Jia Kui

Jia Kui (onyomi: Ka Ki) is a strategist of the Kingdom of Wei. He was the father of Jia Chong and served as a strategist to Cao Xiu during the Battle of Shiting. He did not trust Zhou Fang's defection and although his advice was not heeded, he later rescued his superior after being isolated by the Wu forces.

Roles in Games
Jia Kui appears as an officer of Wei during their later battles. In Dynasty Warriors 4, Jia Kui tries to warn Cao Xiu about Zhou Fang's defection and the player must stop him for the plan to succeed. He is a prominent Wei officer in Dynasty Warriors 6, where he appears as early as Chang Ban and continues to do so until the final stages. The sequel only has him appear during Wu's second part of Dongkou, while Dynasty Warriors 8 has him appear in both Shu's and Wu's later stages. He is also featured in Shu's hypothetical route, fighting for Wei in Luoyang and Xuchang.

Jia Kui is a decent officer in Romance of the Three Kingdoms who is well versed in both military and domestic affairs. The eleventh installment gives him a skill that doubles the amount of HP recovered when repairing or building military facilities. Due to his high politics skill, this makes him an excellent officer to fortify one's territory.

Historical Information
Jia Kui was from Hedong prefecture in Si Province. Although he came from a proper family, his father died when he was young and the family became poor rather quickly. Because of this, he did not have warm clothes during the winter and was forced to borrow them from his uncle Liu Fu. Still, he became known as an adept scholar. In 202, Jia Kui resisted the forces of Guo Yuan in Jiangcheng in Hedong. The elders in the city promised to surrender to Guo Yuan if he did not harm Jia Kui, to which Guo Yuan agreed. Afterwards, he tried to force Jia Kui to defect to Yuan Shang, but Jia Kui refused and Guo Yuan threatened to kill him. The people in the city found out and in turn threatened to riot should Guo Yuan break his word and Guo Yuan only threw Jia Kui into prison. The latter was eventually able to escape with the help of one of his guards, Zhu Gongdao. He only learned the name of the guard later when the latter was sentenced to death after committing a crime. Jia Kui tried to have him pardoned, but he was still executed and Jia Kui conducted mourning rituals for him.

Before the siege of Jiangcheng began, Jia Kui had sent a messenger to Pishi county, ordering the soldiers there to fortify the city. After Guo Yuan had captured Jiangcheng, Jia Kui tricked the invaders into halting at the city for a day, allowing Cao Cao's army to arrive at Pishi. Guo Yuan was eventually killed by Pang De of Ma Teng's forces. Later that year, Jia Kui became a magistrate in Hongnong and defended the area against an assault of Gao Gan. When Gao Gan tried to ally with Zhang Yan, Jia Kui pretended to be a supporter of Zhang Yan and caught Gao Gan's forces off guard, destroying them in the process. In 208, Jia Kui and two of his colleagues protested Cao Cao's plan to attack Sun Quan. Cao Cao intended to punish those who wrote the letters, but Jia Kui insisted that he was the only one who wrote them. He was thrown into prison and later pardoned when Cao Cao began to admire his loyalty.

When Cao Cao fought Ma Chao, Jia Kui was Governor of Hongnong and later became Chief Secretary of the Prime Minister after being dismissed from his previous position. He served Cao Cao as a military adviser during the Hanzhong campaign and worked together with Xiahou Shang as a quartermaster of the army. When Cao Pi came to power and created the Wei Dynasty, Jia Kui was further promoted and became Governor of Yeling, Weijun and Prefect of Yuzhou. He advised the border officers not to suppress those who defected upon hearing about Cao Cao's death and, when Cao Zhang arrived in Luoyang and asked for the seal, Jia Kui told him not to ask such questions because it would make it seem as if Cao Zhang intended to take the throne for himself. During his time as governor, he proved to be a capable administrator, punishing corrupt officials, restoring order in the areas and increasing farmland by building numerous dams. He also built large reservoirs after tunneling through mountains and prepared Yu Province against sudden assaults from Wu by building watchtowers and repairing weapons and armor. For his efforts, Cao Pi named him Guannei Marquis.

When Cao Pi started his campaign against Wu, Jia Kui defeated Lu Fan in battle. Later, during Cao Rui's reign, Jia Kui was dispatched to aid Cao Xiu in his invasion of Wu. After general Zhou Fang defected, Jia Kui did not trust him and advised Cao Xiu to reject the defection. However, Cao Xiu did not listen and the Wei forces were heavily defeated at Shiting. Jia Kui broke through the enemy lines and rescued Cao Xiu. He died shortly after the battle and Cao Rui gave his the title Marquis Su (Respectful Lord). His wife was the daughter of Liu Fu and their son Jia Chong became one of the highest ministers during the Jin Dynasty. His granddaughter Jia Nanfeng would eventually become Empress.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Jia Kui first appears in chapter 39 of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. When Cao Zhang arrived in Luoyang, he asked Jia Kui who was in possession of the Imperial Seal, to which Jia Kui answered that it was in possession of the eldest son, Cao Pi, and he should not ask something like this. They continued to walk until Jia Kui asked Cao Zhang if he came as a mourner or a rival contender. Cao Zhang answered that he came as a mourner and Jia Kui in turn asked why he brought his soldiers with him. Cao Zhang then ordered his men to retire. In chapter 79, he and Sima Yi go to reinforce Cao Xiu at Shiting. He was almost put to death for opposing Cao Xiu's plans and later rescued his superior. He is last mentioned in chapter 111 as Jia Chong's father.