Jiang Xu 姜敘

After his defeat at Weinan, Ma Chao led the chieftains of the Rong tribes in attacking the commanderies and counties of Longshang. All the commanderies and counties of Longshang went over to him; only Ji held firm under the heads of the province and commandery, and from the 1st month to the 8th month no relief army came. In the end the Inspector and the Administrator opened the city gates and admitted Ma Chao, and Ma Chao had Yang Ang kill them. Ma Chao styled himself General Who Conquers the West, took the post of Governor of Bing Province and supervised the military affairs of Liang Province. Records, Wei 25 §26–28Records, Shu 6 §29

Yang Fu, who had been Wei Kang's Attendant Officer, secretly harboured the intention of taking revenge on Ma Chao, and asked for leave to bury his wife, saying that she had died. Yang Fu's elder cousin on his mother's side, Jiang Xu, was stationed at Licheng, and Yang Fu had grown up in Jiang Xu's household as a boy. Meeting Jiang Xu's mother and Jiang Xu, Yang Fu told them what had happened at Ji and sobbed bitterly. When Jiang Xu asked why he was so distressed, Yang Fu said that he had not been able to keep the city safe and had not been able to die when his lord died, and that since Ma Chao had turned against his father, rebelled against his sovereign and cruelly murdered the general of the province, all the gentlemen of the whole province shared in the disgrace. Records, Wei 25 §25 · 29

Yang Fu went on: 'You command troops and control them as you please, yet you have no intention of attacking the rebel; this is why Zhao Dun was recorded as having killed his lord. Ma Chao is strong but has no sense of right, and has many weak points, so he is easy to bring down.' Jiang Xu's mother, roused, ordered Jiang Xu to follow Yang Fu's plan. Once the plan was settled, outside they formed a conspiracy with their fellow townsmen Jiang Yin, Zhao Ang, Yin Feng, Yao Qiong and Kong Xin and with Li Jun and Wang Ling of Wudu, and fixed an agreement to attack Ma Chao; they sent Yang Fu's younger cousin Yang Mo to Ji to inform Yang Yue, and also allied with Liang Kuan of Anding and Zhao Qu, Pang Gong and others of Nan'an. Records, Wei 25 §30

Once the covenant was clear, in the 9th month of the 17th year of Jian'an (212), Yang Fu raised troops at Lucheng together with Jiang Xu. When Ma Chao came out in person leading his troops, Zhao Qu, Liang Kuan and others released the imprisoned Yang Yue, closed the gates of Ji and attacked Ma Chao's wife and children. The Biography of Ma Chao records that Ma Chao attacked Lucheng but could not take it, and with the gates of Ji closed he could not get in either, so that he could neither advance nor retreat. Records, Wei 25 §31Records, Shu 6 §29

Ma Chao made a surprise attack on Licheng and seized Jiang Xu's mother. Jiang Xu's mother reviled him: 'You are a rebellious son who turned against his father, a vicious brigand who killed his lord. How can Heaven and Earth tolerate you for long? Rather than dying early, you dare to show your face to people!' Ma Chao, enraged, killed her. Yang Fu fought Ma Chao and received five wounds, seven of his clansmen were killed, and Ma Chao at last fled south to Zhang Lu. Records, Wei 25 §31–32

The Biography of Xiahou Yuan records this as an event of the 19th year of Jian'an (214). When Zhao Qu, Yin Feng and others plotted to attack Ma Chao and Jiang Xu raised troops at Lucheng in support, Zhao Qu and the others tricked Ma Chao into going out to attack Jiang Xu and, behind him, killed all of Ma Chao's wife and children. Ma Chao fled to Hanzhong, then came back and besieged Mount Qi. When Jiang Xu and the others urgently asked for help, the generals wished to wait for Cao Cao's instructions, but Xiahou Yuan said that by the time a reply came Jiang Xu and the others would surely be defeated, and set out at once. The Annals of Emperor Wu also record that in spring, in the 1st month of the 19th year, Zhao Qu of Nan'an, Yin Feng of Hanyang and others attacked Ma Chao and killed his wife and children. Records, Wei 9 §18–19Records, Wei 1 §136

When Longyou had been pacified, Cao Cao rewarded the merit of attacking Ma Chao by making eleven men marquises, and granted Yang Fu the rank of Marquis Within the Passes. When Yang Fu declined, Cao Cao replied that Jiang Xu's mother, in urging Jiang Xu to raise troops early, had shown such clear wisdom that even the wife of Yang Chang could not have surpassed her, and said, 'How worthy, how worthy!' Chen Shou's main text does not record what reward Jiang Xu received, what happened to him afterwards or the year of his death. The assessment of Records of Wei 25 discusses only Xin Pi, Yang Fu and Gaotang Long, and does not discuss Jiang Xu separately. Records, Wei 25 §33–34 · 120