Johnny Chinese? Pt II

Today (going by local Singaporean time) is the first day of Lunar/Chinese New Year. Otherwise known as the Year of Babi (or the year after the Year of Anjing), it seems that there are high (?) hopes of two things happening. Namely, this and that.

Anyway, here is a happy Lunar New Year to all, regardless of whether you're a cynical realist like me or a deluded idealist like... well, the rest of the world.

Since this post is about Johnny Chinese, I might as well up a relevant music vid. Not that I've yet to up this song anyway.

DISCLAIMER!

I'm no expert in translating archaic Chinese. Hence, please be noted that there will be inaccuracies and the occasional English football chant being warranted. With that being said, there may be moments where I'd just rip and paste off Wikipedia.

Now if only I could remember to copy and paste this in every post under this label all the while.

https://republicofotters.blogspot.com/2018/12/johnny-chinese-pt-i.html

Crazy son of a loser?

[天下将乱，乃学击剑骑射，招聚少年，给其衣食，往来南山中射猎，阴相部勒，讲武习兵。父老咸曰：“鲁氏世衰，乃生此狂儿！”]

Trans: As chaotic times neared, he (Lu Su) started learning swordsmanship, horsemanship, and archery. He gathered youths, gave them food and clothing, and started hunting expeditions in the southern mountains. He deployed men at Yinxiang, engaged in military discussions, and training soldiers. All the clan elders said, "The Lu clan is in decline, hence this unruly child born!"

Don't we all love Sir Terry Pratchett's Interesting Times? They say the only constant in life is death and taxes, I say the only constant in history is chaos and turmoil. Don't believe me, go look at the United States of America and answer me whether the States is currently united or disunited. You can't blame the cynical realist for saying the nation has never progressed beyond the days of black Uncle Tom and white Uncle Tommy. But it's not just the U.S. More than the Yanks, the Chinese people are arguably more famous for fighting among themselves. From the Warring States era to the War of Chu-Han and from the twilight years of Eastern Han to An Lushan and Shi Siming, these are just a few examples. Then you have names like Li Shimin and Li Zicheng plus the KMT and CCP. If you think Americans are bad enough, you ain't seen the Chinese at their worst.

This was why Johnny Lu Su decided to be that black sheep of the clan. I don't know if the Lu clan believed in karma, but having someone like Johnny Lu Su was a cause for concern. And it has got nothing to do with the name Johnny.

How do you define the term unruly? The reason why Johnny Lu Su was called unruly was due to his mannerism not conforming to the acceptable standards. Ever wondered why you're being demonised by your fellow Republicans or Democrats for being a moderate/centrist? That's because you're not acceptable in the eyes of the acceptable standard. The same for Johnny Lu Su.

However, desperate times called for desperate measures. The only reason why the clan elders thought Johnny Lu Su was under the Trump category was that they couldn't agree with the way he viewed the situation. The text mentioned the nearing of chaotic times, not the arrival of chaotic times. In other words, it's very likely those self-assured old folks didn't really believe the era is really that bad. So much for the tide pods, huh?

Johnny Lu Su's choice of learning could be categorised under the personal and strategic. Learning how to use the sword, riding a horse, and shooting arrows belonged to the personal. Personal choices intended to prepare the self. And it's not just the men because we also have women like Hua Mulan, Fan Lihua, and Mu Guiying during their respective era out to prove a point.

As for the rest, they're strategic. Forget about Johnny Rambo, the one-man-army logic was a lie made in Hollywood due to deeds of machismo being Hollywood's favourite subject. Gathering millennials who think like that one fellow millennial is called being strategic. And Johnny Lu Su back then was very likely the era's equivalent of a millennial. As if this wasn't enough, he gave them military training in the form of hunting expeditions. Back then, they didn't have guns. To survive required wits and guts more than your favourite assault rifle.

If this wasn't crazy enough, crazier stunts were waiting for the reader. The term 阴相部勒 was hard to translate. I needed to find the meaning of the individual character words. The last two words 部勒 were relatively easier to understand as they implied military command/deployment of soldiers. The first two words were the real deal in difficulty level because it read like offering advice in secret.

Yinxiang was a place near Jiangling, which by the way was part of northern Jing Province. We all know who's the boss there, his surname was Liu, and he's not Liu Bei. Lu Su's home was in modern-day Anhui. Back then, it meant Linhuai was nearer to the Jing Province than what we'd like to think otherwise. More specifically, Linhuai was sandwiched between Liu Biao's territory and Sun Ce's kingdom. This enabled Johnny Lu Su to become his own version of Moses minus the Red Sea (but that's because the only sea available was the one separating China from Korea instead of the one separating Egpyt from Mount Sinai).

Needless to say, Johnny Lu Su was meant to be the mover and shaker when it came to being a millennial, not some unruly son of a Lu'ser. 

How to differentiate a Johnny Lu Su from a Johnny Loser?

We all should know the difference between a Johnny Lu Su and a Johnny Loser by now. It's like comparing the words 体貌魁奇，少有壮节，好为奇计 with the words spoken on the internet. So was Johnny Lu Su right? The answer was nothing less than a yes. The self-assured old folks thought that unruly millennial took in too much tide pods, events recorded below proved Johnny Lu Su was never legally high.

[后雄杰并起，中州扰乱，肃乃命其属曰：“中国失纲，寇贼横暴，淮、泗间非遗种之地，吾闻江东沃野万里，民富兵强，可以避害，宁肯相随俱至乐土，以观时变乎？”

其属皆从命。乃使细弱在前，强壮在后，男女三百馀人行。州追骑至，肃等徐行，勒兵持满，谓之曰：“卿等丈夫，当解大数。今日天下兵乱，有功弗赏，不追无罚，何为相逼乎？”

又自植盾，引弓射之，矢皆洞贯。骑既嘉肃言，且度不能制，乃相率还。肃渡江往见策，策亦雅奇之。]

Trans: Henceafter, many ambitious men rose up and the central region was plunged into chaos. Su asked his followers: "The central region has lost every semblance of order and violent bandits are emboldened. The areas of Huai and Si are no longer suitable for us to stay. I heard the territory of Jiangdong boasts of fertile soil stretching ten thousand li. The people there are wealthy enough and the soldiers are strong enough. We can seek refuge there, so who is willing to seek a paradise with me while waiting for a change in times?"

His followers decided to heed his words. Lu Su then deployed the physically weak and delicate at the front with the fighting men at the rear. Altogether, more than three hundred men and women made the journey. When the local cavalry made their pursuit and caught up with them, Su and his followers slowed down with his soldiers drawing their bows. Then he questioned the pursuers: "You are men who should understand what is important. We are facing times of turmoil. Those with merit are not rewarded and those who relent (against the wicked) are not punished. So why are you persecuting us?"

Then he planted shields (???) and commanded his soldiers to fire. The arrows penetrated the shields (!!!). The pursuing cavalry admired Lu Su's words. At the same time, they could not prevent the refugees from crossing over (to Jiangdong). Thus, they returned back (to base). Su managed to cross the river and meet (Sun) Ce. And Ce was utterly amazed.

Interesting times ahead for America? Currently, there are many Democrats vying for presidential candidacy. From Kamala Harris to Joe Biden, the DNC is surely starting to get competitive. So long we don't get to see Bernie Sanders getting yet another Montreal Screwjob, I'm perfectly fine with it. And by that, I mean it'd be a good thing to see Bernie Sanders attempting to become the first Jewish president in the history of the United States. After all, Obama was the first black president in the history of the United States. If you're good enough, race and gender is never an issue. Otherwise, you're just another Yuan Shao or Yuan Shu regardless of race, religion, gender, or even sexual orientation. Let alone political loyalty and ideology.

Rewind N years backwards and you got plenty of who's who declaring himself as "the best man to unify a chaotic nation full of chaotic people". This is NOT to say every one of them was useless and feckless. You have the useless and feckless ones like the two Yuans, Gongsun Zan, and Lu Bu, Not to mention that horny and sadistic dictator Dong Zhuo. But you have the capable ones as well. Just that they're part of the minority. You have Cao Cao and Sun Ce. Then you have Sun Quan and Liu Bei later on. Bummer Sun Jian died too early, though. The Tiger of Jiangdong was truly a patriotic tiger of a man.

It was during those times where not everyone knew who to vote for (figuratively speaking of course) that Johnny Lu Su decided to stage an exodus. Not that one starting from Egypt because Johnny Lu Su was no Moses Lu Su. But there's a problem. Imagine Katniss Everdeen of the Kat Brigade saying, "Johnny, we have a problem". And what was the problem? Enforcers of the law who got nothing better to do. Okay, that's a lie. Those people were under unreasonable orders to bring back the refugees. To Johnny Lu Su, however, it's persecution. No questions about it. Can you imagine the governments of Mexico, El Salvador, etc doing this? Unacceptable and unforgivable, I say! Put right what is wrong and fix what is broken if you want to one-up that white guy in the White House! Then if things still don't turn out right, at least it won't be your fault.

Back to Johnny Lu Su. Now there were two aspects of his strategy when it came to reasoning with the pursuers.

["You are men who should understand what is important."]

