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Volume 10: Book of Wei 10 - Biographies of Xun Yu, Xun You, and Jia Xu

Chapter 10 of 三國志 · Records of the Three Kingdoms
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Chapter 10
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1
Xun Yu, courtesy name Wenruo, came from Yingyin in Yingchuan. His grandfather Shu, courtesy name Jihe, had served as magistrate of Langling. Under Emperors Shun and Huan of Han he was already famous in his own day. He fathered eight sons, who were known collectively as the Eight Dragons. Xun Yu’s father, Gun, had been chancellor of the kingdom of Jinan. His uncle Shuang rose to be Minister of Works.
2
祿 西
〈The Continued Book of Han records that Shu was a man of exceptional talent whom Wang Chang and Li Ying both acknowledged as their teacher; as chancellor to the Marquis of Langling he earned the sobriquet “Divine Lord.” Zhang Fan’s Han Ji adds that Shu was erudite and principled, aligned in purpose with Li Gu and Li Ying, promoted Li Zhao from the ranks of minor clerks, and took Huang Shudu as a friend while the latter was still a child. Summoned on the “worthy and upright” recommendation, he used his examination answers to excoriate the Liang faction, was posted as chancellor to the Marquis of Langling, and died in that office. His eight sons were named Jian, Gun, Jing, Tao, Shen, Shuang, Su, and Fu. The character is read like the cited text (fu). Shuang, courtesy name Ciming, loved books from boyhood; by twelve he had mastered the Spring and Autumn and the Analects, then lost himself in the classics and ignored repeated calls to serve—for well over a decade. After Dong Zhuo seized the government, Shuang was summoned once more; he tried to slip away, but local officials seized him and would not let him go. An imperial order reached the commandery, and he was at once named chancellor of Pingyuan. He had got only as far as Yuanling when a follow-up appointment made him Superintendent of the Imperial Household. Three days after taking up his duties he received a formal writ naming him Minister of Works. Shuang had begun as a commoner; within ninety-five days he stood among the Three Dukes. Shu had lived in the Xihao ward; Magistrate Yuan Kang, invoking the eight worthy sons of the Gaoyang line in high antiquity, redesignated the neighborhood as Gaoyang Ward. Jing, courtesy name Shuci, was a man of comparable moral stature whose reputation nearly rivaled Shuang’s; he spent his whole life in seclusion. Huangfu Mi’s Biographies of Recluses records that someone once asked Xu Shao: “Between Jing and Shuang, which is the better man?” Xu Shao answered, “Both are flawless as jade—Ciming gleams on the surface, Shuci glows from within.”〉
3
退 西 滿
After Tao Qian’s death, Cao Cao meant to seize Xuzhou at once and deal with Lü Bu only on his return. Xun Yu replied: “Gaozu held fast to Guanzhong, Guangwu to Henei—each sank deep roots so he could command the empire: strong enough to strike when he advanced, secure enough to endure when he fell back. Setbacks did not keep either from finishing the great work. You began from Yanzhou, crushed the rebellion east of the Taihang, and won the people’s wholehearted allegiance. The Yellow River and the Ji corridor are the empire’s strategic heartland. Ravaged as they are, they still offer you a defensible base—your equivalent of Gaozu’s Guanzhong or Guangwu’s Henei—and you must secure them before anything else. Li Feng and Xue Lan are already broken. Send a column east against Chen Gong and he will not dare glance toward the west; in the breathing space that gives you, march the army in to reap the winter wheat, husband grain, and tighten supplies—then Lü Bu can be crushed in a single blow. Once Lü Bu is gone, you can swing south to win Yangzhou as an ally, join forces against Yuan Shu, and threaten the Huai and Si line. Turn your back on Lü Bu for the east, and you face a cruel choice: leave a large garrison and your field army is enfeebled; leave a small one and every town will bolt its gates, cutting off fuel and forage. Lü Bu will pour through the gap, terrorizing the countryside; public morale will collapse. You might hold Juancheng, Fan, and Wei, but everything beyond would slip from your grasp—you would in effect have lost Yanzhou. If Xuzhou eludes you, my lord, where will you withdraw when the campaign fails? Tao Qian is dead, but Xuzhou will not fall at a touch. Smarting from last year’s defeat, they will cling together in fear—intermarrying, backing one another like skin and bone. The east has already brought in its wheat; your enemies will fortify every wall and strip the countryside bare. You will find cities you cannot storm and fields that yield nothing. Inside ten days an army of a hundred thousand will be starving without having fought a battle. 〈Pei Songzhi observes that Xuzhou was still unconquered and Yanzhou in revolt when this was said; calling the army “a hundred thousand strong” may be rhetorical bravado, but it hardly describes a feeble force. This makes it even plainer that at Guandu one cannot honestly claim you had fewer than ten thousand men under arms.〉 The last time you marched on Xuzhou, terror was no empty threat— 〈The Cao Man Zhuan relates that after the capital convulsed under Dong Zhuo, refugees streamed east and clustered thickly about Pengcheng. When your army arrived, tens of thousands of men, women, and children were driven into the Si and slaughtered until the river ran thick as paste. Tao Qian drew up his forces at Wuyuan and blocked your advance. You then swung south of the Si, stormed Lü, Suiling, and Xiaqiu, and put every county to the sword; not a fowl or cur was left alive, and the wasted towns knew no passer-by.〉 Their sons still nurse the humiliation of fathers and brothers slain before their eyes; each will fight for his own wall and none will think of yielding. Even if you could break them, you could not hope to hold the land. Sometimes one must trade one front for another—swap a lesser prize for a greater, or exchange present danger for lasting security, or bend to the exigency of the hour even when the foundation feels thin. None of those three bargains serves you now, General; weigh them again with care.” With that, Cao Cao abandoned the idea. He reaped the wheat in earnest, renewed the war with Lü Bu, and detached columns to pacify the counties one by one. Lü Bu broke and ran; Yanzhou was his again.
