Fu Gu 傅嘏

Fu Gu, courtesy name Lanshi, was a man of Niyang County in Beidi Commandery and a descendant of Fu Jiezi. His paternal uncle Fu Xun served as Palace Attendant and Master of Writing in the Huangchu era. Fu Gu became known around the age of twenty, and Chen Qun, Minister of Works, summoned him as a clerk. Records, Wei 21 §81

At that time the Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary Liu Shao drew up an evaluation law, and when the matter was sent down to the Three Offices, Fu Gu rebutted Liu Shao's argument. The Zhou, he said, had established feudal lords outside and various offices within, so that the land had fixed tribute and offices had settled rules, and reviewing merit and dismissing or promoting officials could be carried out easily; but Wei, from Jian'an to Qinglong, had been busy putting down disorder and had not been able to perfect its institutions. Establishing offices and apportioning duties was the root, and examining reality against names was the branch; to put evaluation first without establishing the main principles of the root, he feared, would not suffice to tell the worthy from the foolish. Moreover, since the selection of talent was now entrusted solely to the Ministry of Personnel, an evaluation that ranked officials lowest and highest could not bring talent fully to light. Records, Wei 21 §82–86

At the beginning of Zhengshi he became a Gentleman of the Secretariat and was transferred to Gentleman of the Yellow Gate. At that time Cao Shuang held power and He Yan was Master of Writing for Personnel; Fu Gu told Cao Shuang's younger brother Cao Xi, 'He Pingshu is calm outside but sharp and cunning within; he loves profit and has no thought of attending to fundamentals,' and said he feared that He Yan would first lead the brothers astray, so that benevolent men would keep their distance and the government of the court would collapse. He Yan and his associates then fell out with Fu Gu and dismissed him from office over a trifling matter. Recalled from his home, Fu Gu was appointed Administrator of Xingyang but did not take up the post. Records, Wei 21 §87

The Grand Tutor Sima Yi asked for him as an Attendant Gentleman on his staff. After Cao Shuang was executed he became Intendant of Henan and was transferred to Master of Writing. Fu Gu always held that Qin had abolished the feudal lords and set up governors, so that offices were no longer as in antiquity, and Han and Wei had followed this; yet Confucian scholars sought to fit it to the rites of the Three Dynasties, so that affairs were at odds with the institutions and names did not match realities. He wished to reform the system of offices thoroughly and correct its foundations on the model of antiquity, but said that, the imperial house facing many difficulties, the reform could not yet be made. Records, Wei 21 §88–89

At that time there were proposals to attack Wu, and the plans submitted by the three campaign generals all differed, so an edict asked Fu Gu's opinion. Fu Gu said that Sun Quan had died and entrusted his young son to Zhuge Ke; if Wu corrected its harsh rule and those within and without became of one mind, it would be enough to prolong its life beyond the deep river. Plans to launch boats and cross straight over to sweep through Jiangnan, or to advance together by four routes and attack the forts, would hardly succeed, he answered; only advancing the army and setting up large military farms was most complete and secure. Citing how Ji Bu rebuked Fan Kuai to his face when Fan Kuai proposed sweeping through the Xiongnu with a host of a hundred thousand, he urged that the laws be made clear and the soldiers drilled, and that plans be laid where complete victory was assured. Records, Wei 21 §90–93

Later, when the Wu senior general Zhuge Ke, fresh from his victory at Dongguan, loudly proclaimed that he would ride his success toward Qing and Xu Provinces, the court prepared to defend against him. Fu Gu said that the Huai and the sea were not routes the enemy could travel lightly, and that the troops Sun Quan had once sent out to sea had been drowned in the waves with almost none surviving. Zhuge Ke, he predicted, would merely send commanders familiar with naval warfare to make a show of moving on Qing and Xu, while he himself combined his forces and came toward Huainan. Zhuge Ke did indeed later move against Xincheng, failed to take it, and went home. Records, Wei 21 §94

Fu Gu often discussed the sameness and difference of talent and nature, and Zhong Hui collected and discussed these views. At the end of Jiaping he was granted the rank of Marquis Within the Passes, and when Cao Mao, Duke of Gaogui Village, took the throne, he was advanced to Marquis of Wuxiang Neighborhood. Wang Ji wrote a letter of admonition to Sima Shi, who had newly taken charge of the government, saying that Xu Yun, Fu Gu, Yuan Kan and Cui Zan were all upright men of their age with whom he could share the affairs of state, and Sima Shi accepted his words. Records, Wei 21 §95Records, Wei 27 §59

When Guanqiu Jian and Wen Qin rebelled in the spring of the 2nd year of Zhengyuan (255), some said that Sima Shi should not go in person and could send the Grand Commandant Sima Fu, but Fu Gu and Wang Su alone urged him to go himself. Sima Shi set out at last, and had Fu Gu go east with him as acting Supervisor of the Masters of Writing. Chen Shou wrote that Fu Gu's plans had a part in the defeat and collapse of Guanqiu Jian and Wen Qin. Records, Wei 21 §95–96

When Sima Shi died at Xuchang, an edict from within the palace was sent to the Master of Writing Fu Gu, ordering that the General of the Guards Sima Zhao remain stationed at Xuchang for the time being and that Fu Gu lead the armies back. Zhong Hui plotted with Fu Gu and had him submit a memorial, and Fu Gu returned straight to Luoyang with Sima Zhao. The court appointed Sima Zhao General-in-Chief to assist in the government. When Zhong Hui showed signs of pride over this, Fu Gu warned him, 'Your ambition is greater than your capacity, so it will be hard for you to achieve great deeds. Can you afford not to be careful?' Records, Wei 21 §96Records, Wei 28 §96–97

For his merit Fu Gu was advanced to Marquis of Yang Village and given an additional 600 households, bringing his fief to 1,200 households with the earlier ones. He died that year at the age of forty-seven, was posthumously granted the title of Minister of Ceremonies, and received the posthumous name Marquis Yuan. His son Fu Zhi succeeded him, and when the five ranks of nobility were newly established in the Xianxi era, Fu Zhi's fief was changed to Viscount of Jingyuan because Fu Gu had shown distinguished merit under the previous reign. Records, Wei 21 §96–97

In his assessment, after discussing the men of this volume in turn, Chen Shou wrote that 'Fu Gu rose to prominence through his talent.' Records, Wei 21 §99