Zhang Miao, styled Mengzhuo (張邈字孟卓; d. Spring 196), was a civil official who was the Grand Administrator of Chenliu Commandery. He initially supported Cao Cao, but later rebelled against him. Eventually defeated, he was killed by his own army while fleeing to Yuan Shu.
Biography
Ancestry
He was from Shouzhang County, Dongping Commandery. He had at least one brother named Zhang Chao.[1] Judging from the list of friends he had, he may have come from a high or middle ranking family, but this is speculation.
Early life
He was known for being generous and just. He used his family's property to aid those in need of money, and he was not greedy.[1][2] His generous and just behavior thus led many to describe him as one of the 'Eight Chefs' for giving out money, alongside Du Shang and Humu Ban.[2][3] Scholars that looked up to him and were friendly with him included Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, both of whom shared similar qualities.[1] According to Zang Hong, Yuan Shao himself called Zhang Miao his elder brother, suggesting Zhang Miao was older than Yuan Shao.[4] Zhang Miao also became friends with Lü Bu.[5]
Guandong Coalition
He joined the staff of the Excellencies, then became Commandant of Cavalry.[1] Around 190, he presumably became Grand Administrator of Chenliu because Zhou Bi and Wu Qiong, whom Dong Zhuo held high opinions of, advocated for Zhang Miao to be appointed to office.[6] He left to Chenliu, where he became nominally subordinate to Liu Dai. Despite Dong Zhuo giving him the post, he soon contributed his troops to the Guandong Coalition.[1][5][7] Zang Hong had earlier persuaded Zhang Chao to rebel against Dong Zhuo and had him persuade Zhang Miao to rebel against Dong Zhuo. Zhang Miao asked his brother,
"I heard that you, younger brother, serve as a commandery administrator, but that the [system of] government, education, military, and rewards do not come from yourself, but by Zang Hong's implementation. Who is this Hong person?"
Zhang Chao responded that Zang Hong was a very talented man and that he loved his talent. Zhang Miao later met Zang Hong and was impressed with his talent. He later showed him off to Kong Zhou and Liu Dai, who were also impressed.[6] Zhang Miao provided Cao Cao with one of his generals, Wei Zi, to fight with him. Wei Zi eventually perished at the Battle of Xingyang.[9]
In the second lunar month, Dong Zhuo moved the capital from Luoyang to Chang'an. Zhang Miao and Liu Dai stationed their armies at Suanzao alongside fellow members Yuan Yi and Qiao Mao.[10]
When Yuan Shao was elected Coalition Leader, he became increasingly arrogant and "self-important" from this, so Zhang Miao scolded Yuan Shao for his behavior. Feeling insulted, Yuan Shao sent Cao Cao to kill Zhang Miao, but Cao Cao opposed this and said,
"Mengzhuo is a close friend; regardless if he is right or wrong, we must tolerate him. Presently, the world is not stabilized, hence we must not endanger each other."
When Zhang Miao learned that Cao Cao defended him, he was extremely grateful to him.[1][5] Zhang Miao, however, remained uneasy about his safety.[5]
Around 192, the Governor of Ji Province; Han Fu joined Zhang Miao in hopes of evading Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao sent someone to talk with Zhang Miao for unknown purposes despite their past scuffle, and Han Fu thought that they were colluding against him, and so he committed suicide in the latrine.[11] Zhang Miao's reaction to this was never recorded.
Around 193, Liu Dai perished against the Yellow Turbans and Cao Cao replaced him, making him Zhang Miao's new lord. When Cao Cao invaded Tao Qian, he told his family,
"If I do not return, go serve Mengzhuo."
After he returned, he met Zhang Miao again, and almost cried when they talked because they were such close friends.[1]
Zhang Miao's Betrayal
Many thought that Zhang Miao and Cao Cao had an unbreakable bond, but according to traditional history, Gao Rou disagreed on this. He stated,
"...Lord Zhang had earlier achieved his ambitions with Chenliu. I fear changes [like him] seizing opportunities will start [soon]..."
