Xun You was one of Cao Cao's main strategists, and he could even be said to be Cao Cao's mastermind during the Jian'an period, and he had been following Cao Cao's side to give him advice, and successively helped Cao Cao eliminate Lu Bu, Yuan Shao and other forces.

In the nineteenth year of Jian'an (214), Xun You followed Cao Cao to conquer Sun Quan and died on the road.

【Beginning to show its edge】

Xun Youzi Gongda, his father was Xun Yi, who served in the state, but died when Xun You was young. Although Xun Yu is higher than Xun Yu in history, Xun Yu is regarded as Xun Yu's subordinate, but in fact, Xun Yu is older than Xun Yu, and he is six years older than Xun Yu.

Xun You is different from Guo Jia, he was already quite famous before he took refuge in Cao Cao.

Xun You's grandfather was Xun Tan, who was too guarded by Guangling. When Xun Tan died, his subordinate Zhang Quan asked to guard Xun Tan's tomb. Xun You, who was thirteen years old at the time, was suspicious of this, so he said to his uncle Xun Qu: "This official's face is abnormal, probably there is a conspiracy." Xun Qu came to his senses, so he asked Zhang Quan the reason, and sure enough, he found out that he died after killing someone. Xun Qu was very surprised by Xun You. Later, the general He Jin came to power and recruited more than 20 well-known people in China such as Xun You. After Xun Yu arrived, he was appointed as the squire of the Yellow Gate.

Later, Dong Zhuo rebelled, and the princes east of Hujiao Pass raised troops to fight, and Dong Zhuo was forced to move the capital to Chang'an. So Xun You conspired with Zheng Tai, He Hao, Shizhong Chongji, Yue Cavalry Captain Wu Qiong and others: "Dong Zhuo has no morality, compared to the ancient Shang Xia Wei, everyone in the world resents him, although he has a strong army, in fact, he is just a horseman." Now you should kill him to comfort the people, and then occupy Caiguan and Hangu Pass to assist the emperor in commanding the world, this is the same righteous act as Duke Qi Huan and Duke Wen of Jin. Later, when the matter was about to succeed, it was discovered, He Hao and Xun You were arrested and imprisoned, He Hao committed suicide in fear of crime, and Xun You talked and laughed freely and behaved as usual, which coincided with Dong Zhuo's death and was exonerated from the crime.

However, it is recorded in the Book of Wei that Xun You asked someone to speak for him in front of Dong Zhuo, and he was finally able to escape.

【Attached to Cao Cao】

After Dong Zhuo's death, Xun You was sent to Yizhou by the imperial court, but was left in Jingzhou because of the different roads, and then Cao Cao moved the capital to Xuchang, personally repaired a letter to recruit Xun You to Xuchang, Xun You also took refuge in Cao Cao, and instead of his uncle Xun Yu was by Cao Cao's side to advise him.

In the third year of Jian'an (198), Xun You then Cao Cao crusaded against Zhang Xiu, when Xun You persuaded Cao Cao not to do it when Cao Cao sent troops, he thought that Zhang Xiu and Liu Biao were separated, and giving too much pressure would force the two to unite, which was not easy to deal with, and could sit idly by, and then take advantage of the situation, but Cao Cao did not listen, and the result was in vain, and he was chased and killed by Zhang Xiu and Liu Biao's coalition all the way. Afterwards, Cao Cao no longer fought Nanyang, and Zhang Xiu returned to Cao Cao again under the persuasion of Jia Xu.

After Cao Cao returned from Nanyang, it coincided with the rebellion of Lü Bu, so Cao Cao sent troops to attack Xuzhou and surrounded Lü Bu in the lower billet, but Cao Cao could not attack for a long time, so he was ready to retreat, at this time it was Xun You and Guo Jia who dissuaded Cao Cao, and later Cao Cao led Yishui and Surabaya to irrigate the city, broke Lü Bu and eliminated it.

