Is “Bao Xin sent his younger brother Bao Zhong to fight and was killed” true?
In Chapter 5 of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it is written that Bao Xin, the Chancellor of Jibei, fearing that Sun Jian would seize the first merit, 'secretly ordered his younger brother Bao Zhong to lead three thousand infantry and cavalry, taking a shortcut to directly reach the pass to challenge a battle.' As a result, Bao Zhong was 'cut down from his horse by Hua Xiong with a single stroke of his sword.' However, in the main text of the Records of the Three Kingdoms, Book of Wei, Biography of Emperor Wu, it only records that 'Bao Xin, the Chancellor of Jibei, simultaneously raised troops,' and does not mention that Bao Xin had a younger brother named Bao Zhong. The story of Bao Zhong seizing the merit and being killed is purely a fictional invention of the novel.
The novel fabricates the plot where Bao Xin sent his younger brother Bao Zhong to seize the first merit and was killed by Hua Xiong; there is no such person as Bao Zhong in the official history.
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