Li Jue faction 李傕

Li Jue was a general under Dong Zhuo. Wary of Sun Jian's valor, Dong Zhuo sent his general Li Jue and others to sue for peace, and Dong Zhuo's son-in-law Niu Fu, General of the Household, stationed separately at Shan County, sent the colonels Li Jue, Guo Si and Zhang Ji (張濟) to plunder the counties of Chenliu and Yingchuan. Records, Wu 1 §19Records, Wei 6 §19

In the 4th month of the 3rd year of Chuping (192) Dong Zhuo died and Niu Fu too was beheaded while fleeing, so Li Jue and the others, on their return, had no one to rely on and wished to scatter. No pardon had been issued, and word came that in Chang'an it was intended to kill every man from Liang Province; Jia Xu then said that they should lead their men west, gathering troops as they went, and attack Chang'an, and that if they succeeded they would uphold the state and campaign against the realm, while if they failed it would not be too late to flee then. Li Jue followed this, collecting troops wherever he went, so that by the time he reached Chang'an his host numbered more than 100,000, and together with Dong Zhuo's former subordinates Fan Chou, Li Meng, Wang Fang and others he surrounded the city of Chang'an and took it in ten days. Lü Bu was defeated and fled out through the Wu Pass. Records, Wei 6 §16 · 19–20Records, Wei 10 §70–71Records, Wei 1 §21

Li Jue and the others let their troops loose and slaughtered the old and young of Chang'an, put to death those who had killed Dong Zhuo, and exposed Wang Yun's corpse in the marketplace. Li Jue became General of Chariots and Cavalry and Marquis of Chiyang, concurrently Colonel-Director of Retainers, and was granted the tally of authority (jiajie); Guo Si became General of the Rear and Marquis of Meiyang, and Fan Chou General of the Right and Marquis of Wannian, and these three controlled the government of the court at will. Zhang Ji became General of Agile Cavalry and Marquis of Pingyang and was stationed at Hongnong. Li Jue and the others made Jia Xu a Master of Writing in charge of selecting officials, keeping him close yet wary of him. Records, Wei 6 §21Records, Wei 10 §71–72

After entering Chang'an, Li Jue sought to make Yuan Shu and Liu Biao his allies. He made Yuan Shu General of the Left and Marquis of Yangdi and sent the Grand Tutor Ma Midi to confer the appointment, but Yuan Shu seized Ma Midi's credentials and detained him. Li Jue and Guo Si also made Liu Biao General Who Guards the South and Governor of Jing Province. When Cao Cao, who had taken on the governorship of Yan Province, first sent an envoy with a letter, Li Jue, Guo Si and the others, claiming that those east of the passes meant to set up a Son of Heaven of their own, wanted to detain the envoy, but they accepted Zhong Yao's persuasion and replied generously. Records, Wei 6 §74 · 83Records, Wei 13 §3–4

That year Han Sui, Ma Teng and others submitted and came to Chang'an with their hosts. Han Sui was sent back to Liang Province as General Who Guards the West, and Ma Teng was stationed at Mei County as General Who Conquers the West. The Palace Attendant Ma Yu, however, together with the Grand Master of Remonstrance Chong Shao, the General of the Household of the Left Liu Fan and others, plotted to have Ma Teng attack Chang'an while they acted from within to kill Li Jue and the others. When Ma Teng reached Changping Lodge the plot leaked, and Ma Yu and the others fled to Huaili. Fan Chou attacked Ma Teng, who was defeated and returned to Liang Province, and Fan Chou then attacked Huaili, where Ma Yu and the others all died. At that time the people of the Three Adjuncts still numbered several hundred thousand households, but Li Jue and the others let their troops loose to plunder the towns, so that within two years the starving people had eaten one another and were almost wiped out. Records, Wei 6 §22–23

The generals, contending for power, killed Fan Chou and absorbed his host. Li Jue and Guo Si grew increasingly suspicious of each other and fought within Chang'an. Li Jue took the Son of Heaven hostage in his own camp, burned the palaces and city gates, plundered the government offices, and kept all the Son of Heaven's carriages, clothing and personal effects in his own house. He sent the high ministers to Guo Si to seek peace, but Guo Si detained them all, and in the several months that they attacked each other the dead numbered in the tens of thousands. At this time Li Jue again called on Jia Xu and made him General Who Proclaims Righteousness. Records, Wei 6 §24Records, Wei 10 §72

Li Jue's general Yang Feng plotted with the army officer Song Guo and others to kill Li Jue, and when the plot leaked he rebelled and led his troops away; as his host departed, Li Jue gradually weakened. When Zhang Ji came from Shan County and reconciled the two, the Son of Heaven was at last able to get out and reached the area between Xinfeng and Baling, and Yang Feng and the general Dong Cheng escorted the Son of Heaven toward Luoyang. After the Son of Heaven had left, Jia Xu returned his seal and ribbon and left Li Jue. The Annals of Emperor Wu recorded this event of the 2nd year of Xingping (195) as "Chang'an was in turmoil, and the Son of Heaven moved east." Records, Wei 6 §25Records, Wei 10 §72Records, Wei 1 §33 · 35

Regretting having let the Son of Heaven go, Li Jue and Guo Si joined hands again and caught up with him at Caoyang in Hongnong. Yang Feng called in Han Xian, Hu Cai, Li Le and other former leaders of the White Wave of Hedong to resist them, but was defeated, and Li Jue and the others killed high ministers and officials, carried off palace women, and entered Hongnong. The Son of Heaven fled to Shan County and crossed the Yellow River to the north, and Yang Feng, Han Xian and the others made Anyi his capital. When the Minister Coachman Han Rong went to Hongnong to make peace, Li Jue and the others returned the palace women, high ministers and officials they had seized, along with a few of the Son of Heaven's carriages and horses. Records, Wei 6 §26–27

The Son of Heaven returned to Luoyang, and Cao Cao received him and made Xu County the capital. In the 2nd year of Jian'an (197) Pei Mao, Supervisor of the Internuncios, was sent to lead the generals of Guanxi; he put Li Jue to death and exterminated his three kindreds. Guo Si, who had controlled the court alongside him, was attacked by one of his own generals and died at Mei County, and Zhang Ji, while plundering in Nanyang, was killed by the people of Rang County. Records, Wei 6 §28 · 30

In the assessment of Volume 6, Chen Shou discussed only Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao and Liu Biao, and did not assess Li Jue and his followers separately. Records, Wei 6 §96–97