郑朋 / Zheng Peng (Western Han)

Overview

郑朋 / Zheng Peng enters the wiki through Hanji 478 as a Western Han court actor whose failed attachment to 萧望之 turns into resentment and then accusation through 史高’s outer-relative side. Hanji 468 supplies the first attachment moment: Zheng attacks the Xu-Shi side, wins encouragement from Zhou Kan and Xiao, and receives a promise of future benefit. Hanji 469 then shows Zheng learning enough to become dangerous and defecting after Xiao cuts him off.

Current Profile

The source set gives Zheng Peng a compact but sharp profile: he has connections to Zhou Kan, uses the rivalry between Xiao’s side and Shi Gao’s side to enter Xiao’s circle, and initially gains validation by accusing Shi Gao and the Xu-Shi outer-relative network of dangerous private patronage. He is later rejected when Xiao judges him corrupt or untrustworthy. Zheng then carries disappointed expectation and private resentment into factional politics, moving toward Shi Gao and 许章 and supplying accusations against Xiao Wangzhi, Zhou Kan, and Liu Gengsheng.

Zheng Peng therefore matters less as an independent policy figure than as a mechanism of political injury. The source uses him to show how a private slight can become public accusation when an ambitious person finds a hostile faction willing to use his grievance.

Key Characteristics

• Former friend or associate of Zhou Kan in the episode’s account.
• Attempts to attach himself to Xiao Wangzhi by attacking the Xu-Shi side, earns encouragement and expectations of reward, but is later rejected as untrustworthy.
• Turns resentment against Xiao Wangzhi into factional alignment with Shi Gao’s side.
• Supplies accusations used against Xiao Wangzhi, Zhou Kan, and Liu Gengsheng.
• Helps show how a weak boundary around an ambitious attaché can become a later procedural weapon.
• Illustrates how private grievance can become political weaponry.

Evidence

Failed attachment:

• Hanji 468 says Zheng Peng tries to attach himself to Xiao Wangzhi by memorializing against the Xu and Shi families, accusing Shi Gao of planting retainers and plotting dangerously.
• Hanji 468 says Zhou Kan praises Zheng’s memorial, sends him to await summons at Jinma Gate, and Xiao encourages Zheng to work hard with the promise of future benefit.
• Hanji 469 says Zheng Peng enters Xiao Wangzhi and Zhou Kan’s circle during factional conflict and often attacks Shi Gao and Xu Zhang in memorials.
• Hanji 478 says Zheng Peng was connected to Zhou Kan and tried to attach himself to Xiao Wangzhi.
• Hanji 469 says Xiao later sees Zheng as corrupt and tells Zhou Kan to stay away from him.
• Hanji 478 says Xiao Wangzhi saw Zheng as wicked or corrupt and cut him off.

Accusation channel:

• Hanji 469 says Zheng defects to Shi Gao and Xu Zhang, blaming earlier anti-Shi-Gao attacks on Zhou Kan and Liu Gengsheng.
• Hanji 469 says Zheng joins Hua Long in the accusation sequence that sends Xiao Wangzhi and Zhou Kan toward Tingwei custody.
• Hanji 478 says Zheng Peng turns toward Shi Gao’s outer-relative group and provides accusations that help remove Xiao Wangzhi, Zhou Kan, and Liu Gengsheng.

Qualifications

This page is source-scoped to Hanji 478, Hanji 469, and Hanji 468. It does not settle Zheng Peng’s full offices, exact relationship to Zhou Kan, the content of his accusations, his later fate, or the broader legal record around Xiao Wangzhi’s fall.

What Changed

• Added Hanji 468’s first-attachment layer: Zheng’s anti-Xu-Shi accusation receives Zhou Kan and Xiao Wangzhi’s approval, creating the frustrated expectation that helps explain his later reversal.

Relationships

• 萧望之 - rejected Zheng Peng and later became a target of his accusations.
• 周堪 - earlier associate and later target in the accusation field.
• 史高 and 许章 - recipient side of Zheng Peng’s defection after Xiao rejects him.
• 华龙 - accusation partner in Hanji 469.
• 投机型朝堂站队 - concept Zheng Peng illustrates through resentment-driven factional movement.