Chapter Sixteen: The Importance of Guo Jia

  At the time when Tao Qian and others were worried about Cao Jun's attack, in the main account of Cao Cao's army under Guangwei City, Xun Yu, Guo Jia, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Hong and other civil and military officials were listed. In the last seat of the main account, there was a small figure sitting with curious eyes to measure the people in the account.

  Only to see the main seat, Cao Cao raised his wine glass with a smile like spring breeze: "The plan to attack the heart has been successful, and the people of Xuzhou are all in favor of our army. To conquer Xuzhou is only in the palm of our hands. Gong Da and Feng Xiao should remember their first achievements."

  Xun Yu heard this and shook his head, saying: "My lord, the one who deserves the first achievement is Gongxiu, not Yu."

  "Oh?" Upon hearing Xun You's words, the people in the tent were greatly surprised. Xun You was a humble gentleman, and his yielding of credit did not surprise the crowd, but what they found strange was why Xun You wanted to yield credit, after all, it was he who had personally devised this plan to attack the enemy's heart, not Guo Jia.

  Xun Yu saw the gaze of the crowd focusing on him, and smiled faintly: "It was I who spread the reputation of our lord and Fourth Master's benevolence. However, this alone is not enough to win over the hearts of the people of Xuzhou for our lord. What can truly make the people of Xuzhou turn against Tao Gongzu and towards our lord is to have those monks spread the rumor that Fourth Master is a Buddha's son."

  "Oh?" This time, it was not just the people in the account who were surprised, but even Cao Cao himself was shocked. For Buddhism, people of this era were still quite unfamiliar with it. Like Cao Cao, who had stayed in Luoyang for a relatively long time and had some knowledge of it. As for Xiahou Yuan, Yu Jin, Yue Jin and others, they could be said to have never heard of it before. Even the local scholars like Mao Jie only knew the name of Buddhism.

  Everyone did not expect that the most critical part of Cao Cao's mind-attack plan this time was actually in Buddhism. Xun Yu saw everyone's surprise and smiled: "Your Majesty, I only knew before that Xu State believed in Buddhism, but as for Buddhism, I also understood it vaguely. When implementing the plan, suddenly let me send some soldiers disguised as Buddhist monks to spread rumors, I was just trying my luck, didn't expect to achieve such an amazing effect. Therefore, I think the first credit belongs to Feng Xiao."

  Guo Jia still had a rogue's demeanor, reclining on the desk with his head tilted back, holding a wine cup and drinking non-stop. When he heard Xun Yu mention himself, he let out a belch and laughed: "Gong Da overpraised me, I think this is all due to our lord's wisdom, allowing us to implement our plan of attacking the heart, which achieved such an extraordinary effect."

  Guo Jia suddenly gave Cao Cao a loud slap on the back, and Cao Cao felt an unprecedented comfort throughout his body. All 36,000 pores on his skin opened simultaneously, and he burst out laughing, pointing at Guo Jia: "You rascal..."

  Guo Jia rubbed his nose and shrugged, saying: "Jia is just stating the facts, if my lord doesn't want to hear it, then I won't say it." Cao Cao heard this, a smile spread across his face as he shook his head.

  At this time, Xiahou Yuan asked: "Fengxiao has not yet explained, why is there such a move."

  Xiahou Yuan's question indeed reflected the thoughts of everyone in the hall, including Cao Cao. Guo Jia didn't keep them in suspense and cleared his throat with a smile: "Actually, I had heard about Buddhism when I was studying. In the tenth year of Emperor Ming's Yongping reign (67 AD), the emperor dreamed of a golden man flying over the palace courtyard at night. The next morning, he asked his officials about it. The imperial historian Fu Yi replied that there was a great sage in the Western Regions named Buddha; perhaps the emperor had dreamed of him. The emperor then sent the imperial envoy Cai Yin and seventeen others to the Western Regions to seek out Buddhist teachings. In the Western Regions, they met Zhu Falan and She Moteng, and obtained Buddhist images and scriptures, which they brought back to Luoyang on white horses. The emperor specially built a temple for them, which later became the White Horse Temple in Luoyang."

  Mao Jin interrupted, "As for what Feng Xiao said about Buddhism entering our great Han, we've all heard it before, but what does it have to do with Xuzhou?"

