In ancient China, the imperial family was always faced with a difficult problem: should they have the eldest son or the most talented second son?
Historically, this issue has led to a lot of strife and conflict. After countless lessons, people finally reached a consensus: although Lixian's subjective judgment is difficult, it is still easier to implement than Lichang.
This question is very similar to our college entrance examination. Although there are many drawbacks to the gaokao, its test standards are clear, fair, and easy to understand. If quality education is implemented in an all-round way, then there will be too much room for opportunistic shortcuts.
Although there is a consensus, many emperors still have their own views in the specific implementation. Yuan Shao is one of them. Instead of immediately appointing sons, he divided his territory among several sons and nephews, each with their own domain.
His favorite youngest son, Yuan Shang, followed him in order to examine his talents. In general, whether to be a leader or a virtuous person is a complex question, and there is no fixed answer.
Each emperor had to make the decision that was best for him based on his own circumstances and considerations.
In ancient societies, power often took precedence over family affection. Yuan Shao's family is a typical example. Although Yuan Shao made several of his sons magistrates, he did not resolve the conflicts between his brothers during his lifetime.
After his death, this contradiction became even more apparent. Fu Zhu had advised him not to do so, but Yuan Shao did not listen. In the end, this contradiction led to the ** of the Yuan Shao family.
Guo Tu and others fought for Lichang, while Xianbei and Feng Ji supported Yuan Shang because of their discord with Yuan Tan. Among them, Tian Feng's murder and the two sons of the trial were captured alive by Cao Cao, which aggravated the family's ** and contradictions.
This reminds us that in the face of power, family affection is often not guaranteed.
Shao then appointed Dai as the supervisor of the army, instead of guarding Yecheng. The fate of the trial seems to have been sealed. Fortunately, Yuan Shao asked Feng Ji's opinion again (Feng Ji did not match the trial, so Shao consulted him).
Feng Ji replied: "The judge is upright, and every action imitates the discipline of the ancients, and do not doubt him because his two sons are unrighteous in the south." ”
Yuan Shao was curious: "Don't you hate him?" Feng Ji seemed very righteous and awe-inspiring: "Previously, we were arguing about personal grievances, but now we are discussing national affairs. ”
As a result, the trial escaped the catastrophe and became more closely related to Fengji. Is Feng Ji really out of national interests? Then why did you frame Tian Feng before?
Feng Ji is a native of Nanyang County, and after Xu You's defection, he is isolated and needs to find allies. If the judge helps him now, he will definitely be grateful. On the surface, he advocates doctrine, but in fact, behind it is all for the sake of profit.
Yuan Xi and ** remained neutral, making the battle for the boss of Jizhou more suspenseful. In the end, the alliance of Hebei and Nanyang counties successfully defeated the Yingchuan faction, and Yuan Shang was able to succeed him.
Although Yuan Tan came back to try to fight for power, he was unsuccessful, and he could only proclaim himself a general and leave the town of Liyang.
In the Battle of Guandu Gaiden, we analyzed in detail the comparison of the forces of the two major groups of Yuan Shao and Cao Cao. The strongest in Yuan Shao's group was Jizhou, and the number of Qingzhou soldiers led by Yuan Tan was limited, and Yuan Shang repeatedly asked Yuan Shang to increase his troops.
The trial and others were worried that Yuan Tan might betray, so they resolutely did not give Yuan Tan more troops. In order to prevent Yuan Tan from rebelling, Yuan Shang also sent Feng Ji to serve as the supervisor. However, Yuan Tan was very angry about this, and not only did he not get reinforcements, but he was sent by his younger brother to monitor him.
In a fit of rage, Yuan Tan killed Feng Ji. This incident caused the Yuan Shao Group to lose half of the eight strategists, and three of them even died at the hands of their own people.
Cao Cao got the news of Feng Ji's death and immediately led his troops south. In order to ask for help, Yuan Tan asked Yuan Shang for help, and Yuan Shang asked him to judge and guard Ye County, and he led his troops to rescue Liyang. The brothers are against the wall, and the outside is insulted, at the beginning, the Yuan brothers still understand this truth.