4
使 西
Ever since Cao Cao brought the emperor to his side, Yuan Shao had nursed a private resentment. Once Yuan Shao had swallowed the country north of the Yellow River, the empire trembled at his power. Cao Cao was still fretting over Lü Bu to the east and holding Zhang Xiu at bay in the south when Zhang Xiu crushed his army at Wan. Yuan Shao grew bolder by the day; his letter to Cao Cao was insolent and contemptuous. Cao Cao flew into a rage; his whole demeanor changed. Everyone assumed it was the sting of his defeat by Zhang Xiu. Zhong Yao pressed Xun Yu for an explanation. Xun Yu said, “Our lord is too astute to brood over an old reverse; something else is eating at him.” He went straight to Cao Cao and asked. Cao Cao handed him Yuan Shao’s letter and said, “I mean to chastise this traitor, yet I cannot match him in force—what am I to do?” Xun Yu answered, “History shows that the right leader turns weakness into strength and the wrong one squanders even strength. The rise and fall of Liu Bang and Xiang Yu are lesson enough. The only rival left for the empire is Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao seems magnanimous yet envies every able subordinate; he hires talent and then suspects it. You are clear-sighted and easy in manner, placing each man where his gifts fit best—that is the first edge you hold. Yuan Shao is ponderous and hesitant, always a step behind events; you seize the great choices and adapt without a fixed script—that is your second advantage. Yuan Shao’s hosts are numerous but slackly led, with no clear code of discipline; yours are fewer, yet your laws are plain and every reward or punishment is honored, so men vie to die in your service—that is your third edge. Yuan Shao trades on pedigree, strikes a sage pose, and collects flatterers of little real talent. You treat men with genuine kindness, waste no words on hollow praise, live modestly yourself, yet pour out honors on those who earn them—so every honest man of substance wants to serve you. That is your fourth advantage. With those four strengths at your back, upholding the emperor and marching under the banner of justice, who would dare refuse you? What can Yuan Shao’s brute strength accomplish against that?” Cao Cao’s mood brightened. Xun Yu added, “Yet if you do not eliminate Lü Bu first, you will never find an opening in the north.” “True enough,” said Cao Cao. What troubles me is the chance that Yuan Shao will raid Guanzhong, stir the Qiang and northern tribes, and draw Shu and Han into alliance—leaving me to hold Yanzhou and Yuzhou against five-sixths of the empire. How does a commander fight on such terms?” Xun Yu replied, “The warlords of Guanzhong are legion and pull in every direction; only Han Sui and Ma Chao carry real weight. They see the plain east of the mountains still ablaze with war and will cling to their own troops for self-preservation. Treat them generously and send envoys to negotiate a pact; the arrangement may not endure forever, but it will hold until you have pacified the east. Entrust the west to Zhong Yao. Then you need not lose sleep over it.”
5
In the third year of the Jian’an era Cao Cao crushed Zhang Xiu, drove east to capture Lü Bu, secured Xuzhou, and drew up his lines against Yuan Shao. Kong Rong said to Xun Yu, “Yuan Shao commands vast lands and a mighty army; Tian Feng and Xu You are shrewd strategists at his ear; Shen Pei and Feng Ji are loyal ministers who run his administration; Yan Liang and Wen Chou are the bravest captains in his host. Can you possibly break such a power?” Xun Yu answered, “Yuan Shao’s army is large but ill-disciplined. Tian Feng is blunt to the point of insubordination; Xu You is corrupt and undisciplined. Shen Pei is arbitrary and shortsighted; Feng Ji is headstrong and self-willed. Leave them in charge of rear affairs and, should Xu You’s kin break the law, they will show no mercy—and Xu You will turn traitor the moment they do. Yan Liang and Wen Chou are common bravos—you can take them in a single engagement.”
6
退退 退
In the fifth year the two sides clashed again and again. Cao Cao stood fast at Guandu while Yuan Shao invested the camp. When grain ran out, Cao Cao wrote to Xun Yu proposing a feigned retreat to Xu to lure Yuan Shao forward. Xun Yu replied, “Short as our supplies are, we are not as desperate as Liu Bang and Xiang Yu were between Xingyang and Chenggao. Neither Liu Bang nor Xiang Yu would be first to break off, for whoever gave ground first lost the initiative. You hold him with a tenth of his numbers, lines drawn in the dust, your grip on his throat unbroken for half a year already. His options are exposed and his momentum spent; a break in the pattern is due. This is the moment for an unexpected stroke—do not throw it away.” Cao Cao held his position. He then sent a flying column against Yuan Shao’s supply depot, cut down Chunyu Qiong and the other defenders, and forced Yuan Shao into retreat. Shen Pei seized Xu You’s family on charges of corruption; Xu You, furious, defected from Yuan Shao; Yan Liang and Wen Chou died on the field; Tian Feng was executed for daring to remonstrate—every turn unfolded as Xun Yu had predicted.
