【Weitz and Bao Xin】

Wei Zi was a native of Chen Liuxiangyi (now Sui County, Henan), and his character was Xu. He is not a man of extreme and bizarre behavior, nor does he seek worldly fame, but he thinks deeply and has a long-term plan for the future.

Wei Zi was once promoted to filial piety, and was later recruited by He Jin's younger brother, He Miao, a chariot general, and was reused by Situ Yang Biao.

In the sixth year of Zhongping (189), after Dong Zhuo troubled the imperial court, Cao Cao fled to Chenliu and met Wei Zi. Later, Cao Cao asked Wei Zi for advice, and Wei Zi said: "The world has been in turmoil for a long time, and it is impossible to solve it without relying on military means" and also said: "If you want to start a war, you can start it now." Cao Cao very much agreed with Wei Zi's words.

Weizi used his family wealth to fund Cao Cao's army, helping him to recruit more than 5,000 people, obtain basic combat strength, and raise troops in his own army. Later, he followed Zhang Miao and Cao Cao to defeat Dong Zhuo, and was killed in the battle of Bianshui with Cao Cao in the second year.

Later, Cao Cao would send envoys to worship him every time he passed through Chenliu County.

Bao Xin was a native of Pingyang, Taishan (now Xintai, Shandong). In the first year of Zhongping (184), Bao Xin was appointed as a cavalry lieutenant by the general He Jin, and was ordered to return to his hometown to recruit soldiers, Bao Xin recruited more than 1,000 soldiers, and He Jin had died in a coup d'état when he arrived at Gao on the way back.

When Bao Xin rushed back to Luoyang, Dong Zhuo had already entered Beijing. At that time, Bao Xin had a more sober awareness and understanding of the expansion of Dong Zhuo's military power, and he once said to Yuan Shao: "Dong Zhuo has a strong army and has always been ambitious, if he doesn't want to get rid of him now, he will definitely be restrained by him in the future." Now that Dong Zhuo's army is mixed, the morale of the army is unstable, and the organization is not strict, so he can get rid of it as soon as possible. However, Yuan Shao was afraid of Dong Zhuo and was indecisive and did not take action. This made Bao Xin very disappointed in Yuan Shao.

When the princes raised troops against Dong, Yuan Shao was elected leader of the alliance because of his great prestige, but Bao Xin believed that only Cao Cao could defeat Dong Zhuo.

According to the "Heroes", Bao Xin, Bao Tao, Cao Cao, and Wei Zi marched together to Xingyang Bianshui, and were finally defeated by Xu Rong's partial army, only Cao Cao and Bao Xin were able to escape, and Bao Tao and Wei Zi were killed in battle. (Note 1)

After Yuan Shao seized Han Fu's Jizhou, Bao Xin said to Cao Cao: "Now that the traitorous ministers have taken the opportunity to overthrow the Han Dynasty, the heroes are working hard, and the people who respond from all over the country are the great righteousness." But Yuan Shao, as the leader of the alliance, uses this power to seek personal interests for himself, and I think he will make trouble on his own and become the second Dong Zhuo. But if we want to suppress it, we can't do it, but how can we succeed if we give up just because we encounter difficulties? We can plan the land south of the Yellow River and wait and see what happens," Cao Cao agreed.

Later, the Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army entered Yanzhou and the Southern Xiongnu rebelled again, and Liu Dai, the assassin of Yanzhou, did not listen to Bao Xin's advice and insisted on personally leading the troops to crusade, and unfortunately died in battle.

Bao Xin, Chen Gong and others then set up Cao Cao as the pastor of Yanzhou, and in a joint crusade against the Yellow Turban Army with Cao Cao, Bao Xin died because of the late support of his own army.

Historically, Cao Cao posthumously remembered Bao Xin's exploits, and named Bao Shao, the son of Bao Xin, as the Marquis of the new capital, and recruited Bao Xun, the son of Bao Xin, to serve as the prime minister.

Wei Zi and Bao Xingu are great people, but they are both impressed by Cao Mengde's heroism, believing that Cao Cao will not be a thing in the pool, and they still do their best to help him when he is weak, and are willing to be driven by him. It's a pity that the sky doesn't follow people's wishes, they can't see the day when Cao Cao will become famous, but they will not sacrifice in vain, and every effort they make will turn into a ladder on Cao Cao's way forward.

So go all the way, Weiz, Bao Xin!

【Assemble! 】

Cao Cao's old friend Wei Zi died, and his good friend Bao Xin also left, but this will not hinder the development and growth of Cao Cao's group.

After Cao Cao became the pastor of Yanzhou, Cao Cao Group once again won an unprecedented development.