The Hebei army was still very strong, and Cao Cao began the attack in September and lasted until February of the following year, when he defeated the Yuan brothers. Yuan Shang and others retreated to the base camp of Yecheng.
The city was the center of Hebei, with strong walls and ample reserves. As long as Yuan's army held on, it would be difficult for Cao Cao to break through in the short term. Guo Jia said: "Yuan Shao loves these two sons, but there is no suitable way to make them heirs.
With Guo Tu, Feng Ji and others as advisers, they will definitely fight each other. At this time, we should not rush to attack, we can go south to Jingzhou to seem to conquer Liu Biao, and wait for them to fight inwardly.
Once they fight among themselves, they can be calmed down in one fell swoop if they attack again. Everything was as Guo Jia expected, and after Cao Cao went south, the contradictions between the Yuan brothers broke out. After Cao Cao retreated, Yuan Tan wanted to take the opportunity to pursue, but he did not benefit the soldiers, nor was it easy to armor, he just wanted to rely on this opportunity to attack Yuan Shang and make Yuan Shang defeated.
Yuan Shang's advisers Guo Tu and Xin Ping took the opportunity to sow discord, saying that all this was a framing of the trial. Yuan Tan lost his composure and took the initiative to lead his troops to attack Yuan Shang, and the two sides fought outside Ye County.
Although Yuan Tan owned Qingzhou, he fled to Nanpi in Bohai County after his defeat. Yuan Shang took advantage of the victory to chase to the city of Nanpi, and Yuan Tan urgently summoned the counties in Qingzhou to lead troops to help, but there were rebellions in all parts of Qingzhou.
Yuan Tan couldn't help but sigh: "Now that the people of the entire state have betrayed me, is there anything wrong with me?" At a critical time, Qingzhou's Dinghai Shenshen Needle Wang Xuan came, he used to be Kong Rong's right-hand man, and Kong Rong often relied on Wang Xuan to avoid disasters.
When Kong Rong was in Beihai, Wang Xuan was his right-hand man. After Yuan Tan was stationed in Qingzhou, he recruited Wang Xiu to engage in governance, and did not drive Liu Xian to slander and frame Wang Xiu several times, but Wang Xiu tried this case, and Liu Xian was able to avoid death, and people praised Wang Xiu even more at that time.
Yuan Tan asked Yu Wang Xiu, and Wang Xiu analyzed for him: "Brothers are left and right hands, just like a person who is about to cut off his right hand when he is about to fight, and say, 'I will definitely be able to defeat you', is this okay?"
If you forsake your brother, who will draw near to you? Now there are traitors who sow discord and want to seek temporary benefits. I hope you plug your ears and don't listen to what they say.
If you kill a few traitorous ministers, and then let them unite to resist Cao Cao, you can run rampant in the world. Yuan Tan did not listen, but still attacked Yuan Shang, was defeated again, and fled to the plain country of Qingzhou.
Yuan Shang re-led his army to attack Yuan Tan, and Yuan Tan held on in the city. Yuan Shang besieged in a hurry, and Yuan Tan fled to the Plains Kingdom.
Yuan Tan, desperate, decides to unexpectedly ask his enemy Cao Cao for help. He sent Xinbi of Yingchuan to surrender to Cao Cao, in an attempt to take advantage of Cao Cao's attack on Ye County and take the opportunity to recapture the territory north of Ye County.
However, Yuan Tan's wishful thinking did not go well, and Cao's army would soon retreat because he had come from afar, his food and salary were not continuous, and Ye County's defense was strong. Yuan Tan tried to capture Yecheng again, and then he could control the entire land of Yan Zhao.
However, Cao Cao would not be easily exploited by Yuan Tan. What made Yuan Tan even more unexpected was that due to the infighting between his brothers, his subordinates were already panicked, and most of Qingzhou had rebelled.
Moreover, the envoy he sent this time turned out to be the elder of Cao Wei's three dynasties, which made the situation even more complicated.