Around 200 AD, if anyone was most likely to take over in the world, then people at that time would definitely say that it was Yuan Shao without hesitation.
Yuan Shao was at this time in Hebei and Qing, spanning four provinces, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Hebei and Shandong Province, with a wealth of granaries, a strong army, and a large number of good ministers and powerful generals, almost crushing other forces at that time.
So, what exactly is the reason that Yuan Shao, who is in the limelight, failed miserably, and left a name for "insufficient ability" in history?
prominent family background
Yuan Shao, whose courtesy name was Benchu, was born after the Yuan family in Runan, and his ancestors had four generations and three dukes. He was almost the most famous family at that time.
Yuan Shao, who was born in such an official family, was extremely intelligent since childhood and loved martial arts. He once fooled with Cao Cao , who was also a descendant of the three emperors. However, compared with Cao Cao, Yuan Shao's hard conditions are much better. He is handsome, tall and powerful, full of heroism, and likes to make friends with knights the most. He has raised many dead soldiers with his family background. Everyone around was amazed at his heroic spirit and praised him for his young hero.
In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the government was controlled by several eunuchs favored by the emperor. A family like Yuan Shao looked down on eunuchs who could step on themselves after flattery, so they secretly formed a group of young people against eunuchs, with Yuan Shao as their leader. When the eunuch heard the news, he was very angry and said to Yuan Shao's father: "Look at your son, raise some dead soldiers every day. What exactly does he want to do?"
Although Yuan Shao's father was a third prince, he knew who could provoke him and who could not. When he returned, he warned Yuan Shao that he would judge the situation and not force himself to stand up. But Yuan Shao was young and energetic and refused to listen at all.
According to common sense, Yuan Shao will be treated as a thorn at this time and recognize the reality under the scourge of society. But luck occupies him. Not long after, the Yellow Turban Army made a big fuss, and the court was forced to stop the internal strife and concentrate on dealing with the uprising. So these young group did not encounter any setbacks. Instead, they gained military merits and obtained high-ranking officials such as Cao Cao because of their participation in the encirclement and suppression of the Yellow Turban Army.
However, Yuan Shao did not participate in these things, and he did not need military merit to improve his qualifications. As the leader of a small group, his reputation has spread to the court. At that time, the emperor's uncle General He Jin recruited him under his command and discussed how to fight against the eunuchs.
He Jin was very afraid of the power of eunuchs. Some of his relatives were bribed by eunuchs and interfered with it. So he kept hesitating and unable to make a decision. Yuan Shao was very anxious and in a hurry he made a ruthless move: "Carry up heroes from all directions, station troops outside the city, and force the emperor and the queen mother to kill the eunuchs." He Jin adopted it.
poked the hornet's nest in one go. In this high-pressure environment, the eunuch took the risk and killed He Jin. With the help of his uncle, Yuan Shao killed a carpet-style round in the palace. It is said that more than 2,000 people died in this disaster.
against Dong Zhuo
Although Yuan Shao accomplished a feat, he also made a fuss.
It turned out that Dong Zhuo from Xiliang heard that He Jin called on heroes in the world, so he approached Chang'an with his troops. Soon, Yuan Shao's friend found him and said worriedly: "Dong Zhuo is powerful and arrogant. If we don't take advantage of his hardships to ambush Dong Zhuo, the consequences will probably be very serious."
Although Yuan Shao is brave enough to beat eunuchs, he seems to be very afraid of death, but in fact it is not. His courage comes from the support of his family background and the confidence given to him by his ancestors, not because he can really make good decisions. He will hesitate to those he can't control. So he did not obey this persuasion. After
, Dong Zhuo went to Beijing, with power in the court and the country, and everyone dared not speak out. As a young representative of the world's aristocratic family, Yuan Shao was highly valued by Dong Zhuo. However, Yuan Shao looked down on Dong Zhuo, a reckless man who was born in poverty, so he contradicted Dong Zhuo everywhere. His contradictory was also the confidence given by the family. But secretly, he was also afraid that Dong Zhuo would kill him unreasonably, so he later escaped to Jizhou , which is Hebei.
Dong Zhuo was very dissatisfied with Yuan Shao. He is used to using violence to solve all problems, and this time he also wants to solve Yuan Shao in the same way. However, Yuan Shao's family is too thick.
What is the concept of the Three Men in the Fourth World? This means that in the past century, there are three people in the Yuan Shao family who serve as the highest officials of the country, one person below ten thousand people participating in the most important decisions. The people they promoted, appreciated, and the groups around them formed a huge network of relationships.
What's more, Yuan Shaogang made a big splash in the eunuch incident.
So, Yuan Shao called out, and the world immediately responded, forming a mighty "Dong Army", and he was the well-deserved leader. This move also aroused Dong Zhuo's resentment, killing all his relatives whom he was still in the capital, and moving his people from , Luoyang, Henan, to Chang'an, Shaanxi, and burning , Luoyang City, to .
However, although the coalition forces are in great momentum, they are more like mobs, each with ulterior motives and everyone wants to get a share of the pie. Yuan Shao realized that he could not rely on others, he had to rely on himself.