[“卿等丈夫，当解大数。”]

Right from the start, Johnny Lu Su sent a message of assurance minus the bending over. The situation was about being pursued, not the pursuers. It's like what I insanely did a few days ago.

["We are facing times of turmoil. Those with merit are not rewarded and those who relent (against the wicked) are not punished. So why are you persecuting us?"]

[“今日天下兵乱，有功弗赏，不追无罚，何为相逼乎？”]

Then Johnny Lu Su began his hairdryer treatment. Although granted he never called anyone a bastard, unlike Sir A.Fergie. Believe it or not, it's very easy to reason with people whose only sin was to follow unreasonable orders. By asking damning questions, Johnny Lu Su managed to convince the pursuers the absurdity of the situation.

1. 有功弗赏. It's like asking whether Russell Moore should be branded a liberal just because he's guilty of criticising what many conservatives are guilty of.

2. 不追无罚. It's like dismissing obscene talk as locker room banter just because people thought Donald Trump was a better man than Jonathan Edwards.

3. 何为相逼乎？No reason+no cause=why are you persecuting us? It's not as if Damascus was in China and the two rivers in China were called Euphrates and Tigris respectively.

Warning shots and why always Jiangdong

As if verbal reasoning wasn't enough an assurance, Johnny Lu Su pulled off something which could only be called crazy. Or in Singaporean language, sibeh siao.

1. He planted shields between his people and the pursuers instead of trying to fight back. It's like asking me why I preferred Reuters and The Christian Science Monitor to The Online Citizen and States Times Review.

2. He ordered the Kat Brigade to prove they can be equally badass, if not badder than the men pursuing them. Suffice to say, the Kat Brigade did not fail to impress and awe.

Yes, I know Johnny Lu Su was siao. Sibeh siao just like how my schoolmates during secondary school enjoyed calling me. But there's a reason why he did that.

1. The shields were Johnny Lu Su's way of telling the pursuers he did not want a conflict. Let alone casualties and bloodshed.

2. The Kat Brigade's awesome show of féminin badassery was Johnny Lu Su's way of warning his pursuers not to mistake goodwill for weakness.

Thankfully, the cavalry was nothing like your average radical left or far-right neighbour. Firstly, they actually agreed with Johnny Lu Su's logic. Secondly, there's no way (and reason) for them to stop their brethren's journey into Jiangdong. Note that the words 且度不能制 implied that the refugees were already nearer to Jiangdong than we'd think otherwise.

Which now comes to the question: Why always Jiangdong? It's like Super Mario asking a similar question.

Remember what I said about Johnny Lu Su's homeland? No need to scroll back up, just listen to what I'm going to say here: His homeland was effectively sandwiched between the Jing Province and Jiangdong.

In other words, he got two choices. Either to the Jing Province or Jiangdong. Back then, the Jing Province was extremely wealthy. So why Jiangdong? The answer should be very simple: He's not one thinking like a typical... well, Singaporean. He's not just after a decently comfortable life. If life is like fireworks going off, then Johnny Lu Su would never settle for anything less than the most beautiful show. This was what separated him from the typical... well, Singaporean. *shrugs* The decision to seek a better life was for his people, but the decision to move south instead of towards Jing Province was for himself.

So what was his future boss' brother's reaction?

Interestingly enough, the entire sequence of events quite obviously took place after he generously lavished Zhou Yu's army with more than enough grain. In fact, it was due to this first meeting that the two became close friends. Hence, the term 定侨、札之分. At the same time, Yuan Shu also heard of Johnny Lu Su. In chaotic times like this, getting a real talent was worth much more than having a group of foreign talents. However, there's always a rule to this kind of situation: In times of turmoil, the truly capable chooses his master, not the other way around. You live or die by your choice, you go boom or bust by your decision. For every Zhang Liang or Chen Ping, there'd be a Fan Zeng. For every Guo Jia, there'd be a Tian Feng or Ju Shou. Hence, the saying 能臣择主，良禽择木而栖. Long story short, Johnny Lu Su rejected Yuan Shu's job offer. This could also be another chief reason why the exodus started. Again, let us refer back to why Johnny Lu Su opted for Jiangdong instead of Jing Province.

Sun Ce wasn't just impressed. He was extremely impressed. It should be obvious that Zhou Yu put up a good word for his BFF. Recommendation letter+whatever happening recently=you're hired.

Before I end this Pt II

Let me just explain the logic behind Johnny Lu Su's manner of deployment. Going by common sense logic, it should be the Kat Brigade in front with the rest behind. The reality was the opposite. So why did Johnny Lu Su opted for this polarity switch? It's like asking me why I was crazy enough to pull this off.

Like how the intuitive approach would to consolidate and beat those salty Koreans in the maritime industry, the intuitive approach should be to place the soldiers in front. Now it must be stated that the soldiers were well-trained in artillery arts. In other words, any bandit brigade attacking the commoners would have to face a barrage of arrows. Since we're talking about ranged warfare, hail after hail of metal tipped projectiles would be an effective deterrence. After all, they're only after the money and... well, pretty girls.

At the same time, having the soldiers holding the rear also gave them an additional tactical edge apart from the one I mentioned just now. Namely, the possibility of pursuit from the local security. Since Johnny Lu Su was a genius strategist who enjoyed honing his talent (be it 4 teh lolz or not), he should have already predicted this. If you want to know what a two-pronged strategy looks like, look no further than this.

P.S: To explain why I suggested making friends with the salty Koreans instead of trying to win, let's see things this way. You have South Korea situated at the + and Singapore at the -. It's like visualising a geographic battery where having an edge in the relevant region's maritime industry is concerned. And besides, Moon Jae-in is now very gung-ho about the ASEAN region. Just don't ask me whether this will work.

To be continued...

Johnny Chinese? Pt I

Okay, the recent few days have been weird. I won't say very weird, but I'd say quite weird. As a writer (note I never said blogger for a reason), I have the ability to recognise what I'd call the writer's fire. When we talk about writer's block, we know it means the writer is experiencing some sort of Priebus blocking his/her well of creativity. When it comes to the writer's fire, it means a burning urge to start writing something.

And speaking of writing something, I realised that unlike the first chapter, the second chapter of A Requiem From Winter Past (in its previous draft) has a longer word count. The first chapter lasted 2K+, but the second one actually lasted like less than 200 words short of my preferred 4K minimum mark (albeit I'm still not comfortable with stretching any chapter to the 5K territory, let alone doing a Rowling). Which means I'll most likely have an easier time pushing it to the post-4K boundary. Hopefully, I can get it up by next week. Knowing myself, however, I'd quite likely need a girlfriend armed with her Second Amendment rights.

Okay, the Second Amendment part was a joke. We all know guns are banned in Singapore because conceal carry is known to be every self-respecting cop's worst nightmare. For every moment of added security comes the additional risk of criminal acts, for every good guy with a gun comes at least one bad guy with a gun. Don't we all love basic mathematics?

So who's Johnny?

Don't we all love the name Johnny? Johnny isn't just a generic English name which no Singaporean millennial would like to have in order to look cool. At the same time, the term Johnny Foreigner has been seen as either another word for diversity or another excuse to endorse a divisive society. Then we have two other Johnnies. One was a Yank and the other a Brit.

Yet, it must be known that there's another Johnny apart from Shining Johnny and Dancing Johnny. Namely, Johnny Lu.

So why am I mentioning so many (?) Johnnies?

Because the reason is very simple: When we mention Johnny Chinese, the first person coming to mind would be Johnny Lu. However, history already gave us another Johnny Lu way before the showbiz industry introduced the current one.

Ladies and girls, I hereby give you Johnny Lu Su. Actually, it's not me but Chen Shou.

The complete package

It's very hard to find a guy blessed with physique, upright character, and brains. You can't have physique without an upright character because that'd make him a potential rapist and the next Brock Turner instead of the next Brock Lesnar. You can't have physique without brains because that'd make him a moron. But add all three together and you'd get the kind of guy every parent would love to have as a son-in-law. Hollywood enjoyed telling us there's no such thing as too much brawn. Don't believe me, go ask Johnny Rambo. History, however, tells us a very different story from Luo Guanzhong's Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The account stated by the Book of Wu was written as below:

[肃体貌魁奇，少有壮节，好为奇计。]

Trans: (Lu) Su had a strong physique with exceptional features. During his youth, he was already a man of strong principles and ingenuity.

In a world dominated by the unscrupulous, hypocritical, and utterly dumb, it's actually understandable why feminism has been occasionally associated with cynicism. From Brett the Hitman to 워마드, it's a no wonder why G.K Chesterton should be seen as a man of great foresight.

How the progressives sorely need Lu Su's voice of reason and how the conservatives truly need Lu Su's upright character. And note the italics. Whether the liberals are able to tolerate such a voice is another question altogether. Let alone the conservatives.

How Johnny Lu came about

[鲁肃字子敬，临淮东城人也。生而失父，与祖母居。家富于财，性好施与，尔时天下已乱，肃不治家事，大散财货，摽卖田地，以赈穷弊结士为务，甚得乡邑欢心。]

Trans: Lu Su, courtesy named Zijing, was a native of Dongcheng in Linhuai. His father passed away shortly after he was born and he later lived with his grandmother. His family was rich and he has a charitable character. At that time, the era was already one of chaos. Lu Su neglected the management of family affairs while freely giving away his fortune and selling his fields in order to help the poor and getting to know men of knowledge. As a result, he earned the admiration of the locals.

