Yang Hu

Yang Hu ( Chinese  羊祜 , Pinyin Yáng Hù ), court name Shuzi (叔子; * 221 ; † 278 ), was a general of the Jin dynasty . His strategy was Emperor Wu convince the last Empire Wu to conquer. Even so, Yang Hu never saw his plans come true. He was known for his humility and foresight.

His grandfather Yang Xu ( Chinese  羊 續  /  羊 续 , Pinyin Yáng Xù ) and his father Yang Chai ( Chinese  羊 茝 , Pinyin Yáng Chǎi ) governed a command post , and his mother was Cai Wenji , the daughter of Cai Yong , a great musician and Historian of the Han Dynasty . His sister Yang Huiyu was Sima Shi's third wife and was made empress mother by Emperor Wu in 265 after his accession to the throne .

Yang Hu lost his father at the age of eleven. He was taken in by his uncle Yang Chen (羊 耽) and treated like a son. As he got older, Yang Hu became known for his intelligence, knowledge, and attractive appearance. General Xiahou Wei was very impressed by him and married his niece ( Xiahou Bas' daughter) to him. After Yang Hu's father-in-law fell away to the Shu empire in connection with Sima Yi's coup d'état against Cao Shuang in 249 , Yang Hu was one of the few who still dared to give up with the Xiahou clan. He served as a minor administrative officer under the Wei Emperors Cao Mao and Cao Huan . He earned the Sima family's trust when he warned Sima Zhao about Zhong Hui's seditious behavior. And as predicted, in 264, Zhong Hui started a riot, and Yang Hu was appointed executive secretary of the Simas.

After Sima Zhao's death (265), he was succeeded by his son Sima Yan, who in the same year forced the emperor Cao Huan to abdicate in his favor and founded the Jin dynasty. He ascended the throne as Emperor Wu and wanted to appoint Yang Hu as prince, but the latter refused.

During the early years of Emperor Wu's government, Yang Hu was one of the few who pushed for the conquest of the Wu Empire. Emperor Wu trusted Yang Hu and therefore entrusted him with the responsibility for the western border of the Wu Empire. Yang Hu was stationed at Xiangyang ( 襄陽  /  襄阳 ) in Hubei . He participated in the failed mission to save the renegade Wu officer Bu Chan (步 闡) from Xiling (西陵, in today's Yichang , Hubei). For this failure, Yang Hu was demoted, but was soon reinstated in his old rank. After the defeat, he agreed a détente policy with Wu general Lu Kang and treated the residents of the border area with indulgence. As a result, the people's sympathy for the Jin Empire grew, and Lu Kang's death in 274 made the situation for Wu utterly desolate.

In 277 Yang Hu became ill. His plans of conquest had been approved by the emperor, but could not yet be carried out. Yang Hu's last service was to appoint the able Du Yu (杜預) as his successor, who later conquered the Wu Empire. Yang Hu died in 278. The residents of Xiangyang erected a memorial for him on Mount Xian (峴 山) to remind visitors of his management. It was later called "Monument of Tears" (墮淚 碑). After the Jin dynasty conquered Wu in 280, Emperor Wu had the declaration of victory read out in front of Yang Hu's tomb. He made his widow mistress of 5000 households.