Roar of the Three Kingdoms: 三国志咆哮 (Rules)

Not literally though. I would have attracted tons of pretty and sexy young things if that's the case. -.-; But anyway, I guess I'll just start with my very own Three Kingdoms TCG. Let's just tentatively call it Roar of the Three Kingdoms*, shall we?
*Any coincidence on how one will interpret the title acronym wise should be seen as purely coincidental

Rules (subject to change)

Key areas:

Deployment Zone: This is where your generals will be situated upon the starting of the game. What is being shown here is your own defensive half. Which means in order to make the most out of everything you have, you'll have to move your general cards into the opponent player's own deployment zone.

Discard Pile: This is where your used/discarded cards will go. At the same time, all your generals evacuated will go here as well. More on that later on.

Deck: This will be where you'll draw your cards (ofc lah! Ah bo then?). You can have a maximum of eight cards in your hand. More on that later on.

Command: This is your frontline chenghu (i.e. government in Singlish). Simply put, you cannot afford to get them all killed. Okay, actually you only need to kill one vital lobo, that's it. But anyway, if Deployment Zone is to be where your generals are, then your Command is basically where the rest of your character cards should be. More on that later on.

(Alamak! How come I like keep on repeating one sia?)

Different type of cards:

General [武将] - This is your frontline character card type where he/she can only move and act about within the Deployment Zone.

Adviser [谋臣] - This is your support character card type where he/she can only be put within your Command area.

Tactics [兵计] - Self-explanatory. Okay, I know I sound like a jerk here. But anyway, this is basically your one-shot effect card which can be used under specific conditions or on specific target type. Mostly for support, but exceptions exist where they can end up dealing direct damage.

Strategy [军谋] - Quite similar to Tactics, but only having a certain extent of lasting effect, i.e. status effect lasting for a relevant number of turns.

Title [官位] - Basically whatever military and political ranks for the respective character cards. Military Titles are reserved for Generals while political Titles are reserved for the Advisers. Yet, it's perfectly possible for a General to have a political Title and vice versa for any Adviser. The effects can basically range from actual support to actual combat.

*Latest!*
Reinforcement [援军] - Effect cards targeting any given Generals offering various types of permanent buffs.

Unique Cards:

Strategist [军师] - You can only have one Strategist in your army (i.e. every character cards being played). Character cards of this type are basically Advisers who have the option to become a Strategist. Case in point: If I have two Strategists, it will only mean that I have two character cards eligible for such a role. At the same time, Strategists can have two abilities. One as an Adviser and the other as a Strategist.

Commander [统帅] - You can only have one Commander in your army just like the character card type above. If Strategists are all about being Advisers as a prerequisite, then Commanders are basically your Generals' variation.

Lord [君主] - This is your commander in chief. Keep him safe, for if he dies, it's game over and total defeat.

Event [事迹] - Actual events in history translated onto this TCG. It's a one-shot usage with a lasting effect until the end of the game. For convenience of reference, it's advisable to reserve an area (e.g. beside your deck) where you can put any/all your Event cards used.

Card Rarity:

SR: Super Rare

R: Rare

UC: Uncommon

C: Common

Card Factions:

Wei [魏] - Founded by the great warlord Cao Cao and further strengthened by his son Cao Pi, this is the northern kingdom of cavalry driven by brutal decisiveness. Its Generals are renowned for their bravery, their Advisers being advocates of order in politics and chaos with a purpose during war.

Shu [蜀] - Founded by the wandering hero Liu Bei and continued by his firstborn son Liu Shan, this is the youngest faction filled with able wisdom coming from its Advisers and feats of valour spearheaded by its Generals. With a strong military and the land of Hanzhong as the northern most fortress, it will only take an army of fools to challenge an army of steel.

Wu [吴] - From the legendary Sun Jian to his all conquering firstborn son Sun Ce, the current lord Sun Quan may be still young. But exceptional ability to rule has now made firm Jiangdong's status as a naval force to be reckoned with.

Han [汉] - The Eastern Han is now nearing its twilight, loyal vassals are few far and in between. Dominated by the greedy and corrupted, an old era has to do battle with the new.

Qun [群] - Feeding upon a time of turmoil, none dare to stand before these warlords hungry for domination and battle. Will peace ever come to a strife riven dynasty or perhaps an eternal dark age awaits?

How to start your game

Firstly, you must select your own army. This is NOT just about choosing your own deck, it's also about choosing which character cards you will start the game with. No matter how many characters you field at the start, you can never exceed the total cost of 15 Resource points. Do take note that the minimum cost of any given character card is 1 Resource point with the maximum limit being 5 Resource points. Do take note that your chosen Lord character is included in the 15 cost quota.

Secondly after you've finished your character selection, you can opt to allocate 10 Resource points to your respective characters where Title cards are concerned. Title cards' cost range from 1 to 3 Resource points.

Lastly, you must decide which character is to be your Strategist and Commander.

After all has been said and done, you may start the game with eight cards drawn into your hand.

Note: Character selection is different from summoning any character. I will cover this in the next part.

Character Traits

This is basically your characters' passive ability indicated within your triggered ability's text box at the upper right corner. Basically, it can be separated into three types:

Assault [奇袭] - General trait. This is basically your first strike rule. If a General with Assault is attacked, he/she will still gain the first strike advantage. If both Generals have Assault, then the one with a higher Resource cost will go first.

Defend [拒守] - General trait. This is somewhat like a triggered indestructible status. Once activated, your General cannot attack until your next turn. During your General's Defend status, enemy Generals cannot declare any attack against said General.

Law [令法] - Adviser trait. You can increase the maximum value of your Resource points used for selecting your Generals' Titles by X where X is the cost of your said Adviser.

Ambush [伏兵] - Adviser trait. You can choose up till X number of Generals at the start of the game where X is the cost of your said Adviser. Any General chosen this way can never declare any attack until he/she declares an interception against any attacking enemy General. More on the interception rule later on.

Politics [施政] - Lord trait. Any Adviser's summoning cost will be reduced by 1.

War [先身] - Lord trait. You can move this Lord into your deployment zone without any penalty or bonus while any General's summoning cost will be reduced by 1. Any Lord with the War trait will be treated automatically as a Commander regardless of whether there's any such character in the first place.

Turn Phase

1. Draw Phase: Draw a card from your deck

2. Preparation Phase: This is where you will play your strategy/tactic cards. At the same time, this is the only phase where you can opt whether or not to activate any General's Defend trait.

3. Combat Phase: This is where you will declare any attack against any of your opponent player's Generals

4. End Phase: Resolves any outstanding effect. Generals on the field suffering any form of damage beforehand will also regain full Strength.

Layout (For character cards only)

Strength: This is an indication of BOTH your character's hit points and the amount of damage he/she can deal. This will be shown in the lower left corner.

Cost: The Resource cost of your respective cards. This will be shown in the upper right corner.

Triggered Ability: Situated at the bottom third of your character card with the relevant information.

Character's epithet: This is labeled on the left column where the words are written in a vertical manner.

Character's faction: Labeled on the upper left corner in the form of the respective single Chinese character.

Character's name: Just labeled beside the character's faction.

Layout (For Tactic/Strategy/Title cards)

Name: At the top centre of the card.

Cost: Same with the character card's layout.

