After the fall of Anhui in the nineteenth year of Jian'an (214), Cao Cao went south once for this purpose, but he did not stay long before returning, and in the twenty-first year of Jian'an (216) Cao Cao went south again, and officially sent troops to fight against Sun Quan in the following year.

In the spring of the twenty-second year of Jian'an (217), Sun Quan surrendered, and the ten-year confrontation between the two came to an end.

【Brief Southward Journey】

After the fall of Anhui, Cao Cao went south to Yangzhou again in the same year, but Cao Cao went south in July and returned in less than November, and there is no record of related battles.

According to the record of "Spring and Autumn in Kyushu", Fu Gan, who joined the army at that time, said: "The great power of governing the world has two, literature and martial arts; The use of force is the first power, the use of literature is the first virtue, the virtue is enough to help each other, and then the royal road is prepared. In the past, the world was in turmoil, the top and bottom were out of order, and the Ming public used force to fight it, and it was nine out of ten. Those who have not inherited the king's order today, Wu and Shu also, Wu has the danger of the Yangtze River, Shu has the obstruction of the mountains, it is difficult to subdue, and it is easy to be virtuous. Foolishly think that it can be according to the armor of the soldiers, rest the army and raise soldiers, divide the land and seal it, and reward meritorious deeds, if this is the heart of the inside and outside, the meritorious person is persuaded, and the world knows the system. Then gradually the school was raised, so as to guide its goodness and grow its righteousness. The gods of martial arts are shocked in the four seas, and if the text is repaired to help it, then the whole world will be unconvinced. Today, there are 100,000 people, on the shore of the Yangtze River, if the thieves are deeply hidden, then the horses and horses will not be able to do their best, and the strange changes will not use their power, then the great power will be bent and the hostile will not be convinced. Only Ming Gong thinks about the righteousness of Yu Shun and dances to do the righteousness of relatives, cultivates virtue with all might, and wins with Taoism. "If the public does not obey, the army will be in vain.

In addition to Fu Gan, Jia Kui also recorded dissuading Cao Cao from going south, but it is no longer possible to determine the exact time of this.

According to the "Wei Luo", Cao Cao wanted to conquer Eastern Wu in the south at that time, but it was just in time for the rainy season, and most of the soldiers of the three armies were reluctant to march. Cao Cao knew that someone was going to come to advise, so he ordered those who had advice to be executed. Jia Kui and the three main secretaries of Tongliao still insisted on admonishing, Cao Cao was furious and asked who was the initiator, Jia Kui admitted it, and was imprisoned by Cao Cao. The jailer did not dare to put himself in the shackles because he was the prime minister's bookkeeper. Jia Kui said to the jailer, "Hurry up and put shackles on me." His Holiness (referring to Cao Cao) suspects that I am serving by his side, and will use this to blackmail you into being lenient with me, and after a while he will send someone to inspect me. The jailer then shackled him. Later, Cao Cao really sent people to visit Jia Kui in prison. Later, Cao Cao believed that Jia Kui had no ill will and reinstated his position.

【Fight Again】

In the twenty-first year of Jian'an (216), Cao Cao went south again after the Second Battle of Hefei, and this time Cao Cao was ready to teach Sun Quan a sufficient lesson.

However, the specific time of Cao Cao's dispatch of troops is slightly different in "Emperor Wu Ji" and "The Biography of Lord Wu". "Emperor Wu Ji" records that "in the first month of the spring of the twenty-second year, Wang Jun lived in the nest, and in February, he marched to Haoxi, west of Tunjiang. The right to build a city at the mouth of the Xusu and refuse to defend it", and the "Biography of Lord Wu" recorded that "in the winter of the twenty-first year, the Duke of Cao was second to the nest and attacked the Xu. (I mainly focused on Emperor Wu Ji in the previous article, so let's talk about it here)

Soon after the battle between the two sides, Sun Quan ordered the commander Xu Shen to visit Cao Cao and ask for surrender, and Cao Cao agreed to reconcile and vowed to reunite as in-laws. At this point, the confrontation between Cao Wei and Jiangdong came to an end.