7
西 使
In the sixth year Cao Cao went to forage at Anmin in Dongping. His stores were too thin to sustain a long duel with the north, so he considered exploiting Yuan Shao’s fresh defeat to strike Liu Biao in the interval. Xun Yu objected: “Yuan Shao is broken and his men are losing heart; press the advantage and finish him now; if you turn your back on Yanzhou and Yuzhou and march deep into the Yangzi and Han valleys, Yuan Shao may rally the ashes of his army and slip into your rear—then the whole enterprise is lost.” Cao Cao therefore kept his camps along the Yellow River. Yuan Shao died of illness. Cao Cao crossed the river to attack Yuan Shao’s sons, Tan and Shang, while Gao Gan and Guo Yuan ravaged Hedong and threw the northwest into alarm—until Zhong Yao led Ma Teng and others and broke their power. The account is given in Zhong Yao’s biography. In the eighth year Cao Cao tallied Xun Yu’s services past and present and memorialized the throne to enfeoff him as village marquis of Wansui. 〈The Separate Biography of Xun Yu preserves Cao Cao’s memorial: “I have been taught that foresight crowns success and strategy underpins reward—campaign laurels must not eclipse what is decided at court, nor repeated clashes outweigh service registered to the state. That is why the enfeoffment at Dianfu did not wait on Yingqiu, while the domain granted Xiao He preceded the grant at Pingyang. Honoring wise counsel is a value shared by every age. Your Palace Attendant and acting Supervisor of the Masters of Writing, Xun Yu, has piled virtue upon virtue and kept a blameless course from boyhood to manhood; in these troubled times he has clung to loyalty and longed for good government. Since I first raised my army and rode the circuit of war, Xun Yu and I have pulled together at every turn—he has steadied the royal strategy, and every counsel he gave has borne fruit. I owe the completion of my work to him: he has brushed aside the clouds and let sun and moon shine clear. After Your Majesty came to Xu, he stood at my elbow in the inner government—loyal, diligent, and careful as a man on thin ice, refining every judgment until the machinery of state ran smoothly. The peace of the empire is his doing. He should receive a high noble title so that his founding merit may be plain for all to see.” Xun Yu refused outright, pleading that he had won no laurels in the field, and blocked Cao Cao’s memorial from going forward. Cao Cao wrote to him: “From the day we joined forces to raise this court, you have set me straight, recommended talent, framed strategy, and whispered counsel in the dark—again and again. Not every title is earned with a spear; please do not refuse.” Only then did Xun Yu accept.〉 In the ninth year Cao Cao seized Ye and added the governorship of Ji to his portfolio. Someone urged him to revive the ancient scheme of the Nine Provinces so that Ji would swallow a huge block of territory and awe the empire into submission.” Cao Cao was on the verge of agreeing when Xun Yu said, “If you do that, Ji must absorb Hedong, Fengyi, Fufeng, Xihe, You, and Bing—you would strip away too much from too many. When you crushed Yuan Shang and took Shen Pei alive, the whole country flinched; every warlord began to wonder whether he could still hold his ground or keep his soldiers; and if you now fold those regions into Ji, every commander will take alarm. Besides, rumor already has the northwestern generals talking about sealing the passes; hearing this, they will assume you mean to pick them off one by one. The least disturbance could turn even loyal garrisons mutinous; Yuan Shang would win time to recover, Yuan Tan would grow duplicitous, and Liu Biao would lock himself behind the Yangzi and Han—then the map of empire grows far harder to read. Better to march at once and finish Hebei, restore Luoyang, then turn south toward Jing and call Liu Biao to account for unpaid tribute—the world will understand your purpose, and nerves will steady. Once the empire is truly quiet, you can debate antiquity; that is how altars and grain stay secure for generations.” Cao Cao dropped the Nine Provinces plan.
8
祿 便 使退 使
By then Xun You had become his principal strategist. Xun Yu’s elder brother Xun Yan, as army-supervising colonel, garrisoned Ye and directed affairs north of the Yellow River. During Cao Cao’s expedition against Yuan Shang, Gao Gan secretly dispatched a strike force against Ye; Xun Yan sniffed out the plot, wiped out the infiltrators, and earned a full marquisate. 〈The family record styles him Xiuruo and names him the third elder brother of Xun Yu. The fourth brother, Xun Chen, courtesy name Youruo, appears in Yuan Shao’s biography. When Chen Qun and Kong Rong compared the worthies of Runan and Yingchuan, Chen Qun declared, “Xun Yu, Xun You, Xun Yan, Xun Chen, and Xun Yue—there is simply no match for them now alive.” Xun Yan’s son Xun Shao rose to be Grand Coachman. Xun Shao’s son Xun Rong, courtesy name Boya, won fame alongside Wang Bi and Zhong Hui, served as magistrate of Luoyang and on the general-in-chief’s staff, and joined Wang and Zhong in explicating the Changes and Laozi—work that long outlived him. Xun Chen’s son Xun Hong, courtesy name Zhongmao, became a literary attendant on the crown prince’s staff. When the court wrangled over the “A and B” ranking lists, Xun Hong, Zhong Yao, Wang Lang, and Yuan Huan each took a different line. Emperor Wen wrote to Zhong Yao, “Yuan Huan and Wang Lang are peers who back each other like lip and teeth; Xun Hong is a tough blade who darts between crack troops—he is a worthy adversary for you, my lord, and a standing headache at your elbow.” He ended his career as a gentleman of the yellow gates. Xun Hong’s grandnephew Xun Yun, courtesy name Jingwen, served as junior mentor to the heir apparent and was likewise celebrated. With Jia Chong he fixed the standard pitches and produced a collected commentary on the Changes. “Zhongyu” was Xun Yue, youngest son of Xun Jian, the magistrate of Langling—Xun Yu’s first cousin once removed. Zhang Fan’s Han Ji describes Xun Yue as spare, contemplative, and reserved, with a gift for authorship. Early in Jian’an he became librarian and palace attendant; ordered to condense the Book of Han, he produced thirty chapters of Han Ji that judged character through narrative and hit the essentials; and the work found a wide readership.〉 Cao Cao married a daughter to Xun Yu’s eldest son, Xun Yun; she was later known as the Princess of Anyang. Xun Yu and Xun You stood high in favor yet lived modestly, channeling stipends and gifts to clan and old friends until neither house held spare coin. In the twelfth year another thousand households were added to Xun Yu’s fief, bringing the total to two thousand. 