[Fight or not? 】

After Cao Cao rejected Yuan Shao's proposal to move the capital, Yuan Shao's advisor Tian Feng was worried about this, believing that it would become a major problem for Yuan Shao.

In the spring of the third year of Jian'an (198), Tian Feng said directly to Yuan Shao: "Since our plan to move the capital has not been adopted, it is best to seek Xu County as soon as possible, receive the Son of Heaven, and then pretend to be the edict of the Son of Heaven to issue orders to the whole country, which is the best way." If we don't, we will end up at the mercy of others, and even regret won't work. ”

At that time, Cao Cao had already sent troops to attack Zhang Xiu for the second time, and Xuchang was empty. After Tian Feng's words were known to Cao Cao, Cao Cao immediately gave up the current results, and forcibly returned to Xuchang despite the encirclement and obstruction of Zhang Xiu and Liu Biao's army, for fear of a little accident. But Yuan Shao did not follow Tian Feng's advice in the end.

Yuan Shao hesitated at this critical moment, because Yuan Shao was not ready for a decisive battle with Cao Cao at this time.

After Cao Cao got the righteousness of the Son of Heaven, he was once a villain, and began not to take Yuan Shao in his eyes, first issued an edict to criticize Yuan Shao, and then made himself a general, and let Yuan Shao be a captain, a level lower than himself, but after Yuan Shao was really angry, Cao Cao found that he couldn't offend Yuan Shao to death, so he quickly repaired relations with Yuan Shao, gave up the position of the general, and also let Yuan Shao supervise the four states of Youzhou, Jizhou, Bingzhou and Qingzhou.

Cao Cao's measures had a certain effect, and Yuan Shao did accept the appointment of the imperial court this time, and the relationship between him and Cao Cao began to ease on the surface.

In this case, Yuan Shao did not want to completely fall out with Cao Cao in order to seize the emperor, it was indeed a good opportunity to send troops to seize the Son of Heaven, but even in that case, there was no guarantee that Yuan Shao would be successful, but as long as Yuan Shao sent troops, the relationship with Cao Cao would be 100% useless.

Moreover, if Yuan Shao does not succeed in sending troops, he will fall into a huge moral disadvantage, be regarded as a chaotic minister and thief, and may lose all the support of the imperial court, and the positions of General Yuan Shao and Jizhou Mu may be deprived by the imperial court, which is extremely unfavorable to the future development of Yuan Shao's group, especially when the north has not yet been unified.

At that time, although Yuan Shao had suppressed Gongsun Chan and Zhang Yan, the threat in his rear was still not lifted, and the four northern states were not completely pacified, especially at that time, Gongsun Chan also refused to ease relations with Yuan Shao, and Yuan Shao's rear was not as stable as a mountain. Yuan Shao also needed the title of general, and he also needed to supervise the name of the four states, so it was not for nothing that Yuan Shao avoided conflict with Cao Cao at this time.

And Tian Feng is wrong? That's right!

Let's take a look at what Cao Cao faced at that time, Yuan Shu was called emperor, Lu Bu was still alive, and Cao Cao himself was deeply involved in the war with Zhang Xiu and Liu Biao, although Zhang Yan and Gongsun Zan were not eliminated, but at least they had been suppressed, that is to say, Yuan Shao's situation was much better than Cao Cao's, Yuan Shao did not want to be an enemy of Cao Cao, but Cao Cao did not dare to make enemies with Yuan Shao at that time.

Otherwise, Cao Cao is not stupid, he will give up the general to Yuan Shao in vain, and take the four northern states?

In this case, both choices may be right or wrong, but there will only be one outcome in history.

【Causes of civil strife】

Historically, the internal unity of the Yuan Shao group was far inferior to that of the Cao Cao group, and the reason for this was also Yuan Shao's own pot in the final analysis.

Yuan Shao has several sons in history, among which there are three more important ones, namely the eldest son Yuan Tan, the second son Yuan Xi, and the third son Yuan Shang. Among them, Yuan Tan is older and smarter, and Yuan Shang is young but beautiful.

At that time, Yuan Shao's wife was Mrs. Liu, who was Yuan Shang's biological mother (Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi's mother may be someone else), she liked Yuan Shang very much, and praised him in front of Yuan Shao many times, and Yuan Shao was also surprised by Yuan Shang's appearance, after all, Yuan Shao himself was also a handsome guy, so he also had the intention of letting Yuan Shang inherit his great cause.

At that time, according to the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty", Yuan Shao was ready to pass Yuan Tan to his brother, who should have been killed by Dong Zhuo. Later, from the words of Guo Tu and others, it can be learned that Yuan Shao was advised to do so.

But there is no doubt that Yuan Shao sent Yuan Tan to Qingzhou, leaving him away from Jizhou and unable to compete with Yuan Shang anymore. And what was the situation in Qingzhou at that time? Yuan Shaojun only controlled the plains, and he also faced the front of Gongsun Zhan's army.

Seeing that Yuan Shao was about to do this, he persuaded him: "It has always been said that 10,000 people chase rabbits, but as long as one person gets a rabbit, everyone else who wants to get it will give up, this is because the name has been determined. Besides, if you are similar in age, you will see who has talent, and if you are similar in virtue, you will see the result of divination, which is an ancient system. I hope you will consider the admonition of the previous generation as the reason for the success or failure of the previous generation, and the reason for the certainty of chasing rabbits. ”

Fu Zhu did not stand on Yuan Tan's side or Yuan Shang's side, but clearly hoped that Yuan Shao would determine the heir as soon as possible to avoid internal friction.

As a result, what Yuan Shao said, he replied: "I also want the children to govern a state, so that they can see their talents, and then choose an heir." ”

Fu Zhu made a final effort and warned Yuan Shao: "If the general can't change this decision, trouble will happen from this matter." ”

It's a pity that Yuan Shao couldn't listen to it at all, so he still sent Yuan Tan out, and finally Yuan Tan served as the Qingzhou Assassin, Yuan Xi served as the Youzhou Assassin, Yuan Shao's nephew Gao Gan served as the Bingzhou Assassin, and Yuan Shang stayed by Yuan Shao's side, everyone had their own faction and had their own forces, and the Yuan Shao group also began to split from within because of the issue of heirs.

As Yuan Shao's main adviser and the number two person in Yuan Shao's supervision of the whole army, it can be said that he is both civil and military, has a good view of the overall situation, and is also good at flexibility.

Especially on the issue of the Son of Heaven, Fu Zhu is an authoritative figure. In the Three Kingdoms era, he was the first to put forward the idea of "coercing the Son of Heaven and ordering the princes", and even this sentence was said by him. Therefore, after seeing that the Son of Heaven left Chang'an, his power was weak, and he immediately realized that this was a great opportunity to seize the Son of Heaven in advance.

But when he brought it up, Yuan Shao just didn't listen.

Later, Yuan Shao did not make a clear statement on the issue of heirs, but was ready to send out his eldest son, and he understood the hidden worries of this action at that time, and immediately advised Yuan Shao, but Yuan Shao instead sent his other sons and juniors out like a child, and let them all manage one side.

What can be done about it?

It is often said that "you cannot live if you do your own evil", so Yuan Shao would eventually lose to Cao Cao, and the north would be torn apart immediately after his death, not without reason.