In 195 CE, the fragile alliance among Dong Zhuo’s former generals – Li Jue, Guo Si, Zhang Ji, and Fan Chou – collapsed into violent infighting.
The rifts and infighting
Li Jue, suspecting Fan Chou of collusion with enemies, lured him into camp and executed him. Guo Si, terrified he might be next, fell violently ill after a banquet at Li Jue’s residence. Convinced he’d been poisoned (his wife forced him to drink fecal water to induce vomiting for detoxification), Guo Si launched a retaliatory attack.
Amid the chaos, Li Jue seized Emperor Xian, along with imperial consorts, ministers, and palace treasures, dragging them to his military camp – and burning the Chang’an palaces to the ground. For weeks, Li Jue and Guo Si’s forces slaughtered each other in the streets, killing tens of thousands of civilians.
Zhang Ji intervened as a mediator, and a temporary truce was reached. With the capital in ruins, the court decided to relocate the capital to Hongnong (modern Lingbao, Henan). But halfway there, both Li Jue and Guo Si regretted letting the emperor go – they needed his symbolic authority. They pursued the imperial convoy eastward.
Flight of the emperor
Under the protection of Dong Cheng and Yang Feng, Emperor Xian barely escaped across the Yellow River, abandoning imperial archives and ritual objects along the way. With Hongnong unsafe, the only option left was Luoyang – the once-glorious capital reduced to ashes by Dong Zhuo years earlier.
By early 196 CE, the court reached Luoyang. There were no palaces – only makeshift huts built atop rubble. The emperor, empresses, and ministers starved, digging for wild herbs while soldiers stole their meager harvests. Some officials died of hunger in their own shelters.
Cao Cao’s Rise
Just then, Cao Cao arrived – not as a refugee, but with a formidable army. How had he amassed such power?
Years earlier, after Yuan Shao seized Jizhou (Ji Province) from Han Fu, Cao Cao was appointed Administrator of Dong Commandery. When Liu Dai, Inspector of Yanzhou (Yan Province), was killed by Yellow Turban remnants, Cao Cao’s strategist Chen Gong saw an opportunity. He persuaded local officials to invite Cao Cao as their new leader, arguing:
“Only Cao Cao can bring order.”
Cao Cao swiftly took control of Yan Province (modern Shandong/western Henan). He then defeated the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans, incorporating over 300,000 surrendered troops and their families into his elite “Qingzhou Army.” When the Han court belatedly sent a legitimate inspector, Jin Shang, Cao Cao expelled him by force – and later secured official recognition through bribes and diplomacy.
But his brutality alienated allies. After his father Cao Song was murdered en route to Yan Province (likely by Tao Qian’s subordinates), Cao Cao unleashed a massacre on Xuzhou, slaughtering civilians indiscriminately. This atrocity turned even Chen Gong against him. Chen Gong allied with Cao Cao’s old friend Zhang Miao, invited Lü Bu to seize Yan Province, and nearly succeeded – until Cao Cao reclaimed it through sheer manpower.
This near-collapse taught Cao Cao a lesson: military strength alone wasn’t enough – he needed legitimacy.
“Holding the Emperor to Command the Feudal Lords”
Learning that Emperor Xian had reached Luoyang in desperate straits, Cao Cao proposed a bold move: bring the emperor under his protection. Many of his officers objected:
“The Son of Heaven is powerless – a child with no real authority.”
But Xun Yu, Cao Cao’s chief strategist (Xun Yu left Yuan Shao and joined Cao Cao in 191, whom Cao Cao called his “Zhang Liang”), countered:
“When Gaozu mourned King Yi of Chu, the world rallied to him. Now the emperor suffers – rescuing him wins the hearts of all righteous men.”
Convinced, Cao Cao marched to Luoyang. The 16-year-old Emperor Xian, weary of being a pawn of warlords, placed his hopes in Cao Cao. In return, Cao Cao gained de facto control of the central government.
Yet Luoyang remained unsustainable. Only one man, Dong Zhao, shared Cao Cao’s vision. Dong Zhao advised:
“Xucheng has ample grain. Move the capital there. Great deeds require decisive action.”
Cao Cao agreed. In 196 CE, he transferred the imperial court to Xuchang (later Xu Capital), rebuilt palaces and ancestral temples, and formally restored imperial rituals. Emperor Xian, grateful, appointed Cao Cao Grand General and enfeoffed him as a marquis.
To appease Yuan Shao – who fumed, “Cao Cao owes everything to me!” – Cao Cao yielded the title of Grand General to Yuan Shao and took the lesser post of General of Chariots and Cavalry, while installing Xun Yu as Chief Secretary.
Many old ministers, sidelined and resentful, retired or fled. Cao Cao didn’t care. Under Xun Yu’s guidance, he recruited a new generation of talent: strategists like Xun You, Guo Jia, Zhong Yao, and generals like Dian Wei, Yu Jin, Xu Huang. Even the famed scholar Kong Rong joined his administration. The court, though nominal, now pulsed with capable hands.
The Tuntian System
But one crisis remained: famine. Decades of war, natural disasters, and displacement had turned fertile lands into wastelands. Soldiers ate mulberries and snails; civilians resorted to tree bark and grass roots.
Then Zao Zhi, a native of Yingchuan, proposed the Tuntian (military-agricultural colonies) system. Cao Cao embraced it immediately:
“Strong armies require abundant grain. This is the foundation of peace!”
He appointed Zao Zhi Colonel of Agricultural Colonies and launched the program:
- Homeless peasants were organized into state-supervised farming units.
- They received land, seed, and tools from the government.
- Harvests were split: 50% to the state, 50% to the farmer (or 60/40 if using government oxen).
- No taxes or corvée labor – but desertion was punished as desertion from the army.
Because it offered stability and security, refugees flocked to become “tuntian clients.” Zao Zhi also built irrigation canals, converting dry fields into productive rice paddies. Within a year, the state collected over 10,000 hu of grain – enough to feed armies and stabilize prices.
The system spread rapidly, becoming the economic backbone of Cao Cao’s regime.
A fragmented realm: Cao Cao’s rivals
Despite controlling the emperor and securing food supplies, Cao Cao faced a fractured empire:
- Yuan Shao dominated Ji, Qing, and Bing provinces in the north.
- Yuan Shu declared himself emperor in Shouchun (Yang Province).
- Gongsun Zan held You Province after killing Liu Yu.
- Liu Biao ruled Jing Province.
- Liu Bei and the fugitive Lü Bu vied for Xu Province.
- And in the southeast, Sun Ce – son of Sun Jian – was rapidly consolidating Jiangdong.
Each warlord acted as a sovereign. Cao Cao knew: legitimacy and grain were necessary – but not sufficient. To unify the realm, he would need more than the Mandate of Heaven (emperor). He would need total war.
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