Cao Cao's Northern Expedition 5（Three Kingdoms 40）
History of Three Kingdoms
Previous Chapter ：Cao Cao's Northern Expedition 4（Three Kingdoms 39）
Catalog of Three Kingdoms’ history
In the late Han period, the situation in Hedong河东 commandery was very complex.
During the Eastern Han Dynasty（25-220AD）, Hedong commandery was under the jurisdiction of the SiLi司隶 and was under the jurisdiction of the Colonel of Sili司隶校尉. Zhong Yao钟繇, the Colonel of Sili, was also a trusted men of Cao Cao. So,Hedong commandery is nominally within the sphere of influence of Cao Cao.
Three years ago, Yuan Shang袁尚 appointed Guo Yuan郭援 as the Commanderial governor of Hedong,when Guo Yuan led his troops to attack Hedong,Zhong Yao still relied on Ma Teng's马腾 support and Ma Chao's马超 bravery to kill Guo Yuan and protect Hedong. But in reality, Cao Cao did not have strong control over Hedong commandery.
Wang Yi王邑, the Commanderial governor of Hedong, was appointed by the imperial Court. He is a diligent and benevolent official who was deeply loved by the people of Hedong. But Wang Yi is loyal to the Han Empire ,who is not a trusted follower of Cao Cao. So in order to prevent the power of Gao Gan from infiltrating into Hedong and further strengthen control over Hedong, Cao Cao ordered the transfer of Wang Yi and the appointment of another his trusted man as the governor of Hedong.
The Commanderial Governor in late Han period had a great power, equivalent to a warlord, and Wang Yi was naturally unwilling to leave. On the other hand, Wang Yi has been managing Hedong for many years, with a fair handling government affairs that has won the hearts of the people,Local officials and people also do not want him to leave. So Wang Yi sent troops to block the ferry crossing and prevent the new governor from taking office. He also negotiated with his superior Zhong Yao and tried various ways to resist Cao Cao's orders.
Cao Cao was also feeling a headache for the candidate for the new governor. So he urgently ordered Xun Yu荀彧 to recommend a talented person.
Du Ji杜畿 was from Chang'an长安. After arriving in Xuchang许昌, he often went to the house of Geng Ji耿纪 to chat. Xun Yu lived next door to Geng Ji, so he often leaned in the corner to eavesdrop on their conversation. After listening for a few days, he discovered that Du Ji was a very talented person and recommended him to a directly official of the Excellency of Works司空(Cao Cao), and he was responsible for supervising the officials , with great power. Coincidentally, Cao Cao urgently needed a reliable trusted man to take over the position of Governor of Hedong.Therefore, Xun Yu recommended Du Xi again.
Zhong Yao, The Colonel of Sili,knew thart Du Ji was coming, so he ordered the former governor of Hedong, Wang Yi, to resign as soon as possible, while also asking the mighty general Xiahou Dun夏侯惇, to lead an army into Hedong to prevent Du Ji from being killed by Wang Yi's subordinates, Wei Gu卫固, and Fan Xian范先. Du Ji refused Zhong Yao's kindness, stating that as long as he could stay in Hedong for a month, it would be enough to subdue Wei Gu and Fan Xian. So Du Ji entered Hedong alone to resume his duties before the arrival of the army , while Wang Yi, in a fit of anger, took the seal to Xuchang and went to complain to Emperor Xian献帝（reigned 189-220AD）.
When Du Ji arrived, he immediately appointed Wei Gu as the military governor to manage all affairs in the territory, and handed over all the troops of Hedong to Fan Xian.He did not care about anything, leaving them the final say. Wei Gu and Fan Xian were very happy, so they no longer guarded against Du Ji.
Then, Du Ji began to encourage the two of them to spend a lot of money recruiting and expanding their military strength, while privately indulging in the corruption of generals and commandants. Wei Gu and Fan Xian both had considerable wealth, but they were scammed out of their savings by Du Ji and did not earn much soldiers. Du Ji had a lot of bad ideas, and then he encouraged Wei Gu and Fan Xian to give the troops more holidays in normal times and gather them when the war comes,deceiving them into saying that this could buy popularity. Wei Gu and Fan Xian happily agreed. Du Ji took this opportunity to secretly gather soldiers and cultivate his own power.
