Historically, Cao Cao started from Yanzhou Dongjun Taishou, and successively fought with Yuan Shu, Tao Qian, Liu Bei, Lu Bu, Zhang Xiu, Liu Bei, Yuan Shao and many other princes, and all achieved victory, after the death of Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi, he completed the unification of the north, controlled the imperial court, controlled Emperor Han Xian, and owned seven or eight states, and was the strongest prince in the world at that time, both nominally and in strength. And this period is the early stage of the development of Cao Wei Group.

That is, from the second year of Chuping (191), Yuan Shao was on the table, Cao Cao was the Taishou of Dongjun, to the eve of the decisive battle of Chibi in the thirteenth year of Jian'an (208).

【Start】

The position of the Taishou of Dongjun is of great significance to Cao Cao, which marks that Cao Cao officially has his own territory and has his own base, which is also the starting point of Cao Cao's development. It was here that Cao Cao got the refuge of his first strategists Xun Yu and Chen Gong.

But Dongjun is still too small, and Cao Cao needs a bigger stage. coincided with the death of Liu Dai, the assassin of Yanzhou at that time, and Cao Cao was elected as the pastor of Yanzhou with the help of Chen Gong and others. After getting Yanzhou, Cao Cao has become a force that cannot be underestimated in the world. Then he joined forces with Yuan Shao and Liu Biao against Yuan Shu, Gongsun Zhan, and Tao Qian.

Cao Cao first pacified the Yellow Turban turmoil in Yanzhou, and then joined forces with Yuan Shao to repel the attacking Yuan Shu and others, after his father Cao Song was killed by the people of Xuzhou, he raised troops to avenge it, and twice crusaded against Xuzhou, Xuzhou Mu Taoqian and Liu Bei and others could not be defeated, but at this moment, Zhang Miao and Chen Gong of Yanzhou joined forces to rebel and lead Lu Bu into Yanzhou, if it were not for the outstanding performance of Xun Yu, Cheng Yu and others, Yanzhou was very likely to fall into the enemy's hands, but even so, Cao Cao had to begin to face the biggest crisis in his life.

The Battle of Cao Lu and Yanzhou Cao Cao fought very hard, but in the end Cao Cao persevered and won the final victory with the support of Yuan Shao. Later, he was officially appointed as the pastor of Yanzhou by Emperor Han Xian, the son of heaven, and became the lord of Yanzhou in the real sense.

From the second year of Chuping (191) Cao Cao became the Taishou of Dongjun to the first year of Jian'an (196) before he welcomed the Son of Heaven was the initial period of the development of Cao Cao's group, during this period of time Cao Cao showed strong combat effectiveness, but basically still circled around Yanzhou, and the power did not be able to break through, on the contrary, the native Yanzhou was greatly destroyed, but Cao Cao finally stabilized his rule in Yanzhou, which laid a solid foundation for his further development later.

【Transition】

Welcoming Emperor Xian and moving the capital to Xuchang was the most important turning point in the development of Cao Cao's group, after which Cao Cao really developed. After obtaining the Son of Heaven and controlling the imperial court, Cao Cao gained great prestige and fame, and became a decisive prince at that time, after which Cao Cao's group also entered a period of rapid development, and its sphere of influence further expanded to Yuzhou, Xuzhou, Jingzhou, Sili and other places.

But on the other hand, Cao Cao gradually became the public enemy of the princes at this time, and the relationship with the surrounding princes Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, Lu Bu, Liu Biao, and Zhang Xiu was not very good.

At that time, because Nanyang County in Jingzhou was too close to Xuchang, Cao Cao's group crusaded against Zhang Xiu four times, hoping to sweep away his threat, three of which Cao Cao personally led the troops, but under the joint efforts of Zhang Xiu and Liu Biaodan, Cao Cao finally returned in vain; Yuan Shu claimed that the emperor invaded Yuzhou, Cao Cao crusaded against him, and killed many generals under Yuan Shu's command, and Yuan Shu's forces were greatly hit; Lü Bu asked for the position of Xuzhou pastor but could not, so he betrayed the imperial court, took refuge in the self-reliant Yuan Shu, and sent the general Gao Shun to crusade against Liu Bei, the pastor of Yuzhou, expelled him, Cao Cao then led the march to Xuzhou, and surrounded Xiapi, eliminated Lü Bu, and swept away the worries.

After Cao Cao obtained the Son of Heaven, relations with his ally Yuan Shao also plummeted, and in order to appease Yuan Shao, Cao Cao had to give him the position of general. He also let Yuan Shao command the four northern states, but all this only temporarily eased their relationship, and both Yuan Shao and Cao Cao understood that war was only a matter of time.

Fortunately, Zhang Xiu, who was in the duel with Yuan Shao, defected to Cao Cao under the persuasion of Jia Xu, which relieved Cao Cao of a worry, and at the same time, Yuan Shu also died in the south, and Cao Cao's enemy was one less. Therefore, before the decisive battle with Yuan Shao, Cao Cao's rear already had a relatively stable situation.

From the first year of Jian'an (196) to the fourth year of Jian'an (199) on the eve of Yuan Cao's war, it was Cao Cao's first period of rapid development, during which Cao Cao became the second largest prince at that time.

【Guandu Decisive Battle】

Before the decisive battle of Guandu, although Yuan Shao was a general second only to the Son of Heaven in name, and he had a powerful prince in the four northern states, and his power was unmatched in the world, but in fact, Yuan Shao at that time had already begun to make mistakes, excluding the loyal and virtuous Fu Zhu and Tian Feng, and instead reusing villains such as Guo Tu, who was good at figuring out people's hearts, was essentially just a paper tiger, and the threat to Cao Cao did not exceed that of Lu Bu and others during the original Battle of Yanzhou, but Yuan Shao was a hurdle that Cao Cao had to cross, and it was also a hurdle that Cao Cao had to cross. Only if Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao, he would have a way to go further, otherwise Cao Cao could only stagnate.

With the help of Xun You, Jia Xu and other strategists, with the support of famous generals such as Zhang Liao and Cao Ren, and the support of Xun Yu from afar, everyone finally won the victory.

The battle of Guandu was shocking for Cao Cao, but there was no danger. The significance of this battle was very significant, after which Cao Cao and Yuan Shao reversed, and Cao Cao replaced Yuan Shao as the strongest prince in the world at that time.

【Unification of the North】

After Yuan Shao's defeat at Guandu, not only tens of thousands of troops were killed by Cao Cao, but also lost a number of important subordinates, after which Yuan Shao barely suppressed the rebellion in the north and could no longer support it. After Yuan Shao's death, Yuan Shao's two sons, Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang, competed for power and profit, and internal contradictions became white-hot, and all this gave Cao Cao an opportunity.

Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang were first driven by Cao Cao from Liyang to the base camp Yecheng because of internal discord, and then because of Guo Jia's proposal, the two brothers escaped, but the two brothers not only did not cherish this opportunity, but completely broke up, Yuan Tan also led Cao Cao back to the north under Guo Tu's proposal, and the two were broken by Cao Cao one by one, and Jizhou and Qingzhou changed hands.

After Cao Cao captured Jizhou and Qingzhou, Youzhou and Bingzhou could no longer hold on, and then Cao Cao's Northern Expedition to Wuheng drove Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang to Liaodong, and the Yuan brothers were killed by Sun Kang, the Taishou Gong of Liaodong, and the Yuan family was completely destroyed.

Historically, Cao Cao moved the capital to Xuchang in the first year of Jian'an (196) and ended before the Battle of Chibi (208), which was a period of rapid development of Cao Cao's group.