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entity Updated 2026-08-26

刘繇 / Liu Yao (late Han)

Hanji 983 first introduces Liu Yao as the Han-appointed Yangzhou governor whose seat at 寿春 is unavailable because 袁术 holds it. Liu Yao therefore moves south of the Yangtze, initially accepts 吴景 and 孙贲 at 曲阿, then expels them when he fears Yuan Shu and 孙策 will swallow his position.

The same source gives Liu Yao’s first defense line. He stations 樊能 and 于糜 at 横江 and 张英 at 当利口, while Yuan Shu counters by appointing 惠衢 and ordering an attack.

Hanji 992 backfills Liu Yao as the Jiangdong power whose position makes 袁术 underestimate 孙策. Yuan Shu assumes Liu Yao’s hold around Qu’a, together with 王朗 in Kuaiji, will keep Sun Ce from succeeding after he leaves to help 吴景 at 横江.

Hanji 993 backfills Liu Yao before the Yuzhang route-choice branch. 孙策 attacks Liu Yao’s Niuzhu camp, captures stores, defeats positions tied to 薛礼 and 笮融, and presses toward Qu’a. Liu Yao has access to 太史慈 during this pressure, but does not make him a general.

The episode’s Liu Yao lesson is personnel misrecognition. A recommendation says Taishi Ci can be appointed as a great general, but Liu Yao hesitates because he fears 许劭 would laugh at the appointment. He sends Taishi Ci to scout instead; at 神亭岭之战, Taishi Ci’s direct fight with Sun Ce makes his ability visible too late. This source therefore adds Liu Yao as the negative case anchoring 门第筛选式人才误判.

Hanji 995 then continues Liu Yao as the Han-recognized official trying to choose a survival route after moving from Dantu. He initially considers 会稽郡, but Xu Shao argues that Kuaiji is rich, exposed to the sea, and wanted by Sun Ce, making it dangerous as a refuge.

Xu Shao advises 豫章郡 instead because it keeps Liu Yao connected north toward Yu and west toward Jing, gives him room to settle officials and people, and preserves the chance that 曹操 or 刘表 may later support him as a legitimate Han刺史. Liu Yao then stations at Pengze and sends 笮融 to support 朱皓 against 袁术’s appointee 诸葛玄, but Ze Rong kills Zhu Hao and occupies Yuzhang.

The page keeps Liu Yao source-scoped as a route-and-personnel judgment case. His plan has a coherent 安全第一政治生存 logic, but his use of Ze Rong shows how a correct geographic assessment can still fail when actor character is misread.

Hanji 1028 gives the immediate transition after Liu Yao’s defeat and death. Liu Yao has fled to 豫章郡, while 太史慈 claims the Danyang administrator title and gathers 山越 support before 孙策 captures and incorporates him. After Liu Yao dies in Yuzhang, his remaining soldiers try to make 华歆 their leader, but Hua Xin refuses.

Hanji 1029 adds the aftermath of that refusal. Liu Yao’s remaining force is leaderless, so Sun Ce sends Taishi Ci to reassure willing and unwilling followers rather than treating them only as enemies. Liu Yao’s posthumous role is therefore to create a succession-and-absorption problem that Sun Ce handles through trust-based delegation.

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