Referring to Yuan Shao's two sons, Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan, the biggest label that may be left for posterity is "the clams fight each other, and the fishermen gain profits." Yuan Shao fell ill and died in the seventh year of Jian'an (i.e., 202 AD), and Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang did not unite against Cao Cao and ensure Yuan's dominance in Hebei, but instead fought with each other. Yuan Tan was unable to defeat Yuan Shang, and even joined forces with Cao Cao to deal with Yuan Shang. As a result, Eryuan was successively destroyed by Cao Cao, and Cao Cao calmly pacified the north. Yuan Tan competed with Yuan Shang for the capital of Qingzhou, and Yuan Shao made Yuan Tan the governor of Qingzhou during his lifetime, and later the history of Qingzhou. However, Yuan Tan's control of the whole territory of Qingzhou was not given by Yuan Shao, but by himself. The following small editor will talk about the process of Yuan Tan's raid on Qingzhou.
Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zhan's rivalry for Qingzhou has a long history. In the second year of Chuping (i.e., 191 AD), shortly after Yuan Shao became the pastor of Jizhou, Gongsun Zhan gained control of some areas of the Qingzhou Plain State. It is not known for what purpose (historical records record that Yuan Shao was afraid of Gongsun Zhan and hoped to be able to show his goodwill to him, Mr. Fang Shiming analyzed that Yuan Shao intended to let Gongsun Zhan help him resist the Qing and Xu Yellow Turbans coming from the north, and the editor personally believed that Yuan Shao might be suspected of being in cahoots with Qing and Xu Huang Turbans), and Yuan Shao ceded the Bohai County of Jizhou to Gongsun Zhan. Gongsun Zhan did not appreciate it and continued to attack Yuan Shao to the west, so there was the "Battle of Jieqiao", which was in the third year of the new year (192 AD).
Shortly after the Battle of Jieqiao, Yuan Shao took the initiative to attack Gongsun Zhan, and the "Battle of JumaShui" occurred, also in the third year of Chuping, in which Gongsun Zhan won the victory, once again occupied the Plain State, and made his Qingzhou Assassin Shi TianKai go deep into the State of Qi to the southeast. According to the Book of later Han Dynasty and the Chronicle of the Counties, Qingzhou had six counties, namely: jinan, plain, Le'an, Beihai, Donglai, and Qi. If Tian Kai has reached the State of Qi, then from the perspective of geographical environment, Pingyuan, Jinan, Le'an, and the State of Qi are all within the control of Gongsun Zhan. Judging from the fact that Xiang Kongrong of the Beihai Sea had asked Liu Bei for help to resist the Yellow Turban Army, Kong Rong should have taken the position of Gongsun Zhan, after all, Liu Bei belonged to Gongsun Zhan's subordinates. Except for Donglai, which was located in the corner of the sea, Gongsun Zhan controlled most of Qingzhou.
As a result, after the "Battle of Longzhuo", Gongsun Zhan returned to Youzhou again and did not dare to go south. The time of the "Battle of the Dragon Patch" was also three years after the first peace. The two families in Qingzhou continued to quarrel, according to the "Later Han Shu Gongsun Zhan Biography", Yuan Shao sent troops to fight with Tian Kai for "two consecutive years", and the "second year" here should be from the third year of Chuping to the fourth year of Chuping (192 to 193 AD), because the historical records record that Zhao Qi, an emissary of the Eastern Han Court in the fourth year of Chuping, went to Hebei to reconcile the relationship between Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zhan, and the two families carried out a brief boycott.
When Cao Cao attacked Tao Qian, Tao Qian asked Tian Kai and Liu Bei for help. At that time, Tian Kai and Liu Beitun were in the State of Qi, indicating that Gongsun Zhan should still maintain control of Qingzhou at this time. Historically, Cao Cao attacked Tao Qian twice, and when Tian Kai rescued Tao Qian is disputed. According to the Records of the Later Han Dynasty and the Book of Wu, when in the fourth year of Chuping, Cao Cao attacked Xuzhou (the account of the Book of Wu has certain problems and the credibility is doubtful), but the Zizhi Tongjian and the Notes on the Later Han Dynasty believe that this occurred in the first year of Xingping (that is, in 194 AD). This has a very important reference significance for Yuan Tan's time inference of raiding Qingzhou.