〈The Separate Biography of Xun Yu adds another memorial: “When Yuan Shao thrust toward the capital approaches and we met at Guandu, my army was starved of men and grain and I meant to pull back to Xu; I wrote to Xun Yu, and he would not let me. He laid out why I should hold my ground, widened the design for a counterstroke, roused my spirit, and cleared my muddled thinking—so the great traitor fell and his army was shattered. That was Xun Yu reading the hinge of fortune; counsel of that order is not met every generation. After Yuan Shao collapsed my own granaries were empty; I thought the north still untamed and meant to turn south against Liu Biao. Xun Yu stopped me again, weighing gain and loss; I reversed my march, swallowed that vicious clan, and brought four provinces to heel. Had I quit Guandu, Yuan Shao would have rolled forward to the drum—my position would have capsized, with no hope of triumph. Had I marched south instead, abandoning Yanzhou and Yuzhou, I would have grasped little profit and lost my footing altogether. Those two decisions of Xun Yu’s turned extinction into survival and disaster into fortune—plans and outcomes beyond my own reach. So the late emperor prized the general who sets the quarry’s path and slighted mere brawlers who seize the game; the ancients ranked tent-bound strategy above the glory of a quick storming. Past grants never matched his towering service; I ask that you reopen the reckoning and enlarge his fief.” Xun Yu refused again. Cao Cao wrote back, “Your counsel is not limited to the two episodes I cited. You keep demurring—are you trying to be another Lu Zhonglian? That is not a model the sage who understands the larger pattern would admire. Jie Zhitui once said, “To seize another man’s goods is still theft.” How much more when you plotted in secret to steady the army and lit my path a hundred times over! I repay two great debts and you still refuse—how much humility is enough?” When Cao Cao tried to nominate Xun Yu for the Three Dukes, Xun Yu had Xun You decline again and again—more than ten rounds—until Cao Cao gave up.〉
9
As Cao Cao prepared to move against Liu Biao, he asked Xun Yu for the opening gambit. Xun Yu said, “The heartland is quiet; the south already feels the pinch. Feint from Wan and Ye, then slip a light column along hidden tracks and catch them flat-footed.” Cao Cao marched as he proposed. Liu Biao died on the eve of battle; Cao Cao drove straight for Wan and Ye on Xun Yu’s design, and Liu Biao’s son Liu Cong surrendered the province.
10
Xun You, courtesy name Gongda, was Xun Yu’s nephew. His grandfather Xun Tan had been governor of Guangling. 〈The family record gives his courtesy name as Yuanzhi. The elder brother was Xun Yu the Elder, style Boxiu—not the minister who shares the name. Zhang Fan’s Han Ji describes Xun Yu the Elder and Xun Tan together as brilliant men of uncommon ability. That Xun Yu the Elder ranked among the Eight Handsome with Li Ying, Wang Chang, and Du Mi, and rose to be chancellor of Pei. Xun You’s father, Xun Yi, served on the provincial staff. Xun Yi and Xun Yu were cousins of the same clan generation, linked through a common great-grandfather.〉 Xun You lost his parents while still a boy. When Xun Tan died, a former clerk named Zhang Quan volunteered to watch the grave. At thirteen Xun You found that odd and told his uncle Xun Qu, “That man’s face is wrong—he is up to something!” Xun Qu woke to the point, interrogated Zhang Quan, and learned he was a fugitive killer. From that day the family knew he was extraordinary. 〈The Book of Wei adds that when Xun You was seven or eight, his uncle Xun Qu once, in his cups, gashed Xun You’s ear; yet whenever the boy went out to play he hid the wound so Xun Qu would not see it. When Xun Qu learned of it later, he marveled at such precocious tact. The family record names Xun Qu’s son Xun Qi, courtesy name Boqi, who stood as famous as his kinsman Xun Yin. Xun Qi argued corporal punishment with Kong Rong; Xun Yin debated the ranking of sages with him—both exchanges survive in Kong Rong’s corpus. Xun Qi became governor of Jiyin; Xun Yin was later summoned as a man “possessing the Way” and rose to libationer to the chancellor.〉
11
使 使 使 使
While He Jin dominated the court, he summoned over twenty luminaries of the empire, Xun You among them. On arrival Xun You was named gentleman of the yellow gates. When Dong Zhuo threw the capital into chaos, coalition armies rose east of Hangu, and Dong Zhuo shifted the court to Chang’an. Xun You joined Gentlemen of Discussion Zheng Tai and He Yong, Palace Attendant Chong Ji, colonel of the Grooms Wu Qiong, and others in a plot: “Dong Zhuo is a tyrant worse than Jie or Zhou; the world hates him; strong as his army looks, he is only one man. Strike him down now to answer the people, seize the Yao–Han passes, restore the emperor’s writ, and command the lords—that is work worthy of Duke Huan or Duke Wen.” The plot nearly succeeded before it leaked; He Yong and Xun You were thrown into prison; He Yong killed himself in terror, 〈Zhang Fan’s Han Ji identifies He Yong, courtesy name Boqiu, who as a youth studied in Luoyang with Guo Tai, Jia Biao, and others of like mind. He Yong’s name rang through the Imperial University, and great ministers at court—Chen Fan, Li Ying, and the rest—courted his friendship. When the partisan proscriptions struck, he was on the lists, changed his name, and fled to Runan, everywhere befriending its stalwarts. He Yong had marked Cao Cao early and knew Xun Yu; Yuan Shao admired him and became his confidant. While most scholars suffered under the proscriptions, He Yong slipped into Luoyang several times a year to scheme with Yuan Shao and shield the hunted from harm. Yuan Shu, swaggering champion in his own right, vied with Yuan Shao for renown. He Yong never paid Yuan Shu a visit, and Yuan Shu nursed a grudge for it. The Late Han roster of worthies records that Yuan Shu once, in company, listed three counts against He Yong: “Wang Demi recognized that venerable talent before anyone else—renown and integrity both high—yet Boqiu shunned him. That is the first fault. Xu You is vicious and lewd by reputation, hardly a man of clean habits, yet Boqiu befriended him. That is the second fault. Guo Tai and Jia Biao lived in threadbare poverty, yet Boqiu paraded fine horses and silken furs down the highway. That is the third fault.” Taoqiu Hong objected: “Wang Demi is a sage too lofty for rough-and-tumble politics; Xu You may be flawed, yet he wades into danger without flinching. When Boqiu praised virtue he put Wang Demi first; when he faced crisis he relied on Xu You. Besides, Boqiu once drew his own blade to avenge Yu Weigao—an act that made his honorable name ring out. That enemy clan sat on fortunes and strings of blooded steeds, yet they would have had He Yong limp along on broken-down draft animals—exposing his heart and handing his enemies the knife.” Yuan Shu remained unsatisfied. Later, beneath the palace gate, he ran into Zong Cheng of Nanyang and snarled, “He Yong is a wicked man—I should cut him down.” Zong Cheng replied, “He Yong is a brilliant man; treat him generously and you will spread his good name across the realm.” Yuan Shu dropped the threat. When the proscription lists were cleared, he received a summons to the Minister of Works. Whenever the three high offices met in council, He Yong’s plans outclassed the rest—every man there knew he fell short. He rose to colonel of the northern camp; Dong Zhuo named him chief clerk. Later Xun Yu, as Supervisor of the Masters of Writing, sent escorts for his uncle Xun Shuang’s hearse, had He Yong’s body laid beside it, and buried both men at the foot of Xun Shuang’s mound.〉 Xun You ate and spoke as calmly as if nothing were wrong; Dong Zhuo died before the sentence could fall, and he walked free. 〈The Book of Wei claims Xun You bought his life by talking Dong Zhuo round—a different story from the one given here.〉 He quit his post and went home, was summoned again to the chancellor’s bureau, graded top of the list for promotion to chancellor of Rencheng—and declined to take it up. Thinking Shu a rich, defensible prize, Xun You asked for the governorship of Shu commandery; the route was blocked, so he never got there and stayed instead in Jing province.
