Overview
Cao Wei was a Sui Court Messenger.
IdentityHistorical · Male
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Book of Sui, Chapter 53Volume 53 Biographies 18: Daxi Zhangru, Helou Zigan, Shi Wansui, Liu Fang · 1 passage
徵授營新都副監，尋拜工部尚書．其年，突厥復犯塞，以行軍總管從竇榮定擊之．子幹別路破賊，斬首千餘級，高祖嘉之，遣通事舍人曹威齎優詔勞勉之．子幹請入朝，詔令馳驛奉見．吐谷渾復寇邊，西方多被其害，命子幹討之．馳驛至河西，發五州兵，入掠其國，殺男女萬餘口，二旬而還．高祖以隴西頻被寇掠，甚患之．彼俗不設村塢，敕子幹勒民為堡，營田積穀，以備不虞．子幹上書曰：「比者兇寇侵擾，蕩滅之期，匪朝伊夕．伏願聖慮，勿以為懷．今臣在此，觀機而作，不得準詔行事．且隴西、河右，土曠民稀，邊境未寧，不可廣為田種．比見屯田之所，獲少費多，虛役人功，卒逢踐暴．屯田疏遠者，請皆廢省．但隴右之民以畜牧為事，若更屯聚，彌不獲安．只可嚴謹斥候，豈容集人聚畜．請要路之所，加其防守．但使鎮戍連接，烽候相望，民雖散居，必謂無慮．」高祖從之．俄而虜寇岷、洮二州，子幹勒兵赴之，賊聞而遁去．
He was summoned as deputy supervisor of the new capital works, then made minister of works. That year the Turks again raided the frontier; as commander on campaign he followed Dou Rongding. Zigan took a separate route, routed the enemy, and took more than a thousand heads. Gaozu commended him and sent the attendant of affairs Cao Wei with a favoring edict of consolation. Zigan asked to attend court and was ordered to come post-haste by relay. The Tuyuhun raided again and ravaged the west; Zigan was sent against them. He galloped to Hexi, raised troops from five prefectures, invaded their lands, and killed more than ten thousand men and women, returning within twenty days. Gaozu was deeply troubled that Longxi was repeatedly plundered. The people there did not build walled villages; he ordered Zigan to compel them to fortify, open military farms, and store grain against emergencies. Zigan memorialized: “The raiders have been harassing us lately, but their destruction is not far off—I pray Your Majesty not to worry. Here I watch for the moment to act and cannot always follow the statutes to the letter. Longxi and the lands west of the River are wide and thinly peopled; the border is not yet secure, and broad farming is impossible. I have seen that military colonies yield little for great cost, wasting labor only to be overrun. I ask that distant colonies be abolished. The people of Longyou live by herding; if we herd them into colonies they will be still less secure. Strict scouting is enough—we cannot mass people and livestock together. Strengthen the defenses on the main routes; if garrisons link and beacons face one another, the people may live scattered and still be safe.” Gaozu agreed. Soon the barbarians raided Min and Tao; Zigan marched to meet them and they fled at the news.