Ren Jun 任峻

Ren Jun, courtesy name Boda, was a man of Zhongmou County in Henan. At the end of the Han, when the world fell into chaos and all of Guandong was shaken, Yang Yuan, the Prefect of Zhongmou, was anxious and afraid and wanted to abandon his office and flee. Ren Jun persuaded Yang Yuan that, although Dong Zhuo had been the first to make rebellion, the reason no one had yet risen first was not that they lacked the will but that circumstances did not yet let them dare, and that if Your Excellency would take the lead in calling for it, there would surely be those who answered. There were more than ten counties in Guandong and no fewer than ten thousand men able to bear arms, he said, and if Yang Yuan provisionally took charge of the affairs of the Intendant of Henan and led and used them all, there was nothing he could not accomplish. Records, Wei 16 §2

Yang Yuan followed his plan and made Ren Jun his Registrar. Ren Jun submitted a memorial for Yang Yuan to act as Intendant of Henan, had the various counties hold firm, and at last raised troops. Just then Cao Cao rose in Guandong and entered the borders of Zhongmou, and the people did not know whom to follow; Ren Jun alone consulted with Zhang Fen of the same commandery and brought the whole commandery over to Cao Cao. Ren Jun also separately gathered several hundred household troops of his clan and retainers and asked to follow Cao Cao. Cao Cao was greatly pleased, submitted a memorial making him Chief Commandant of Cavalry, gave him his younger cousin as wife, and trusted him very closely. Records, Wei 16 §3

Whenever Cao Cao went on campaign, Ren Jun always stayed behind to guard the base and kept the army supplied. At this time there was famine and drought year after year, and the army's provisions were insufficient. When Zao Zhi of Yingchuan, Supervisor of the Feathered Forest Guard, proposed establishing agricultural garrisons, Cao Cao made Ren Jun General of the Household for Agriculture and had him recruit the people to open agricultural garrisons around Xu, and they harvested a million hu of grain. Agricultural officials were set up in every commandery and kingdom, and within a few years grain was stored up everywhere and the granaries were all full. The Annals of Emperor Wu record that in the 1st year of Jian'an (196) agricultural garrisons were first established on the proposals of Zao Zhi, Han Hao and others. Records, Wei 16 §4Records, Wei 1 §40

In the battle of Guandu, Cao Cao put Ren Jun in charge of transporting weapons and provisions. When the enemy raided again and again and cut the supply route, he formed a thousand carts into one unit, had them advance side by side along ten routes, and protected them with layered formations, so that the enemy did not dare come near. Chen Shou wrote that the abundance of the army and the state began with Zao Zhi and was completed by Ren Jun. Because Ren Jun's merit was high, Cao Cao submitted a memorial enfeoffing him as Marquis of a Chief Village with a fief of 300 households, and transferred him to Colonel of the Changshui. Records, Wei 16 §5

Ren Jun was generous and magnanimous, had a sense of measure and saw clearly into the reason of affairs, so that whenever he presented something, Cao Cao mostly approved of it. In times of famine he took in and cared for the orphans his friends had left behind, and he helped poor relatives near and far in their urgent need and made up what they lacked, and he was praised for his good faith. Records, Wei 16 §6

When Ren Jun died in the 9th year of Jian'an (204), Cao Cao wept for a long time. His son Ren Xian succeeded him, but Ren Xian died without a son and the fief was abolished. Emperor Wen (Cao Pi), posthumously recording the meritorious officials, gave Ren Jun the posthumous name Marquis Cheng and made Ren Jun's second son Ren Lan a Marquis Within the Passes. Records, Wei 16 §6

In his assessment, Chen Shou said that Ren Jun first raised righteous troops and came over to Cao Cao, and that by opening land and growing grain he filled the granaries to overflowing, so that his achievements were accomplished. Records, Wei 16 §98