The videos I watched became popular in ancient times

Dong Zhao, courtesy name Gongren, was from Dingtao, Jiyin.

Dong Zhao was once selected as a filial and incorrupt official by the county, and served as the county chief of Yingtao and the magistrate of Bairen.

When Yuan Shao heard of his great name, he appointed him as military advisor, commonly known as a military officer.

In the early stages of the battle between Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan, Gongsun Zan had a clear advantage.

During the battle of Jie Bridge between the two sides, Li Shao, the governor of Julu, and the big families in the county all wanted to curry favor with Gongsun and invest in him.

Yuan Shao was a little panicked and asked Dong Zhao to take charge of Julu.

At that time Yuan Shao asked: Sir, how will you govern Julu?

Dong Zhao said that two fists cannot beat four hands, and my wisdom alone is not enough to deal with the conspiracy of the entire county.

I want to lure him with benefits and persuade him with words. But I can't go into too much detail about this matter, I can only act when the time comes.

Yuan Shao was not too stupid, so he did not ask any more questions.

When Dong Zhao arrived in Julu, he secretly investigated and learned that people including Sun Kang, a prominent family in the county, were the troublemakers.

He forged a proclamation from Yuan Shao and posted it on the city gate, which read:
We have now captured the Anping thief Luo Hou Zhang Ji. According to Zhang's confession, they are going to attack Julu, and among them are the thieves' former Xiaolian Sun Kang and others. Now we have sent an order to the county to arrest the thieves, but only their bodies, not their wives and children.

You don't have to say it, Dong Zhao's big stick strategy worked quickly, Sun Kang and other troublemakers were quickly dealt with, and those potential elements immediately kept a low profile.

Then, Dong Zhao appeased the people and fed them carrots, and the Julu Rebellion was quickly put down.

After hearing the news, Yuan Shao gave Dong Zhao a thumbs up.

At that time, the prefect of Wei County, Li Pan, was killed by rebel soldiers, so Dong Zhao was appointed to take charge of Wei County concurrently.

At that time, the situation on the front line was tense and Wei County was also in chaos. There were tens of thousands of bandits traveling in the market, causing unrest in the entire county.

Dong Zhao won over one faction and suppressed another, dividing and disintegrating the rebels, and soon pacified Wei County.

But given Yuan Shao's character, he would either kill or get rid of any of his subordinates who had some ability.

Sure enough, the curse came true again.

It turned out that Dong Zhao's younger brother Dong Fang served in Zhang Miao's army.

Zhang Miao was listed among the "Eight Chefs" and was a famous hero in the late Han Dynasty.

Speaking of which, Yuan Shao, Cao Cao and Zhang Miao were all friends who grew up together.

But when they were jointly fighting against Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao was arrogant and looked very weak. When Zhang Miao said a few words to him, Yuan Shao wanted to send someone to kill Zhang Miao, and the two of them turned against each other.

Perhaps because Dong Zhao was too popular to be the governor of two counties, some of Yuan Shao's subordinates started to spread rumors about him, and Yuan Shao wanted to punish Dong Zhao.

Dong Zhao was not as stubborn as Tian Feng. He told Yuan Shao that he could serve as the ambassador plenipotentiary to open up connections with the imperial court in Chang'an.

When Yuan Shao heard this, he thought it was a good idea and let him go west.

Dong Zhao tried to escape quickly, but he was out of his mind. When he arrived in Henei, he was detained by Zhang Yang, the governor of Henei.

Dong Zhao had no choice but to hand over the seal to Zhang Yang, but the court appointed him as Cavalry Commander again. In this way, he stayed with Zhang Yang.

At that time, Cao Cao took over as governor of Yanzhou and also wanted to have good relations with the court, so he sent an envoy to Zhang Yang, saying that he wanted to use his passage to visit Chang'an. However, Zhang Yang was unwilling to give Cao Cao face.

Dong Zhao, a sharp-sighted fellow, immediately saw an opportunity and said to Zhang Yang:
Although Yuan and Cao are now as close as brothers, they are not the same kind of people after all, and they will definitely break up in the end.

Although Cao Cao is not strong now, he is a hero in the world and will never be inferior to anyone.

We can take this opportunity to help him get in touch with the court, recommend him for an official position, and make friends with him. Isn't this killing two birds with one stone?

What he said was always right. It has to be said that Dong Zhao's ability in analysis, judgment and eloquence were all unique.

