After Cao Cao defeated Yuan Tan, Yuan Xi's subordinates Jiao Touch, Zhang Nan and others turned their backs, Yuan Xi was also driven out of Youzhou by his own subordinates, and then merged with Shi Gaogan to rebel again, Cao Cao first sent Le Jin and Li Dian to attack, but did not come, and then Cao Cao personally captured it, and then took the state.

【Youzhou Guicao】

After Cao Cao conquered Yecheng, the situation in the north was already clear, and Yuan Shang took refuge in Yuan Xi, but at that time Yuan Xi was already unable to protect himself.

Yuan Xi's generals Jiao Touch and Zhang Nan thought that the world had changed, so they rebelled and attacked Yuan Xi, Yuan Xi was defeated, and had to defect to the Wuhuan tribe in Liaoxi County with his younger brother Yuan Shang.

Then Jiao Touch claimed to be the assassin of Youzhou, and coerced the governors of the counties and counties to betray the Yuan family and submit to Cao Cao. Jiao Touch and others gathered tens of thousands of troops, killed the white horse, and made a bloody alliance, and ordered: "Anyone who dares to disobey will be beheaded." ”

Under the coercion, everyone did not dare to raise their heads, and each swore a blood oath in order. Only Han Heng, a native of Daijun, said: "I have received the great favor of the Yuan family and his son, and now that the Yuan family has been destroyed, my wisdom cannot save them, and I don't have the courage to go to the death festival, and the righteousness of the monarch and the minister is already lacking." If I go to Cao Cao again, it will be even more out of modesty, and I can't do such a thing. Everyone present was so frightened that they changed color, for fear that Jiao Touch would kill Han Heng immediately.

Jiao Touch said: "To launch a big event, we should establish great righteousness, the success or failure of things, we don't care about one person, we can fulfill Han Heng's will, in order to encourage those who are loyal to the Lord." So he let Han Heng leave. Jiao Touch and the others all surrendered to Cao Cao, and they were all named liehous, and Youzhou also belonged to Cao Cao.

After Cao Cao heard about Han Heng, he thought he was loyal and wanted to use him for his own use, but unfortunately he couldn't recruit him repeatedly, and Han Heng died at home.

【Descend and Return】

Gao Gan is Yuan Shao's nephew, Gao Rou's brother. Later, he was appointed by Yuan Shao as the assassin of the state. After Yuan Shao's death, Yuan Shang sent Gao Gan, Guo Yuan, and the Southern Xiongnu Shan Yu Luan Tihu Chuquan to attack Hedong, but Guo Yuan's troops were defeated, the Huns surrendered, and Gao Gan returned to annex the state.

In the ninth year of Jian'an (204), Cao Cao's army went north to surround Yecheng, the situation was very critical at that time, Yecheng could be broken at any time, Yuan Shang had no choice but to lead the army back to help, he sent a guide to the party to supervise the transportation of military rations, but before he went back Yuan Shang was defeated by Cao Cao in the Zhongshan area outside Yecheng, and fled north.

Seeing this situation, he thought that there was Heng Mountain on the left side of the state as a natural danger, a big river on the right that could be defended, and 50,000 troops, and a strong Hu people in the north, so he persuaded Gao Gan to welcome Yuan Shang over and unite to deal with the changes. Instead of using their own schemes, the senior cadres wanted to cause harm. When he heard the news, he sneaked away, but he couldn't return to Yuan Shang because the road was blocked, so he turned to Cao Cao and was turned into a business.

Later, because he had led Karasuma's soldiers, he sent Karasuma to negotiate with him, and successfully prevented Karasuma from sending troops to support Yuan Tan. After Yecheng was conquered by Cao Cao, Gao Gan announced his surrender to Cao Cao, and Cao Cao was still appointed to manage and annex the state.

In the following year (205), Zhao Qian, Huo Nu and others killed Youzhou Assassin Shi and Zhuojun Taishou, and Sanjun Karasuma attacked Xian Yufu in Qianping. Youzhou was in turmoil, and in August, Cao Cao led his army to rescue Qianping.

Gao Gan saw the emptiness in Cao Cao's rear and was ready to raise troops to rebel against Cao, he first asked the opinion of Zhong Changtong, a famous scholar, and Zhong Changtong said: "You have the ambition to do great things but you don't have the ability to do great things, and you like to recruit scholars but are not good at choosing talents, this is what you should be very vigilant about." "Gao Ganxiang has a very high opinion of himself, and he did not adopt the opinion of Zhong Changtong, so he rebelled against the state.

