and held it permanently as his headquarters. For the next few years, while he was ostensibly a Han Zhao general, with Zhang's assistance he expanded the territory he held to most of the area north of the Yellow River. By 316, Shi had (presumably under authority granted by the Han Zhao emperor Liu Cong) created Zhang the Marquess of Puyang. In 319, after Shi declared independence from Han Zhao and its new emperor Liu Yao, thus creating Later Zhao, Zhang served as the prime minister. Zhang died in early 323, and upon his death, Shi mourned him greatly and exclaimed, "Is it that heaven does not wish me to complete great things? Why was the Right Marquess robbed from me?" After Cheng Xia, a capable administrator but not the strategist that Zhang was (and the brother of Shi's concubine Consort Cheng), succeeded Zhang, Shi often sighed, "The Right Marquess abandoned me and let me work with this man. Was it not cruel for him to do so?" References Former Zhao people Later Zhao generals Sixteen Kingdoms chancellors 323 deaths 3rd-century births