Ability effect: Same as the Triggered Ability for character cards. Whether the card is a Title, Tactic or Strategy will be listed beforehand.

Resources

How you spend your resources firstly and foremost will be down to this being only eligible during your Preparation phase. Secondly, you'll have to discard any given card from your hand in order to declare how much Resource points you'll want to spend. Simply put, only whatever cards in your hand can be treated as a relevant amount of Resource points [资源]. For example:

Discard a card with a Resource cost of 2=You'll gain 2 Resource points in return.

Do take note that you can discard any number of cards this way with the total tally being the number of Resource points able to be spent on any Tactic/Strategy/General card.

How Summoning works

Summoning is just like calling for reinforcements in the form of actual Generals with you only able to do so during your own Preparation Phase [筹划] by default. Needless to say, the amount of Resource points used is according to the respective General's cost indicated on the card.

Specific details on Tactic and Strategy cards

Do take note that while such cards can only be dealt during the Preparation Phase, certain type of Tactic cards can only be used during the Combat Phase. Such condition will be indicated in the ability effect box.

However you must remember that no matter what, Strategy cards can only be played during your Preparation Phase.

Additional info on your Lord cards

Only Lord cards with the War trait can move back and forth between your own deployment zone and command zone with no penalty/bonus. And by penalty/bonus, this is all about whatever effects dealt by Tactic/Strategy cards. Any penalty is negated because your Lord is the living icon of your army, hence whatever prestige demanded will surely override any obstacle due to his own men willing to go forth in removing any obstacle. Bonus is negated because a Lord has no need for boons reserved for deserving Generals/

At the same time, Lord cards with the Politics trait can also move into your deployment zone and back to your command zone. However he must pay an additional Resource cost of 2 before making such a decision, i.e. 2 points spent beforehand if your Lord is going into your deployment zone and 2 additional points spent if your Lord wants to return back to your command zone.

Do take note that you can only either choose to advance into your deployment zone or retreating back to your command zone during your Preparation Phase, NOT opting to do both consecutively.

How summoning Advisers and Lords work...

Simply put, you can NEVER do so. Summoning is ONLY for your General cards. Period.

Attacking during Combat Phase
(Updated 15 Feb 2013)

Arguably the most important part of the gameplay. Firstly and foremost, you can only declare one attack [宣吿攻击] per General during your Combat Phase. Once your General declares an attack, a specific enemy General must be targeted. However, the defending player can choose any of his own available General(s) within his deployment zone to intercept the attack. If no opposing Generals are chosen to intercept, your General will resolve the combat with the targeted General as per normal. Combat resolution works like this:

General A declares an attack on General B. A has a Strength of 2500 while B has a Strength of 2000. General A has the higher Strength, hence General A wins the battle. General B as a result will be rendered as Vulnerable [被动].
General A however, will be left with 500 Strength, i.e. 2500-2000=500

If General B is to be attacked/damaged again while still Vulnerable, then B will be declared as Evacuated [徹退]. However if General B survives, B will revert back to Alert status [正兵] during the controller's Preparation Phase.
If General A lost the fight, then A will remain at the controlling player's deployment zone under Vulnerable status until starting of controller's next turn.

Do note that Generals declared as Evacuated MUST go to your discard pile together with whatever cards used/discarded.

Intercepting

If any of your General is being targeted for attack, you can declare any other General under your control to intercept the enemy General [迎击锁定] so long as your intercepting General is under Alert status. You can declare as many Alert Generals as you want for intercepting. At the same time, more than one Alert General can be selected to intercept the same attacking General.

Resolving damage under this condition is the same as any attack declared without any intercepting (refer to Attacking during Combat Phase above)

However, if your intercepting General(s) lost the resultant battle, your said General(s) will be rendered Vulnerable.

Latest note (updated 5th Feb 2013) - Generals under Ambush status can NEVER be targeted for attack by any enemy General. Any Ambush attempt by your General will be triggered by declaring an interception. If the General under Ambush status has a higher cost, he/she will win the combat as per normal. If the General being intercepted has a higher cost, he/she will not take any damage while the General performing the Ambush will still remain untapped.

Latest note (updated 15 Feb 2013) - The rule of Evacuation also applies to any of your intercepting Generals under Vulnerable status.

Advancing into Enemy's deployment zone

If your General managed to secure victory after a declared attack, he/she will be moved automatically into the opponent's deployment zone. At the same time, if your General failed to defeat any opponent General(s) intercepting him/her, then your attacking General cannot advance into the opponent's deployment zone. However, your General will NOT be considered as Vulnerable under such a situation.

Latest note (updated 15 Feb 2013) - If your General lost the battle this way, opposing player may choose whether or not to declare a follow up attack [追击] against said General. Rules for any follow up attack is the same as how the player declares an attack during the Combat Phase. Any General defeated this way must remain Vulnerable until starting of controller's next turn.

Reviving your Evacuated Generals

Reviving your Evacuated Generals [再起] requires DOUBLE the amount of the respective General's cost during your Preparation Phase.

Example:
General B has been evacuated. B is a cost 4 General. Hence you must use 8 Resource points to revive General B during the aforementioned Phase.

Important loose ends to tie up

Any effect linked with any card's cost can ONLY be resolved via the card's initial cost.

Example:

Card A gains immunity against all Tactic cards with the cost of 2 or less=any other effects reducing any Tactic card's cost will be ignored as a result.

Conditions for defeat/victory for any given match (but firstly a bit of notice)

I might have said this before, but again I repeat: You can only have ONE Strategist and ONE Commander during the entire match. Your Strategist can never go beyond your command zone while if your Commander is Evacuated, then EVERY single General will be Evacuated as well immediately.
Under such a condition, you can never have the option to revive all your Evacuated Generals unless you revive your Commander first.

If you fail to revive your Commander (or choosing not to do so for whatever reason), then the opponent Generals will be able to attack your command come that player's next turn. If your Lord's Strength drops to zero in any case, then you will have effectively lost the match. Yet, there's more than one way opponent players can secure a victory. Namely if your deck runs out of cards, you will still lose the match anyway.

Q&A

Q: What will happen to my Advisers if they happened to be tapped?

A: All their abilities cannot be used.

Q: So does that mean the same for my tapped Generals?

A: Yes.

Q: But what if my Advisers gets Evacuated?

A: Then they will be counted as being removed from the game.

Q: Is it acceptable for any card cost to fall below 1 due to whatever card effect?

A: No. Minimum cost should be 1.

Q: How should I use the Event cards?

A: You can opt to use it before starting of the match. However you can only use one Event per game.

Q: Do Event cards carry a certain cost?

A: No. Event cards do not require any Resource points since it's actually all about situations rather than dealing with actual stuff.

Q: So should I just use my Tactic and Strategy cards only during my Preparation Phase?
A: Tactic cards are mainly used during Preparation Phase. However there will be exceptions to the rule. Strategy cards can only be played during the Preparation Phase.

The Genius of Yingchuan (Part 10) 《颍川之鬼才》

So apparently, this is the final part of my Guo Jia journey. Can't imagine that this can last for 10 posts straight...


