In the third year of Xiping (174), Cao Cao was promoted to filial piety and entered Luoyang, Kyoto. Soon, he was appointed lieutenant of northern Luoyang. Luoyang is the capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and it is a place where imperial relatives and nobles live, and it is difficult to govern. As soon as Cao Cao arrived, he affirmed the ban, strictly enforced the law and discipline, and made more than ten five-colored sticks, which hung around the yamen, "Those who violate the ban will be killed." The emperor's favored eunuch Jian Shuo's uncle Jian Tu violated the ban on night walking, and Cao Cao showed no mercy and executed Jian Tu with a five-colored stick. As a result, "the Beijing master has collected traces, and no one dares to offend". Cao Cao also offended some powerful people in the current dynasty because of this, and due to the relationship between his father Cao Song, he rose and descended secretly, and Cao Cao was transferred to Dunqiu (now Qingfeng County) to order.

In the first year of Guanghe (178), Cao Cao was implicated and removed from his official position because his cousin-in-law Song Qi, the Marquis of Huanqiang, was killed by eunuchs. After that, he had nothing to do in Luoyang and returned to his hometown of Qian County to live idlely.

In the third year of Guanghe (180), Cao Cao was recruited by the imperial court and appointed as a councilor. Previously, the general Dou Wu and Taifu Chen Fan plotted to kill the eunuchs, but they were killed by the eunuchs instead of doing so. Cao Cao's letter stated that Dou Wu and others were framed for official integrity, resulting in a situation where traitors were full of evil and evil, but loyal and good people were not reused, and his words were sincere, but they were not adopted by Emperor Ling of Han. Later, Cao Cao wrote many times to admonish, although occasionally effective, but the Eastern Han Dynasty became increasingly corrupt, and Cao Cao knew that he could not correct it.

Statue of Cao Cao

Statue of Cao Cao

In the first year of Zhongping (184), the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out, and Cao Cao was worshiped as a cavalry captain, and was ordered to join forces with Huangfu Song and others to attack the Yellow Turban Army in Yingchuan, and as a result, the Yellow Turban Army was broken and tens of thousands of people were beheaded. Then it was moved to Jinan. During the term of office of Jinan Prime Minister, Cao Cao governed things as before. There were more than 10 counties in Jinan (now Jinan, Shandong), and the county magistrates were mostly dependent on the nobles, corrupt and bent the law, and had no scruples. Cao Cao's previous ministers ignored it. When Cao Cao arrived, he vigorously rectified and dismissed eight out of ten of the officials, Jinan was shaken, and corrupt officials fled one after another. "Politics and religion are great, and a county is clear". [9]

At that time, it was the time when the politics of the Eastern Han Dynasty were extremely dark, and there was even a system. Cao Cao refused to cater to the magnates, so he returned to the township due to illness, studied in spring and summer, hunted in autumn and winter, and lived in seclusion temporarily. [10-11]

At that time, the world was in turmoil, and there was an incident in which Wang Fen, the assassin of Jizhou, united with Nanyang Xu You, Peiguo Zhou Jing and other local heroes to plan to depose Emperor Ling and establish the Marquis of Hefei. Wang Fen and others hoped that Cao Cao would join them, but Cao Cao refused, and later Wang Fen committed suicide in defeat. Then, Bian Zhang and Han Sui of Jincheng County (now Lanzhou) in the northwest killed Assassin Shi and Taishou, and led more than 100,000 troops to rebel against the imperial court. [12]

In the fifth year of Zhongping (188), Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty set up eight captains in Xiyuan in order to consolidate his rule, and Cao Cao was appointed as the captain of the eight lieutenants because of his family background.

