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Deng Ai, courtesy name Shizai, was a native of Jiyang County, Yiyang Commandery (now Nanyang City, Henan Province), and a general of the State of Wei during the Three Kingdoms period.

Deng Ai was orphaned at a young age and his family was poor. In the first year of the Zhengshi reign (240 AD), Deng Ai was ordered to supervise the military farming in Linying, Chenzhou, Xiangcheng, and Shouchun.
Later, he served as a subordinate of the General of Agriculture, and went to court to meet the Grand Commandant Sima Yi, where he was hired as a staff member and later promoted to the position of Shangshu Lang.

Soon after, he was appointed as a military officer of General Guo Huai and was promoted to the position of prefect of Nangan County.

In the first year of Jiaping (249 AD), Deng Ai and Guo Huai defeated the attacking Shu general Jiang Wei and were granted the title of Guannei Hou, promoted to General of Suppressing Bandits and Governor of Chengyang County.

Afterwards, he was transferred to be the prefect of Runan County, promoted to the governor of Yanzhou, and granted the title of General Zhenwei.

"In the sixth year of Jiaping (254 AD), Sima Shi enthroned Cao Mao as emperor and promoted Deng Ai to the title of Marquis of Fangchengting;"

"Deng Ai led his army to follow Sima Shi to suppress the rebellion of Guanqiu Jian and Wen Qin. When Wu general Sun Jun led his army to invade, Deng Ai repelled the enemy and was promoted to Changshui Cavalry Captain and Marquis of Fangcheng Township for his meritorious service."

"Shu general Jiang Wei led his army to invade, Deng Ai led his army to rescue Wang Jing, the governor of Yongzhou, and acted as the General of Anxi, granted the title of General of the Imperial Guard, and concurrently served as the Colonel Protecting the Eastern Qiang."

"After that, Deng Ai repelled Jiang Wei's attacks many times and was promoted to General Zhenxi and given the title of Marquis Deng. Soon after, he was promoted to General Zhengxi."

"In the fourth year of Jingyuan (263 AD), the Wei army divided into three routes to attack Shu. In October of the same year, Deng Ai sneaked across Yinping (now Wen County, Longnan City, Gansu Province) and captured Jiangyou (now Nanba Town, Pingwu County, Sichuan Province);"

"We defeated the Shu general Zhuge Zhan and approached the city of Chengdu. The last ruler of Shu, Liu Chan, led his people to surrender."

"Deng Ai appointed officials in the name of the emperor to maintain order, and built a high platform in Mianzhu to show his military achievements."

"In December of the same year, the imperial court issued an edict to commend Deng Ai and promoted him to the position of Grand Commandant, granting him a fief of 20,000 households."

"General Zhong Hui, the general who guards the west, was jealous of Deng Ai's achievements and falsely accused him of treason. In the first month of the following year, the imperial court issued an imperial decree to arrest Deng Ai and his son;"

"Zhong Hui led his army into Chengdu and escorted Deng Ai and his son back to the capital, but they were killed on the way;"

"After Deng Ai's death, his descendants were executed or exiled. In the ninth year of Taishi (273 AD), Emperor Wu of Jin, Sima Yan, issued an edict to rehabilitate Deng Ai."

"Deng Ai conquered Shu, which made outstanding contributions to countering the Eastern Wu, securing the southeastern border, and unifying the Wei and Jin dynasties. His meritorious service is outstanding."

"Emperor Cao Mao of Wei called him 'well-planned, loyal, brave and vigorous', and the last emperor of Wei, Cao Huan, compared him with famous generals such as Bai Qi, Han Xin and Zhou Yafu."

"Deng Ai was good at using troops and had both courage and strategy. Later generations, such as the Jin Dynasty historian Chen Shou, the late Ming Dynasty scholar Huang Daozhou, and the modern scholar Lu Bi, all praised Deng Ai for sneaking across Yinping and winning by surprise, and for his loyalty and righteousness, and felt sorry for his unjust killing."

"But Tang Bin, a minister of the Jin Dynasty, believed that Deng Ai was narrow-minded and looked down on his soldiers; He Qufei, a scholar of the Northern Song Dynasty, believed that Deng Ai took risks in his military operations and that his success was just a fluke."

"Deng Ai led the people to build the Guangcao Canal and the Baichi Canal. The canals connected the Yingshui River and the Huaishui River, irrigated 20,000 hectares of farmland, and opened up a waterway of more than 300 miles."

