Li Jue 李傕

Wary of Sun Jian's valor, Dong Zhuo sent his general Li Jue and others to sue for peace, offering to memorialize for the appointment of any of Sun Jian's sons and younger kinsmen fit to serve as inspector or administrator if their names were submitted. Sun Jian refused, saying that unless he exterminated Dong Zhuo's three kindreds he could not close his eyes even in death. Dong Zhuo also sent Li Jue and others out east of the passes, and they seized people and plundered wherever they passed, turning back only on reaching Yingchuan and Chenliu. The Biography of Dong Zhuo records this as Dong Zhuo's son-in-law Niu Fu, General of the Household, dispatching the colonels Li Jue, Guo Si and Zhang Ji separately to plunder the counties of Chenliu and Yingchuan. Records, Wu 1 §19Records, Wei 10 §5Records, Wei 6 §19

In the 4th month of the 3rd year of Chuping (192) Dong Zhuo died, and Niu Fu too was beheaded by Hu Chi'er and others close to him, so Li Jue and the others, on their return, were left with no one to rely on and each wished to scatter and go home. No pardon had been issued, and they were already afraid when they heard that in Chang'an it was intended to kill every man from Liang Province; Jia Xu then told them that if they abandoned their troops and went off alone, a single precinct chief could tie them up, and that they should lead their men west, gathering troops as they went, and attack Chang'an. 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. Together with Dong Zhuo's former subordinates Fan Chou, Li Meng, Wang Fang and others he surrounded Chang'an, took it in ten days, and fought Lü Bu inside the city and drove him out. Records, Wei 6 §16 · 19–20Records, Wei 10 §70–71

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. They buried Dong Zhuo in Mei County, but a great wind and violent rain shook the tomb, water flowed in, and his inner and outer coffins were swept away. 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), and together with Guo Si, General of the Rear, and Fan Chou, General of the Right, he controlled the government of the court. He wished to enfeoff Jia Xu as a marquis, but when Jia Xu declined, saying it had been merely a scheme to save their lives, he made him 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, seeking an alliance with Yuan Shu, made him General of the Left and enfeoffed him as Marquis of Yangdi, and together with Guo Si he made Liu Biao General Who Guards the South and Governor of Jing Province in order to make him an ally. When Cao Cao, having become Governor of Yan Province, first sent an envoy with a letter, Li Jue and Guo Si, claiming that those east of the passes meant to set up a Son of Heaven of their own, wanted to detain the envoy, but accepted Zhong Yao's persuasion and replied generously. Records, Wei 6 §74 · 83Records, Wei 13 §3–4

That year Han Sui and Ma Teng came to submit; Han Sui returned to Liang Province and Ma Teng was stationed at Mei County. The Palace Attendant Ma Yu, together with Chong Shao, Liu Fan and others, tried to bring in Ma Teng to kill Li Jue and the others, but the plot leaked; Fan Chou defeated Ma Teng and attacked Huaili, and Ma Yu and the rest 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 and clothing in his own house. When he sent the high ministers to Guo Si to seek peace, Guo Si detained them all, and the two attacked each other for several months, with the dead numbering 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

When Li Jue's general Yang Feng plotted with the army officer Song Guo and others to kill Li Jue and the plot leaked, he rebelled and led his troops away, and 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. When Yang Feng and Dong Cheng escorted the Son of Heaven toward Luoyang, Li Jue and Guo Si, regretting having let him go, joined hands again and caught up with him at Caoyang in Hongnong. Yang Feng called in Han Xian, Hu Cai and Li Le, former leaders of the White Wave, to resist, but was defeated, and Li Jue and the others killed high ministers and officials and carried off palace women. The Son of Heaven fled across the Yellow River, and later, when he sent the Minister Coachman Han Rong to make peace, Li Jue and the others returned the palace women, high ministers and officials they had seized, along with a few carriages. Records, Wei 6 §25–27

After the Son of Heaven returned to Luoyang, Cao Cao received him and made Xu County the capital. In the 2nd year of Jian'an (197) Pei Mao, Supervisor of the Internuncios, led the generals of Guanxi to put Li Jue to death and exterminated his three kindreds. Guo Si was attacked by his subordinate general Wu Xi and died at Mei County. Chen Shou did not discuss him separately in the assessment at the end of the volume. Records, Wei 6 §28 · 30 · 96