Qiu Jian (Three Kingdoms)
| Zhong Hui's Rebellion | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the wars of the Three Kingdoms period | ||||||||
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| Belligerents | ||||||||
| Zhong Hui | Cao Wei | Mutinying forces under Zhong Hui | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | ||||||||
|
Zhong Hui † Jiang Wei † |
Sima Zhao Jia Chong Deng Ai  Deng Zhong
|
Wei Guan Hu Lie Hu Yuan Qiu Jian |
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Zhong Hui's Rebellion was a rebellion in 264 led by Zhong Hui, a general of the state of Cao Wei, against the Wei regent, Sima Zhao. Zhong Hui had support from Jiang Wei, a general from the former state of Shu Han, which was conquered by Wei forces just before the rebellion started. Zhong Hui, as one of the Wei commanders in the Conquest of Shu by Wei, had considered himself capable enough to overcome the Wei regime and establish his own kingdom in the newly conquered Shu territory. The rebellion ended when some Wei officers and soldiers, who were unwilling to join Zhong Hui, started a mutiny against him and killed him and Jiang Wei.
Initially, when Sima Zhao wanted to put Zhong Hui in charge of leading the Wei army to conquer Shu, Shao Ti warned him that Zhong Hui might rebel against Wei because he was in command of an army of thousands, was single, and had no family to worry about. Sima Zhao laughed and said he understood Shao Ti's concern very well, but chose to let Zhong Hui lead the Wei army because he had faith in Zhong's ability to conquer Shu. He also predicted that Zhong Hui would not succeed even if he rebelled because of two reasons. First, the people of Shu would be fearful after seeing how their state had been conquered, and hence would not help Zhong Hui. Second, the Wei forces would be exhausted after the campaign and want to return home, so they would not support Zhong.
Both Deng Ai and Zhong Hui had taken part in the Conquest of Shu in 263, having acted as foils to each other during the invasion – where Zhong Hui had demanded an advance through Jiange, Deng Ai had instead chosen to move through Yinping. Jiang Wei, having been surprised from Zhong Hui's eastern offensive, moved all troops from Yinping to halt Zhong Hui's advance. As a result, Deng Ai's advance through Yinping was swift enough to allow him to quickly reach Chengdu and demand Liu Shan's surrender.
In the following occupation of the Shu territory, Deng Ai began issuing orders in Chengdu an autocratic fashion, while Zhong Hui began exhibiting signs of hubris, believing himself to no longer be capable of serving under another. Jiang Wei, by contrast, liaised with Liu Shan, outlining a plan to trick Zhong Hui into rebellion, weakening Wei troops, before killing Zhong and seizing power of the troops while re-declaring Shu's independence.
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Wikipedia