Zhou Fang 周魴

Zhou Fang, courtesy name Ziyu, was a man of Yangxian County in Wu Commandery. He loved learning in his youth, and recommended as Filial and Incorrupt he became Chief of Ningguo County and was then transferred to Huai'an. When Peng Shi and others, great bandit leaders of Qiantang, swarmed together like ants and turned to banditry, he was made Chancellor of the Marquisate of Qiantang, and within a month he beheaded Peng Shi and his followers, and was transferred to Chief Commandant of the Western Division of Danyang. Records, Wu 15 §49

In the Huangwu era, when Peng Qi, a great bandit leader of Poyang, rebelled and took the subordinate towns, Zhou Fang was made Administrator of Poyang. Joining forces with Hu Zong, he attacked and suppressed the rebels, finally captured Peng Qi alive and sent him to Wuchang, and was given the additional title of Colonel Who Displays Righteousness. Records, Wu 15 §49

Zhou Fang was ordered to secretly seek out, among the old clans and noted leaders of the mountains, someone known to the northern enemy, and to have him lure out Cao Xiu, Grand Marshal of Wei and Governor of Yang Province, by deception. Zhou Fang replied that he feared such petty men as the leaders of the commoners were not reliable enough to entrust, and that if the matter leaked Cao Xiu could not be drawn out, and asked to send a confidant with a letter of seven articles to lure Cao Xiu. In a separate secret memorial he also said that such a man could not be found quickly and, even if found, might not be trustworthy, so it would be the better plan for him to deceive Cao Xiu himself; he presented a draft of the letter, received a reply, and carried it out. Records, Wu 15 §50 · 69–71

In the letter Zhou Fang said that he was sending his confidants Dong Cen and Shao Nan, disguised as defectors, and that he had recently been unexpectedly censured so that disaster was only moments away. Citing the case of his predecessor as administrator, Wang Jing, who had been censured and tried to submit to the north, but whose plan was discovered so that the punishment reached even infants, he said that putting him in charge of the commandery was also a sign of intent to kill him. He also said that Sun Quan meant to divide his generals and advance north, leaving only about 3,000 soldiers along the Yangtze to guard Wuchang, and that if Cao Xiu came south from Wan County toward the riverbank with ten thousand troops, he would lead the officials and people to act as an inside ally. Records, Wu 15 §52–53 · 55 · 57–58

In another letter he said that the people of Poyang had now surrendered but still harbored the will to rebel, and reported that Sun Quan, resentful at having failed to take Shiyang earlier, was gathering new troops on a large scale. In the last letter he asked for fifty seals each of general and marquis, a hundred seals of General of the Household, and two hundred seals each of colonel and chief commandant, as well as several dozen banners, to be granted provisionally to the various leaders, and asked that the letters be hidden and kept secret. Records, Wu 15 §62 · 65 · 67–68

When Zhou Fang first set his secret plan in motion, court gentlemen bearing edicts frequently came to question him on various matters. Zhou Fang therefore went to the gate of the commandery office and cut off his hair to apologize, and for that reason Cao Xiu, hearing of it, no longer had any suspicions. Cao Xiu did indeed trust Zhou Fang, and leading 100,000 infantry and cavalry, with baggage trains filling the roads, he came straight into Wan County. Zhou Fang also gathered his men and followed Lu Xun in intercepting Cao Xiu, and Cao Xiu's army fell apart like torn cloth and broken tiles, with those beheaded or captured numbering in the tens of thousands. Records, Wu 15 §72–73

The Biography of the Lord of Wu records that in the 5th month, in summer of the 7th year of Huangwu (228), Zhou Fang, Administrator of Poyang, pretended to defect and lured out Cao Xiu, and that in the 8th month, in autumn, Sun Quan arrived at Wankou and had Lu Xun command the generals and crush Cao Xiu at Shiting. When the army returned, Sun Quan held a great banquet for the generals, and when the wine was flowing, he said to Zhou Fang, 'You cut off your hair and took righteousness upon yourself, and so accomplished my great enterprise; your merit and name ought to be written on bamboo and silk.' Zhou Fang was given the additional title of Assistant General and the rank of Marquis Within the Passes. Records, Wu 2 §60Records, Wu 15 §73

The bandit leader Dong Si, relying on rugged terrain, plundered the area, and both Yuzhang and Linchuan suffered from him. When Wu Can and Tang Zi attacked with 3,000 soldiers but could not take his stronghold for months, Zhou Fang submitted a memorial asking that the troops be withdrawn and that he be allowed to act as circumstances required, and was granted permission. Zhou Fang sent spies with instructions to lure Dong Si, watch for an opening and kill him, and Dong Si's younger brother, in fear, went to Wuchang and surrendered to Lu Xun; from then on the several commanderies had no more cause for worry or fear. Records, Wu 15 §73–74

Zhou Fang died after thirteen years in his commandery; he rewarded the good and punished the wicked, exercising both authority and kindness. His son Zhou Chu also had civil and military talent, and in the Tianji era he became Director of the Eastern Pavilion and Commander of the Wunan troops. In his assessment Chen Shou said that the ministers of this volume had all succeeded in quelling internal disorders and bringing peace and quiet to the realm, and that 'Zhou Fang's crafty stratagems were full of surprises.' Records, Wu 15 §75 · 86