In the first year of the Han Dynasty (190), Yuan Shao united with various parts of the Kwantung Dynasty to assassinate Shi and Taishou, and the Dong Zhuo Crusade broke out. In the second year of Chuping (191), Dong Zhuo was defeated by Sun Jian and retired to Chang'an. In the third year of Chuping (192), Dong Zhuo was killed by his close associate Lü Bu. After Dong Zhuo was killed, the situation of the decline of the Han Dynasty did not improve, and the Han Emperor Liu Xie was even more displaced, and as for the princes in various places, they took the opportunity to strengthen their own forces and launched a great war to chase the Central Plains.
In the late Han Dynasty, Cao Cao blackmailed tianzi to order the princes, thus unifying the northern Central Plains. However, even so, Cao Cao did not dare to claim the title of emperor until his death, for fear of being attacked by the hero Hao Jie of the world. However, Cao Cao did not dare to claim the title of emperor, but Yuan Shu dared to take the lead in claiming the title of emperor in the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty. In the second year of Jian'an (197), Yuan Shu was proclaimed emperor in Shouchun, built the name Zhongshi, and established the Gongqing, the southern and northern suburbs of the temple. So, the question is, at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Yuan Shu actually took the lead in claiming the title of emperor, how many fierce generals did he have? What is the strength?
First, in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Yuan Shu's claim to the emperor is described as an act of self-imposed powerlessness. However, in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and other canonical histories, Yuan Shu took the lead in claiming the title of emperor, in fact, it was also due to strength, that is, Yuan Shu did have the confidence to be called emperor. In the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Yuan Shu's men could be described as fierce generals.
Zhang Xun
In 193, Yuan Shu was defeated by Cao Cao and came to Huainan, killed Chen Wen, the assassin of Yangzhou, and appointed Zhang Xun as a general. In 197, Yuan Shu declared himself emperor and appointed Zhang Xun as a general. During the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, the great general was obviously the highest official position of a military general. In 199, Yuan Shu fell ill and died, and Zhang Xun gathered his followers and surrendered to Sun Ce to the south, and was captured by Liu Xun, Yuan Shu's oldest department.
Bridge Fern
Qiao Rui was also a fierce general who had followed Yuan Shu for many years. In December 194, Yuan Shu and QiaoRui led an attack on Puyang and basically conquered it. In 197, Cao Cao attacked Yuan Shu, who was proclaimed emperor, and Yuan Shu ordered QiaoRui and others to defend the area around Puyang, but Qiaorui could not resist and was defeated and killed.
Wu Jing
Wu Jing was the uncle of Sun Ce and Sun Quan, and was appointed as a knight lieutenant for his meritorious service in following Sun Jian in his conquests. Yuan Shu recommended Wu Jing to concurrently serve as Danyang Taishou (丹阳太守), and rebelled against his predecessor, Zhou Xin ( 周申 ), occupying Danyang. After Sun Jian's death, Wu Jing once again attached himself to Yuan Shu, who appointed him as a general in the overseers. After Yuan Shu defeated Liu Bei, he occupied Guangling and other places in Xuzhou, with Wu Jing as the taishou of Guangling. However, after Yuan Shu became emperor, not only did the fierce general Sun Ce betray him, but Wu Jing naturally joined Sun Ce's camp.
Li Feng, Liang Gang, Le Zheng
For Li Feng, Liang Gang, and Le Yi, they were also generals under Yuan Shu. However, in 197 AD, Cao Cao personally recruited Yuan Shu and beheaded Yuan Shu's generals Qiao Rui, Li Feng, Liang Gang, and Le Yi at Puyang, and Yuan Shu fled to Huainan again. Because of the encounter with the stronger Cao Cao, Yuan Shu lost many fierce generals such as QiaoRui, Li Feng, Liang Gang, and Le Yi.
In addition to the above fierce generals, before becoming emperor, Yuan Shu also had two major allies, Lü Bu and Sun Ce. As far as Lü Bu was concerned, he captured Xuzhou, which was originally occupied by Liu Bei, while Sun Ce pacified the Jiangdong region. Moreover, before Yuan Shu became emperor, Sun Ce had not yet established himself from Yuan Shu and could be regarded as Yuan Shu's subordinates. Therefore, coupled with Yuan Shu's own strength, Yuan Shu's territory can be said to span the Jianghuai region, exceeding the territory held by Sun Quan in the early days. That is, the territory of Yuan Shu's peak period, occupying parts of Yangzhou, Yuzhou, Sili, and Jingzhou. From the perspective of territory alone, compared with Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, Lü Bu, Liu Biao and other princes, Yuan Shu did have the confidence to be emperor.
In terms of military strength, Yuan Shu had an army of 170,000 in his heyday, which was the largest number of troops among all the princes at that time. For example, after the defeat of Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao only invested a total of about 130,000 troops in the Battle of Guandu. As for the subsequent Battle of Chibi, the sum of Sun Quan and Liu Bei's troops was only about 50,000. Therefore, before Yuan Shu became emperor, he could be described as a strong soldier and a rich grain and grass. Because there were many plains in the Jianghuai region, when Yuan Shu fought abroad, there was almost no shortage of grain and grass.
So, the question is, since the strength is so strong, why is Yuan Shu still defeated? In this regard, in the author's opinion, this is because in 197 AD, although the Han Room was in decline, it had not yet reached the point where people were not attached, which was also an important reason why Liu Bei could still attract the masses and gain support under the banner of the Kuangfu Han Room. If in another decade or two, perhaps the influence of the Eastern Han Dynasty will gradually decline to the point of dispensability. However, in 197 AD, he was proclaimed emperor, which obviously made Yuan Shu pay a heavy price, that is, Yuan Shu became the target of the world's heroes.
In the end, Yuan Shu was proclaimed empress dowager, and soon after he was attacked by the rebellion and attack of Sun Ce, Lü Bu, and Cao Cao. On the one hand, Sun Ce broke away from Yuan Shu and became a prince of his own, which made Yuan Shu's forces lose the Jiangdong region, and as for Yuan Shu's Guangling Taishou Wu Jing, the general Sun Ben, and others, they betrayed Yuan Shu and defected to Sun Ce, which caused Yuan Shu to lose troops and generals. On the other hand, Lü Bu also took the opportunity to attack Yuan Shu and attacked Yuan Shu's territory in Huaibei and other places. When Yuan Shu rebelled, Cao Cao took the opportunity to send troops to attack Yuan Shu, thus bringing a fatal blow. As for Yuan Shao, who had already broken with Yuan Shu, he watched his brother perish. Therefore, in the fourth year of Jian'an (199), Yuan Shu vomited blood and died.