Is “Whether Zhang He defected to Cao Cao because of Guo Tu's slander” true?
based on fact
Sanguozhi (Wei, biographies of Zhang, Yue, Yu, Zhang and Xu) confirms the slander: 「郃快军败，出言不逊。」「郃惧，乃归太祖。」 Romance of the Three Kingdoms additionally has Gao Lan defect alongside him and has Guo Tu force the defection by forging word that Yuan Shao meant to execute them both — that layer is the novel's invention.
Guo Tu
Sanguozhi does have Guo Tu slander Zhang He; the novel adds Gao Lan and a forged execution order.
This page was extracted from classical texts with AI assistance and revised; errors remain possible. Spotted a mistake? Tell us →