Luoyang for an audience with Cao Pi, who brought him to a newly constructed hall and asked him for his opinion on how to conquer Wu. Cao Pi compared Zhang Liao to Shao Hu (召虎). He also had a new mansion constructed for Zhang Liao and invited Zhang Liao's mother to live there. All the foot soldiers who accompanied Zhang Liao in the battles against Wu were reassigned to the huben (虎賁; "rapid as tigers") unit of the Imperial Guards. In 221, after Sun Quan pledged allegiance to Wei again, Cao Pi reassigned Zhang Liao from Hefei to the garrison at Yongqiu (雍丘; present-day Qi County, Henan), where Zhang Liao fell sick. When Cao Pi learnt that Zhang Liao was ill, he sent Liu Ye to visit Zhang Liao and bring along an imperial physician to treat him. He also ordered the huben guards to serve as messengers to constantly update him on Zhang Liao's condition – to the point where these messengers frequently encountered each other along the way while they were travelling between Cao Pi and Zhang Liao's locations. Later on, before Zhang Liao had recovered, Cao Pi visited him, held his hand, gave him an imperial robe as a gift, and ordered his servants to prepare imperial cuisine for Zhang Liao. Zhang Liao returned to the garrison after his condition improved significantly. Death In 222, after Sun Quan broke ties with Wei and declared himself the independent ruler of his Eastern Wu state, Cao Pi ordered Zhang Liao and Cao Xiu to lead a naval fleet to Hailing (海陵; around present-day Taizhou, Jiangsu), directly facing Wu territory across the river. Sun Quan was afraid when he heard that Zhang Liao was there, and he warned his generals: "Zhang Liao may be ill, but he is still a foe to be reckoned with. Be careful!" Zhang Liao and the other Wei generals defeated the Wu forces led by Lü Fan. However, his condition worsened and he died not long later in Jiangdu (江都; present-day Jiangdu District, Yangzhou, Jiangsu). Cao Pi cried when he learnt of Zhang Liao's death. He awarded Zhang Liao the posthumous title "Marquis Gang" (剛侯), which literally means "resolute marquis". In 225, in commemoration of Zhang Liao and Li Dian for their contributions at the Battle of Xiaoyao Ford in 214–215, Cao Pi issued an imperial decree: "During the Battle of Hefei, Zhang Liao and