| Yang Fu | |
|---|---|
| Strategist of Cao Wei | |
| Names | |
| Simplified Chinese | 杨阜 |
| Traditional Chinese | 楊阜 |
| Style name | Yishan (义山) |
Yang Fu was an official of Cao Wei during the late Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. He was credited with defeating the Liang Province warlord, Ma Chao, and forcing the latter to flee for shelter under the Hanzhong warlord, Zhang Lu. During the reign of Cao Rui, he proposed to the emperor to correct on his luxurious living style, but was not heeded.
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Yang Fu was a native of Jicheng within Tianshui commandery, and became a local official during his youth. Once, the generals of Qin area asked his opinion on who would win the battle of Guandu, he replied that "Master Yuan (Yuan Shao) was lenient but indecisive, foxy but inconclusive; people would not be afraid to his might if he was indecisive, and opportunities could not be realized if he was inconclusive. Even he was strong now, he would not accomplish great things in the end. On the other hand, Master Cao (Cao Cao) had the ambition and vision, and he was able to make decisions without hesitation. His army is disciplined and strong, his officers were composed of diversity and hard working, so Cao Cao's forces would win. (“袁公宽而不断，好谋而少决；不断则无威，少决则失后事，今虽强，终不能成大业。曹公有雄才远略，决机无疑，法一而兵精，能用度外之人，所任各尽其力，必能济大事者也。”[1]) His accurate prediction earned him fame around the area of Liang Province, and he was hired by Wei Kang (Inspector of Liang Province at the time,) to be his assistant.
After the loose confederations of warlords within the passes was crushed by Cao Cao, one of its members, Ma Chao, fled to the Qiang and Hu tribes to recuperate. Cao Cao trailed Ma Chao to Anding when he heard about unrest in the east, so he prepared his troops to return. Yang Fu warned Cao Cao that "Ma Chao had the courage of Ying Bu and Han Xin, and he had the support of the Qiang and Hu tribes. If you order the army to retreat now and don't make enough preparations here, we forfeit the commanderies within Longshang area.[2]" Cao Cao applauded Yang's proposal, but was unable to comply (because he had to deal with Sun Quan at Ruxukou). After Cao Cao and his huge army left Liang Province, Ma Chao indeed attacked the commanderies of Longshang, and with the help from Zhang Lu, he besieged the city of Ji, which was the last city in Liang Province still loyal to Cao Cao. Despite Yang's valiant effort to resist the enemy, Ji city fell at last, and Yang Fu was forced to become one of Ma Chao's subordinates. However, Yang formulated a simultaneous rebellion against Ma Chao, which ultimately drove Ma off along with the help of Xiahou Yuan.
Following the event of Cao Zhen's army finding much trouble at Changyu, by meeting a large army under Shu Han, Yang Fu was the one who advised retreat.