Liu Shao (Three Kingdoms)

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Liu Shao (劉劭), courtesy name Kongcai (孔才), was an official of the Three Kingdoms Period that for Cao Wei. He often provided advice to the emperor Cao Rui, and was praised by Cao Rui for his good advice, even though Cao Rui did not frequently actually act on the advice. He also wrote poems to try to discourage Cao Rui from military and palace-building projects. When rival Eastern Wu's emperor Sun Quan attacked Hefei (合肥, in modern Hefei, Anhui) in 234, according to Sanguo Zhi, it was at Liu Shao's suggestion that Cao Rui sent his forces to try to cut off Sun Quan's supply route, rather than engage Sun Quan directly, a strategy that forced Sun Quan to withdraw. (However, according to Zizhi Tongjian, it was the general Tian Yu who offered this advice, not Liu Shao.)