After Cao Cao captured Yecheng, Yuan Tan betrayed Cao Cao, so Cao Cao turned to crusade against Yuan Tan, and eliminated him, captured Qingzhou, and then merged with the state assassin Shi Gaogan also surrendered to Cao Cao, and the north has gradually been pocketed by Cao Cao.

[Gao Gan surrendered, Yuan Tan rebelled]

After Cao Cao captured Yecheng, Gao Gan, the assassin of Bingzhou, saw that the general trend had gone, so he surrendered to the imperial court, and Cao Cao accepted his surrender and also made him the assassin.

On the other hand, Yuan Tan followed Guo Tu's strategy and pretended to defect to Cao Cao, but in fact, he used Cao Cao's hand to eliminate Yuan Shang, so Yuan Tan betrayed Cao Cao when Cao Cao attacked Yecheng. Capture Ganling, Anping, Bohai, and Hejian. Yuan Tan attacked Yuan Shang who was guarding Zhongshan, but Yuan Shang couldn't resist it, and was defeated and went to Youzhou to assassinate Yuan Xi. Yuan Tan incorporated all the remnants of Yuan Shang and returned to the army to garrison Longcuo.

Cao Cao saw Yuan Tan's betrayal. Then he wrote a letter to Yuan Tan, reproaching him for breaking his oath and severing his marriage with him, and after sending Yuan Tan's daughter back, he sent an army to fight against Yuan Tan. In December, Cao's army reached his men, and Yuan Tan withdrew from the plains, retreated to Nanpi, and deployed defenses along the Qing River. Cao Cao entered the plains and occupied the counties.

【Wuhuan Controversy】

Cao Cao was once appointed by Yuan Shao to manage the Wuhuan cavalry because of his recruitment, so he sent him to Liucheng to pacify the Wuhuan tribe. Just in time for the Wuhuan Cliff King to mobilize 5,000 cavalry, ready to go to the aid of Yuan Tan. In addition, Gongsun Kang also sent an envoy Han Zhong to send a single Yu seal ribbon to King Qiao. King Qiao summoned the chiefs of the various tribes to consult, and Han Zhong was also present.

King Qiao asked and said: "Once upon a time, Yuan Shao said that he was appointed as Shan Yu by the envoy of the Son of Heaven; Now, Cao Cao said that he would invite the Son of Heaven to perform again and appoint me as the real Shanyu; And Liaodong sent someone to send Shan Yu's seal ribbon. Who, then, should be true? ”

Zhao replied: "In the past, Yuan Shao gave orders on behalf of the Son of Heaven and had the right to confer official titles; Later, he went against the will of the Son of Heaven, and Cao Cao replaced him, saying that he would play the Son of Heaven and re-seal you as Zhenshan Yu. Liaodong is just a small remote county, and it can be awarded an official title without authorization! ”

Han Zhong said: "My Liaodong is in the east of the sea, with millions of soldiers, and the rest of the country and the Ministry are all under my orders. In today's situation, the strong are the leader, how can Cao Cao be the only one! He reprimanded Han Zhong loudly and said: "Cao Gong treats people with integrity, is respectful and wise, assists the Son of Heaven, crusades against rebellion, appeases obedience, and calms the chaos in the country." You Liaodong are all stubborn and treacherous, arrogant and domineering. Now relying on the dangerous terrain and far away from the Central Plains, he betrayed the imperial court, dared to confer official titles without authorization, insulted the Son of Heaven, and should be punished with capital punishment, how dare he insult and slander a minister like Cao Gong! ”

Pull forward and grab Han Zhong's hair, knock his head on the ground, and draw his saber, intending to kill Han Zhong. The king of the cliff was frightened and frightened, ran over barefoot, hugged the lead, and asked the puller to spare Han Zhong. The people on the left and right were shocked. Only then did he return to his seat, and analyzed the causes and consequences of success or failure for King Qiao and others, and the chiefs such as King Qiao left their seats, bowed to Zhao Zhao, and respectfully accepted the orders of the court. King Qiao sent back the envoys from Liaodong and disbanded the cavalry that had been assembled to aid Yuan Tan.