Zhang Yang then made peace with Cao Cao and submitted a petition to the court to recommend him.

Dong Zhao also used his expertise in falsely conveying orders to write letters on behalf of Cao Cao to Li Jue and Guo Si, who were in power in Chang'an, and also brought a variety of local specialties according to each person's preferences.

On the other hand, Dong Zhao secretly sent someone to make peace with Cao Cao. Cao Cao, a man of insight, immediately gave him gifts of money and silk in return, and the two of them secretly communicated and became acquainted.

Emperor Xian fled from Chang'an, crossed the Yellow River from Shan County to the north, and entered Anyi County, Hedong County.

Dong Zhao accompanied Zhang Yang to welcome the emperor and was appointed as a counselor by the court.

Cao Cao pacified the Yellow Turbans in Xuchang and sent envoys to Hedong to pick up Emperor Xian, but Emperor Xian had already crossed the river and returned to the old capital Luoyang.

At that time, Han Xian, Yang Feng, Dong Cheng and Zhang Yang were fighting for the right to control the young emperor and none of them was convinced of their loyalty.

Dong Zhao saw that Yang Feng had a strong army but no reinforcements, so he forged a letter to Yang Feng in Cao Cao's name:

I, Cao, have long heard of your great name and have admired you. Today, you have overcome all difficulties and welcomed the emperor back to the old capital. This achievement is truly unparalleled in the world.

In today's world, evil people are fighting each other and the four seas are in turmoil. The majesty of the emperor must be maintained.

But this achievement requires the efforts of many people and cannot be accomplished by one person alone.

Now the general is inside and I, Cao, am outside. The general has soldiers and I have food and grass. We share what we have and what we need, live and die together, and we will definitely achieve unprecedented achievements.

This fake book from Dong Zhao immediately aroused Yang Feng's ambitions.

He was overjoyed when he received the letter, and showed it to the generals:

Cao Yanzhou is close to Xuchang and has soldiers and food. We should rely on him.

So he recommended Cao Cao as the General of Guarding the East and inherited his grandfather Cao Teng's title of Marquis of Feiting. Dong Zhao was also transferred to the post of Fujieling for his meritorious service in delivering Cao Cao's "letter".

In June of the same year, Cao Cao entered Luoyang to formally meet the young emperor.

After retiring from court, Cao Cao specifically sought out Dong Zhao, who had done many good deeds without leaving his name, and sat side by side with him in the ruined Luoyang Imperial Palace to express his sincere gratitude to him.

Cao Cao also asked Dong Zhao for advice: Now that I have met the emperor, what should I do next? Please teach me, sir.

Dong Zhao had already made up his mind, and spoke eloquently about the general's raising of an army of righteous men to put an end to the rebellion, paying homage to the emperor, and assisting the royal family. This was truly the achievement of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period.

Now the generals in Luoyang have different opinions. If the general stays here, I am afraid there will be many inconveniences.

The only solution now is to move the capital to Xuchang and bring the little emperor to the general's sphere of influence before we can accomplish great things.

But the court had just returned from Xijing, and people's minds were settled. If they moved again, there would definitely be different voices.

But doing extraordinary things will lead to extraordinary achievements. I hope the general will think carefully about this.

Dong Zhao's move was both a suggestion and a test.

His suggestions were very forward-looking, but he was also testing whether Cao Cao had the courage to "achieve extraordinary achievements."

Cao Cao answered without hesitation: This is exactly what I mean.

But Yang Fengjin is in Liang County recently, and I heard that he has a strong army. I’m afraid he won’t agree.

Liang County belongs to Henan Yin, in today's Ruzhou, Henan, and forms a triangle with Luoyang and Xuchang, so Cao Cao was worried. Dong Zhao said calmly: Although Yang Feng has a large number of soldiers, he lacks external support, so he also wants to make friends with the general. The general's Zhendong General and Feiting Marquis were both his work.

I heard that he has been restraining his subordinates recently, which also shows that he wants to curry favor with the general.

The general should express his gratitude to him to appease his heart.

Then he could use the excuse that "Luoyang is short of food, so we should welcome the emperor's carriage to Luyang. Luyang is close to Xuchang, so I can offer tribute and food at any time."

Yang Feng is a man of courage but no strategy, so he will not be suspicious. Once we have exchanged envoys with him, we can benefit from it, and what can Yang Feng do?

Dong Zhao's strategy is comparable to Xun Yu's "welcoming the emperor" strategy, but it is more pragmatic and more vicious, leaving the parties involved with no choice. This shows how fast, steady, accurate and ruthless Dong Zhao's strategy was.

