In 220 AD, Cao Pi ascended the throne as emperor, officially ending the history of the Eastern Han Dynasty. After Cao Pi, Liu Bei ascended the throne as emperor in 221 AD. In 229 AD, Sun Quan ascended the throne as emperor in Wuchang. Therefore, for the three major princely forces at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, they were successively called emperors. However, in fact, before Cao Pi, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan, there was already a prince who took the lead in claiming the title of emperor, which is the Yuan Shu mentioned in this article. Yuan Shu (?) –199), courtesy name Highway, was a native of Ruyang County, Runan County (present-day Shangshui County, Henan Province). Of course, because of his premature claim to the throne, Yuan Shu was attacked by the surrounding princes, and thus quickly went to extinction.
Influenced by literary works such as "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", many people think that when Yuan Shu was called emperor, it could be described as very embarrassing, that is, he did not have the strength to call the emperor. However, in fact, in 197 AD, Yuan Shu was indeed one of the more powerful princes at that time. Of course, because of the arrogance of the emperor, the situation that Yuan Shu had worked so hard to maintain collapsed in an instant. In other words, if there was no time to claim the title of emperor, Yuan Shu would obviously persist for a longer time at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
One
Specifically, Yuan Shu came from the Runan's Yuan clan of the Fourth Dynasty and the Third Duke. Since Yuan Liang, to his grandson Yuan Anguan to Sikong and Situ, Anzi Yuan Chang and Yuan Jing are all Sikong, Jingzi Yuan Tang is Sikong and Taiwei, Tangzi Yuan Feng is also to Sikong, and Feng brother Yuan Kui is also to Sangong and Taifu. There are as many as five people in the fourth century who occupy the position of the third duke, so they are called "four generations and three dukes".
Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu were both sons of Sikong Yuan Feng. However, because Yuan Shu was a concubine and Yuan Shao was a concubine, this led to Yuan Shu's long-term contempt for Yuan Shao's brother, which in turn led to a tense relationship between the two. Later, Yuan Shao passed on to his uncle Yuan Cheng, so Yuan Shu was also said to be Yuan Shao's cousin. Of course, the two are actually half-brothers.
In 189, after the death of the Han Ling Emperor, the general He Jin took power, and both Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao became He Jin's subordinates and were heavily used. In the same year, after He Jin was killed, Yuan Shu and others attacked the eunuchs, prompting Luoyang to fall into civil unrest, and Dong Zhuo, for his part, seized this opportunity and led his army into the capital Luoyang. In order to win Yuan Shu over, Dong Zhuo made him a rear general. However, Yuan Shu refused to attach himself to Dong Zhuo, so he left Luoyang.
For Dong Zhuo, the abolition of the Han Shao Emperor Liu Xie and the establishment of Liu Xie as emperor were opposed by Yuan Shao and others, and became one of the reasons for the Kwantung princes to attack Dong Zhuo. In 190 AD, Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao, Cao Cao and other princes rebelled against Dong Zhuo and forced him to move his capital to Chang'an. However, because the Kwantung princes looked at each other and fought with each other, the coalition army was eventually disbanded.
Two
In this context, Yuan Shao divided Jizhou, while Yuan Shu developed in the Huainan area. In 191, Yuan Shao wanted to support Liu Yu, a descendant of the Han Dynasty, as emperor, so that Emperor Xian of Han, who was held hostage by Dong Zhuo, would lose his value. Liu Yu (?) –193), the word Bo'an. A chancellor and statesman of the Eastern Han Dynasty, a native of Tan County, Donghai Commandery (東海郡郯县, in present-day Tancheng County, Shandong Province), a descendant of Liu Yi (彊彊), the Prince of Donghai Gong, and the son of Liu Shu (劉舒), the Taishou of Danyang. Liu Yuju was born in filial piety, was a former official of Donghai County, and had accumulated the history of youzhou assassination, with outstanding achievements and quite famous. After the outbreak of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Liu Yu served as minister of state and Zongzheng of Ganling to appease the people. In the fifth year of Zhongping (188), he was again appointed as the pastor of Youzhou. Deeply popular with the people, he advocated the treatment of local nomads with a gentle strategy, and was awarded the title of Grand Sima and the Marquis of Xiang.
For Yuan Shao, it was impossible to support Liu Yu as emperor on his own, so Yuan Shao sent someone to inform Yuan Shu, hoping to get his support. However, Yuan Shu already had ambitions to become emperor, so he rejected Yuan Shao's suggestion. This led to a further deterioration in the relationship between the two brothers, thus laying a good foundation for Cao Cao to break through. In other words, in the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu could join hands as brothers, and perhaps the final winner would not be Cao Cao.