According to the Book of Wei, when Cao Cao was preparing to crusade against Lü Bu, many people thought that Zhang Xiu in the rear had not been eliminated, and that crusading against Lü Bu was a very threatening move. But Xun You thought that Liu Biao and Zhang Xiu had just experienced defeat and would not dare to take action. And Lu Bu is brave, and there is Yuan Shu behind him, if he is in the Jianghuai area, he will inevitably get a lot of heroic responses. Now is the time to take advantage of the rebellion and the instability of the people's hearts to crusade, and the odds of victory will surely increase. Cao Cao thought that Xun You was right, so he sent troops, and at that time Lü Bu had already defeated Liu Bei, and received a response from Zang Ba and others.

In the fifth year of Jian'an (200), a great war broke out between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, Xun You fought with the army, Xun You first proposed to help Cao Cao successfully defeat Yan Liang on the white horse, and then eliminated Wen Chou on the way to the west, which severely damaged Yuan Shao's army. Later, in Guandu, Xun You persuaded Cao Cao to send Xu Huang and others to successfully attack Yuan Shao's grain and grass, and made great gains, and later persuaded Cao Cao to obey the surrender of Xu Yu to attack the Wuchao and break the Yuan family, and finally helped Cao Cao accept the surrender of Zhang He and others.

After the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao vacillated between going south to crusade against Jingzhou and eliminating Yuan in the north, and later Yuan Tan sent Xin Bi to ask for help, most people wanted to go south at that time, but it was Xun Yu who persuaded Cao Cao to seize the opportunity to go north, and finally Cao Cao was able to easily eliminate the three Yuan brothers.

After Jizhou was pacified, 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, and there has not been a time when he has 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 (Xun Yu) who appeases people inside and outside for me, and Gongda (Xun Yu) is inferior to him." "Increase the number of towns by 400, and the first 700 households, and turn them into the middle army division. When the State of Wei was first established, Xun You served as Shang Shuling.

According to the Book of Wei, after Cao Cao returned from Liucheng, he passed by Xun You's residence and talked about Xun You's merits before and after, saying to him: "Now that the affairs of the world are almost decided, I am willing to enjoy the fruits with the virtuous scholars and doctors." In the past, Han Gaozu (Liu Bang) once asked Zhang Zifang (Zhang Liang) to choose 30,000 fiefdoms by himself, and today I also hope to let you choose your own fiefdom. ”

【Cao Cao's Mastermind】

In history, Xun Yu was stronger than Guo Jia, earlier in qualifications than Jia Xu, and better in personality than Cheng Yu, and Xun Yu was "in the middle", so Xun Yu overwhelmed Guo Jia, Jia Xu and others, followed Cao Cao's side for a long time, and became Cao Cao's actual mastermind at that time.

And he did a very good job, except for Cao Cao's first time when he didn't listen to Xun You's loss when he attacked Nanyang, Cao Cao basically obeyed Xun You's opinions, and with his help, he successfully eliminated and defeated Lu Bu, Yuan Shao and others.

The most glorious moment of Xun You's life was in the Battle of Guandu, during that time Xun You was simply explosive, and the intrigues emerged one after another, and Yuan Shao was almost powerless to fight back, and this battle also established Xun You's position in the Cao Wei Group in one fell swoop, otherwise the status between Xun You and Cheng Yu in later generations would have to be entangled.

Like Xun Yu, Guo Jia, Cheng Yu and others, Xun You's active time was basically in the early period of Cao Wei, after Cao Cao went south to crusade against Jingzhou, Xun You began to enter a low ebb period, and he no longer gave advice to Cao Cao, which is not the same as Jia Xu. In later generations, Chen Shou merged Xun Yu, Xun You and Jia Xu into a biography, from which it can be seen that Xun Yu's status, the three of them plus Sima Yi can be said to be the first group of strategists in the Cao Wei group.