The coldest counsellor of the age. Answered a request for a battle plan with two words — part them — and won the war with a doctored letter.
Part them, nothing more.Jia Xu to Cao Cao, 211; Sanguozhi, Wei shu 10, Biography of Jia Xu
Appears in
Relations
- Cao Cao counsellor — The plan that broke the Guanzhong coalition cost two words and one sheet of paper; Cao Cao's answer was a single one — understood.
Myth vs record
The story you may know
A schemer of constant intrigue, spinning plots at every turn.
What the sources say
The histories give the opposite: a man who chose few words and survived every master he served. When Cao Cao asked how to take the coalition, the recorded answer is two words; he lived to seventy-seven and died a grand minister of Wei.