Zhao Zi 趙咨

In Chapter 82 of the Romance, the First Sovereign rejects the peace that Zhuge Jin has requested, saying that he cannot live under the same sky as the enemy who killed his younger brother. When Sun Quan, hearing this from the returned Zhuge Jin, is greatly alarmed and says that Jiangnan is in danger, the Palace Grandee Zhao Zi steps forward from below the steps. When Sun Quan asks, 'What good plan does Dedu have?', Zhao Zi says that if Sun Quan composes a memorial, he will go as envoy to see Cao Pi, the Emperor of Wei, explain the advantages and disadvantages and get him to attack Hanzhong, and then the Shu army will be in danger of its own accord. When Sun Quan tells him not to let Eastern Wu lose face, he answers that if he makes the slightest mistake he will throw himself into the river and die. Romance, Ch. 82 §5 · 7–8

Sun Quan writes a memorial declaring himself a subject and makes Zhao Zi his envoy. Hurrying through the night to Xudu, Zhao Zi first meets the Grand Commandant Jia Xu and others, and at the court audience the next day, when Cao Pi asks, 'What kind of sovereign is the Marquis of Wu?', he answers, 'A sovereign intelligent and clear-sighted, benevolent and wise, of grand ambition and strategy.' Asked whether this is not excessive praise, he cites one by one how Sun Quan took in Lu Su from among ordinary men, promoted Lü Meng from the ranks, captured Yu Jin without harming him, took Jing Province without shedding a drop of blood, holds the Three Rivers and eyes the realm, and has bowed before His Majesty. Romance, Ch. 82 §9–10

When Cao Pi asks whether the Lord of Wu has some learning, Zhao Zi says that Sun Quan reads widely in the classics and histories in his spare time but does not imitate scholars in hunting for passages and plucking out phrases; asked whether an attack on Wu would succeed, he answers that a great state has armies for punitive campaigns and a small state has plans for defense. Asked whether Wu fears Wei, he says that with a million armored troops and the Yangtze and the Han for its moat, there is nothing to fear; asked how many men like the Grandee there are in Eastern Wu, he says there are eighty or ninety men of outstanding intelligence, while those like himself are so many they could be loaded on carts and measured by the peck. Cao Pi exclaims that the saying about one who goes as envoy to the four quarters without disgracing his ruler's command fits him exactly. Romance, Ch. 82 §11–12

Cao Pi at once issues an edict ordering the Minister of Ceremonies Xing Zhen to take the patent of appointment, enfeoff Sun Quan as King of Wu and grant him the Nine Bestowments, and he dismisses the remonstrance of the Grandee Liu Ye that Sun Quan's surrender stems from fear of the Shu army's might. Xing Zhen, together with Zhao Zi, carries the patent and the Nine Bestowments straight to Eastern Wu. Yet even after Sun Quan takes the royal title, the ruler of Wei does not come to his support. This passage in Chapter 82 is the only place in the Romance where Zhao Zi's name appears. Romance, Ch. 82 §12–15 · 19