Cao Cao was very happy to hear this, and he did the same thing. Yang Feng indeed did not express any objection. By the time he came to his senses, the emperor's carriage had already been successfully moved to Xuchang.

Yang Feng became more and more angry, so he went to Dingling with Han Xian to cause trouble. However, Cao Cao ignored them and went straight to attack Zhang Yangliang County's base camp.

Yang Feng and Han Xian had no idea what to do, so they had to flee eastwards to Yuan Shu.

In the third year of Jian'an, Dong Zhao was appointed as the governor of Henan by the court controlled by Cao Cao, while his former master Zhang Yang was killed by his subordinate Yang Chou.

Xue Hong, the chief secretary appointed by Zhang Yang, and Miao Shang, the governor of Henei, held the city firmly, hoping to wait for Yuan Shao's rescue.

Dong Zhao entered the city alone again and persuaded Xue Hong and Miao Shang to surrender. Because of this achievement, Dong Zhao was appointed governor of Jizhou.

After this, Dong Zhao offered advice to Cao Cao several more times, and each time it worked.

After Liu Bei was defeated by Lu Bu and surrendered to Cao Cao, he sent troops to Xuzhou under the pretext of attacking Yuan Shu.

Dong Zhao advised in time: Liu Bei is a heroic man with great ambitions, and he has Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to support him, so I am afraid he will never come back.

Cao Cao refused to accept the proposal because he had already promised Liu Bei. Later, Liu Bei killed Che Zhou in Xuzhou and rebelled. Cao Cao personally led an expedition to Xuzhou and appointed Dong Zhao as the governor of Xuzhou.

When Yan Liang, a general under Yuan Shao, attacked Dongjun, Cao Cao appointed Dong Zhao as governor of Dongjun and sent him to fight Yan Liang.

After the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao besieged Ye City. Yuan Chunqing, a member of Yuan Shao's clan and the prefect of Wei County appointed by Yuan Shao, was trapped in the city.

Yuan Chunqing's father Yuan Yuanchang was in Yangzhou at the time. Dong Zhao asked Cao Cao to welcome Yuan Yuanchang to Yecheng, and then wrote a letter to Yuan Chunqing, persuading him to surrender based on the righteousness of monarch and subject, and the affection between father and son.

Whether this letter of surrender was successful is not recorded in history books, but at least it undermined Yuan Chunqing's fighting spirit.

Yuan Shao's sons Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi later defected to the Wuhuan. Cao Cao went north to fight but suffered from the difficulty of transporting grain. Dong Zhao then suggested digging two canals, Pinglu and Quanzhou, to reach the sea for transportation.

After the Wuhuan were pacified, Cao Cao recommended Dong Zhao as Marquis of Qianqiu Ting and transferred him to be the chief academician of the Simakong Army.

Guo Jia had also served as the chief military officer of Sikong Army. This shows how important Dong Zhao was to Cao Cao.

Dong Zhao's second major contribution to the founding of the Cao Wei state was helping Cao Cao to be crowned duke and king.

After Cao Cao became more powerful, Dong Zhao proposed to restore the five-level nobility system.

The five-level nobility system was the feudal system of the Zhou Dynasty, which was divided into five levels: duke, marquis, earl, viscount and baron.

However, the five-level nobility system was actually abolished after the Qin Dynasty implemented the twenty-level military merit nobility system, especially after the early Han Dynasty, when "no one can be king without Liu, and no one can be a nobility without merit" was implemented.

But can such a restoration be achieved in one fell swoop? Even a treacherous hero like Cao Cao couldn't help but feel a little guilty when he heard this suggestion.

Dong Zhao said: Since ancient times, the contribution of ministers in supporting the country has never reached the level of the prime minister today.

The Prime Minister's achievements today are not enough to keep him as a minister for long. Now the Prime Minister feels that his virtue has not reached the people of the world, and his achievements are not as good as those of Yi Yin and Zhou Gong, so he is humble and does not take the position of public official.

But Prime Minister, have you ever thought about this? It is hard to find a monarch like Taijia or King Cheng again.

Even if the Prime Minister is considering the future generations, he should not put himself in a dangerous position.

Yi Yin released Taijia and Duke Zhou assisted King Cheng. Both Yi Yin and Duke Zhou served as prime ministers and ruled on behalf of the emperor.

