Jia Xu (贾宷), also spelled Wenhe, was the most famous strategist of the Three Kingdoms period, and was also the "wisest man of the Three Kingdoms" in Yi Zhongtian's mouth. In his lifetime, Jia Xu has been full of strange plots, and it can be said that he has no exhaustive strategy. And every time he gave a clever plan, he could make his lord banner triumphant. However, at the last moment of his life, he gave Cao Pi an unbelievable "bad idea".
Jia Xu was a native of Liangzhou and was originally subordinate to Dong Zhuo. After Dong Zhuo's death, Wang Yun threatened to kill all the Liangzhou people, and when Jia Xu heard about this, he stopped his colleagues who had fled to Liangzhou, Li Yu and Guo Feng, and threw them back to Chang'an, resulting in a tragic "Li Dai Guo Rebellion".
Later, Jia Xu saw the violent incompetence of Li Dai and Guo Feng, so he once again used a ruse to rescue the kidnapped Tianzi Emperor Xian. After that, Jia Xu went to Wancheng again and surrendered to his compatriot Zhang Xiu.
At Zhang Xiu's office, Jia Xu helped the duke defeat Cao Cao twice, killing Cao Cao's son Cao Ang and the ai general Dianwei. However, during the Battle of Guandu, Jia Xu unexpectedly gave Zhang Xiu the idea to surrender to Cao Cao. The final result was exactly as Jia Xu expected, and Cao Cao did not consider Zhang Xiu's hatred for killing his son, but entrusted Zhang Xiu and Jia Xu with heavy responsibilities.
After joining Cao Cao, Jia Xu helped Cao Jun to go to Kansai and provoked the relationship between Ma Chao and Han Sui with divisive tactics. After that, Jia Xu accompanied Xiahou Yuan to "Tiger Step Guanzhong" and completely eliminated the local warlords and Qianghu forces.
It can be said that in dealing with other warlords, Jia Xu was active in providing advice and helped the lord defeat his opponents. However, on the issue of dealing with the forces of the State of Wu and the State of Shu, Jia Xu was unusual and acted very negatively.
For example, Cao Cao pacified Jingzhou and prepared to pacify Jiangdong with a single blow. In this regard, Cao Cao asked Jia Xu's opinion. But Jia Xu said:
"The Ming Dynasty broke the Yuan clan in the past, and now he has received Hannan, his prestige is far away, and his military power is extremely large. If we take advantage of the old Chu's forgiveness, feed the officials, soothe the people, and make the land happy, then we can serve the people without labor. ”
The simple translation is that Cao Cao has already pacified the land of Jingxiang and should use this opportunity to appease the people and let them live and work in peace and contentment. And in doing so, Jiangdong will submit to himself without a fight. However, the triumphant Cao Cao did not heed the advice and eventually lost to Zhou Yu at Chibi. Not only did it not pacify Jiangdong, but it made Jingzhou divided between the Sun and Liu families.
After the Battle of Chibi, Cao Cao lamented: "If Guo Jia does not die, he will not be lonely to this point." Implicitly, Cao Cao was actually expressing his dissatisfaction with the negative attitude of Jia Xu, the mastermind. In terms of wisdom, Jia Xuming is no less than Guo Jia, why does he not say a word.
After Cao Cao's death, Cao Pi succeeded to the throne. In terms of Cao Pi's succession to the throne, Jia Xu can be described as a great hero. It was his words "Si Yuan Benchu, Liu Jingsheng father and son also" that made Cao Cao make up his mind to let Cao Pi inherit his position. In order to repay Jia Xu, Cao Pi promoted him to the rank of Third Duke, and this appointment even made Sun Quan laugh.
Before Jia Xu died, Cao Pi asked him about his plan to break Wu Shu. At that time, the relationship between Wu and Shu had broken down, and Sun Quan had ostensibly declared himself a vassal to Cao Wei. Therefore, in Cao Pi's view, now is the best time to break the two countries. However, Cao Pi was not sure whether to destroy the Shu state first or the Wu state first.
In this regard, Jia Xu said:
"The attacker has the right to fight first, and the builder is Shangde." His Majesty should be zen at the right time, and if he is willing to take care of the land, if he is wise and changed, it will not be difficult to be peaceful. Although Wu and Shu were small countries, relying on the obstruction of mountains and rivers, Liu Bei had great talents, Zhuge Liang was good at governing the country, Sun Quan was aware of the virtual reality, Lu Yi saw the military situation, according to the dangers and defended the key points, and the rivers and lakes were difficult to plan. In the way of using soldiers, we will win first and then fight, and we will judge the enemy and judge the generals, so we will do everything in our power. The courtiers stole the materials and the courtiers, unprepared, and the power was right, although they came with heavenly power, they did not see the momentum of perfection. Xi Shun danced dry and had Miao obedience, and the subjects thought that it was appropriate to write first and then use martial arts today."
To summarize his meaning simply, although the State of Wu and the State of Shu were small states, they were easy to defend and difficult to attack by virtue of natural dangers. Liu Liu of the Shu State had great talent, Zhuge Liang was good at ruling the country, while Sun Quan knew the way of virtual reality, and Lu Xun knew the military situation. Therefore, the two countries are not so easy to deal with. And the generals who can beat Liu Bei and Sun Quan have not yet been. Therefore, Jia Xu suggested that we should cultivate literature, develop the economy, and cultivate talents.
But in Cao Pi's view, Jia Xu's plan was completely stupid. Now that Wu Shu is fighting, it is simply a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to unify the world, and how can it be let go. Therefore, he did not listen to Jia Xu's persuasion, and after the victory of the State of Wu at the Battle of Yiling, he raised hundreds of thousands of troops to personally conquer the State of Wu. However, for the attack of the State of Wei, the State of Wu had long been on guard. Sun Quan immediately transferred Yiling's forces and deployed them on the river, causing Cao Pi to return without success.
And this failure also made Sun Quan, who was once "obedient", openly go to the opposite side of Cao Wei. Under the strong pressure of Cao Wei, Shu Han put aside the hatred of the Battle of Yiling and chose to renew his alliance with Eastern Wu.
So where is Jia Xu's "stupid method"? First of all, the reason why Eastern Wu dared to go to war with the Shu state was largely because Cao Pi made Sun Quan the King of Wu of Great Wei, and the two countries established a de facto alliance. Without the pressure of Cao Wei, Eastern Wu dared to confidently and boldly engage the Shu state.
When Wu Shu fought, Cao Wei's best way was to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, Yan Wu Xiuwen, and when Wu Shu fought uncontrollably, irreconcilably, and both sides were defeated, they would destroy it in one fell swoop. After all, seven-tenths of the world's land is in the hands of Cao Wei, whether it is economy, population or talent, it is far superior to the two countries. As long as he could calm down and restore the economy, Wu Shu could not face the enemy at all.
However, Cao Pi was in a hurry to make a quick profit, and after the Battle of Yiling, he raided Eastern Wu and finally fought the grass and snake. And it was precisely in this way that the Kingdom of Wu and the State of Shu re-established an alliance. The Wushu alliance was surrounded by mountains and rivers, and under the command of Zhuge Liang and Sun Quan, its defense was even more unbreakable. Therefore, Jia Xu's method looked stupid and negative, but in fact it was very clever, and he could even defeat Wu Shu without bloodshed. Cao Pi's method is to want to be fast but not to reach.