Jiang Ji (died 18 May 249), courtesy name Zitong, was an official and military general of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Born in the late Eastern Han dynasty, Jiang Ji started his career as a low-level official in his native Yang Province before becoming a subordinate of Cao Cao, the warlord who controlled the central government towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty. After the end of the Eastern Han dynasty, he served in the state of Cao Wei through the reigns of the first three emperors – Cao Pi, Cao Rui and Cao Fang – and held various appointments in the military before rising to Grand Commandant, one of the top positions in the central government. During his service in Wei, he was known for being candid in giving advice to the emperor on various issues, including consolidating power, halting labour-intensive construction projects, and officials' abuses of power. In February 249, he joined the regent Sima Yi in staging a successful coup d'état against his co-regent Cao Shuang, but died from illness a few months later.
Early life and career Jiang Ji was from Ping'e County (), Chu State (), Yang Province, which is located north of present-day Huai'an, Anhui.(蔣濟字子通，楚國平阿人也。) Sanguozhi vol. 14. He started his career as an accounting officer in the local commandery office and later became a provincial-level attendant officer.(仕郡計吏、州別駕。) Sanguozhi vol. 14.
When Jiang Ji was serving in Yang Province, he was known for frequently consuming alcohol. One day, Shi Miao (), the magistrate of Shouchun County in Yang Province, came to the provincial office to meet Jiang Ji but the latter was drunk. An angry Shi Miao then left. After he returned to Shouchun, he made a wooden statue, labelled it "Jiang Ji the drunkard" (), placed it in front of a wall, and fired arrows at it day and night.(時苗字德胄，鉅鹿人也。 ... 出為壽春令，令行風靡。揚州治在其縣，時蔣濟為治中。苗以初至往謁濟，濟素嗜酒，適會其醉，不能見苗。苗恚恨還，刻木為人，署曰「酒徒蔣濟」，置之牆下，旦夕射之。) Pei Songzhi's annotation in Sanguozhi vol. 23.
Battle of Hefei
In 208, the warlord Sun Quan, who controlled the territories in the Jiangdong (or Wu) region, led his forces to attack Hefei, the administrative centre of Yang Province, which was guarded by the provincial governor Liu Fu. At the time, Cao Cao, the warlord who controlled the Han central government, was at war with Sun Quan's forces in Jing Province and could not come to Liu Fu's aid. He sent a general Zhang Xi () to lead 1,000 horsemen to reinforce Hefei. Zhang Xi also received an order to bring along additional troops from the garrison at Runan Commandery (汝南郡; around present-day Xi County, Henan) along the way to Hefei.(建安十三年，孫權率衆圍合肥。時大軍征荊州，遇疾疫，唯遣將軍張喜單將千騎，過領汝南兵以解圍，頗復疾疫。) Sanguozhi vol. 14.
In the meantime, Jiang Ji secretly suggested to Liu Fu to spread false news that Zhang Xi was leading 40,000 troops to reinforce Hefei, and that the reinforcements had reached Yulou County (雩婁縣; north of present-day Jinzhai County, Anhui).(濟乃密白刺史偽得喜書，云步騎四萬已到雩婁，遣主簿迎喜。) Sanguozhi vol. 14. Liu Fu agreed and sent three messengers to bring fake letters out of Hefei. Only one of the three returned; the other two were captured by Sun Quan's forces. Sun Quan saw the letters and mistakenly believed that enemy reinforcements were approaching, so he ordered his troops to burn down their camp and retreat back to Jiangdong. The siege on Hefei was thus lifted.(三部使齎書語城中守將，一部得入城，二部為賊所得。權信之，遽燒圍走，城用得全。) Sanguozhi vol. 14.
Service under Cao Cao Advising Cao Cao against relocating the residents of Huainan In 209, when Jiang Ji met Cao Cao in Qiao County (譙縣; present-day Bozhou, Anhui), the latter asked him: "In the past, when I was at war with Yuan Shao at Guandu, I wanted to relocate the residents in Yan and Boma, but they refused to move. The enemy also did not dare to force them to move. Today, I want to relocate the residents of Huainan. What should I do?"(明年使於譙，太祖問濟曰：「昔孤與袁本初對官渡，徙燕、白馬民，民不得走，賊亦不敢鈔。今欲徙淮南民，何如？」) Sanguozhi vol. 14.
