Bi Gui 畢軌

After Emperor Ming came to the throne, at a time when Liu Fang, Director of the Palace Secretariat, and Sun Zi, Prefect of the Palace Secretariat, enjoyed his trust and decided affairs of state, Bi Gui, Supervisor of the Attendants (rongcong puye), submitted a memorial saying that Wang Si, Supervisor of the Masters of Writing, was a diligent veteran official but inferior to Xin Pi in loyalty, clear-sightedness and strategy, and that Xin Pi should replace Wang Si. When Emperor Ming asked Liu Fang and Sun Zi, the two answered that Xin Pi was indeed clear-sighted and upright but by nature unbending and self-willed, and in the end Xin Pi was not employed and went out to become Commandant of the Guards. Records, Wei 25 §16–18

Bi Gui became Inspector of Bing Province. When Zhuge Liang of Shu, then at Qishan, joined hands with Kebineng, Emperor Ming had Qian Zhao attack him as circumstances allowed. Since Kebineng had already returned to the south of the desert, Qian Zhao consulted with the Inspector Bi Gui and proposed that the two garrison commands guarding Xinxing and Yanmen be sent out to station north of Xing, building up grain stores through military farming, and that in autumn and winter, when the horses were fat, the troops of the province and commanderies be combined to attack. But before it could be carried out, Qian Zhao died of illness. Records, Wei 3 §30Records, Wei 26 §59–60

In the 1st year of Qinglong (233), Budugen, a chieftain of the Xianbei who guarded the frontier, secretly colluded with Kebineng, a chieftain of the rebellious Xianbei. Bi Gui submitted a memorial and at once sent out troops, intending outwardly to show his might to Kebineng and inwardly to hold Budugen in check. On reading the memorial, Emperor Ming said that Budugen had been enticed by Kebineng and was full of misgivings, and that if Bi Gui sent out troops it would only alarm the two tribes and make them unite; he hastily issued an edict to Bi Gui that even if he sent out troops he must on no account cross the frontier and pass Mount Gouzhu. Records, Wei 30 §27Records, Wei 3 §30

By the time the edict arrived, Bi Gui had already advanced and stationed himself at Yinguan, and had sent the generals Su Shang and Dong Bi to pursue the Xianbei. Kebineng gave his son a thousand or more horsemen to receive Budugen's tribe; they encountered Su Shang and Dong Bi and fought at Loufan, and the two generals were defeated and killed. Budugen's tribe all rebelled, left the frontier, and joined Kebineng in raiding the border, and Emperor Ming sent Qin Lang, General of Valiant Cavalry, to suppress them. The Biographies of the Wuhuan, Xianbei and Dongyi record this as "Bi Gui was defeated north of Xing." Records, Wei 3 §31Records, Wei 30 §27 · 5

He Yan, Deng Yang and Li Sheng of Nanyang, Ding Mi of Pei State and Bi Gui of Dongping all had reputations and sought advancement by following the fashions of the time, but Emperor Ming suppressed and dismissed them all as showy and superficial. After Emperor Ming died and the King of Qi came to the throne, Cao Shuang took power and employed them again, making them his confidants. Records, Wei 9 §72–73

He Yan and the others exalted Cao Shuang and persuaded him that since his authority was so weighty it must not be entrusted to others. Thereupon He Yan, Deng Yang and Ding Mi became Masters of Writing, Bi Gui became Colonel-Director of Retainers, and Li Sheng became Intendant of Henan, and few matters passed through Sima Yi any more. In the end Sima Yi pleaded illness to avoid Cao Shuang. Records, Wei 9 §76

To plant his own faction, Cao Shuang moved Lu Yu to the post of Supervisor and had He Yan replace him, and soon afterwards sent Lu Yu out to be Commandant of Justice. Bi Gui, as Director of Retainers, then unjustly impeached Lu Yu and had him dismissed from office, but because public opinion largely spoke up for Lu Yu, he was made Minister of the Household. Records, Wei 22 §104

In the 1st month of the 10th year of Zhengshi (249), when the Son of Heaven went to pay homage at the Gaoping Tomb and Cao Shuang and his brothers all accompanied him, Sima Yi marshaled troops, seized the arsenal, and had Cao Shuang and his brothers removed from office and retired to their residences as marquises. On the day wuxu the officials in charge arrested Zhang Dang, a eunuch of the Yellow Gate, and handed him over to the Commandant of Justice, and Zhang Dang testified that Cao Shuang had secretly plotted rebellion with He Yan and the others, had trained troops in advance, and intended to strike in the 3rd month. Records, Wei 9 §80 · 87Records, Wei 4 §28

The Annals of the Three Young Emperors record that the Masters of Writing Ding Mi, Deng Yang and He Yan, the Colonel-Director of Retainers Bi Gui, the Inspector of Jing Province Li Sheng and the Minister of Agriculture Huan Fan had all shared in Cao Shuang's treacherous plots, and so their three sets of kin were exterminated. In Cao Shuang's biography, Cao Shuang, Cao Xi, Cao Xun, He Yan, Deng Yang, Ding Mi, Bi Gui, Li Sheng, Huan Fan, Zhang Dang and others were seized, all executed, and their three sets of kin exterminated. The Annals of the Three Young Emperors date this to the 1st month of the 1st year of Jiaping (249), but the era name was changed only in the 4th month, in summer, of that year. Records, Wei 4 §28 · 30Records, Wei 9 §88