Cheng Yu, whose name is Zhongde, is a native of Dong'e, Dong'e County, Yanzhou (now Dong'e, Shandong). He himself was very famous at that time, and Liu Dai, the former assassin of Yanzhou, had summoned him several times, but he had rejected them. After Liu Dai's death, Cao Cao became the pastor of Yanzhou and summoned Cheng Yu, who immediately agreed to assist him. Others were very puzzled by Cheng Yu's contrary behavior, but Cheng Yu just laughed and didn't respond. When Cheng Yu first arrived, Cao Cao talked to him about big things, and he was very happy, and took Cheng Yu as his longevity.

Mao Jue, the word filial piety, Chen Liupingqiu (now Fengqiu, Henan) people. Mao Jue originally planned to go to Jingzhou to avoid chaos because of the war, but he learned that Liu Biao's government decree was not strict halfway, so he gave up defecting to Liu Biao and went to Luyang instead. When Cao Cao governed Yanzhou, he was recruited to serve as a ruler.

Full of pets, the word Boning, Shanyang Changyi (now Shandong Juye, a said now Shandong Weishan) people. At the age of eighteen, he served as the county superintendent. At that time, Li Shuo and others, who were villagers in that place, each had their own armed forces and violated the people. Taishou sent Manju to investigate the matter. Li Shuo and others came to ask for guilt and no longer harassed the people. Later, he was appointed as Gao Pingling. One of them, Zhang Bao, as the county governor, was corrupt, bent the law, paid bribes, and disrupted political affairs. When Man Zhong learned that he was staying in a guest house for officials, he led his subordinates to arrest him suddenly, counted the facts of his crime, beat him to death in prison on the same day, and then resigned and went home. When Cao Cao was in Yanzhou, he recruited full favors to engage.

Yu Ban, the word is written, Taishan Juping (now Tai'annan, Shandong) people. He was originally a subordinate of Bao Xin, and after Bao Xin and others established Cao Cao as the pastor of Yanzhou, Yu Ban was made Dubo and assigned to the general Wang Lang (Note 2). Wang Lang was amazed by Ban's talent, and recommended him to Cao Cao, saying that he was qualified for the position of general. After Cao Cao summoned Yu Ban, he appointed him as the commander of the army.

Li Dian, whose name is Mancheng, is a native of Juye County, Shanyang County (now Juye, Shandong). Li Dian was good at reading when he was a child, but he didn't like to read the art of war, so he studied with his teacher and read "The Biography of the Zuo Family in the Spring and Autumn Period" and was familiar with various books. Later, Li Dian followed his uncle Li Gan and Cao Cao to defeat the Yellow Turban Army in Shouzhang, and Li Dian joined Cao Cao's command in this way.

Lü Qian, whose name is Zike, was a native of Rencheng (now southeast of Jining, Shandong). When Cao Cao was serving as the pastor of Yanzhou, he heard that Lü Qian was brave and resourceful, and appointed him as a contractor to lead his family to defend Hulu City.

Han Hao, the character of Yuan Hei, was a native of Hanoi County (located in the southwest of present-day Wuzhi, Henan). Han Hao turned out to be a subordinate of Wang Kuang, the Taishou of Hanoi, who was captured by Dong Zhuo's army during the crusade against Dong Zhuo, and refused to surrender. Cao Cao's general Xiahoudun heard his name and was surprised to see him, so he asked Han Hao to follow the campaign as his general.

After Cao Cao became the pastor of Yanzhou, he formed an alliance with Yuan Shao externally and gathered talents internally. After pacifying the Yellow Turban Thieves (Black Mountain Army) and the Southern Xiongnu in Yanzhou and defeating the invading Yuan Shu army, he had basically stabilized the situation in Yanzhou.

At this time, Cao Cao had Chen Gong, Xun Yu, Xi Zhicai, Cheng Yu, Mao Jue, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Chun, Cao Hong, Cao Xiu, Cao Ren, Yu Ban, Le Jin, Li Dian, Man Chong, Lu Qian and others, which can be said to be a gathering of civil and military affairs and talents.

At this time, Cao Cao looked at the vast territory of Yanzhou, while holding the elite division in his hand, now he is no longer a young man under the fence, he has become one of the few princes in the world, officially joined the competition for the world.

The sea is wide and the fish jumps, and the sky is high for the birds to fly. Now Cao Cao is already a carp that has crossed the dragon gate, no, it is a yellow dragon! The world is already up to him.

Note 1: This incident is only recorded in "Heroes", and it is inconsistent with "Three Kingdoms", so I will focus on the latter, and I will only explain it here

Note 2: I'm not sure if this Wang Lang and the one who was later defeated by Sun Ce are the same person, but the probability of the same person is higher