Jiang Ji replied: "At the time, you were weak while your enemy was strong. If you didn't relocate those people, you would lose them to your enemy. However, since you defeated Yuan Shao, conquered Liucheng in the north, and advanced south towards the Yangtze and Han rivers and Jing Province, the Han Empire has trembled before your might and the people no longer think about opposing you. As people are emotionally attached to their homes, they wouldn't want to relocate elsewhere. If you force them to, they will feel fearful and uneasy."(濟對曰：「是時兵弱賊彊，不徙必失之。自破袁紹，北拔柳城，南向江、漢，荊州交臂，威震天下，民無他志。然百姓懷土，實不樂徙，懼必不安。」) Sanguozhi vol. 14.
Cao Cao ignored Jiang Ji's advice and tried to force the people of Huainan to relocate. Jiang Ji was proven right as over 100,000 people from Huainan fled south across the Yangtze and settled in Jiangdong.(太祖不從，而江、淮間十餘萬衆，皆驚走吳。) Sanguozhi vol. 14.
Some years later, when Jiang Ji visited Cao Cao in Ye (in present-day Handan, Hebei), Cao Cao laughed and told him: "I wanted to move those people further away from the enemy but ended up scaring them away instead."(後濟使詣鄴，太祖迎見大笑曰：「本但欲使避賊，乃更驅盡之。」) Sanguozhi vol. 14.
Cao Cao's trust in Jiang Ji Jiang Ji was subsequently appointed as the Administrator () of Danyang Commandery (丹楊郡; around present-day Xuancheng, Anhui).(拜濟丹楊太守。) Sanguozhi vol. 14. In late 209, after Cao Cao ordered his forces to retreat from Jing Province following their defeat at the Battle of Jiangling, he appointed Wen Hui as the Inspector () of Yang Province. He also reassigned Jiang Ji to serve as an attendant officer under Wen Hui,(大軍南征還，以溫恢為揚州刺史，濟為別駕。) Sanguozhi vol. 14. and sent him a memo as follows: "When Ji Zha was a minister, the state of Wu should have had a ruler. Now that you have returned to your home province, I will have no worries."(令曰：「季子為臣，吳宜有君。今君還州，吾無憂矣。」) Sanguozhi vol. 14.
On one occasion, when Cao Cao heard that some people have formally accused Jiang Ji of being the mastermind behind a treasonous plot, he wrote to Yu Jin and Feng Ren (): "How could Jiang Ji be involved in something like this? If this really happened, it means that I am not a good judge of character. I am certain that the people are trying to stir up trouble by making such a false accusation." He also sent them a copy of his memo to Jiang Ji, and pressured them to throw out the case against Jiang Ji.(民有誣告濟為謀叛主率者，太祖聞之，指前令與左將軍于禁、沛相封仁等曰：「蔣濟寧有此事！有此事，吾為不知人也。此必愚民樂亂，妄引之耳。」促理出之。) Sanguozhi vol. 14.
Jiang Ji was later reassigned to be a clerk in the office of the Imperial Chancellor, the position held by Cao Cao in the Han central government. Cao Cao sent a memo to Jiang Ji as follows: "When Gao Yao served under Emperor Shun, he caused those who were unkind and uncharitable to shun away. I place my hopes in a virtuous subordinate like you to uphold fairness."(辟為丞相主簿西曹屬。令曰：「舜舉臯陶，不仁者遠；臧否得中，望於賢屬矣。」) Sanguozhi vol. 14.
Battle of Fancheng
In 219, Guan Yu, a general under a rival warlord Liu Bei, led his troops to attack Fancheng (樊城; present-day Fancheng District, Xiangyang, Hubei), which was guarded by Cao Cao's general Cao Ren. Cao Cao initially sent his general Yu Jin to lead reinforcements to Fancheng to assist Cao Ren, but a flood destroyed the reinforcements, and Yu Jin surrendered to Guan Yu. Upon learning of Yu Jin's defeat, Cao Cao felt that the imperial capital, Xu (許; present-day Xuchang, Henan), was too near enemy territory, so he considered moving the imperial capital further north into Hebei.(關羽圍樊、襄陽。太祖以漢帝在許，近賊，欲徙都。) Sanguozhi vol. 14.