Chen Liu's troops were raised

In the sixth year of Zhongping (189), Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty died, the crown prince Liu Wei ascended the throne, and the Empress Dowager He listened to the government. The general He Jin wanted to take advantage of the death of Emperor Ling and the loss of power of the eunuchs to destroy the Ten Standing Attendants, but he did not obtain the support of the Empress Dowager He. So He Jin summoned Dong Zhuo, who was then the pastor of the state, to Beijing and coerced the Empress Dowager He to agree. However, this move shocked the snake, Dong Zhuo had not yet arrived in the capital, and He Jin had been murdered by the eunuchs. In September of the same year, Dong Zhuo entered Beijing, took charge of the government, abolished Emperor Shao of the Han Dynasty as the King of Hongnong, and renamed his younger brother Chen Liuwang as the Emperor of Han Xian, and sent people to poison the mother and son of the King of Hongnong. Cao Cao saw that Dong Zhuo was perverse and unwilling to cooperate with him, so he changed his name and fled from Luoyang (now Luoyangdong). [13] After Cao Cao arrived in Chenliu, he "scattered his wealth and joined the righteous soldiers", and first advocated that the volunteers call on the heroes of the world to crusade against Dong Zhuo.

Portrait of Cao Cao

Portrait of Cao Cao [14]

In the first month of the first year of Chuping (190), Yuan Shu and others jointly promoted Yuan Shao, the Taishou of Bohai, as the leader of the alliance, and Cao Cao served as the acting general of Fenwu to participate in the fight against Dong's army. In February, Dong Zhuo, who was defeated by the coalition forces, coerced Emperor Xian to move his capital to Chang'an (northwest of present-day Xi'an, Shaanxi), and himself burned down the palace, dug up the royal tombs, and plundered the people, leaving Luoyang 200 miles barren and desolate. The Kwantung coalition army was afraid of the combat power of Dong Zhuo's elite Liangzhou army, and no one dared to advance to the western part of the country, and all of them were stationed in the area of Suozao (now north of Yanjin). Cao Cao believed that Dong Zhuo "burned the palace, robbed the Son of Heaven, and shook the sea", so he should take the opportunity to fight a decisive battle with him, so he led the army westward alone. Cao Cao traveled to Xingyang Bianshui (now southwest of Xingyang), and Dong Zhuo's general Xu Rong confronted, because of the disparity in the number of soldiers, Cao Cao was defeated, most of the soldiers were killed and wounded, and he was also injured by a stray arrow, fortunately saved by his cousin Cao Hong, and survived. [15] Back to Suojube, Cao Cao suggested that the armies should have their own strongholds, and then divide their troops to the west to enter Wuguan (now southeast of Danfeng, Shaanxi) and besiege Dong Zhuo, but the generals of Kwantung refused to obey. The Kwantung armies are called Dong Zhuo, but in fact, they each have a ghost in their hearts, intending to wait for an opportunity to develop their own forces. Soon, friction broke out between the armies and they fought each other. The Coalition was thus disbanded. [16]

In the second year of Chuping (191), Cao Cao was defeated in Dongjun by poison, Baihuan, Zhenggu, Yufuluo, etc., and Yuan Shao expressed him as the Taishou of Dongjun. [17]

In the third year of the first peace (192 years), the Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army made great progress, and even broke the counties of Yanzhou (Zhichangyi, now southeast of Juye, Shandong), and beheaded Liu Dai, the assassin of Yanzhou. Jibei Prime Minister Bao Xin and others welcomed Cao Cao as the pastor of Yanzhou. Cao Cao and Bao Xin joined forces to attack the Yellow Turbans. Bao Xin died in battle. Cao Cao "set up a strange ambush and fought day and night", and finally defeated the Yellow Turban. In the winter of that year, more than 300,000 people were killed, and the population was more than 1 million. Cao Cao collected his elite and formed an army, called the Qingzhou soldiers. He also helped Yuan Shao defeat the armies of Liu Bei, Shan Jing and Tao Qian. [18]

In the spring of the fourth year of Chuping (193), Cao Cao pursued 600 miles in Kuangting and defeated Yuan Shu, the Black Mountain Army, and the Southern Xiongnu. Xuzhou Mu Tao Qian led an army to attack Rencheng in the south of Yanzhou, and Cao Cao led an army to conquer Tao Qian and conquered more than ten cities in Xuzhou.