Does your life suck? Well, Johnny Lu Su's life also sucked. Yes, his family was rich. Very likely not as rich as those Crazy Rich Asians portrayed by Kevin Kwan Kong, but at least rich enough to give freely to the poor. But there's a problem: His dad died shortly after he was born, which by itself was a tragedy. It's like John Newton losing his mother when he wasn't even twelve. So the next time you're itching to complain about trivial things (and I mean trivial things like calling the cops for fun), remember that Lu Su lost his father and John Newton lost his mother.

In a true blue Daily Nas manner, Johnny Lu Su managed to find ways to make lemonade out of lemons. Not only that, the lemonade he made was a blessing to those around him instead of a stumbling block for the weak and suffering. But that's not all! If emulating a Jewish guy named Barnabas wasn't good enough, Johnny Lu Su went one step further by making friends with men of knowledge. If you're a regular churchgoer, surely there would be moments where visiting pastors would pop by and give a sermon. After worship, what would you do? Are you going to chat with your friends of the same fellowship group or will you be crazy enough to try initiating a conversation with that Korean pastor from the U.S?

Mr Chou sends his regards

I'm not referring to Jay Chou. Rather, it's another Chou. To put it in proper form, it's Zhou Yu. Forget about what you read in Luo Guanzhong's Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The real Zhou Yu was demonised in the novel even though he never disagreed with Luo Guanzhong. In fact, Luo Guanzhong existed in a much later era. Try calculating the distance between the Eastern Han dynasty and the Yuan dynasty. Zhou Yu was a magnanimous person who was unfortunately demonised because Zhuge Liang must be deified at all costs. As for history, what did Chen Shou say concerning the first meeting between two exceptional heroes of their time?

[周瑜为居巢长，将数百人故过候肃，并求资粮。肃家有两囷米，各三千斛。肃乃指一囷与周瑜，瑜益知其奇也。遂相亲结，定侨、札之分。]

Trans: When Zhou Yu was the chief official of Juchao, he sent a few hundred men over to Lu Su to send his regards in order to seek resources and grain. Lu Su's home had two barn houses of rice with each filling up to three thousand hus. Lu Su pointed Zhou Yu to one of the barn houses. As days went by, Zhou Yu got to know Lu Su's ingenuity. As a result, they became close friends.

So how much was a hu during the Han dynasty? One hu was equivalent to ten dous. One dou was equivalent to ten litres. Believe it or not, the litre is a legit measurement for grain. So how much would three thousand hus be? Astronomical by my guess. As we can see, Johnny Lu Su's family GDP was effectively America's GDP per year. Two barn houses' worth of astronomical value and one of them went to an army of hungry men. If people have the right to be stingy in times of peace, what then can we say when it comes to times of chaos! For Johnny Lu Su, there were no regrets in being his own Bill Gates. As a military man, Zhou Yu should understand the harshness of reality. In any environment where people are capable of becoming vicious animals for the sake of survival or kicks, mercy is a trait needed by the weak and despised by the strong. Zhou Yu wasn't a weakling, but he's surely a man of upright character. And a man of integrity would never allow great acts of mercy to be forgotten within the next 24 hours. So here we have a man of John Rambo's physique and the tenderness of the Apostle John.

Which now comes to the question of why Zhou Yu was impressed by Johnny Lu Su. Was it due to his exceptional kindness? Now it must be stated that most likely Zhou Yu would have heard of Lu Su's reputation as the most charitable man in Jiangdong, some (might) say the whole of China and even the whole of Korea. Otherwise, why would he send a hundreds-man brigade? To bust Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi?

The first impression counts a lot as anyone can tell you that. So what was Zhou Yu's first impression of Johnny Lu Su? Quite likely a charitable man of a great heart. Yet, first impression can only tell you and me this much. Say for example, Bill Haslam.  What would be my first impression of him? Governator of Tennessee and the closest bloke to Guan Zhong and Xiao He. What about Ben Sasse? What would be my first impression of him? A man whose heart mirrors that of Duke Huan of Qi and Duke Wen of Jin. But if there's no way for me to interact with them, it means my understanding would only stop at phase 1. Not that I'd get the honour to do so anyway since it'd be far easier for Eunice Olsen to be friends with Michelle Obama and/or Hillary Clinton. Or in Chen Shou's own words, 定侨、札之分.

To be continued because my sleep pattern has always been as dodgy as that of Kogami Shinya

P.S: Before I close this part 1, I need to point out the fact that when Zhou Yu first met Lu Su, he already rejected Yuan Shu's offer of employment. Guess who's the next one to reject the same guy?

#yolo because #yodo Pt VII

Okay, so we have finally reached the end of the Kuok Kah series. Before I start, let me say that the next person featured may/may not be General Loong. This is because I realised I've done one write-up on a Shu-Han personality (i.e. Zhuge Liang) and two Cao-Wei ones (i.e. Sima Yi and Guo Jia). As the result, I may need to do one Sun-Wu guy before starting on General Loong. After General Loong, then I may start on another Sun-Wu guy.

[周瑜字公瑾，庐江舒人也。

...性度恢廓，大率为得人，惟与程普不睦。普颇以年长，数陵侮瑜。瑜折节容下，终不与校。普后自敬服而亲重之，乃告人曰：“与周公瑾交，若饮醇醪，不觉自醉。”

时人以其谦让服人如此。]

[鲁肃字子敬，临淮东城人也。

...肃体貌魁奇，少有壮节，好为奇计。天下将乱，乃学击剑骑射，招聚少年，给其衣食，往来南山中射猎，阴相部勒，讲武习兵。父老咸曰：“鲁氏世衰，乃生此狂儿！”]

[评曰：曹公乘汉相之资，挟天子而扫群桀，新荡荆城，仗威东夏，于时议者莫不疑贰。周瑜、鲁肃建独断之明出众人之表，实奇才也。]

Note: It seemed that every talented guy in Jiangdong must reject Yuan Shu in the same way every talented guy under Cao Cao's banner must reject Yuan Shao.

[术欲以瑜为将，瑜观术终无所成，故求为居巢长，欲假涂东归，术听之。遂自居巢还吴。]

This was Gongjin.

[袁术闻其名，就署东城长。肃见术无纲纪，不足与立事，乃携老弱将轻侠少年百馀人，南到居巢就瑜。]

This was Zijing.

#WhyAlwaysYuan

https://republicofotters.blogspot.com/2018/10/yolo-because-yodo-pt-i.html

https://republicofotters.blogspot.com/2018/10/yolo-because-yodo-pt-ii.html

https://republicofotters.blogspot.com/2018/10/yolo-because-yodo-pt-iii.html

https://republicofotters.blogspot.com/2018/10/yolo-because-yodo-pt-iv.html

https://republicofotters.blogspot.com/2018/10/yolo-because-yodo-pt-v.html

https://republicofotters.blogspot.com/2018/10/yolo-because-yodo-pt-vi.html

The conclusion to this series

In this post, I'll be covering Kuok Kah's relevance in Cao Cao's cabinet. After all, Cao Cao was truly a stable genius (albeit he did have his unstable moments). If your boss is a stable genius, it should say a lot about how he picks his employees. For Cao Cao, he got people like Xun Yu, Cui Yan, and Mao Jie taking charge of the backyard. If you have Xun Yu and Cui Yan in your Senate, it means they're your best bet in picking the best person for the Supreme Court job, Brett the Hitman or no Brett the Hitman. As for Mao Jie, he's the guy able to make every nation either great or great again.

Against his foes, Cao Cao had people like Jia Xu, Cheng Yu, and Dong Zhao. Not to mention Kuok Kah as well. Imagine what they can do to your political and/or military opponents. Jia Xu was a master of controlling the fear of others, that's how he orchestrated the sacking of Chang'an (apparently, Guo Si and Li Jue were reacting like a pair of jittery Trumpets because Wang Yun swore to bump off every follower of Dong Zhuo without considering what the likes of Amnesty International had to say). Cheng Yu was a master of reverse psychology (which might explain why he enjoyed insulting other people, his own people included). As for Dong Zhao, I need to double confirm whether he's a trolling god. Maybe he was, maybe he's not.

So what about Kuok Kah's ability as an adviser? Although there was no way for us to know how good he could be when it came to domestic administration, it's interesting to see Cao Cao's intention to make him a senior figure once the whole of China was unified. For a genius of war, intending to make him either an ESM Goh or MM Lee had to be the best compliment Cao Cao could give to any of his advisers. This was despite Kuok Kah currying Cao Cao's favour in the most awesome way possible.

And speaking of currying favour in the most awesome way possible, it must be stated that Kuok Kah did it in a manner no one could ever imagine. This was no Palin or Gingrich moment. The Thesis of Ten Victories and Defeats was the outcome of Kuok Kah's greatest/only weapon. Namely, the ability to analyse things beyond what a normal human being can do, white American or no white American.