"Deng Ai was from Jiyang County, Yiyang Prefecture (now Nanyang City, Henan Province), and lost his father when he was young. When Cao Cao conquered Jingzhou, Deng Ai moved to Runan Prefecture and herded cattle for local farmers."

"When he was twelve years old, Deng Ai moved to Yingchuan County with his mother. He changed his name to Deng Fan and his courtesy name to Shi Ze after reading the inscription on the tomb of the late Taiqiu County Magistrate Chen Shi, which read "His writing is a model for the world, his behavior is a model for scholars."

"Later, because there was someone with the same name in the clan, he changed his name to Deng Ai, with the courtesy name Shizai."

"Deng Ai was recommended as a military officer, but because of his stuttering, he could not serve as an official and could only serve as a minor official."

"Deng Ai was supported by an elder from the same county because his family was poor, but Deng Ai did not thank the elder who supported him at the beginning;"

"Whenever Deng Ai saw a mountain or a lake, he would gesture with his hands to indicate where he should set up camp, and people would laugh at him."

"Later, Deng Ai served as a subordinate of the General of Agriculture and was able to enter the court to meet with the Grand Commandant Sima Yi;"

"Sima Yi was amazed when he saw Deng Ai and appointed him as his staff, and later promoted him to the position of Shangshu Lang."

"At that time, Cao Wei planned to open up a large amount of land and store grain as supplies for the destruction of Wu, so it sent Deng Ai to inspect the area east of Chen County and Xiang County to Shouchun County."

"After Deng Ai's investigation, he believed that although the soil in this area was fertile, it lacked water. He thought that a canal should be dug to divert water for irrigation. He also wrote an article titled "On the River Migration" to explain his views."

Li Bai: Deng Ai also proposed to establish military farms in Chen County, Shangcai County and other places, station 20,000 troops north of the Huai River and 30,000 troops south of the Huai River, with two-tenths of them taking turns to rest.

By regularly maintaining 40,000 people to farm and guard the border, in six or seven years it is possible to accumulate enough food to feed an army of 100,000 for five years; with these reserves, one can attack Sun Wu and be invincible.

Sima Yi fully adopted Deng Ai's suggestion. In the second year of Zhengshi (241 AD), the court began to dig and widen the canal. Whenever there was a war in the southeast,

When the army was dispatched, they could sail downstream to the Yangtze River and Huai River areas, which not only irrigated the farmland and stored grain, but also eliminated water disasters. These were all suggestions from Deng Ai.

Later, Deng Ai served as a military officer of General Guo Huai, and was promoted to the prefect of Nangan County.

In the first year of Jiaping (249 AD), Deng Ai and Guo Huai joined forces to resist the northern invasion led by the Shu general Jiang Wei.

Jiang Wei retreated, and Guo Huai planned to take advantage of the situation to attack the Qiang people's residence to the west. Deng Ai suggested that although the enemy army retreated, they should be divided to guard against it, so Guo Huai ordered Deng Ai to garrison the north bank of Baishui.

Three days later, Jiang Wei indeed sent Liao Hua to approach Deng Ai's camp from the south bank of Baishui and set up camp. Deng Ai believed that Liao Hua's army was just to contain him, and Jiang Wei's original intention was to attack Taocheng.

Deng Ai immediately led his troops back to Taocheng that night. Jiang Wei indeed crossed the Baishui River and launched a surprise attack. Deng Ai held the city firmly and avoided failure.

After the war, Deng Ai was granted the title of Guannei Hou and appointed General Suppressing Bandits; soon after, he was promoted to the position of Governor of Chengyang County.

In the third year of Jiaping (251 AD), Liu Bao, the left wise king of the Xiongnu in Bingzhou, merged the local Xiongnu tribes. Deng Ai reported to the court that the Xiongnu were immoral, invading the border when they were strong and submitting to the court when they were weak.

Now that the power of the Left Wise King Liu Bao is growing, we should guard against it and weaken the power of the Huns from within. We can grant Liu Bao's son a prominent official position and order him to garrison Yanmen County.

The strategy to stabilize the border is to let the Huns leave their garrison and reward them for their past contributions.

Deng Ai also suggested that the Qiang and Hu people who lived together with the Han people in the interior should be relocated to the border areas.

At that time, Sima Yi had passed away, and General Sima Shi assisted in the government and adopted many of Deng Ai's suggestions.

Later, Deng Ai was transferred to be the governor of Runan County. He sent people to look for the elder from the same county who had helped him, but they learned that the elder had passed away.
Deng Ai then sent people to offer sacrifices at his tomb, presented his family with a number of generous gifts, and recommended his son to be a county official.

