Cao Hong 曹洪

When Cao Cao raised a loyalist army to attack Dong Zhuo and reached Xingyang, he was defeated by Dong Zhuo's general Xu Rong. Cao Cao lost his horse and the pursuit was pressing, so Cao Hong dismounted and gave him his horse; when Cao Cao declined, Cao Hong said, "The realm can do without me, Cao Hong, but it cannot do without you." Cao Hong followed on foot as far as the Bian River, and when the water proved too deep to cross, he went along the bank, found a boat and crossed with Cao Cao, and they fled back to Qiao. The Annals of Emperor Wu record that Cao Cao was struck by a stray arrow and the horse he was riding was also wounded, but his younger cousin Cao Hong gave him a horse so that he could escape by night. Records, Wei 9 §48Records, Wei 1 §9

Chen Wen, Inspector of Yang Province, had long been on good terms with Cao Hong, so Cao Hong took more than a thousand of his household troops to Chen Wen and recruited 2,000 elite armored soldiers from Lujiang; going east to Danyang he obtained several thousand more, and joined Cao Cao at Longkang. When Cao Cao campaigned against Xu Province, Zhang Miao raised Yan Province in revolt and welcomed Lü Bu. Amid a great famine, Cao Hong advanced ahead with his troops, seized Dongping and Fan, and gathered grain to supply the army. When Lü Bu was defeated at Puyang and fled, Cao Hong occupied Dong'a, then attacked more than ten counties, including Jiyin, Shanyang, Zhongmou, Yangwu, Jing and Mi, and took them all. Records, Wei 9 §49

For these merits he became Colonel Who Displays Eagle-like Valor (yingyang xiaowei) and was promoted to General of the Household Who Displays Martial Might (yangwu zhonglangjiang). When Cao Cao was about to welcome the Son of Heaven, Cao Hong led troops west, but Dong Cheng and Yuan Shu's general Chang Nu held the passes against him and he could not advance. After the Son of Heaven made Xu his capital, Cao Hong became Grandee Remonstrant (jianyi dafu). Campaigning separately against Liu Biao, he defeated Liu Biao's detached commanders at Wuyang, Yin, She, Duyang and Bowang, became General Who Sharpens the Blade (lifeng jiangjun) and was enfeoffed as Marquis of Guoming Village. The Annals of Emperor Wu also record that when the counties of Nanyang and Zhangling went over to Zhang Xiu, Cao Hong was sent to attack them but fared badly, and while stationed at She he was repeatedly raided by Zhang Xiu and Liu Biao. Records, Wei 9 §50Records, Wei 1 §37 · 45

At Guandu, when Cao Cao set out in person to attack Chunyu Qiong, Cao Hong stayed behind with Xun You to guard the camp. Yuan Shao sent Zhang He and Gao Lan to attack Cao Hong, but on hearing that Chunyu Qiong had been defeated, Zhang He and the others came over and surrendered. Cao Hong was suspicious and would not accept them, but Xun You said that Zhang He had come in anger because his plans had not been used, so why doubt him, and so they were accepted. Together with Xu Huang, Cao Hong defeated Zhu Bi, a bandit of Yinqiang, and in the 4th month of the 9th year of Jian'an (204), when Cao Cao went to attack Yin Kai, he left Cao Hong behind to attack Ye. Records, Wei 1 §69–70 · 81Records, Wei 10 §60Records, Wei 17 §58

Following on many campaigns, he became General Protector-in-Chief (duhu jiangjun). Cao Hong was honored as a kinsman of the ruling house, and when his retainers repeatedly broke the law in Xu County, Man Chong, Prefect of Xu, arrested them and dealt with them. Cao Hong sent him a letter, but Man Chong would not heed it; when Cao Hong reported to Cao Cao, Man Chong, realizing that Cao Cao meant to pardon them, hastily put them to death. Cao Cao was pleased at this. Records, Wei 9 §50Records, Wei 26 §3

In the 22nd year of Jian'an (217), when Liu Bei stationed Zhang Fei, Ma Chao, Wu Lan and others at Xiabian, Cao Cao sent Cao Hong to resist them. Cao Cao made Cao Xiu Commandant of Cavalry (qi duwei) and attached him to Cao Hong's army as an adviser, telling him, "Though you are an adviser, you are in fact the commander," and Cao Hong, hearing this order, also entrusted matters to Cao Xiu. When Zhang Fei stationed himself at Mount Gu, intending to cut off their rear, Cao Xiu argued that an enemy truly meaning to cut the road would have moved in secret, and proposed attacking Wu Lan first. Cao Hong followed this, crushed Wu Lan and beheaded his general Ren Kui and others, and in the 3rd month of the 23rd year of Jian'an (218) Zhang Fei and Ma Chao fled to Hanzhong. Records, Wei 1 §158 · 160Records, Wei 9 §55–56

At this time Cao Hong held a great drinking party and had female entertainers, dressed in sheer silk gauze, dance while stamping on drums. Yang Fu, Administrator of Wudu, loudly rebuked him, asking how a woman's body could be exposed in the middle of a large gathering, and walked out. Cao Hong at once stopped the female music and asked Yang Fu to return to his seat, and held him in solemn awe. Records, Wei 25 §35–36

When Cao Pi took the throne, Cao Hong became General of the Guards and was then promoted to General of Agile Cavalry (piaoji jiangjun); he was advanced to Marquis of Yewang with a fief of 2,100 households, and ranked as Specially Advanced (tejin). But though his family was rich, Cao Hong was stingy by nature, and when Cao Pi as a young man asked to borrow from him he refused, earning his resentment. Cao Pi threw him into prison and had him sentenced to death over an offense committed by one of his retainers, and though the ministers tried to save him, it was of no avail. When Empress Bian (Wuxuan) told Empress Guo (Wende) that if Cao Hong died today, she would order the emperor to depose the empress tomorrow, the empress wept and pleaded repeatedly, and he was barely spared, being merely dismissed from office and having his rank and fief reduced. Because Cao Hong had been a meritorious minister of the former emperor, many people at the time were displeased. Records, Wei 9 §50–51

When Cao Rui took the throne, Cao Hong became General of the Rear and was re-enfeoffed as Marquis of Lecheng with a fief of 1,000 households, ranked as Specially Advanced, and again became General of Agile Cavalry. He died in the 6th year of Taihe (232) and received the posthumous title Marquis Gong, and his son Cao Fu succeeded to the marquisate. In the 7th month of the 4th year of Zhengshi (243), by imperial edict, he was honored with sacrifices in the temple courtyard of Cao Cao together with Cao Zhen, Xiahou Yuan and others. Records, Wei 9 §52Records, Wei 4 §14

In his assessment, Chen Shou wrote that because the Xiahou and Cao clans had intermarried for generations, Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Ren, Cao Hong and others were all honored and valued in their time as close kin and old friends, and that all of them assisted in the great enterprise at the ruler's side and rendered meritorious service. Records, Wei 9 §132