Passing Myself Off as a Strategist Among the Three Kingdoms Think Tank

Su Yu closed his eyes, opened them, and transmigrated.

The good news: he no longer had to go to that tedious, exhausting job.

The bad news: he was in the chaotic Three Kingdoms era, and there was a good chance some buddy would chop him down the very next day.

In 196 AD, a strategist recommended by Xun Yu to his lord was about to enter Xudu. Su Yu managed to blend in with the group and became one of the dozens of strategists under Cao Cao.

Cao Cao had an entire team of strategists: Xun Yu, Xi Zhicai, Guo Jia, Cheng Yu, Jia Xu, and others. They rarely needed to consult Su Yu, so he got by well enough in Cao Cao's camp, coasting along with the rest.

Then one day, Cao Cao's army faced a grain shortage. Su Yu, with a pair of clear eyes that betrayed no understanding of the world's hardships, caught Cao Cao's attention.

Cao Cao realized that among his troops there was someone with clear eyes and a kind face. Surely a man like this wouldn't give him advice that would ruin his reputation after death. So he decided to ask him for a plan.

At that moment, a friendly ding rang in Su Yu's mind: "[I have three thousand schemes. Which one would you like to use?] System activated. Host, please choose one of the following plans to offer your dear lord."

System rules: [If your lord adopts your plan, the Host will be rewarded with points depending on the circumstances. Points can be used to buy fine medicines for troubled times, such as Strength Pills and Clear Breeze Pills.]

Cao Cao and his strategists were shocked and looked at one another. "Did you hear a voice?"

[Grain Shortage Plan One: Burn, kill, and loot the local gentry's food supplies.]

Cao Cao shot to his feet. "Are you trying to wreck my whole operation?"

[Grain Shortage Plan Two: Collect the bodies of nearby plague victims and cook them into dried jujube meat.]

Cheng Yu said expressionlessly, "You stole my plan."

Cao Cao gaped. "I suddenly feel I can't be quite so cruel to the people of the realm. Give me two more options."

[Grain Shortage Plan Three: Throw plague victims into the enemy's city. Once the enemy army catches the disease, seize their food supplies while they're weakened.]

Guo Jia, who had been on the brink of death, sat bolt upright. "That would cost us a thousand men to kill ten thousand of theirs. No, with someone like this by the lord's side, I can't die in peace yet."

Su Yu: "System, is that all you've got?"

The System hadn't expected to be looked down on, and replied coldly: [The Host may submit a scheme. If the System accepts it, you will receive ten reward points.]

Su Yu smiled calmly. "That's easy. Use arrows soaked in manure to kill the enemy. As long as one hits, it'll give them tetanus."

[Ding! This fully meets the standards of the System's Three Thousand Poisonous Schemes database. Ten reward points have been credited to the Host's account.]

After Su Yu used the System's schemes to answer his lord's questions, he noticed that people suddenly seemed to like him much more.

When he ran into Guo Jia, who usually barely noticed him, Guo Jia actually struck up a conversation, then taught him a scheme to sow discord and another about letting a fire at the city gate bring calamity to the fish in the moat.

Su Yu wanted to earn reward points, so he submitted them to the System.

System: [Not quite. They don't meet the standards of our Three Thousand Poisonous Schemes.]

One day, Jia Xu passed by and chatted with Su Yu. The System judged: [This strategy preliminarily meets the standards of the Three Thousand Poisonous Schemes. Keep it up.]

After that, everyone started looking at Jia Xu and Su Yu strangely.

Cao Cao couldn't help reflecting: "No wonder I always felt there was something a little off about Jia Xu's schemes."

Theme: Think actively