Friends who are familiar with the Three Kingdoms know that at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Dong Zhuo controlled the government, and the princes united to fight against Dong Zhuo. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Cao wrote a poem; Liu, Guan, and Zhang defeated Hua Xiong and Lü Bu, two generals, and their reputation was greatly enhanced. But after all, this is a description in the novel, and there is a discrepancy with real history. So what was the process of war between the princes in history?
Historical background
Eastern han dynasty
The political landscape has always had a deformed phenomenon, with foreign relatives and eunuchs taking turns to intervene in politics and love and kill each other.
During the reign of Emperor Ling of Han, eunuchs gained power and caused chaos in the government. After the death of Emperor Hanling, his cousins He Jin and Yuan Shao decided to get rid of the eunuch forces, but Empress He did not agree (the eunuchs had favor with Empress He), so He Jin thought of using external forces, that is, Dong Zhuo, the pastor of Hezhou.
The image of Dong Zhuo, who may have been a good general, remains in the history books. He Jin's decision allowed this xiao who sat on the frontier to enter the center of power. Dong Zhuo did not arrive in time, and the eunuch killed He Jin and kidnapped Emperor Shao of Han out of the palace. Dong Zhuo met Emperor Shao of Han on the way and sent him back to Luoyang.
When Dong Zhuo first arrived, there were only three thousand men and horses, and he ate the parts of He Jin, He Miao, and Ding Yuan, and finally firmly controlled Luoyang.
On the other hand, in order to enhance his political influence and authority, Dong Zhuo presented himself as Huo Guang, deposed Emperor Shao of Han, and established Liu Xie, the emperor of Han
(The Book of later Han records that Dong Zhuo believed that Liu Xie's adoptive mother, Empress Dong, had the same surname as herself and was born with a sense of closeness, which may also be a reason.) As for Liu Xiexian's argument against Liu Xie, this relatively subjective statement is not entirely credible). Although there are many undercurrents, Dong Zhuo can also be regarded as the power center that basically controls the Eastern Han Dynasty.
"Eighteen Princes of the Eighteenth Road"
In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, there are a total of eighteen routes in the coalition against Dong Zhuo, but according to historical records, there are not so many. According to the Records of the Three Kingdoms, the Chronicle of Emperor Wu of The Three Kingdoms, the Chronicle of WuShu sun jian, and the Later Han Dynasty, there should be thirteen coalition forces against Dong Zhuo:
Cao Cao, the later generals Yuan Shu, Jizhou Mu Hanfu, Bohai Taishou Yuan Shao, Chen Liu Taishou Zhang Miao, Guangling Taishou Zhang Chao, Dongjun Taishou Qiao mao, Shanyang Taishou YuanYi, Jibei Xiang Baoxin, Yuzhou Thorn Shi Kong Ling, Yanzhou Thorn Shi Liu Dai, Hanoi Taishou Wang Kuang, Changsha Taishou Sun Jian.
Liu Bei did participate in the courtship of Dong, but he did not have the record of beheading Huaxiong and retiring Lü Bu; in fact, Cao Cao's strength was also very limited, and he did not make a contribution to The Literature
(In fact, it was Qiao Mao who made a text, contacting the states and counties to start an army), but he was very active in the process of seeking Dong, which is regarded as a road.
The "Thirteen Princes" are not gathered in one place. Yuan Shu and Sun Jian were in Nanyang Commandery (南阳郡) in Jingzhou; Yuan Shao and Wang Kuang (王匡) were in Hanoi Commandery (司立河nei Commandery), Kong Ling (孔伷) was in Yingchuan Commandery (颍川郡) in Yuzhou; Han Fu (汉馥) was in Charge of delivering military food at Yicheng (邺城) in Jizhou Wei Commandery (魏郡), and the rest of the princes were in Yanzhou (兖州) in Yanzhou (兖州) in Chenliu County, Yanzhou. Of course, the leader of the coalition army was yuan shao who was from the Yuan clan of Runan, and had a large number of people," but when the "sour jujube alliance" was made, it was Zhang Chao's gong Cao Zang Hong who fulfilled the oath of the alliance. Dong Zhuo learned of the rise of troops in various prefectures and counties (also because of the "White Wave Thieves" of the Yellow Turban Yu Party, who was active west of Luoyang), and moved the Han Xiandi West to Chang'an, leaving himself in Luoyang.
All the princes raised troops at the same time, "tens of thousands of people each", the troops were strong, scattered, and formed a semi-encircling circle near Luoyang; but because the princes had their own troops, although they pushed Yuan Shao as their ally,
But the organization is slightly loose, the strength is not concentrated, and the princes are pregnant with ghosts, fighting with each other, pulling each other's hind legs,
Laid the foundation for subsequent failures.
