Warlords scurry to seize land

As soon as Li Jue and Guo Si took the Emperor in their hands, a lot of attackers came. First was
Ma Teng from Liang Province. His ferocious son Ma Chao decimated Li Jue in battle so Guo Si
came up with a plan. He used attrition to wear out Ma Teng's army, and 4 months later, out of
supplies, they retreated.

A Yellow Turban rebellion was then staged, so Guo Si issued an Imperial Order to send Cao Cao
to fight. Cao Cao collected 30000 Yellow Turban Rebels and turned them into his soldiers. He
then defeated Zhang Miao, Han Fu, Kong Zhou and Liu Dai to gain some territory. He gained
many talented advisors like Cheng Yu, Guo Jia and Man Chong, as well as powerful generals
like Yu Jin, Xu Chu, and Dian Wei.

In the meantime, a civil war has broken out in the Han Empire as warlords fought for territories
and power. Cao Cao and Yuan Shu dominated the Central Plains, Tao Qian went to claim a small
piece of land in the east, Zhang Xiu was trapped in a small corner and Han Sui and Ma Teng
shared their territories with the Qiang's in northern China. Below the Yangtze River, Zhang Lu
and Liu Zhang claimed the southwest, Liu Biao took the south and many mountain tribes took
the east, with Wang Lang and a few others. Lü Bu had fled to Yuan Shao for a while but Yuan
Shao was so annoyed by him that he kicked Lü Bu out.

Cao Cao moves the capital

During those times of upheaval, Li Jue and Guo Si had always worked together, and the Emperor
thought they were an unstoppable pair. However, due to a spy, miscommunication spread
between them, and Guo Si's wife was convinced that Guo Si liked Li Jue's wife more, so she
poisoned wine that came from Li Jue to make Guo Si attack Li Jue, resulting in a civil war.
Eventually, Zhang Zhi was able to make them become allies once again, and they were joined by
the traitor Li Yue. Still, from the Emperor's side, there was a powerful general named Xu Huang
who could single-handedly stop many armies.

The Imperial Army, with the help of Dong Cheng, the Imperial Uncle, returned to Luoyang and
started building a small palace. A huge famine struck, and the possibility of Li Jue and Guo Si
coming back remained at large, scaring the common people. Yang Biao enlisted the help of Cao
Cao, whose general, Xiahou Dun, was able to defeat Li Jue and Guo Si, and from the rebels' side
Jia Xu deserted and went to the local village. Cao Cao sent Man Chong to convince Xu Huang to
desert to him, then attacked and defeated Yang Feng, who fled to Yuan Shu.

Cao Cao saved Emperor Xian from the remnants of Dong Zhuo's forces, established the new
imperial capital in Xu, and became the new head of the central government. He was distraught
when he received news that his father, Cao Song was murdered by the governor of Xu Province,
Tao Qian. Immediately, Cao Cao attacked Tao Qian. Tao Qian quickly asked for help, and Liu
Bei, Gongsun Zan and Kong Rong all arrived. However, the latter had to deal with an uprising of
Yellow Turban Rebels and left with Liu Bei to deal with the issue. The great warrior Taishi Ci
arrived for his mother had been treated nicely for Kong Rong and she wanted to show gratitude.
Taishi Ci, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei defeated the Yellow Turban uprising and Liu Bei brought his
brothers back to help Tao Qian.

Cao Cao pillaged and burnt down all the cities in his way to show his wrath. He had to stop his
invasion of Xu when he was attacked by Lü Bu. Lü Bu had taken the whole of Yan Province
from Cao Ren in a surprise attack. Cao Cao then went back and attacked Lü Bu. Chen Gong, Lü
Bu's newest advisor, gave Lü Bu a strategy. Cao Cao and his forces rushed onto an empty camp,
which was set on fire. Lü Bu then came in and started killing left and right. Cao Cao came across
Lü Bu, but the latter did not recognise him and Cao Cao tricked Lü Bu into turning around, and
escaped by luck. Later, he caught Lü Bu in his own ambush, and reconsidered Yan Province. Lü
Bu fled.

For Guo Si, he was killed by his own subordinate while being constantly checked by Cao Cao. Li
Jue died for the same reason a year later.

Sun Ce builds a dynasty in Jiangdong

Meanwhile, the ambush set by Liu Biao on Yuan Shao's orders violently concluded Sun Jian's
life. His eldest son, Sun Ce, delivered the Imperial Seal as a tribute to the rising pretender, Yuan
Shu, in exchange for troops and horses. Sun Ce enlisted the help of Taishi Ci who defected from
his lord, defeated the Southern Tribesmen and secured himself a state in the rich riverlands of
Jiangdong (Wu), on which the state of Eastern Wu was founded later. His dream was to conquer
Jing Province, which was where his father had died.

