Kong Zhou 孔宙

In Chapter 11 of the Romance, Tao Qian's Attendant Officer (biejia congshi) Mi Zhu proposes a plan in which he himself will go to Beihai Commandery and ask Kong Rong to raise troops to their rescue, and Tao Qian first sends Chen Deng to Qing Province and then gives Mi Zhu a letter and sends him to Beihai. At this point the Romance introduces Kong Rong of Beihai, stating that his courtesy name was Wenju, that he was a man of Qufu in the State of Lu, a twentieth-generation descendant of Confucius, and the son of Kong Zhou, Commandant of Taishan. Romance, Ch. 11 §2–4

The Romance then describes Kong Rong's childhood. At the age of ten he calls on Li Ying, the Intendant of Henan, and when the gatekeeper stops him he says that his family and Lord Li's have been friends for generations; asked by Li Ying what relation his ancestors have to Li Ying's, he answers that long ago Confucius asked Laozi about the rites, so are their families not friends of many generations? When the Grand Palace Grandee Chen Wei, who arrives later, remarks that one who is clever as a child need not be clever when grown, Kong Rong at once retorts that, by his account, he must surely have been clever as a child. Romance, Ch. 11 §4–5

Kong Rong became known through this, later became a General of the Household and, promoted repeatedly, became Administrator of Beihai, and in his six years at Beihai he greatly won the hearts of the people. When Mi Zhu produces Tao Qian's letter and asks for rescue, saying that Cao Cao's siege is pressing hard, Kong Rong says that he is on close terms with Tao Qian and will go. In the Romance, Kong Zhou does not appear again after this passage introducing Kong Rong. Romance, Ch. 11 §5–6