Strategic Studies: Three Kingdoms, Part 2

Page 2

Text from the Wen-Yi edition

[Cao Cao] recruited famous scholars from Qing, Ji, You, and Bing provinces to serve as his subordinates Yuanshuoriginal: yuanshu, high-ranking administrative aides or staff officers who helped govern the newly conquered northern territories, and he followed their counsel.

During the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao Cao Cao’s primary rival for control of the north had ordered Chen Lin to draft a formal call to arms original: xi; a public manifesto or proclamation used to justify war that listed Cao Cao’s crimes. The document had attacked Cao’s family lineage, reaching the heights of ugly slander. When Chen Lin eventually came to surrender to him, Cao Cao asked, "In the past, when you wrote that manifesto for Benchu The courtesy name of Yuan Shao, you could have directed your accusations at my own person; why did you have to involve my father and grandfather?" Chen Lin apologized for his actions, and Cao Cao released him from punishment, appointing him to work in the Secretarial Office Jishioriginal: jishi, a department responsible for drafting sensitive military and civil correspondence alongside Ruan Yu.

As Cao Cao was preparing to strike the Wuhuan A powerful nomadic confederation in the northeast that was harboring the remnants of the Yuan family, his generals all cautioned him: "Yuan Shang is nothing more than a defeated fugitive. These frontier tribes are greedy and have no sense of loyalty; why would they allow themselves to be used by Shang? If we now lead an expedition deep into their territory, Liu Bei will surely convince Liu Biao The Governor of Jing Province in the south to launch a surprise attack on Xu Xuchang, the capital and seat of the Emperor. If a disaster occurs there, it will be too late for regrets."

However, the strategist Guo Jia said, "Though your majesty's prestige shakes the world, the northern tribes rely on their great distance and will certainly not have prepared their defenses. If we take advantage of this lack of preparation and strike them with a sudden attack, they can be utterly destroyed."