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卷四十七 吳書二 吳主傳

Volume 47: Book of Wu 2 - Biography of the Lord of Wu

Chapter 47 of 三國志 · Records of the Three Kingdoms
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1
使 "祿 "
This is Sun Quan, whose courtesy name was Zhongmou. After his elder brother Sun Ce had brought the commanderies to heel, Sun Quan was only fifteen; he was named magistrate of Yangxian. 〈According to the Jiang Biao Zhuan, while Sun Jian served as assistant magistrate of Xiapi, Quan was born with a broad jaw and a wide mouth and eyes that shone with unusual fire; Jian was struck by the omen and took it as a sign of noble destiny. When Sun Jian died, Sun Ce began his enterprise in the lands east of the Yangzi, and Quan was always at his side. He was generous in temper and clear in judgment, kind-hearted but resolute when it mattered; he delighted in bold companions and in gathering talented men about him, and people first took note of him as a figure who could stand beside his father and brothers. Whenever he took part in counsel, Sun Ce was astonished by his insight and privately conceded that he could not match him. At feasts with his guests he would turn to Quan and say, "These men, my lord, are the generals you will one day lead."〉 The commandery put him forward as "Filially Pious and Incorrupt," the province nominated him as a "Flourishing Talent," and he held the acting post of Colonel Establishing Righteousness. The Han court, acknowledging that Sun Ce had long discharged his tribute and duties from a distance, sent the envoy Liu Wan to invest him with rank and honors. Liu Wan told people privately, "I have watched the Sun brothers: each is clever and capable, yet none of them, I think, is destined to die in his full measure of years and luck." Only the middle son, the one recommended as Filially Pious and Incorrupt, has a strange, imposing presence and bones not like other men; he carries the look of the greatest fortune and will outlive them all. Mark my words about him.
2
"? 滿 "使 使 退
In Jian'an 4 (199 CE) he campaigned with Sun Ce against Liu Xun, governor of Lujiang. After Liu Xun fell, they advanced against Huang Zu at Shaxian. The fifth year (200 CE). When Sun Ce died, rule passed to Sun Quan, who wept without catching his breath. Chief clerk Zhang Zhao said, "You are Filially Incorrupt—can this be a time for tears alone? The Duke of Zhou set the model and Bo Qin could not follow it in every detail—not to spite his father, but necessity forbade it." 〈Pei Songzhi cites the Record of Rites—Zengzi asked Zixia: "Three years' mourning—affairs of metal and leather none avoid—is this ritual? Originally did officials grant it?" Confucius said: "I heard from Lao Peng—in old days Duke Bo Qin of Lu had cause and did it." Zheng Xuan annotates: "Zhou people after ending weeping returned to duties. At that time Xu Rong raised trouble—Bo Qin after ending weeping campaigned against them—urgent kingly business." Zhang Zhao's remark that Bo Qin "did not imitate" refers to this.〉 Traitors and wolves swarm the roads; to cling to family grief and ceremony now is to open your gates and bow to robbers—that is not humanity. They changed his clothes, set him on horseback, and sent him out to review the army. He controlled only the coastal commands; rugged districts still held out, heroes waited in every province, and wanderers weighed survival—nothing yet felt like a settled throne. Zhang Zhao and Zhou Yu believed Sun Quan could accomplish greatness and gave him their full loyalty. Cao Cao memorialized him as general who smashes rebels and governor of Kuaiji, based at Wu, with an aide managing commandery documents. He treated Zhang Zhao as tutor and minister; Zhou Yu, Cheng Pu, and Lü Fan commanded the troops. He recruited talent—Lu Su and Zhuge Jin were among the first retainers. He deployed generals to pacify the Shanyue and punish those who refused orders. 〈The Jiang Biao Zhuan says Sun Ce had appointed Li Shu over Lujiang; after Ce died Li Shu rejected Sun Quan and sheltered rebels. Sun Quan demanded his submission; Li Shu replied that the worthy attract followers and the unworthy lose them—he would not return." Quan greatly angry—thereupon with situation reported Lord Cao saying: "Inspector Yan once was used by Duke—and also province's recommended general—yet Li Shu vicious, lightly violated Han regulations, cruelly injured provincial officers, indulged his lawlessness—should speedily exterminate, thereby punish ugly types. Attacking him would purge the realm for the court and avenge the promoted general—a righteous cause Sun Quan embraced night and day. Li Shu would panic and plead falsely for Wei rescue. Illustrious Duke's station—Yi Yin responsibility—within seas looks up—please order officials—do not again listen accept." That year Sun Quan attacked Li Shu at Wancheng. Li Shu barred his gates and begged Cao Cao for aid. Cao Cao did not send relief. When grain ran out some women swallowed pellets of clay. Sun Quan sacked the city, exposed Li Shu's head, and resettled thirty thousand of his troops.〉
3
In the seventh year of Jian'an, Sun Quan's mother, Lady Wu, passed away.