Jiang Ji and Sima Yi advised Cao Cao: "Yu Jin's defeat was not due to flaws in our defences, nor would it significantly affect us. Moving the imperial capital is showing our weakness to the enemy. It will cause panic in the regions around the Huai and Mian rivers. Sun Quan and Liu Bei seem close to each other, but they actually don't trust each other. Sun Quan will feel very uneasy upon seeing Guan Yu's victory, so we should incite him to attack Guan Yu's base in Jing Province. This will lift the siege on Fancheng."(司馬宣王及濟說太祖曰：「于禁等為水所沒，非戰攻之失，於國家大計未足有損。劉備、孫權，外親內踈，關羽得志，權必不願也。可遣人勸躡其後，許割江南以封權，則樊圍自解。」) Sanguozhi vol. 14.(帝諫曰：「禁等為水所沒，非戰守之所失，於國家大計未有所損，而便遷都，既示敵以弱，又淮沔之人大不安矣。孫權、劉備，外親內踈，羽之得意，權所不願也。可喻權所，令掎其後，則樊圍自解。」) Jin Shu vol. 1.
Cao Cao heeded Jiang Ji and Sima Yi's advice and did not relocate the imperial capital. In the winter of 219–220, Sun Quan ordered his general Lü Meng to lead his troops to attack the key bases of Liu Bei's territories in Jing Province: Gong'an and Jiangling counties. Guan Yu, who was totally caught off guard by Lü Meng's invasion, lost all of Liu Bei's territories in Jing Province. He was eventually captured in an ambush and executed by Sun Quan's forces.(太祖如其言。權聞之，即引兵西襲公安、江陵。羽遂見禽。) Sanguozhi vol. 14.(魏武從之。權果遣將呂蒙西襲公安，拔之，羽遂為蒙所獲。) Jin Shu vol. 1.
Service under Cao Pi After Cao Cao died in March 220, his son Cao Pi succeeded him as the vassal King of Wei () under the Eastern Han dynasty. Cao Pi then reassigned Jiang Ji to be the Chief Clerk () under Hua Xin, the Chancellor of State () of his vassal kingdom at the time.(文帝即王位，轉為相國長史。) Sanguozhi vol. 14. In December 220, Cao Pi usurped the throne from the figurehead Emperor Xian, ended the Eastern Han dynasty, and established the state of Cao Wei (or Wei) to replace the Eastern Han dynasty with himself as the new emperor.
After his coronation as emperor, Cao Pi appointed Jiang Ji as East General of the Household ().(及踐阼，出為東中郎將。) Sanguozhi vol. 14. When Jiang Ji sought permission to remain in the central government, Cao Pi denied him permission and issued an imperial decree to him as follows: "Emperor Gaozu once sang, 'Where will I find brave men to guard the four corners of my land?' The Empire is not peaceful yet. We need capable officials to guard the borders. It is still not too late for you to retire when the borders are peaceful."(濟請留，詔曰：「高祖歌曰『安得猛士守四方』！天下未寧，要須良臣以鎮邊境。如其無事，乃還鳴玉，未為後也。」) Sanguozhi vol. 14. Jiang Ji later wrote the Wan Ji Lun (萬機論; Myriad Subtleties), a treatise on government, and presented it to Cao Pi, who applauded his work. Jiang Ji was subsequently recalled to the central government to serve as a Mounted Regular Attendant ().(濟上萬機論，帝善之。入為散騎常侍。) Sanguozhi vol. 14.
Cautioning Cao Pi against issuing an inappropriate edict On one occasion, Cao Pi sent an edict to his general Xiahou Shang as follows: "You are one of my most trusted generals and you are capable of assuming this responsibility. My kindness towards you is worth dying for, and my favour towards you is worth keeping close to your heart. You can do as you please, and you can decide whether people should live or die."(時有詔，詔征南將軍夏侯尚曰：「卿腹心重將，時當任使。恩施足死，惠愛可懷。作威作福，殺人活人。」尚以示濟。) Sanguozhi vol. 14. He then showed a copy of the edict to Jiang Ji and asked him, "What do you think of the culture in this Empire?"(濟旣至，帝問曰；「卿所聞見天下風教何如？」) Sanguozhi vol. 14.
Jiang Ji replied, "I don't see anything good. I only see words suggesting an empire's downfall."(濟對曰：「未有他善，但見亡國之語耳。」) Sanguozhi vol. 14. When a shocked Cao Pi asked him to explain, Jiang Ji said, "History has warned us against 'doing as you as please'. The ancients also cautioned us that 'the Son of Heaven should not speak in jest'. I hope that Your Majesty will be more careful with your words!"(帝忿然作色而問其故，濟具以荅，因曰：「夫『作威作福』，書之明誡。『天子無戲言』，古人所慎。惟陛下察之！」) Sanguozhi vol. 14. Cao Pi understood what Jiang Ji meant and immediately rescinded his edict.(於是帝意解，遣追取前詔。) Sanguozhi vol. 14.
Battle of Ruxu