EBE Chapter 1: The strategist who plays the idle fish is actually Cao Cao's chief confidant!
Chapter 1: The strategist who plays the idle fish is actually Cao Cao's chief confidant!
The cold winter swept across the northern lands, while the sounds of clashing swords and galloping horses echoed down the banks of the Yellow River.
Near the jujube
Allied Forces Camp
Cao Cao's camp
Looking at the sleepy-eyed boy yawning before him, Cao Cao smiled, rubbing his forehead, his face showing helplessness.
Not long ago, he issued a forged imperial edict to launch an uprising against Dong Zhuo, and unexpectedly gained this brilliant strategist.
This person's name is Su Yu, and he comes from a poor, small family in Dongjun.
Cao Cao was a former Cavalry Commandant and a descendant of Cao Shen and Xiahou Ying, both founding heroes of the state (Cao Cao's grandfather, Cao Teng, was originally surnamed Xiahou, but was adopted into the Cao family, and both families recognized Cao Cao as their descendant).
Logically speaking, it's unlikely that someone from a small family would be considered a suitable candidate.
You should know who Cao Cao associated with when the warlords rose up to fight against Dong Zhuo.
They are all from some of the most prestigious and influential families of their time!
For example, Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu both came from the Yuan family, the most prestigious family in the land.
For example, Liu Biao, Cai Mao, and Kuai Yue.
One is a legitimate, officially certified member of the Han imperial family, and the other two are the heads of the Cai and Kuai families, two of the top families in Jingzhou.
For example, Cao Cao's generals such as Xiahou Dun, Cao Ren, Xiahou Yuan, and Cao Hong were all his own brothers and people that Cao Cao trusted.
However, Cao Cao, who was eager to find talented people, was instantly impressed by Su Yu's outstanding insight.
Yes, Su Yu presented Cao Cao with a brilliant argument that was no less impressive than the Longzhong Plan.
This is not to say that Su Yu's strategies are particularly brilliant, but rather that as a time traveler who is familiar with the history of the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, Su Yu naturally has control over the general course of the original history.
Was Cao Cao's power strong?
If we consider Cao Cao after his victory over Yuan Shao at the Battle of Guandu, he could rightfully be called the number one warlord in the land.
However, Cao Cao during the period of the Warlords' Campaign against Dong Zhuo was hardly a powerful warlord.
As mentioned above, during this period, those who associated with Cao Cao, besides his own brothers such as the Xiahou and Cao families, were mostly second-generation officials from prominent families.
However, Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, Liu Biao, and others had already seized control of their own territories at the same time Cao Cao raised his army.
For example, Liu Biao left Luoyang not long after Dong Zhuo entered the capital, became the governor of Jingzhou, and married Cai Mao's sister as his second wife.
With this marriage alliance in place, prominent families in Jingzhou such as Cai Mao, Kuai Yue, and Huang Zu naturally chose to invest in Liu Biao.
Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, and others left Luoyang about three months earlier than Cao Cao.
Although Yuan Shao had a famous scene of drawing his sword against Dong Zhuo, we might as well think about where Yuan Shao got the confidence to draw his sword against Dong Zhuo.
It's very simple. They are from the Yuan family, the most prestigious family in the land, and are seen as a "beacon" by the scholar-official class.
In terms of game data, Yuan Shao is equivalent to having a hidden talent called "popularity".
As long as he raises his arm and calls, most of the talented people in the scholar-official camp will choose to join him first.
Strategists such as Tian Feng, Xu You, Guo Tu, and Feng Ji all considered Yuan Shao as their first choice.
With such a brilliant example before him, Yuan Shu, though inferior to Yuan Shao in terms of connections, still had a significant advantage.
However, the elders within the Yuan family favored Yuan Shu far more than Yuan Shao.
Therefore, just three months after Yuan Shu left Luoyang, he soon acquired the substantial assets left by the Yuan family.
Start with Yu Province, then add Nanyang Commandery as an extra one!
What is this concept?
It should be noted that the wealth of Yuzhou at this time far surpassed that of the southern provinces!
Even the capital city of Luoyang was originally located in Yuzhou, but was later re-divided into Sizhou.