Tragically, Sun Ce also died at the pinnacle of his career from illness under stress of his
terrifying encounter with the ghost of Yu Ji, a venerable magician whom he had falsely accused
of heresy and executed in jealousy. Fortunately, Sun Quan, his younger brother and successor,
proved to be a capable and charismatic ruler. With assistance from Zhou Yu, Zhang Zhao and
others, Sun Quan found hidden talents such as Lu Su to serve him, built up his military forces
and maintained stability in Jiangdong.

Lü Bu's takeover of Xu Province from Liu Bei

Liu Bei recruiting Zhuge Liang, from Visiting the Thatched Hut Three Times, a Ming dynasty
painting by Dai Jin (1388–1462).

Liu Bei and his oath brothers Guan Yu and Zhang Fei swore allegiance to the Han Empire in the
Oath of the Peach Garden and pledged to do their best for the people. However, their ambitions
were not realized as they did not receive due recognition for helping to suppress the Yellow
Turban Rebellion and participating in the campaign against Dong Zhuo. Liu Bei had been
serving under Tao Qian, and when Cao Cao was attacking to take revenge over his father's death,
Liu Bei sent a letter to ask Cao Cao for peace. Cao Cao was furious but had to abandon the
mission when Lü Bu started attacking. Everyone thought that Liu Bei was the one who stopped
Cao Cao's attack. Hence, Liu Bei was the one to succeed Tao Qian after he died. He gained Lü
Bu after Lü Bu was defeated by Cao Cao.

Cao Cao, however, was a pain in the neck. He forced the Emperor to issue imperial order,
forcing Liu Bei to attack Yuan Shu, which he did so reluctantly. The battle was a stalemate for
the most part. Cao Cao then sent a letter to Liu Bei, telling him to kill Lü Bu, but the message
was intercepted by Chen Gong. When Lü Bu questioned Liu Bei, Zhang Fei immediately burst
out and was going to kill Lü Bu right then, but Liu Bei stopped Zhang Fei and denied wanting to
kill Lü Bu.

When Liu Bei went to attack Yuan Shu, he left Zhang Fei behind to guard Xu Province. Zhang
Fei drank heavily and became intoxicated, and forgot about his duties. Lü Bu took this chance to
lure Zhang Fei out of the city and take Xu Province. Liu Bei then surrendered to Lü Bu. Yuan
Shu wanted to finish off Lü Bu, so he gave Lü Bu lots of jewelry to tell him to force Liu Bei to
go to war, knowing Liu Bei would lose. Lü Bu accepted the treasure and forced Liu Bei to go to
war. However, a few days later, Lü Bu wanted to spoil Yuan Shu's mood. He made a deal with
Yuan Shu，saying that if he hit his spear with an arrow from a 150 steps away, Yuan Shu would
stop the war. Yuan Shu, believing that the feat was unobtainable, agreed. Lü Bu was able to hit
his spear, and Yuan Shu was forced to stop.
Cao Cao defeats Zhang Xiu and Yuan Shu

Cao Cao had an affair with Zhang Xiu's wife, prompting Zhang Xiu to attack Cao Cao. Zhang
Xiu's advisor, Jia Xu, planned an ambush. Cao Cao and his men, still sleeping, were caught in a
fire trap and Cao Cao only escaped when Dian Wei, having had his battle axe stolen, used his
bare hands to guard Cao Cao while he escaped. Even with several arrows pierced through his
skin, Dian Wei proved to be a resilient fighter and added to Zhang Xiu and Jia Xu's frustration
and their capture of Cao Cao had to be stalled. Zhang Xiu cut down the weakened Dian Wei and
chased Cao Cao down. An archer shot Cao Cao's horse down, so his son, Cao Ang, lent Cao Cao
his horse to escape. Cao Ang was killed while Zhang Xiu pursued. Eventually, the
reinforcements arrived and Zhang Xiu fled. Cao Cao deeply mourned Dian Wei's death.

Zhang Fei did not like Lü Bu. Hence, when Liu Bei sent Zhang Fei to buy more horses, he was
astounded when Zhang Fei came back in no time. Suddenly, Lü Bu was chasing them from
behind! Zhang Fei had stolen his horses and he had flown into a rage no one could stop. Trapped
between two sides, Liu Bei defected to Cao Cao.

On the road, Liu Bei met a famous hunter who served him. He wanted to catch Liu Bei a wolf for
dinner, but could not find anything till dusk. The hunter then killed his wife and disguised her
arm in soup and gave it to Liu Bei who knew nothing about the wife's death to eat. When Liu Bei
woke up the next morning to see the wife dead on the kitchen table, he realised what happened,
thanked the hunter, and left as fast as he could. When he arrived at Cao Cao's palace, he
recounted the scary incident. Cao Cao was greatly pleased and rewarded the hunter handsomely.

Suddenly, Yuan Shu, with the Imperial Seal, declared himself Emperor of the Zhong Dynasty.
Instantly, Cao Cao, Lü Bu and even Sun Ce attacked him, leaving him with almost no territory
afterwards.