In the context of the rivalry between Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao's brothers, Cao Cao, who had divided Yanzhou, sided with Yuan Shao, and as far as Yuan Shu was concerned, he also formed an alliance with Tao Qian of Xuzhou and Gongsun Zhan of Youzhou. After this, Yuan Shu sent a large army to attack Cao Cao in Yanzhou, but was defeated by Cao Cao. As a result, Yuan Shu developed southward and killed The Yangzhou Assassin Shi Chen Wen, thus gaining a foothold in Yangzhou.
Three
In 194, Cao Cao's father, Cao Song, was killed by His men at Xuzhou Mu Taoqian. In response, Cao Cao immediately led a large army to attack Tao Qian. Of course, because Lü Bu secretly attacked Yanzhou, Cao Cao had to withdraw his army from Xuzhou, and Liu Bei also arrived in Xuzhou at this time to support Tao Qian. In 195 AD, after Tao Qian's death, Liu Bei took charge of the land of Xuzhou. In this regard, Yuan Shu was naturally very dissatisfied. Because Tao Qian was his ally before, now after Tao Qian's death, he did not say that he would take over Xuzhou, at least he should get a little benefit. Unexpectedly, the final result was that Liu Bei came to the top. Therefore, in 196 AD, after Liu Bei took Lü Bu in, Yuan Shu sent a large army to attack Xuzhou.
With Yuan Shu on the outside and Lü Bu on the inside, Liu Bei eventually lost Xuzhou, and even his own family members were captured by Lü Bu. Although Lü Bu captured Xuzhou, Yuan Shu also took the opportunity to occupy Guangling and other counties under the jurisdiction of Xuzhou, thus expanding his power to the land of Xuzhou.
By 197 AD, Yuan Shu's territory was the core of Yangzhou, which also included parts of Xuzhou and Yuzhou. For Ruyang County, Yuzhou, it was Yuan Shu's hometown, which prompted Yuan Shu to seize part of Yuzhou's cities. From a territorial point of view, Yuan Shu was not at all inferior to Cao Cao and Yuan Shao in 197 AD. After all, at that time, Yuan Shao had not yet eliminated Gongsun Zhan, that is, he had not yet occupied the territory of the four states.
Moreover, Yuan Shu had fierce generals such as Sun Ce and other fierce generals, and there were allies such as Lü Bu and Gongsun Zhan. As a result, Yuan Shu officially became emperor in this year. As we all know, before Yuan Shu became emperor, Cao Cao greeted emperor Xian of Han in 196 AD, giving the Eastern Han court a stable territory. With cao Cao's help, Emperor Liu Xie of Han continued to give orders nominally. Therefore, Cao Cao could not tolerate other princes usurping their titles as emperors.
Moreover, in the author's opinion, Sun Ce under Yuan Shu already has plans to stand on his own, and he is now just waiting for an opportunity to break with Yuan Shu. As far as the capricious Lü Bu is concerned, he is not a reliable ally. Therefore, Yuan Shu's claim to the throne was immediately betrayed or attacked by the three princes Cao Cao, Lü Bu, and Sun Ce.
Four
Finally, just as the so-called roof leaked overnight, in the winter of 197 AD, Yuan Shu's territory encountered a major drought. Under the natural and man-made disasters, Yuan Shu's strength was seriously damaged. Later, Yuan Shu's subordinates Chen Lan and Lei Bo rebelled and no longer obeyed Yuan Shu's orders. By 199 AD, in the face of the constant attacks of Cao Cao, the prince, Yuan Shu was cornered. Therefore, Yuan Shu prepared to cede the title of emperor to Yuan Shao in exchange for the other party's acceptance. At that time, Yuan Shao had already eliminated Gongsun Zhan and was sitting on the territory of the four prefectures of Jizhou, Qingzhou, Hezhou, and Youzhou. Therefore, Yuan Shao, who already had the ambition of being called emperor, decided to accept the disgraced Yuan Shu.
However, after learning this news, Cao Cao obviously did not want to see the confluence of the two brothers Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu. In 199, Cao Cao had already eliminated Lü Bu and seized the land of Xuzhou, which was the only way for Yuan Shu to defect to Yuan Shao. In response, Cao Cao sent Liu Bei to Xuzhou to intercept Yuan Shu, which prevented Yuan Shu from traveling to Yuan Shao's territory. Therefore, under Liu Bei's interception, Yuan Shu retreated to Huainan.
In June 199, the desperate Yuan Shu finally died of illness. After Yuan Shu's death, his territory north of the Yangtze River was largely occupied by Cao Cao. This naturally enhanced Cao Cao's strength and laid a good foundation for him and Yuan Shao to carry out the Battle of Guandu. As for Yuan Shu's territory south of the Yangtze River, it was naturally occupied by Sun Ce. Therefore, the defeat of Yuan Shu, Jiangdong Sun Clan is also one of the winners.