In the Three Kingdoms at the end of the Han Dynasty, there was one person who was greatly underestimated, and that was Yuan Shu.
Yuan Shu is not simple, no matter his background or strength, he was once a powerful person who was enough to compete with Yuan Shao for hegemony in the north and south.
Yuan Shu, who came out of the lineage, was born in the Yuan family of the fourth generation and the third prince like Yuan Shao
That's right, Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao are actually brothers, both from the Runan Yuan clan of the fourth and third dukes.
The difference is that Yuan Shu is the concubine of Sikong Yuan Feng, while Yuan Shao is a concubine. To put it simply, the second Yuan is a half-brother, Yuan Shu's mother is a wife, and Yuan Shao's mother is a concubine.
The difference between the status of this wife and the concubine was a difference between cloud and mud in that era, and Yuan Shao's mother was a little better than calling a girl in the eyes of Yuan Shu's mother. Therefore, Yuan Shu actually looked down on Yuan Shao.
Yuan Shao dominated the north, Yuan Shu dominated the south of the Yangtze River, and even Sun Jian was his subordinate
Before the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao was the strongest north of the Yangtze River, but there were still forces such as Cao Cao and Liu Bei to confront him.
In the south, Yuan Shu can basically be called a monopoly, even if you look at the world, Yuan Shao was also the biggest prince at that time.
At its peak, the six counties of Yangzhou were basically all in the hands of Yuan Shu, plus Guangling County and Xiapi County in Xuzhou, Pei County, Chen County, Runan County and other places in Yuzhou, which prompted Yuan Shu's power to maintain an absolute lead in 197 AD, that is, before the Battle of Guandu.
At that time, Sun Ce and Sun Quan's father Sun Jian was still Yuan Shu's subordinate, and Sun Jian was killed in battle for Yuan Shu when he attacked Jingzhou. And Lu Bu in the north is also an ally of Yuan Shu, and Gongsun Zhan, who is far away in Youzhou, is also an ally of Yuan Shu.
In terms of military strength, Yuan Shu had an army of 170,000 in its heyday, which was the largest number of troops among all the princes at that time. After that, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao 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 forces was only about 50,000. Therefore, before Yuan Shu became emperor, he could be described as strong and strong, rich in grain and grass, and dominated the south of the Yangtze River.
In this way, in fact, in a certain period of time in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the brothers Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao not only divided one side, but also formed two camps, each competing for hegemony across the Yangtze River!
At the end of the Han Dynasty, Yuan Shu was the first to claim the title of emperor, and finally all the rebels and relatives left to kill themselves
It is precisely because of his strong strength that Yuan Shu has swelled.
He sat in the south of the Yangtze River, and saw that the Eastern Han Dynasty royal family was weak, and was "coerced by the Son of Heaven to order the princes" by Cao Cao, and he thought that he could replace him;Look at the right, there is no one in the world who can compete with him-
The strongest Yuan Shao suffered from the enemy, Dongjun Zang Hong rebelled, and Gongsun Zhan built Yijing, directly threatening Yuan Shao's hinterland.
Cao Cao had just helped Emperor Liu Xie of the Han Dynasty to move the capital to Xuchang, but he was fledgling and suffered heavy losses in the contest with Zhang Xiu in Wancheng, and even his eldest son Cao Ang and the fierce general Dian Wei were killed in battle.
As for Liu Bei, Liu Biao, Liu Zhang, Zhang Lu, Ma Teng and other princes, they are either not Yuan Shu's opponents, or they are far from Yuan Shu's forces, and basically do not pose any threat. Therefore, from this point of view, the environment in which Yuan Shu is located is very favorable, and he thinks that he is already invincible in the world!
So, in 197 A.D., Yuan Shu couldn't wait to be called the emperor in Shouchun, built the Zhongshi, set up the Gongqing, and the northern and southern suburbs of the temple. 
Claiming the title of emperor without a basis of public opinion can only be a farce of death
This brings us to public opinion again.
The will of the people seems to be the least worthy and most powerless thing since ancient times, invisible and intangible, but the most indispensable since ancient times. All those who want to be kings and emperors will never end well if they do not have a basis of public opinion. For example, Wang Mang of the New Dynasty, and Yuan Shikai of later generations, this Yuan Shu is also the same.
Although the Han family at that time was in decline, it had not yet reached the point where the people's hearts were not attached, and the 400-year-old Han Dynasty was deeply imprinted in the hearts of the people, and the people still respected Liu. The contradiction of public opinion is so obvious that Yuan Shu said that the emperor was tantamount to self-destruction.
Yuan Shu became the emperor and immediately became the target of the world's heroes - soon after Yuan Shu became emperor, he was betrayed and attacked by Sun Ce, Lu 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 took refuge in Sun Ce, which made Yuan Shu lose troops and generals. On the other hand, Lu Bu also took the opportunity to attack Yuan Shu and attacked Yuan Shu's territory in Huaibei and other places. When Yuan Shuzhong rebelled and left, Cao Cao took the opportunity to send troops to attack Yuan Shu, which brought a fatal blow. As for Yuan Shao, who had already broken with Yuan Shu, he watched his brother fall.
In the fourth year of Jian'an (199), Yuan Shu vomited blood and died, and a farce called the emperor to death came to an end.
In fact, the demise of the Eastern Han Dynasty is a foregone conclusion, if in another one or two decades, the influence of the Eastern Han Dynasty gradually declines to the point of dispensability, Yuan Shu may be able to achieve great things at this time.