Now it must be stated that Kuok Kah's Thesis of Ten Victories and Defeats was eerily similar to Xun Yu's Thesis of Four Victories and Defeats. Hence, Chen Shou's decision to include only the latter. At the same time, Xun Yu also advocated bumping off Lu Bu. However, it must be noted that Kuok Kah's version was more detailed. Take for example the need to get rid of Lu Bu. Xun Yu only said Lu Bu must be bumped off in order to seize control of the region of Hebei (i.e. the territories held by Yuan Shao because they're all at the north of Yellow River). This would be like someone saying the Democrats can win big two years later if a strong candidate is available. But for Kuok Kah, he further explained why attacking Lu Bu was a must. Xun Yu was speaking from a geographical point of view. Kuok Kah was speaking from the human psychology point of view. Xun Yu's view was 100% strategic. Kuok Kah's view was 50% tactical and 50% strategic. 50% tactical because he's talking about what's happening currently. Namely, Yuan Shao attacking Gongsun Zan. 50% strategic because Lu Bu would surely cause massive trouble by siding with Yuan Shao if nothing was being done. After all, Yuan Shao was the high SES guy compared to Cao Cao's low SES status.

Note of apology: In one of my posts, I mentioned Yuan Shao's unwillingness to aid Lu Bu due to his reputation. That was a catastrophic mistake on my part. The reason why Yuan Shao wouldn't attack Cao Cao while he's attacking Lu Bu was Gongsun Zan. Hence, the text, "绍方北击公孙瓒，可因其远征，东取吕布。"

Xun Yu's Thesis of Four Victories and Defeats hinged on four words:

Magnanimity (度), Understanding (谋), Military (武), Integrity (德)

Kuok Kah's Thesis of Ten Victories and Defeats hinged on the same four plus six more:

Way (道), Righteousness (义), Management (治), Benevolence (仁), Discernment (明), Reasoning (文)

Out of Xun Yu's Four, a closer look at the original text would reveal Kuok Kah and his BFF saying the same logic in terms of Understanding and Integrity. Both spoke about Cao Cao's decisiveness in formulating plans, this would be Understanding. Both spoke about the need not be led astray by bias, be it personal or political. This would be Integrity (i.e. if you're not impartial, how can you be a person of integrity?). 

As for Magnanimity and Military, Xun Yu pointed out Yuan Shao's problem. Kuok Kah, on the other hand, both pointed out and proved that very problem. That'd be Magnanimity. For Military, Xun Yu pointed out the problem of discipline, something which Yuan Shao had aplenty but Cao Cao did not have. Kuok Kah didn't point this out, but rather he pointed out the traits shown in the battlefield. It's like the difference between analysing the backstage (i.e. Xun Yu) and the forestage (i.e. Kuok Kah).

The remaining six spoken by Kuok Kah referred to the political. Way refers to how relatable a person is to others. Yuan Shao was a politician behaving like one while Cao Cao was a politician behaving like a human being like you and me. You try telling the NRA to behave like Cao Cao and you see what's going to happen.

Righteousness refers to picking the battleground rather than shaping it. Yuan Shao believed too much in the latter, but an absolute zero when it came to the former. As for Cao Cao, he moved with the flow first. You try telling people cynicism is a sorry form of wisdom. Well, it's true. So how do you relay it to the citizens of Syria since they're NOT Americans?

Management refers to dealing with matters according to the severity. You don't deal with severe matters by being dismissive or using a band-aid. Nurses and doctors would tell you that'd either result in death or death by inappropriate measures used. So no, Brock Allen Turner shouldn't be jailed for six months divided by half.

Benevolence means taking care of those suffering while understanding that you can't save every person under the sun in times of peace. Let alone in times of conflict. Idealism is never the antidote to cynicism. Benevolence is. Not the unrealistic brand but Kuok Kah's realistic brand.

Discernment is understanding who is saying what. People make mistakes, people tell lies. Do I need to elaborate this beyond pointing out the need to ask questions? You don't need to be Thomas Edison to ask questions. And if the society you're in frowns at the need to ask questions, be assured that you're actually too good for such a society. So don't be depressed by assuming the opposite.

Reasoning is knowing why it's wrong to demonise others who disagree with you. They may be wrong, you may be wrong. Being reasonable doesn't mean you have to get it right. Being reasonable means being humble. And to be humble, you need to ask what kind of god you worship. If you're an atheist, you still need to ask yourself whether you regard yourself or someone else as a god. If you follow a religion, then here's a realistic demonstration of being reasonable.

Libationer of Military Affairs and Infrastructure or just the military?

The historical text was definitely dodgy. While Kuok Kah's post was called the Libationer of Military Affairs (军祭酒), Cao Cao actually nominated Kuok Kah for the post of Libationer of Military Affairs AND Infrastructure (司空军祭酒). Now it must be stated that ancient China during those times was different from the U.S of today. The U.S of today requires the Senate to vote whether Brett the Hitman should be the latest guy in the Supreme Court since the previous guy ownself fired ownself like Bill Haslam, Bob Corker, Jeff Flake, and Trey Gowdy. As for ancient China back then, one could say Cao Cao was the Senate and the Senate was Cao Cao. This was definitely different from a Republican majority Senate or a Democrat majority thereof.

So which was which? Was Kuok Kah the Libationer of Military Affairs or the Libationer of Military Affairs AND Infrastructure? I'd say both. Libationer of Military Affairs referred to Kuok Kah's contributions before history rolled a one for him. Libationer of Military Affairs and Infrastructure indicated what Kuok Kah could have been had history decided to roll him a twenty. The evidence could be seen in this part of Cao Cao's eulogy for Kuok Kah:

[平定天下，谋功为高。不幸短命，事业未终。]

Translate:

Pacifying the lands, hence great was his contributions as an adviser. Alas, he had a short life, thus unable to see his duty to the very end.

The word 事业 means career. But it felt too contemporary. Trying to understand archaic Chinese can be much more challenging than trying to understand Shakespearean English. Hence, I chose to rephrase it as duty. So what was Kuok Kah's duty? If Cao Cao never nominated him as the Libationer of Military Affairs and Infrastructure, if it's only about the military, then why would Cao Cao say Kuok Kah died before he could see his duty to the very end? Yes, there's still land aplenty waiting to be won. Namely, the Jing Province and the regions of Jiangdong and Ba-Shu. Which was really a big deal considering the size of China. But we must asl oask ourselves a question: How much time did Cao Cao have in developing infrastructure when he was fighting a campaign against three opponents in a row? Compare your estimation with the what-if scenario of a unified China. Then you'd know why Cao Cao lamented Kuok Kah's early demise. In ancient times, no one said you could live for 50 years and beyond. But in history, if you're a notable person and you died before 40, it means sucked to be you. Kuok Kah wasn't the first one because the military genius Huo Qubing died young as well. That was during the Western Han dynasty, an era way earlier than the current Eastern Han. Kuok Kah wouldn't be the last as well since Zhou Yu passed away before he reached 40 as well. So what if Gongjin got a super beautiful wife in the form of Xiaoqiao?

Kuok Kah's role

As proven by Kuok Kah's ability to one-up his BFF by a score of 6-4, he was a man of details. At the same time, the ability to understand the details require the ability to relay the information in the most succinct manner possible. Not too short lest important information went missing. But definitely not too long because your boss has only 24 hours per day just like everyone else in the world. You can say one minute wasted is no big deal. Add up the numbers and see how many minutes can be wasted per day. Let's be honest with ourselves here: We're born wastrels because no matter what, we'd wasted a certain portion of our 24 hours doing random/pointless stuff.

Two good examples would be yours truly.

JR: Third Degree Bernd! The Third Degree Bernd is making a comeback, ladies and gentlemen!
Note: Above image is the third attempt on wasting my time.

Because Cao Cao already got two personal advisers in the form of Xun You and Zhong Yao, Kuok Kah's role was to analyse and plan. Analyse the situation, get the correct conclusion, and plan what needed to be planned. This was very likely what Xi Zhicai was doing, hence Cao Cao's desire to get an able replacement after he died young.

This video is only for those who understand Chinese

As Cao Cao's personal planner, Kuok Kah had two jobs. The first was to analyse and plan. The other was to analyse and advise. This was why Cao Cao stated in his eulogy for Kuok Kah that whenever Cao Cao called for a conference, Kuok Kah was the one advising him what should be done and his counsel would always result in the battle turning to his favour [每有大议，临敌制变。]. At the same time, whenever Cao Cao hesitated or yet to come up with a solution, Kuok Kah would always pop up with the correct answer [臣策未决，嘉辄成之。].

Now it must be stated that finding a solution and making it work are two different things altogether. The former relies on analysis, the latter relies on planning and adapting to circumstances. It's very likely that Kuok Kah was in charge of analysis and planning while the likes of Xun You and Zhong Yao were most likely in charge of coming up with counter-measures if things went awry. At least that'd be Xun You's job considering his contributions during the Battle of Guandu.

So you can see things this way: Kuok Kah was in charge of initiating the preemptive while Xun You and those like him were in charge of manipulating the process.

Kuok Kah's ability

So far, I've covered two strategists apart from Kuok Kah. Now it must be stated that the role of any strategist was to analyse and act upon the conclusion made. In this sense, there's no difference between Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi.