12
After Cao Cao brought the emperor to Xu and established his court there, he wrote to Xun You: “The empire is in chaos—this is the hour for men of mind to strain every nerve—yet you watch events from the Shu and Han region as if you had forever to wait!” He thereupon called Xun You to be governor of Runan, then brought him in as a Master of Writing. Cao Cao had long heard of Xun You; one conversation delighted him. He told Xun Yu and Zhong Yao, “Gongda is extraordinary—if I can scheme with him, what is left to fear in the world?” He named him army adviser. In Jian’an 3 he joined the expedition against Zhang Xiu. Xun You told Cao Cao, “Zhang Xiu and Liu Biao lean on each other, but Zhang Xiu’s mobile column lives off Liu Biao’s granaries, which cannot sustain them—they must fall out. Loosen the pressure and wait; you can lure them apart; press too hard and they will cling together for survival.” Cao Cao ignored the advice, marched on Rang, and offered battle. Zhang Xiu buckled; Liu Biao came to his aid as predicted. Cao Cao’s army took a beating. Cao Cao said to Xun You, “I ignored your counsel and landed here.” He then threw in a surprise column, renewed the fight, and routed the enemy.
13
退
That same year Cao Cao marched from Wan against Lü Bu, 〈The Book of Wei notes that some argued that with Liu Biao and Zhang Xiu at his back, a swing against Lü Bu courted disaster. Xun You held that Liu Biao and Zhang Xiu were too battered to stir. Lü Bu fights like a devil and still has Yuan Shu’s backing; give him room between the Huai and Si and every local chieftain will flock to him. Strike now, while his defection is fresh and his camp still divided, and you can break him. Cao Cao said, “Agreed.” By the time the army moved, Lü Bu had beaten Liu Bei and Zang Ba and others had joined him.〉 At Xiapi Lü Bu fell back into a tight defense; repeated assaults failed and the men flagged; Cao Cao thought of pulling out. Xun You and Guo Jia urged him: “Lü Bu is brave but witless; three defeats in a row have dulled his edge. An army is only as bold as its commander; when the commander flags, the troops lose heart. Chen Gong is clever but slow; hit them before Lü Bu’s nerve returns and Chen Gong’s plans set—then Xiapi falls.” They diverted the Yi and Si into the walls, the ramparts collapsed, and Lü Bu was taken alive.
14
西 𦳣 𦳣 使
Later, in the relief of Liu Yan at Baima, Xun You laid the trap that removed Yan Liang. The full account is in the martial annals. After lifting the siege at Baima, Cao Cao sent his supply wagons down the north bank toward the west. Yuan Shao crossed the river in pursuit and ran headlong into Cao Cao. The generals panicked and begged Cao Cao to fall back to camp; Xun You said, “This is exactly how we bag them—why retreat?” Cao Cao looked at Xun You and laughed. He used the wagons as bait; Yuan Shao’s men swarmed to seize them and their ranks dissolved. Then he unleashed horse and foot, shattered the pursuit force, and killed Wen Chou; after that Cao Cao and Yuan Shao settled into the stalemate at Guandu. When grain ran low, Xun You told Cao Cao, “Yuan Shao’s supply train is almost here; its escort commander, Han Meng, is aggressive and careless—hit him and you break the convoy.” 〈Pei Songzhi notes that the sources spell the commander’s name differently—Han Meng, Han Ruo, or the rare graph in the text—and it is unclear which is right.〉 Cao Cao asked, “Whom shall I send?” Xun You answered, “Xu Huang.” He sent Xu Huang and Shi Huan to intercept the column, drive it off, and put the supplies to the torch. Then Xu You defected with word that Chunyu Qiong was escorting the grain with over ten thousand men—officers cocky, men slack—ripe for an ambush. The staff hesitated. Only Xun You and Jia Xu urged Cao Cao to strike. Cao Cao left Xun You and Cao Hong to hold the main camp. He led the storming party himself, overran the depot, and executed Chunyu Qiong and his officers. Zhang He and Gao Lan fired the siege towers and came over; Yuan Shao abandoned his army and ran. When Zhang He arrived, Cao Hong hesitated; Xun You said, “His advice was spurned—he comes in anger. What is there to fear?” Cao Hong took them in.
