Xun You (157-214), the name Gongda, was a native of Yingyin, Yingchuan (now Xuchang, Henan). Xun Yu's nephew, a strategist in the late Eastern Han Dynasty.

Xun You served as a waiter of the Yellow Gate during He Jin's reign, and was imprisoned for plotting to assassinate Dong Zhuo when Dong Zhuo entered Beijing, and then abandoned his official position and returned home. After Cao Cao welcomed the Son of Heaven into Xudu, Xun You became Cao Cao's military advisor. When Cao Cao conquered Lü Bu, Xun You dissuaded Cao Cao from retreating, and offered a strange plan to flood Picheng and capture Lü Bu alive. In the battle of Guandu, Xun Yu offered a plan to attack the east and west, killing Yan Liang and Wen Chou. He also planned strange soldiers, sent Xu Huang to burn Yuan Shao's grain and grass, and at the same time urged Cao Cao to accept Xu You, draw a black nest, and make great contributions. During the pacification of Hebei, Xun Youli overrode public opinion and advocated that Cao Cao eliminate Yuan Shao's sons, and was named the Marquis of Lingshu Pavilion by Cao Cao's court. Xun You acted carefully and low-key, and was full of scheming, which was praised by Cao Cao. In the nineteenth year of Jian'an (214), Xun You died on the way to Cao Cao's attack on Wu.

Xun You is known as Cao Cao's "mastermind", and is good at flexible tactics and military strategies to defeat the enemy. He set up a total of 12 strategies during his lifetime, and only Zhong Xuan knew about it. Zhong Xuan died before he could finish it up, so the future generations do not know. He is also the author of "Wei Guanyi", which is now lost.

Xun You was born in a family of scholars, and his father, Xun Yi, served as a state officer. Xun You lost his parents when he was a child.

Grandfather Xun Tan is Guangling Taishou. When Xun You was thirteen years old, his grandfather Xun Tan died, and an official named Zhang Quan under Xun Tan in the past took the initiative to ask for Xun Tan's tomb to be guarded. Xun You said to his uncle Xun Qu: "The look on this person's face is abnormal, I guess he has done something treacherous!" Xun Qu took the opportunity to interrogate while sleeping at night, and sure enough, Zhang Quan was on the run because he had killed someone, and wanted to hide himself by guarding the tomb. Since then, people have treated Xun Yu differently.

In the sixth year of Zhongping (189), the general He Jin Bingzheng, and more than 20 people such as Xun You, a famous scholar in the sea, were recruited. After Xun You arrived in Luoyang, he worshiped the Huangmen squire.

In the sixth year of Zhongping (189), Dong Zhuo's rebellion, the Kwantung army rose, and Dong Zhuo moved the capital to Chang'an. Xun You consulted with Zheng Tai, He Hao, Shizhong Chongji, Yue Cavalry Captain Wu Qiong and others, and said: "Dong Zhuo has no way, and everyone in the world resents him, although he has gathered a lot of elite soldiers, but in fact he is just a brave man. We should assassinate him to thank the people, and then use the emperor's edict to command the world, which is a bully like the Duke of Qi Huan and the Duke of Wen of Jin. "The thing was discovered before it was done, and He Hao and Xun You were imprisoned, He Hao was afraid of suicide, Xun You spoke and ate freely, and happened to meet Dong Zhuo who was killed and was exempted from crime. abandoned the official and returned, and was recruited by the government, ranked excellent in the examination, and was promoted to the prime minister of the city, but did not go to the post. Xun Yu because of the danger of Shu Han and the strong city, the people's life is solid, so he asked to serve as the Taishou of Shu County, because the road is impassable, stopped in Jingzhou.

In the first year of Jian'an (196), Cao Cao welcomed the Han Dynasty to the emperor to build the capital in Xu County, and wrote to Xun You: "Today's chaos is the time for the strategist to bother to work hard, but Mr. is in Shu Han to watch the changes in the situation, isn't it too conservative?" So Xun Yu was recruited as the Taishou of Runan and entered the book. Cao Cao heard the name of Xun Yu for a long time, and said to Xun Yu and Zhong Xuan: "Gongda is not an ordinary person, I can discuss major matters with him, how can I worry about not getting the world?" Since then, Xun You has become Cao Cao's military advisor.

