Chapter 113 Talent and Strategy [Subscribe]

Xun Yu has been very busy recently, even busier than Cao Cao.

He is good at logistics deployment and overall coordination.

Whenever Cao Cao led his troops to war, he would entrust all matters at the rear to Xun Yu.

Including Cao Cao's relatives Xiahou Yuan, Xiahou Dun, and everyone in the Cao family had to obey Xun Yu's arrangements.

Xun Yu is 28 years old this year. The heavy workload has given him ample training, and his talents are increasingly evident. He is also becoming more dignified and mature.

He entered the study and sat down on Cao Cao's left.

Jia Xu was on the right, and Bian Mei sat below him.

Xun Yu first handed Cao Cao a scroll of bamboo slips, which contained the second statistical census of the number of surrendered soldiers in Qingzhou, the ratio of the young, strong, old and weak, etc.

This is a complicated task, and Xi Zhicai is specifically responsible for it.

"Zhicai is ill and has a severe headache. I asked him to see a doctor and rest for a day, so he didn't come." Xun Yu said.

A trace of worry flashed through Cao Cao's mind.

The entry repeatedly indicates that Xi Zhicai is a person who likes to use his brain and his thoughts are always working, so he may die early.

Is there any way to ease the treatment?

Zhang Zhongjing had returned to Changsha, but promised Cao Cao that he would come to Yanzhou to see patients later.

Cao Cao's promise to him was to use official resources to help him collect prescriptions and case records for various diseases, and to help him supplement the book "Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases" he was writing until it was completed.

There is also Hua Tuo, and we have already started to contact him.

Wait until both of them come and see if there is any good remedy that can cure Xi Zhicai and his own headache.

Xun Yu said: "During the battles of Qingzhou, the old and weak were mostly eliminated, so the proportion of young and strong is very high, about 300,000 young and strong.

I discussed this with other people many times before I came to see the governor.”

"The result of our discussion is to propose that young and strong men be selected to join the army, about 250,000 or so, to form the local guards and the army directly under the governor's office."

In history, after Cao Cao conquered the Qingzhou army, he recruited 300,000 young and strong men, which became the foundation of his success and he used them to conquer the world.

However, supporting these 300,000 troops consumed the entire Yanzhou's wealth and food supplies.

The Qingzhou army was originally composed of bandits and refugees, and some of their bad habits were difficult to change.

Laxity and laziness are long-standing problems.

As their numbers increased, their elite forces became increasingly dispersed, and their combat power could never reach the top level.

Regarding the placement of the Qingzhou army, Cao Cao combined his experience of time travel and had his own considerations for the follow-up.

"Any other comments?"

Xun Yu said: "Huang Zhong and Zhang Liao both said that we should mobilize at least 200,000 men to form an army. With the taxes and grain from Yanzhou, it is enough to supply this army."

Generals all hope to be in charge of the army!
During this period, Cao Cao successively conquered the Black Mountain bandits and the Qingzhou army.

The sudden influx of a large number of troops made the generals very excited, and they all hoped to have as many troops as possible.

This is the mainstream idea nowadays.

Most people suggested maintaining the strength of 300,000 troops, or at least increasing it to 200,000, in order to form a new army that could dominate the world.

Cao Cao waited for Xun Yu to express other opinions, and said: "It is not impossible for me to support 300,000 troops in Yanzhou.

But it will consume most of the taxes and money.

All three hundred thousand young and strong men will be retained, and the bloated and inferior nature of the Qingzhou Army will also be inherited by us."

Xun Yu and Jia Xu looked at each other and immediately understood what Cao Cao meant.

"How much does the governor want to keep, two hundred thousand?"

"No, a hundred thousand at most."

Cao Cao: "Of the original 300,000 young and strong men, only the best ones should be kept. They should be dispersed and mixed with our original troops, and the weak ones should be eliminated and the strong ones retained."

You must know that these 300,000 young and strong men of the Qingzhou Army were the ones left behind after they had been exhausted through internal tactics. They were excellent soldiers who had seen blood, were murderous, and were not afraid of fighting.

Therefore, Cao Cao in history took all factors into consideration and took over all these troops.

At present, all parties are gathering people and building up their momentum. The more soldiers the better.

When publicizing to the outside world, we would say 200,000 is 500,000, and 500,000 is 1 million.

Cao Cao had carefully considered all factors. A hundred thousand strong troops were enough to conquer the world. Moreover, there would be opportunities to increase troops as the territory expanded.

