Shen Pei
In 202, two years after his disastrous defeat at the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao died without clearly naming one of his sons as his successor. A power struggle thus broke out between two of his sons, Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang, over the succession. Yuan Shao's followers were also divided into two camps: one camp, led by Shen Pei and Pang Ji, supported Yuan Shang and helped him gain control over Ye city; the other camp, led by Xin Ping and Guo Tu, sided with Yuan Tan, who based himself in Pingyuan County. The Yuan brothers then waged war against each other.