At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the turbulent political situation made the handsome young Cao Cao emerge, and his background, political and military career, and love for literature and art built a magnificent historical picture. Cao Cao, who rose in the troubled times, not only realized the unification of the north through various wisdom and courage, but also left an immortal mark in the field of literature.
Cao Cao's life story has been destined for an extraordinary fate since he was born. He is the son of Cao Song, the adopted son of Cao Teng, and the Cao family was prominent for a while. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, eunuchs and relatives alternated power, and the power of eunuchs became stronger and stronger, making Cao Cao's father Cao Song the adopted son of the great eunuch Cao Teng. This background provided a solid foundation for Cao Cao's rise.
During the reign of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao came of age, the political situation was changing, and the eunuch group was suffocating. He Jin assisted the government, but was killed by the eunuchs, in order to fight back, he secretly recruited Dong Zhuo, but unfortunately failed and was exterminated by the eunuchs. Subsequently, Dong Zhuo usurped the throne, and Cao Cao actively participated in the battle to overthrow Dong Zhuo, but later fell into the vortex of warlord secession.
In the turbulent and troubled times, Cao Cao re-emerged with extraordinary resourcefulness and military strategy. He elected Yuan Shao as the leader of the alliance and united forces from all over the Eastern Han Dynasty to oppose Dong Zhuo's autocratic rule. However, there were many contradictions within the coalition army, Yuan Shao and other assassins and Taishou sat on the profits of fishermen, and Cao Cao fell into the dilemma of few people and little food. The Yellow Turban Uprising came and went, but Cao Cao defeated the Qingzhou army with superb strategy, surrendered 300,000 troops, and began the great cause of unifying the north.
During the Jian'an period, Cao Cao established a political center in Xuchang and took a series of measures to ensure military rations, such as tuntian, juntun, water conservancy projects, etc. He not only solved the problem of military rations, but also promoted agricultural production and social stability, and created powerful conditions for the reunification of the north. Cao Cao continued to annex and defeat other warlords with strong force, defeating Lü Bu, Zhang Xiu, Yuan Shu, etc., and his territory continued to expand.
The reason why Cao Cao became the overlord of the north was not only because of political strategy, but also because of his emphasis on talents. He has issued many recruitment orders, and his fierce generals are like clouds, and his ministers are like rain. Cao Cao, with his broad mind, absorbed many talents and made his regime more stable.
In 200, Cao Cao faced Yuan Shao's army of 100,000 and the situation was grim. However, he skillfully used his forces and eventually won the Battle of Guandu. Then, Cao Cao successively occupied the four prefectures of Hebei, Qing, Bing, and You, and successfully eliminated Yuan Shao's forces. After that, Cao Cao relieved the threat of Wuhuan and Xianbei to the northern border, achieved true northern unification, ended the long-term melee situation, and laid the foundation for the recovery and development of the northern economy.
Cao Cao's ambitions were not limited to the north, as he marched south to capture Jingzhou, defeat Liu Bei, and garrison Jiangling. However, in the Battle of Chibi, Cao Cao lacked experience in water warfare, and was strategized by Huang Gai and others, and was finally defeated in the fire attack. This battle became a watershed for the Three Kingdoms, and Cao Cao began to focus on defense, laying the foundation for the formation of the later Three Kingdoms situation.
Cao Cao was not only an outstanding politician and military strategist, but also an outstanding writer and poet. He played an important role in Jian'an literature and left behind a series of masterpieces, such as "Stepping Out of the Summer Gate: Turtle Although Shou" and "Short Song Xing", which became an outstanding representative in the history of Chinese literature.
Cao Cao's life was like a pearl in troubled times, shining with the brilliance of wisdom and courage. Starting from the prominence of the Cao family, he experienced the twists and turns of war, and finally unified the north with political strategy and military courage. In the prosperity of Jian'an literature, he also left many classics. The legendary story of Cao Cao is not only a witness to history, but also a treasure of literature, inspiring future generations to seek victory in the turbulent world.