Tiger head and tail
The combined forces of the princes were powerful and powerful, but in fact, there was no imaginary large-scale collision of legions, or a cruel and tragic battle. On the whole, Dong Zhuo mainly faces three pressures,
One was Hanoi Commandery (Yuan Shao and Wang Kuang) northeast of Luoyang; the other was the Sour Jujube Alliance East of Luoyang; and the other was Nanyang Commandery (袁術, Sun Jian) south of Luoyang.
The following small editor will talk about the combat situation of these three fronts.
Kawachi District
Yuan Shao was bohai taishou in his official position, and was a direct subordinate of Mu Hanfu of Jizhou. However, it is much higher than Han Fu in terms of fame and is a great threat to Han Fu. Although Han Fu listened to Liu Zihui's advice and let Yuan Shao lead his troops abroad, he always exercised some restraint on military food and suppressed Yuan Shao; on the other hand, Yuan Shao was afraid of Dong Zhuo's army, and he did not want to attack hard, let alone consume his own strength.
So the desire to attack is very negative.
Wang Kuang really wanted to make a difference, and deployed his troops in Heyangjin, ready to go. Dong Zhuo first attacked from Pingyin with suspected troops to confuse Wang Kuang's army, and another unit encircled the rear of Wang Kuang's army from Xiaopingjin North Crossing.
Wang Kuangjun was defeated.
Jujube
Like Yuan Shao, the various princes of sour dates also pulled each other apart and stagnated.
The coalition army totaled more than 100,000 people, and they feasted and drank on that day and night, and wasted grain and grass.
At this time, Cao Cao was still a hot-blooded young man, and he still had "Han room feelings" in his heart. He led 5,000 volunteer soldiers westward, hoping to attack Chenggao, but Zhang Mi was still interesting enough to ask Wei Zi (Chen Liu Dahu to help Cao Cao raise troops) to assist Cao Cao with a force. As a result, he encountered Dong Zhuo's general Xu Rong at Xingyang Fenshui. Cao Cao was defeated, thanks to Cao Hong's ability to let Ma escape. Xu Rong was also unwilling to take the initiative to attack the combined forces of the princes of sour dates, and led the troops back.
Cao Cao saw that the sour jujube alliance army was really not a climate, so he sent Xiahou Huan to Yangzhou to recruit troops and transfer to Hanoi County. It didn't take long,
The grain and grass of sour dates were finally out of supply, and the eastern front arranged by the combined forces of the princes in Luoyang collapsed.
Namyang County
The success of nanyang county was very fruitful, and most of them were completed by Sun Jian. Sun Jian raised an army from Changsha and went to Luyang to join Yuan Shu. Sun Jian was first defeated by Dong Zhuojun and only took dozens of cavalry to break out, but fortunately Zu Mao wore the red turban that Sun Jian often wore to attract the attention of the enemy and escaped the disaster.
After that, Sun Jian gathered the remnants and stationed themselves in the Yang people for more than a hundred miles north of Luyang. Dong Zhuo sent Hu Yun and Lü Bu to attack yangren, and because the generals were not in harmony, Lü Bu frequently dragged Hu Yun's feet, lying and shocking, causing Dong Zhuojun to be tired of hurrying and unstable in the army. Sun Jian took advantage of this opportunity to send an army to defeat Dong Zhuojun and kill Hua Xiong.
Dong Zhuo was afraid of Sun Jian and sent someone to ask Sun Jian for peace. Sun Jian refused and continued to attack the valley ninety miles from Luoyang. Dong Zhuo personally engaged Sun Jian and was defeated; Sun Jian then defeated Lü Bu and marched into Luoyang to obtain the Jade Seal.
Although Sun Jian won three battles and three victories, at this time the other princes had already begun to attack and annex each other.
The princes finally moved To'an west with Dong Zhuo.
brief summary
The combined forces of the princes carried the banner of Kuangfu Sheji, but each had its own calculation in its heart. In the end, only Wang Kuang, Cao Cao, and Sun Jian really wanted to crusade against Dong Zhuo. However, due to the dispersion of forces, Wang Kuang and Cao Cao were broken by each other, and although Sun Jian achieved great success, he was also unable to change the situation because of the contradictions between the princes (during which he was also cut off by Yuan Shu once). All in all, although the princes of all walks of life seem to be powerful, their strength is loose, the people's hearts are not aligned, and the three fronts cannot coordinate, which is just a farce that laughs at future generations.
References: Book of the Later Han Dynasty, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zizhi Tongjian