If we're to go according to the historical text, Zhuge Liang's ability as a strategist lies in organising and the ability to discern the nature of any situation at a single glance. This was proven via his political accomplishment and the fact that he was bossing the military post-Liu Bei. However, the latter part of his ability might have exposed an over-reliance on analysing things before the process, hence resulting in a lack of improvisation when things got tough. Hence, Chen Shou stating that Zhuge Liang's inability to be tactically flexible unlike Liu Bei's other numero uno adviser Fa Zheng.

For Sima Yi, he lacked the wisdom in dealing with people due to his cynicism and the fact that Obama was right in saying this is a sorry form of wisdom. As the result, he was guilty of unnecessary retaliation as what we've seen in his treatment towards Cao Shuang's clan (i.e. he went back on his word and ordered a mass execution). However, he was a military genius when it came to utilising the forces at his disposal. Not to mention the ability to see things from the enemy's perspective. Hence, he truly lived up to Sun Zi's number one logic: Know yourself and your enemy. By this way, you will not face dangers in a hundred battles [知己知彼，百战不殆].

As for Kuok Kah, I doubt he had the ability to boss an army like Zhuge Liang or the ability to utilise resources and manpower like Sima Yi. However, it seemed that he could easily see the beginning and end of every situation. If Zhuge Liang's ability was to discern the situation from A to point Z while Sima Yi's capability was all about using any aspect from A to Z, then Kuok Kah's talent would be knowing where was Z and why after looking at A.

It's like trying to explain why Biden would stand a great chance of defeating Trump come 2020 or why Sanders would have a greater chance of doing so while at the same time creating a setback for the GOP. The presence of Biden and Sanders represents A. The likelihood of a Biden or Sanders victory represents the where when it comes to Z. As for the why, that's because of Biden representing the need for stability while Sanders has the ability to initiate a swing tsunami in the Democrats' favour, hence potentially redefining the current liberalism in America due to his moderate ideology.

In the historical text, Kuok Kah was noted to have two super-human traits: Gift of foresight and capacity since young [嘉少有远量。] and the ability to analyse and articulate [嘉深通有算略，达于事情。].

Let's use three examples to prove this.

Sun Ce's death:

The former was proven by his correct call that Sun Ce would eventually die at the hands of violent men [以吾观之，必死于匹夫之手。]. As for the latter, it was what he said, that Sun Ce was a reckless person and his polarising "either you're for us or against us" treatment of capable people [策新并江东，所诛皆英豪雄杰，能得人死力者也。然策轻而无备，虽有百万之众，无异于独行中原也。].

Civil war between Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang:

There seemed to be something in the Yuan genes. Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu had a history of civil war even though black lives were not at stake. Fast forward to the next generation. What did Kuok Kah see? Civil war again. His perception was that doing something would force a temporary alliance against a common enemy (i.e. Cao Cao) while staying put would result in an implosion [急之则相持，缓之而后争心生。]. This was proof of his first trait. The latter trait was proven by his answer why. As in Yuan Shao's indecisiveness concerning this matter while he was still alive and the fact that the advisers didn't help a single bit by stoking the fire of sibling rivalry [袁绍爱此二子，莫适立也。有郭图、逢纪为之谋臣，必交斗其间，还相离也。]. The so-called imminent invasion of the Jing Province was nothing more than a large scale ruse intended to lull the Yuan brothers into complacency, implosion, and Cao Cao reaping the reward by initiating a preemptive attack afterwards [不如南向荆州若征刘表者，以待其变；变成而后击之，可一举定也。]. This, again, was proof of his second trait.

Taking on Wuhuan in order to take them out:

This was the battle which cost Kuok Kah his life. If Kuok Kah was indeed a womaniser, history didn't say anything about a Taeser Kim whose eyes were a pair of taser guns. And besides, Kuok Kah never entered Korea just because the enemy's base was at the gateway of the Korean Peninsula. I'm pretty sure he's not in the mood to womanise if he's indeed a womaniser. When Cao Cao's men advised resting on their laurels, Kuok Kah said no. His assessment of a Yuan-Wuhuan alliance being able to destabilise northern China pointed to the first trait [...胡人一动，民夷俱应，以生蹋顿之心，成觊觎之计，恐青、冀非己之有也。]. The ability to answer why referred to the second trait, the reason being Yuan Shao's ties with the northern tribes and the people of newly conquered territories yet to pledge total allegiance [且袁绍有恩于民夷，而尚兄弟生存。今四州之民，徒以威附，德施未加...]. Interestingly, this was when Cao Cao planned to attack the Jing Province.

Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and... Guo Fengxiao?!?

When we talk about psychology, two names would come to mind: Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. When it comes to understanding the opponent's psychology, people may think about Kuok Kah. Understanding a person's psychology would give the analyser an idea of what the target is going to do next. Say for example a crazy anti-Semite white gunman pleading not guilty despite being caught guilty. Why did he plead not guilty? When it comes to pleading not guilty, there's such a thing called insanity defence. So long the defendant behaves like some anti-Semite madman who recently escaped from the Arkham Asylum before the judge and jury, it means the defence attorney can easily utilise the insanity defence as a legit courtroom tactic.

You don't need to be Freud or his BFF Jung to understand what I'm saying above. Likewise, Kuok Kah didn't need to be a Sigmund or Carl to analyse the psychology of his opponents. Yuan Shao, Lu Bu, Sun Ce, the Brothers Yuan, etc... it's scary to imagine how Kuok Kah was able to be a natural psychologist. At the same time, however, psychology is about seeing things from the other person's perspective. You don't need to be Sigmund Freud or Carl Jung to try doing that.

At the end of the day, psychology can be seen as a coin. Two sides of the same thing. Either you're the head and the other person is the tail or vice versa. You're not the other fellow, but you're no more or less a human being than him/her. To the likes of Daily Nas, it's good news. To the likes of Kuok Kah, it's a weapon waiting to be used.

In the manga Rurouni Kenshin, the villain Shishio Makoto once said that it takes a killer to understand a killer. This was how the protagonist Himura Kenshin was able to predict accurately that Shishio was intending to conflagrate Tokyo instead of Kyoto via a ship with the most dramatic name: The Japanese name for purgatory. Needless to say, Kuok Kah's ability to analyse the opponent's psychology was no different from how Kenshin was able to predict Shishio's real move.

And lastly, a song which I felt would suit Kuok Kah...

乱世弱冠奇才出，旁若无人俗世避
少有远量三尺剑，算略无遗锋芒利
袁氏无为双眸知，司徒府居待明主
十胜十败震曹公，下邳逆境破吕布
官渡之际料孙郎，北伐乌桓安四州
身在柳城英才亡，天忌王佐谥贞侯
赤壁兵败叹奉孝，哀哉痛哉惜哉者

#yolo because #yodo Pt VI

So we have come to the penultimate episode of the Kuok Kah series and why he's such a stable genius. Unless something screws up, I should be able to wrap this up at Pt VII. Before I start, I decide to up a vid. Not for the sake of sending a message, but 4 teh lolz.

The reason why I have to do a disclaimer?

https://republicofotters.blogspot.com/2018/10/yolo-because-yodo-pt-i.html

https://republicofotters.blogspot.com/2018/10/yolo-because-yodo-pt-ii.html

https://republicofotters.blogspot.com/2018/10/yolo-because-yodo-pt-iii.html

https://republicofotters.blogspot.com/2018/10/yolo-because-yodo-pt-iv.html

https://republicofotters.blogspot.com/2018/10/yolo-because-yodo-pt-v.html

Kuok Kah's Top Stable Genius Moments 4: Great minds think alike

No, Trump isn't involved in the title above. When I say great minds think alike, I'm referring to the boss and his employee. Never mind the likelihood of both Cao Cao and Kuok Kah being womanisers. After all, history never said whether Kuok Kah was a womaniser like his boss.

[太祖欲速征刘备，议者惧军出，袁绍击其后，进不得战而退失所据。
...太祖疑，以问嘉。嘉劝太祖曰：“绍性迟而多疑，来必不速。备新起，众心未附，急击之必败。此存亡之机，不可失也。”

太祖曰：“善。”

遂东征备。备败奔绍，绍果不出。]

Translate:

Taizu desired to swiftly attack Liu Bei, But the advisers feared that once their forces were deployed, Yuan Shao would attack from behind. Hence, losing their base of power.
...Taizu hesitated and asked Guo Jia for his opinion. Guo Jia advised Taizu: "Yuan Shao's character is full of indecisiveness and suspicions, thus he won't arrive as soon as possible. Liu Bei has just established his influence, therefore the people have yet to trust him fully. Once we launch a fast assault, he will be defeated. This is a moment of survival or defeat. We cannot pass up such a chance."

Taizu answered: "Agreed."

Upon launching an attack to the east, Liu Bei was defeated and forced to flee towards Yuan Shao. Indeed Yuan Shao didn't capitalise.

Above excerpt was from Fuzi. As I've said before, Fuzi's account on Kuok Kah was pro-Kuok. So did such an event happen? The answer is yes. The evidence lies in Cao Cao's account.

