Cheng Pu was a representative of the famous generals of Eastern Wu, and one of the most senior and prestigious generals in the early days of Eastern Wu. Cheng Pu was a native of Youbeiping County, Youzhou at the end of the Han Dynasty, which was located on the border, close to Xianbei and Goguryeo, and had been in constant war for many years. Due to the special geographical location, the locals have gradually formed a martial and fierce folk style. Cheng Pu grew up in such an environment, and was known for his bravery and fierceness in his early years.
The exact time cheng pu served Sun Jian is unknown, but it is highly likely that Sun Jianshang was already attached to him when he served in the Yangzhou area. thereafter. Sun Jian followed Sun Jian in a series of wars such as pacifying the Yellow Turban, conquering Han Sui, and the Kwantung princes to discuss Dong, and gradually became the number one fierce general under Sun Jian.
After Sun Jian's death, Cheng Pu followed Sun Ce in the Battle of Unifying Jiangdong and the Battle of Conquest of Huang zu. During this period, Cheng Pu achieved outstanding military achievements and made great contributions to Sun Ce's occupation of Jiangdong. After Sun Ce's death, Cheng Pu devoted himself to assisting Sun Quan, and participated in the Battle of Chibi, one of the three major battles at the end of the Han Dynasty, and became the first of the Twelve Tiger Ministers. Because of Cheng Pu's elderly age and high merits, everyone affectionately called him "Cheng Gong" Cheng Pu had outstanding merits in his life and made great contributions to the Eastern Wu Group, but after his death, he left two major mysteries, one has been solved, and the other has not been solved.
The first mystery: the cause of Cheng Pu's death
Influenced by the "Book of Wu" record quoted in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", it is generally believed that the reason for Cheng Pu's illness and death was that he was killed by a ghost (about this, I have introduced in detail in the previous article, and I will not repeat it too much in this article. However, according to relevant historical materials and scholars' research, from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Wei and Jin Dynasties, a variety of epidemics were rampant in the land of China, and the Yangtze River Basin was one of the hardest hit areas, and plagues such as typhoid fever, malaria, and schistosomiasis were rampant, which was also mentioned in many places in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
In ancient times of war, the bodies of fallen soldiers were buried deep or burned in a concentrated manner, which was a common means of preventing the spread of the epidemic. Cheng Pu was already at an advanced age when he put down the rebellion, fighting everywhere for many years, old and weak, and his resistance was poor. As a result, he was infected by an epidemic while disposing of the rebel corpses and eventually died. This view has also been widely recognized by scholars, so the reason for Cheng Pu's death has been reasonably explained.
The second mystery: where Cheng Pu's tomb is
The first theory is that Cheng Pu's tomb was buried in Huzhou, which is now Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province. This statement first appeared in the Tang Dynasty's Records of Stone Pillars. The "Huzhou Fuzhi" during the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty quotes a passage from the "Wu Xingzhi" written by the Southern Song Dynasty historian Xiu Tan key, and Cheng Pu's tomb is buried in "nineteen miles southeast of the (Huzhou) fucheng". In the late Three Kingdoms period, Huzhou was set up as Wuxing County by the late Wu Emperor Sun Hao, and was changed to Huzhou Prefecture in the Qing Dynasty.
According to the 1983 edition of the "Geographical Names of Huzhou City", the place nineteen miles southeast of the former Huzhou Capital was roughly in the middle of Changlu Road in Balidian Town, Wuxing District, Huzhou City, and the northern part of Nanxun District and Fu Town Digang in Huzhou City. However, due to its age, there are no legends or relics related to Cheng Pu's tomb here, and only village names or place names such as Chen Jiatian, Dangwan Village, North Chen Jia Dun, and South Chen Jia Dun in the local dialect that are similar to the pronunciation of the word "Cheng" and related to Cheng Pu's official position are retained.
The second theory is that Cheng Pu's tomb was buried in Ruichang, in present-day Ruichang, Jiangxi Province. This theory also appears in the historical records of the Qing Dynasty, according to the Qing Dynasty "Jiangxi Tongzhi", Cheng Pu's tomb is in the area of Lixinqiao in Guilin Street, Ruichang City. During the Ming Dynasty and the Xianfeng Period of the Qing Dynasty, a stele was erected here twice, and the stele was inscribed with the inscription "Tomb of the Duke of Waiting for Cheng Pugong of the Vice Governor of the Great Han Dynasty", but due to its age and some human factors, the stele has been nowhere to be found, and only one cemetery remains. In addition, according to the "Cheng Family Genealogy", in the twentieth year of Jian'an (215 AD), Cheng Pu died of illness in winter and was buried in Guilin Gang (Ruichang).
The two records that Ruichang said are very clear and have traces to follow. Among them, the genealogy compiled by the descendants of the Cheng clan is relatively authoritative, and it is recorded in the historical records that after the Battle of Chibi, Cheng Pu was stationed in Wuzhen (that is, the area around guilin bridge in present-day Ruichang City) in the west of Chaisang, and it seems that it is certain that Cheng Pu's tomb is in Ruichang City. However, according to locals in Ruichang, when they restored and rebuilt Cheng Pu's tomb, they found that this was just a hole, which made Ruichang say that it was covered with a layer of fog. Therefore, where Cheng Pu's tomb is still a mystery and needs to be further investigated.
Reference books: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Chronicle of Huzhou Prefecture, Tongzhi of Jiangxi, Genealogy of the Cheng Clan