In the third year of Jian'an (198), Xun You followed Cao Cao to conquer Zhang Xiu. Xun You saw that the situation at that time was very unfavorable to Cao Cao, so he said to Cao Cao: "Zhang Xiu and Liu Biao are united, and they are each other's horns, but Zhang Xiu's people rely on Liu Biao's supply, and after a long time, Liu Biao cannot support it, and he will inevitably split with Zhang Xiu." I might as well delay the war and wait for it to change; If he attacks urgently, Liu Biao will desperately save him. Cao Cao didn't listen to the advice and sent troops to fight against Zhang Xiu, Liu Biao really sent troops to rescue, and Cao's army lost. Cao Cao said to Xun You: "I didn't listen to Mr. to do this." So he set up a surprise soldier to fight with Zhang Xiu and Liu Biao again, and broke it.

In the same year, Cao Cao conquered Lü Bu from Wan, and when he arrived at Xiapi, Lü Bu was defeated and retreated, holding the city, Cao Cao attacked, did not take it, fought continuously, the soldiers were tired, and Cao Cao wanted to collect his troops and retreat. Xun You said to Guo Jia: "Lu Bu is brave and unplanned, and now he has lost three battles, and his sharpness has declined. The three armed forces have the general as the core, and if the general is exhausted, the troops will not have the will to fight. Even if Chen Gong has a plan, it is too late, now that Lu Bu's morale has not recovered, Chen Gong's plan has not yet been decided, take this opportunity to forge ahead and attack, you can defeat Lu Bu. Cao Cao then led Yishui and Surabaya into the city, broke through Xiapi, and captured Lü Bu alive.

In February of the fifth year of Jian'an (200), Yuan Shao first sent the general Yan Liang to besiege Baima (now east of Huaxian County, Henan). In April, Cao Cao personally led his army north to save the siege of Baima. When the troops were moving forward, Xun You believed that he could not confront a powerful enemy with a huge disparity in strength, and he analyzed the situation at that time and put forward a combat strategy to attack the east and the west and rescue the white horse. He believed that Yuan Shao had many troops and should try to disperse his forces, so he persuaded Cao Cao to lead his troops to Yanjin first, cross the river in disguise to attack Yuan Shao's rear, and make Yuan Shao divide his troops to the west to fight, and then send light cavalry to attack Yuan's army attacking Baima, and attack it unprepared, and he would definitely be able to defeat Yan Liang. Cao Cao listened to his words and felt that it was very reasonable, so he acted according to the plan, and Yuan Shao really divided his troops to Yanjin. Cao Cao took the opportunity to lead a light horse to attack the white horse, but Yan Liang was caught off guard and was beheaded by Guan Yu. After Cao Cao relieved the siege of Baima, he led 600 cavalry to escort grain and grass to retreat west along the river. Soon after the march, he met Yuan Shao's five or six thousand pursuers. The generals were very frightened when they saw that the enemy was outnumbered, and persuaded Cao Cao to retreat to the camp, Xun You knew the enemy's weakness, so he said: "This is a good time to destroy the enemy, why retreat?"

Cao Cao and Xun You looked at each other and smiled, and their hearts were connected, so they ordered the soldiers to unsaddle and release their horses, discard their baggage, and lure Yuan's army; When the Yuan army approached and competed for the baggage, Cao Cao suddenly ordered to mount his horse and quickly launched an attack, breaking the Yuan army and killing the cavalry general Wen Chou.

Cao Cao and Yuan Shao then formed a confrontation situation in Guandu. The army of both sides was running out of food, and Xun You said to Cao Cao: "Yuan Shao's grain truck will arrive in one day, and Han Meng, the general of the car, is capable but light on the enemy, and attacking him can win." Cao Cao said, "Who can send?" Xun You said: "Xu Huang." So he sent Xu Huang and Shi Jian to intercept halfway, defeated Han Meng, and burned the military supplies he escorted.

coincided with Xu You's coming to surrender, saying that Yuan Shao sent Chun Yuqiong and others to lead more than 10,000 soldiers to escort food, and the generals were arrogant and the soldiers were slack, so they could intercept halfway. Everyone doubted him, and only Xun You and Jia Xu persuaded Cao Cao to obey. Cao Cao then left Xun You and Cao Hong to guard the camp, and led his army to attack and defeat Yuan's army, beheading Chun Yuqiong and others. Yuan Shao's generals Zhang He, Gao Lan and others burned the offensive equipment and surrendered to Cao's army, and Yuan Shao had to abandon the army and flee back to the north of the Yellow River. When Zhang He came to surrender, Cao Hong doubted him and did not dare to accept it, Xun You said to Cao Hong: "Zhang He's strategy was not adopted by Yuan Shao, and he came to defect in anger, what do you suspect of him?" Only then did Cao Hong accept the surrender of Zhang He and others.

