How Cao Cao Unified Northern China

Guandu broke Yuan Shao's momentum.

But Cao Cao still had to finish the work. Northern China did not become his automatically after one battle.

Yuan Shao Died Before Recovering

After Guandu, Yuan Shao fled back to Hebei with only a small remnant.

His defeat was heavy, but his foundation was not gone. Yuan Shao still had deep roots in the north, and many people remembered his rule favorably.

Cao Cao did not want to let a wounded rival regain strength. In 201, he advanced along the Yellow River and defeated Yuan forces at Cangting. The next year, he again stationed troops at Guandu and kept pressure on Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao grew furious and ashamed. Cao Cao had once been the lesser partner in their old world. Now he was pressing Yuan Shao from above.

In the summer of 202, Yuan Shao died after illness and bleeding.

Hebei mourned him. Yuan Shao had a reputation for generous rule, and people in markets and lanes wept as if for a relative.

But grief could not solve the fatal question he had left behind: who would inherit?

The Yuan Succession Cracked

Yuan Shao had three sons: Yuan Tan, Yuan Xi, and Yuan Shang.

His later wife favored the youngest, Yuan Shang, and Yuan Shao himself preferred him. But he never made a clear public settlement.

Instead, he made a dangerous arrangement. Yuan Tan, the eldest, was adopted into the line of Yuan Shao's deceased elder brother and sent away to govern Qingzhou. Yuan Xi was sent to Youzhou, and Gao Gan, Yuan Shao's nephew, held Bingzhou.

On the surface, the family was spreading authority across provinces. In reality, Yuan Tan had been pushed away from the center at Ye.

Ju Shou had warned Yuan Shao that an unclear succession would bring disaster. Now the warning came true.

Yuan Tan rushed from Qingzhou to mourn his father, but he could not take over. Yuan Shang controlled Ye. Yuan Tan claimed a military title for himself and stayed at Liyang.

Yuan Shang gave Yuan Tan few troops and sent his own follower Feng Ji to watch him. When Yuan Tan asked for more armor and supplies, Shen Pei and the others refused. Yuan Tan killed Feng Ji in anger.

The Yuan house was splitting from inside.

Cao Cao Let the Brothers Fight

In late 202, Cao Cao crossed the Yellow River and attacked Yuan Tan.

Yuan Tan called on Yuan Shang for help. Yuan Shang knew that if he abandoned his brother, the family base might collapse. But he also feared that a general sent to help Yuan Tan would hand troops over to him. So Yuan Shang left Shen Pei to defend Ye and led the relief force himself.

The brothers joined forces but lost repeatedly.

In 203, Cao Cao attacked Liyang again. Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang fled back to Ye. Cao Cao pursued, harvested wheat outside the city, and weakened their supplies.

His commanders wanted to press the siege.

Guo Jia advised waiting. Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang were close in strength and each had factions. Under heavy outside pressure, they would help each other. If Cao Cao eased off, they would fight.

Cao Cao withdrew toward Xu and left forces at Liyang.

As soon as he withdrew, Yuan Tan asked Yuan Shang for troops and armor to pursue Cao Cao. Yuan Shang refused. Yuan Tan attacked him and was defeated outside Ye, then fled to Pingyuan. Yuan Shang besieged him there.

Trapped, Yuan Tan sent Xin Pi to ask Cao Cao for help.

Xin Pi Persuaded Cao Cao

Some of Cao Cao's men thought he should simply watch the Yuan brothers destroy each other. Others thought the better target was Liu Biao in Jingzhou.

Xun You disagreed. Liu Biao, he argued, was content to guard the Han and Jiang regions and lacked ambition to fight for the empire. The Yuan family still held four provinces and had tens of thousands of troops. If one brother swallowed the other, the north would reunite against Cao Cao.

Now was the moment to intervene.

Xin Pi added that Yuan Tan's plea proved desperation. Yuan Shang could not quickly capture Pingyuan, which showed weakness too. Years of defeat, drought, and locusts had shaken Hebei.

Cao Cao accepted the argument and advanced to Liyang in winter.

Yuan Shang lifted the siege of Pingyuan and withdrew to Ye.

Yuan Tan was saved, but he was not loyal. He secretly made seals to recruit Yuan officers who had surrendered to Cao Cao. Cao Cao saw the danger and temporarily stabilized him through a marriage arrangement between their families.

Then Cao Cao returned.

Ye Fell

Once Cao Cao withdrew, Yuan Shang again attacked Yuan Tan, leaving Shen Pei to defend Ye.

Cao Cao seized the chance and turned against Ye.

He built earthen mounds, dug tunnels, cut off outside support, and captured positions such as Maocheng and Handan to sever Yuan Shang's grain routes.

