The treacherous plan came from Jia Xu

As the saying goes, 'When old, do not read Romance of the Three Kingdoms; when young, do not read Water Margin.' The first part means that when people get older, they become more cunning, and reading the Three Kingdoms at that time will inevitably turn one into a crafty schemer. Indeed, the various books of the Three Kingdoms are most notable for revealing the complexity of human nature and the brilliance of strategies. The books are filled with experienced figures who are wise in governing a country and skilled in calculating schemes. Among these seasoned schemers, Jia Xu stands out as somewhat different. He began by assisting the tyrant Zhou for evil deeds and ended by aiding the Cao clan. Once he spoke, almost no strategy he proposed was toxic and effective.

Jia Xu, courtesy name Wenhe, showed his cunning nature from a young age. Once he resigned from office due to illness and returned west, several tens of travelers with him were captured by the Di tribe. While others were killed, he survived simply by casually claiming to be the grandson of the Grand Commandant of Xiliang, Duan, and the Di dared not harm him. In reality, Jia Xu was in no way related to the Grand Commandant Duan.

Jia Xu once served under Dong Zhuo. After Dong Zhuo's death, everyone panicked. The four key generals Li, Guo, Zhang, and Fan planned to scatter, but Jia Xu gave them a reckless idea: if you abandon your troops and act alone, even a minor officer could defeat you. It would be better to gather the scattered soldiers and attack Chang'an to avenge Lord Dong. If successful, it would be 'serving the state to conquer the world' (a precursor to Cao Cao 'holding the emperor to command the dukes'); if it fails, it's not too late to retreat. Because of Jia Xu's simple words, the four gathered, leading to the tumultuous rebellion of Li and Guo that shook both court and country. Regarding this, Pei Songzhi commented: 'Jia Xu's crime—how enormous it is! Throughout history, no omen of chaos has ever been so severe.'

When Jia Xu served under Zhang Xiu, his extreme cunning even impressed Cao Cao. Zhang Xiu, angered that Cao Cao had taken his aunt, wanted to kill Cao but worried about approaching Cao's camp. Jia Xu gave him a plan, falsely claiming that troop movements required passing by Cao's camp, and said that because the vehicles were overloaded, the soldiers had to wear armor. Astonishingly, Cao Cao did not doubt these unreasonable requests. When Zhang Xiu approached the camp and issued a sudden attack command, Cao Cao nearly lost his life.

During Cao Cao's second campaign against Zhang Xiu, he had to retreat due to issues at the rear. Zhang Xiu wanted to pursue, but Jia Xu advised, 'Do not pursue; pursuit will surely lead to defeat.' Zhang Xiu did not listen and suffered a crushing defeat. Later, Jia Xu advised that if they pursued again, victory would be certain. Zhang Xiu, partly convinced, gathered scattered troops and pursued, indeed winning. Afterwards, Jia Xu analyzed: during the initial retreat, Cao Cao must have arranged defenses meticulously and personally guarded the rear. Although your troops are elite, the generals do not match theirs, hence the defeat.When pursuing an enemy, there are two key points: first, the enemy will not expect it; second, if there is something to manage at the rear, the commander will surely send elite troops forward, leaving only the rear guard, which is not your match, General. To plan this thoroughly, not even the 'embroidery garb' [a metaphor for elegance or arts of war] need be mentioned; even the most learned strategists could not think through it so completely.

Such micro-level, concrete examples are countless. And when it comes to grasping the macro situation, Jia Xu was also highly skilled. At the time, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao were facing off at Guandu. Yuan Shao wanted to win over Zhang Xiu to help attack Cao Cao, so he sent a messenger to Rangcheng to persuade Zhang Xiu to attack Xudu. At that time, Yuan Shao's forces were ten times stronger than Cao Cao's; even the blind could see who was stronger. Zhang Xiu planned to agree. Unexpectedly, Jia Xu preemptively took the initiative. In front of Yuan Shao's messenger, he said, 'Go back and tell Yuan Shao that even brothers cannot coexist, so how could the great men of the world?' Zhang Xiu was greatly shocked and asked, 'Then what should I do?' Jia Xu said, 'It would be better to follow Lord Cao.' Zhang Xiu said, 'Yuan is strong and Cao is weak, and I have a grudge against Cao Cao; what will the consequences be?' Jia Xu said, 'That's exactly the reason to side with Lord Cao! Look, Cao Cao commands in the emperor's name, thus he has the authority—that's one; Yuan Shao is strong, and our soldiers amount to little in his eyes—that's two; for anyone with the ambition of kingship, old grudges will surely dissolve to establish virtue across the land—that's three.' So Zhang Xiu led his troops to join Cao, and Cao was overjoyed. He held Jia Xu's hand and said, 'The one who makes my loyalty and trust in others heavier than the world is you, Wenhe!' In the end, as Jia Xu predicted, both were greatly favored.

