Taishi Ci - Biography - Service Under Liu Yao

Service Under Liu Yao

After this accomplishment and the subsequent suppression of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Taishi Ci returned south to Jiangdong and offered his services to Liu Yao, a warlord born and raised in the same village as Taishi Ci himself. During his service under Liu Yao, Sun Ce was rapidly expanding his forces and reclaiming lands he perceived as the rightful property of the Sun family. Sun Ce had been successful, due to the fact that he had earlier traded the Imperial Seal in his possession to the warlord Yuan Shu, in exchange for several thousand of his troops. Alongside his father's already impressive army, Sun Ce and his childhood friend Zhou Yu invaded the lands of Jiangdong, which were under the protection and rule of Liu Yao at the time. Sun Ce had gained a tremendous advantage through the capture of a local city which he could now use to rally and support his army. Unfortunately, Liu Yao was not a good military commander. When Sun Ce attacked him, many of his advisors suggested to him that he should name Taishi Ci as the commander-in-chief of his force to defend themselves against Sun Ce, but Liu Yao refused, fearing that giving Taishi Ci the command would tarnish his reputation, since Taishi Ci was once a criminal. Taishi Ci was instead tasked to guard the army's baggage. One day, Taishi Ci came across Sun Ce in Shenting (神亭), but the two duelled to a standstill. As Sun Ce's officers rode to his assistance, Taishi Ci was forced into a hasty retreat. Sun Ce had been impressed with Taishi Ci abilities and held him in good stead, noting him as one of very few men of honour in a chaotic and treacherous period.

Taishi Ci later was forced to break allegiance with Liu Yao after they fled their separate ways, with Liu Yao fleeing to Yuzhang (豫章) and Taishi Ci to Wuhu, resulting from Liu Yao's refusal to heed Taishi Ci's strategic advice and was subsequently overrun. Taishi Ci established a guerrilla base in the mountains and earned support of many locals, and from 195 to 198, Taishi Ci waged war against Sun Ce and eventually expanded to include the region of Danyang, a position of strategic military importance since the time of Sun Tzu, where he proclaimed himself Administrator, with supporters ranging from the ordinary civilians to high ranking local officials. Taishi Ci had become too much of a threat after defeating Yan Baihu, Sun Ce targeted Taishi Ci instead of Liu Yao. Taishi Ci's remnant forces were quickly besieged by Sun Ce's army at Jin (泾) County and were consequently overrun and captured.

Taishi Ci was tied up and brought before Sun Ce, where Sun Ce, recalling their encounter at Shenting, immediately unbound him. Sun Ce persuaded Taishi Ci to join him, saying that his talents were unrecognized by his previous masters; Sun Ce even said that Taishi Ci was a dragon among people and to fly to the sky the dragon must have a good base, and Sun Ce himself was very honored to be that base. Although initially hesitant, Taishi Ci eventually succumbed to Sun Ce's requests, accepting highly ranked positions within Sun Ce's army. He asked Sun Ce to let him go for a day to collect his remnant troops to pacify the area, and Sun Ce agreed. Answering the suspicion from his advisors, Sun Ce retorted, "Taishi Ziyi is a famed man of Qing province, bound by honour, he will not lie to me", and indeed, Taishi Ci came back the next day. He was appointed as Commander Under the Gate (門下督) and General of the Household (中郎將).