Dong Zhao reminded Cao Cao that the current situation was similar to that of Yi Yin and Duke Zhou.
If you do not seize the opportunity to legitimately seize power, lay the foundation, proclaim yourself a duke or a king, and establish your own vassal state, you may become the target of attack, and then it will be impossible for you to protect yourself.

At the end, Dong Zhao did not forget to promote himself: Zhao has received great kindness from the Prime Minister, and I have no way to repay it. I dare not remain silent for the sake of the Prime Minister.

It can be seen that Cao Cao had long been worried that once the military power was out of his hands, it would bring disaster to the entire family. He knew that Dong Zhao's words could be regarded as a "targeted attack", and it was difficult for Cao Cao to refuse.

Sure enough, after hearing this, Cao Cao became more determined to become a duke or a king, and he finally got his wish.

In this sense, Dong Zhao was indeed the first contributor to the founding of the Cao Wei state.

Of course, from this point on, Xun Yu and Dong Zhao also embarked on different paths from Cao Cao, which was also the root cause of Xun Yu's later suicide.

In the 24th year of Jian'an, Guan Gong besieged Cao Ren in Fancheng. Sun Quan sent an envoy to say that he wanted to stab Guan Gong in the back and asked that the plan be kept secret.

Cao Cao consulted his ministers on how to respond to Sun Quan. Most of them thought that it should be kept strictly confidential, but Dong Zhao said:

Military matters should be handled with discretion. In this case, we can agree to Sun Quan's proposal on the surface, but actually leak the plan deliberately.

In this way, when Guan Yu hears the news, he will withdraw his troops to defend himself, Fancheng can naturally be relieved, and we can sit back and watch the fight between the two tigers.

In addition, if the plan is leaked, the defenders in Fancheng will also be encouraged to hear it. Why not do it?

This was another vicious and irresistible plan. Cao Cao then ordered Xu Huang, who was coming to rescue him, to tie Sun Quan's letter to arrows and shoot them at Guan Gong's camp and inside the city, ultimately leading to Guan Gong's defeat.

After Cao Pi became King of Wei, he appointed Dong Zhao as the Chief Architect.

When Cao Pi became emperor, he appointed Dong Zhao as Grand Herald and promoted him to Marquis of Youxiang.

The Grand Herald was in charge of the affairs of the princes and their vassal states, and ranked below the Nine Ministers. In the second year of Emperor Wen's Huangchu reign, Dong Zhao was promoted to the position of Palace Attendant.

The following year, General Cao Xiu, the General in Charge of the Eastern Expedition, stationed his troops at Dongpukou and submitted a petition to pacify the south of the Yangtze River.

Cao Pi personally went to Wancheng. General Xiahou Shang, the General of the Southern Expedition, wanted to station troops on land in the middle of the river and build a floating bridge to facilitate the transportation of grain between the north and the south.

However, Dong Zhao, who accompanied the expedition, said that advancing deep into the enemy's territory alone with only one way to advance or retreat was what military strategists feared.

If the enemy attacks the pontoon bridge, we may be wiped out if we are careless.

Moreover, if the river floods, how can the people stationed there retreat?
When Cao Pi heard this, he immediately ordered Xiahou Shang to withdraw.

The Wu army indeed divided its troops into two routes and attacked. The Wei army in the middle of the river was temporarily defeated, and generals Shi Jian and Gao Qian barely escaped.

The Wei army retreated for more than ten days, and the Yangtze River rose, and the land in the river was suddenly submerged. Cao Pi therefore praised Dong Zhao for his wisdom as that of Zhang Liang and Chen Ping.

Among the group of Wei counselors in the Three Kingdoms period, besides Xun You and Jia Xu, Dong Zhao was another one who was regarded as having both good and fair wisdom.

In the fourth year of Emperor Ming's Taihe reign, Dong Zhao acted as Situ. Two years later, he was officially appointed Situ.

Dong Zhao finally became one of the Three Dukes and achieved the highest position possible among ministers.

Dong Zhao was the Minister of Education. He advised Emperor Ming to get rid of the Hua puppets, so Emperor Ming dismissed Zhuge Dan, Deng Yang and others.

In the fourth year of Qinglong reign of Emperor Ming, Dong Zhao died at the age of eighty-one and was posthumously named Marquis Ding.

Dong Zhao is included in the same biography as Cheng Yu and Guo Jia. His lifetime achievements were no less than those of the two Xuns, but he was not well-known during his lifetime. (End of this chapter)