Clearly, Jia Xu was a man who deeply understood human nature and was skilled in strategy. At this time, Cao Cao also needed typologies like Zhang Xiu and Jia Xu. This demonstrated to the whole world that even those like Zhang Xiu and Jia Xu, who had schemed, killed my eldest son, my nephew, and my great general Dian Wei, and almost took my life, I could still welcome them wholeheartedly and employ them; well-informed people of the world, if you are hesitant, when else should you act?

After arriving at Cao Cao's camp, Jia Xu offered a large number of cunning strategies.

Cao Cao fought Ma Chao and Han Sui at Weicheng, and the battle was extremely fierce. Cao Cao was harassed by Ma Chao, cutting his beard and discarding his robe, thoroughly humiliated. However, Ma Chao was brave but lacked strategy, eventually becoming passive and proposing peace—ceding the territory west of the Yellow River. Jia Xu advised Cao Cao to agree. Cao Cao said, 'If we agree, the strength of the western warlords will be preserved long-term; hasn't the blood and toil of my western expedition been in vain?'Jia Xu said it was 'to feign agreement.' When Cao Cao asked for further strategy, Xu said: 'Simply to create a rift.' Jia Wenhe wanted to execute the plan of sowing discord. Jia Xu himself was from Wuwei in the northwest, so he had a thorough understanding of the suspicious nature of the Xiliang warlords. Therefore, implementing the plan was second nature to him. According to his strategy, the two sides agreed to meet on the battlefield, and Cao Cao conversed with Han Sui. The two were already familiar with each other; Cao Cao had also achieved the title of Filial and Incorrupt Official the same year as Han's father. So he only reminisced and chatted with him, without discussing military matters. As their conversation became more lively, the two even clapped their hands in laughter, displaying immense warmth. Ma Chao naturally could not hear their conversation, but he felt something was off. When he returned, he asked Han Sui what Cao Cao had said. Han Sui, thinking that nothing military had been discussed, lightly replied that nothing much had been said. This only increased Ma Chao's suspicion. Later, Cao Cao sent a letter to Han Sui, which was vague and had several alterations, seemingly made by Han himself. After reading the letter, Ma Chao's doubts grew even stronger. As Jia Xu had anticipated, the two finally fell out, revealing old grievances; it turned into a bloody battle, during which Han Sui had his left hand severed by Ma Chao on the spot.

Later, Cao Cao was indecisive about the issue of establishing the crown prince. This was an extremely sensitive matter. Cao Cao asked Jia Xu alone, and Xu responded with a wry smile but did not answer. Cao Cao asked why he hadn't replied, and Jia Xu said he had just been contemplating a problem. Cao Cao asked what the problem was, and Xu replied: 'I am thinking about Yuan Benchu and Liu Jingsheng and their sons.' Cao Cao laughed heartily. This gave Cao Cao confidence. Both Yuan Shao and Liu Biao incurred disaster by replacing the eldest with the younger. The old fox never directly revealed the answer.

A person like Jia Xu, serving in Cao Cao's camp for decades, managed to completely avoid harm. Even prominent figures like Xun Yu, known for his merits, or Cui Yan, known for his prestige, lost their heads, yet he lived to the age of seventy-seven and was posthumously titled Marquis Su. This was due to his profound understanding of human nature and his remarkable self-awareness. He knew very well that he was not an old acquaintance of Cao Cao and that he was skilled in strategy; naturally, others would be suspicious of him. Hence, he 'kept to himself, withdrew from private friendships, and made no marital alliances with powerful families.' This alternative kind of strategist lived his life quietly and dealt with the world discreetly. When studying the Three Kingdoms, we must carefully examine a character like Jia Xu.