoon period, and Cao Cao also helped Yuan Shao defend against Yuan Shu and other enemies in Yanzhou, but after Cao Cao moved the capital to Xuchang and controlled the Son of Heaven, his strength was greatly enhanced, and he had become Yuan Shao's biggest threat, and it can be said that Yuan Shao prepared a strongest opponent for himself.

[Ambitious Yuan Benchu]

Yuan Shao was born in the old Yuan family of the fourth and third princes, and his loyalty to the Han family was undoubted. In history, Yuan Shao, as the mastermind of the general He Jin, made a great contribution to the elimination of eunuchs.

Then Yuan Shao became the leader of the anti-Dong coalition army, and he did his best for the Han Dynasty, but the times changed too quickly, at this time the central government had begun to decline, and the era of the princes had come. After Dong Zhuo's rebellion, the young emperor Liu Wei supported by Yuan Shao had died, and the new emperor Liu Xie was simply Dong Zhuo's puppet, Yuan Shao led a group of half-hearted princes to fight against Dong Zhuo, and the supply was still controlled by others, so naturally there was no result.

Yuan Shao still tried his best at this time, hoping that Liu Yu, the great Sima with the highest prestige at that time, could stand up and replace the young and ignorant little emperor and re-establish a strong court.

So Yuan Shao finally chose the path of the princes, determined to compete in the world, and it was at this moment that Yuan Shao clearly had the idea of dominating one side and even going further.

Then Yuan Shao defeated the Black Mountain Thieves, eliminated Gongsun Zhan, was appointed as a general by the imperial court, controlled Jizhou, Youzhou, Qingzhou, and Bingzhou, and became the undoubted lord of the north. After gaining great power and status, Yuan Shao had already begun to have his own ambitions and pursuits for the supreme throne in the whole world, and at that time Yuan Shao had already begun to be a little arrogant, and the tribute to the emperor was scarce and simple.

In the fourth year of Jian'an (199), Yuan Shu, who had been called the emperor for a while, had fallen into great despair, he burned down his palace, and at the same time was ready to give up the title of "emperor" to his brother, so he wrote to Yuan Shao and said: "The world of the Han Dynasty has long been lost, the Son of Heaven is controlled by others, the power is out of private doors, the powerful compete, the land is divided, and the era of the Seven Kingdoms in the last years of the Zhou Dynasty is no different, and the result is naturally the strong annexation of the world."

And our Yuan family is ordered by the sky, and it is natural that we should be the emperor, and the talismans and auspiciousness are clearly displayed. Today you have four states and millions of households. No one can compare with your strength in terms of strength, and no one can compare with your nobility in terms of virtue. Even if Cao Cao had the heart to help the weak and save the weak, how could he continue the extinct Mandate of Heaven? I respectfully send you the Mandate of Heaven and hope that you will revitalize it. ”

Although Yuan Shao said that there was nothing, he secretly agreed with Yuan Shu's statement, so he instructed the chief bookkeeper Geng Bao to find a basis for himself to be the emperor, and Geng Bao secretly wrote to Yuan Shao and said: "The decline of the red virtue of the Han is about to end, and the Yuan family is the descendant of Yu Shun Huangde, and should conform to the will of heaven and the wishes of the people." ”

According to the theory of the Five Elements and Five Virtues, the Han Dynasty was fire, that is, Chide, and Tude replaced Chide, which meant that Yuan Shao was called the emperor, which was not much different from Zhang Jiao's set of "Cangtian is dead, and Huangtian should stand".

But Yuan Shao is not Yuan Shu, after having the experience of Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao is more concerned about the views of his subordinates on this matter, so he showed Geng Bao's book to his subordinates, and everyone's opinion is that Geng Bao should be killed. Yuan Shao knew that everyone disagreed in their hearts, and the time had not yet come, so he decisively killed Geng Bao to show his intentions, stabilize the morale of the army, and not give outsiders an excuse.

As for Geng Bao, he pitifully became a stone-thrower of Yuan Shao, and was finally abandoned by him. After all, Yuan Shao's first priority at that time was to eliminate Cao Cao and control the Son of Heaven, as long as Yuan Shao succeeded, then he was not the Son of Heaven, and he could gradually eliminate other princes in the name of the Son of Heaven, and after unifying the world, it would be natural to change the dynasty.

So Yuan Shao didn't kill Geng Bao because he didn't want to be the emperor, but because there was no need for this at that point in time, but Yuan Shao was already at that point, and who could really not be moved?