[年三十八，自柳城还，疾笃，太祖问疾者交错。及薨，临其丧，哀甚，谓荀攸等曰：“诸君年皆孤辈也，唯奉孝最少。天下事竟，欲以后事属之，而中年夭折，命也夫！”

乃表曰：“军祭酒郭嘉，自从征伐，十有一年。每有大议，临敌制变。臣策未决，嘉辄成之。平定天下，谋功为高。不幸短命，事业未终。追思嘉勋，实不可忘。可增邑八百户，并前千户。”

魏书载太祖表曰：“臣闻褒忠宠贤，未必当身，念功惟绩，恩隆后嗣。是以楚宗孙叔，显封厥子；岑彭既没，爵及支庶。故军祭酒郭嘉，忠良渊淑，体通性达。每有大议，发言盈庭，执中处理，动无遗策。自在军旅，十有馀年，行同骑乘，坐共幄席，东禽吕布，西取眭固，斩袁谭之首，平朔土之众，逾越险塞，荡定乌丸，震威辽东，以枭袁尚。虽假天威，易为指麾，至於临敌，发扬誓命，凶逆克殄，勋实由嘉。方将表显，短命早终。上为朝廷悼惜良臣，下自毒恨丧失奇佐。宜追增嘉封，并前千户，褒亡为存，厚往劝来也。”

谥曰贞侯。子奕嗣。魏书称奕通达见理。奕字伯益，见王昶家诫。

后太祖征荆州还，於巴丘遇疾疫，烧船，叹曰：“郭奉孝在，不使孤至此。”

傅子曰：太祖又云：“哀哉奉孝！痛哉奉孝！惜哉奉孝！”

初，陈群非嘉不治行检，数廷诉嘉，嘉意自若。太祖愈益重之，然以群能持正，亦悦焉。

傅子曰：太祖与荀彧书，追伤嘉曰：“郭奉孝年不满四十，相与周旋十一年，阻险艰难，皆共罹之。又以其通达，见世事无所凝滞，欲以后事属之，何意卒尔失之，悲痛伤心。今表增其子满千户，然何益亡者，追念之感深。且奉孝乃知孤者也；天下人相知者少，又以此痛惜。奈何奈何！”

又与彧书曰：“追惜奉孝，不能去心。其人见时事兵事，过绝於人。又人多畏病，南方有疫，常言 ‘吾往南方，则不生还’。然与共论计，云当先定荆。此为不但见计之忠厚，必欲立功分，弃命定。事人心乃尔，何得使人忘之！”

奕为太子文学，早薨。子深嗣。深薨，子猎嗣。世语曰：嘉孙敞，字泰中，有才识，位散骑常侍。]

Analysis: Now I'm not gonna translate this big ass piece of statement. But suffice to say, this is all about Guo Jia's death. That plus a few segments above which were actually brought up in the various posts before.

But before we hit the big one, let's take a brief look at...

[奕为太子文学，早薨。子深嗣。深薨，子猎嗣。世语曰：嘉孙敞，字泰中，有才识，位散骑常侍。]

Apparently, Guo Jia's son also died early. Why is it that I've got this funny feeling that everything started from the genes? >.<

Now onto the correct track. Guo Jia died at the young age of 38. Is it a pity? Let's see how Cao Cao saw his death:

[后太祖征荆州还，於巴丘遇疾疫，烧船，叹曰：“郭奉孝在，不使孤至此。”

傅子曰：太祖又云：“哀哉奉孝！痛哉奉孝！惜哉奉孝！”]

This was back during Cao Cao's defeat at the hands of Zhou Yu (周瑜) during the Battle of Chibi (赤壁之战). So why did Cao Cao lament for Guo Jia?

Now the thing is this: The entire intent to declare war on Sun Quan (孙权) was down to Cao Cao himself. Prior to his fateful decision made, there were at least two advisers beseeching him not to do so.

Firstly, Jia Xu actually suggested a waiting game where the number one importance should be all about consolidating Cao Cao's influence on the newly conquered Jing Province. The people there had yet to declare their undying loyalty and it was Jia Xu's idea that Cao Cao should do his utmost best to stabilise the region so that victory over Sun Quan would be far more of an absolute in the longer run.

[诩谏曰：“明公昔破袁氏，今收汉南，威名远著，军势既大；若乘旧楚之饶，以飨吏士，抚安百姓，使安土乐业，则可不劳众而江东稽服矣。”]

Secondly, Cheng Yu has always been a proponent of counter intuitive thinking. Therefore, he did warn Cao Cao not to dumb down the tigerish upstart to the east.

[论者以为孙权必杀备，昱料之曰：“孙权新在位，未为海内所惮。曹公无敌於天下，初举荆州，威震江表，权虽有谋，不能独当也。刘备有英名，关羽、张飞皆万人敌也，权必资之以御我。难解势分，备资以成，又不可得而杀也。”]

Which now comes to whether Cao Cao would still go ahead if Fengxiao (i.e. Guo Jia) is still around. Via the disastrous defeat, I believe his lament had never been about whether Guo Jia would be able to help him come hell or high water, but rather with Guo Fengxiao around, Cao Cao wouldn't end up making that rash decision.

In an eerie manner, this was also the case when Zhuge Liang lamented over Fa Zheng's (法正) premature death due to Liu Bei's total failure at the Battle of Xiaoting (猇亭之战).

[亮叹曰：“法孝直若在，则能制主上，令不东行；就复东行，必不倾危矣。”]
《三国志：法正传》

Which now comes to the second part: How important was Guo Jia to Cao Cao?

[ 初，陈群非嘉不治行检，数廷诉嘉，嘉意自若。太祖愈益重之，然以群能持正，亦悦焉。]

Cao Cao had never took into account Guo Jia's numerous acts of indiscretion (maybe it's about getting drunk, being a sucker for pretty ladies, being late nine out of ten times... I dunno srsly). In fact, chances were that Cao Cao was rooting for Guo Jia by my own imagination. After all, I do sense some kind of parallel between Guo Jia and the Cao Cao of early youth:

[太祖少机警，有权数，而任侠放荡，不治行业，故世人未之奇也]
《三国志：武帝纪》

In case you all don't really understand what's being said above, it basically means that:

1. Cao Cao is certified talent.
2. Cao Cao is a certified ah-beng.
3. Cao Cao is a certified slacker.

And let's not go on about Cao Cao being a certified lecher. >.<

[每有大议，发言盈庭，执中处理，动无遗策。]

Basically, that means Guo Jia's authority within every major meeting was basically indisputable and absolute.

[东禽吕布，西取眭固，斩袁谭之首，平朔土之众，逾越险塞，荡定乌丸，震威辽东，以枭袁尚。]

This part is all about his posthumous CV.

[自在军旅，十有馀年，行同骑乘，坐共幄席]

This one precedes the former and it's is all about him and Cao Cao being far more like long lost brothers rather than merely a vassal and his lord. You don't get ride the same carriage and sitting with each other side by side if we're talking about a person like Cao Cao. It's just like me saying so-and-so will always sit in the same car as ex-MM Lee Kuan Yew while also eating together at the same table during every banquet.

A/N: Am I bullshitting here? Of course this is just a mere hyperbole, so please grow up kids. One thirteen year old coward is more than enough trouble to handle.

[“诸君年皆孤辈也，唯奉孝最少。天下事竟，欲以后事属之，而中年夭折，命也夫！”]

Guo Jia was being stated as the most junior amongst Cao Cao's advisers, but yet he ended up being far more important than any one of them. The ancient China back then could be extremely anal at times society wise. Simply put, if you're someone senior, you're a demi-god. If you're someone younger, it means you deserved to be pecked.

