Zhang Ni
Zhang Ni, courtesy name Boqi, rendered also as Zhang Yi, was a military general of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Famous for his courage and generosity, Zhang Ni made his name known while rescuing a magistrate's wife from bandits and leading her to safety.
Zhang Ni was active in the pacification of the indigenous tribes residing within and around Shu's borders. He spent at least 18 years dealing with the continuum of domestic uprisings centered around the Yuexi/Yuesui and Ba commanderies, where he often looked for humane solutions and sought to make peace or negotiate with the tribes when he could.
During Jiang Wei's seventh Northern Expedition, he was killed in battle against the Wei general Xu Zhi after forcing the enemy to retreat.
Zhang Ni had the reputation of being one of the more successful later generals of the Shu Han state. Liu Shan, emperor of the Shu Han dynasty at the time of his service, compared him to the great heroes of antiquity, while Chen Shou in his appraisal of Zhang also referenced this comparison.
Early life and career
First feats and early fame
Zhang Ni was from Nanchong County, Ba Commandery, which is present-day Nanchong, Sichuan. Zhang Ni at a young age was orphaned and lived in poverty yet he already had a reputation of a strong and generous youth. He started his career as an Officer of Merit at his local county office when he reached adulthood. In 214, when the warlord Liu Bei seized control of Yi Province from its provincial governor Liu Zhang, some bandits used the opportunity to raid the county office. During the ensuing chaos, Zhang Ni engaged the bandits in close combat and protected the county magistrate's wife. He became famous for his courageous actions and was later summoned to the commander's office to serve as an Assistant Officer.While he served as Assistant Officer in Ba Commandery, two scholars, Gong Lu and Yao Zhou were appointed with greater rank and salary than him within the same commandery. At the time, they both enjoyed good reputation and fame however both of them had heard of Zhang Ni's accomplishments hence they respected and became friends with him.
Quelling bandits and recovering
Around 227, when the Shu Han chancellor Zhuge Liang was assembling forces in Hanzhong Commandery in preparation for the first of a series of campaigns against Shu's rival state Wei, local bandits pillaged villages in the Hanzhong, Guanghan and Mianzhu commanderies. Zhang Ni, then holding the rank of an acting Commandant led his troops to deal with the bandits who scattered and hid in different locations when they heard of Zhang Ni's approach. Zhang Ni could not force them to come out to fight him so he pretended to offer to extend a heqin policy to the bandit chiefs and then managed to coax them into attending a banquet to celebrate the peace. After the unsuspecting bandit chiefs got drunk, Zhang Ni ordered his men to kill all of them and then sent his troops to hunt down and eliminate the rest. The massacre lasted for about 10 days, after which the area was clear of bandits.After that, Zhang Ni fell seriously ill unfortunately his family was too poor to afford a good doctor and treatment. However, the Administrator of Guanghan, He Zhi was known as a generous man and talented doctor so Zhang Ni thought that he should appeal to him. Since Zhang Ni and He Zhi did not know each other well and despite his illness, Zhang Ni personally took a carriage to visit He Zhi to entrust him with a treatment that could cure his illness. He Zhi knew of Zhang Ni's reputation as a brave and generous man so he did not spare any expense to cure him. Finally, after several years the illness was cured. Both of them remained friends after this event.
As Officer of the Standard
When Zhang Ni recovered, he was promoted to Officer of the Standard for his feats against the different bandits and placed under Ma Zhong's command. In 232, they quickly quelled the rebelling Qiang tribes of Mount Wen in the North who were allied with the state of Cao Wei while in the south they suppressed foreign tribes such as those led by Liu Zhou. Zhang Ni often led the vanguard and had numerous feats in battle and in planning. Thus, Zhang Ni and Ma Zhong instilled much fear in the restless local tribes throughout Shu territories.Campaign against the Qiang tribes
During Zhang Ni and Ma Zhong's campaign against the Qiang tribes, Zhang Ni first led his own unit as the vanguard with only a few troops: about 300 men and horses. Separate from the main army, they were the first to arrive at the village of Tali. The location of the village was difficult to attack as it was atop a tall mountain. However, Zhang Ni climbed the mountains and set up his own camp four to five lǐ far from Tali.The Qiang knew there was danger and built a stone gate before the village. Atop the gate they set an elevated platform and gathered many stones atop it so that they could protect themselves while crushing their enemies. Zhang Ni judged that an assault on the gate would be complicated and so he sent an interpreter to inform them:
When the village's elders heard this command, they all quickly went out to meet with Zhang Ni and even provided provisions then let the army pass. Thus, the Shu Han army was victorious. When the rest of the Qiang tribes heard that Tali had already fallen, all of them were terrified and confused. Many among them welcomed the army and went out to surrender while others fled into the valleys. Ma Zhong and Zhang Ni hunted those who fled and achieved total victory.