[公将自东征备，诸将皆曰：“与公争天下者，袁绍也。今绍方来而弃之东，绍乘人后，若何？”

公曰：“夫刘备，人杰也，今不击，必为后患。袁绍虽有大志，而见事遟，必不动也。”]

Translate:

The Duke (Cao Cao) was prepared to attack Liu Bei at the east, but his generals asked: "The one vying against you is Yuan Shao. Now that he's coming but yet m'lord is abandoning the battle for the east (i.e. where Liu Bei is), what if he attacks us from behind unprepared?"

The Duke replied: "Liu Bei is an exceptional hero. If we don't attack him now, he will become a major threat in the future. Although Yuan Shao has great ambition, he has a slow sense of perception. Therefore, he will not move."

Pei Songzhi pointed out the error in Fuzi's account by stating that the idea of attacking Liu Bei without fearing Yuan Shao would strike from behind came from Cao Cao. Hence, it's illogical for Kuok Kah to say the same thing. [臣松之案武纪，决计征备，量绍不出，皆出自太祖。此云用嘉计，则为不同。]

But there's a blind spot in Pei Songzhi's statement. It's like assuming Kuok Kah's prediction that Sun Ce would eventually be assassinated was a case of foresight rather than accurately predicting he wouldn't be able to reach Xuchang to grab the Emperor. That it's more of a freak coincidence than anything else.  [又本传称（自）嘉料孙策轻佻，必死于匹夫之手，诚为明于见事。然自非上智，无以知其死在何年也。今正以袭许年死，此盖事之偶合。]

Let's explain Pei Songzhi's view on Kuok Kah's prediction being a freak coincidence. How accurate should it be? Pei Songzhi was referring to the timing, not the inevitable. Therefore, any statement I've made rebutting Pei Songzhi is now officially a case of ownself rebutt ownself. Ownself as in myself. Of course, this is NOT to say Kuok Kah got lucky. He knew it's going to happen. Just that he didn't know when. This was why Pei Songzhi stated Kuok Kah's analysis was one of exceptional foresight. It's like saying something like this below instead of trying to guess who is going to win which half of the Congress.

Any assumption that swing voters=Sun Ce should be seen as an unfortunate case of 2+2=5.

As for Pei Songzhi's statement that there's a contradiction between Fuzi's account and Cao Cao's version of the story in terms of attacking Liu Bei, it's not that straightforward. In Fuzi's side of the story, it was only stated that Cao Cao hesitated. [...太祖疑] When you hesitate on something, it means you got a decent idea on what to expect or do. But do you have confidence that it would turn out fine? Hesitation is no hesitation if you got the confidence. Never mind the chances of failure when it comes to winning the heart of Emilia 404/GG Taeser/Gakui. A possible explanation to the apparent contradiction lies in how strong the opposition was when Cao Cao confidently said those words in his account: “夫刘备，人杰也，今不击，必为后患。袁绍虽有大志，而见事遟，必不动也。”

Any form of opposition doesn't necessarily come before or after. It can also come both before and after. Cao Cao was no Trump. If the likes of Xun You, Zhong Yao, and Jia Xu (not to mention Xun Yu as well) ended up asking whether such a statement should be reconsidered AFTER the likes of Yue Jin, Cao Hong, and Teo Boon Wan (not to be confused with a politician named Khaw Boon Wan) objected to it, who are we to assume Cao Cao wouldn't hesitate? Were there such moments where everybody else had his suspicion concerning the situation? The answer is yes. Prior to Cao Cao launching a daring raid resulting in a massive loss of supplies on Yuan Shao's end, who actually trusted Xu You's words that doing so would be a good idea? Apparently, no one believed the words of an unproven traitor. Except for Jia Xu and Xun You. So you see, there's already a precedent set in place. Not the daring attack on Wuchao which indirectly resulted in Cao Cao winning the Battle of Guandu, but Kuok Kah assuring his boss upon hesitation setting in. Hence, Cao Cao's account stating Guo Jia encouraging Cao Cao to go ahead. [郭嘉亦劝公，遂东击备，破之...] Effectively, you can see this as a coin with two sides instead of two tails or two heads.

We must understand what's truly at stake. Cao Cao's assumption was spot on, but the act of analysing is nonetheless a form of science. If Cao Cao could pull off a magic spell, there's no need for his words to be proven true afterwards. Instead, he could just hex Yuan Shao and victory would be his. That wouldn't be science. Rather, it'd be an anti-scientific approach in getting things done. Remember, Yuan Shao actually boasted a far superior army before Cao Cao bumped off the supplies together with Chunyu Qiong. So what makes us think this was just a Roy Moore or Pennsylvania moment for Cao Cao? Because it's not.

Note: Interestingly, it seemed that Yuan Shao was always the stingy man when it came to offering aid. During Cao Cao's campaign against Lu Bu, he actually did nothing to intervene. Apparently, my resources are NOT your resources.

Kuok Kah's Top Stable Genius Moments 4: Final glory=Endless glory

Despite the violence and anti-science cleavage done by Koei Tecmo (seriously, try playing any Dead Or Alive game and you'd have experienced a hormonal Fatal Rush. Team Ninja was actually part of Koei Tecmo), one thing they managed to do right was Kuok Kah's image song for Dynasty Warriors.

The final battle against the Yuan faction would be Kuok Kah's final battle as well. The timing couldn't be any more ironic. While Kuok Kah was to be fondly remembered by Cao Cao as the man capable of aiding him in the ultimate unification (not to be confused with the not-so-salty Koreans because actual violence was actually involved in an era where the Emperor was the nearest thing to a nuke), his death was to be at the same period as the ultimate demise of Cao Cao's greatest adversary. That's before the alliance of Sun Quan and Liu Bei together with Zhou Yu (Zhuge Liang wasn't involved because Luo Guanzhong was culpable for spreading #fakenews) caused him to tank like a Tankyrgios. Then again, history is the alpha bitch for a very good reason. Idiocy is the child of humanity while irony is the mother thereof. At the risk of sounding like a feminist, no human being can ever prevail against the alpha bitch. Period. No pun intended by the way.

Against Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi, it's very easy to take it... well, easy. The reason why was that the two losers actually escaped to the geographical gateway to the Korean Peninsula. There, they met up with a bunch of non-Chinese people. Not the Koreans, but the tribe of Wuhuan. Traditionally, nomadic tribesmen from the north were known to be aggressive. Unlike the Koreans, it's not due to a siege mentality caused by a history of getting invaded left, right, and centre. There were times where they got invaded by China, but there were also moments where Han Solo wasn't Chinese. More notable cases would involve both halves of the Song dynasty and the Ming dynasty. The former was a case of consecutive invasion where you got the Khitans and Jurchens (Chinese history buffs should be familiar with the Humiliation of Jingkang) during the northern half with the Mongols attacking during the southern half. As for the latter, we got the Manchurians. Ironically, the Qing dynasty was formed in the most heroic manner due to Li Zicheng's act of rebellion. Well, sort of since politics were involved.

The Han dynasty was no stranger to invasions from the north. Diplomatic relationship with the Xiongnu ethnicity was seen as a dicey affair. Dicier than the current relationship between the U.S and China/Russia/both. There were moments of peace. Then there were moments where history rolled a one for the sake of trolling. This was how a fellow warlord of Cao Cao and Yuan Shao earned his fame. More famously known as General Loong's ex-boss, Gongsun Zan was a much-feared adversary in the eyes of the northern tribes. But not Yuan Shao. Read what Kuok Kah had to say concerning the Yuans and the Wuhuan tribe.

[公虽威震天下，胡恃其远，必不设备。因其无备，卒然击之，可破灭也。且袁绍有恩于民夷，而尚兄弟生存。今四州之民，徒以威附，德施未加，舍而南征，尚因乌丸之资，招其死主之臣，胡人一动，民夷俱应，以生蹋顿之心，成觊觎之计，恐青、冀非己之有也。]

Translate:

Your military might may be very well known now, but the Wuhuan will definitely not set up defences because they are deluded by a false sense of security since they are far away from you. As such, if you seize this opportunity to launch a surprise attack on them, you can eliminate them. Besides, Yuan Shao treated the ethnic minorities well and the Yuan brothers are still alive. Now, the people of the four provinces (i.e. Ji, Qing, You, and Bing) submit to you because they fear your military might, and you've yet to pacify them through benevolent governance. If you abandon the campaign and head south (against Liu Biao) instead, Yuan Shang will be aided by the Wuhuan and rally those previously under their deceased master (i.e. Yuan Shao and possibly Yuan Tan as well). Once the Hu people make their move, both the civilians and other ethnic minorities will answer the call. The ambition of Tadun will be aroused. By then, the region of Qing and Yi will not be ours any longer.

At this point in time, Cao Cao was in a comfortable situation. So comfortable, he's actually planning to attack Liu Biao in order to annex the Jing Province. The Jing Province was known for two things:

1. The fact that the Hokkiens, Teochews, and Cantonese of every Singaporean Chinese came from there.

Correction: The map you'll see below proved me wrong. Apologies for jumping the gun. Fujian isn't part of the Jing Province. It used to be part of Jiangdong.

2. The Jing Province was always a region of strategic value. It's not just Cao Cao. When the Mongols invaded southern Song, guess which was their number one target? Definitely not Lin'an because the capital was not at the Jing Province. But close enough for the likes of Kublai Khan who were quite obviously unrelated to the likes of Sajid Khan or Amir Khan due to ethnicity differences.