Yuan Tan lost Wu Huan's support, which was equivalent to cutting off his own arm, and he was not Cao Cao's opponent. Later, Cao Cao eliminated Yuan Tan and worshiped the army to conspire for the army.

【Eliminate Yuan Tan】

In the first month of the spring of the tenth year of Jian'an (206), Cao Cao attacked Nanpi, and Yuan Tan led his army to fight, and at first Yuan Tan's resistance was very strong, and Cao's army suffered heavy casualties. Cao Cao was about to slow down the offensive slightly, and at this time, the leader of Cao Cao's elite tiger and leopard cavalry, Cao Chun, the military officer of the Sikong Army, said: "Today, our army is rushing thousands of miles to approach the enemy, and if we can't completely destroy the enemy and retreat in a hurry, it will inevitably lose the prestige of the army; Moreover, we are already alone, and it is difficult to fight for a long time. Now that the enemy is beginning to be proud of the temporary victory, and our army is becoming cautious because of the setback of the attack, we will surely be victorious against the proud enemy with a cautious and cautious army. ”

Cao Cao listened to Cao Chun's advice, so the superintendent stepped up the attack, personally beat the war drums, and under the powerful offensive of Cao's army, he captured Nanpi.

Yuan Tan fled from the city, his hair was scattered, and he ran away with his horse, and the person chasing him was a tiger and leopard under Cao Chun's command, and he thought that Yuan Tan was not an ordinary person, so he stepped up his pursuit. Yuan Tan fell off the horse, turned around and said, "Hey, let me come here, I can make you rich." Before he finished speaking, his head hit the ground.

Yuan Tan died.

When Cao Cao was crusading against Yuan Tan, his subordinate Wang Xuan was transporting grain in Le'an, and when he heard that Yuan Tan was in danger, he led the soldiers he brought with him and his subordinates, a total of dozens of people, to Yuan Tan. When he arrived in Gaomi County, when he heard the news that Yuan Tan was dead, Wang Xuan dismounted and cried loudly, saying, "Without you, where would I go back?" ”

So he went to Cao Cao and asked him to bury Yuan Tan's body. Cao Cao wanted to observe Wang Xuan's sincerity, and remained silent. Wang Xuan also said: "I have received the kindness of the Yuan family, if I can collect Yuan Tan's body, and then let me die, I will not regret it." Cao Cao praised him for his righteousness and listened to him. Cao Cao asked Wang Xuan to serve as the overseer of the army's rations and returned to Le'an.

After Yuan Tan was defeated, all the cities in the state obeyed Cao Cao, but the only one was in charge of Le'an and was unwilling to obey. Cao Cao ordered Wang Xuan to take the head of the Guantong, and because the Guantong was a loyal minister of the fallen country, Wang Xuan untied him and let him go to see Cao Cao. Cao Cao rejoiced and pardoned him.

Yuan's decree was lenient, and most of the powerful people in office amassed wealth. Cao Cao broke through Yecheng and confiscated tens of thousands of family property of the trial and others. When I broke through Nanpi County and inspected Wang Xuan's house, the grain was less than ten hundred, and there were only a few hundred books. Cao Cao sighed and said: "Wang Xuan is really worthy of his name as a scholar. So he hired Wang Xuan as Sikong Peng, acting as the general of Si Jin Zhonglang, and later moved to Wei County Taishou.

As Yuan Shao's eldest son, Yuan Tan has a certain talent, and his achievements in recovering Qingzhou are also very great, but Yuan Tan's ability is still inferior to Yuan Shao's, and in the face of Cao Cao's army, not only can he not work together with his brothers, but he listens to the words of Guo Tu and others as the enemy's internal response, which is convenient for Cao Cao to invade the north.

The infighting between Yuan Tan and his younger brother Yuan Shang undoubtedly opened the door for Cao Cao's attack, and the two brothers were also defeated by Cao Cao one by one.

After Yuan Shao's death in history, the Yuan family still occupied the land of the four northern states, and could completely confront Cao Cao, but the Yuan brothers were estranged and hostile to each other, luring wolves into the house, and finally the chickens flew and the eggs were beaten, and there was nothing.