During Deng Ai's tenure, he made great efforts to reclaim the wilderness and ensure that the military and civilians had enough food and clothing.

In the fifth year of Jiaping (253 AD), Zhuge Ke, the Grand Tutor of Wu, led a large army to attack the new city of Hefei, but failed to capture it and the enemy retreated. Deng Ai asserted to Sima Shi that after Sun Quan's death, the civil and military officials were not loyal to the new king of Wu, and the aristocratic families of Wu were holding their own troops;

Zhuge Ke had just taken charge of government affairs and lacked prestige. Instead of considering how to appease court officials to stabilize the situation, he rashly used the whole country's strength to attack the new city of Hefei, but failed. Tens of thousands of people died, and he returned in disgrace, which was self-destructive.

"Zhuge Ke returned to the capital and incurred the hatred of the Wu royal family, and was indeed killed."

"Deng Ai was promoted to the post of Governor of Yanzhou and given the title of General Zhenwei. He also submitted a memorial to the court, proposing to develop agriculture and strengthen preparations for war;"

“Only when a country is prosperous can the army be strong; only when the army is strong can the war be won; and agriculture is the foundation of all this.”

"Deng Ai suggested that the court establish titles to reward officials who worked hard to develop industry and accumulate wealth for the country;"

"By focusing the performance evaluation of officials on whether they can store grain and enrich the people, it can also cut off officials from seeking favors for personal gain and forming cliques."

"In the sixth year of Jiaping (254 AD), Sima Shi deposed Emperor Shao Cao Fang and replaced him with Cao Mao, Duke of Gaogui, as emperor, and promoted Deng Ai to the title of Marquis of Fangchengting."

"In the first month of the following year, General Guanqiu Jian, the General of the Eastern Frontier, and Wen Qin, the Governor of Yangzhou, rebelled and sent messengers to Deng Ai, hoping to join forces with Deng Ai to attack Sima Shi."

"Deng Ai killed their envoys and led his men to march day and night to attack them, heading straight to Lejia City and building a floating bridge."

"Sima Shi arrived later and occupied Lejia City with his army. Wen Qin led his army to attack but was defeated outside the city. Deng Ai led his army to pursue the victory to Qiutou, and Wen Qin had no choice but to flee to Sun Wu."

"Sun Jun, the great general of Sun Wu, and his men led an invasion force, claiming to have an army of 100,000 men, and were about to cross the Yangtze River."

"General Zhuge Dan, the Eastern Guardian, sent Deng Ai to guard the northern bank of Feishui River. Deng Ai believed that the station was too far from the enemy and was not a vital location,"

"So he decided to move to Futing and station there, and sent Zhuge Xu, the governor of Taishan County, and others to Lijiang (today's southeast of Shou County, Anhui) to stop the Wu army and repel the enemy."

"This year, Deng Ai was appointed as the Changshui Commandant. Because of his meritorious service in defeating Wen Qin, he was granted the title of Marquis of Fangcheng Township and the title of Acting General of Anxi."

"Yongzhou Governor Wang Jing was besieged by Shu General Jiang Wei in Didao (now Lintao County, Gansu). Deng Ai led his army to rescue him, and Jiang Wei retreated to Zhongti (now northwest of Cheng County, Gansu)."

"The court officially appointed Deng Ai as General of Anxi, granted him the title of General of the Imperial Guard, and concurrently appointed him as the Commandant of Protecting the Eastern Qiang. Many people believed that Jiang Wei's army was exhausted and would not launch another attack."

"Deng Ai analyzed that the Wei troops stationed in Longxi had just been defeated and the people were displaced, so the enemy would definitely take advantage of the victory to pursue them;"

"He speculated that Jiang Wei would probably march to Qishan (today's eastern Lixian County, Gansu Province), harvest the wheat there as military rations, and then attack again."

"Soon, Jiang Wei indeed attacked Qishan. Hearing that Deng Ai had prepared for it, Jiang Wei turned to attack Nan'an County."

"Deng Ai fought a fierce battle with Jiang Wei in Duangu (now southwest of Tianshui, Gansu) and defeated the enemy."

"In the first year of Ganlu (256 AD), the imperial court issued an edict to praise Deng Ai, praising him for his good planning, killing generals and enemies, and promoting national prestige, which shocked the Wu and Shu countries;"

"Therefore, Deng Ai was appointed General Zhenxi, commanding all the troops in Longyou, and was promoted to Marquis of Deng. His son Deng Zhong was also granted the title of Marquis of Ting."

