Yuan Shao decided to abandon the dedication of the emperor and appoint Liu Yu as the emperor, for which he first sought the support of others, more importantly his good friend Cao Cao and his younger brother Yuan Shu.

But the results were not smooth.

Yuan Shao told Cao Cao about the establishment at first, but Cao Cao refused, and later Yuan Shao got a jade seal, which may have belonged to the emperor before, so Yuan Shao pushed Cao Cao's arm in the banquet for him to see, hoping that Cao Cao would support Liu Yu with him, Cao Cao smiled and did not respond, but he was very disgusted in his heart.

According to the Book of Wei, Cao Cao replied to Yuan Shao: "Dong Zhuo is because his sins are exposed to the four seas, and we unite the princes of various places and raise rebels everywhere, and there is no failure to respond from far and near, because our actions are righteous." But now the emperor is young and weak, although he is controlled by traitors, but he is not at fault of Changyi's demise, and once it changes, who will the world rely on to maintain stability? Declare yourself to the north, and I will return to the emperor even if I am alone. ”

Yuan Shao later wooed Cao Cao again, but Cao Cao laughed and said: "I just don't listen to you (I don't support another establishment)." ”

Yuan Shao was unwilling, and sent someone to advise Cao Cao, and his envoy said: "Now that my lord Yuan Shao is strong and the army is strong, and his two sons have grown up. ”

Cao Cao received a threat from the messenger and did not respond to him, but the more he looked at Yuan Shao, the more unpleasant he became, and he even had the intention of destroying him. (Note 1)

Until the end, Yuan Shao still failed to win over Cao Cao.

On the other hand, Yuan Shao didn't win over his younger brother Yuan Shu, originally Yuan Shao thought that although he and his younger brother had some disagreements before, but after so long, what could not be put down between brothers? The brothers worked together to break the gold, so Yuan Shao very much hoped to get the support of his younger brother Yuan Shu in this regard.

Especially at that time, Yuan Shu's prestige was almost second only to Yuan Shao himself in the coalition army, and Yuan Shu could be dealt with, and the other princes were not a problem.

As a result, Yuan Shu slapped Yuan Shao in the face, Yuan Shao did not give up after being initially rejected by Yuan Shu, but wrote a letter to Yuan Shu, persuading Yuan Shu to support him to set up another Liu Yu on the grounds of family revenge and the improper position of the emperor, Yuan Shu replied with a letter, refuting Yuan Shao's views one by one, and also criticized Yuan Shao in a righteous and awe-inspiring manner, asking Yuan Shao to return his focus to crusading against Dong Zhuo and not to think too much.

Yuan Shao hated Yuan Shu deeply because of this, and the two of them later completely turned their faces from this.

According to the records of the Book of Wu, Han Fu wrote to Yuan Shu that Emperor Xian was not the son of Emperor Ling, and was ready to depose the young master according to Zhou Bo and Guan Ying, meet the precedent of establishing the acting king, and set up another son of heaven; Han Fu praised Liu Yu's merits and political achievements, there is no second person in the whole of China who can compare, and there is no one in the royal clan today.

Han Fu later said: "In the past, Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty Liu Xiu was exactly the fifth generation of the ancestor of the Han Ding Dynasty, who had the title of king, and was sent to Hebei by Liu Xuan, the first emperor, to lead Hebei, and later Geng Ben and Feng Yi persuaded him to be the emperor, and finally replaced the beginning. And Liu Yu is exactly the fifth generation of the ancestor of the prince, King Han Gong, who was sent to Youzhou by Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty to serve as the pastor of Youzhou, the same as Liu Xiu. ”

At that time, there were four stars in Keo, so Han Fu thought that the proverbial gods would appear in the division of the Yan Kingdom. It is also rumored that the Jiyin man Wang Ding will get a jade seal, which reads "Shun is the Son of Heaven". I saw two suns appear in Daijun, and these were just in time for Liu Yu's contemporary son of heaven.