In fact, Cao Cao actually stated that Guo Jia was to be his choice of overseeing his empire after his death!

[天下事竟，欲以后事属之]

In fact, the account of Fuzi below has pretty much collaborated nicely. Only with a different style of wording:

[傅子曰：太祖与荀彧书，追伤嘉曰：“郭奉孝年不满四十，相与周旋十一年，阻险艰难，皆共罹之。又以其通达，见世事无所凝滞，欲以后事属之，何意卒尔失之，悲痛伤心。今表增其子满千户，然何益亡者，追念之感深。且奉孝乃知孤者也；天下人相知者少，又以此痛惜。奈何奈何！”

又与彧书曰：“追惜奉孝，不能去心。其人见时事兵事，过绝於人。又人多畏病，南方有疫，常言 ‘吾往南方，则不生还’。然与共论计，云当先定荆。此为不但见计之忠厚，必欲立功分，弃命定。事人心乃尔，何得使人忘之！”]

With some additional facts like:

1. Guo Jia died even before he reached 40. That can be construed as him being far more suay than Fa Zheng who at least managed to break that 40 year mark.

2. Guo Jia was merely with Cao Cao for 11 years. Comparatively, even Jia Xu managed to last far more longer (although that's mainly down to him being able to play his own game of self-preservation under his own terms and conditions. What a slippery bastard. Poor Xun Yu must be vomiting blood like a twisted form of the Merlion in afterlife now).

3. Cao Cao again affirmed Guo Jia's contributions via merit in talent and not just results, i.e. he praised Guo Jia's ability to understand every matter in politics and military even though nothing is being stated explicitly on the former in terms of text.

4. No one knew Cao Cao better than Guo Jia. We the Chinese (not just from the PRC mind you) have a famous saying: Accompanying a ruler is akin to accompanying a tiger [伴君如伴虎]. In fact, that's why Xun Yu died at Shouchun [寿春] although I can assure every Jia Xu hater that Wenhe (文和), i.e. Jia Xu, had nothing to do with it.

5. Guo Jia knew that he would die anyway, so might as well exit the living world in the most spectacular fashion possible. And that is to achieve something he truly wanted to.

Talent's KPI: Ungraded. Not because he failed horribly of course, but rather how are we able to grade someone like Guo Fengxiao, knowing full well that his accomplishments had exceeded whatever grading system possible? Hello people, we're not talking about this, okay?

Actually come to think of it, if someone is to write a romance light novel with Guo Jia pairing up together with whoever should be that (un)lucky girl, then...

Lyrics

疾风击下邳，人中吕布擒

良言一语道，智冠震天下

料事知袁绍，曹公意志定

惊闻虎儿哮，远见挫江东

鬼谋制敌变，隔岸观火延

渔翁既得利，神算定河北

军略袭乌丸，恃远不备败

双眸兼胆量，决策识二刘

从军十一载，唯其最年少

惜哉郭奉孝，奇人名千古

The Genius of Yingchuan (Part 9) 《颍川之鬼才》

My GCE A Level:

How I buggered an family of sods

~鬼谋制敌变，神算定河北~

[从破袁绍，绍死，又从讨谭、尚于黎阳，连战数克。诸将欲乘胜遂攻之，嘉曰：“袁绍爱此二子，莫适立也。有郭图、逢纪为之谋臣，必交斗其间，还相离也。急之则相持，缓之而后争心生。不如南向荆州若征刘表者，以待其变；变成而后击之，可一举定也。”

太祖曰：“善。”

乃南征。军至西平，谭、尚果争冀州。谭为尚军所败，走保平原，遣辛毗乞降。太祖还救之，遂从定邺。又从攻谭于南皮，冀州平。封嘉洧阳亭侯。

傅子曰：河北既平，太祖多辟召青、冀、幽、并知名之士，渐臣使之，以为省事掾属。皆嘉之谋也。]

Trans:
[Upon Shao's death shortly after his defeat, (Yuan) Tan and (Yuan) Shang were engaged in battle at Liyang and victory was gained battle after battle. All the generals intended to build onto the momentum in pursuit, yet Jia said: "Yuan Shao doted on these two sons of his, hence unable to decide who should be his heir. With Guo Tu and Pang Ji as advisers, infighting will soon follow. If we're to attack now, they will unite themselves as one. If we're to delay our movement, they will soon harbour intentions of turning against each other. Why not we send our forces down south to the Jing Province in preparation for an invasion in order to await that moment of vital change? Should things go this way, we can declare an attack and defeat the enemy in a single go."

Taizu answered: "Good." Hence mobilising his forces down south.

Upon Taizu's army reaching Xiping, Tan and Shang indeed ended up fighting against each other over the Ji Province. Tan was defeated by Shang's army and forced to flee unto Pingyuan with Xin Pi being sent to negotiate for a surrender. Taizu went back to rescue Tan and conquered Ye. Soon after, he attacked Tan at Nanpi, hence annexing the Ji Province. Jia was honoured as the Pavilion Marquis of Weiyang.

Fuzi: Upon conquering Hebei, Taizu managed to gain many renowned talents from the provinces of Qing, Ji, You, and Bing to assist him with local affairs. This was made possible only by Jia's strategy.]

Analysis: Apparently, we the Chinese (and that including us the Singaporean Chinese mind you) have this famous saying: 什么鸟生什么样的蛋 (Whatever the type of bird will surely lay the same type of eggs).

Simply put, if your daddy is so ****ing useless unto the extent that your most able people in the form of Tian Feng (田丰) and Ju Shou (沮授) got mistreated, then it's only natural that the Best Karma Award should go to people like that. (i.e. 生孩子没屁眼). Hell, even Liu Shan (刘禅) wasn't that inept unlike what we'd like to believe in (although despite his proven aptitude, he can't really perform without Zhuge Liang [诸葛亮]).

As for Cao Cao, he had a capable son called Cao Pi (曹丕) while his grandson Cao Rui (曹叡) was yet another proven act in terms of positive dynamics in genetics. And let's not go on about why Sun Jian's kids were all so garang (and that's given Sun Ce's only [fatal] problem was an absurd case of arrogance).

So now let's talk about that one merry thing called family politics. Without Tian Feng and Ju Shou (both were certified executed by then), the entire dynasty collapsed. Yuan Shao's indecisiveness had proved way more harmful than otherwise expected. It's one thing to shaft yourself while alive and quite another thing direr to shaft your kids posthumous.

Now there's a very good reason why Guo Jia said everybody should just close shop first. The impact of Cao Cao's victory at Guandu was still freshly imprinted in those two or just about everyone still remaining under the Yuans' banner. Therefore any attempt in pursuit would unite the feuding bros temporarily, resulting in stiff resistance and unwanted trouble. Yet upon being left alone with their own devices, a spectacular show of implosive fireworks would be at hand. Simply put, you can't expect stupid kids to be capable of anything intelligent.

So now that Yuan Tan tried gunning for a parley, should Cao Cao foot his enemy's bill? Now despite Yuan Tan's ineptitude, he still carried a certain repute amongst the Hebei faithful. Simply put, if the two were to forge an ad hoc alliance, it would actually be easier than otherwise assumed to defeat that other retard.

