This article is based on Luo Guanzhong's novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the thirty-third (part 1) of Cao Pi's chaotic Na Zhen clan, and has nothing to do with the history of Zheng.
Xu You's death perfectly interprets what is called not dying without dying. Xu You and Yuan Shao and Cao Cao were originally old friends, he first followed Yuan Shao, and then switched to Cao Cao, the life could have been very moist, but he was killed because of arrogance, leaving the world with only one famous saying: "Cao Ah Qi, Ru can't help me, and Ann has to enter this door?" ”
Xu You was neither a famous official like Yuan Shao, nor a good official in the imperial court like Cao Cao, nor a good man and three gangs like Liu Bei, and his way out was to find a promising boss to drink with in the chaotic world. His first boss chose Yuan Shao, and this step was good. Yuan Shao's momentum was fierce, and he effortlessly captured Jizhou, and soon took control of the surrounding three prefectures of Qing, You, and He. Xu You followed Yuan Shao without eating less meat.
At the time of Yuan Cao's decisive battle, Xu You initially looked down on Cao Cao. In the twenty-second time of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, when Liu Bei proposed to unite with Yuan Shao against Cao, there was a lot of controversy within Yuan Shao, and Yuan Shao could not make a decision, asking Xu You: "Is it to raise an army?" Can't afford to be a soldier? Xu You replied: "Ming Gong defeated the widow with the crowd, attacked the weak with the strong, and begged the Han thieves to support the royal family. Obviously, he didn't take Cao Cao in his eyes.
In the Battle of Guandu, I did not think that Cao Cao was so strong, and the two sides reached a stalemate. Later, Xu You captured Cao Cao's grain messengers, knew that Cao Cao's army was running out of food, and quickly offered advice to Yuan Shao and attacked Xuchang with separate troops to cut off Cao Cao's retreat. Helplessly, Yuan Shao did not listen, not only did not listen, but also to punish Xu You, it turned out that Xu You's family was tried and reported for corruption and evil in Jizhou, and Xu You changed to Cao Cao in anger after knowing it.
Xu You's surrender to Cao was a turning point in the Battle of Guandu. As the main strategist of Yuan Shao's camp, Xu You was well aware of Yuan Shao's military secrets, and with his help, Cao Cao burned Wuchao and defeated Yuan Shao.
Since Xu You surrendered to Cao, he did not show any affection for his late lord, but instead urged Cao Cao to cut the grass and root out Yuan Shao. After Yuan Shao's death, Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang fought with each other, and he advised Cao Cao to quickly enter the army, saying: "Xiang Xiang is sitting here, do you want to wait for Tianlei to kill Er Yuan Hu?" "The capital of Jizhou, Yicheng, was difficult to capture because of its solidity, and Xu You offered a plan to irrigate it with the water of the Zhanghe River, which was good but also vicious. Thinking that Yuan Shao treated Xu You not thinly, why did Xu You not miss his old feelings so much, and had to kill them all?
The Yuan brothers may be able to fight with Cao Cao, but the two of them are too fierce infighting, and Cao Cao takes advantage of the situation, even if they have the trial to defend the city, they are unable to turn the tide after all, and the city of Jizhou is taken by Cao Cao. Cao Cao led the generals into the city of Jizhou, but before he could enter the city gate, Xu Youxian ran to the front, pointed at the city gate with his whip, and said, "Ah Qi, Ru can't help me, and ann can enter this gate?" Cao Cao laughed loudly, but the generals were all upset.
Another day, Xu You met Xu Chu at the city gate, and although both of them were surnamed Xu, they did not look at each other. Xu You called Xu Chu over, and Xu Chu thought there was something wrong, but Xu You said, "Ru waits for me, can An enter and exit this door?" Xu Chu was furious: "I am waiting for thousands of lives and deaths, and I am fighting in blood to seize the city, and Ru'an dares to boast!" Xu You scolded: "Ru and others are all Pifu ears, He Zu Daoya!" "Xu Chu is a reckless man, how could he reason with Xu You, he killed Xu You in one breath."
Xu Chu carried Xu You's head to ask for guilt, and Cao Cao only scolded him, which showed that Cao Cao also thought Xu You deserved to die. It is not that Xu You has no use value, but Xu You, who betrays the lord and surrenders to the enemy, is not ashamed but proud, Xu You is not godly, and he has to die for his greedy deeds. Xun Yu's evaluation of Xu You as "greedy and unwise" can be described as accurate.