Chase the Central Plains

In the autumn of the fourth year of Chuping (193), Cao Cao's father, Cao Song, was killed by Tao Qian's troops on his way to Cao Cao [19-20], and Cao Cao marched to Xuzhou (Zhitan, present-day Tancheng, Shandong) to expand his power to the southeast. Tao Qian retreated to Tan County. Soon Cao Cao's army was exhausted and retreated back to the army. In the summer of the following year, Cao Cao conquered Xuzhou again and went to the East China Sea. During Cao Cao's expedition to Xuzhou, he killed a lot, and along the way, "the chickens and dogs were exhausted, and there were no pedestrians in the ruins". The Dongjun garrison Chen Gong was dissatisfied with Cao Cao, so he conspired with Chen Liutaishou Zhang Miao, Zhang Miao's brother Zhang Chao, Zhonglang Xu Yan and Wang Kai to rebel, and welcomed Lu Bu as the pastor of Yanzhou. Lu Bu was a famous general at that time, first as Dong Zhuo's general, and then with Wang Yunding, he planned to kill Dong Zhuo.

At that time, only Juancheng (now Juancheng, Shandong) and Fan (Nanfan County) and Dong'e (now Yanggu, Shandong) counties in Dongjun were still under Cao Cao's control, and they were respectively held by Sima Xunyu and Shou Zhang Ling Cheng Yu, and Dongjun Taishou Xiahoudun, and the situation was extremely critical. Cao Cao rushed back from Xuzhou and heard that Lü Butun was in Puyang, so he marched to besiege Puyang. The two armies held each other for more than 100 days, the locust plague broke out, the two sides ceased fighting, and Cao Cao's army returned to Juancheng. At this time, Cao Cao lost Yanzhou (northwest of present-day Yuncheng, Shandong), and the army was exhausted, Yuan Shao sent people to persuade Cao Cao to join him, and let Cao Cao move his family to Ye County as a hostage. Cao Cao originally planned to agree to Yuan Shao, but thanks to Cheng Yu's dissuasion, Cao Cao dispelled this idea.

Map of the Eastern Han Dynasty

Map of the Eastern Han Dynasty

In the second year of Xingping (195), Cao Cao reorganized the army to fight Lü Bu again, and was defeated three times, breaking Dingtao (now Dingtao, Shandong), Liqiu (now northwest of Yuncheng, Shandong), etc., and pacifying Yanzhou. Lü Bu fled to Xuzhou to seek refuge with Liu Bei. In July, due to the fierce struggle of Li Dao and Guo Yan, Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty returned from Chang'an to the east and issued an edict to let all the princes Qin Wang.

In August of the first year of Jian'an (196), Cao Cao welcomed the Han Emperor. Xinhai, Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty named Cao Cao as the lieutenant of the school and recorded the affairs of Shangshu. Gengshen, moved the capital to Xu County. In November, Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty named Cao Cao as the commonplace, and the riding generals were military, and the hundred officials always listened.

In the first month of the second year of Jian'an (197), Cao Cao crusaded against Zhang Xiu, the army was stationed in Shuishui, Zhang Xiu surrendered, and then rebelled, the eldest son Cao Ang, nephew Cao Anmin, and the fierce general Dian Wei were killed. After that, Cao Cao attacked Zhang Xiu twice, but he was not completely defeated. In September, Cao Cao went east to conquer Yuan Shu, Yuan Shu abandoned the army and fled to the Huai River, and Yuan Shu stayed behind to guard the four generals.

In April of the third year of Jian'an (198), Cao Cao sent Pei Mao, a confidant, to lead Zhonglang to simmer Duan Xuan against Li Dao and raze the three clans. In September, Cao Cao marched east to Xuzhou and attacked Lü Bu, who had long been his enemy. Under the offensive of Cao's army, Lü Bu's army was centrifuged, and in December, Lü Bu's troops captured Wei Xu, Song Xian and others and returned to Cao Cao. Seeing that the general trend had gone, Lu Bu surrendered in the city. Cao Cao executed Lü Bu, Chen Gong, Gao Shun and others, and surrendered Lü Bu's generals Zhang Liao, Taishan Haojie Zang Ba, Sun Guan and others, and initially took control of Xuzhou.