The only problem? You can't expect such a fella to keep diam diam for long one hor. If I was Cao Cao, there's no chance in hell I will ever let some ****witted upstart upstaging me for free. Hence, Yuan Tan having his ass handed to Cao Cao on a silver platter at Nanpi.

Which now comes to the part on Jing Province. Now this was a vital land of strategic importance. During Liu Bei's audience with Zhuge Liang, the latter did mention that by gaining the control of Jing Province first and the Yi Province afterwards, Liu Bei could command an indisputable strategic advantage.

[荆州北据汉、沔，利尽南海，东连吴会，西通巴、蜀，此用武之国，而其主不能守，此殆天所以资将军，将军岂有意乎？]

Yet, by stationing the forces by the border and not moving anywhere forward, the onus was very clear. It was in truth a pseudo-facade created in order to rift the Yuan brothers further apart. The cracks were already showing by then, it's just like a cracking vase doomed to shatter completely, superglue or no superglue. Indeed Guo Jia's exceptional show of genius truly shone again.

Of course by exterminating Yuan Tan, Cao Cao was able to effectively annex his old friend-turned-enemy's territories. In fact, he could easily declare Yuan Tan as a rebel without cause by then since their contract of political aid was effectively concluded upon defeating Yuan Shang.

Talent's KPI: A+. This is something truly unable to match Guo Jia's previous feat in predicting Sun Ce's death. But then again, we really have to give it to him for being able to formulate something out of seemingly nothing. Wait a sec, that sound weirdly like how Mogga played a half-assed first 11 against Aldershot and Hastings United respectively.

Moral of the story: You can indeed go far if you're a critical thinker able to think out of the box. Wait a sec, didn't a certain Li Ao say something about S'poreans being dumb?

And now let's enjoy the half time break first...

Disclaimer: I'm still a certified apolitical bastard. The only reason why I list down the clips is because I feel like trolling random people. :P

Okay, now onto the 2nd half....

My Final University Exams:

How I upended an army of sods (plus one familiar sod as well)

~军略袭乌丸，决策识二刘~

[太祖将征袁尚及三郡乌丸，诸下多惧刘表使刘备袭许以讨太祖，嘉曰：“公虽威震天下，胡恃其远，必不设备。因其无备，卒然击之，可破灭也。且袁绍有恩于民夷，而尚兄弟生存。今四州之民，徒以威附，德施未加，舍而南征，尚因乌丸之资，招其死主之臣，胡人一动，民夷俱应，以生蹋顿之心，成觊觎之计，恐青、冀非己之有也。表，坐谈客耳，自知才不足以御备，重任之则恐不能制，轻任之则备不为用，虽虚国远征，公无忧矣。”

太祖遂行。至易，嘉言曰：“兵贵神速。今千里袭人，辎重多，难以趣利，且彼闻之，必为备；不如留辎重，轻兵兼道以出，掩其不意。”

太祖乃密出卢龙塞，直指单于庭。虏卒闻太祖至，惶怖合战。大破之，斩蹋顿及名王已下。尚及兄熙走辽东。]

Trans:
[Upon Taizu's decision to attack Yuan Shang and the three counties of Wuwan, many under him feared the possibility of Liu Biao sending Liu Bei to attack Xu in order to declare war against Taizu.

Jia said: "Although my lord's repute has resounded throughout the land, the Hu people will never bother to stay alert due to them being far away from us. We can take advantage of their laxness and launch an abrupt attack, hence being able destroy them.

"Additionally, Yuan Shao owed a debt of gratitude towards these people and Shang is still alive with his brother. The people of the four provinces are now merely with us due to awe and without any show of actual credibility. If we are to solely focus on attacking the south, Shang will utilise the resources of Wuwan in order to rally his dead father's vassals. Upon movements coming from the Hu people, both the locals and barbaric tribes will answer the call, thus increasing Ta Dun's boldness and fulfilling their insidious plans. By then, it'll be likely that the lands of Qing and Ji will be lost to us.

"Biao on the other hand, is merely a talker who understands Bei as his better capability wise. If he is to grant Bei great responsibilities, there will be a fear towards an inability to contain him. Yet if he is to give Bei minor duties, Bei will refuse to serve. Therefore, we can rest assured going ahead even with a weak country being left behind. Hence fret not, my lord."

Thus Taizu made his move.

Upon reaching Yi, Jia advised: "It's best to deploy forces swiftly. Even though we must assault the enemy a thousand li away, our men are still being weighed down by excessive baggage. At this rate, we won't be able to achieve the desired result.

"In addition, the enemy can detect us easily, hence losing our element of surprise. Why not leave behind most of our supplies and travel forth lightly via detour, so that we can effectively blindside them?"

Thus Taizu led his forces from the Lulong Pass and assaulted the Shan'yu's court. The barbaric soldiers could only erect a panicked resistance upon word of Taizu's arrival. Completely routed, Ta Dun and his underling lords were all cut down. Shang and his elder brother Xi escaped to Liaodong.]

Analysis: Wow, that's a long ass passage here and none of them being part of Pei Songzhi's annotations. I'm gonna have some fun with this.

Okay firstly, let's talk about the two Lius. On one hand, we have Garang Liu who possessed the kind of capability to survive and adapt like a regal cockroach. No disrespect meant, but I think we really have to give Liu Bei far more credit than whatever weepy image that fictional bible would like us to believe in.

Of course Luo Guanzhong didn't harbour any intention to bullshit 90% of the global student population, it's just that we're all dumber than we look. I know because I've went through my very own Journey to the West. Just don't call me Sun Wukong (孙悟空) please. I'd rather be Sun Toukong (孙头空).

Now enough on the digression. Let's just summarise everything from Cao Cao's verdict back when he and Liu Bei were still pretty chummy.

Summary:
[“今天下英雄，唯使君与操耳。本初之徒，不足数也。”]

Trans:
[Now the only heroes of this era available are you, O'vassal, and me. As for the likes of Benchu (Yuan Shao), they are nothing."]

Which now comes to NATO Liu. Was Guo Jia bullshitting Cao Cao when he talked down NATO Liu as a bullshitter? I don't think I need to give you guys the evidence. If Garang Liu was offered the chance to do so, he would have gladly kicked Cao Cao straight in the bollocks.

And now let us go onto the actual battle. Now I don't have to explain why Guo Jia insisted on taking down the blokes at Wuwan since it's already self-explanatory. Let's talk about Wuwan first. Where is Wuwan? It's actually way far flung to the north.

Now we must understand that the Han people weren't the only ones populating China back then. All the while, we also have the minority ethnic races popping up as well. We can basically split these people into two broad categories:

1. Those whose civilisation was based in the various mountain ranges. The most commonly known areas would be the Ba Shu (巴蜀) region now more famously known as part of Szechuan, and the Nanzhong (南中) region which is basically the entire mountainous area south of China (Yunan is one of the most famous example of such a terrain).

2. The northern grasslands/steppes where the nomadic tribes hailed from.

Wuwan belonged to the latter and the term Hu people is actually a collective term reserved for such folks (although by the time where Zhuge Liang managed to assume total control over the entire Shu Han faction, the Hu people were already there. Most likely due to Ma Chao's defection N ages ago, but that's just me hazarding a guess).