【Paused Confrontation】

Cao Cao and Sun Quan chose to repair the truce after nearly ten years of confrontation, this change in the situation at that time has a close relationship, originally Cao Cao was the strongest prince at that time, and Sun Quan was Cao Cao's biggest opponent, but with the death of Zhou Yu, Liu Bei's power continued to expand, the alliance between Sun Quan and Liu Bei was no longer stable, Liu Bei also had a tendency to replace Sun Quan as the biggest threat to Cao Wei, at this time Sun Quan and Cao Cao have reached the point where they need to change.

For Sun Quan, although he and Liu Bei divided Jingzhou equally and temporarily suppressed the contradictions, they could not change the fact that the alliance between the two sides had cracked, Sun Quan could no longer believe his ally Liu Bei at this time, and Sun Quan was still unable to open the situation on the northern front for a long time and was blocked out of Hefei, so Sun Quan was no longer willing to continue to fight a senseless war with Cao Cao.

At that time, the contradiction between Cao Cao and Liu Bei was also on the verge of breaking out, Liu Bei was already sharpening his knife Huo Huo pointed to Hanzhong, at this time Sun Quan had the capital to recuperate, he could watch Liu Bei and Cao Cao work desperately, and then decide the next step.

For Cao Cao, although he blocked Sun Quan out of Hefei, it was difficult for him to cross the Yangtze River, although Sun Quan deigned to ask for peace, but Cao Cao actually could not cross the river to the south, and Cao Cao also had to take into account the situation in Hanzhong, so it was normal for Cao Cao to let Sun Quan go at that time.

Cao Cao may not be unaware of Sun Quan's intention to count on himself and Liu Bei to fight, but Liu Bei alone is better than Liu Bei and Sun Quan.

From the twenty-second year of Jian'an (217) to the first year of Huangwu (222), the Cao Wei group and the Sun Quan group entered a short period of peace.

【Cao Cao and Sun】

Historically, diplomatic relations between Cao Cao and the Jiangdong Sun clique were roughly divided into five stages.

The first stage was from the second year of Jian'an (197) to the fifth year of Jian'an (200), when Sun Ce became independent from Yuan Shu, in order to seek space for development, Sun Ce actively approached the imperial court to confront his old lord Yuan Shu and his enemy Liu Biao, at that time Cao Cao also used Sun Ce as a pawn to contain Yuan Shu and Liu Biao, so the relationship between the two was close to a semi-ally.

The second stage was in the fifth year of Jian'an (200), when Sun Ce had swept Jiangdong and his power increased greatly, Cao Cao began to restrict it, not only requiring Sun Ce's younger brothers to enter the court, but also appointing Yangzhou Assassin Shi to shake Sun Ce's rule in Jiangdong, and Sun Ce was not easy to mess with, he was ready to send troops north at the critical moment of Cao Cao and Yuan Shao's confrontation, and also killed Yangzhou Assassin Yan Xiang, but Sun Ce was assassinated and died in the same year.

In the third stage, from the fifth year of Jian'an (200) to the thirteenth year of Jian'an (208), Cao Cao accepted Zhang Hong's advice and did not take the opportunity to go south, and Sun Quan gradually stabilized the situation after succeeding to the throne. Later, Cao Cao attacked the Yuan clan in the north, and Sun Quan attacked Liu Biao in Jingzhou, and the relationship between the two was not cold.

The fourth stage is the thirteenth year of Jian'an (208) to the twenty-second year of Jian'an (217), Cao Cao after eliminating the Yuan family, and annexed Jingzhou, so he turned his attention to Jiangdong, Sun Quan was forced to ally with Liu Bei to confront Cao Cao in order to protect himself, and then the Sun-Liu alliance successively defeated Cao Cao's army in Chibi and Jiangling, and the confrontation between the two sides turned into a balance of power.

Cao Cao and Sun Quan fought around the Jianghuai area for nearly ten years, Cao Cao could not cross the Yangtze River, Sun Quan could not cross Hefei, with the continuous expansion of Liu Bei's power, the two again negotiated peace.

The fifth stage was from the 22nd year of Jian'an (217) to the 25th year of Jian'an (220), when the Cao Wei group and the Sun Quan group briefly ended the confrontation, and Cao Cao died in 220 AD.