The young and strong people who were laid off were engaged in production, digging canals, increasing revenue and farming.

Of course, there are hidden dangers in doing this!

Even if these young and strong people are scattered to the local areas, they may still gather together to rebel again, leaving opportunities for unrest.

Especially if Cao Cao went on an expedition and the internal situation was empty, this factor would be magnified.

But where there is a problem, there is a solution.

If people have enough food to eat, their minds will be at peace.

By cooperating with Cao Cao and Jia Xu, Xun Yu's methods can gradually weaken this potential chaos.

If the extra labor force is properly utilized, it will form a continuous source of logistical support.

"Let them become local troops first, and then reduce them step by step to reduce the hidden dangers."

Cao Cao spoke eloquently, expressed his ideas and reasons, and consulted with Jia Xu and Xun Yu.

The result of the discussion was to follow Cao Cao's wishes.

Only 100,000 elite troops are left out of the 300,000.

In addition, 3,000 men must be selected from the current hundreds of thousands of soldiers to formally form the first batch of Tiger and Leopard Cavalry.

Cao Cao also issued an order, appointing Huang Zhong as the Lieutenant General of the Left Wing of the Yanzhou Army and Zhang Liao as the Lieutenant General of the Cavalry.

In addition, Cao Cao officially appointed Xun Yu as Sima, which was equivalent to the second in command under him, in charge of all major and minor affairs of the Prime Minister.

Cao Cao was well versed in the ways of dealing with people.

To truly value a person is not to allocate resources to him, nor is it to reward or award him.

Instead, they add burdens to him and entrust him with important tasks.

Sometimes Xun Yu himself is confused.

When he first met Cao Cao, his talent was not obvious.

But Cao Cao just respected him for no reason.

All Xun Yu could do was to work hard, fearing that he would let Cao Cao down.

After discussing the allocation of troops, Xun Yu took out another scroll and handed it to Cao Cao.

When Cao Cao unfolded it, he found that it was Xun Yu's suggestion for the subsequent development of Yanzhou and even Caoying under his command.

He was the first to propose the strategies of "deepening roots and consolidating foundations to control the world" and "advancing enough to defeat the enemy and retreating enough to hold on" which became famous in later generations.

He advised Cao Cao not to rush to expand, but to stabilize and accumulate strength for development, and proposed a countermeasure to solve the problem of increasing grain production: "Conquer Chendi in the east and let the army get food from Runan and Yingchuan."

To sum up, a solid foundation must be laid, otherwise even if Cao Ying is in power for a while, he will not be able to maintain power forever.

Cao Cao held the letter of advice in his hand and read it carefully word by word.

The study was very quiet, with only raindrops hitting the window frames.

Xun Yu also pointed out that although the remnants of the Yellow Turban Army in various places had no food supplies, they had a lot of gold, silk and other valuables that had swept across the country. Therefore, they could focus on attacking the remnants of the Yellow Turban Army and occasionally raid Qingzhou.

Instead, they targeted Qingzhou and tried to seize the things stored by the Yellow Turban Army.

By doing so, one can not only gain reputation, but also plunder the ill-gotten wealth of the remnants of the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou, in order to "destroy their wealth and use it to support the three armies."

The Yellow Turban Army was a bandit group. They had plenty of loot from across the country, but they had no way to exchange it for much-needed food supplies.

However, Xun Yu, Cao Cao and others could exchange resources with the gentry.

Then, they could sweep away the Yellow Turban Army and go to Qingzhou to rob money when they have nothing to do. Combined with the management of Yanzhou itself, Cao Cao could have a strong army and continue to expand rapidly, achieving multiple goals at one stroke.

Cao Cao smiled after reading it and said, "Wen Ruo is indeed as talented as Zi Fang."

Zifang refers to Zhang Liang, meaning that Xun Yu is a talented person and with him, he doesn’t have to worry about strategizing.

Xun Yu responded politely, saying that he was not worthy of the honor.

Xun Yu had a lot of things to do, and was so busy that he had to urinate twice. After Cao Cao read the advice and suggestions, he went to the front hall of the governor's mansion.

As Sima, he had to sit in the governor's mansion and assist Cao Cao in handling the affairs of the entire Yanzhou.

Only Jia Xu and Bian Mei were left in the study.

"Wenhe, I am in charge of the military dispatch and strategist of Yanzhou. Please choose one..."

As the governor of Yanzhou, he naturally had to reward his subordinates.

