In the first year of Zhong Ping (184), the Yellow Scarf Uprising broke out. Cao Cao was worshipped as the riding captain and was ordered to jointly attack the Yellow Scarf Army in Yingchuan with Lu Zhi and others. As a result, the Yellow Scarf Army was defeated and tens of thousands of people were beheaded. Then moved to Jinan. During his tenure in Jinan, Cao Cao managed things as always. In more than ten counties in Jinan (now Jinan, Shandong), county officials are attached to your power, taking bribes and perverting the law, and have no scruples. Before Cao Cao, all countries ignored it. After Cao Cao took office, he made great efforts to rectify and dismissed eight officers in one fell swoop. Jinan shook and corrupt officials fled. "The politics and religion are big, and one county is bright." At that time, it was extremely dark in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and there was even a system of buying officials. The court named Cao Cao as the negotiator, but Cao Cao refused to cater to the dignitaries, so he returned to the village on the pretext of illness, studied in spring and summer, hunted in autumn and winter, and lived in seclusion for the time being.
In the fifth year of Zhong Ping (188), in order to consolidate the rule, Emperor Han Ling set up eight viceroy in Xiyuan, and Cao Cao was appointed as the imperial army viceroy among the eight viceroy because of his family background.
In the sixth year of Zhong Ping (189), Dong Zhuo, the secretariat of Xiliang, entered Luoyang, abolished Shaodi, made Xian Di Liu Xie, and later killed the Empress Dowager and Shaodi, claiming to be a surname and specializing in state affairs. Cao Cao saw Dong Zhuo's perverse behavior and refused to cooperate with him, so he changed his name and surname and escaped from Luoyang (now northeast of Luoyang, Henan).
When Cao Cao arrived at Liu Chen, he "scattered his wealth and joined his righteous soldiers." Organize an army of 5000 people to prepare for a crusade against Dong Zhuo.
In the first month of the first year of Chuping, Xian Di (190), Guandong County raised troops against Dong Zhuo, and * * * promoted Yuan Shao as its leader. As a general of Fenwu, Cao Cao participated in soliciting visitors from Dong Jun. In February, Dong Zhuo coerced Xian Di to move to Chang 'an (now northwest of Xi 'an, Shaanxi) and stayed in Luoyang to resist the Kwantung Army. Dong's Liangzhou army is brave and good at fighting. More than 100,000 Kwantung troops were stationed in Zaoshu (now north of Yanjin, Henan), and no one dared to enter. Cao Cao thought that Dong Zhuo "burned the palace and robbed the emperor, and the sea shook and the earth shook", so he should take the opportunity to fight a decisive battle with it and lead the army to the west alone. Cao Cao went to Xingyang Bianshui (now southwest of Xingyang, Henan Province) and confronted Xu Rong, the general of Dong Zhuo. Because of the great difference in the number of soldiers, Cao Cao was defeated and most of the soldiers were killed or injured. He was also injured by the flow vector, but was saved by his cousin Cao Hong. Back in Zizyphus jujuba, Cao Cao suggested that all armies should take their positions, and then divide their troops to Wuguan (now southeast of Fengdan, Shaanxi) to besiege Dong Zhuo, but the generals in Kanto refused to follow.
The Kwantung Army named after Dong Zhuo actually has ulterior motives and intends to wait for an opportunity to develop its own power. Soon, there was a conflict between the troops.
In the third year of Chuping, Stuart Wang Yun and Lu Bu planned to kill Dong Zhuo in Chang 'an. Dong Zhuo captured Chang 'an, killed Wang Yun, attacked Lu Bu, and Guanzhong was also in war. At that time, the prefectures and counties were step by step, forming a situation of vassal separatism.
In the third year of Chuping, Qingzhou Yellow Scarf Army made great progress, even breaking Yanzhou County and attacking Yanzhou Secretariat Liu Dai. Hebei Beixin and others welcomed Cao Cao as Yanzhou shepherd. Cao Cao and Bao Xin joined forces to attack the Yellow Scarf. Bao Xin died in battle. Cao Cao "set up an Indiana Jones and fought day and night" and finally defeated the Yellow Scarf. More than 300,000 people were killed and the population exceeded one million. Cao Cao, with his elite, formed an army named Qingzhou Bing.
In the autumn of the fourth year of Xian Di Chuping (193), Cao Cao invaded Xuzhou (now Tancheng, Shandong Province) and expanded his power to the southeast. Xuzhou grazing, retreated to Tanxian County. Soon Cao Cao's provisions will be exhausted, and he will retreat to the army. The following summer, Cao Cao levied Xuzhou again, just to the East China Sea. During Cao Cao's expedition to Xuzhou, he was repeatedly killed, and along the way, "chickens and dogs were scattered and there were no pedestrians in the market."
Zhang Miao, the satrap of Liu Chen who had participated in the battle of Dong Zhuo, and Chen Gong, the ministry of Cao Cao, were dissatisfied with Cao Cao, so they rebelled and made Lu Bu the shepherd of Yanzhou. Lyu3 bu4 was a famous soldier at that time. First, it was Dong Zhuo's ministry, and once conspired with Wang Yun to assassinate Dong Zhuo.
At that time, only Juancheng (now Shandong), Fan (now southeast of Fanxian County, Shandong) and Dong 'e (now northeast of Yanggu Valley, Shandong) were still under Cao Cao's control, while Sima, Shou, Cheng Yu and Xia Houdun, the satrap of Dongjun, persisted, and the situation was very critical. Cao Cao rushed back from Xuzhou and heard that Lu Bu was in Puyang, so he marched into Puyang and besieged it. After more than one hundred days of stalemate between the two armies, the plague of locusts rose sharply, the two sides stopped fighting, and Cao Cao Jun returned to Juancheng.