In this situation, Gao Gan entered Huoze霍泽 County in Hedong.Gao Gan ruled Bingzhou并州 for 7 years and gained great popularity. He also held a high reputation in Hedong which is to the south of Bingzhou. Under his instigation, anti- Cao forces in the vicinity rose up one after another, and the Hedong area instantly fell into chaos.
Zhang Sheng张晟, a leader of the Black Mountain Army stationed in He'nei河内, first rose up and led more than ten thousand people to attack Yuan垣 County. Zhang Yan张琰, from a big family in Hongnong弘农, also imprisoned the governor of Hongnong, and rose up in response. Wei Gu and Fan Xian also wanted to support Gao Gan, but the soldiers were on vacation, and the troops couldn't gather in a hurry, resulting in a significant decrease in strength.
However, Du Ji took advantage of this opportunity to publicly announce a break with the two of them, leading dozens of trusted followers to leave the capital of Hedong commandery and run to the stronghold of Zhangpi张辟. Officials and people from other counties in Hedong also gathered to Zhangpi, and soon Du Ji gathered more than 4000 people. Wei Gu and Fan Xian finally woke up and quickly joined forces with Gao Gan and Zhang Sheng to attack Du Ji, but they were unable to capture Zhangpi.
At this time, Zhong Yao had already joined forces with Ma Teng马腾 again, to first kill Zhang Yan in Hongnong and then lead their troops into Hedong.
At this time, Cao Cao, after a fierce battle, had also broken through the Hu Pass壶关 and immediately headed south. Under the Wing Play, the rebels suffered a great defeat. Wei Gu, Fan Xian, and Zhang Sheng were killed one after another. Gao Gan, along with several guards, broke out of the encirclement and prepared to flee south to Liu Biao刘表. However, when running halfway, he was killed by a local officer.
From pacifying the chaos in Hedong to the death of Cao Cao in 220 AD, Du Ji served as the Commanderial Governor of Hedong for a total of 16 years. During this period, various counties in the commandery prospered and developed, the people were prosperous, and his political achievements was remarkable.
Later, Cao Cao led a mighty army to fight against Ma Chao and Han Sui韩遂 in Liangzhou, during the war, all military provisions were supplied by Hedong. When Cao Cao's army won the battle, there were still over 12000 tons of stored food in Hedong. Cao Cao was very excited and specifically ordered the commendation of Du Ji.
In the later Battle of Hanzhong汉中 with Zhang Lu张鲁, the Cao’s army still relied on surplus grain from the thousands of miles away Hedong to sustain themselves.
Thee Records of the Three Kingdoms says that Du Ji’s political achievements are the best among the all the Commanderial Governors of the same era in the country.
After the death of Gao Gan in 206 AD, Bingzhou was also taken by Cao Cao. Since then,Yuan Shao's Jizhou冀州, Qingzhou青州, Youzhou幽州, and Bingzhou,all four provinces all belonged to Cao Cao. Yuan Shao’s 4 successors, the eldest son Yuan Tan袁谭 and nephew Gao Gan had already died, the second and third sons Yuan Xi袁熙 and Yuan Shang袁尚 were still far away with the nomadic Wuhuan乌桓 in Liaodong Commandery. So in order to thoroughly eliminate the residual forces of the Yuan family and fundamentally solve the problem of Wuhuan's raids on the northern border, Cao Cao decided to embark on an expedition to Wuhuan.
Among the four successors left by Yuan Shao, Gao Gan's qualifications were the best, but Gao Gan was only one of Yuan Shao's nephews, giving him exclusive control over the territory of a province was particularly favored. Yuan Tan, the eldest son, is not as capable as Gao Gan in governing government affairs and selecting talents, but He is skilled in commanding in battles and is also the most fierce in combat. The second son Yuan Xi is not a legitimate heir and has average abilities, apart from having a beautiful wife, he has nothing to show off. The person with the worst qualifications is his youngest son Yuan Shang, who not only has a serious shortage of emotional intelligence in handling interpersonal relationships, but also has no idea when it comes to fighting. But Yuan Shao, on the other hand, left this huge family business to Yuan Shang, for the reason was actually that Yuan Shang is very handsome,isn't this funny?
To be Continued