In the fourth year of Jian'an (199), Cao Cao sent Shi Jian and Cao Ren to break through Zhang Yang's old army, obtain Hanoi County, and expand his sphere of influence to the north of the Yellow River. [21]

Battle of Guandu

After the elimination of Mugu, in order to cope with the subsequent war with Yuan Shao, Cao Cao made arrangements in advance, and ordered Zang Ba and others, who had potential influence in Qingzhou, to invade Qingzhou, occupy Qi (now Linzi, Shandong), Beihai (southeast of present-day Shouguang, Shandong) and other places, and consolidate the right flank; Soon, Zhang Xiu listened to the plan of the strategist Jia Xu and surrendered to Cao Cao, Cao Cao was overjoyed, worshiped Zhang Xiu as a general of Yangwu, and relieved his worries.

In December of the fourth year of Jian'an (199), Cao Cao led his army to Guandu (now Zhongmubei), preparing to meet Yuan Shao.

Battle of Guandu

Battle of Guandu [22]

After Tao Qian's death, Liu Bei served as the pastor of Xuzhou for a time, and after Xuzhou was captured by Lü Bu, Liu Bei defected to Cao Cao. Cao Cao thought that Liu Bei was a hero, and successively referred to him as Yuzhou Mu and General Zuo. Soon after Cao Cao captured Xuzhou, Huainan Yuan Shu was ready to flee to Qingzhou to rely on Yuan Shao, Cao Cao sent Liu Bei to intercept it, Yuan Shu could not go north, vomited blood and died.

In the first month of the fifth year of Jian'an (200 years), Dong Cheng and others conspired to punish Cao Cao and were killed by Cao Cao. Liu Bei then attacked and killed Xuzhou assassin Shi Chexuan and occupied Xuzhou.

"Liu Bei rebelled in Xuzhou [23] ". Therefore, Cao Cao decided to go east to conquer Liu Bei. [23] All the generals said: "Those who fight for the world with the public, Yuan Shaoye." Now Shao Fang came and abandoned the east, after Shao took the people, what if?" Cao Cao said: "Liu Bei, Renjie, if you don't attack today, there will be trouble." Although Yuan Shao has great ambitions, he will not move when he sees things late. Then he marched and defeated Liu Bei with lightning speed, and Liu Bei fled to Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao was the most powerful force in the north at that time, and he was also the most powerful enemy of Cao Cao's unification of the north. Yuan's family, since Yuan Shao's great-grandfather Yuan An below, "the fourth generation of the three public positions", "protégés and former officials all over the world", the power is already very large, after Yuan Shao obtained the land of Hebei, and, secluded and Qingzhou, the strength has increased greatly, and there are hundreds of thousands of troops. Yuan Shao with his eldest son Yuan Tan, second son Yuan Xi, and nephew Gao Gan guarded Qing, You, and Sanzhou, and the rear was stable, and the soldiers were well fed, and Cao Cao was not taken seriously at all. He selected 100,000 elite soldiers and 10,000 war horses, aiming to eliminate Cao Cao in one fell swoop.

In the fifth year of Jian'an (200 years), Yuan Shao ordered the general Yan Liang and others to march into Baima (now Huaxian County), and led a large army into Tun Liyang (now the east of Jun County) to launch an attack on Cao Cao. Cao Cao's strength was much weaker than that of Yuan Shao [24], and the area south of the Great River occupied by Cao Cao was both small and the land of the four wars, dilapidated and not yet fully recovered, and the supplies were not as abundant as Yuan Shao's. Cao Cao's troops were far inferior to Yuan Shao's, his total strength was probably only tens of thousands, and the number of troops put into the front line was "less than 10,000 soldiers, and 123 wounded" according to the "Emperor Wu Ji". Pei Songzhi thought that this number was not accurate, Cao Cao's troops would not be so small, but there was no doubt that Cao Cao's troops were far inferior to Yuan Shao. [25]

Yuan Shao's army came to attack, and Xu was shaken. Cao Cao comforted the generals and said: "I know that Shaozhi is a human being, with great ambition and small wisdom, strong and timid, jealous and less powerful, many soldiers and unclear divisions, arrogant and different orders, although the land is wide and the food is abundant, it is enough for me to serve it." ”

