Zhang Ni 張嶷

Zhang Ni, courtesy name Boqi, was a man of Nanchongguo County in Ba Commandery. At about twenty he became Officer of Merit of his county. Around the time Liu Bei pacified Shu, mountain bandits attacked the county and the county chief abandoned his family and fled; Zhang Ni braved the flashing blades, carried the chief's wife out on his back and saved her from harm. This made his name known, and he became an Attendant Officer of the province. Records, Shu 13 §45

In the 5th year of Jianxing (227), while the Chancellor Zhuge Liang was stationed in Hanzhong, mountain bandits under Zhang Mu and others in Mianzhu County of Guanghan Commandery plundered army supplies, and Zhang Ni led troops against them as Commandant. Judging that the bandits would scatter like birds and be hard to capture, he pretended to make peace with them and held a banquet; when the drinking was at its height, he personally led his attendants and beheaded Zhang Mu and more than fifty others. He pacified the rest of the band within ten days. Records, Shu 13 §45–46

Later he fell gravely ill, and as his family was poor, he had himself carried in a carriage to He Zhi, the Administrator of Guanghan, with whom he had never been close, and asked him for treatment; He Zhi spent his own wealth and cured him over several years. Chen Shou wrote that Zhang Ni's keeping of faith was always like this. Zhang Ni became General of the Standard under Ma Zhong, and each time they attacked the rebel Qiang of Wenshan in the north and pacified the Man and Yi tribes of the four commanderies in the south, he always had merit in laying plans and winning battles. Records, Shu 13 §46–47 · 31

In the 14th year of Jianxing (236), Fu Jian, king of the Di of Wudu, asked to surrender, and the general Zhang Wei was sent to receive him, but when the appointed time passed without his arrival, the General-in-Chief Jiang Wan was greatly worried. Zhang Ni judged that Fu Jian's wish to submit was sincere, but that his younger brother was cunning and that barbarians could not share in an achievement, so they were about to part ways and that was the only reason for the delay. A few days later Fu Jian's younger brother did indeed go over to Wei with four hundred households, and Fu Jian alone came and submitted. Records, Shu 13 §48

After Zhuge Liang put down Gao Ding, the Sou and Yi of Yuexi Commandery rebelled again and again and killed the Administrators Gong Lu and Jiao Huang; thereafter the Administrator stayed at Anding County, more than eight hundred li away, and the commandery existed only in name. Following a proposal to restore the old commandery, Zhang Ni was appointed Administrator of Yuexi; he went to the commandery and won the tribes over with kindness and good faith, and the Man and Yi all submitted. The Biography of the Later Sovereign records that in spring of the 3rd year of Yanxi (240) the Administrator of Yuexi, Zhang Ni, was made to pacify Yuexi Commandery. Records, Shu 13 §49Records, Shu 3 §21

Zhang Ni captured Wei Lang, leader of the fierce Zhuoma tribe, then released him to win over the rest of his people and had him appointed Marquis of a Town; more than three thousand households settled on their land, and for this merit Zhang Ni was made Marquis Within the Passes. He executed Dong Feng, chief of the town of Suqi, who had surrendered and then rebelled again, and when Dong Feng's younger brother Po Qu, who had fled to the western frontier, sent two of his intimates to surrender falsely and gather information, Zhang Ni promised them a large reward and used them as double agents, making them kill Po Qu. He also captured and executed Li Qiucheng, the elder leader of the Sidu who had killed Gong Lu. Records, Shu 13 §50–52

The three counties of Dingzuo, Taideng and Beishui, which had produced salt, iron and lacquer since ancient times, had long been held by the frontier tribes; Zhang Ni led his troops to seize them and installed officials. When Lang Cen, the chief of Dingzuo, was angered and refused to come to him, Zhang Ni sent dozens of strong men to seize him, had him flogged to death, and sent the body back to his tribe with generous rewards. When he warned them that any rash move would bring their annihilation, the tribesmen came with their own hands bound behind them to beg pardon, and Zhang Ni slaughtered oxen and held a feast for them. In this way he obtained salt and iron, and there were ample implements for use. Records, Shu 13 §53–54

When Lang Lu, the leader of the Maoniu tribe, sought to avenge Dong Feng, his aunt's husband, Zhang Ni sent beef and wine to console him and had Dong Feng's wife convey his intentions. When Lang Lu's uncle came with all his followers, Zhang Ni entertained him generously and sent him back, and from then on the Maoniu caused no trouble. Wishing also to reopen the level, short old road to Chengdu that ran through the Maoniu lands and had been cut for more than a hundred years, he gave Lang Lu goods and had his aunt persuade him. When Lang Lu came with his brothers, wife and children, Zhang Ni swore a covenant with him, opened the old road and restored the old post stations. The Later Sovereign added the title of General Who Soothes the Rong to Zhang Ni and had him govern the commandery as before. Records, Shu 13 §55–57

When Fei Yi first became General-in-Chief, Zhang Ni saw that he placed too much trust in newly submitted men and sent him a letter urging him to take warning from Cen Peng and Lai Xi, who had been killed by assassins. Fei Yi was later indeed murdered by Guo Xiu, who had surrendered from Wei. Also, when Zhuge Ke, Grand Tutor of Wu, defeated the Wei army and then wished to raise a great army to attack, Zhang Ni wrote to Zhuge Ke's younger cousin, the Palace Attendant Zhuge Zhan, saying he feared it was not a good plan for the Grand Tutor to leave the young ruler and tread on enemy soil, and asking him to counsel the Grand Tutor loyally to withdraw the army, expand farming and practise virtue and kindness. Zhuge Ke and his clan were in the end exterminated over this affair, and Chen Shou wrote that Zhang Ni's insight was generally of this kind. Records, Shu 13 §57–61

After Zhang Ni had been in the commandery for fifteen years, the region was peaceful and harmonious. He asked several times to return, and when he was summoned to Chengdu, the Yi people clung to the wheels of his carriage and wept, and more than a hundred chiefs went with him to pay tribute. Zhang Ni was appointed General Who Sweeps Away Bandits. He was ardent and valiant and esteemed by the gentry, but some criticized him for being unrestrained and lacking in decorum. This was the 17th year of Yanxi (254). Records, Shu 13 §62

When Li Jian, the Wei chief of Didao County, secretly asked to surrender, the General of the Guards Jiang Wei led Zhang Ni and others out to Longxi, and when they reached Didao, Li Jian came out to meet them with the officials and people. When the army advanced and clashed with the Wei general Xu Zhi, Zhang Ni lost his life in the line of battle, but the enemies he killed and wounded were more than double his own side's losses. His eldest son Zhang Ying was enfeoffed as Marquis of Xixiang, and his second son Zhang Huxiong inherited his title. The people and the Yi of Yuexi wept in grief and built a shrine for him, offering sacrifices in every season and at every flood or drought. Records, Shu 13 §63

In his assessment, Chen Shou treated Zhang Ni together with Huang Quan, Li Hui, Lü Kai, Ma Zhong and Wang Ping, and said that Zhang Ni was clear and decisive in insight and judgment. He wrote that all of them made their names and achieved merit by their own strengths, because they had met the right times. Records, Shu 13 §65