Ku yue (?) –214), courtesy name Yidu, was a native of Xiangyang Zhonglu. A character at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, he is the younger brother of Qu Liang in the rendition. Originally a subordinate of Liu Biao, the Mu of Jingzhou, he helped Liu Biao eliminate the clan thieves (armed group formed by clan and township relations) in the Jingzhou area when Liu Biao first took office. After Liu Biao's death, he surrendered to Cao Cao with Liu Chun and later became an official of Guanglu Xun.
Ku Yue is one of the wang clans in The Southern Counties of Jingzhou and the representative of the Ku family, and was quite famous when he was young. The general He Jin also heard that he was good at planning, so he hired him as the Eastern Cao Tuan. Ku Yue had advised He Jin to preemptively kill the eunuchs as soon as possible, but He Jin hesitated. Therefore, Ku Yue predicted that He Jin would be defeated, so he applied to He Jin to be appointed as the Commander of Ruyang. Sure enough, He Jin was eventually victimized by the eunuchs, but Ku Yue turned the crisis into safety.
In 190 (the first year of Chuping), Liu Biao, the Marquis of the Northern Army, was ordered by the imperial court to go to Jingzhou to assassinate Shi, but he was hesitant about the situation at that time, so he asked Ku Yue and his brother Qu Liang to conspire with Cai Mao at Yicheng.
Liu Biao asked, "At this time, the sect thieves are rampant, the people are not attached, yuan Shu is in Nanyang and is eager to move, and the disaster has been difficult to solve so far." I also hope to recruit soldiers here, but I am afraid that the people will not want to join the army, what are the countermeasures of the two? ”
Ku Liang first proposed that as long as the rulers can be benevolent and righteous, the people will naturally be happy to submit, and conscription will no longer be a problem.
However, Ku Yue did not agree with Qu Liang's statement, and said: "The rulers of the Taiping And Prosperous World all attach importance to benevolence and righteousness, and the rulers of the chaotic world will attach importance to power and scheming." Soldiers are also inexpensive, and the emphasis is on being able to gain their loyalty and support. Yuan Shu was brave and resourceful, and Su Dai and Bei Yu were both warriors and did not have to worry at all; however, the leaders of the Sect Thieves were mostly greedy and cruel, and their subordinates were also worried about them. Some of my men who are cultivated and capable, as long as they are sent to the leaders of the sect thieves to induce them, the leaders of the sect thieves will surely lead the people. Then your excellency only needs to seize the opportunity to kill those who are cruel and ruthless, and then appease their subordinates. In this way, the military and civilians of this state and the people will help the old and the weak because of Your Excellency's kindness. At that time, your military and civilians will be annexed, and they will occupy Jiangling in the south and guard Xiangyang in the north, so the eight counties of Jingzhou can be pacified as long as they pass the book. In the future, even if Yuan Shu and others come with troops again, there is nothing they can do! ”
After liu biao listened, he greatly appreciated Ku Yue's strategy as if it were a mob criminal's strategy, and adopted his plan. Subsequently, Ku Yue lured a total of fifty-five sect leaders, and Liu Biao followed Ku Yue's previous advice, killing them all and annexing their people. However, at that time, Zhang Hu and Chen Sheng were still defending Xiangyang, and Liu Biao sent Ku Yue and Pang Ji to lobby, and Zhang and Chen were persuaded to agree to surrender. Therefore, Liu Biao roughly gained control of Jingzhou and from then on he took charge of Xiangyang. For his merits, He Yue was also worshipped as the Taishou of Zhangling and the Marquis of Fanting.
After Cao Cao's power gradually became stronger, Ku Yue and Cai Mao became famous pro-Cao factions at that time. In 200 AD (the fifth year of Jian'an), when Yuan and Cao confronted each other at Guandu, Ku Yue persuaded Liu Biao not to support Yuan Shao, but to befriend Cao Cao. Although Liu Biao did not help Cao Cao in the end, he did not respond to Yuan Shao's request to jointly negotiate Cao Cao, thus indirectly contributing to Cao Cao's victory at the Battle of Guandu.
Initially, Huang Zu was the most powerful anti-Cao faction in Liu Biao's camp. Based on the fact that Huang Zu had always been relied on by Liu Biao and was from a large clan in Jingzhou, Huang Zu and others were still able to compete with the pro-Cao faction and curb the forces of Ku Yue. However, in the spring of 208 (the thirteenth year of Jian'an), Sun Quan attacked Huang Zu in the west, and the Huang clan was defeated and killed, and the anti-Cao representatives in Jingzhou died unexpectedly. The strength of the pro-Cao faction, led by Ku Yue, has since increased dramatically.
In the autumn of the same year, Cao Cao was also leading an army of 130,000 troops to conquer Jingzhou in the south. In August, Liu Biao died of illness, so He yue and Cai Mao and others supported Liu Biao's second son Liu Biao as his successor. When Cao Cao moved his army to Xinye, Liu Chun intended to join forces with Liu Qi and Liu Bei to resist Cao Cao, but was opposed by Ku Yue and Fu Xun, and finally Liu Chun surrendered to Cao Cao only in obedience to the wishes of the powerful ministers. Later, when Cao Cao heard that Ku Yue had surrendered, he was overjoyed and immediately wrote to Xun Yu, saying, "I am not happy because I have jingzhou, but I am happy because I have received a different degree (Ku Yue). Thus we can see the prestige and talent of Kuyue, as well as the influence of his crown. After Cao Cao settled down in Jiangling, he rewarded pro-Cao factions on a large scale, and it was at this time that Ku Yue was awarded the title of Guanglu Xun, one of the Nine Secretaries. Since the surrender of Cao Cao, Ku Yue had no more significant performance.
In 214 (the nineteenth year of Jian'an), Ku Yue was critically ill, so he wrote to Cao Cao asking him to take care of the family on his behalf. Cao Cao replied, "I will not fail to live up to your trust, take good care of your family, and say that I am not ashamed." The Lone King has often been entrusted in the past, and you can definitely rest assured. You have a spirit in heaven, you must understand what I mean. ”
In the novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Ku Yue is a Yanping person, the younger brother of Ku Liang, who is deeply resourceful, and the two brothers assist Liu Biao and accompany him to become a businessman. After the dissolution of the alliance of princes of Dong, Sun Jian secretly returned to the south of the state seal, and Liu Biao, because Yuan Shao informed him of this, sent Ku Yue to intercept Sun Jian and destroy his army. Later, Liu Bei attached himself to Jingzhou and sent Lu Ma and Liu Biao, and Lu Nai of Ku Yuezhi was a fierce horse to persuade Liu Biao to return it. Cai Mao was deeply jealous of Liu Bei and wanted to kill him at the banquet, and Ku Yue used a trick to distract Zhao Yun, causing Liu Bei to be harmed. After Liu Biao's death, his second son Liu Chun (劉琮) took the throne, and Qu Yue and Fu Xun persuaded him to surrender to Cao Cao. After Cao Cao pacified Jingzhou, Ku Yue surrendered with Liu Chun and was made the Marquis of Fanting of Jiangling. Cao Cao was even more affectionate and comforting: "I don't like Jingzhou, but I like to be happy." ”