Compared with Sun Quan and Liu Bei, Cao Cao's strategists undoubtedly have the absolute upper hand in terms of quantity and quality, and the main strategists who have served under Cao Cao include Chen Gong, Xun Yu, Cheng Yu, Dong Zhao, Xun You, Guo Jia, Liu Ye, Jia Xu, Jiang Ji, Sima Yi, etc., as well as others such as Xi Zhicai, Xin Bi and others.

So how important are these to Cao Cao in history? Here I will briefly analyze it.

【NO.1 Xun Yu】

There is no doubt that Xun Yu is in the first place, not only is he not inferior to the other strategists under Cao Cao in all aspects, but he also defected to Cao Cao very early.

You must know that when Xun Yu returned to Cao, Cao Cao was only the Taishou of Dongjun, and could even be regarded as Yuan Shao's vassal, but Xun Yu dared to abandon Yuan and join Cao at that time, which shows the accuracy of his vision and decisive action.

Of course, if this is the case, Xun Yu's historical status may not be very high. But he himself can be said to be Cao Cao's golden thigh, Cao Cao can survive in Yanzhou in the early stage, and later can coerce the Son of Heaven to order the princes to replace Cao Cao in Xuchang, Xun Yu's influence is very important, not to mention how many talents Xun Yu recommended for Cao Cao.

Whether it was the Great War of Caolu Yanzhou, or the relocation of the capital to Xuchang, or the decision between the north and the south, or even the later southern expedition to Jingzhou, the importance of Xun Yu can never be ignored.

It can be said very clearly that without Xun Yu, there would be no future Cao Cao, and his importance to Cao Cao is no less than that of Zhuge Liang to Liu Bei.

[No.2 Xun You]

Although Xun You took refuge in Cao Cao a few years later than his younger uncle, he really came from behind, replacing his uncle to become Cao Cao's military advisor, and later served as Shang Shuling, which did not rely on relationships, but very practical ability, and the performance of other strategists under Cao Cao during the Battle of Guandu may not be as good as Xun You.

Xun Yu overwhelmed Guo Jia, Jia Xu, and Cheng Yu to become Cao Cao's second mastermind after Xun Yu, and his status was still not significantly affected after Xun Yu's death, which shows Cao Cao's dependence on him.

[No.3 Cheng Yu]

Cheng Yu was a strategist who took refuge in Cao Cao earlier, and had already taken refuge under Cao Cao when Cao Cao initially served as the pastor of Yanzhou, and only Chen Gong and Xun Yu were among the famous strategists at that time who had taken refuge in Cao Cao earlier than Cheng Yu.

During the Cao Lu Yanzhou War, Cao Cao was once forced into a desperate situation and was ready to give up Yanzhou to join Yuan Shao, but it was Cheng Yu who stopped Cao Cao at that time.

Cheng Yu, Xiahoudun and Cao Ren were still the first to enjoy the Taimiao, and Cheng Yu was also the only strategist among the three.

【No.4 Chen Palace】

Many people may not understand why Chen Gong has such a great influence on Cao Cao, Chen Gong not only betrayed Cao Cao in history, but also dragged Zhang Miao into the water and welcomed Lu Bu into Yanzhou, so Cao Cao almost couldn't afford to vomit.

But Chen Gong is also likely to be the earliest strategist who took refuge in Cao Cao, not only that, but he also single-handedly pushed Cao Cao to the position of Yanzhou Mu, which had a great impact on Cao Cao.

At the end of the Han Dynasty, a county guard and a thorn history are not a concept at all, in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, there were not even hundreds, but at least seventy or eighty, and there were only thirteen states, Cao Cao without Yanzhou was just a watchdog of Yuan Shao, and only with his back to Yanzhou Cao Cao had the capital to compete with Yuan Shu, Tao Qian and others, and only then did he have the ability to coerce the Son of Heaven to order the princes.

Therefore, Chen Gong's influence on Cao Cao must not be ignored.

[No.5 Dong Zhao]

Dong Zhao was a strategist who defected to Cao Cao in a period of time with Guo Jia and Xun Yu in history, but his influence in later generations was much lower, and now many people don't know that there is such a person.

Compared with Guo Jia and Xun You, Dong Zhao had already helped Cao Cao a lot before he took refuge in him. He first persuaded Zhang Yang to make friends with Cao Cao, let his envoy go to Beijing, and wrote a letter in the name of Cao Cao to unite Yang Feng and others, laying the foundation for Cao Cao's later entry into Beijing.

It's a pity that Dong Zhao was despised by later generations because of persuasion and style, and was not recognized.

[No.6 Guo Jia]

After the death of Xi Zhicai, after Xun Yu's recommendation, Guo Jia was able to serve under Cao Cao, and for ten years, he was one of the main advisers under Cao Cao, and made many suggestions for Cao Cao, with considerable influence.

During the two crusades against Xuzhou, Guo Jia first dissuaded Cao Cao from retreating, and then proposed to flood Pi, and finally won a complete victory and captured Lü Bu alive; Later, Liu Bei rebelled, and Guo Jia also tried his best to persuade Cao Cao to send troops to fight, and he was a great success.

Later, Guo Jia also performed a lot in pacifying the northern Yuan clan and the Northern Expedition to Wuhuan.

[No.7 Jia Xu]

Jia Xu is similar to Dong Zhao, he defected to Cao Cao with the great merit of persuading Zhang Xiu to surrender, but because of the battle of Wancheng and the influence of other factors, Cao Cao was very jealous of Jia Xu, did not reuse him, and kept Jia Xu on hold, and even broke the promise that Jia Xu did not let Jia Xu serve as the pastor of Jizhou, but only let him serve as the doctor of Taizhong, Jia Xu had served as the doctor of Guanglu earlier, so this official position was actually an obvious derogation of Jia Xu, and when Cao Cao was alive, Jia Xu took refuge in him for more than 20 years and was never promoted.

The result is that although Jia Xu's ability is strong, it is like that under Cao Cao.

[No.8-10 Sima Yi, Jiang Ji, Liu Ye]

Sima Yi, Jiang Ji, Liu Ye and others were all strategic talents at that time, but they had already taken refuge in Cao Cao relatively late, especially Sima Yi and Jiang Ji, when they took refuge in Cao Cao, Cao Cao was already the strongest prince in the world, and the icing on the cake of getting these talents was even greater.

Therefore, the influence of Sima Yi, Jiang Ji and others on Cao Cao is far from being comparable to that of the earlier strategists.

As for Liu Ye's defection to Cao Cao, it is indeed not too late, but his reputation cannot be compared with others, so he can only boil slowly, but his influence on Cao Cao is not as good as Sima Yi and others.

【Summary】

It can be seen that the sooner he takes refuge in Cao Cao, the greater the impact on him, such as Chen Gong, Xun Yu and Chen Yu are obvious examples, after all, Cao Cao was a county guard recommended by Yuan Shao in the early days, and later he was also recommended by his subordinates to serve as the pastor of Yanzhou, and his name was not right, so at that time the risk of taking refuge in Cao Cao was the greatest.

Although the ending of Xun Yu, Chen Gong and Cao Cao was not good in history, it cannot be denied that these strategists were too important to Cao Cao's influence, and it was they who helped Cao Cao lay the foundation, and Cao Cao's rise in the future was all with the help of these people.