CV of a true blue talent
My PSLE:
How I owned that stupid sod
~疾风击下邳，智冠震天下~
Trans:
[During the war against Lu Bu, Taizu managed to defeat him after three battles, hence forcing him to retreat and mounting a stubborn defence. Yet at that time, the soldiers were tiring and Taizu was intending to return back. Jia however advised Taizu to mount a swift assault, hence managing to capture Bu. Collaborating statements can also be found in the Account of Xun You.
From Fuzi: Taizu wanted to order a retreat, yet Jia objected: "In the past, Xiang Ji went through more than seventy battles undefeated, yet he ended up in an overwhelming loss and as a vanquished dead and with nothing. This was down to him relying on valour alone and not on strategy. Now that Bu is facing defeat upon every front, his strength has now waned to its limit, his defences sorely lacking both within and outside. Bu's might is way beneath that of Xiang Ji, not to mention being stretched by fatigue and loss. If we can build onto the momentum, he will be be captured."
To this, Taizu replied: "Good."]
[攸与郭嘉说曰：“吕布勇而无谋，今三战皆北，其锐气衰矣。三军以将为主，主衰则军无奋意。夫陈宫有智而迟，今及布气之未复，宫谋之未定，进急攻之，布可拔也。”
乃引沂、泗灌城，城溃，生禽布。]
《三国志：荀攸传》
Trans:
[You and Jia advised: "Lu Bu is brave yet without a strategic mind. Now that he has lost all three battles thus far, morale must be now at a new low. Every army is being led by a commander, if he who leads falter, then his entire forces will not have any will to fight. Chen Gong as an adviser is wise yet tardy, hence we should attack swiftly before Bu recovers and Gong reaching a counter measure. By this, Bu will be routed."
Therefore, the waters from Yi and Si were diverted to submerge the city. The city soon fell and Bu was captured alive.]
《Record of the Three Kingdoms: Account of Xun You》
Analysis: Now the interesting thing about Xun You's version is this: the verbal account is different from what is being said in Pei Songzhi's Fuzi annotation. Now the thing is this: Whenever Cao Cao has to seek counsel, Xun You and Zhong Yao will be his two go-to men.
But upon Guo Jia gatecrashing the hierarchy, he ended up upstaging the two. Simply put, it's very possible that whatever we've seen in Xun You's account was nothing more than a consensus of views rather than both saying the same thing. And besides, while my two godsisters at the mail room department enjoy calling me burung kakak, there's no way Guo Jia should be called one as well. Because my surname is Guo, my name is not Guo Jia.
Which now comes to mind the part on Fuzi's account. Now I'll call this a case of actual words spoken by Guo Jia upon Cao Cao seeking his counsel on the first priority. Given his accurate take on any individual's personality/character and utilising it in actual combat, I'll have to say that whatever being stated in Xun You's account is more than likely Xun You's words with Guo Jia playing the yes-man.
Or rather given Guo Jia's status as the Chief of Military Affairs and Works (司空军祭酒), it's more likely that Xun You is that yes-man instead. Which of course shouldn't be equating Xun You to a burung kakak by any means since one burung kakak here is more than enough.
In fact since Guo Jia's post as the Chief included the boundary of infrastructural and water works, it's extremely likely that while the plot to submerge Xiapi (水淹下邳之计) was very likely to be Xun You saying "this" and Guo Jia saying "yes", chances are that Guo Jia was very likely to be the one guy overseeing the proceedings.
Talent's KPI: A+ for an immense show of wits and calm in the face of make or break. It's extremely easy to agree with your boss that retreat is the only way, yet Chief Guo managed to spot an opening no one (apart from his BFF's nephew that is) ever saw. Perhaps not even Zhong Yao as well.
That very opening is an apparent sign of weakness enabling a swift assault and subsequent victory made possible. You see, the key in fighting a war isn't just down to shaping the battlefield and fight your own battle at your own terms.
Above all, you'll have to act decisively once an opening presents itself. You can call it an opportunistic smash and grab, I can easily call it grabbing your chances with both hands. It doesn't matter a single bit. Because more often than not, one single chance taken is more than enough to win you one entire war upon the correct circumstances.
My GCE O Level:
How I screwed two sods with one brain
~料事知袁绍，远见挫江东~
[孙策转斗千里，尽有江东，闻太祖与袁绍相持于官渡，将渡江北袭许。众闻皆惧，嘉料之曰：“策新并江东，所诛皆英豪雄杰，能得人死力者也。然策轻而无备，虽有百万之众，无异于独行中原也。若刺客伏起，一人之敌耳。以吾观之，必死于匹夫之手。”
策临江未济，果为许贡客所杀。
傅子曰：太祖欲速征刘备，议者惧军出，袁绍击其后，进不得战而退失所据。语在武纪。太祖疑，以问嘉。嘉劝太祖曰：“绍性迟而多疑，来必不速。备新起，众心未附，急击之必败。此存亡之机，不可失也。”
太祖曰：“善。”
遂东征备。备败奔绍，绍果不出。]
Trans:
[Waging war throughout a thousand li, Sun Ce managed to conquer the entire Jiangdong. Upon knowing Taizu standing off against Yuan Shao at Guandu, he intended to attack Xu by travelling up north via the (Yangtze) river. All were fearful upon knowledge, yet Jia had already predicted thus: "Ce has just newly taken over Jiangdong, all being killed by him were heroes and men of valour while whosoever he managed to gain are no different from the living dead. However, Ce is one without prudence and self awareness, hence he is no different from being alone despite having an army of a million. Should assassins arise, he can only fight alone. Therefore from my own perception, he will die under the hands of unworthy men."
