Cao Zhang 曹彰

Cao Zhang, Prince Wei of Rencheng, had the courtesy name Ziwen. From his youth he was skilled at archery and riding, and his physical strength surpassed that of other men, so that he grappled with fierce beasts bare-handed and did not shy from dangerous places. He followed many campaigns, and his spirit was bold and impassioned. Taizu checked him, saying that he gave no thought to reading books and aspiring to the way of the sages but liked only riding sweat-blooded horses and fencing, which was of no more use than a single man, and he set him to read the Book of Songs and the Book of Documents. Cao Zhang said to those around him that a true man should simply be like Wei Qing or Huo Qubing, leading a hundred thousand cavalry across the desert to drive out the Rong and Di and win merit; how could he become an Erudite? Records, Wei 19 §2

When Taizu asked each of his sons his ambition, Cao Zhang answered that he liked to be a commander: he would wear strong armor and grasp sharp weapons, not look back in the face of difficulty, go ahead of his soldiers, and make sure rewards were always given and punishments always kept faith. Taizu laughed heartily. In the 21st year of Jian'an (216) he was enfeoffed as Marquis of Yanling. Records, Wei 19 §3

In the 23rd year of Jian'an (218), when the Wuhuan of Dai Commandery rebelled, Taizu made Cao Zhang General of the Household of the North and acting General of Valiant Cavalry. The Annals of Emperor Wu record this rebellion as raised in the 4th month, in summer of that year, by Wuchendi and other Wuhuan of Dai and Shanggu. When he set out, Taizu warned him that at home they were father and son, but once he took up the task they were lord and subject, and he must act according to the king's law. When Cao Zhang entered the border of Zhuo Commandery, several thousand rebel Hu cavalry suddenly bore down on him, and as his troops and horses had not yet all assembled he had only a thousand foot soldiers and a few hundred horsemen. Using Tian Yu's plan, he held the strategic points firmly, and the enemy withdrew and scattered. The biography of Tian Yu also records that, as Chancellor, Tian Yu had the carts turned to form a circular formation and drove off the Hu, and that the pacification of Dai Commandery was all owing to Tian Yu's plans. Records, Wei 19 §4Records, Wei 1 §161Records, Wei 26 §28

Cao Zhang pursued the enemy, fighting hand to hand himself and shooting the Hu horsemen, who fell one after another at the twang of his bowstring. After the fighting had gone on for more than half a day, several arrows were lodged in his armor, but his spirit grew all the fiercer, and he chased the fleeing enemy to Sanggan, more than two hundred li from Dai County. His Chief Clerk and commanders said that they had come a long way and were exhausted, and that they had received orders not to go beyond Dai County, so they must not advance deep. Cao Zhang declared that leading an army forward meant going wherever advantage lay, and that letting the enemy go in order to follow orders was not the mark of a good commander, and he ordered that anyone who set out late would be beheaded. Within a day and a night he caught up with the enemy and routed them, beheading and capturing them by the thousands, and he rewarded his officers and men at double the usual rate. Kebineng, a great chief of the Xianbei who was watching the balance of strength with several tens of thousands of horsemen, saw that Cao Zhang broke every force he struck, and asked to submit. Records, Wei 19 §5–6

When the north had all been pacified, Taizu, who was at Chang'an, summoned Cao Zhang to his headquarters. As Cao Zhang passed through Ye on his way from Dai County, the crown prince told him that, having newly won merit, he should not boast of it but should answer always as though he fell short, and Cao Zhang did as he said and gave the credit to his commanders. Taizu was delighted, took hold of his beard and said, 'My yellow-bearded boy has turned out truly remarkable!' When Taizu returned east, he made Cao Zhang acting General of the Elite Cavalry and left him at Chang'an. Records, Wei 19 §7–8

When Taizu reached Luoyang and fell ill, he summoned Cao Zhang by post horse, but Taizu died before he arrived. According to the biography of Jia Kui, while Jia Kui was in charge of the funeral arrangements, Cao Zhang, Marquis of Yanling, then acting General of the Elite Cavalry, came hurrying from Chang'an and asked where the late king's seal and ribbon were. Jia Kui replied sternly that the crown prince was at Ye, so the late king's seal and ribbon were not something His Lordship should ask about, and he escorted the coffin back to Ye. Records, Wei 19 §8Records, Wei 15 §74

When Emperor Wen succeeded to the kingship, Cao Zhang went to his fief along with the other lords. In an edict Emperor Wen declared that Cao Zhang had earlier received orders to campaign in the north and had pacified the northern lands, so his merit was great, and he added five thousand households to his fief, making ten thousand in all. In the 2nd year of Huangchu (221) his rank was raised to duke, and in the 3rd year (222) he was established as Prince of Rencheng. In the 4th year (223), having come to court at the capital, he died of illness at his residence and was given the posthumous name Wei; the Annals of Emperor Wen date his death to the day jiaxu of the 6th month. At his burial he was granted an imperial carriage with bells, dragon banners and a hundred Rapid as Tigers guards, after the precedent of the Prince of Dongping of the Han, and his son Cao Kai succeeded him. Records, Wei 19 §8–9Records, Wei 2 §44

In his assessment, Chen Shou said that the Prince of Rencheng was martial in skill, sturdy and fierce, with the bearing of a commander. Records, Wei 19 §69