Zhang Ji 張旣

Zhang Ji, courtesy name Derong, was a man of Gaoling in Pingyi. At sixteen he became a minor clerk of the commandery, and later he held senior posts in turn. He was nominated as Filial and Incorrupt but did not take it up, and when Cao Cao became Minister of Works and summoned him, before he arrived he was nominated as Flourishing Talent and became Prefect of Xinfeng, where his administration was the best in the Three Adjuncts. Records, Wei 15 §38–39

When Yuan Shang was resisting Cao Cao at Liyang, he sent Guo Yuan, the Administrator of Hedong he had appointed, Gao Gan, Inspector of Bing Province, and the Xiongnu chanyu to seize Pingyang, and sought to ally with the warlords of Guanzhong. The Colonel-Director of Retainers Zhong Yao sent Zhang Ji to persuade Ma Teng and others, and when Zhang Ji set out the advantages and dangers for them, Ma Teng complied. Ma Teng gave his son Ma Chao more than ten thousand troops to attack Gao Gan and Guo Yuan together with Zhong Yao; they took Guo Yuan's head, and Gao Gan and the chanyu surrendered. Records, Wei 15 §39–40Records, Wei 13 §8

Afterwards, when Gao Gan again rebelled with Bing Province and Zhang Sheng of Henei, Wei Gu of Hedong and Zhang Yan of Hongnong rose in support of him, Cao Cao made Zhang Ji a Gentleman Consultant, had him take part in Zhong Yao's military affairs, and had him summon Ma Teng and the other western warlords. They defeated Zhang Sheng and the others and took the heads of Zhang Yan and Wei Gu, and Gao Gan fled to Jing Province; Zhang Ji was enfeoffed as Marquis of Wushi Precinct. Records, Wei 15 §40

When Cao Cao was about to attack Jing Province, Ma Teng and others held Guanzhong divided among them. Cao Cao again sent Zhang Ji to ask Ma Teng to disband his private troops and return to court, and Ma Teng agreed but then hesitated. Fearing that something might go wrong, Zhang Ji had the counties prepare supplies and had the officials of two-thousand-shi rank go out to the outskirts to welcome him, so that Ma Teng had no choice but to set off east. Later, when Ma Chao rebelled, Zhang Ji followed Cao Cao in defeating Ma Chao at Huayin and pacified the lands west of the passes (Guanyou) to the west. Records, Wei 15 §41

As Intendant of Jingzhao he called in and comforted the displaced people and revived the counties and towns. When the state of Wei was established he became a Master of Writing and went out as Inspector of Yong Province, and Cao Cao said, 'In sending you back to your own province, it is like wearing embroidered clothes and walking in broad daylight.' He accompanied the campaign against Zhang Lu, entered by San Pass to attack the rebel Di and gathered their wheat to feed the army, and when Zhang Lu surrendered, he persuaded Cao Cao to move tens of thousands of households from Hanzhong to fill Chang'an and the Three Adjuncts. Later he defeated Wu Lan at Xiabian together with Cao Hong, and while attacking Song Jian together with Xiahou Yuan he separately pacified Lintao and Didao. Records, Wei 15 §42–43

When Cao Cao sought to move people to fill the region north of the Yellow River, the people of Longxi, Tianshui and Nan'an were thrown into unrest, and Zhang Ji calmed them by giving the officers and officials from the three commanderies leave to repair their houses and build water mills. When Cao Cao, withdrawing the garrison from Hanzhong, worried that Liu Bei might take the Di of Wudu, Zhang Ji proposed urging the Di to come north to where there was grain and generously rewarding those who came first. Cao Cao followed this, and Zhang Ji moved more than fifty thousand Di encampments to settle on the borders of Fufeng and Tianshui. Records, Wei 15 §44–45

Yan Jun of Wuwei, He Luan of Zhangye, Huang Hua of Jiuquan, Qu Yan of Xiping and others rose in rebellion with their commanderies and attacked one another. When Yan Jun sent his mother and son as hostages and asked for help, Zhang Ji said that they would turn traitor in the end, so it was best to keep both sides alive and let them fight, and, like Bian Zhuangzi stabbing the tigers, wait without stirring for them to wear each other out. A little over a year later He Luan killed Yan Jun, and Wang Bi of Wuwei in turn killed He Luan. When Cao Pi became King and first established Liang Province, Zhang Jin of Zhangye and others resisted the Inspector Zou Qi, and Zhang Ji advanced his troops to bolster the position of Su Ze, Colonel Protector of the Qiang, enabling him to win merit. Records, Wei 15 §46–47

Zhang Ji's rank was raised to Marquis of a Chief District. When the Lushui Hu of Liang Province, Yijian Jiqie, Zhiyuanduo and others, rebelled and the region west of the Yellow River fell into great turmoil, Cao Pi said, 'Only Zhang Ji can bring peace to Liang Province,' and had him replace Zou Qi. Zhang Ji overruled the generals who tried to stop him because their troops were few and the roads dangerous, crossed the Yellow River at Jincheng, and, spreading word that he was going by way of Zhanyin, secretly passed through Juci and came out at Wuwei, so that the tribesmen, thinking him supernatural, fell back. Saying that since they had no provisions they must draw their supplies from the enemy, he advanced to Xianmei, hid three thousand crack troops, had the Army Adviser Chenggong Ying challenge the enemy with over a thousand cavalry and then feign retreat, and attacked the pursuing enemy from front and rear, beheading and capturing them by the tens of thousands. Cao Pi issued an edict saying that his merit surpassed that of Nanzhong and his toil exceeded that of Jifu, and moved his enfeoffment to Marquis of Xixiang, raising his fief to a total of 400 households. Records, Wei 15 §48–52

When Su Heng of Jiuquan raided the border together with the Qiang chief Lindai and more than ten thousand Dingling Hu cavalry, Zhang Ji defeated them and made them surrender together with Xiahou Ru, and when he rebuilt Zuocheng and set up forts and beacon towers to guard against the tribesmen, more than twenty thousand encampments of the Western Qiang surrendered. When Qu Guang of Xiping and others killed their Administrator, Zhang Ji said that a direct military assault would make them all band together, and he offered rewards to the Qiang and Hu to attack Qu Guang and the others and circulated a proclamation, whereupon Qu Guang's own followers cut off his head and sent it in. Records, Wei 15 §53–54

Zhang Ji governed the two provinces for more than ten years, and his government and kindness became widely known; those he summoned with due courtesy, such as Pang Yan, Yang Fu, Hu Zun, Pang Yu, Zhang Gong and Zhousheng Lie, all eventually gained fame and position. When he died in the 4th year of Huangchu (223), Cao Pi called him a worthy minister of the state who had embraced the people, nurtured the multitude and brought the Qiang back to their lands, and granted his young son Zhang Wenggui the rank of Marquis Within the Passes. When Emperor Ming, Cao Rui, took the throne, he was granted the posthumous name Marquis Su, and his son Zhang Ji (張緝) succeeded him. In the Jiaping era, when the son's daughter became empress, he became Grandee of Splendid Happiness, but he was put to death for plotting together with the Prefect of the Palace Writers Li Feng. Records, Wei 15 §55–56 · 58

In his assessment Chen Shou said that since the end of the Han the inspectors had overseen several commanderies and administered government in the provinces, and that Zhang Ji and the others recorded in this scroll were all adept at grasping the crux of affairs and displayed both authority and kindness, and so brought order to lands ten thousand li across and came to be recorded for later ages. Records, Wei 15 §89