Gao Rou went ignored because everyone really did think Zhang Miao was truly loyal to Cao Cao.[1][12] True to Gao Rou's words, however, Cao Cao's close bond would soon be soured inadvertently by Yuan Shao as well as Zhang Miao's innate ambition.[12] Supposedly, Yuan Shao was furious at Zhang Miao when he heard that after Lü Bu fled from him, he crossed into Chenliu where Zhang Miao sent someone to welcome him and treated him very generously, then making an oath with hin out of friendship when he left Chenliu.[5][13] Zhang Miao feared Cao Cao would betray him for Yuan Shao as there was an informal Yuan-Cao alliance, so he was constantly worried under his rule.[13]
Around 194, Cao Cao left Yan Province to invade Tao Qian again. Zhang Chao, Chen Gong, Xu Si, and Wang Jie plotted to rebel against Cao Cao and invited Zhang Miao into it. Chen Gong told Miao,
"Currently, powerful champions have all risen up, and the world is divided and split apart. Sir, you have a force of 1,000 li and are in a land of constant warfare. Now if we clasp swords and look back, we are enough to be heroes and we can fight back against others; we will not be disrespected! Now that the province's army went east to invade, the province is completely empty. Lü Bu is a mighty warrior, who is good at fighting without fail. If we thus welcome him, together we can govern Yan Province. We can observe the world's power, then wait for the time's events to change, then we can also control our era!"
Zhang Miao agreed and thus rebelled, declaring Lü Bu the new Governor of Yan Province.[13] When Lü Bu was coming to claim his new land, Zhang Miao sent Liu Yi to try and trick one of Cao Cao's men, Xun Yu, into giving the rebellion some food by claiming that,
"General Lü is coming to assist Lord Cao to attack Tao Qian. You must urgently provide him with military provisions."
However, Xun Yu felt this was suspicious and tried to alert Cao Cao's troops to be on guard against Zhang Miao.[14] This wasn't enough, however, and many of commanderies within Yan Province submitted to this new leader, and only Juancheng, Dong'a, and Fan Counties remained loyal to Cao Cao.[13] Zhang Miao also kidnapped the families of some of Cao Cao's officers, such as Bi Chen's, to force them to join him.[15] Cao Cao abandoned his war against Tao Qian and returned with his troops to deal with this major rebellion. He was able to crush it with some difficulty within two years, and he soon reclaimed his old title.[13] Zhang Miao's military actions, in this rebellion, were recorded at a minimal level, suggesting he led from the background, while Lü Bu did the fighting.
Downfall and Death
Zhang Miao sent his brother, Zhang Chao, to lead their family to defend Yongqiu, slowing Cao Cao for four lunar months, but around Spring 196, Cao Cao took over Yongqiu and Zhang Chao committed suicide before Cao Cao could get to him. Cao Cao exterminated Zhang Miao's family to the third degree shortly afterwards. Lü Bu fled to Shanyang, but was defeated by Cao Cao there, and then fled to Liu Bei. Zhang Miao joined him. Zhang Miao then left to try to gain support from Yuan Shu, but was killed by his unhappy army on the way there for unrecorded reasons.[16][17][a]
Personality
Zhang Miao, despite being described as kind and just, soon turned more ruthless and ambitious (Gao Rou implied ambition is one of Zhang Miao's reasons he rebelled) after his rebellion against Cao Cao. He tried to trick Xun Yu into giving him supplies in the name of helping Cao Cao and he was also willing to kidnap whole families to force Cao Cao's officers to join his rebellion.[14][15]
Family
Zhang Miao had at least one younger brother named Zhang Chao, who perished in the Siege of Yongqiu. He also had several relatives that moved to Yongqiu and were killed by Cao Cao.[16][17]
Legacy
Zhang Miao's participation in the major rebellion against Cao Cao disrupted Cao Cao's powerbase initially, but he was eventually defeated though with some cost. Cao Cao might have acted more suspicious after Zhang Miao's rebellion, as they were initially very close.
[a] - The Chronicles of Emperor Xian claimed Zhang Miao opposed Yuan Shu declaring himself Emperor and told him that himself. This is likely false, as the timelines doesn't match up. Pei Songzhi stated that Zhang Miao's Biography asserted Zhang Miao never made it alive to Yuan Shu, and also bemoaned Yuan Wei, the author of The Chronicles of Emperor Xian, as unreliable. For our purposes, I have chosen to agree with Pei Songzhi. 【（《獻帝春秋》曰：袁術議稱尊號，邈謂術曰：「漢據火德，絕而復揚，德澤豐流，誕生明公。公居軸處中，入則享于上席，出則為衆目之所屬，華、霍不能增其高，淵泉不能同其量，可謂巍巍蕩蕩，無與為貳。何為捨此而欲稱制？恐福不盈眥，禍將溢世。莊周之稱郊祭犧牛，養飼經年，衣以文繡，宰執鸞刀，以入廟門，當此之時，求為孤犢不可得也！」案本傳，邈詣術，未至而死。而此云諫稱尊號，未詳孰是。）】《三國志注•卷七》【（袁暐、樂資等諸所記載，穢雜虛謬，若此之類，殆不可勝言也。）】《三國志注•卷三十六》
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