Slaying and defeat of Liu Zhou
In 233, the southern foreigner Liu Zhou led a massive revolt. Zhang Yi was unable to quell the revolt so Ma Zhong was appointed as Area Commander of Laixiang with a mandate to defeat Liu Zhou along with Zhang Ni as vanguard. Since Zhang Ni was always at the forefront of the army, he beheaded Liu Zhou.With Liu Zhou's death, most of the southern's tribes surrendered however in the Zangke and Xīnggu commanderies, the Liao tribes revolted again. So Ma Zhong sent Zhang Ni to command an army and quell the rebellions. Zhang Ni enticed most of them to surrender and quickly two thousand men joined him then were all transferred to Hanzhong's military command.
Foreseeing of Fu Jian's accident
The territory of Wudu, situated on the border between Shu Han and Cao Wei was a largely autonomous territory belonging to Shu Han in name but largely led by the Di tribes inhabiting the area. At around 236, one of the Di tribes' most famous leaders Fu Jian offered to submit to Shu Han so General-in-Chief Jiang Wan sent a general, Zhang Wei to receive them. However, Zhang Wei took longer than Jiang Wan expected returning, so much so that Jiang started to worry. Zhang Ni was at Chengdu at this time and tried to appease Jiang Wan's worries by saying:Several days later, news arrived of Zhang Wei's expedition proving that Zhang Ni's prediction was right. Fu Jian's younger brother had indeed led most of the tribes to join the state of Cao Wei while Fu Jian came to submit to Shu Han with Zhang Wei.
Subjugation of indigenous tribes
Restoring Han authority in Yuexi Commandery
Sometime in the 230s, the Sou tribes in Yuexi/Yuesui Commandery revolted and declared their independence. The commandery had belonged to Shu Han since the forceful subjugation of Gāo Dìng in 225 by Li Yan but the State had problems asserting its authority over it. The situation degenerated when the rebels killed the two administrators, Gong Lu and Jiao Huang, sent by the Shu government to govern the commandery. Furthermore, due to the hostilities from the locals subsequent appointed administrators would not enter Yuexi Commandery to assume their offices but could only reside at Anshang county, eight hundred li away and could not assume office. As a result, the Shu government's claim over Yuexi Commandery was in name only.There was discussion about restoring the commandery so the Shu government appointed Zhang Ni as the Administrator of Yuexi Commandery. When he arrived, Zhang Ni led those he commanded in Yuexi and enticed the tribes with favor and generous treatment hence the foreigners all started to return to submission. However, the northern region of Zhuomaa was the most rebellious. They were stalwart and strong and refused to submit to authority quickly, so Zhang Ni led his army to quell them. Zhang Ni captured their leader Wei Lang alive but released him as a show of mercy to win over the trust of his kind. Later, he memorialized the court to have Wei Lang be given a fief as a city Marquis and to have his tribe of three thousand households be officially recognized to pacify them. When the other tribes heard of this event, they gradually surrendered to Zhang Ni. For his feats, the Shu government rewarded Zhang Ni by granting him the title of secondary Marquis.
Conflict with the tribes of Suqiyi
The people of Suqiyi were led by the chieftain Dong Feng and his younger brother Dong Qu. Dong Qu and the Suqiyi had already surrendered but they rebelled while Zhang Ni was concentrating on matters in Zhuomaa. Zhang Ni quickly defeated them and put Dong Feng to death. However, Dong Feng's wife was the daughter of another tribal leader the ruler of the Maoniu tribe. In order to avoid further rebellion from them, Zhang Ni isolated them.Dong Feng's brother Dong Qu used this time to flee to the western frontier. He rallied the remnant of the Suqiyi. Dong Qu was a fierce and strong warrior hence the Suqiyi deeply feared him. Qu sent two of his close relatives to feign surrender to Zhang Ni but in reality to obtain information. However Zhang Ni saw through this and with lavish gifts, he convinced them to defect then Zhang Ni had the two men sent to kill Qu. With the death of their rebel leader, all the tribes were secure. After this, Zhang Ni turned his attention to the Duqi leader Li Qiucheng, who previously had personally killed the former Administrator Gong Lu. Zhang Ni raised an army to capture him with the result that Li Qiucheng was captured in battle. Zhang Ni then read a list of his crimes and executed him.