In fact, it's even further up north than Hebei itself and that really suggests the kind of crazy challenge Cao Cao had to face back then and to be fair, it was truly a draining expedition. Thankfully, he had his much famed/feared Cavalry of Tiger and Panther (虎豹骑) which might have been hinted as being the super blokes doing the job.

As if that's not enough, quite naturally their chief of elite cavalry, Cao Chun (曹纯) was present. Plus a brief account from Zhang Liao (张辽) did also clearly imply that Mr Mofo himself had partaken in Operation Ho-Chi-Liap-Ho-Li-Si.

Of course we have to ask ourselves a very interesting question here finally. How did Ta Dun get himself and his khakis killed where in fact they're all undergoing a court convention? The northern tribes didn't really care much for buildings, that's why. Simply put, the entire meeting was taking place in a tent right at the middle.

Again, in Guo Fengxiao we trust.

Talent's KPI: S+++. Because that's the end of the story for all.

And lastly let us enjoy some ending victory sideshow...

WARNING!

VULGAR HOKKIEN CONTENT IN THE CLIP BELOW!!!!!

The Genius of Yingchuan (Part 8) 《颍川之鬼才》

Penultimate episode. And damned should this one be a real cracker. :)

CV of a true blue talent

My PSLE:

How I owned that stupid sod

~疾风击下邳，智冠震天下~

[征吕布，三战破之，布退固守。时士卒疲倦，太祖欲引军还，嘉说太祖急攻之，遂禽布。语在荀攸传。傅子曰：太祖欲引军还，嘉曰：“昔项籍七十馀战，未尝败北，一朝失势而身死国亡者，恃勇无谋故也。今布每战辄破，气衰力尽，内外失守。布之威力不及项籍，而困败过之，若乘胜攻之，此成禽也。”太祖曰：“善。”]

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.

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

The Genius of Yingchuan (Part 7) 《颍川之鬼才》

So apparently, I've hit a major slump where getting tired and sleepy seems to be the daily fixture. And no, this has nothing to do with the Punggol East by-election. I'm strictly an apolitical bastard and proud to be one.

CV of a talent

But before that, allow me to analyse his one and only failure recorded:

[魏书曰：刘备来奔，以为豫州牧。或谓太祖曰：“备有英雄志，今不早图，后必为患。”太祖以问嘉，嘉曰：“有是。然公提剑起义兵，为百姓除暴，推诚仗信以招俊杰，犹惧其未也。今备有英雄名，以穷归己而害之，是以害贤为名，则智士将自疑，回心择主，公谁与定天下？夫除一人之患，以沮四海之望，安危之机，不可不察！”

太祖笑曰：“君得之矣。”]

[傅子曰：初，刘备来降，太祖以客礼待之，使为豫州牧。嘉言于太祖曰：“备有雄才而甚得众心。张飞、关羽者，皆万人之敌也，为之死用。嘉观之，备终不为人下，其谋未可测也。古人有言：‘一日纵敌，数世之患。’宜早为之所。”

是时，太祖奉天子以号令天下，方招怀英雄以明大信，未得从嘉谋。会太祖使备要击袁术，嘉与程昱俱驾而谏太祖曰：“放备，变作矣！”

时备已去，遂举兵以叛。太祖恨不用嘉之言。]

[案魏书所云，与傅子正反也。]

Trans:

[From the Book of Wei: When Liu Bei came to pledge his loyalty, he was made the Governor of Yu Province in return. Those around Taizu advised: "Bei is one with ambitions of a hero. If we don't deal with him now, he will be a major threat in the future."

Taizu hence asked Jia and Jia replied: "What they say is true. Yet since my lord is declaring arms in the name of righteousness, destroying evil for the people and inviting men of talent with sincerity should deny any undue fears. Now that Bei has a hero's repute, only harm will ensue if he is left with nothing in the end. If we are to kill him, then upon the basis of having a notoriety in harming the truly able, whoever serving us will end up serving other lords. Who, then will my lord have in pacifying the chaos? To destroy the threat of one man at the expense of a wide reaching repute earned is not prudent, one must decide carefully in the face of potential crisis!"

Taizu smiled: "You are indeed right."]

[From Fuzi: In the beginning, Bei came to pledge his allegiance. Taizu treated him with respect and made him the Governor of Yu Province. Jia advised Taizu: "Bei has the heart of a hero and support from the masses. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are renowned as warriors matching ten of thousand enemies and their undying loyalty is evident. By my own take, Bei will never subject himself under others for long, his shrewdness of mind no one can know. There's a saying: 'A day of freedom for an enemy will only mean countless years of trouble.' Hence it is best to reach a decision swiftly as possible."

At that time, Taizu was commanding all in the Emperor's name and gathering heroes in order to bolster his repute, hence not abiding to Jia's counsel. When Taizu sent Bei to attack Yuan Shu, both Jia and Cheng Yu arrived to together and told Taizu: "Letting Bei go is tantamount to creating trouble!"

By that time, Bei was already gone beyond reach as he managed to raise an army in rebellion. Taizu ended up regretting not listening to Jia.]

[By your lowly vassal's own perception, whatever being said in the Book of Wei is in contrary to whatever being recorded in Fuzi.]

Analysis: The entire part here is basically Pei Songzhi's annotations with his conclusion that both accounts conflicted with each other. But is it truly the case? Let's take a look at how the passages were being phrased. The Book of Wei's account was being written under one single context: The moment where Liu Bei came running and begging so as to speak. You see, everyone was telling Cao Cao to off Liu Bei at that time and Cao Cao had to seek Guo Jia's counsel in response.

The account of Fuzi on the other hand could be seen as Guo Jia advising Cao Cao after Liu Bei was made the Governor. Why am I so sure? Very simple, folks. Would Cao Cao have made Liu Bei the Governor of Yu Province without Guo Jia's assurance? I truly doubt so. Hence, both accounts by my own views do NOT conflict against each other. Guo Jia's advice in the former case was during Liu Bei pledging his allegiance whereas the latter account of Fuzi was only after his promise was assumed to be true.

Simply put, Guo Jia's failure wasn't down to not understanding the real McCoy. Rather, he placed too much trust in Cao Cao and he assumed Cao Cao was able to make the correct decision. You see, there are ways in more than one showing the other person that I don't give a damn. I can say it out loud, I can keep quiet as well. Cao Cao is most likely choosing the latter case. Because whatever being written in history is only all about what we can see in a real person's view and nothing more. Simply put, what we're seeing here is nothing more than actual results, not whatever going on in process.

In fact come to think of it, if the likes of Cheng Yu and Dong Zhao (董昭) can see through everything about Liu Bei, then quite obviously Guo Jia shouldn't be anywhere opposite. There's such a consequence called a serious breach of trust and we all know Guo Jia will never be that dumb.

... To be continued...

b/c now my (laobu's) laptop super laggy liao plus I need to go eat dinner also...

The Genius of Yingchuan (Part 5) 《颍川之鬼才》

Major Footie-note: I believe I did say something about talking random cock on Boro+4-4-2. Now I decided to change my mind because I'm gonna go crazy here. :D

Warning!

There's a couple of vulgar Malay memes being upped on this post. If anyone below the age of 16 wants to proceed, make sure your parents are around behind/beside you.

P.S: Credit goes to a certain Hairul during my part time ITE course in Electrical Engineering for teaching me about the vital word in the 1st meme.

