【The competition for Xuzhou and Yuzhou】

Yuan Shu's ambition for Xuzhou was very early, as early as after Cao Cao invaded Xuzhou, Yuan Shu had the idea of picking peaches, at that time Yuan Shu borrowed grain from Lu Kang, and as a result, Lu Kang thought that Yuan Shu was rebellious and closed his door to borrow, which eventually led Yuan Shu to send Sun Ce to crusade against Lu Kang.

Yuan Shu's first large-scale invasion of Xuzhou was after Liu Bei became Xuzhou Mu, and after Liu Bei came to power, Yuan Shu also had the same idea as Cao Cao, thinking that Liu Bei, an unknown person, was a small fresh and easy to deal with, but the result was that he could not attack for a long time, and could only hold Liu Bei in the Huaiyin area.

Yuan Shu could not defeat Liu Bei on the frontal battlefield, so he tried to find a way from Liu Bei's rear and successfully won over Lu Bu, who had just attached to Liu Bei, after Lu Bu captured Liu Bei's base camp Xiapi, Liu Bei was no longer able to fight against Yuan Shu, so Yuan Shu captured Guangling County in Xuzhou, and then took Wu Jing as the Guangling Taishou

But Yuan Shu's goal was obviously more than that, after Lu Bu captured Xuzhou, he immediately cut off the supply to Lu Bu, and also fornicated with the generals Chen Gong and Hao Meng under Lu Bu, which led to Hao Meng launching a rebellion against Lu Bu in Xiapi, and was later pacified by Lu Bu's generals Gao Shun and Cao Xing.

After Lu Bu could not be solved by force, Yuan Shu's strategy for Xuzhou changed from occupation to co-optation, and wanted to unite with Lu Bu and let him use it for his own use, so Yuan Shu proposed to Lu Bu that his son marry Lu Bu's daughter, and obtained Lu Bu's consent, and Yuan Shu's battle for Xuzhou came to an end.

And Yuan Shu's control of Yuzhou was far before Yangzhou, as early as the time of Dong Zhuo's crusade, Yuan Shu had already listed his general Sun Jian as the assassin of Yuzhou, and included Yuzhou in his sphere of influence, after Sun Jian's death, Yuan Shu continued to show Sun Jian's nephew Sun Ben to lead Yuzhou.

Historically, Yuan Shu's biggest enemy in Yuzhou was Cao Cao, and the confrontation between Yuan Shu and Cao Cao actually never subsided after the Battle of Kuangting.

In the second year of Xingping (195), after Cao Cao drove Lü Bu out of Yanzhou, he had already begun to lead his troops east to invade the state of Chen in Yuzhou.

According to the record of "Wei Luo", in the battle between Yuzhou and Yuan Shu's army, Cao Cao was chased and killed by Yuan Shu's tribe when he was out to reconnoitre, but fortunately Cao Zhen's father Qin Shao (the word Bonan) impersonated, and Yuan Shu's tribe mistakenly thought that he was Cao Cao, so he killed him, so that Cao Cao escaped a catastrophe. In order to repay Qin Shao Ende, Cao Cao adopted Cao Zhen and changed his surname to Cao. (Note 1)

In the first spring month of the first year of Jian'an (196), Cao Cao's army fought all the way to Wuping of Chen State, and Yuan Si, the Chen Xiang sent by Yuan Shu, surrendered to Cao Cao.

But soon Yuan Shu returned the color, and he sent his generals Chang Nu Dongjin and Dong Cheng to block Cao Hong, who was sent by Cao Cao to meet the Son of Heaven, and Cao Hong was not allowed to advance.

In the spring and February, Cao Cao once again sent troops to attack the Yellow Turban generals He Yi, Liu Pi, Huang Shao, He Man and others in the Runan and Yingchuan areas of Yuzhou. Each of these Yellow Turban generals has tens of thousands of people under his command, and they have been entrenched in Yuzhou.

Cao Cao won a great victory in this crusade, Liu Pi (Note 2), Huang Shao and others were beheaded by Cao Cao, and He Yi and his men surrendered.

In the early years of Jian'an, when Yuan Shu was not called emperor, he once occupied most of the territory of Guangling County, Yangzhou and Yuzhou in the south of Xuzhou, and the north was united with Lü Bu, and the comprehensive strength can be said to be not inferior to Yuan Shao at that time.

There are many soldiers and generals, there is a wide range of food, territory and jade seals, and Yuan Shu, who was already distracted, became more restless, and he began to dream of being an emperor.

[The plan to claim the emperor after delay]

Yuan Shu had the ambition of becoming emperor very early in history, and after learning that Sun Jian had obtained the jade seal, he detained Sun Jian's wife and seized the jade seal, which may have led to Sun Ce and others leaving Yuan Shu and going to live in Jiangdu, Guangling County, Xuzhou.