In the seventh year of Jian'an (202), Xun You followed Cao Cao to discuss Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang in Liyang.

In the eighth year of Jian'an (203), Cao Cao had just gone to conquer Liu Biao, and Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang fought for Jizhou. Yuan Tan sent Xin Bi to ask for help, and Cao Cao allowed him to ask the generals. Most of the generals think that Liu Biaoqiang should attack him first, and Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang are not worried. Xun You said: "The world is in an eventful autumn, but Liu Biao is firmly guarding the region between Jiang and Han, and he has no ambition to annex the Quartet without asking. The Yuan clan occupies the territory of the four states, there are 100,000 soldiers, Yuan Shao won the hearts of the people with his generosity, if his two sons live in harmony and protect their success, then the disasters in the world will not stop, and now the Yuan brothers are at odds, and the result will not be that both sides are preserved. If the two Yuan are united, the strength will be strong, and it will not be easy to obtain at that time. Take advantage of their internal strife to seek them, and the world will be calm, and this opportunity cannot be lost! Cao Cao said, "Very good. So he agreed to marry Yuan Tan, and then sent troops to defeat Yuan Shang. After this, Yuan Tan betrayed, and Xun You followed Cao Cao to kill Yuan Tan in Nanpi.

Jizhou was pacified, and Cao Cao played Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty to ask for a knighthood for Xun You, saying: "The military advisor Xun You, from the beginning, has assisted his subordinates, there has not been a time when he sent troops without following, and he has defeated the enemy many times before and after, all by Xun You's planning." So he sealed the Pavilion of Xun Youlingshu.

In the twelfth year of Jian'an (207), Cao Cao ordered a reward for meritorious deeds, saying: "To be loyal, upright and good at plotting, it is Wen Ruo who appeases people inside and outside for me, and Gongda is inferior to him." "Increase the number of towns by 400, and the first 700 households, and turn them into the middle army division. Xun You, who served as the division of the Chinese army, did not often accompany the army to fight, but stayed behind for Cao Cao and was in charge of punishment. When the State of Wei was first established, Xun You served as Shang Shuling.

Xun You was calculating, thoughtful, sensible and able to keep secrets, and since he accompanied Cao Cao around on his campaigns, he often strategized, and few people knew what he said at the time. Cao Cao always praised him and said: "The public is foolish on the outside and wise on the inside, cowardly on the outside and brave on the inside, weak on the outside and strong on the inside; Do not flaunt your strengths, do not exaggerate your merits; His inner wisdom can be reached by others, but his external foolishness cannot be reached by others, even Yan Zi and Ning Wu can't catch up with him. When Cao Pi was the crown prince in the East Palace, Cao Cao said to him: "Xun Gongda is an example of people, you should respect him with courtesy." "Xun You was once sick, and Cao Pi went to offer condolences and worshipped alone under the bed, and he was especially respected.

Xun You and Zhong Xuan have a good relationship, Zhong Xuan said: "Every time I take action, I think about it repeatedly, thinking that there is nothing to change; But when I asked Gongda, his reply was always beyond my expectations. "Xun Yu set up a total of twelve strategies before and after, and only Zhong Xuan knew. Zhong Xuan died before he could finish it up, so the future generations do not know. Pei Songzhi commented: "Sixteen years after his death, Zhong Xuan died, why is it difficult to write a strange strategy? And the year of eighty, the clouds have not yet arrived, so that the strategy of conscription and strategy will not be passed on to the world, a pity! ”

In the nineteenth year of Jian'an (214), Xun You followed Cao Cao to conquer Sun Quan and died on the road. Cao Cao wept every time he talked about him.

In the first five years (244 years) in the winter and November of the first five years, Emperor Cao Fang of Wei issued an edict to worship Xun Yu in the temple court of Taizu, and added the name of the marquis.