P.S: Credit also goes to a certain Chief Khairul during my 32 SIB days for teaching me that word in the 2nd meme.

Foreword: One of the most significant moments in Cao Cao's life is down to how he won the Battle of Guandu. Now there has been a certain controversy going on with one side of the camp arguing that Guo Jia's Thesis of Ten Victories and Defeats (十胜十败) was the key while the other camp asserted that Xun Yu's Thesis of Four Victories and Defeats (四胜四败) is the actual deal. The latter case based their stance on the original version recorded by Chen Shou whilst the former case believed in their own words due to the relevant annotations from Fuzi (傅子) by Pei Songzhi (裴松之).

Firstly, let's dissect the individual talents within the two. Firstly, Xun Yu as a strategist is far more of a political visionary and an actual reader on any target individual's character. Basically, his foresight in military lies in consolidation rather than punitive measures. Guo Jia on the other hand, is a hands-on person in all things infrastructure and works per proven by how Cao Cao managed to secure final victory over Lu Bu at Xiapi.

But above all, he's a sharp analyser of any target individual's character weakness. If Xun Yu's case is all about understanding the concept of ability, then Guo Jia's analysis hinges heavily the concept of fallacy. It has been said quite so often that Guo Jia is arguably the best analyst during his time, i.e. starting from the twilight of Eastern Han [东汉末年] all the way until reunification under the Jin dynasty [晋朝] (Just don't ask me why the dynasty collapsed so fast. The incumbent Emperor [晋武帝] Sima Yan [司马炎] was a retard who can only reap the fruits of his grandfather [司马懿], uncle [司马师], and his father [司马昭]).

In fact, I have always suspected some serious foul play coming from the holy orders when Chen Shou was tasked to record the history (Chen Shou was part of the Jin dynasty during Sima Yan's reign and it seems that the fatuous foetus was truly guilty of foul play when it came to Zhao Yun and Fa Zheng's accounts).

Okay, enough of the digressing here. What I'm trying to say this: Guo Jia IS indeed a military genius. You see, he doesn't have Jia Xu (贾诩) or Xun You's meticulous calculating nor should we expect him to be like Cheng Yu (程昱) in terms of deployment. But what he's truly good at is utilising his own hard earned knowledge to accurately predict and preempt. Predicting the enemy's next move is all about predicting the outcome, preemptive strategy is all about using the former as the decision making basis.

And in order to do so, he must truly understand the concept called human fallacy. Every man has his own flaws and one such as Guo Jia can just easily use it to allow a certainty in self-destruction or measures most unexpected. Hence, allow me to touch upon his Thesis of Ten Victories and Defeats. In fact, you can alternately call this the Thesis of Self Destruction.

So why is it that we have a Xun Yu version and a Guo Jia version?

Note: The below portion is wholly from Xun Yu's account.

Firstly, we must understand by that time, Cao Cao had already hijacked the Emperor. The funniest fact? Yuan Shao was advised to do the same, but he hesitated because there were actually a set of clowns arguing against such a political strategy. For Cao Cao's case, he only needed some assurance from Xun Yu and that's it.

Ofc Yuan Shao ain't that amused. No, make that totally NOT amused.

[自太祖之迎天子也，袁绍内怀不服。绍益骄，与太祖书，其辞悖慢。太祖大怒，出入动静变于常，众皆谓以失利于张绣故也。锺繇以问彧，彧曰：“公之聪明，必不追咎往事，殆有他虑。”]

《三国志：荀彧传》

Trans:
[Ever since Taizu welcomed back the Emperor, Yuan Shao had been utterly bitter inside. Shao gradually became arrogant as he sent forth a written letter to Taizu, its very contents full of arrogance and disdain. Taizu was totally infuriated as his temperament soon became unpredictable. Everyone henceforth deduced that it was down to his defeat against Zhang Xiu. Upon Zhong Yao asking Yu, Yu answered: "Given the wisdom of our lord, he will never remember matters bygone. Rather he has his own worries at hand."]
《Record of the Three Kingdoms: Account of Xun Yu》

Analysis: We all know Cao Cao was a prideful bastard, but then again, so were Liu Bei, Sun Jian, Sun Ce, and Sun Quan. Okay, the actual warlords back then were either prideful bastards or useless bastards. Worst come to worst, it would always be both. Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu (袁术), and Gongsun Zan (公孙瓒) are merely just the most (in)famous of gangbangers blacklisted.

In fact, did Yuan Shao even know the coldest, hardest truth behind the defeat? Guys, Zhang Xiu would never have one upped Cao Cao if not for a certain Jia Xu. Intelligent bastard got a criminal track record without the yellow ribbon awarded to him hor.

Before this bloke, he served Guo Si (郭汜) and Li Jue (李傕). Even earlier back then, his boss was that most infamous Dong Zhuo (董卓), aka the Taleban of Luoyang (洛阳之塔利斑).

People tend to say trouble will always attract trouble and Jia Xu was indeed a certified trouble capable of screwing the ISA hundred times over. The sacking of Chang'an recorded in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms was indeed real. However, it's not Guo Si (or is it Li Jue? Dunno, forget orredy) who planned everything. Jia Xu was the instigator. Fullstop.

Long story short, this was the time where Xun Yu recommended Guo Jia to him. While it's not known when Xi Zhicai passed away, it could be very likely that upon Cao Cao's request for an able replacement, Xun Yu had already told him about his Thesis of Four Victories and Four Defeats. If so, then it's very likely that this was the moment where Xun Yu went like:

"Eh, boss. I know that fella mati liao lah. He also my fren, I also feel sad. Tell you what, boss. I got another good lobang, he actually my best lobang buddy lah. You know whatever cock I talking just now? That one my lobang buddy teach me one."

[则见太祖问之，太祖乃以绍书示彧，曰：“今将讨不义，而力不敌，何如？”]

Trans:
[Upon entrance asking Taizu, he revealed Shao's letter to Yu, saying: "Why is it that our forces were still defeated despite fighting in the name of righteousness?"]

Analysis: Righteousness is the best excuse to declare war against the other faction. It's not just something George W.Bush is capable of. Politics can be extremely infuriating most of the time, that's why I hate politics.

[彧曰：“古之成败者，诚有其才，虽弱必强，苟非其人，虽强易弱，刘、项之存亡，足以观矣。今与公争天下者，唯袁绍尔。]

Trans:
[Yu answered: "Ever since the olden days, what separates the victor from the vanquished is this: Those who are sincere will gain talents abound, those who are careless will lose their support. The former are those who will be strong despite weak at first, the latter will be easily weakened despite being strong. Is not knowledge behind Liu's survival and the death of Xiang enough? Now the only person fighting with Milord is Yuan Shao.]

Analysis: Liu Bang lost countless battles before he managed to checkmate Xiang Yu via a sudden victory out of nowhere, generally speaking of course. In fact, I can't even be sure on whether Liu Bang ended up winning most of the battles during the War of Chu Han (楚汉之争). But no matter what, Liu Bang managed to reverse the tide due to this very victory. In fact, Xiang Yu could pretty much curbstomp his rival if not for his own carelessness. Or as some might say, Xiang Yu actually let Liu Bang off the hook back during the Banquet of Hongmen (鸿门宴). In fact, Xun Yu didn't have to say anything more on who was likened to Liu Bang and who was Xiang Yu's parallel.