Cao Cao's decision to ride all the way to the gateway of Korea wasn't a popular one. The details are written in Pt V, so I'm not gonna copy and paste here.

Ultimately, Kuok Kah's insistence that his boss must pull off the greatest risk pass ever had two reasons.

1. The Wuhuan tribesmen believed Cao Cao wouldn't be coming up that fast. In fact, it's very likely they're assuming Cao Cao would attack the Jing Province first. To be fair, they were nearly correct if that's the case.

2. If Cao Cao decided to annex the Jing Province, he'd most likely take with him a massive army. After all, they're needed to cow Liu Biao into submission. The moment Cao Cao's troops marched south, things would go south for him as a unified army of the Yuans and Wuhuan could easily destabilise the four northern provinces. Most likely this would begin from the You Province and spill over to the provinces of Ji and Qing afterwards, hence Kuok Kah placing more emphasis on these two places. The map is shown below.

I don't own this image. I really don't.

It was a hard battle Cao Cao had to fight. So how hard was it? In order to get the Yuan brothers and their allies, Cao Cao had to move asap across the Ji/Qing and You provinces. Afterwards, the army had to progress beyond the You Province to engage the enemy. This was effectively a race against time. Despite Kuok Kah's accurate analysis concerning the enemy's psychology, it's only a matter of time before they started destabilising the north. Kuok Kah knew this very well. Hence, those words he said below.

[“兵贵神速。今千里袭人，辎重多，难以趣利，且彼闻之，必为备；不如留辎重，轻兵兼道以出，掩其不意。”]

Translate:

Fighting a battle is a matter of speed. Although we are out to attack the enemy from afar, we are carrying too many supplies. Hence, it's hard for us to benefit. At the same time, the enemy will prepare themselves once they hear of our advance. Why not leave behind the supplies and let the light troops move faster in order to catch them off-guard?

It must be stated that at this point in time, Cao Cao had already covered a certain distance. After some web searching, I found out that the region of Yi where Cao Cao took a breather was part of the Ji Province. This meant Cao Cao's progress was quite slow, if not very slow. And there's still the You Province waiting ahead. Which now comes to the interesting question of why Kuok Kah never advocated for a light cavalry approach right from the beginning. The reason could be due to the need for supplies to sustain the entire army. Which means Kuok Kah's strategy was to split the light troops away from the main force rather than one whole army of such units. In warfare, light troops, be they infantry or cavalry, were not meant to fight pitched battles. Their role was to scout, raid, and disrupt the enemy's advance. Therefore, such soldiers were much better suited for terrain warfare where cover, high ground, and rocky paths were meant to protect and hinder. That's why they're called skirmishers. And using a unit of skirmishers to deal with a numerically superior opposition was nothing less than throwing a die hoping to get a six or twenty. But was there any other choice? Kuok Kah's advice could be seen as something done in the name of necessity. In this kind of damned either way scenario, pragmatism would be the intuitive approach causing great/greater/greatest harm. That's why Kuok Kah decided to be counter-intuitive.

As a military man (let alone a stable genius), Cao Cao didn't need people to tell him light cavalry units should never fight a battle on the open field unless horsemanship was part of the ethnic identity. Which in this case would apply to the Wuhuan (or just about any northern tribe). Now it must be stated that Cao Cao still held command over the four northern provinces. What this means was that by passing through the Ji and You provinces to bump off the Yuans and their Wuhuan allies, Cao Cao didn't have to worry much about the enemy so long they didn't move first. At the same time, any flat terrain is never 100% flat. There would be hills here and there providing cover and high ground. And that's where the part on catching the enemy off-guard came. Ideally, the surprise element should come from the high ground since it's arguably way easier for enemies to look straight than to look up. At the same time, a lack of defensive preparations meant the enemy couldn't be bothered to look up anyway. Even if they're to look up (or ahead depending on the situation), a lack of preparation would result in the inability to react.

Also, light troops would always operate in smaller numbers per squad in order to maximise the usage of mobility. In other words, facing a numerically inferior opposition actually threw the numerically superior Wuhuan off-guard. If they decided to scramble and organise, they'd risk getting attacked straightaway because no sane enemy would ever give the opposition breathing space. On the other hand, they were unable to predict who should make the first move and when if they kept staring at the enemy even though there's no Khaleesi there. It's damned if you do and equally damned if you don't. Arsenic or cyanide, pick your poison and kill yourself.

Moral of the story?

It's not so bad getting stuck in a tactical limbo if your soldiers are already well-prepared. For the Wuhuan, they're stuck in a limbo of their own making. To put it in a nutshell, they got no one to blame if their stupidity did them in. Which was exactly what happened. And Kuok Kah predicted they're not the Game and they're that damn dumb.

#yolo because #yodo Pt V

Okay, I believe I've gone too #yolo on the f-word memes of late. 2-3 posts in a row pulling it off means I need to cut down on the steam. Yes, my blog isn't safe for kids (if you still don't know it by now, please don't blame me if your son and/or daughter goes to jail without passing Go 10 years from now). But it doesn't mean I should make a cup of hot coffee out of it. At the same time, for some funny reason, the hashtag symbol has become a £ whenever I press Shift-3. Something's not right. In other news, I'm planning to throw the die. After all, I've got nothing to lose, unlike my fellow Singaporeans.

https://republicofotters.blogspot.com/2018/10/yolo-because-yodo-pt-i.html

https://republicofotters.blogspot.com/2018/10/yolo-because-yodo-pt-ii.html

https://republicofotters.blogspot.com/2018/10/yolo-because-yodo-pt-iii.html

https://republicofotters.blogspot.com/2018/10/yolo-because-yodo-pt-iv.html

Kuok Kah's Top Stable Genius Moments 3: Analysis is a form of science.

Let me be blunt here: Magic is anti-science. Simply put, you can't use science to explain how magic works. At the same time, usage of magic means using a method that goes against science. Analysis, on the other hand, is a form of science.

Long story short, Yuan Shao was finally defeated at the Battle of Guandu. However, there's a problem: Yuan Shao's three sons. Namely, Yuan Tan, Yuan Xi, and Yuan Shang in the proper traditional order.

This isn't magic. This is analysis, a form of science. When you analyse a situation, you can't do it as if you're Harry Potter or Hermoine Granger. Yes, you can afford to control birds and beasts to be your eyes. I've read stuff from R.A Salvatore and that's what he did for Pikel Bouldershoulder. But when it comes to seeing and knowing, you have to understand the structure of the situation. This is not something magic can give you. You need a scientific approach to know which parts of the structure are moving and which parts are not in order to predict the next step. In other words, any situation is a structure waiting to be understood and utilised. If you think magic is everything, then those without talent should just die. Like what Jiraiya said below.

Seriously, magic without brains is like brawn without brains.


Lyrics

Seriously, I don't spend 100% of my time on stuff like Berserk, Attack of the Titans, and Akame ga Kill! where people are jerks, magic or no magic.

When we talk about karma being a bitch, you don't have to believe in it. But when I say history is the alpha bitch, you better believe me. History isn't so much a case of his story, but rather a real-life story involving humanity. It doesn't matter whether we're liberals or conservatives, Wiccans or Christians. We're often too dumb to learn from lessons of the past.

The same went for Yuan Shao. Now it must be stated that shortly after the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao died. However, he left behind a problem. In ancient China, favouring the younger son was a taboo. We're talking about a dumb mistake done by more than just one person in the 24 history textbooks of China.

During the Han dynasty, Liu Bang pulled off this dumb move. As the result, it created political chaos through Empress Dowager Lu's ruthlessness. When Sun Quan decided to do the same thing, history became the alpha bitch. Even Cao Cao's family wasn't spared from this nonsense due to Cao Pi's ruthless streak (to be fair, the son was worse than the father when it came to being an iron-fisted jerk). Most notably against his youngest brother Cao Zhi which resulted in the most famous poem involving beans, a cooking pot, and why schadenfreude shouldn't exist among brothers. Not to mention every Christian's favourite number as well. As for the current era, we have Oxleygate in our backyard. In the backyard of our ex-boss, we have the feud between the prince from somewhere down south and the prince from somewhere up north.

Yuan Shao favoured his third son Yuan Shang. While Yuan Xi most likely had no issues with it, Yuan Tan was understandably incensed. And this was when Cao Cao's generals decided to call for a follow-up attack on the Super Yuan Bros. After all, the friend of my enemy is my enemy and the enemy of my enemy is my friend (note: This statement is intended to inform all of us how murky politics can be most of the time).

Kuok Kah advised against this move for a good reason.

[“袁绍爱此二子，莫适立也。有郭图、逢纪为之谋臣，必交斗其间，还相离也。急之则相持，缓之而后争心生。不如南向荆州若征刘表者，以待其变；变成而后击之，可一举定也。”]

Translate:

["Yuan Shao loved these two sons of his (i.e. Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang) while never deciding who should be his heir. With Guo Tu and Pang Ji as their advisers, they will surely fight and scheme against each other. If we decide to up the offensive, they will be forced to unite. If we slow ourselves down, one will turn on the other. Why not we turn south towards the Jing Province as if we're preparing to attack Liu Biao in order to observe the situation? Once the opportunity presents itself, we can strike and success will be ours."]

