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Jia Xu, early in his career, joined the forces of Niu Fu (Dong Zhuo’s son-in-law) through hometown connections, becoming an important adviser. After Dong Zhuo was killed by Lü Bu and Wang Yun in collaboration, Niu Fu was soon assassinated by his own trusted subordinates. Generals like Li Jue and Guo Si, unable to…
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Following the Battle of Baima, where Guan Yu famously slew Yan Liang, Cao Cao made no attempt to hold the exposed position at Baima. Instead, he executed a calculated retreat along the Yellow River toward Yanjin, a critical crossing point that had already fallen into Yuan Shao’s hands.
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The Battle of Baima (200 CE) stands as a critical early clash in the epic confrontation between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, two dominant warlords vying for supremacy in a fractured Han China.
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Popular memory—shaped heavily by the Romance of the Three Kingdoms—portrays Cao Cao’s invasion of Xu Province in 193 AD as a brutal act of filial vengeance: his father, Cao Song, was murdered in Tao Qian’s territory, so Cao Cao launched a merciless campaign to avenge him.
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At first glance, it seems paradoxical: Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, sons of the same illustrious family, heirs to the prestigious Yuan clan of Runan—one of the most powerful gentry lineages of the Eastern Han—should have stood united against the chaos engulfing the empire.
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The assassination of Dong Zhuo in 192 AD was a dramatic moment in Chinese history. Orchestrated by Wang Yun, the Minister of Works, and executed by the mighty warrior Lü Bu, it was hailed as a heroic act to restore the Han dynasty from tyranny.
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In the turbulent final years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, few figures wielded as much influence with so little visibility as Jia Xu. A quiet strategist with no army of his own, he never sought the spotlight, yet his words altered the course of history.