15
使 使
In the seventh year he joined the campaign against Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang at Liyang. The next year, as Cao Cao readied a move on Liu Biao, the Yuan brothers tore Ji province apart. Yuan Tan sent Xin Pi to sue for peace and beg aid; Cao Cao was inclined to agree and polled his advisers. Most argued that Liu Biao was the stronger threat and should be crushed first; the Yuan brothers could wait. Xun You said, “The world is still aflame, yet Liu Biao sits between the Yangzi and Han without lifting a finger—he has no mind to look beyond his borders. The Yuans hold four provinces and a hundred thousand men-at-arms; their father won loyalty with leniency. Had the brothers kept the peace, their power would have plagued you for years. Now they hate each other; neither can survive intact. Let one swallow the other and his power concentrates—then he becomes far harder to break. Strike while they are at each other’s throats and the empire falls into place—do not miss the opening.” Cao Cao said, “Well said.” He granted Yuan Tan a marriage alliance, then wheeled about and shattered Yuan Shang. When Yuan Tan later rebelled, he joined the campaign that took his head at Nanpi. After Ji fell, Cao Cao memorialized rewards: “Army adviser Xun You has marched on every campaign since he joined me; every victory rests on his counsel.” Xun You was enfeoffed as village marquis of Lingshu. In the twelfth year Cao Cao issued a general order on rewards: “Loyal, upright, and discreet in counsel, the man who steadied court and camp was Xun Yu. Gongda comes next after him.” He added four hundred households to the old grant of seven hundred, for a total of eleven hundred, 〈The Book of Wei adds that on his return from Liucheng Cao Cao stopped at Xun You’s door, rehearsed his long service, and said, “The realm is nearly won; I mean to share the feast of labor with every worthy at my side. Gaozu once let Zhang Liang pick a domain of thirty thousand households; I would have you choose your own grant.”〉" He was promoted to central army adviser. When the kingdom of Wei was founded, he became Supervisor of the Masters of Writing.
16
使
Xun You was guarded and close-mouthed; on every campaign he framed strategy behind the curtain—neither contemporaries nor his own kin knew what he whispered to Cao Cao. 〈The Book of Wei records that his cousin’s son Xin Tao once pressed him for the story of the conquest of Ji. Xun You replied, “Xin Pi begged peace for Yuan Tan, and the royal army marched in to finish it—what is there for me to tell?” After that neither Xin Tao nor anyone else dared ask him about state secrets.〉 Cao Cao often said, “Gongda seems dull yet is brilliant, seems timid yet is bold, seems frail yet is iron; he trumpets no virtue and claims no fatigue. Another man might match his wit—no one could match his deliberate plainness—not Yan Hui nor Ning Wu could top him.” To the crown prince he said, “Xun Gongda is the pattern of a minister; honor him with every courtesy.” When Xun You fell ill, the heir apparent came alone to his bedside and bowed—the mark of exceptional respect. Zhong Yao, his close friend, said, “I chew over every plan until I am sure it cannot be bettered; then I put it to Gongda and he improves it beyond what I imagined.” Gongda devised twelve masterstrokes in all; only Zhong Yao knew the full list. Zhong Yao began to compile them but died before finishing, so posterity never heard the whole tale. 〈Pei Songzhi objects: Zhong Yao outlived Xun You by sixteen years—what stopped him from finishing the record? Yet he lived past eighty still claiming the book unfinished, and so Xun You’s field stratagems were lost to history—what a waste!〉 Xun You joined the expedition against Sun Quan and died en route. Whenever Cao Cao spoke of him afterward, tears came. 〈The Book of Wei dates his death to Jian-an 19, at the age of fifty-eight.) By that reckoning he was six years Xun Yu’s senior. The Book of Wei preserves Cao Cao’s edict: “Gongda and I have ridden the circuit of war together for more than twenty years, and I have never found a flaw in him.” It adds, “Gongda is the genuine article—the kind of man the classics mean when they praise modest virtue. Confucius said Yan Ying won respect the longer men knew him; Gongda was cut from the same cloth.” Fu Xuan records that when someone asked who ranked among the great men of the age, the answer ran: “Xun Yu’s humanity and Xun You’s brilliance—that pair defines the standard. Xun Yu built character on kindness, raised talent with clear judgment, kept his hands clean of sycophancy, and read every crisis aright. Mencius promised a world-shaping sage between each true king—surely he meant men like Xun Yu. The Grand Progenitor praised “Lord Xun the Supervisor’s advancing the good—if it does not advance he does not rest; the army adviser Xun’s removing evil—if it is not gone he does not stop.”〉"
17
His eldest son, Xun Ji, showed his father’s quality but died young. The second son, Xun Shi, inherited the title but left no heir, so the house lapsed. Under Huangchu, Cao Pi enfeoffed Xun You’s grandson Xun Biao at Lingshu, three hundred households, later moving the grant to Qiuyang. In Zhengshi he received the posthumous title Marquis Jing.
