With the collapse of the Eastern Han Dynasty central government in 190, a number of warlords, including Cao Cao, began to fight heavily against one another for control of China.
Chapters:
00:00 The Alliance Against Dong Zhuo 190-191
07:37 The Rise of Sun Jian 190-191
12:25 Eastern Warlordism 190-193
20:04 The Central Government 190-192
26:18 Cao Cao in Yan Province 192-195
39:11 Conflicts at Court 195-196
48:44 Yuan Shu in Jiangdong 195-196
56:55: Cao Cao in the Central Government 196
1:02:14: Cao Cao’s Expansions 196-199
1:09:39: Consolidations in the North 198-199
Addendum/Corrections:
At 03:21, I translated two descriptors of Cao Cao (奸賊, 姦雄) as both "villain", although doing so takes away a lot of nuances that help capture the complexity of Cao Cao's character. A much more precise translation of the overall phrases should be "a conniving rogue in times of peace, a hero in times of chaos" and "a capable minister in times of peace, a villainous hero in times of chaos".
Maps were modified from the maps at https://maps-for-free.com/ by ©OpenStreetMap https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright and based on The Historical Atlas of China by Tan Qixiang (谭其骧)
Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons, and the public domain