"The following year, Deng Ai led his army again to resist Jiang Wei's invasion. Jiang Wei was defeated and retreated. Deng Ai was promoted to General of the Western Expedition and was granted a fief of 6,600 households."

"In the third year of Jingyuan (262 AD), Deng Ai led his army to defeat Jiang Wei's army in Houhe (southeast of Lintan County, Gansu Province today), and Jiang Wei had to retreat to Dazhong (northwest of Zhouqu County, Gansu Province today) to defend himself."

"In February of the fourth year of Jingyuan (263 AD), the Grand Commander Sima Zhao ordered Deng Ai, the Governor of Yongzhou Zhuge Xu, and the General of Zhenxi Zhong Hui to attack Shu in three directions."

"Deng Ai led an army of 30,000 from Didao to Dazhong to besiege Jiang Wei. When Jiang Wei heard that Zhong Hui's army had entered Hanzhong, he immediately led his entire army to retreat."

Su Shi: Zhuge Dan's army blocked Jiang Wei's way, and Jiang Wei led his army to retreat eastward and guard Jiange.

Zhong Hui led his army to attack Jiang Wei but was unable to capture him. Deng Ai asked Sima Zhao for permission to lead a group of elite soldiers to bypass Jiange via the Yinping trail and head straight to Chengdu, so as to attack the enemy by surprise and defeat them.

In October of the same year, Deng Ai led his army from Yinping and trekked over 700 miles through the uninhabited mountainous area, cutting through the mountains to open roads and building plank roads.

The mountains were high and the valleys were deep, making the journey extremely dangerous. Coupled with the cut-off of food supply, the entire army was in danger of destruction.

Deng Ai was the first to wrap his body in felt and roll down the mountain; all the soldiers climbed trees and clung to the cliffs, moving forward one by one.

Deng Ai's vanguard troops arrived at Jiangyou (now Nanba Town, Pingwu County, Sichuan), and the Shu army garrison general Ma Miao led his troops to surrender.

Zhuge Zhan, a general of Shu, led his army to block Deng Ai and marched north to Fu County (now east of Mianyang City, Sichuan).

Deng Ai led the Wei army to advance straight into the enemy territory, the Shu army's vanguard was defeated, and Zhuge Zhan retreated to Mianzhu Pass (now Huangxu Town, east of Mianzhu, Sichuan).

Deng Ai sent someone to deliver a letter to persuade Zhuge Zhan to surrender, but Zhuge Zhan became furious and killed Deng Ai's messenger.

Deng Ai sent his son Deng Zhong to lead an army to attack the right wing of the Shu army, and General Shi Zuan to lead an army to attack the left wing of the Shu army.

However, Deng Zhong and Shi Zuan suffered a defeat in their first battle and thought it was not the right time to launch an attack.

Deng Ai was furious and wanted to behead the two men as a warning to all. Deng Zhong and Shi Zuan then led their troops in a desperate battle, defeating the Shu army and beheading Zhuge Zhan, Shu's Secretary Zhang Zun and others. Deng Ai then continued his march southward and arrived at Luo City.

Liu Chan, the last emperor of Shu, sent an envoy to present the emperor's jade seal and sash and wrote a letter of surrender to Deng Ai.

Deng Ai led his troops to Chengdu. Liu Chan, along with the crown prince, princes and more than 60 ministers, tied their hands behind their backs, carried a coffin, and came to the gate of Deng Ai's camp to formally surrender.

Deng Ai held the staff in his hand, untied the ropes for Liu Chan and others, burned the coffins, accepted the surrender of the ruler and ministers of Shu and pardoned them;
At the same time, he ordered the soldiers to restrain themselves and not to rob the people. He sent people to appease the surrendered soldiers and let them return home to resume their old jobs. The people of Shu all praised him.

After Deng Ai conquered Shu, he decided without asking for permission to follow the example of Deng Yu in the Eastern Han Dynasty and appointed Liu Chan as acting General of Cavalry, the crown prince of Shu as Commandant of the Imperial Chariot, and the princes of Shu as Commandants of the Imperial Concubines.

Officials of the Shu Kingdom were appointed as officials of the Wei Dynasty according to their ranks, and some of them also served as subordinates of Deng Ai.

Deng Ai also appointed Shi Zuan as the governor of Yizhou concurrently, and the prefect of Longxi County Qian Hong and others as prefects of various counties in Shu concurrently.

Deng Ai also sent people to build a high platform in Mianzhu to show his military achievements. Deng Ai was proud of his achievements and told the scholars and officials of Shu that they were able to survive only because of his protection; (End of this chapter)