18
西 西 使 祿 使 祿
When Dong Zhuo seized Luoyang, Jia Xu held a clerkship under the grand commandant, became colonel of Pingjin, then rose to colonel for barbarian suppression. Dong Zhuo’s son-in-law Niu Fu, a general of the household, garrisoned Shan; Jia Xu served on his staff. After Dong Zhuo fell and Niu Fu died as well, the western troops panicked; Li Jue, Guo Si, Zhang Ji, and the other colonels talked of breaking up and slipping home. Jia Xu warned them, “Word from Chang’an is that they mean to slaughter every man from the northwest; if you shed your armies and travel light, a single post captain could arrest you. Better march west in strength, sweep up recruits along the way, and storm Chang’an in Dong Zhuo’s name. If you win, you can still pretend to serve the throne; if you lose, you can run later.” They agreed. Li Jue then drove west on the capital. The story is told in Dong Zhuo’s biography. 〈Pei Songzhi considers: the tradition says “The words of a humane man—how far their benefit reaches!”) Inhumane words must work the opposite harm. Good is slow to show, evil spreads fast—a single spark can curse generations. The arch-traitor was dead and order might have dawned; instead the ladder of violence was rebuilt, the realm choked anew, states ruined, commoners suffering worse than the Zhou survivors—all from one sentence of Jia Xu’s? How vast his guilt. Never has a few words done comparable harm.〉 Later, as administrator of western Fengyi, he refused a marquisate from Li Jue’s clique: “That was a stratagem to stay alive—no merit there.” He declined outright. They tried to name him vice-director of the secretariat; he replied, “That post is the senior model for officials—the whole court watches it. My name carries too little weight to command respect. Even if I care nothing for rank, what of the damage to the state?” They made him a plain Master of Writing in charge of appointments instead; he steadied policy while Li Jue both courted and feared him. 〈The Xian annals note that Guo Si, Fan Chou, and Li Jue quarreled repeatedly and nearly came to blows.) Jia Xu rebuked them on principle until they grudgingly listened. The Book of Wei adds that his appointments favored old-line families, which drew criticism.〉 He resigned for his mother’s mourning, then returned as grand master of splendid horses. When Li Jue and Guo Si tore Chang’an apart, 〈The annals say Li Jue wanted Jia Xu’s backing to park the emperor inside his camp.) Xu said: “It cannot be. Holding the emperor hostage is unjust.” Li Jue ignored him. Zhang Xiu urged him, “We cannot stay here—why not leave?” Jia Xu answered, “The court favored me once; duty forbids me to bolt. Go if you must; I will not.”〉" Li Jue then named him General Who Clarifies Righteousness. 〈The annals relate that Li Jue hired thousands of Qiang and Hu with silks from the palace stores and promises of imperial women if they would strike Guo Si.) The tribesmen kept peering at the palace gate, shouting, “Is the emperor really in there? Li Jue promised us palace girls—where are they?” The emperor, frantic, told Jia Xu to defuse the mob. Jia Xu secretly feasted their chiefs, promised titles and treasure, and sent them home. Li Jue’s power collapsed with them.〉 When the warlords patched a truce, freed the emperor, and shielded his ministers, Jia Xu had a hand in it. 〈The annals add that after the court fled east, Li Jue chased them and broke the escort.) Li Jue marked Zhao Wen, Wang Wei, Zhou Zhong, and Rong Shao for death. Jia Xu told him, “These are the emperor’s ministers—murder them and you seal your infamy.” Li Jue relented.〉 Once the emperor was free, Jia Xu handed back his seals. General Duan Wei was camped at Huayin, 〈The Dianlue says Duan Wei ran orderly farms at Huayin and forbade looting.) When the court moved east, Duan Wei met the column with supplies for the desperate. The Xian annals record that he later became grand herald and died a natural death in Jian-an 14.〉 He was a countryman of Jia Xu’s, so Jia Xu quit Li Jue and placed himself under Duan Wei. Jia Xu’s fame made Duan Wei’s troops admire him. Duan Wei envied his talent yet showered him with courtesy—so Jia Xu grew more uneasy, not less.
19
退 退 退 退 退 使 使
Zhang Xiu held Nanyang; Jia Xu courted him in secret until Zhang sent escorts to fetch him. Friends asked, “Duan Wei has been generous—how can you just walk away?” Jia Xu answered, “Duan Wei is suspicious by nature. His kindness is a mask; wait long enough and he will move against me. My leaving pleases him, and he will hope I win a powerful patron abroad—so he will pamper my family to show good faith. Zhang Xiu lacks a strategist and wants me; both I and my kin stay safer there.” He went; Zhang Xiu honored him like a teacher, and Duan Wei, as predicted, cared for his family. Jia Xu brokered an alliance between Zhang Xiu and Liu Biao. 〈Fu Xuan notes that Jia Xu called on Liu Biao, who received him as an honored guest.) Jia Xu judged him “a peacetime minister of the highest rank, but he misses the turning of events, dithers in doubt, and will never seize the day.”〉" Cao Cao had raided him repeatedly; one dawn Cao pulled out, and Zhang Xiu gave chase in person. Jia Xu said, “Do not pursue—you will lose.” Zhang Xiu ignored him, attacked, and was routed. Then Jia Xu said, “Strike again at once—you will win.” Zhang Xiu said, “I ignored you and paid for it. We are beaten—how can we chase now?” “The battlefield has shifted; hurry and you profit.” Zhang Xiu trusted him, rallied broken units, struck again, and won. Zhang Xiu asked, “I chased your retreat with elite troops and you foretold defeat; then I hit your victors with my broken men and you promised victory. Both prophecies came true—how?” “Simple logic. You are a fine commander, but no match for Cao Cao. His army had just pulled back, yet he would guard the rear himself; so your pursuers, though elite, faced him in person and lost. Cao Cao had not blundered against you; a retreat with strength left means trouble behind his own lines; having beaten you once he would rush ahead lightly, leaving subordinates to cover his rear—brave men, but not your equal—so even your shattered column could beat them.” Zhang Xiu conceded the point. Later, at Guandu, Yuan Shao wooed Zhang Xiu and wrote Jia Xu offering alliance. Zhang Xiu was ready to agree when Jia Xu told Yuan’s envoy in open court, “Tell Yuan Shao his own brothers cannot share a roof—how will he make room for us?” Zhang Xiu gasped, “You go that far?” he whispered, “Then where do we turn?” “To Cao Cao.” “Yuan Shao is strong, Cao Cao weak, and I have blood on his hands—how can we serve him?” Jia Xu replied, “That is precisely why Cao Cao is the right choice. First, he holds the emperor’s mandate—he speaks with heaven’s authority. Second, Yuan Shao is already mighty; a small contingent from us would be lost in his shadow. Third, Cao Cao is still building his strength—he will welcome us with open arms. A man bent on empire must bury old scores to show the world his magnanimity—Cao Cao is such a man. Have no doubt, General.” Zhang Xiu took the counsel, brought his army in, and surrendered to Cao Cao. Cao Cao received him with joy, seized Jia Xu’s hand, and said, “You are the man who won the world’s trust for me.” He named Jia Xu Bearer of the Mace, enfeoffed him as a metropolitan village marquis, and on paper made him governor of Ji. Ji was still unconquered, so Jia Xu stayed on as military adviser to the minister of works. At Guandu, with grain almost gone, Cao Cao asked Jia Xu for a way out. Jia Xu said, “You outclass Yuan Shao in judgment, courage, use of talent, and speed of decision—yet the stalemate drags on because you insist on risk-free moves. Commit to a decisive stroke and it ends in an instant.” “Good,” said Cao Cao.” He massed his forces, fell on Yuan Shao’s thirty-li line of camps, and shattered it. Yuan Shao’s host melted away and the north was his.