Nanyang Prefecture, in this era, was comparable in status and wealth to Shanghai in later times.
Of the twenty-eight generals of Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu's Yuntai Army, eleven were from Nanyang.
At the same time, Nanyang is also a large prefecture with a population that is even larger than the entire Yizhou prefecture!
With such a perfect start, Yuan Shu now has far more available resources than Yuan Shao.
Of course, Yuan Shu's personal abilities and strategic planning were far inferior to Yuan Shao's.
This is also an important reason why Yuan Shu's power gradually became inferior to Yuan Shao's power.
However, on paper, Yuan Shu's strength is undoubtedly among the top two of all the warlords in Guandong.
What's even more awkward is that Yuan Shu was adjacent to Cao Cao, and the distance between them was very close.
With the Yellow River as the boundary, Yuan Shao raised his arm and called upon talented families from the four prefectures of Hebei to join his cause.
With Yuan Shu rallying support, the powerful families and talented individuals in the Central Plains naturally chose to gravitate towards him.
What did Cao Cao have left?
To be honest, Cao Cao at this time was an old acquaintance of Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, Liu Biao, and others.
However, its appeal to talent is far less than these other options.
Apart from the Cao and Xiahou family brothers, not many people would choose to serve him.
not to mention.
With Yuan Shu as a competitor, Cao Cao's desire to quickly gain a large number of talented people to pledge their loyalty was nothing short of a pipe dream.
The scholars of Yingchuan, led by Xun Yu, originally served under Yuan Shao before joining Cao Cao's forces.
Therefore, Cao Cao was really short of talent during this period, especially strategists who could offer him advice and strategies.
Have you not seen the defeat at Xingyang caused by Cao Cao's pursuit of Dong Zhuo in history?
If he had had a strategist to advise him, he wouldn't have had to risk his life so many times and almost die at Xu Rong's hands.
Su Yu's decisive choice to surrender to Cao Cao under such circumstances was a result of his careful consideration.
Should they seek refuge with Liu Bei?
His development cycle was longer than Cao Cao's, and he was constantly on the move; he might die at the hands of a chaotic army one day!
Should he seek refuge with Sun Jian?
Sun Jian and Sun Ce were both excellent heroes, but if the petty Sun Quan were to take the throne, would he kill Su Yu because of his great achievements?
Even Zhou Yu died under mysterious circumstances, so Su Yu had no urge to risk his life to test Sun Quan's bottom line.
As for warlords like Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, and Liu Biao, who started with a winning hand and placed too much emphasis on family lineage, they were not suitable for Su Yu to join.
Therefore, after much thought, Cao Cao's place was the most suitable.
After orchestrating a chance encounter with Cao Cao in a tavern, Su Yu devised a "Longzhong Plan" specifically for Cao Cao's forces.
After hearing this, Cao Cao, who was eager to find talented people, immediately invited Su Yu to become his strategist, and even clamored to marry his daughter Cao Jie to Su Yu.
But Cao Jie is only a little over ten years old, and Su Yu couldn't bring himself to do it.
Cao Cao then laughed and said, "If there are any beauties, I will surely find them for you, strategist!"
Don't mistake Cao Cao for a lecherous man without principles.
In reality, he was only interested in widows from opposing forces.
He never had any bad records with the wives and concubines of his subordinates.
But after Su Yu officially joined Cao Cao's camp, Cao Cao was completely dumbfounded.
Su Yu is good in every way, except that his inherent attributes are too "idle"!
Why do you say that?
Because of the complicated military and political issues, Su Yu never interfered.
He only put effort into Cao Cao's strategies.
Su Yu's daily life was also a decadent and hedonistic life, a hundred times more so than Guo Jia under Cao Cao in the original history!
Of course, Cao Cao complained that Su Yu was lying down, but when something really happened, he would come over to discuss it with Su Yu immediately.
For example, today, the various lords held a meeting in Suanzao and made a huge joke.
A blood oath is acceptable, and so is an attack on Dong Zhuo, but who is the leader of the coalition?
How should the spoils from the campaign against Dong Zhuo be distributed?
……