Then he dug a forty-li trench around Ye. At first it was shallow. Shen Pei saw it from the walls and did not treat it as urgent. At night, Cao Cao's troops deepened it to two zhang deep and two zhang wide, then diverted the Zhang River into it.

Ye was cut off. Inside the city, hunger became severe.

Yuan Shang sent Li Fu into the city with news. Li Fu disguised himself with a Cao officer's headscarf, tied a branch beside his horse, entered Cao's camp at dusk, and acted like an inspector. He scolded soldiers, punished men along the way, reached the south gate, opened a camp gate, and rushed under the city wall.

The defenders pulled him inside by rope.

Cao Cao laughed when he heard it. If this man could get in, he could get out.

Li Fu later persuaded Shen Pei to release the old and weak to save grain. Thousands came out at night under white flags. Li Fu slipped out among them.

Yuan Shang tried to relieve Ye, but Cao Cao defeated him and surrounded his camp. Yuan Shang asked to surrender. Cao Cao refused. Yuan Shang fled at night, his troops collapsed, and many commanders surrendered. He escaped toward Zhongshan.

Cao Cao showed Yuan Shang's captured seals, insignia, and clothing to the defenders of Ye. Morale broke.

Shen Pei still held the city. He even set an ambush and nearly shot Cao Cao during an inspection. But his own nephew, fearing what would happen when the city fell, opened the eastern gate at night.

Shen Pei was captured.

Cao Cao asked why he had shot so many arrows. Shen Pei answered that he regretted having too few. Cao Cao considered sparing him, but Shen Pei remained loyal to the Yuan house and would not beg. Cao Cao had him executed.

After taking Ye, Cao Cao visited Yuan Shao's tomb, comforted Yuan Shao's wife, returned the family's valuables, and provided support. Then he took the post of Governor of Ji Province himself. Gao Gan also surrendered Bingzhou.

Yuan Tan Died at Nanpi

While Ye was under attack, Yuan Tan rebelled again and seized several counties.

He also attacked Yuan Shang, who fled to Yuan Xi in Youzhou. Yuan Tan absorbed Yuan Shang's remaining troops and grew stronger.

Cao Cao wrote to Yuan Tan, declared him in violation of their agreement, ended the marriage alliance, and sent Yuan Tan's daughter back.

Then he attacked.

In early 205, Cao Cao assaulted Nanpi. Yuan Tan fought hard, and Cao's troops took losses. Cao Cao considered slowing the attack, but he was warned that a deep expedition could not linger. If he failed to take the city and retreated, his prestige would suffer.

Cao Cao personally beat the drum and ordered a storming attack.

Nanpi fell. Yuan Tan fled and was killed. Qingzhou came under Cao Cao.

Guo Jia advised Cao Cao to summon and honor leading men from You, Ji, Qing, and Bing, so local hearts would settle. Cao Cao accepted.

Chen Lin, the writer who had once denounced Cao Cao and his ancestors for Yuan Shao, also surrendered. Cao Cao asked him why insulting Cao Cao himself had not been enough. Why attack his father and grandfather too?

Chen Lin apologized, saying he had served Yuan Shao and had no choice.

Cao Cao spared him and used him for official writing. If even Chen Lin could be employed, Hebei's scholars had reason to calm down.

The Wuhuan Campaign Closed the Yuan Chapter

Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang fled north.

They eventually joined Tadun, a powerful Wuhuan leader in Liaoxi. The Yuan family had long ties with the Wuhuan. Yuan Shao had granted titles to Wuhuan chiefs and even married women to them as if they were his daughters. Tadun had helped the Yuan remnants more than once.

In 207, Cao Cao marched against the Wuhuan.

With guides who knew the northern roads, he crossed difficult terrain and defeated the allied force of Yuan Xi, Yuan Shang, and the Wuhuan. On the return, he wrote the famous poem often known in English as "Viewing the Sea."

Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang then fled to Gongsun Kang in Liaodong.

Some urged Cao Cao to pursue them. Cao Cao said there was no need. Gongsun Kang would send their heads.

He was right. After Cao Cao withdrew, Gongsun Kang killed the two Yuan brothers and sent their heads to Cao Cao.

Cao Cao explained the logic. Gongsun Kang had always feared the Yuan brothers. If Cao Cao pressed too hard, they would unite against him. If Cao Cao withdrew, suspicion would do the work.

With Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang dead, the once-dominant Yuan house finally collapsed.

Cao Cao controlled the north.

The next episode follows Liu Bei's search for strategy and the three visits to the thatched cottage, where Zhuge Liang enters the story.