Zhao Zilong was a brave and noble warrior. Twice he rescued Liu Bei's son , Liu Shan.Zhao Yun (? - 229) was a major military general during the civil wars of the late Han Dynasty and during the Three Kingdoms era of China. For most of his career , Zhao Yun served the warlord Liu Bei , playing a part in the establishment of Shu Han. In literature and folklore he is lauded as the third member of the Five Tiger Generals.
Due to the limited historical records , many facts about Zhao Yun's life remain unclear or unknown. The original records in Chen Shou's Records of Three Kingdoms are only a couple of hundred words long. Pei Songzhi's annotations provide a relatively clear, though still incomplete picture of Zhao Yun's life.
Life
Zhao Yun was born in the Zhending (真定) county of Changshan (常山) province (now Zhengding , Hebei) around the year 168 AD. He joined the warlord Gongsun Zan around the end of 191 or the beginning of 192 as commander of a small group of county volunteers. In 192 he was placed under the authority of Liu Bei, who at the time held only the rank of a major under Gongsun Zan , as a commander of Liu Bei’s cavalry forces. Liu Bei had a contingent of several thousand Wuhuan cavalry and Zhao Yun was put in charge of this force. Zhao Yun left Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei to attend his elder brother’s funeral soon after.
He rejoined Liu Bei in 200 , when Liu Bei was defeated by Cao Cao and fled to Yuan Shao. Evidently Zhao Yun had an extremely close friendship with Liu Bei. Records of Three Kingdoms says that they slept in the same bed during the time the two were together in the city of Ye. Around the same time , Liu Bei sent Zhao Yun to secretly recruit more men to reinforce Liu Bei’s then small army under Yuan Shao. From then on, Zhao Yun followed Liu Bei in his sojourns throughout northern China.
In 202, Zhao Yun participated in the Battle of Bowang against Xiahou Dun , a general serving under Cao Cao. During the battle, Zhao captured Xiahou Lan (夏侯蘭). Zhao Yun and Xiahou Lan were from the same hometown, and they had known each other since childhood. Zhao Yun went to Liu Bei and pleaded for Xiahou Lan’s life. He suggested to Liu Bei since Xiahou Lan was an expert in law, he could be appointed as an army judge. Liu Bei gave him the consent. However, Zhao Yun never kept Xiahou Lan close to him, so as to separate personal relations from official matters.
In 208 , Zhao Yun distinguished himself at the Battle of Changban. When Liu Bei was fleeing in the chaos , he left his family behind. Then Zhao Yun disappeared to the north, prompting suspicion that Zhao Yun had surrendered to Cao Cao. When someone reported that to Liu Bei , Liu Bei angrily threw a handaxe and said "Zilong would never desert me". Sure enough, Zhao Yun came back with Liu Bei's infant son Liu Shan in his arms , also bringing back his wife Lady Gan. With this , Zhao Yun was promoted to General of the Standard (牙門將軍).
After the Battle of Red Cliffs , Zhao Yun played a major role in conquering territories of Jiangnan for Liu Bei. He was named a major-general (偏將軍) and was appointed the Grand Administrator of Guiyang (桂陽太守) , replacing Zhao Fan. Zhao Fan had a widowed sister in-law , Lady Fan (樊氏) , whose tremendous beauty supposedly could ruin countries and cities. He proposed her to Zhao Yun. However , Zhao Yun politely turned Zhao Fan down, “I share the same surname as you. Therefore I consider your brother my brother.” Many people thought it would be a great match and suggested to Zhao Yun that he should take Lady Fan as his wife. Zhao Yun explained to them , “Zhao Fan surrendered only recently. His intentions are not yet clear. Besides , there are plenty of women in this world.” In the end , he did not marry Lady Fan. His worries turned out to be true ; Zhao Fan later fled from Guiyang.
When Liu Bei entered the Yi province (益州) , he appointed Zhao Yun as the main officer to oversee his base (Liuying Sima , 留營司馬) in Gong'an (公安). Liu Bei’s wife then was Lady Sun , Sun Quan’s sister. Emboldened by her brother’s power and influence, she and her militia often ran wild, breaking many laws. Liu Bei considered since Zhao Yun was serious , firm and unwavering, he must be able to bring everything under control and maintain order. Therefore, Liu Bei gave Zhao Yun the special authority to oversee the internal affairs of Gongan (to keep an eye on Lady Sun and her followers at the same time). Soon after Liu Bei left the Jing province, Sun Quan secretly summoned his sister back. Lady Sun decided to bring Liu Shan along with her, but Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei managed to stop her in time on the Yangtze River and rescued the young lord.
Later in 214 , Zhao Yun accompanied Zhang Fei and Zhuge Liang into Shu. He held separate command , marching from Jiangzhou (江州; modern-day Chongqing) via Jiangyang (江陽 ; modern-day Luzhou) and Jianwei (犍為) to Chengdu. Zhao Yun was named General Yijun (翊軍將軍) after Liu Bei claimed Chengdu. Around that time some people made suggestions to Liu Bei that all the generals should be awarded estates/plantations around Chengdu so they could settle in. Zhao Yun argued that it was more suitable to return these properties to the local people. Liu Bei accepted his advice.
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