Overview
Yang Pu was a Han General of the Tower Ships.
IdentityHistorical · Male
Life and dates
Death
Attested activity
BC 109 元封二年
BC 108 元封三年
BC 110 元封元年冬
BC 112 元鼎五年
BC 112 元鼎五年秋
BC 111 元鼎六年冬
Career and standing
General of the Tower Ships 樓船將軍
Appointed
Commandant of Titles 主爵都尉
Held
General of the Tower Ships 樓船將軍
Held
tower-ship general 樓船將軍
Marquis of Jiangliang 將梁侯
Granted
Marquis of Jiangliang 將梁侯
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Places and affiliations
Han 漢
Relation Served
- At Yiyang 宜陽
Works and attributed material
Events and relationships
Advanced from Wulin
BC 110 元封元年冬 · Military · Commander · At Wulin 武林
Captured xunxia and attacked panyu
Military · Commander
Defeated and scattered
Private surrender talks
Diplomatic · Secret negotiator
Reached wanggeom first
Military · Commander · At Wanggeom 王險
Sailed from qi
Military · Commander · At Bohai Sea 渤海
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Stationed south of city
Military · Besieger
- Relation Rival of · Person Xun Zhi (荀彘)
Assessments and attributes
- Assessment narrow-minded and could not escape blame · Mode historian-judgment Speaker Sima Qian (司馬遷)
- Assessment regretting failure at Panyu, swung to the opposite extreme and fell under suspicion · Mode historian-judgment Speaker Sima Qian (司馬遷)
References in the histories
No matching passages.
Book of Han, Chapter 102Volume 90: Cruel Officials · 4 passages
Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 113Treatise on the Nanyue · 8 passages
主爵都尉楊仆為樓船將軍，出豫章，下橫浦；
Yang Pu, the Commandant of Titles, was appointed General of the Tower Ships. He marched out from Yuzhang and descended through the Hengpu Pass.
元鼎六年冬，樓船將軍將精卒先陷尋陜，破石門，得越船粟，因推而前，挫越鋒，以數萬人待伏波。
In the winter of the sixth year of the Yuanding era, the General of the Tower Ships led his elite troops in capturing Xunxia first, then broke through the Stone Gate, seized Yue boats and grain stores, and pressed forward, blunting the Yue vanguard. He halted with tens of thousands of troops to await the General Who Calms the Waves.
伏波將軍將罪人，道遠，會期後，與樓船會乃有千餘人，遂俱進。
The General Who Calms the Waves, leading his convict soldiers, had a long march and arrived after the appointed time. When he linked up with the Tower Ships general, he had only a little over a thousand men. Nevertheless, the two forces advanced together.
樓船居前，至番禺。
The Tower Ships general took the vanguard and arrived at Panyu.
樓船自擇便處，居東南面；
The Tower Ships general chose a favorable position on the southeast side of the city.
會暮，樓船攻敗越人，縱火燒城。
As dusk fell, the Tower Ships general launched his attack and defeated the Yue defenders, then set fire to the city.
樓船力攻燒敵，反驅而入伏波營中。
The Tower Ships general pressed his attack and set fires, but in the chaos, the fleeing Yue soldiers were driven straight into the camp of the General Who Calms the Waves.
樓船將軍兵以陷堅為將梁侯。
The General of the Tower Ships was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Jiangliang for his troops' valor in storming fortifications.
Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 114Treatise on the Eastern Yue · 5 passages
至元鼎五年，南越反，東越王餘善上書，請以卒八千人從樓船將軍擊呂嘉等。
In the fifth year of the Yuanding era, when Nanyue rebelled, Yu Shan, the King of Dongyue, submitted a petition offering to lead eight thousand troops to join the General of the Towered Ships in the campaign against Lu Jia and his allies.
是時樓船將軍楊仆使使上書，願便引兵擊東越。
At that time, the General of the Towered Ships, Yang Pu, sent a memorial to the throne requesting permission to turn his forces against Dongyue.
元鼎六年秋，餘善聞樓船請誅之，漢兵臨境，且往，乃遂反，發兵距漢道。
In the autumn of the sixth year of the Yuanding era, Yu Shan learned that the General of the Towered Ships had petitioned for his execution and that Han forces were massing on the border. He rose in open rebellion, sending his troops to block the roads leading into his territory.
