Cao Cao,The Birth of the Lord of Chaos

History of Three Kingdoms 16

191 AD，after the disbandment of The allied forces of crusading against Dong Zhuo，Yuan Shao袁绍 drove Han Fu韩馥 away，and became the new provincial governor of Jizhou冀州.

At that time，the yellow Turban rebel army in southern Jizhou was extremely Rampant，since Yuan Shao just got there，he had to fight against Gongsun Zan公孙瓒 in the north，the situation was difficult. So he took the name of the alliance leader，sent Cao Cao曹操 to the area around Dongjun东郡 to fight with the yellow Turban. soon Cao Cao defeated many yellow turban forces,achieved back to back victories. Yuan Shao was delighted,the imperial court officially appointed Cao Cao as the Commanderial Governor of Dongjun,Cao Cao thus gained the first valuable base as a result.

In the same year,Xun Yu荀彧 a famous scholar from Yingchuan Commandery颍川郡,broke away from Yuan Shao,and turned to Cao Cao. At this time,Cao Cao just had one piece of land in the chaotic world,therefore,Xun Yu's arrival is of extraordinary significance.

Xun Yu is not only a first class strategist,but also the best politician of his period,from now on Cao Cao could safely fight abroad and open up territory,Xun Yu managed internal affairs and other military affairs,such as the supply of provisions. And Xun Yu is much more than that.

At first,Cao Cao was only surrounded by a group of military generals,and basically were clan members.Besides Cao Cao's identity of being descendants of the Eunuch,that there is not the slightest attraction to powerful scholary clans,which was the key to the success of a military force,otherwise ,strong as Dong Zhuo董卓,who holds the emperor and despises the world,just got a dusty end.

Xun Clan of Yingchuan was a first-class-clan at that time,so Xun Yu's arrival made Cao Cao different,who is still unknown yet. Moreover，Xun Yu himself is also very good at recommending talents，Soon at Xun Yu's call，Xun You荀攸,Xi Zhicai戏志才,Zhong Yao钟繇,Chen Qun陈群,Guo Jia郭嘉 and others fled to Cao Cao one after another，the think tank they formed became the biggest reliance on Cao Cao， to later stand out and dominate the world.

The following year,192 AD,Yellow Turban army entered Yanzhou兖州 from Qingzhou青州,they captured the Rencheng Commandery任城 and killed the governor Zheng Sui郑遂,then marched towards Dongping东平 Commandery. The Provincial Governor Liu Dai刘岱 led its troops to meet the attack,but was killed in a melee.

In order for Cao Cao to obtain the position of the Provincial Governor of Yanzhou ,Chen Gong陈宫,a famous scholar in Dongjun commandery东郡,volunteered go to Yanzhou to work as a lobbyist. Cao Cao's good friend Bao Xin鲍信,the governor of Jibei济北 commandery,also supported Cao Cao. So， under the persuasion of Chen Gong and Bao Xin,only then did Yanzhou's officials agree to support Cao Cao as the new provincial governor of Yanzhou, to resist the yellow turbans,this year Cao Cao was 38 years old.

Yanzhou was now the southwestern part of Shandong and eastern He’nan provinces,the land is fertile and talent gathers,to the east are Qingzhou and Xuzhou徐州,to the southwest is Yuzhou豫州,and to the north is Jizhou. its jurisdiction includes eight commanderies,they were Dongping，Jibei济北,Chenliu陈留,Jiyin济阴,Shanyang山阳,Rencheng,Dongjun,and Taishan泰山.

After a short preparation,Cao Cao was with Bao Xin,jointly to attack the yellow Turban army in the area of dongping,the fighting was fierce ,even Bao Xin died in the war. The Cao's army also lost for a time. In the end,at the cost of heavy casualties, Cao’s army forced the yellow urban army to retreat,Cao Cao then pursued to Jibei,by luring them into surrender,forced the Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army of 300,000 men to surrender to him. Cao Cao selected fifty or sixty thousand elite soldiers among them,A combat-ready team was formed,known as the "Qingzhou Soldier".

Since then,Cao Cao's strength has greatly increased. On the position of the provincial governor of Yanzhou,Cao Cao not only occupied territory,but also expanded his troops,also got many excellent military generals in Yanzhou area .For example, Mao Jie毛玠， famous scholar Cheng Yu程昱,the powerful local landlord was Li Dian李典 ,Lu Qian吕虔，and fierce generals Dian Wei典韦，Yu Jin于禁 and others. The addition of these talents,giving Cao Cao a firm foothold in Yanzhou.