Man Chong (pronunciationⓘ) (before 175[2] - April or May 242),[1][a] courtesy name Boning, was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China.
After the commandery administrator put Man Chong in charge of dealing with them, Li Shuo surrendered to the authorities and never caused trouble again.
Around the time, an official Zhang Bao (張苞) was abusing his powers by soliciting bribes and causing trouble for the local administration.
One day, Man Chong led his guards into the guesthouse where Zhang Bao stayed and arrested him on allegations of corruption.
After interrogating Zhang Bao and publishing his crimes, Man Chong resigned and went home with his part in the process completed.
Man Chong was later appointed as the Prefect of Xu County (許縣; present-day Xuchang, Henan), the new imperial capital of the Eastern Han dynasty between 196 and 220.
Xun Yu and Kong Rong were initially angry with Man Chong when they found out that he tortured Yang Biao during the interrogation.
[13] The historian Pei Songzhi criticised Man Chong for his cruelty and said that he should not have tortured Yang Biao, who had a reputation for being virtuous.
[15] Upon assuming office, Man Chong gathered five hundred followers to attack and destroy over 20 strongholds, then invited the retainer leaders to a diplomatic meeting and there killed over 10 of them.
[16] During his tenure, Man Chong gained control over 20,000 households, drafted about 2,000 men into military service, and implemented the tuntian policy in the commandery.
Man Chong brought troops to Fancheng to assist Cao Ren in resisting Guan Yu's attack.
They were thrown into a dangerous situation when heavy rains caused flooding in the region and parts of Fancheng's walls began to crumble.
Man Chong foresaw that the enemy would attempt to set fire to his camp at night as the winds were strong, so he warned his subordinates and put his troops on high alert.
[28] In the autumn of the same year,[c] believing Zhou Fang's fake defection was real, Cao Xiu led troops from Lujiang Commandery (廬江郡; around present-day Lu'an, Anhui) into Wu lands with Man Chong ordered by the Emperor to lead troops to Xiakou (夏口; in present-day Wuhan, Hubei).
[30] After Cao Xiu died later in 228,[c] Man Chong, as General of the Vanguard, was ordered to replace him as the supervisor of military operations in Yang Province.
A military officer wrote to the emperor Cao Rui, seeking permission to execute the local leaders to stop an emigration of the populace.
However, Cao Rui did not approve and, as a compromise, he allowed Man Chong to bring a following of one thousand personal retainers to Yang Province while the rest had to remain in Runan Commandery.
Man Chong knew that Sun Quan was only pretending to retreat to put him off guard, and would come back to attack Hefei again once the reinforcements left.
Wang Ling then passed the letter to Man Chong and asked him to send a convoy of troops to escort Sun Bu to Yang Province.
When Man Chong met the emperor, he appeared to be in good health and remained sober after consuming one dan of alcohol.
"[36] Before Man Chong left for Luoyang, he instructed his chief clerk, who was in charge during his absence, to not give Wang Ling command of any of his troops.
[37] In 232, when the Wu general Lu Xun led troops to attack Lujiang Commandery (廬江郡; around present-day Lu'an, Anhui), Man Chong's subordinates urged him to send reinforcements there.
[38] In 233, Man Chong wrote a memorial to the Wei imperial court, seeking permission to move the troops out of Hefei and station them in an area some 30 li west of the city, and build a fortress there.
His plan was meant to lure Wu forces to attack a weakly defended Hefei, cut off their retreat route, and use the opportunity to destroy them.
The Wei emperor Cao Rui thought that Jiang Ji made sense so he did not approve Man Chong's idea.
[40] Man Chong sent in another memorial to argue that his plan would work because it would mislead the Wu forces into thinking that they were giving up on Hefei and lure them deeper into Wei territory, where they would lose their advantage in naval warfare and become more vulnerable.
Zhao Zi (趙咨), a Wei official, supported Man Chong's idea and managed to convince Cao Rui to approve it.
[49][50][51] In the spring of 235, Sun Quan sent a few thousand of his soldiers and their families to farm on the north banks of the Yangtze as part of a tuntian programme.
The Wei emperor Cao Rui issued an imperial decree to praise Man Chong for his loyalty and dedication, and award him 10 qing of land, 500 hu of grain and 200,000 coins.
[56] Man Chong is a playable character in the ninth instalment of the Dynasty Warriors video game series by Koei Tecmo.