Speaking of the strategists of the Cao Wei clique, most people's first reactions were Sima Zhongda, who was on par with Zhuge Liang; Jia Xu, a poisoner who was "wenhe chaotic martial"; Guo Jia, who died young but had always been remembered by Cao Cao; and Xun Yu, the first strategist under Cao Cao, who was bent on supporting the Han Dynasty, but few people noticed Xun You, whose status was second only to Xun Yu. Although Xun You's fame was not great, Cao Cao's evaluation of him was very high: "Gongda is foolish and wise, externally cowardly and internally courageous, externally weak and internally strong, not good, without labor, wisdom is reachable, foolishness is unattainable, although Yanzi and Ningwu cannot pass." Why?
Although Xun You was Xun Yu's nephew, he was older and became famous earlier, and when He Jin, who died at the hands of the Ten Constant Attendants, was still in charge of the imperial government, he was already famous for his talent and was recruited as an official by the imperial court, so he experienced Dong Zhuo's rebellion, and even conspired with others to assassinate Dong Zhuo, but he was defeated and arrested. In this incident, He Hao, who was also a famous soldier in Hainei, committed suicide, but he ate and ate freely in prison, and waited until Dong Zhuo's party was destroyed, and successfully got out of prison and saved his useful body.
The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and the Biography of Xun You records that You conspired with Zheng Tai, He Yuan, Fu Zhongzhong Ji, and Wu Qiong, a lieutenant of the Yue Riding School, to say: "Dong Zhuo has no way, even more than Jie, and the whole world complains about it, although he is a strong soldier, he is really a horse." Jin Zhi assassinated the people of Xie, and then according to Kun and Han, assisted the king's orders, and ordered a set of orders, and this Huan Wen's move was also. "When things are done, they will be imprisoned, and they will be afraid of suicide, and they will be spared death."
After this, in order to escape the chaos in Chang'an, Xun You asked himself to stay away from the Central Plains, went to Shu County, learned that Yizhou was occupied, stayed in Jingzhou, and finally accepted Cao Cao's offer, becoming a member of Cao Cao's camp, every time Cao Cao went out on a campaign, he went with the army as a legitimate military division, but the fame was far greater than his Guo Jia, but it was only a military master sacrifice, which was Cao Cao's private official position, which originally did not belong to the regular establishment, through this matter, it can be seen that in Cao Cao's mind, Xun You's status was higher than Guo Jia's.
Of course, Xun You was not in vain, when fighting Lü Bu, the two sides could not stand each other, the soldiers had no fighting spirit, Cao Cao wanted to retreat, he proposed that "Lü Bu is brave and has no strategy, and now the three wars are north, and his sharpness is weakened." The three armies are dominated by generals, and if the main army declines, the army has no intention. Fu Chen Palace has wisdom and late, now and bu qi but not summer, the palace plot is undecided, attack urgently, Bu Ke pull also. Cao Cao listened to his advice and sure enough, he captured Lü Bu. When he was besieged by Baima, he suggested that Cao Cao invite Guan Yu to fight and kill Yan Liang among the ten thousand troops, and then use the trick to kill Wen Ugly, causing Yuan Shao to lose two generals for a while.
At that time, Cao Cao was worried about the grain and grass, but Xun You did not think so, he felt that it was better to let his opponent panic, so he proposed to rob Yuan Shao's grain and grass. Later, it was he who tried to defy the public opinion, so that Cao Hong accepted Zhang Gao's surrender, so that the fifth son Liang would add another member. Yuan Shao died, his sons fought each other, and it was Xun You who seized on Liu Biao's weakness that he would not take the initiative to attack, and suggested that Cao Cao abandon Liu Biao for the time being, eliminate the Yuan clan in one fell swoop, and unify Jiangbei. In this regard, Cao Cao did not skimp on his praise, praising him greatly, saying that "before and after defeating the enemy, all are related to the plot." ”
Since Cao Cao had such a high opinion of him, why was his fame so far inferior to others? This has a certain relationship with his origin and personality, although he and Xun Yu are also from a large family, but he was born in a lonely and cold background, and his personality is low-key and cautious, and his tone is also very strict, so his life's deeds are rarely mentioned to others, after his death, the old friend Zhong Xuan, who intended to make a name for him, died later, and no posterity publicized it for him, so his merits were attributed to the dust man.
Xun You's contribution to Cao Cao was greater than Guo Jia's, and it was precisely because of his low profile that he was praised by Cao Cao as "wise and foolish".
All the historical materials in this article are from the book "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", and the author guarantees the authenticity of the historical materials, and there is no innuendo or politics involved.