Biography
Early Bureaucratic Role and Keen Insight
Zhao Yao was an early Western Han official whose early lineage remains unrecorded. By 202 BCE, he served as Imperial Secretary for Tallies and Seals under Emperor Gaozu (Liu Bang), an intimate administrative position granting access to imperial deliberations. The local magistrate Duke of Fangyu presciently warned Imperial Counselor Zhou Chang that the youthful Zhao Yao possessed extraordinary talent and would eventually supplant him.
The Stratagem to Protect Prince Liu Ruyi
When Emperor Gaozu fell into deep melancholy over the perilous position of his young favorite son, Prince Liu Ruyi of Zhao, facing the merciless vengeance of Empress Lu after his eventual death, the court remained silent. Zhao Yao approached the emperor and precisely voiced Gaozu's unspoken dilemma. Zhao proposed appointing a chancellor to Zhao whose moral prestige and uncompromising rectitude would intimidate Empress Lu and court ministers alike, identifying Zhou Chang as the sole candidate. Gaozu embraced the plan, reassigning Zhou Chang as Chancellor of Zhao.
Elevation to Imperial Counselor and Purge
Recognizing Zhao Yao's acute political wisdom, Gaozu appointed him Imperial Counselor in 198 BCE, elevating him to the Three Excellencies. Following military campaigns suppressing the Chen Xi insurrection, Zhao was enfeoffed as Marquis of Jiangyi with a domain of 600 households. In 195 BCE, Zhao was dispatched alongside Shen Yiji to investigate treasonous communications involving King Lu Wan of Yan. Following Gaozu's demise and the death of Zhou Chang, Empress Dowager Lu retaliated against Zhao Yao for having masterminded the defense of Liu Ruyi. In 187 BCE, she stripped him of high office and nobility, ending his political career.