When Yuan Shu was young, he saw that the book of prophecy said, "It was Dang Tu Gao who replaced the Han Dynasty", and he felt that his name matched the book of prophecy (Note 3). And because the Yuan family is from the Chen State, he is a descendant of Shun. Replacing Chide with Huangde and replacing fire with earth is in line with the order of the five virtues and five elements, so there is the idea of arrogance and rebellion.

In the winter of the second year of Emperor Xingping (195), the rebel generals Li Dao and Guo Yan pursued the Son of Heaven and the ministers and hundreds of officials in the Caoyangjian area of Hongnong County, and Yang Feng, who protected Emperor Xian and Xianting, was defeated by the rebels, and Emperor Xian fled to the north of the Yellow River alone. Seeing the defeat of the Son of Heaven at Cao Yang, Yuan Shu felt that the time had come, and for the first time disclosed his thoughts to his subordinates.

He convened a meeting of his subordinates and said: "Now that the Liu family has declined, the sea is boiling, and the four generations of our Yuan family are all important ministers in the court, and the people are willing to belong to me." I want to uphold the will of heaven, conform to the will of the people, and ascend the throne as emperor now, I don't know what the kings will do? ”

When everyone listened, no one dared to say anything, only the chief bookkeeper Yan Xiang spoke: "Back then, the Zhou people accumulated virtue from their ancestor Houji to King Wen, and they could be said to have two points in the world, but they were still cautious as courtiers of the Yin Shang Dynasty. Although you have been a high-ranking official for many years, I am afraid that you are not as prosperous as the Ji family; At present, although the Han family is in decline, it seems that it cannot be compared with the brutal and unscrupulous King Yin! ”

Yuan Shu was silent when he heard Yan Xiang's words, but he was very angry in his heart.

Later, Yuan Shu sent someone to summon Zhang Fan, Zhang Fan was sick and sent his younger brother Zhang Cheng to deal with it.

Yuan Shu asked Zhang Cheng: "In the past, when Zhou Tianzi declined, there was the hegemony of Duke Huan of Qi and Duke Wen of Jin; The Qin Dynasty was politically chaotic, and the Han Dynasty succeeded the Qin Dynasty in gaining power. Now I rely on the vast land, many scholars and people, I want to ask for blessings from the Duke of Qi Huan, and compare my merits with Han Gaozu, is it okay? ”

Zhang Cheng replied: "Sending depends on virtue and not on the number of people. If you can implement moral governance and meet the needs of the people of the world, even ordinary people can become the overlord of the Son of Heaven. If it is transgressed, uncontrolled, and contrary to the times, this is something that everyone will abandon, and who can make it prosperous? ”

Yuan Shu was very unhappy when he heard this.

In history, Chen Jue destroyed the alliance between Yuan Shu and Lu Bu, but in fact, Chen Jue and Yuan Shu were both from wealthy families, and they had a close relationship when they were teenagers.

After Yuan Shu had the ambition to be the emperor, he once bluntly wrote to Chen Jue: "When the Qin Dynasty lost its power and throne, the world's heroes competed to seize it, and finally it was won by the wise and brave people. If things are in chaos today, and the Liu family is facing a trend of collapse, it is true that it is time for the world's heroes to compete again. I have been friends with you for many years, won't you help me? If you want to do great things to win the world, only you are the person I trust the most! ”

Chen Jue's son Chen Ying was also in Xiapi at this time, and Yuan Shu threatened to take Chen Ying as a hostage in order to tie Chen Jue to his chariot completely.

Chen Qi read Yuan Shu's letter and replied to him: "In the past, when the Qin Dynasty was tyrannical, he was wanton and tyrannical, ruled the world with severe punishments and cruel laws, and poisoned the people, causing the people to endure it and fight to the death, thus contributing to the fall of the Qin Dynasty. Although the Liu clan is also declining now, the world does not have the kind of torture tyranny that was on the eve of the collapse of the Qin Dynasty. In the imperial court, General Cao Cao worked hard to assist the Son of Heaven, was brave and strategic, and the court that had been trampled by the rebellious ministers and thieves was gradually recovering. I believe it won't be long before the vicious rebels are put down and the sea is cleared. I thought that you, the general, were born in a family of ministers who had been favored by the emperor for generations, and that you should work together with the heroes of the world to support the Han family, and you didn't want to plot against you and try your own way, isn't this sad! Now, if you realize that you have lost your way and try to change your ways, I think you may be able to avoid your sins. I have been friends with you for many years, so I am telling you these heartfelt words. It may sound like a dismal sound, but to me it is a way to feel like a flesh and blood. As for you asking me to cooperate with you for your own gain, I would rather die than do it. ”

After Yuan Shu decided to become emperor again, he asked many people for advice, but unfortunately those heavyweights basically did not respond to recognize him, which made Yuan Shu's plan to become emperor be delayed again and again, but one day it will not be able to drag on.

Note 1: This part of the content contradicts the record in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Note 2: According to the records of the ancestors in the biography of the ancestors, Liu Pi did not die.

Note 3: Yuan Shu thinks that his name is the road in the city, and he also has the word highway, so he thinks that the proverbial "when Tu Gao" refers to him Yuan Shu.