Indeed Ce was assassinated by Xu Gong's guests even before he reached the river.
Fuzi: Taizu desired to attack Liu Bei swiftly, yet all around him were fearing the apparent risk of Yuan Shao attacking from behind, hence unable to progress and losing their base upon retreat. {Collaborating statements can also be found in the Record of the Wu Emperor.} Taizu hesitated, hence asking Jia. Jia advised Taizu, saying: "Shao is an indecisive person full of distrust, hence he will never arrive swiftly even if he is to do so. Bei has just risen in power, those under him yet to make firm their loyalty. If we attack without hesitation, he will be defeated for sure. This is now the moment between survival and destruction, hence we should never pass up the chance."
Taizu hence said: "Agreed."
Thus Taizu attacked Bei to the east. Bei was routed and forced to defect to Shao. Indeed Shao never mobilise his troops.]
[臣松之案武纪，决计征备，量绍不出，皆出自太祖。此云用嘉计，则为不同。又本传称（自）嘉料孙策轻佻，必死于匹夫之手，诚为明于见事。然自非上智，无以知其死在何年也。今正以袭许年死，此盖事之偶合。]
[Your lowly vassal Song concluded the Record of Wu Emperor did indeed state that the decision to attack Bei and prior knowledge of Shao remaining impassive was down to Taizu. Hence utilising Jia's advise in this case is a conflict in account. At the same time, Jia's account claimed that he knew Sun Ce would die under the hands of unworthy men due to his lack of self prudence. This was down an clear understanding of matters and not a case of superior perception. For no one could ever know when Sun Ce will die. Hence the events surrounding Ce's death were nothing more than coincidence.]
Analysis: I totally agree with Pei Songzhi on this one. For Liu Bei's case, it was indeed down to Cao Cao making the decision, not Guo Jia. However, we must know that when we use the term "hesitate", it can mean either:
1. not knowing what to do
2. knowing what to do, BUT without the prerequisite confidence to do so.
Maybe we should take a look at Cao Cao's account:
[公将自东征备，诸将皆曰：“与公争天下者，袁绍也。今绍方来而弃之东，绍乘人后，若何？”
公曰：“夫刘备，人杰也，今不击，必为后患。袁绍虽有大志，而见事迟，必不动也。”
郭嘉亦劝公，遂东击备，破之。。。]
《三国志：武帝纪》
Trans:
[Upon the Duke's decision to attack Bei to the east, his generals objected saying: "The one vying with my lord is Yuan Shao. Now that Shao has just arrived and the east abandoned, what if he attacks us from behind?"
Hence Duke Cao replied: "Liu Bei is a hero amongst men. If we don't attack now, he will be a future threat. Even though Shao has great ambition, yet he's not decisive enough. Hence he will never make his move."
Guo Jia also advised Duke Cao and thus Liu Bei was routed as a result...]
《Record of the Three Kingdoms: Record of the Wu Emperor》
Note the key phrase, guys: [Guo Jia also advised...]
Simply put, there are no conflicts whatsoever. Cao Cao knew what should be done, but he couldn't man up before everyone playing the no-man. Therefore, he needed Guo Jia's assurance instead of say, tak-tahu sio...
As for Sun Ce, while it's true to say that his manner of death should be seen as a coincidence, it shouldn't be seen as a freak. Boro losing to Nottingham Forest donkey years ago while we're flying high under the great Jack "my little black book" Charlton, THAT is a freak. There's nothing freakish over why Sun Ce died like an idiot, Guo Jia's assessment was spot on.
Yet we must not forget that by taking the river route up north, Sun Ce had to go through the Jing Province (荆州). The Governor back then was Liu Biao (刘表). More on him later on, but firstly we must know that there's some bad blood between him and the folks of Jiangdong.
This was down to Sun Ce's father, Sun Jian (孙坚) having a fatal disagreement with Liu Biao (which was pretty much a daily routine back during any age of civil unrest). Suffice to say, Sun Jian died due to an ambush sprung by Huang Zu (黄祖). And no prizes for guessing correctly who's Huang Zu's boss.
Therefore, surely there must be a certain measure of resistance popping up somewhere. Is it possible that it was Liu Biao or more likely any of Liu Biao's advisers being responsible for the assassination success?
Don't put it past them, folks. Lest we do not know, Xu Gong was just one of the many executed by Sun Ce just because he ended up pissing off that Harimau-Muda (which to be fair was the same kind of story for so-called the rest).
Talent's KPI: A++. Sometimes, you don't have to do anything to bugger the other fella. If the situation is presented correctly, you can virtually ensure a surefire case of self-failure/self-destruction.
...To be continued...
b/c I too keh kao over my own personal standards in everything I do.
Plus I suddenly realised something lagi spooky happening at work today. Ok lah, nothing to do with hantu, but seriously certain things do have a knack of bowling you over.
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| 初遇闺秀，庆幸相会。 小才乃颍川郭奉孝，不知今夜可否仅仅赏月花灯 |
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