In the summer of the second year of Xingping (195), Cao Cao's whole army fought Lu Bu again, and defeated Lu Bu's army in Juye (now south of Juye, Shandong Province), and Lu Bu fled to Xuzhou to take refuge in Liu Bei.
In the second year, Cao Cao drove Lu Bu and Zhang Miao out of Yanzhou and rushed to Xingping from Liu Chen. After six years of operation, he finally has his own base. Cao Cao's army was only a few thousand at first. Before and after he became the prefect of the East County, he recruited some powerful landlords with clans, sects and other soldiers to join, and then defeated the Qingzhou Yellow Scarf Army and incorporated its elite to form the "Qingzhou Soldiers". In this way, Cao Cao had a very effective army. Base area and army are the basic conditions for Cao Cao's success.
Liu Xie and Xian Di have been in a state of drift from place to place since Dong Zhuo grabbed Chang 'an. In July of the first year of Jian 'an, Xian Di finally returned to Luoyang, which was devastated by Dong Zhuo's rebellion. Guan Baiju has no fixed place, "cutting through the thorns, leaning against the mountains and walls", and Luoyang has no food. "There are Qiang Bing in each county, but the Committee can't lose it. If you are hungry, you can be self-sufficient or starve to death."
As early as the third year of Chuping (192), Mao Jie, Cao Cao's counselor, put forward a strategic proposal to Cao Cao, which won his trust. In August of the first year of Jian 'an, Cao Cao went to Luoyang to appear before Xian Di. Immediately, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was taken hostage and moved to Xu County (now Henan). From then on, Cao Cao gained the advantage of "relying on the emperor to make the princes". This is a great political success of Cao Cao. Cao Cao was appointed as a general and Wu Pinghou. During the Han and Wei Dynasties, social production was severely damaged and a great famine occurred. During this period, food supply became the biggest problem of military groups, and countless people were invincible because of lack of military food.
In the first year of Jian 'an, Cao Cao adopted the advice of Zhao Zhi and others, and used the materials seized by the broken yellow turban to support the people and cultivate the land. That year, it made great achievements and won millions of dollars. So Cao Cao ordered the establishment of a captain in each county to open up wasteland. Reclaiming farmland effectively solved the food problem of Cao Cao Group, so Cao Cao said, "It will be a big field in the future, rich in national use, and will destroy the rebellion and level the world."
At the same time, Cao Cao took various measures to support the yeoman economy. In view of the loss of population and the barren fields at that time, Cao Cao successively took measures such as recruiting refugees, relocating the population, persuading farmers to mulberry, building water conservancy projects, and checking households to enrich the number of households and resume agricultural production. In addition, Cao Cao issued decrees one after another to restore the normal rent adjustment system and prevent the strongmen from annexing small farmers. In the fifth year of Jian 'an (200 years), Cao Cao promulgated a new collection system. By the ninth year of Jian 'an, it was clear: "He rented four liters of land, and the household paid two silks, only two pounds. He must not be good at it. " This series of measures implemented before and after Cao Cao enabled the yeoman economy on the verge of collapse to recover and develop continuously. This has become a solid economic foundation for Cao Cao Group.
Through the above two measures, the agricultural production in Cao Cao's ruling area recovered rapidly. This is Cao Cao's great economic success.
Welcoming Xian Di, moving the capital to Xu He and resuming agricultural production are two important conditions for Cao Cao's success.
From the second year of Jian 'an, Cao Cao took advantage of his political advantage of "relying on the emperor to make princes" and began his war to destroy heroes and unify the north.
At that time, in the north of Cao Cao, Yuan Shao occupied Hebei, Hebei, Youqing and Qinghai. To the south, it is the Yuan Shu occupying Yangzhou; In the southeast, it is Lu Bu who occupies Xuzhou; Zhengnan is Liu Biao who occupies Jingzhou; To the west, are the generals of Guanzhong. In addition, after Zhang Ji's nephew Zhang Xiu surrendered to Liu Biao, Dong Zhuo was stationed in Wanxian (now Nanyang, Henan), posing a threat to Xu Du.
In September of the third year of Jian 'an (198), Cao Cao invaded Xuzhou and attacked his old enemy Lu Bu. Under the offensive of Cao Jun, Lyu3 bu4' s army experienced ups and downs. In December, Lu Bu surrendered Hou Cheng, Song Xian and other Lu Bu counselors to Cao Cao. When Lu Bu saw that the tide was gone, he surrendered to the lower city. Cao Cao executed Lu Bu and Chen Gong, and took back Lu Bu, Cang Ba and Sun Guan, and initially took control of Xuzhou.
At that time, Yuan Shao was the strongest among the pack. Cao Cao arranged in advance and ordered Cang Ba and others who had potential influence in Qingzhou to attack Qingzhou and occupy Qi (now Linzi, Shandong Province), Beihai (now southeast of Shouguang, Shandong Province) and other places to consolidate the right wing; He also ordered a general to guard Yuan Jun on the south bank of the Yellow River. Soon, Zhang Xiu obeyed Jia Xu, the counselor, and surrendered to Cao Cao. Cao Cao was overjoyed and worshipped Zhang Xiu as General Yang Wu, which relieved his worries. In December of this year, Cao Cao led an army to Guandu (now Zhongmou North, Henan Province) to prepare to meet Yuan Shao.
After Tao Qian's death, Liu Bei once worked as a herdsman in Xuzhou. After that, Xuzhou was captured by Lu Bu, and Liu Bei went to Cao Cao. Cao Cao thinks Liu Bei is a hero, first.