When was Yuan Tan named Qingzhou Assassin? The Later Han Shu Gongsun Zhan Biography, the Later Han Shu Yuan Shao Biography, and the Three Kingdoms Zhi Wei Shu Yuan Shao Biography record three times respectively: the fourth year of Chuping, the second year of Xingping (i.e., 195 AD), and the fourth year of Jian'an (i.e., 199 AD). The four years of Jian'an are obviously unreasonable, and may be caused by the brevity of historians' records; the four years of Chuping are in line with Tian Kai's claim that He rescued Xuzhou when Cao Cao was cutting Down Tao Qian, but if this is the case, this year the two sides just boycotted the army, Tian Kai rescued Tao Qian, and then turned back to fight Yuan Tan, it is not too reasonable. Therefore, xiaobian judged that the time when Yuan Tan became the history of Qingzhou was in the second year of Xingping, and the time when Tian Kai rescued Tao Qian was in the first year of Xingping. This time Xiaobian believes that it should be reasonable.
According to the Spring and Autumn of Kyushu, when Yuan Tan first arrived in Qingzhou, his control was only the Plain State, that is, the Hebei region of Qingzhou. Not only that, but in the plains, there was also Tian Kai's power (at this time, Liu Bei had already broken away from Tian Kai or Gongsun Zhan, and was represented by Tao Qian as the Assassin of Yuzhou, in fact, Tao Qian's subordinates, Tun Bing in Xiao Pei). Therefore, Yuan Tan "Beipai Tian Kai" gained control of the Plains State and cut off the connection between Gongsun Zhan's forces and Qingzhou, which was the first step for Yuan Tan to attack Qingzhou.
The Later Han Dynasty Book of Kong Rong records that Kong Rong "was in the county for six years, and Liu Bei led the History of Qingzhou Thorns." Kong Rong was probably created the Beihai Xiang in the sixth year of Zhongping (that is, in 189 AD), and the sixth year of his tenure was exactly the second year of Xingping. Liu Bei was once a subordinate of Tian Kai, and he cousin Rong Rong became the Qingzhou Assassin History, so at this time Tian Kai should have been defeated by Yuan Tan, otherwise Liu Bei's actions did not conform to the image of benevolence and righteousness he established (non-pejorative). Liu Bei's cousin Kong Rong's Qingzhou Assassination History stimulated Yuan Tan, so in the first year of Jian'an (that is, in 196 AD), Yuan Tan launched a fierce attack on Kong Rong. Kong Rong did not understand the military, and regarded himself as a cultural celebrity, and did not organize effective resistance, but "read a few books in secret, talk and laugh freely." As a result, Yuan Tan successfully defeated Kong Rong and occupied the North Sea Kingdom, and then "Yao Bing Hai Corner", where "Hai Yu" probably refers to Dong Lai County. Later, when Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang fought, they also took Guan Tong as the Eastern Lai Taishou. In this way, Yuan Tan controlled all the counties and states of Qingzhou.
Although all six counties of Qingzhou had Yuan Tan's control, can it be said that Yuan Tan's control over Qingzhou was very strong? In fact, it cannot be said that way. Although "Spring and Autumn in Kyushu" acknowledges Yuan Tan's achievements in attacking Qingzhou, it also later points out that Yuan Tan's rule over Qingzhou is insufficient, the credit is villainous, the politics are dim, and the recruitment of ordinary people is excessive, resulting in thieves; the control over celebrities and powerful people is insufficient, "Recruiting wise men, not; not going to the military period, the Anju Nationality Party, can not be guilty." ”
In addition, Qingzhou, which Yuan Tan controlled, was not the whole territory. In the third year of Jian'an (that is, in 198 AD), Cao Cao eliminated Lü Bu and recruited Taishan Haoqiang Zang Ba, Wu Dun, Yin Li, Sun Guan, Sun Kang and others, and divided the langya state, the east sea state, and the beihai state into Chengyang County and Licheng County. The State of Langya and the State of Donghai were the territory of Xuzhou, while the State of Beihai was the boundary of Qingzhou. Cao Cao was able to divide the Beihai state administratively, believing that he controlled part of it; in the fourth year of Jian'an, Zang Ba entered Qingzhou to attack some territories in the State of Qi and Beihai, further reducing Yuan Tan's power in Qingzhou. In addition, according to the Records of the Three Kingdoms, Wei Shu, Gongsun Du once crossed the sea to expand to Donglai County, setting up the Yingzhou Assassin History (probably Gongsun Du's close confidant Liu Yi). He was later expelled by Zhang Liao around the tenth year of Jian'an (i.e., 205 AD). It can be seen that Yuan Tan's control over Donglai County is also limited. However, even so, Yuan Tan expanded from the plains to the whole territory of Qingzhou, and successively eliminated Tian Kai and Kong Rong, which can also be regarded as having a certain military ability.
References: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Book of the Later Han Dynasty, Later Han Dynasty, Zizhi Tongjian, Historical Atlas of China, Confrontation and War between Zhang Yan and Yuan Shao in Hebei