20
使 姿
When Cao Cao took the governorship of Ji himself, he moved Jia Xu to grand palace counselor. In Jian-an 13, after conquering Jing, Cao Cao meant to sweep down the Yangzi. Jia Xu urged restraint: “My lord, you have crushed the Yuans and taken the lands south of the Han—your fame and your army are already immense; use Chu’s wealth to feed your troops, calm the people, and let them settle to their plows—then the south can yield without another hard campaign.” Cao Cao refused; the southern expedition came to grief. 〈Pei Songzhi argues that Jia Xu’s advice did not suit the actual situation.) Han Sui and Ma Chao still glared from the northwest; Cao Cao could hardly rule the southeast from a distant capital—that much was plain. Jing was ground Sun Quan and Liu Bei would fight for to the last. The locals admired Liu Bei and feared Sun Quan; they would not bow easily to any general Cao Cao left behind. Cao Ren lost Jiangling almost at once—there was no window for “soothing” or “submission.” They had just taken the middle Yangzi, terrified the southeast, seized Liu Biao’s fleet and Jing’s boatmen—this was the moment to strike east, not to pause. If not then, when? The Red Cliff disaster owed much to fate. Sickness ravaged the army and dulled its edge; a southerly wind completed the fire attack. Heaven intervened as much as human error. So Cao Cao’s eastward march was not a simple blunder. On this point Pei Songzhi finds Jia Xu wrong. The same kind of misjudgment appears later: after Zhang Lu fell, Shu convulsed daily; Liu Bei could not stop the panic even with executions, because Cao Cao ignored Liu Ye’s counsel and missed the chance to roll up Shu in one sweep—once the measure slips, regret is useless. Since posterity praises Liu Ye, it condemns Jia Xu all the more sharply.〉 Later, south of the Wei, Cao Cao faced Han Sui and Ma Chao, who demanded land and royal hostages for peace. Jia Xu advised him to pretend to agree. Asked how, Jia Xu said, “Drive a wedge between them.” “Understood,” said Cao Cao.” He followed the ruse to the letter. The campaign is narrated in the martial annals. Han Sui and Ma Chao were broken—Jia Xu had framed the core strategy.
21
使 退
While Cao Pi headed the five offices, Cao Zhi’s literary fame peaked; each brother had a faction and the succession hung in the balance. Cao Pi sent to ask how to secure his position; Jia Xu answered, “Grow in moral stature, live like a humble scholar, work tirelessly, and never stray from a son’s duty. Nothing more than that.” Cao Pi took the lesson to heart and honed himself. Cao Cao once dismissed his attendants and pressed Jia Xu, who sat mute. Cao Cao demanded, “I ask you a question and you say nothing—why?” “I was thinking of something else and could not answer at once.” “Of what?” “Of Yuan Shao and Liu Biao—and how they ruined their heirs.” Cao Cao laughed, and the crown prince was decided. Knowing he was no long-serving insider yet wielded dangerous influence, Jia Xu lived behind closed doors, avoided private ties, and refused grand marriage alliances—while every strategist in the land still sought his ear.
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The text now turns to the historian’s closing appraisal.
23
Chen Shou writes: Xun Yu combined clarity, grace, and breadth of mind—the bearing of a kingmaker—yet his foresight could not quite match his ideals. 〈Critics charge that Xun Yu helped Wei and thus toppled the Han; they say the usurpation was his doing. His late opposition could not reverse the tide; his service crossed righteousness and his judgment must share the blame. Chen Shou here echoes conventional opinion. Pei Songzhi replies: that verdict sells Xun Yu short. Did Xun Yu not see Cao Cao for what he was—not a loyal servant of a dying dynasty? The royal house was failing, warlords circled like tigers, and every heart turned elsewhere; without someone strong enough to restore order in the name of legitimacy, the Han would have vanished overnight and the common people with it. Who but such a man could steady the age and right the course? He fought the crisis as a man fights for his life, carried the state through danger into stability, gave the people passage through the flood, and bought the Liu house two extra decades—was that not his deepest purpose, the breadth of his humanity? When Wei’s supremacy could no longer be denied, he chose death to keep his honor, showing where he truly stood—duty carried to the end, faithfulness offered to posterity. To call him “unfinished” is almost slander.〉 Xun You and Jia Xu scarcely missed a trick in counsel; in weighing shifting odds they rank near Zhang Liang and Chen Ping. 〈Pei Songzhi notes that grouped chapters pair like with like.) Zhang Liang belongs among the immortals of statecraft—he is not really Chen Ping’s peer. Still, Han’s strategists were Zhang Liang and Chen Ping. Earlier histories paired them because no lesser name fit the chapter. Wei has many men closer to Jia Xu’s mold than the two Xuns; he belongs with Cheng Yu and Guo Jia, not in a chapter with Xun Yu and Xun You— the pairing breaks the pattern. As for Xun You and Jia Xu themselves, one is pearl-light, the other a rush torch. Both give light, but not of the same substance. To praise Xun and Jia with the same phrase blurs a crucial difference.〉
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