Yuan Shao later wrote to Yuan Shu to say this, but at that time, Yuan Shu himself already had a heart of disobedience and did not want a wise and mature emperor to appear in the country, so he refused Yuan Shao and Han Fu under the pretense that he already had orthodox righteousness.

Although he failed to win over Cao Cao and Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao did not give up, and after consulting with other Kwantung princes, he supported Liu Yu as the emperor on the grounds that Emperor Xian was young and was controlled by Dong Zhuo, and he did not know whether Emperor Xian was safe, and sent envoys to ask Liu Yu's opinion.

At that time, the envoy was Yuan Lelang Taishou Zhang Qi, and when he saw that Zhang Qi was about to crown himself with the title of emperor, Liu Yu was horrified, and he severely reprimanded Zhang Qi: "If there is turmoil today, the scholars will suffer." I have received great grace from the imperial court, and I cannot wash away the shame of the country. You should work together to serve the royal family, and yet you come up with a rebellious idea to defile me and harm me? ”

Liu Yu resolutely rejected the requests of Yuan Shao, Han Fu and others, and was unwilling to be the emperor.

So Yuan Shao and Han Fu retreated and asked Liu Yu to take charge of Shangshu affairs, and to be crowned an official in the name of the emperor, but Liu Yu still did not agree, and even killed the envoy (one said that Liu Yu was preparing to flee to the Xiongnu).

Because Liu Yu's attitude was very resolute, Yuan Shao, Han Fu and others had no choice but to make another plan and finally go bankrupt.

Historically, Yuan Shao's alternative plan was feasible, but to succeed in the environment at that time, it was still not enough to rely on the strength of Yuan Shao, Han Fu and others.

When Yuan Shao was seeking support for another establishment, Cao Cao and Yuan Shu both rejected Yuan Shao in the name of righteousness. Later, one of them used the emperor as a puppet, and the other simply became the emperor himself, saying that he would revitalize the Han family?

After Yuan Shao did not get the support of Yuan Shu, Cao Cao and others, he directly contacted Liu Yu, hoping that he could be the Guangwu Emperor, and that he and Han Fu could be Geng Ben and Feng Yi to help Liu Yu restore the Han family, but he didn't expect that Liu Yu had no ambition at all, nor did he have this responsibility.

Of course, in the final analysis, the biggest obstacle faced by Yuan Shao and others was actually the emperor's righteousness, why Dong Zhuo was crusaded against by the heroes, the most direct reason was that he abolished the young emperor Liu Wei and set up Liu Xie, the king of Chen Liu, which threatened the orthodoxy of the Han Dynasty.

And now Yuan Shao and Han Fu's behavior of setting up another one, although the starting point is also for the Han Dynasty, but setting up another emperor is equivalent to one more emperor, which will divide the world, and will also threaten the orthodoxy of the Han Dynasty.

What's more, most people still recognize Emperor Liu Xie of the Han Dynasty, although he is supported by Dong Zhuo, but Liu Xie is the son of Emperor Ling after all, and now Emperor Ling has only this one son left, who should he be the emperor?

Yuan Shao's own prestige is not low, but it is still far from the reputation accumulated by the Han Dynasty for four hundred years.

The resistance to another establishment was too great, Yuan Shao's younger brother Yuan Shu didn't do it, Yuan Shao's good friend Cao Cao didn't do it, and even Liu Yu himself didn't want to, Yuan Shao was determined and persistent but in the end he couldn't do it.

Yuan Shao's establishment failed in the end, but this does not mean that the matter is over, because Yuan Shao has not solved any problems, Dong Zhuo is still watching from the sidelines, and the alliance is also divided, even if he and Han Fu reconciled for a short time, it is only a matter of time before the failure of the establishment is now seen.

So Yuan Shao must find a new way out.

Note 1: The position of the Book of Wei is that Cao Wei is orthodox and clearly inclined to Cao Cao, which should be clear to everyone.