郝普 / Hao Pu (late Han)

Overview

郝普 / Hao Pu is the Lingling administrator whose 215 CE surrender to 吕蒙 turns on false information about whether 刘备 and 关羽 can relieve him.

Current Profile

Hanji 1152 places Hao Pu at 零陵郡 while Changsha and Guiyang submit to Sun Quan’s advance. Hao Pu initially holds the city. Lyu Meng then uses Hao Pu’s friend Deng Xuanzhi to deliver a false operational picture: Liu Bei and Guan Yu cannot reach him, so continued resistance has no useful endpoint.

Hao Pu surrenders and only afterward learns that Liu Bei has reached Gong’an and Guan Yu is near Yiyang. His case therefore does not establish cowardice or inevitable defeat. It shows how a defender’s decision can change when the expected value of holding is manipulated through a trusted intermediary.

Key Characteristics

• Holds Lingling after two neighboring commanderies submit.
• Makes surrender conditional on his estimate of outside relief rather than immediate city collapse alone.
• Receives the false no-relief picture through a personal friend, increasing its credibility.
• Learns after surrender that friendly forces were closer than he had been told.

Evidence

• Initial resistance: Hanji 1152 distinguishes Hao Pu’s continued defense from the rapid submissions of Changsha and Guiyang.
• Induced surrender: Hanji 1152 says Deng Xuanzhi carries Lyu Meng’s false account of unavailable relief and persuades Hao Pu to leave the city.
• Revealed information gap: Hanji 1152 has Lyu Meng show the recall order after surrender, exposing the proximity of Liu Bei and Guan Yu.

Qualifications

The current profile rests on one popular-history episode. Hao Pu’s exact title, the dialogue, Deng Xuanzhi’s role, the city’s military condition, relief timing, and the counterfactual outcome of continued resistance require comparison with underlying historical texts. A manipulated decision does not prove that holding would ultimately have succeeded.

What Changed

• Created from Hanji 1152 as the defender-side case for surrender under a false no-relief picture.

Relationships

• 吕蒙 - opposing commander who engineers the false relief assessment.
• 零陵郡 - commandery Hao Pu initially defends and then surrenders.
• 刘备 - ruler whose arrival is concealed from Hao Pu during the surrender approach.
• 关羽 - relief commander whose proximity is falsely denied.
• 虚假无援诱降 - mechanism that explains the decision change without reducing it to personal weakness.