Background
Cao Jie was a daughter of the warlord Cao Cao, who by 196 had Emperor Xian under his control and issuing edicts in Emperor Xian"s name to his own benefit in his campaign to reunite the empire, which had been held by regional warlords.
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Cao Jie
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Career
He was killed by Liu Bei"s general Zhang Fei in 196 after a quarrel. The only known information about Cao Bao in history comes from Pei Songzhi"s annotations to Chen Shou"s Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi), which recorded the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period. An annotation from the Yingxiong Ji (英雄記) in the Sanguozhi recorded:
Cao Bao, a former officer under Tao Qian, remained in Xiapi.
Zhang Fei wanted to kill Cao Bao (for reasons unknown).
Cao Bao fled back to his own camp and strengthened his defences while sending a messenger to request aid from Lü Bu (who was taking shelter under Liu Bei then). Lü Bu attacked Xiapi and defeated Zhang Fei and drove the latter away.
Another annotation, also from the Yingxiong Ji, in the Sanguozhi, recorded a different account:
Xu Dan (許耽), who was from Danyang (丹楊) and was serving as a "General of the Household" (中郎將) under Liu Bei, sent a Major (司馬) Zhang Kuang (章誑) to meet Lü Bu at night. Zhang Kuang told Lü Bu, "Zhang Yide (Zhang Fei) quarrelled with Cao Bao, the Chancellor (相) of Xiapi, and then killed him.
The city is now in a state of chaos.
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Sima Guang used the second account when he compiled the Zizhi Tongjian. Cao Bao"s conflict with Zhang Fei was dramatised in the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong. In the novel, Cao Bao was Lü Bu"s father-in-law.
He was coerced by Zhang Fei to drink wine even though he insisted that he abstained from alcohol.
He ordered his men to flog Cao Bao 50 times and only gave up when the other officers begged him to stop. Zhang Fei was drunk when Lü Bu attacked the city so he lost the battle and fled from Xiapi.
Cao Bao led about a hundred soldiers to pursue Zhang Fei but ended up being killed by the latter.
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Liu Bei left Zhang Fei behind to defend Xiapi (下邳. Xu Province"s capital) and led his troops to battle Yuan Shu at Shiting (石亭) and Huaiyin (淮陰).