In addition to appointing Xun Yu as Sima, other civil and military officials were promoted accordingly.

Jia Xu also has it.

But when he heard that he was going to be promoted or given a position, wouldn't he have to show up in public more often?

The world is in chaos, with rivals emerging from all sides. If you stand in the foreground, you will attract firepower and easily become the first target of elimination by those who are enemies of Cao Cao.

Jia Wenhe wouldn't do that.

"I appreciate the governor's kindness. I am satisfied to be able to take charge of all matters for the governor and serve as his advisor."

What he meant was that he was unwilling to take charge of more things and have frequent contact with people, but he was willing to serve as a counselor and make good contributions.

However, Cao Cao has provided him with a strong sense of security and freedom, which is completely different from working under Dong Zhuo before.

He was willing to take on more responsibilities and took the initiative to say:

"The governor is still in the stage of gathering strength. Once his foundation is solid, Xu will take on more positions and contribute to the governor."

Subtext: If you become more powerful and protect me well, I will stand in the front and do more work.

Fuck... this guy, Cao Cao thought: Xi Zhicai is in poor health, and we can’t add any more burden to him, otherwise he will die early.

Cao’s own camp needs to expand its manpower, as there are not enough civil and military personnel.

Who else, Fengxiao? Where is my Fengxiao? Guo Jia is also a problem youth, with a dissolute style and difficult to control.

But he and Cao Cao got along very well.

Guo Jia, whose courtesy name was Fengxiao, was a rare genius.

Cao Cao did not lack people before, especially he had foresight about the general trend, so he intended to let Guo Jia follow the historical line and wander around outside for a while.

That is also a kind of accumulation and growth of experience.

According to the historical trajectory, Guo Jia and Xun Yu would have first surrendered to Yuan Shao.

Later generations said that after observing each other, the two men realized that Yuan Shao was not the right material, so they switched to Cao Cao with their insight into heroes.

In fact, there are some errors here.

At that time, Yuan Shao already had people like Xun Chen and Guo Tu, who were of the same clan as Xun Yu and Guo Jia and had greater talent and fame.

On the other hand, Xun Yu and Guo Jia each have their own stains.

Guo Jia had an indulgent personality and a bad reputation.

Xun Yu's wife was a member of the eunuch party, so he was very similar to Cao Cao and was, to a certain extent, ostracized by the celebrity class.

The two of them were dispensable to Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao did not pay enough attention to them because there were better options.

In essence, it is Cao Cao who is more powerful.

Xun Yu and Guo Jia both worked under him and were given the opportunity to display their strengths, which enabled them to rise to fame and be unrivaled in their strategies and brilliance.

On the other hand, Xun Chen and Guo Tu, who were under Yuan Shao at the same time, were also very talented.

But Yuan Shao’s ability to employ people was terrible.

He later occupied four states, namely Jizhou, Youzhou and Qingzhou, and managed them all with his sons, nephews and other trusted confidants.

Under Xun Chen and Guo Tu, there was no opportunity for them to show their talents.

History is accidental, but it is ultimately determined by inevitability.

If Xun Yu and Guo Jia had continued to serve under Yuan Shao, they would most likely have been unable to display their talents, just like their fellow clan members Xun Chen and Guo Tu.

While Cao Cao was thinking, Jia Xu went to the next room to busy himself with his work.

Only Bian Mei was left in front of him.

She was wearing a green apricot-colored Han-style skirt, and her graceful figure rose and fell gently under the skirt, exuding a charming charm.

That day she was taken away from Liuxiangfang by Cao Cao, who showed his intention to recruit her.

The situation was stronger than the person and did not allow Bian Mei to refuse.

In the following two months, Cao Cao's ability to make things happen with a wave of his hand, and the tactics he used on the battlefield and in the officialdom made Bian Mei marvel and opened her eyes.

She felt that she was currently a peripheral force in Cao's camp and had a cooperative relationship with Cao Cao.

But Cao Cao's perspective on her was quite special.

If her identity was not mistaken, Bian Mei should have married him as a concubine first.

If the history of this world had not been partially offset, the two would have met and had children long ago.

At this time, Cao Cao squinted his eyes and looked at him.

Bian Mei felt uneasy after being looked at, so she handed over a brief document and tried to change the subject:

"This is the person the governor asked me to find. I have mobilized some resources and should find the most suitable candidate. I will not disappoint the governor."

Ps: The next chapter will be updated as normal, and there may be additional updates in the early morning~ Please vote, thank you

(End of this chapter)