  Guo Jia waved his hand, signaling Mao Jie to calm down, and continued: "Although Buddhism has been introduced to our great Han for over a hundred years, its development has not been significant. Until the middle of Emperor Ling's reign, when Zhang Jiao of the Yellow Turbans rebelled, all thirteen states of the Han Dynasty were affected, except for the state where Your Majesty resides, as well as the remote states of Liang, Bing, Yi, and Jiao. However, among these eight states affected by the Yellow Turbans' disaster, some were more severely affected than others. Xu State was the least affected, with almost no large-scale Yellow Turban riots within its borders, and the imperial court did not need to send a large army to quell the rebellion.

  Logically speaking, Xu State has few strategic passes and is rich in resources, so it's surprising that the Yellow Turbans didn't wreak havoc there. I was curious about this, so I made some discreet inquiries and found that many people in Xu State believe in Buddhism. The teachings of Buddhism and Taoism are quite different, and they seem to be mutually exclusive. Therefore, it's difficult for the Yellow Turban teachings to take hold in Xu State.

  Moreover, when the Yellow Turbans invaded, the people of Xu State united under the leadership of Tao Qian to resist them, which is also an important reason why the Yellow Turbans did not cause much chaos in Xu State. Your Excellency wants to use a clever strategy, but I think that since Tao Qian became the governor of Xu State, the people have lived in peace and contentment, and he has won their hearts.

  If we were to use ordinary methods, it would be difficult to achieve an extraordinary effect. Therefore, I suggest starting with the Buddhism that the people of Xu State believe in. I have learned that Buddhism teaches about reincarnation, and the Fourth Prince is intelligent and wise. He also advised Your Excellency not to slaughter the city, which aligns with the Buddhist teachings of doing good and abandoning evil.

  So, I propose using the Fourth Prince as a 'Buddha's son' to win over the hearts of the people of Xu State for Your Excellency."

  Everyone in the account listened to Guo Jia's detailed analysis, and they were all fascinated by such a clever strategy that attacked the heart of the enemy. If one wasn't thoroughly familiar with the internal workings of the enemy, it would be impossible to use this tactic, and yet it was used so aptly.

  At this time, everyone's gaze at Guo Jia became extremely admiring. Originally, Cao Cao's chief strategist was Xie Zitai, and the conquest of Qingzhou and the capture of a million Yellow Turbans were all his doing. Unfortunately, he suffered from a serious illness, and soon after Cao Cao returned from conquering Qingzhou, he passed away. After Xie Zitai's death, Xu Shu and Cheng Yu had some strategic ideas, but Cao Cao was naturally suspicious, and although they had many good plans, they couldn't make decisions.

  Don't underestimate those who have plans but can't make decisions. Why did Yuan Shao lose to Cao Cao in history? It's precisely because he had plans but couldn't make decisions. This point was criticized by everyone from Cao Cao himself to his advisors, including Xun Yu, Cheng Yu, and Guo Jia, as his greatest weakness. Later, during the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong had two officials, Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui, who were a perfect combination of planning and decision-making, which enabled Taizong to achieve great things. However, after Du Ruhui's death, even though Fang Xuanling was still around, Taizong often made mistakes in choosing his advisors.

  After the death of Xi Zhi, Cao Cao lacked a good advisor. Xun Yu recommended Guo Jia to Cao Cao, and after a conversation between the two, Cao Cao appointed Guo Jia to replace Xi Zhi's position and entrusted him with important tasks.

  Although Guo Jia has been entrusted with important tasks, he is actually too young (27 years old) and frivolous, lacking a sense of gravity. This makes it difficult for Cao Cao's old ministers to trust him wholeheartedly. Although they dare not speak out against Cao Cao's authority, in private they do not think much of Guo Jia. However, after today, their views on Guo Jia have completely changed, just as Cao Cao said when he first met Guo Jia: "The one who can help me achieve great things must be this person!"

  It can be seen that whether it is the master of one party or the king of the world, choosing the good from the crowd and making a decision is extremely important. It is precisely because of this that Guo Jia's position in Cao Cao's mind is extremely important, comparable to Xun Yu and even better than Xun You and Cheng Li.