Battle of Yijing 易京之戰

After advancing to Jie Bridge and being defeated by Yuan Shao's general Qu Yi, Gongsun Zan captured Liu Yu, the Governor of You Province, who had attacked him, falsely accused him of planning to proclaim himself emperor, and pressured the envoy Duan Xun into beheading him. Liu Yu's Attendant Officer Xianyu Fu and others led the provincial troops, drew in the Wuhuan and Xianbei, and beheaded the Administrator of Yuyang whom Gongsun Zan had appointed, and Yuan Shao also sent Qu Yi and Liu Yu's son Liu He to attack Gongsun Zan together with them. After repeated defeats, Gongsun Zan's army fell back to Yijing and held it fast. Records, Wei 8 §12 · 13–16

Gongsun Zan ringed the place with ten layers of trenches and inside them built mounds 5 or 6 zhang high topped with towers; the central mound in particular he raised to 10 zhang, lived there himself, and stockpiled 3 million hu of grain. He said that he had once thought the affairs of the realm could be settled with a wave of the hand, but now saw that they were not his to decide; the art of war said a hundred towers are not to be attacked, so by the time this grain was eaten he would know how the affairs of the realm would turn out. The generals Yuan Shao sent could not take it for more than a year. Records, Wei 8 §16–17

In the 4th year of Jian'an (199) Yuan Shao surrounded Yijing with his entire army. Gongsun Zan sent his son to seek relief from the Heishan bandits and planned to lead his shock cavalry out himself along the southwestern mountains, join the Heishan host, ravage Ji Province and cut off Yuan Shao's rear. His Chief Clerk Guan Jing dissuaded him, saying that the officers and men held on only because they longed for their wives, children and homes and looked to the general as their lord, so if he held fast Yuan Shao would withdraw of his own accord, whereas if he left now Yijing would soon be in danger; Gongsun Zan did not go out. Records, Wei 8 §18–19

When the relief force came, Gongsun Zan, wanting to attack Yuan Shao from inside and outside, sent a letter to his son fixing a date and having fires raised as the signal. Yuan Shao's scouts obtained the letter and raised fires on the appointed date, and when Gongsun Zan, thinking the relief had come, came out to fight, Yuan Shao crushed him with an ambush. When Gongsun Zan went back to defend again, Yuan Shao dug tunnels to bring down the towers and gradually closed in on the central mound, and Gongsun Zan, knowing he was sure to lose, killed all his wives and children and committed suicide. Yuan Shao's biography records that Yuan Shao defeated Gongsun Zan at Yijing and absorbed his followers. Records, Wei 8 §19–20Records, Wei 6 §49

The Annals of Emperor Wu record that at this time Yuan Shao, having swallowed up Gongsun Zan, held the lands of four provinces and more than 100,000 troops and meant to attack Xu. Xianyu Fu of You Province led his followers to accept the imperial command, and when Cao Cao faced Yuan Shao at Guandu he came to Cao Cao in person and became General on the Left Who Crosses the Liao. Chen Shou judged that Gongsun Zan guarded Yijing and sat waiting for his destruction. Records, Wei 1 §54Records, Wei 8 §21 · 71