Zhao Yan 趙儼

Zhao Yan, courtesy name Boran, was a man of Yangdi County in Yingchuan Commandery. Fleeing the turmoil, he went to Jing Province, where he shared his property and plans with Du Xi and Fan Qin and lived with them as one household. When Taizu received Emperor Xian and made Xu his capital, Zhao Yan said to Fan Qin, 'Cao, the General Who Guards the East, will surely set the Central Plains right and save it; I know where to turn.' In the 2nd year of Jian'an (197), at the age of twenty-seven, he went to Taizu helping along the old and the weak, and Taizu made him Chief of Langling. Records, Wei 23 §47

Langling County had many cunning, powerful men who relied on their influence and feared nothing. Zhao Yan arrested the worst of them and established that their crimes merited death, and then, having imprisoned them, he submitted a petition to the headquarters to have them released, so that both his authority and his kindness became known. According to the biography of Li Tong, when Zhao Yan had the elder uncle of Li Tong's wife sentenced to death, Li Tong refused the pleas of his wife and children, saying that private matters could not override public duty, and admiring Zhao Yan for upholding the law without favoritism, he became his close friend. Records, Wei 23 §48Records, Wei 18 §14

When Yuan Shao invaded southward and enticed the commanderies of Yu Province, most of which accepted his orders, Yang'an Commandery alone did not waver, but its Commandant Li Tong was hastily collecting silk floss and silk cloth as household levies. Zhao Yan had him delay the collection, saying that taking more from those who had stayed loyal would invite disorder, and wrote to Xun Yu proposing that the people of this commandery, who had kept faith, be comforted and the silk floss and cloth already collected be returned to them. Xun Yu reported to Taizu and had all of it returned to the people, and the commandery at last became settled. Records, Wei 23 §48–50

He entered the court as Registrar among the clerks of the Minister of Works. At that time Yu Jin at Yingyin, Yue Jin at Yangdi and Zhang Liao at Changshe, among others, were headstrong and could not get along with one another, so Zhao Yan was made adviser to all three armies at once and counseled them on every matter, until they became friendly with one another. When Taizu campaigned against Jing Province, Zhao Yan concurrently served as Administrator of Zhangling, and was then transferred to Area Commander and Protector of the Army, supervising the seven armies of Yu Jin, Zhang Liao, Zhang He, Zhu Ling, Li Dian, Lu Zhao and Feng Kai. Records, Wei 23 §51

He again became Registrar to the Chancellor and was then moved to Administrator of Fufeng. When Taizu moved out more than 5,000 former soldiers of Han Sui, Ma Chao and others and put them under the command of Yin Shu, General Who Quells Disorder, and others, Zhao Yan, as Protector of the Army in Guanzhong, held command over all these forces. He pursued the Qiang, who had repeatedly raided, as far as Xinping and inflicted a heavy defeat on them, and attacked and wiped out Lü Bing, a military-colony tenant who had styled himself general and occupied Chencang. Records, Wei 23 §52

Afterwards 1,200 soldiers were to be selected and sent to help defend Hanzhong, and Yin Shu escorted them. Zhao Yan, worried that the soldiers, suddenly parted from their families, might cause trouble, followed them to the mouth of the Xie Valley and comforted them one by one. Yet Yin Shu's troops did rebel, and the 150 men following Zhao Yan, being from the same units as the rebels or tied to them by marriage, were shaken as well. Zhang Ji, Inspector of Yong Province, and others tried to stop him, but Zhao Yan left, saying that those who were wavering had to be settled quickly, and he made clear to his followers the principles of success and failure, so that they all said they would follow the Protector of the Army in life or death. Of the more than 800 men who had joined the rebellion he punished only the ringleaders who had hatched the plot and left the rest unquestioned, so they came back together and surrendered. Records, Wei 23 §53–55

Zhao Yan secretly asked that veteran soldiers be sent to guard Guanzhong, and Taizu had the general Liu Zhu go with 2,000 men. But the matter leaked out and the camps were thrown into great alarm, so Zhao Yan, saying that they must be made to decide early while they were still hesitating, announced that he would keep the thousand most docile of the new soldiers and send the rest east. Going through the registers, he set all those who were to leave on the road within a single day, and when the eastern troops arrived he moved even the thousand he had kept, bringing more than twenty thousand people in all safely away. Records, Wei 23 §55–57

When Guan Yu surrounded Cao Ren, General Who Conquers the South, at Fan, Zhao Yan, as Consultant, took part in Cao Ren's military affairs and advanced together with Xu Huang, General Who Pacifies Bandits. Although Xu Huang's forces were insufficient, the generals pressed Xu Huang to go to the rescue; Zhao Yan proposed that, since the northern army would arrive within ten days, the forward army should close in on the encirclement until then and keep in touch with Cao Ren through spies, and said that if they were punished for a tardy rescue he would bear it for them. The generals were pleased; they dug tunnels and tied letters to arrows to exchange news with Cao Ren, and when the northern army arrived they joined forces and fought a great battle. Records, Wei 23 §58–59

When Sun Quan seized Guan Yu's baggage train, Guan Yu fled south. When Cao Ren held a council, the generals all wanted to pursue and capture Guan Yu, but Zhao Yan said that Guan Yu should be left alive to be a menace to Sun Quan, and that if they pursued him deep, Sun Quan would turn his vigilance against them. Cao Ren relaxed his alert, and Taizu, hearing that Guan Yu had fled, also hastily sent an order to Cao Ren out of concern that the generals would pursue him, just as Zhao Yan had reckoned. Records, Wei 23 §59–61

When Emperor Wen became king, Zhao Yan became Palace Attendant, and as Commandant of Escort Cavalry he concurrently served as Administrator of Hedong and General of the Household for Agriculture. In the 3rd year of Huangchu (222) he became a Marquis Within the Passes. When Sun Quan raided the border and Cao Xiu, General-in-Chief Who Conquers the East, held him off, Zhao Yan became his Military Adviser, and on returning he was enfeoffed as Marquis of Yitu Village. After serving as General of the Household for Revenue he became a member of the Imperial Secretariat, and having followed the campaign against Wu as far as Guangling, he stayed behind as Military Adviser to the General Who Conquers the East. Records, Wei 23 §62

When Emperor Ming came to the throne, Zhao Yan was promoted to Marquis of a Chief Village with a fief of 600 households and was to supervise the military affairs of Jing Province with the Credentials, but he could not go because of illness. He again became a member of the Imperial Secretariat, then supervised the military affairs of Yu Province, became Military Adviser to the Grand Marshal, and then Minister of Agriculture. When the Prince of Qi (Cao Fang) came to the throne, he supervised the military affairs of Yong and Liang Provinces with the Credentials, and after serving as General Who Conquers Shu he commanded Yong and Liang Provinces as General Who Conquers the West. In the 4th year of Zhengshi (243) he asked to return because of old age and illness and was summoned as General of Agile Cavalry; according to the Annals of the Three Young Emperors, he became Minister of Works in the 2nd month of the 6th year of Zhengshi (245) and died in the 6th month of that year. His posthumous name was Marquis Mu, and his son Zhao Ting succeeded him. Records, Wei 23 §63–64Records, Wei 4 §17

In his assessment, Chen Shou said that Zhao Yan was firm and resolute yet measured, and counted him, together with He Qia, Chang Lin, Yang Jun, Du Xi and Pei Qian, among the fine men of his age. Records, Wei 23 §75