Jiang Wei

Jiang Wei (202–264) was a military general and regent of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history. He originally served Shu's rival state, Cao Wei, as a middle-level military officer, but defected to the Shu strategist Zhuge Liang, leaving his mother in Wei. After that, Jiang Wei took part in military campaigns against his native state. He joined Zhuge's first Northern Expedition against Wei in 228, and was made an army commander. Zhuge Liang had always considered Jiang Wei a resourceful and capable general, and Jiang received light-speed promotions during the regencie of Zhuge Liang and of Zhuge Liang's successors Jiang Wan and Fei Yi to eventually become Fei Yi's chief assistant. After Fei Yi's death in 253, he succeeded to Fei Yi's position, but did not have the full power that Fei Yi had, as he was only charged with military matters—and therefore was arguably a regent.

Reviving Zhuge Liang's campaigns against Wei (which Jiang Wan and Fei Yi had largely abandoned), Jiang Wei made a number of incursions against Wei — one in coordination with Eastern Wu's regent Zhuge Ke -- but each had to be abandoned due to the inadequate food supplies or due to battlefield losses, and these campaigns greatly drained Shu's resources. In 263, a Wei army, led by Deng Ai and Zhong Hui, conquered Shu. Jiang Wei tried to restore Shu by persuading Zhong Hui to declare a rebellion against the de facto Wei ruler Sima Zhao, Zhong Hui agreed but after he did so, Zhong's own soldiers rebelled against him. Both Zhong and Jiang were killed in battle.