So, under the conspiracy of the counselors, Yuan Shao planned to take Jizhou and finally had his own base.
unify the north
Yuan Shao occupied Hebei and ignored Dong Zhuo for the time being. The most urgent task is to solve the problem of the white horse general in the north Gongsun Zan and the younger brother in the south Yuan Shu .
Gongsun Zan occupied Liaodong , and he had a powerful attack weapon that Yuan Shao did not have: powerful cavalry. Therefore, the huge Jizhou could not stop Gongsun Zan's attack at all. Of course, it is part of the reason why the people of Jizhou did not completely surrender to Yuan Shao.
Mark step, bow kma. Faced with Gongsun Zan's cavalry advantage, Yuan Shao used the shield formation and crossbow arrows to catch Gongsun Zan off guard. Sometimes, fighting depends on momentum, and once the momentum is released, you will be defeated immediately. So, the powerful Gongsun Zan was repelled.
In 192 AD, Dong Zhuo was assassinated by Lu Bu and . The situation was in chaos because of Dong Zhuo's old subordinates, and the situation became even more turbid. The so-called muddy waters are easy to catch fish. At this time, Cao Cao stationed his troops and emerged, occupying Yanzhou (eastern and south of Shandong). He and Yuan Shao cracked Yuan Shu and Tao Qian 's coalition forces. After that, the situation continued, stalemate and repeated. Several forces fought each other and had a win or loss. After three years of stalemate, Emperor Xian of Han fled from Shaanxi to Henan under the back and forth struggle of various forces. Seeing this, the adviser under Yuan Shao quickly persuaded: "General, you are from a noble family and have a strong appeal. If you go to defend the emperor, welcome the emperor to us to build a capital, and use the emperor to command the princes, you will definitely be able to make achievements."
However, Yuan Shao considered this proposal and did not make up his mind. His family background once again influenced him. In his opinion, his name is enough, and there is no need to come to the Han Dynasty again. Besides, the Han Dynasty was in decline and it was extremely difficult to support it. Maybe it would be subject to the system and could not do whatever it wanted.
Just when Yuan Shao was considering it, Cao Cao took the lead in seizing the emperor, established the capital Xuchang , and ordered the princes to fight anyone who didn't listen. The name was just right. Yuan Shao didn't expect that the emperor was so useful, so he began to regret it. He argued with Cao Cao repeatedly, wanting to take power in his own hands. As a result, Cao Cao was close to the emperor and always benefited himself. Yuan Shao felt frustrated for the first time.
However, Cao Cao was not very capable of disturbing Yuan Shao, so he asked the emperor to let Yuan Shao lead Youji and the heads of the four prefectures. Only then did Yuan Shao calm down and concentrate on attacking Gongsun Zan in the north.
At this time, Cao Cao had just grabbed the emperor, but in fact he had not yet established a firm foothold and was actually completely unable to compete with Yuan Shao. Therefore, Yuan Shao's advised him to send troops as soon as possible and take Cao Cao down first. However, Yuan Shao considered Cao Cao's previous peace-seeking and his long-standing hatred with Gongsun Zan, he decided to finish Gongsun Zan first.
In 198 AD, Yuan Shao completely conquered Gongsun Zan and fully mastered Youzhou . Since then, he unified the north and became the largest separatist force at that time.
ended
Yuan Shao succeeded and a family of aristocratic families, and failed.
With his family's prestige, he became the most eye-catching star of that era, and made a name for himself in the two major events between the eunuch storm and the Dong Zhuo storm.
But because he came from a noble family, Yuan Shao actually had no idea of trying hard to , especially after he occupied the north.He felt that he was powerful and had a strong background, and had long been invincible. This kind of superior idea also led to his slackness in 's thoughts.
Therefore, this kind of slackness in thinking also led to Yuan Shao not daring to take risks and dare not make up his mind. He missed important opportunities one after another, allowing Cao Cao, who was originally surviving, to breathe a sigh of relief, and even gradually grow stronger and threatened himself. This pair of friends who have been very close since childhood now have to fight to the death and have no way out.
In 200 AD, the battle of Guandu began. Yuan Shao's army was approaching and easily defeated Cao Cao in the early battle, but in the end, Cao Cao raided Wuchao with a small group of troops and burned the granary. In the midst of unstable morale, Cao Cao defeated the strong with the weak.
The ending of this battle also shows Cao Cao's characteristics of daring to fight and fighting in the military, as well as the fact that Yuan Shao is indecisive as a leader. Moreover, even if the battle failed, Yuan Shao was not hurt. He is still Cao Cao's biggest enemy.
result, is because Yuan Shao is indecisive about the issue of heirs, and leads to his son's internal strife and split after his death. The huge foundation was easily obtained by Cao Cao in his sons' fortunes, just like a cake falling from the sky.
Guo Jia once commented that Yuan Shao thought too much and could not grasp the key points and could not make decisions. To a certain extent, it is the best footnote to Yuan Shao. Facing Cao Cao who dares to fight, the indecisive Yuan Shao will definitely lose, no matter how rich his resources are.
