When Guo Jia was not famous in Cao Cao, he could take the initiative to vote, and his vision was not ordinary
Guo Jia's authority around Cao Cao was actually not high, just a military master sacrificing wine, to put it bluntly, it was a military staff officer, only the right to suggest, not the right to command, and because of his youth, there were defects in his character, and he did not have much prestige, on the contrary, he was also impeached many times by others, if it were not for Cao Cao's protection, his life would definitely not be good.
Although Guo Jia has no power, as a celebrity, mastering administrative power is not the highest pursuit, and Guo Jia's personality also determines that he cannot command thousands of troops. Therefore, to be a strategist who plans the overall situation can show his talents.
After Guo Jia joined Cao Cao's camp, he made a contribution to boosting the morale of Cao Cao's camp. In view of the fact that Yuan Shaomen was high, could attract more scholars, and was superior in strength, Guo Jia believed that Yuan Shao and Cao Cao had ten major deficiencies compared to Cao Cao, and were far from Cao Cao's opponents.
Because Guo Jia had done it under Yuan Shao's hands, both Cao Cao and his men were very convinced of his words. With Guo Jia's analysis, Cao Cao and his subordinates believed that the immediate disadvantage was temporary, and as long as they seized the opportunity, it was possible to defeat Yuan Shao. Therefore, guo Jia's prophecy made Cao Cao firm in his determination to fight Yuan Shao to the end.
Guo Jia, as one of the famous scholars of Yingchuan in the northern county, abandoned Yuan Shao and defected to Cao Cao, which in itself had a sensational effect, and he could judge that Cao Cao was more promising than Yuan Shao, which was beyond others. It should be known that before Guo Jia, although there were also some scholars who threw themselves into Cao Cao's hands, their role was only to help Cao Cao fight the turf, far from achieving the purpose of making a name for Cao Cao. At that time, Guo Jia's proposal that Yuan Shao was inferior undoubtedly played a role in publicizing Cao Cao, so that the heroes who were not high at that time could take the initiative to defect to Cao Cao's men, resulting in Cao Cao's strength greatly improved, and he had the capital to confront Yuan Shao.
How high is Guo Jia's ability? Is it an exaggeration or a true name?
As a military staff officer at Cao Cao's side, Guo Jia's main contribution was to help Cao Cao adopt the correct tactical strategy in times of difficulty and help Cao Cao make his final military determination. Judging from historical records, Guo Jia, a staff officer, was not only very qualified, but also played a great role at a critical moment.
But how capable is Guo Jia? This can be seen from his judgment of Liu Biao and Sun Ce. Guo Jia advised Cao Cao not to take Liu Biao to heart, saying that even if Liu Bei was by his side, Liu Biao would not do anything, because Liu Biao had no ambition and would not take the initiative to provoke Cao Cao. After listening to Guo Jia's words, Cao Cao put down Liu Biao and concentrated on dealing with Yuan Shao.
Although Guo Jia made Cao Cao adopt the correct strategy, Liu Biao's reputation as a negotiator was known to everyone at the time, and guo Jia was not the only one who thought that Liu Biao would not take any action, that is, Cao Cao also knew that Liu Biao was not his opponent, and even if he went to fight, it would be a quick battle. The reason why Cao Cao did not trust Liu Biao was not that he was inferior to Guo Jia in terms of judgment, but that as a commander, he had to consider it thoroughly. Therefore, the prophecy on Liu Biao's body is correct, and it does not mean that Guo Jia is stronger than others.
But for Sun Ce's judgment, only Guo Jia was right. But his reasons were far-fetched and not fully convincing, because in the process of capturing Jiangdong, Sun Ce killed indiscriminately, but it was inevitable, Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Yuan Shao all did this, so why did Sun Ce have to die at the hands of villains, and Cao Cao and others would not? Therefore, Guo Jia's prediction of Sun Ce's end was actually an adventure, but fortunately, his adventure was successful, which also allowed Guo Jia's fame to spread and become the premier strategist at that time.
Guo Jia's ability lies in intelligence gathering and judgment
So, what was Guo Jia's level among a group of strategists in the Three Kingdoms? Specific analysis, Guo Jia was a native of Yingchuan and had a thorough understanding of the situation in the north, and his ability was mainly reflected in the confrontation between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, and later in the battles of pacifying Jizhou and defeating Wuhuan.
Analyzing these battles, it can be found that the battlefields in this period are mainly concentrated in the Yingchuan area, because Guo Jia is a Yingchuan native, knows Yingchuan very well, plus before defecting to Cao Cao, he served as an official under Yuan Shao for a while, knowing the personality and ability of Yuan Shao's advisers, and more importantly, Guo Jia must have established his own intelligence network at this time. Therefore, when Cao Cao fought against Yuan Shao, Guo Jia was able to fully mobilize his intelligence resources and collect the necessary intelligence to make judgments and help Cao Cao make up his mind.
In the process of conquering Jizhou with Cao Cao, Guo Jia can be said to have no exhaustive strategy, especially to persuade Cao Cao not to persecute Yuan Shao's sons too quickly, but to temporarily collect troops, so that the Yuan brothers have the illusion that the danger has passed, and they began to kill each other for the position of heir. In the end, the strength of both sides was damaged and they were completely defeated by Cao Cao.
The reason why Guo Jia was able to help Cao Cao make the right decisions was that he knew very well the personality of the Yuan brothers and their advisers, and the so-called knowing oneself and knowing the other was the truth.
Guo Jia's last battle was to conquer Wuhuan, which was north of the Yingchuan River and had long been a threat to the Yingchuan River. Therefore, as a Yingchuan person, Guo Jia must have paid attention to Wuhuan, knew the strengths and strengths of Wuhuan's army, and also knew the production and living conditions of the Wuhuan tribe, and also knew more about Wuhuan Shan Yu.
It was precisely because Guo Jia knew the situation of Wuhuan that when Cao Cao was difficult to make up his mind to expedition to Wuhuan, Guo Jia advised Cao Cao not to give up, and also suggested that he lead a surprise attack with elite troops, so that he could take advantage of the enemy's lack of preparation and win victory in one fell swoop. Cao Cao took this advice and was successful.
Therefore, considering Guo Jia's level, in Cao Cao's camp, he can be regarded as a top military staff officer.