Now it must be stated that when Kuok Kah made this advice, a few things must be noted.

1. In his Thesis of Ten Victories and Defeats, Kuok Kah pointed out the kind of advisers Yuan Shao was comfortable with. When you have talented people talking cock and slandering their betters, it doesn't matter where they get their degrees from. So no, it's not karma's fault. Either blame Yuan Shao for being stupid or Kuok Kah for being a stable genius.

2. Prior to Kuok Kah's statement of foresight, Cao Cao actually carried on from where he last left off. Namely, pressing home the offensive against the remnants of the Yuan faction. More specifically at Liyang. And yes, Cao Cao was ever full of win.

[从破袁绍，绍死，又从讨谭、尚于黎阳，连战数克。]

3. What this means was that Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang didn't even have the time to stage their own battle royal. Which was why Kuok Kah told his boss to cool it so that implosion would be possible. In fact, the victory at Liyang most likely resulted in the enemy's retreat more than a kanzen shouri.

No magic was involved in the process of analysis. Kuok Kah saw the situation as a structure comprising of different parts. By joining the dots and connecting the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, he knew which parts were moving and which ones were not.

The moving parts were Yuan Tan, Yuan Shang, Guo Tu, and Pang Ji. The reason why being that whatever movement coming from the feuding factions would push them into either an implosion or a weakened state waiting to be picked off.

When it came to the parts not moving, we got the Jing Province and Liu Biao. The reason why being Liu Biao's indecisive nature and the fact that Kuok Kah was calling for a decoy approach (i.e. any show of trying to invade the Jing Province was meant to bluff the Yuan faction into complacency and implosion).

Which now comes to the most problematic part of Kuok Kah's advice; What if nothing happened? The answer is very simple. Just attack the Jing Province. In this case, what was originally intended as the decoy would become the real deal. To understand the importance of the Jing Province, one only needs to understand why the U.S and China have been so obsessed with South East Asia. In fact, it's the same reason why Moon Jae-in has been putting in more diplomatic efforts in the region as well. If you control South East Asia, you can control more than just one-third of a continent. Australia will be forced to be your friend while India will have to make certain decisions. If you control the Jing Province, you can make further inroads either to the west into the Yi Province or the east into Jiangdong. In fact, the number one priority during the Mongol invasion against the Southern Song dynasty was none other than the Jing Province. Incidentally, this was also where the early Chinese migrants hailed from if we're talking about our very own Singapore itself.

So did Kuok Kah's brand of science work? Definitely, Scarily enough, the Yuan brothers soon started devouring each other over the control of the Ji Province. Yuan Tan was defeated by Yuan Shang, hence justifying Yuan Shao's decision to favour his number 3 instead of the firstborn son. Yuan Tan had no choice but to send his adviser Xing Pi to seek protection from Cao Cao (i.e. waving the white flag). Cao Cao responded by bailing out Yuan Tan's backside and moved to the region of Ye where it'd be easier for him to supervise the situation up north. Yuan Tan apparently couldn't be trusted, thus Cao Cao whooped his backside at Nanpi after saving it in the first place. The Ji Province was finally Cao Cao's and Kuok Kah was made the Marquis of Weiyang which was a big deal. It's like getting knighted by the royal granny herself.

[军至西平，谭、尚果争冀州。谭为尚军所败，走保平原，遣辛毗乞降。太祖还救之，遂从定邺。又从攻谭于南皮，冀州平。封嘉洧阳亭侯。]

At the same time, Kuok Kah didn't just stop at there. In an era of turmoil, getting capable people to work for you is a must. It doesn't matter whether you're Lincoln or Jefferson so long you can get a Robert E. Lee or William Sherman. Like every great leader, Cao Cao knew this logic. Like every stable genius, Kuok Kah advised Cao Cao to hire capable people of repute from the provinces of Qing, Ji, You, and Bing. Regions previously under the Yuan faction. Not for military purposes but for running the daily affairs serving the people. This was recorded in Fuzi.

[河北既平，太祖多辟召青、冀、幽、并知名之士，渐臣使之，以为省事掾属。皆嘉之谋也。]

Kuok Kah's Top Stable Genius Moments 3.5: Seriously, is my boss a ****ing moron?

Of course not! Did Cao Cao look like a ****ing moron to you? But there's a hiccup as recorded the Book of Wei.

[刘备来奔，以为豫州牧。或谓太祖曰：“备有英雄志，今不早图，后必为患。”

太祖以问嘉，嘉曰：“有是。然公提剑起义兵，为百姓除暴，推诚仗信以招俊杰，犹惧其未也。今备有英雄名，以穷归己而害之，是以害贤为名，则智士将自疑，回心择主，公谁与定天下？夫除一人之患，以沮四海之望，安危之机，不可不察！”

太祖笑曰：“君得之矣。”]

Translate:

When Liu Bei arrived to pledge his cause to Cao Cao, he was made the governor of Yu Province. Taizu (i,e. Cao Cao) was advised: "Liu Bei has the ambition of a hero. If you don't eliminate him now, he'll become a threat to you in the future."

Taize sought Guo Jia's counsel and Guo Jia answered: "That's true. However, when you raised an army in the name of righteousness and pledged to help the common people eliminate tyrants, you attracted talented and capable people to serve under you based on your sincerity and integrity. Liu Bei is known to be a hero, so if you kill him when he comes to serve you, you will be viewed as someone who harms men of virtue. Other talented persons will start to doubt you and may even change their minds about serving you. If that happens, who will help you achieve your goals? Therefore, it's imperative that you carefully consider the consequences of ruining your good reputation for the sake of eliminating one man who poses a threat to you."

Taizu laughed and said: "I understand."

But Fuzi had a seemingly different account.

[初，刘备来降，太祖以客礼待之，使为豫州牧。嘉言于太祖曰：“备有雄才而甚得众心。张飞、关羽者，皆万人之敌也，为之死用。嘉观之，备终不为人下，其谋未可测也。古人有言：'一日纵敌，数世之患。'宜早为之所。”

是时，太祖奉天子以号令天下，方招怀英雄以明大信，未得从嘉谋。会太祖使备要击袁术，嘉与程昱俱驾而谏太祖曰：“放备，变作矣！”

时备已去，遂举兵以叛。太祖恨不用嘉之言。]

Translate:

In the beginning, when Liu Bei surrendered, Taizu treated him as a guest and made him the governor of Yu Province. Guo Jia said to Taizu: "Liu Bei has great ambitions and has won the hearts of many people. Zhang Fei and Guan Yu are formidable fighters and they have pledged to serve him with their lives. From what I observe, Liu Bei will never truly submit to anyone, and his intentions are unclear. The people in the past once said, 'If you let the enemy off today, they will become a threat to you for a long time.' You should settle (Liu Bei) soon."

At the time, Cao Cao was using Emperor Xian as a figurehead to command respect and had attracted many heroes to serve under him so he did not heed Guo Jia's advice. When Cao Cao later sent Liu Bei with an army to attack Yuan Shu, Guo Jia and Cheng Yu warned Cao, "Liu Bei will rebel if you let him go!"

By then, Liu Bei had already left and he really did rebel against Cao Cao as he later seized control of Xu Province from Che Zhou, the provincial governor appointed by Cao Cao. Cao Cao regretted not following Guo Jia's advice.

Pei Songzhi never stated which version read like something done by The Christian Science Monitor and which version read like something done by InfoWars. But what if both were the two sides of the same coin? Credit goes to Prof Yi Zhongtian even though he's known to be overly dramatic and prideful at times.

Although to be fair and honest, his view actually came from Zhou Zexiong. Prof Yi said so himself as well.

Interestingly, the account of Fuzi was pro-Guo Jia once you read closer. Therefore, it's very easy to believe in the Book of Wei while dismissing Fuzi's version of this event. Yet, Cheng Yu's account actually supported Fuzi.

[后又遣备至徐州要击袁术，昱与郭嘉说太祖曰：“公前日不图备，昱等诚不及也。今借之以兵，必有异心。”]

Translate:

When sending Liu Bei to the Xu Province to attack Yuan Shu, Cheng Yu and Guo Jia told Taizu: "It's arguable you turned down our suggestion to kill Liu Bei earlier, but it's a certainty that he will betray you if lent a force."

While Cheng Yu's account said "our suggestion", the original text was pointing at those who agree with Cheng Yu's suggestion to bump off Liu Bei. [...昱等诚不及也。] At the same time, Cheng Yu was known to be an abrasive person capable of starting a fight with just about anyone from those with a Higher Nitec to Li Shengwu who happened to have a Harvard university degree. But did he start a fight with Kuok Kah?

Zhou Zexiong's interpretation of the event hinges on the phrase "You should settle (Liu Bei) soon". [...宜早为之所。] This would corroborate perfectly with what was written in Cheng Yu's account. While Cao Cao was no ****ing moron, it's clear that he misinterpreted Kuok Kah's advise to keep Liu Bei under 24/7 surveillance as something more merciful. Ever wondered whether there's anything in common between Abraham Lincoln and ethnic minorities in the U.S?

To be cont'd...

Next up: Seriously, this is dragging on for too long. Hopefully, I only need two more posts to end it. The whole thing is getting ridiculous.