some 20 days, he decided to withdraw his troops when he learnt that Wei reinforcements were approaching. Death The Wei imperial court issued a decree to praise Hao Zhao for his valiant defence of Chencang and confer him the title of a marquis to reward him for his achievements. When Hao Zhao came to the Wei imperial capital Luoyang later, the Wei emperor Cao Rui had a meeting with him. Cao Rui told Sun Zi (孫資), an official from the same hometown as Hao Zhao: "Your hometown has such bold and forthright men. What's there for me to worry about if I have generals as fiery as them?" He wanted to assign greater responsibilities to Hao Zhao, but Hao Zhao became critically ill and eventually died not long later. Before his death, Hao Zhao told his son Hao Kai (郝凱): "As a general, I know what a general shouldn't do. I've dug up many graves to obtain wood for making battle equipment, so I know a grand funeral is of no use to the dead. (After I die,) you must dress me in plain clothing. In life, we have a place to live in; in death, where can we go? It's up to you to decide where my grave will be, be it in the north, south, east or west." In popular culture Qin Fanxiang portrayed Hao Zhao in the 2010 Chinese television series Three Kingdoms. See also Lists of people of the Three Kingdoms References Notes Inline citation Primary sources Chen, Shou (3rd century). Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi). Pei, Songzhi (5th century). Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi zhu). Sima, Guang (1084). Zizhi Tongjian. Yue, Shi (10th century). Taiping Huanyu Ji. Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Cao Wei generals People from Taiyuan Generals from Shanxi