In February, Yuan Shao's general Yan Liang and others besieged Baima, kicking off the prelude to the Great War. In April, Cao Cao personally led his troops north to relieve the siege of Baima, and he adopted the strategy of the strategist Xun You, advanced the army to Yanjin (now the north of Yanjin), made a posture of crossing the river to attack the Yuan army, attracting the Yuan army to divide the troops to the west, and then suddenly turned and rushed to Baima. Cao Cao's army suddenly arrived, the Yuan army was caught off guard, Yan Liang was beheaded by Guan Yu [26], the Yuan army was defeated, and the siege of Baima was lifted. Cao Cao rescued the soldiers and civilians of the White Horse and retreated west along the Yellow River. When Yuan Shao heard this, he immediately ordered Wen Chou and Liu Bei to cross the river to chase Cao Cao. Cao Cao saw that the pursuers were approaching, so he ordered the sergeants to unsaddle and release the horses, and put the burden on the road. The Yuan army pursued the troops so much, scrambling for baggage, and the formation was chaotic. Cao Cao led the only cavalry to suddenly kill, breaking the pursuers and beheading Wen Chou. Yuan Jun was shaken. Cao Cao won the first battle, took the initiative to withdraw his troops, and continued to hold Guandu.

In August, Yuan Shao's army marched into the camp, dozens of miles from east to west, relying on the sand pile as a tun, and forced Guandu. Cao Cao divided his troops to stick to the camp and waited for the opportunity to move. The Yuan army launched a fierce attack on Cao Ying, first making high turrets, raising earth mountains, shooting arrows into Cao Ying's camp from above, and then digging tunnels to attack Cao Ying from underground, all of which were solved by Cao Cao by setting up trebuchets and digging ravines. The two armies attacked and defended each other for nearly two months. After a long war, Cao Cao was in an extremely difficult situation.

In October, Yuan Shao transported more than 10,000 carts of grain and grass from Hebei, and sent the general Chun Yuqiong and others to escort more than 10,000 people along the way, and stayed overnight in Wuchao, which was forty miles away from Yuan Shao's camp. At this time, Yuan Shao's strategist Xu You was remorseful because of Yuan Shaoxian's plan to attack Xudu and his family members in Hebei were arrested, so he came to Cao Cao and offered a plan for Cao Cao to sneak attack the black nest. Cao Cao was overjoyed, stepped out to greet him, and then personally led the elite infantry to ride 5,000 people, the army ranks, Malekou, changed into the military uniform of the Yuan army and attacked the nest from the road at night. Cao Cao's army went to Wuchao and ordered to set fire on all sides, Yuan's army was in chaos, and Chun Yuqiong refused to defend the camp. [27] When Yuan Shao heard this, he hurriedly sent troops to rescue, and Cao Cao saw that "the thief is a little closer, please divide the troops and refuse." Cao Cao was furious and said: "The thief is behind, Naibai!" The soldiers fought desperately, so they broke Yuan's army, beheaded Yu Qiong and others, and burned their grain and grass. When Yuan Shao heard that Cao Cao had attacked Wuchao, he thought that this was a good opportunity to break through Cao Cao's camp, so he sent few reinforcements and besieged Cao Cao's camp with heavy troops. Due to Cao Cao's reserved troops, Cao's camp was not broken, and the news of the defeat of Wuchao had come, and the generals Zhang He, Gao Ran and others led their troops to surrender to Cao Cao, and Yuan's army was dispersed. Yuan Shao abandoned his army and fled back north of the Yellow River. Cao Jun won a complete victory, beheaded more than 70,000 ranks, and won all the treasures of Yuan Jun's heavy books. Cao Cao counted Yuan Shao's letters, got the letter of his subordinates colluding with Yuan Shao, burned them all, and said: "When Shao is strong, he can't protect himself, and everyone cares!"

In terms of objective conditions, Cao Cao was at a disadvantage, but because he was able to correctly analyze the objective conditions and be good at listening to the correct opinions of others, he was able to make use of his strengths and avoid his weaknesses, adopt correct strategies and tactics, and transform the war into a favorable aspect for himself, and finally won the victory through his own subjective efforts. In the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao defeated his biggest enemy, Yuan Shao, and it was the general trend for him to unify the north. The Battle of Guandu is also a famous example in the history of Chinese warfare in which fewer won more and the weak defeated the strong.

Expedition to Wuhuan