樓船將軍楊仆出武林；
The General of the Towered Ships, Yang Pu, marched from Wulin;
樓船將軍率錢唐轅終古斬徇北將軍，為御兒侯。
The General of the Towered Ships directed Yuan Zhonggu, the garrison commander of Qiantang, to slay the General Who Patrols the North. For this feat, Yuan Zhonggu was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Yu'er.
Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 115Treatise on Korea · 15 passages
其秋，遣樓船將軍楊仆從齊浮渤海；
That autumn, the emperor dispatched the General of the Tower Ships, Yang Pu, to sail from Qi across the Bohai Sea.
樓船將軍將齊兵七千人先至王險。
The General of the Tower Ships led seven thousand Qi soldiers and reached Wanggeom first.
右渠城守，窺知樓船軍少，即出城擊樓船，樓船軍敗散走。
Ugeo held fast within the city walls. When he saw that the Tower Ships force was small, he sallied forth to attack them. The Tower Ships army was defeated and scattered in flight.
將軍楊仆失其眾，遁山中十餘日，稍求收散卒，復聚。
General Yang Pu lost his men and fled into the mountains, where he hid for more than ten days. Gradually, he managed to round up his scattered soldiers and reassemble them.
樓船亦往會，居城南。
The General of the Tower Ships also came to join the siege, stationing his forces south of the city.
樓船將齊卒，入海，固已多敗亡；
The General of the Tower Ships, commanding troops from Qi who had crossed the sea, had already suffered heavy losses.
左將軍急擊之，朝鮮大臣乃陰閒使人私約降樓船，往來言，尚未肯決。
While the Left General pressed the attack, the senior ministers of Joseon secretly dispatched envoys to negotiate a private surrender to the General of the Tower Ships. Messages passed back and forth, but no final agreement was reached.
左將軍數與樓船期戰，樓船欲急就其約，不會；
The Left General repeatedly scheduled joint attacks with the Tower Ships forces, but the Tower Ships general, eager to finalize his private agreement with Joseon, failed to appear.
左將軍亦使人求閒卻降下朝鮮，朝鮮不肯，心附樓船：以故兩將不相能。
The Left General also sent agents to secretly persuade the Joseon court to surrender to him, but they refused, their loyalty inclined toward the Tower Ships general. For this reason, the two commanders could no longer work together.
左將軍心意樓船前有失軍罪，今與朝鮮私善而又不降，疑其有反計，未敢發。
The Left General harbored suspicions: the Tower Ships general had previously committed the offense of losing his army and was now secretly colluding with Joseon while refusing to compel their surrender. He suspected the man of harboring treasonous designs but dared not act.
言樓船數期不會，具以素所意告遂，曰：「今如此不取，恐為大害，非獨樓船，又且與朝鮮共滅吾軍。」
He described how the Tower Ships general had repeatedly failed to keep their battle appointments, laid out all his longstanding suspicions, and said, 'If we do not act now, I fear the consequences will be dire. The Tower Ships general may not only refuse to fight—he may join forces with Joseon to destroy our army.'
遂亦以為然，而以節召樓船將軍入左將軍營計事，即命左將軍麾下執捕樓船將軍，并其軍，以報天子。
Gongsun Sui agreed. Using the imperial tally, he summoned the General of the Tower Ships to the Left General's camp to discuss strategy. Once there, he ordered the Left General's officers to seize and arrest the Tower Ships general, absorbed his troops, and sent a report to the Son of Heaven.
朝鮮相路人、相韓陰、尼谿相參、將軍王唊相與謀曰：「始欲降樓船，樓船今執，獨左將軍并將，戰益急，恐不能與，（戰）王又不肯降。」
The Joseon Chancellor Lu Ren, Chancellor Han Yin, the Chancellor of Nixi, Shen, and General Wang Xia plotted together. 'We had intended to surrender to the Tower Ships general,' they said, 'but now he has been arrested. The Left General alone commands both armies, the fighting grows fiercer by the day, and we fear we cannot hold out—yet the king still refuses to surrender.'
樓船將軍亦坐兵至洌口，當待左將軍，擅先縱，失亡多，當誅，贖為庶人。
The General of the Tower Ships was also charged: when his troops reached Liekou, he should have waited for the Left General but instead launched an unauthorized attack and suffered heavy losses. He deserved execution but was permitted to pay a fine and was reduced to commoner status.
樓船將狹，及難離咎。
The General of the Tower Ships was a man of narrow vision, and when trouble came, he could not escape blame.