First, timing. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, powerful people emerged, and consorts, eunuchs, warlords and other forces took turns to take power. The fortune of the Eastern Han Dynasty was exhausted in the political struggle. When Cao Cao was young, he was full of ambition and sincere heart. At the age of 20, Xiao Lian was named Lang and awarded a captain in Luoyang North. He is not afraid of power and enforces the law impartially. At this time, Cao Cao wanted to assist the imperial court through his own talents and realize the revitalization of the Han Dynasty. However, due to the constant change of imperial power, Cao Cao's career path was not smooth, and he was excluded everywhere, but his repeated words were rarely adopted. When the 18th Route Governors crusaded against Dong Zhuo, Cao Cao, who was bent on revitalizing the Han Dynasty, was finally defeated. At this time, Cao Cao was disappointed with the appeal of the Han court and realized that he needed to cultivate his own strength. Therefore, Cao Cao collected talents in the world and laid the foundation for his future strength.
Second, geographical location. After gathering a large number of talents, Cao Cao has his own stable team, including Li Dian, Xia and others, who have made great contributions to Cao Cao's power expansion in the future. After the Guo Si Rebellion in Li Jue, Qingzhou experienced the Yellow Scarf Uprising which shocked the ruling and opposition. Cao Cao was ordered at a critical moment, and later succeeded in quelling the yellow turban insurrectionary rebellion, and was given more than 300,000 soldiers with a population of over one million. Cao Cao reorganized the elite among them into an army called Qingzhou soldiers. Cao Cao has his own influence and sphere of influence. Cao Cao's influence is mainly in the Central Plains, where the terrain is mostly plain and there is more cultivated land, so the grain output is more and the population is increasing.
Third, people and. After Qingzhou's uprising against the Yellow turban insurrectionary, Cao Cao recuperated in Yanzhou, published the list of recruiting talents, and gained many talents, including Yu Xun, a talent from Wang Zuo, and counselors such as Cheng Yu, Guo Jia, Ye Liu, Yu Jin and Dian Wei. At this point, Cao Cao's strength increased greatly and he became a force to be reckoned with at that time.
When Cao Cao has enough power and status, the idea of "where the powerful live" will naturally sprout in the world, not to mention Cao Cao's lofty political ideals.