Fan Ju

Also known as Zhang Lu · Ying Hou · Fan Sui

Fan Ju, courtesy name Shu, was a native of Wei who first served the Wei official Xu Jia. On a mission to Qi he received gifts from King Xiang for his eloquence; Xu Jia suspected treachery and told the Wei chancellor Wei Qi, who had him beaten until his ribs and teeth broke and left for dead. Rescued, he took the name Zhang Lu and went to Qin, where he urged King Zhaoxiang to befriend distant states while attacking near ones and to take power back from the Queen Dowager Xuan and her kin, driving the Marquis of Rang and three other lords beyond the passes. Made chancellor in 266 BC and enfeoffed at Ying, he humiliated Xu Jia and hounded Wei Qi to suicide. His agents led Zhao to replace Lian Po with Zhao Kuo at Changping. When his nominees Zheng Anping and Wang Ji failed him, he proposed Cai Ze as successor and resigned. The Qin chronicle from Shuihudi dates Zhang Lu's death to King Zhaoxiang's fifty-second year.