【Merge the state to Cao】

After the Gao Gan rebellion, he quickly captured the party Taishou, raised troops to refuse to accept the Huguan, and plotted to send troops to attack Yecheng. At that time, Cao Cao appointed Xun Yu's elder brother Xun Yan to supervise the military academy to guard Ye and supervise the Hebei military. Xun Yan discovered the plot of the high-ranking cadres, and the rebels who committed the crime were punished, and then he was awarded the title of marquis.

Cao Cao knew that Gao Gan betrayed him, sent Le Jin and Li Dian to crusade against him, they joined the party from the North Road, and suddenly appeared in the rear of Gao Gan, Gao Gan and others were still guarding the Huguan, Le Jin and Li Dian won consecutive battles and killed several enemy generals, but Gao Gan stubbornly defended, Li and Le Jiu could not attack, so Cao Cao was ready to personally lead the troops to crusade.

In the first month of the eleventh year of Jian'an (206), Cao Cao personally conquered Huguan, and the handsome army passed through the Yangjiban, leaving the prince Cao Pi to guard Yecheng, and sent Cui Yan to assist Cao Pi. Gao Gan heard that Cao Cao personally led a large army to attack Huguan, plus the original Lejin and Li Dianjun, and expected that the troops could not compete with each other, so he left Huguan City, and left Xia Zhao and Deng Sheng to defend the city, ran to the Xiongnu tribe, and asked the Xiongnu Shan Yu Huchuquan for help. Hu Chuquan returned from the defeat in the Battle of Pingyang, nominally attached to Cao Cao, afraid of Cao Cao's strong strength, naturally refused to be involved with Gao Gan and other anti-Cao remnants, so he refused Gao Gan's request.

And Cao Cao, because he had many soldiers and a wide range of generals, saw that the senior cadres were also afraid of him and fled, and when he arrived at Huguan, he ordered: "After the city falls, the enemy army will be pitted." ”

The Huguan defenders fought desperately after knowing that Cao Cao did not give hope, but Cao Cao fought for more than a month without success, at this time Cao Ren advised Cao Cao: "To besiege the city and attack Guo, you must declare the trapdoor to the enemy, this is to open up a way for it." Now the lord has announced to the enemy that the city will fall and die, and the enemy will defend it to the death. Moreover, this city is strong and has a lot of food, and if it is to be attacked, the soldiers are tired, and if it is to be defended, it will be delayed for a long time; It is not a good plan to garrison the army under the fortified city and attack the soldiers who defend it to the death. Cao Cao listened to his words and allowed the Huguan defenders to surrender, and sure enough, the city surrendered immediately. So he included Cao Ren's military exploits before and after, and named him the Marquis of Duting.

After Cao Cao recovered Huguan, Gao Gan also left Bingzhou and fled to the south, and Cao Cao then obtained the last large state of the four northern states, You, Hebei, Qing, and Merge.

【Acceptance and Acceptance】

Guan Cheng is a sea thief in the Qingzhou area, entrenched in the Beihai Chunyu area to make trouble, there are more than 3,000 subordinates, Cao Cao conquered the Huguan and sent Le Jin and Li Dian to crusade again, and broke it, Guan Cheng fled to the island.

Later, He Kui proposed to the imperial court: "Guan Cheng and others are not born to like to make trouble, are used to making trouble, cannot repent on their own, and have not been educated by benevolence, so they don't know how to return to their hearts and follow kindness." Now the army is pushing them too quickly, and they are afraid of being wiped out, and they will definitely fight together. It is not easy to attack them, and even if they win, they will definitely hurt the officials and the people. It is better to slowly enlighten them with kindness and allow them to repent on their own, so that they can be pacified without bothering the army. ”

Cao Cao recognized He Kui's method and sent Huang Zhen, the county prince, to tell them the truth of success or failure, and Guan Cheng and others then asked to surrender to the imperial court.

In the eleventh year of Jian'an (206), Cao Cao had already won the four major states of Jizhou, Qingzhou, Youzhou, and Bingzhou in the north from the Yuan family, and expelled Yuan Shang, Yuan Xi, Gao Gan and others, and in addition to the Yanzhou, Yuzhou, Xuzhou and other places that Cao Cao originally controlled, he was already the most powerful prince in the world at that time, and his strength was basically equivalent to the sum of other princes.

But Yuan Shang, Yuan Xi and others are still alive, which still poses a certain threat to Cao Cao's rule in the north.