Yue Jin 樂進

Though short and slight in appearance, he followed Cao Cao on the strength of his courage and spirit and became an officer on his headquarters staff. Sent back to his home commandery to recruit troops, he raised more than a thousand men, and on his return he became Acting Major of the Army (jun jia sima) and Commandant Who Breaks Formations (xianzhen duwei). Following Cao Cao, he attacked Lü Bu at Puyang, Zhang Chao at Yongqiu and Qiao Rui at Ku, each time being the first to scale the walls and winning merit, and he was enfeoffed as Marquis of Guangchang Precinct. He attacked Zhang Xiu at Anzhong, besieged Lü Bu at Xiapi and defeated his detached commander, attacked Sui Gu at Shequan and assailed Liu Bei at Pei, defeating them all, and was made Colonel Who Attacks Bandits (taokou xiaowei). Records, Wei 17 §20

He crossed the Yellow River and attacked Huojia, and when Cao Cao attacked Yuan Shao at Guandu he fought hard and cut off the head of Yuan Shao's general Chunyu Qiong. When attacking Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang at Liyang he beheaded their senior general Yan Jing and served as acting General of Mobile Attack (youji jiangjun), and on a separate campaign he defeated the Yellow Turbans and pacified Le'an Commandery. He took part in the siege of Ye, and when Yuan Tan was attacked at Nanpi he was the first to scale the walls and entered by Yuan Tan's east gate. Around this time he also took Yin'an together with Zhang Liao. Records, Wei 17 §21 · 5

In the 11th year of Jian'an (206) Cao Cao submitted a memorial to the Han emperor praising Yue Jin, Yu Jin and Zhang Liao. He said that their martial strength was great and their planning thorough, that in every battle they always led the troops from the front, charging into strong enemy positions and taking every stronghold they assailed, and that they beat the war drums with their own hands without ever tiring. Thereupon Yu Jin became General of Tiger Might, Yue Jin General Who Breaks Assaults, and Zhang Liao General Who Sweeps Away Bandits. Records, Wei 17 §21–22

On a separate campaign against Gao Gan, he entered Shangdang by the northern road and came out behind him; at Hu Pass, to which Gao Gan withdrew to defend, he fought one battle after another together with Li Dian and took many heads, but the pass fell only when Cao Cao came to campaign in person. When Cao Cao attacked the pirate Guan Cheng, Yue Jin went with Li Dian and defeated him, and Guan Cheng fled to an island in the sea. Records, Wei 17 §23Records, Wei 1 §93 · 95

While Jing Province had not yet submitted, he was stationed at Yangzhai. After following Cao Cao in pacifying Jing Province he stayed behind and was stationed at Xiangyang; he attacked Guan Yu, Su Fei and others and put them all to flight, and the Man peoples of the mountain valleys in the counties of Nan Commandery came to him and surrendered. He also campaigned against Guan Yu at Xunkou together with Wen Pin. He further inflicted heavy defeats on Du Pu, Chief of Linju, and Liang Da, Chief of Jingyang, who had been installed by Liu Bei. In a letter to Liu Zhang, Liu Bei wrote that Yue Jin was confronting Guan Yu at Qingni and that if he did not go to Guan Yu's rescue, Yue Jin would win a great victory. Records, Wei 17 §23–24Records, Wei 18 §36Records, Shu 2 §30

Later, following Cao Cao on his campaign against Sun Quan, he was granted the tally of authority (jiajie). When Cao Cao returned, he left Yue Jin at Hefei together with Zhang Liao and Li Dian. According to the biography of Zhang Liao, when Cao Cao set out against Zhang Lu he entrusted a written instruction to the Protector of the Army Xue Ti, and when Sun Quan surrounded Hefei with a host of 100,000, the instruction they opened stated that Zhang Liao and Li Dian were to go out and fight, while Yue Jin was to guard the Protector of the Army and not join the battle. The biography of Li Dian records that Yue Jin, Li Dian and Zhang Liao had never got along with one another. Records, Wei 17 §24 · 10Records, Wei 18 §8

His fief grew to 1,200 households in all, and because he had won merit many times, 500 households were split off to enfeoff one of his sons as a full marquis. He was promoted to General of the Right and died in the 23rd year of Jian'an (218), receiving the posthumous name Marquis Wei. His son Yue Chen succeeded him and rose to Inspector of Yang Province, but when Zhuge Dan rebelled he attacked and killed Yue Chen. In the 4th year of Zhengshi (243) Cao Fang had Yue Jin honored with sacrifices in the temple courtyard of Taizu. Records, Wei 17 §24–25Records, Wei 4 §14

In his assessment, Chen Shou said that when Cao Cao achieved his military successes, five fine generals of the time stood foremost, and that Yue Jin won fame for his valor and daring, but that on examining his deeds they did not live up to his reputation. He added that perhaps there were omissions in the records, so that they were not as detailed and complete as those of Zhang Liao and Xu Huang. Records, Wei 17 §74