Fei Shi
Fei Shi, stylename Gongju, was a man of Jianwei, Nan An. At the time of Liu Zhang, he was the Magistrate (ling) of Mianzhu. When the First Sovereign attacked Mianzhu, Fei Shi chose to surrender the city. With Chengdu under control, the First Sovereign was made Imperial Protector (mu) of Yizhou while Fei Shi was made General Staff Supervising the Army (du jun cong shi) as well as Governor of Zang Ge, then in addition, he was the Major of the Forward Division of [Yi]zhou (zhou qian bu sima). The First Sovereign became Prince of Hanzhong and dispatched Fei Shi to carry the seal of General of the Front (qian jiang jun) to Guan Yu. Guan Yu heard that Huang Zhong was made General of the Back and was angry, saying, "A great man should not end up with the same rank as an old soldier!" and refused the appointment. Fei Shi replied, "When a man must establish a royal work, he cannot use one comrade alone. In former times Xiao He and Cao Can were boyhood friends of Gaozu, while Chen Ping and Han Xin came later as refugees. When ranking was discussed, Han Xin held the highest place, but I have no heard that either Xiao He or Cao Can were angry about it. If the Prince of Hanzhong, to honour the house of Han rewards someone for his achievement on another occassion, why must you think he regards you no differently to others? You and his majesty are so close you might have a single body, you feel the same joys and the same sorrows, you share good fortune and ill. I do not believe you should judge his feelings by the highs and lows of official titles or by the size of fiefs and gifts. I am nothing but an errand-boy, acting upon orders. If you refuse the appointment, I shall simply go back. Nonetheless, I shall be sorry for it, and I fear you may regret it too." Guan Yu was touched and recognised the error. He bowed at once to accept the appointment. (RdeC)
Later, various officials were discussing about pushing forward the Prince of Hanzhong to assume the title of Emperor. Fei Shi however memoralised, "It is because Cao Cao and his son have coerced their sovereign and usurped his throne that Your HIghness is wandering in this land ten thousand li distant from the capital, with soldiers around you, your intention being to punish the rebels. Now the arch-enemy is not yet put down, and you would first proclaim yourself Emperor. I am afraid that the people will become suspicious of you. Formerly, the Emperor Gaozu (Liu Bang) made an agreement with Chu (Xiang Yu) that he who the first destroys the Qin will be crowned as King. When he butchered Xianyang and seized Zi Ying, he still thought of declining the throne out of modesty. Now, Your Highness has not issued out of the narrow lmits of your domain, yet you would proclaim yourself Emperor! This is not what I, stupid though I am, should recommend you do" (AFang) Following this, Fei Shi was indicated to be disobedient and demoted as General Staff of the Division (congshi) in Yongchang. In the third year of Jian Xing, he followed Zhuge Liang in his southern expedition and later returned to the county (xian) of Hanyang where a surrendered person, Li Hong, came to see Liang. When Zhuge Liang saw Li Hong, Jiang Wan and Fei Shi were present as well. Li Hong said, "Meng Da has authorised me to come here. There is a man named Wang Chong who came from the south to meet with Meng Da, saying that Your Excellency is grinding your teeth with rage [at Meng Da's defection], and was about to execute Meng Da's wife, but did not since the First Sovereign did not agree. Meng Da then said, "Zhuge Liang is a considerate person so he cannot be like that." He refused to believe the words of Wang Chong, and now looks up to Your Excellency." Zhuge Liang then spoke to Jiang Wan and Fei Shi, saying, "Have you heard of any letters from Zidu (Meng Da) reach the capital?". Fei Shi said, "Meng Da, the little fellow, before was arrogant and disloyal, and later betrayed the First Sovereign. Being such a treacherous person, why would he sent letters?!!" Zhuge Liang made no reply but he wished to entice Meng Da to act as outside help, so he unexpectedly wrote to Meng Da, saying, "Last year I went on the Southern expedition. Not even a year went by and I have return to Hanyang where I met Li Hong. After hearing of the news, I made a long and sad sigh and remembered your understanding character. How can it be that you throw away your honourable name and leave? The truth is this happened because Liu Feng encroached upon you and injured the righteousness of the First Sovereign's treatment of his officers. Again, on Li Hong's account, Wang Chong was making up false rumours yet you, Sir, understand well my mind and rejected Chong's words. Now in the hope of clearing things up as well as pursuing our previous good relationship, I look to the East, dispatching this letter to you." When Meng Da received the letter from Zhuge Liang, he frequently communicated with him and pledged to rebel against Wei. Wei dispatched Sima Xuanwang (Sima Yi) to attack him and Meng Da was subsequently beheaded. Zhuge Liang also did not believe Meng Da was sincere in his heart so he did not sent reinforcements to assist him. When Jiang Wan managed affairs, he made Fei Shi an admonishing minister (jian yi dai fu). He later died in his home.
Wang Chong was a person of Guang Han. He was the General of the Standard (ya men jiang) and worked with the Administrator in Jiangzhou, Li Yan. Since he hated Li Yan and was afraid of being punished, he went and surrendered to Wei. Wei made him Governor (Taishou) of Yueling. Sun Sheng's Shu Shi Pu says: Fei Shi's son was called Fei Li. Later, in Yizhou, many of the well known Fei's were descendents of Fei Shi.
Notes:
(RdeC) This conversation came from R. De Crespigny, "To Establish Peace", Vol. 2, ANU, 1996.
(AFang) This conversation came from A. Fang, "Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Vol. 1, Harvard-Yenching Institute.