And let's just do a time jump first...
(Note: This is from Guo Jia's account)

[太祖谓嘉曰：“本初拥冀州之众，青、并从之，地广兵强，而数为不逊。吾欲讨之，力不敌，如何？”

对曰：“刘、项之不敌，公所知也。汉祖唯智胜；项羽虽强，终为所禽。]

Trans:

[Taizu asked Jia: "Benchu now has dominated the Ji province with the provinces of Qing and Bing following suit. The territories are vast and the soldiers strong with their numbers many. I intend to war against them, yet my strength is little. How then?"

Jia replied: "The gap between Liu and Xiang, O'Duke you should have understood why. Hanzu only won via his wits; Xiang Yu on the other hand might be strong, yet he was still finally captured.]

Analysis: This particular excerpt was from Pei Songzhi's annotation derived from Fuzi. However given the timing of the sequence, it's actually safe to assume that this was during Cao Cao's audience with Guo Jia written in the original record.

Now interestingly enough, Guo Jia also mentioned the difference between Liu Bang and Xiang Yu. Yet, while Xun Yu's version was all about a polar opposite in character, Guo Jia was far more pragmatic as in he highlighted what truly won the war for Liu Bang. Namely, intelligence over sheer strength.

In fact, Xiang Yu's downfall was due to a case of carelessness in letting Liu Bang off for free while Liu Bang was hundred percent sincere towards his vassals. That was Xun Yu's take.

Guo Jia's take was something far more steeped into actual war, namely Liu Bang's personal ability, the only weapon he could use to survive and conquer. In fact, Chen Shou concluded the meeting with those respective words uttered from both sides:

[先是时，颍川戏志才，筹画士也，太祖甚器之。早卒。太祖与荀彧书曰：“自志才亡后，莫可与计事者。汝、颍固多奇士，谁可以继之？”

彧荐嘉。召见，论天下事。太祖曰：“使孤成大业者，必此人也。”

嘉出，亦喜曰：“真吾主也。”]

Trans:
[At first, there was Xi Zhicai of Yingchuan, a skilled organiser treasured greatly by Taizu. Upon his early demise, Taizu asked Xun Yu: "Ever since Zhicai's death, there are none who can plot together with me. The lands of Ru and Ying are filled with exceptional geniuses, who can inherit such a burden?"

Yu recommended Jia. Upon audience and speaking at length on major affairs, Taizu said thus afterwards: "This is the man who will make my empire come true."

Jia was equally glad as he went off, saying: "Indeed my worthy lord."]

Conclusion: Therefore, it's perfectly logical for Pei Songzhi to include the relevant annotations without any problem.

To be continued...
Next up: Thesis 4 vs 10. Plus a bit of a 4-4-2 Boro as well. Hopefully...

Sudden post jam...

Because you'll never know what life will throw at you. In fact, I wouldn't even be making this post had not for the manner of how tonight's fellowship meeting panned out. :P

Things mentioned by my churchmates*

*Names will not be mentioned, but relevant comparisons will... :P

Event 1: I suddenly realised that our instrumentalist looked weirdly like this guy. Must be the mini banjo. :P

http://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Mance_Rayder

Event 2: There's something being said about turtles with me mentioning a turtle style FB profile in reply. :D

Event 3: After fellowship, a particular churchmate actually mentioned that I might be mildly autistic after all.

http://www.calgaryautism.com/characteristics.htm

http://autism.about.com/od/inspirationideas/tp/besttraits.htm

http://www.brighttots.com/Autism/Autistic_special_abilities.html

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=1006041302900

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociological_and_cultural_aspects_of_autism#Autistic_adults

“Don’t call me Lord Snow.”
The dwarf lifted an eyebrow. “Would you rather be called the Imp? Let them see that their words can cut you and you’ll never be free of the mockery. If they want to give you a name take it make it your own. Then they can’t hurt you with it anymore.”

“Let me give you some advice, bastard: Never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor, and it can never be used to hurt you.” 


“I have a realistic grasp of my own strengths and weaknesses. My mind is my weapon. My brother has his sword, King Robert has his warhammer, and I have my mind… and a mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge. That’s why I read so much, Jon Snow.”


“Remember this, boy. All dwarfs may be bastards, yet not all bastards need be dwarfs."
And with that he turned and sauntered back into the feast, whistling a tune. When he opened the door, the light from within threw his shadow clear across the yard, and for just a moment Tyrion Lannister stood tall as a king.

Warning!

I will NOT hold myself liable should anyone below the age of 18 watch this clip.

Parents, you've been WARNED!

“I am not questioning your honor, I am denying its existence.”

~Additional links~

Answer to my last two years in Henderson Primary School where stupid kids ended up calling another stupid kid stupid names: http://unanswered-bloke-works.blogspot.com/p/known-world.html

Answer to my entire 5 years at Gan Eng Seng School 1995-1999 where a certain stupid kid was being treated as the most stupid kid via merit of schoolyard democracy: http://unanswered-bloke-works.blogspot.com/p/known-world-characters.html

Answer to my two stints at ITE where... well guess life didn't change that much apart from violence officially banned for good: http://unanswered-bloke-works.blogspot.com/p/known-world-bard.html

Answer to all those in my NSF years believing that a certain dumb fella was truly acting/talking funny: http://unanswered-bloke-works.blogspot.com/2013/01/everything-in-temp-hiatus-now.html

Answer to my own darkest years now thankfully begone: http://www.fictionpress.com/s/3012028/1/A-Ranger-s-Tale

Final note before I end up risking Principal T's ire again come Sunday morn:

Mr. Steve Ang, you might be right after all. Scally I won't have a single gf for life.

Yay! I'm screwed! :P

The Genius of Yingchuan (Interlude) 《颍川之鬼才》

A sad sad fact that we SG'poreans don't have our very own Guo Jia and Xi Zhicai...

[初，陈群非嘉不治行检，数廷诉嘉，嘉意自若。太祖愈益重之，然以群能持正，亦悦焉。]

《三国志：郭嘉传》

Trans:

[Right from the beginning, Chen Qun was displeased by Jia's unruly behaviour and reported him numerous times before the royal court, yet Jia took all to his stride. Taizu however, valued Jia more and more while commending Qun's impartiality.]

《Record of the Three Kingdoms: Account of Guo Jia》

Analysis: Apparently, Guo Jia was no different from his late predecessor. Now why is it that Chen Shou never elaborate further on his flaws is a subject of wild guessing, but to me, it's very likely down to three factors:

1. Guo Jia is a drinker.

2. Guo Jia is a latecomer

3. Guo Jia is a constant joker in formal occasions.

4. Guo Jia is a womaniser (i.e. it might be more of him being a sucker for pretty ladies)

5. A possible combination of above all 4*

*Wait a sec, am I whoring my own problems in public cyberspace? -.-;

[戏志才、郭嘉等有负俗之讥]

《三国志：荀彧传》

Trans:

[Xi Zhicai and Guo Jia had a repute amounting to ridicule as deviants.]

《Record of the Three Kingdoms: Account of Xun Yu》

Of course the objective of this interlude isn't that much of doing something serious. Rather due to a couple of events amounting to a national upheaval, I'm left wondering: How should we go about interpreting the presence of Guo Jia and Xi Zhicai via the highest standard of Singaporean prudishness?