Lai Gong 賴恭

After Zhu Fu died, the Han sent Zhang Jin as Inspector of Jiao Province, but Zhang Jin was later killed by his own general Ou Jing. Liu Biao, Governor of Jing Province, then sent Lai Gong of Lingling to replace Zhang Jin. At this time Shi Huang, Administrator of Cangwu, died, and Liu Biao also sent Wu Ju to replace him, and Wu Ju arrived together with Lai Gong. When the Han court heard that Zhang Jin had died, it issued Shi Xie an edict under the imperial seal saying that the rebel Liu Biao had again sent Lai Gong to spy on the southern lands, and made Shi Xie General of the Household Who Pacifies the South to supervise seven commanderies. Records, Wu 4 §41

Later Wu Ju and Lai Gong fell out, and when Wu Ju raised troops and drove Lai Gong away, Lai Gong fled back to Lingling. In the 15th year of Jian'an (210) Sun Quan sent Bu Zhi as Inspector of Jiao Province. Xue Zong later wrote, in a memorial discussing the affairs of Jiao Province, that Lai Gong of Lingling was a benevolent and careful man of the older generation but did not understand the affairs of the times, that Wu Ju, a rash and fierce military man, would not submit to him, so that they came to resent each other and Wu Ju drove him out, and that this was why Bu Zhi was requested. Records, Wu 4 §43Records, Wu 8 §32 · 39

In the autumn of the 24th year of Jian'an (219), when the ministers proposed Liu Bei as King of Hanzhong and submitted a memorial to the Han emperor, Lai Gong, General Who Guards Distant Regions, put his name among the 120 signatories, who included Ma Chao, General Who Pacifies the West; Xu Jing, Chief Clerk to the General of the Left; Zhuge Liang, Military Adviser General; Guan Yu, General Who Sweeps Away Bandits; Zhang Fei, General Who Subdues Barbarians; Huang Zhong, General Who Conquers the West; Fa Zheng, General Who Displays Martial Might; and Li Yan, General Who Promotes Enterprise. When Liu Bei became King of Hanzhong, he made Lai Gong of Lingling, a veteran scholar of Jing and Chu, Minister of Ceremonies, Huang Zhu of Nanyang Superintendent of the Imperial Household, and Wang Mou Minister Steward. Records, Shu 2 §38 · 40Records, Shu 15 §49

After Cao Pi usurped the imperial throne, the Minister of Ceremonies Lai Gong, together with the Grand Tutor Xu Jing, the General Who Pacifies the Han Mi Zhu, the Military Adviser General Zhuge Liang, the Superintendent of the Imperial Household Huang Zhu, the Minister Steward Wang Mou and others, submitted a letter saying that Cao Pi had destroyed the house of Han and stolen the sacred vessels, so that men and spirits alike longed for the Liu clan, and that more than eight hundred ministers had submitted letters one after another, all speaking of the confirmation given by auspicious omens and prophetic texts. They asked to establish the rites together with the Erudite Xu Ci and the Consultant Meng Guang, choose an auspicious day and offer him the imperial title, and in the 4th month of the 26th year of Jian'an (221) Liu Bei took the imperial throne south of Wudan in Chengdu. Records, Shu 2 §60 · 64–65

In the 2nd year of Zhangwu (222) Liu Bei conferred on Lady Gan, who had been buried in Nan Commandery, the posthumous title Lady Huangsi and had her reburied in Shu, but he died before her coffin arrived. The Chancellor Zhuge Liang memorialized that, having deliberated with the Minister of Ceremonies Lai Gong and others, citing the words of the Book of Rites, 'establishing love begins with one's parents,' and the principle of the Spring and Autumn Annals that 'a mother is honored through her son,' and having examined the rules for posthumous names with Lai Gong and others, she should properly be called Empress Zhaolie and be buried together with the late emperor. The imperial reply was, 'Approved.' Records, Shu 4 §3–7

Wang Mou was granted the rank of Marquis Within the Passes at the beginning of Jianxing and later replaced Lai Gong as Minister of Ceremonies. Chen Shou wrote that he composed no biographies for Lai Gong, Huang Zhu or Wang Mou because none of their deeds had been handed down. Lai Gong's son Lai Hong became Clerk of the Western Bureau of the Chancellor and was with Zhuge Liang in Hanzhong, but died young; Zhuge Liang grieved for him deeply and wrote to Zhang Yi, Chief Clerk of the Rear Headquarters, and the Army Adviser Jiang Wan: 'Among the clerks we have lost Lai Hong, and among the officials we have lost Yang Yong; this is a great loss to the court.' Records, Shu 15 §49–50