4
西 使
In the eighth year he marched west against Huang Zu, shattered Huang's river flotilla, and would have taken the city had not fresh uprisings among the hill bandits forced him to turn back. On the march home he came through Yuzhang and detached Lü Fan to bring order to Poyang, The same disposition extended to Kuaiji. Cheng Pu reduced Le'an. Taishi Ci took charge of Haichun, while Han Dang, Zhou Tai, Lü Meng, and others were posted as magistrates to the most troublesome counties.
5
In the ninth year Sun Yi, Quan's younger brother and the Administrator of Danyang, was murdered by his own attendants; Quan gave the post to his cousin Sun Yu. 〈The Wu lu records that while Sun Quan was hosting a full gathering of officials, Shen You pronounced on what was right and wrong; Sun Quan had him seized and dragged out, saying, "Word is that you mean to rebel." Shen You, seeing there was no mercy, retorted, "The Son of Heaven sits at Xu, yet there are those who acknowledge no lord above them—is that not the true face of rebellion?" They put him to death on the spot. Shen You, courtesy Zizheng, came from Wu commandery. At eleven, when Hua Xin toured the commandery to observe customs, he noticed the boy, was startled by him, and called, "Master Shen, will you step into my carriage and talk?" Shen You drew back and answered, "A gentleman keeps friendship within the bounds of propriety; a banquet ought to observe the rites. Now humanity and duty lie in ruins and the Way of the sages is wearing thin; you carry a mandate to restore the teaching of the ancient kings and to bring the people back to good customs, yet you cast off dignity as if it were nothing. That is like piling fuel on a fire—will it not only make the flames leap higher?" Hua Xin, abashed, said, "From the days of Emperors Huan and Ling to now, for all the worthy men we have seen, never a boy like this one." By his twenties he had read widely, tied many disciplines together, and wrote with uncommon skill. He took an equal interest in war and annotated the Art of War. He was a formidable debater: wherever he appeared, listeners fell silent because no one could match him; people said the excellence of his pen, his tongue, and his sword each outshone ordinary men. Sun Quan welcomed him with full courtesy. Once he arrived, they spoke of true kingship versus mere hegemony and the pressing business of the day, and Quan straightened his robe and listened with deep respect. He urged a design for absorbing Jingzhou, and Quan took his advice. He held himself upright at court and his moral judgments cut hard; petty officials envied him and fabricated a charge of treason. Quan decided he would never be a reliable instrument and had him executed; he was twenty-nine.〉
6
使
In the tenth year Sun Quan sent He Qi against Shangrao and carved out part of the region as the new county of Jianping.
7
西
In the twelfth year he marched west again against Huang Zu. He carried off the population and withdrew.
8
使 使 退 使 使 退
Early in the thirteenth year Sun Quan struck Huang Zu once more; Huang sent river troops to bar his path, but Lü Meng, as commandant of the van, shattered the enemy spearhead. Ling Tong, Dong Xi, and the rest threw in their crack units, stormed the walls, and put the defenders to the sword. Huang Zu broke and ran on foot; the trooper Feng Ze ran him down, took his head for the camp trophy, and the Wu forces seized tens of thousands of civilians and soldiers. The same year he ordered He Qi to pacify Yi and She, Yi: pronounced yi. The county name She is pronounced like the English word "she," corresponding to Mandarin shè.〉 He split off from She the counties Shixin and Xinding, 〈The Wu lu adds that under the Jin the name Xinding was changed to Sui'an.〉 The new units also included the counties of Liyang and Xiuyang. 〈The Wu lu notes that the Jin later renamed Xiuyang to Haining.〉 Those six counties were grouped into the new Xindu commandery. When Liu Biao, Governor of Jingzhou, died, Lu Su asked leave to mourn his sons and to feel out the political ground. Lu Su had not yet arrived when Cao Cao's army closed on the province; Liu Cong yielded the entire force without a fight. Liu Bei meant to slip south across the Yangzi; Lu Su met him, relayed Sun Quan's wishes, and spelled out what victory or ruin would mean. Liu Bei fell back to Xiakou and sent Zhuge Liang to Sun Quan, who in turn ordered Zhou Yu, Cheng Pu, and others to take the field. Cao Cao had just absorbed Liu Biao's armies and his strength looked overwhelming. At council after council, most advisers lost heart at the rumor of his approach and pressed Sun Quan to submit. 〈The Jiang Biao Zhuan preserves Cao Cao's letter to Sun Quan: "I have lately received the imperial command to chastise wrongdoing; my standards face south; Liu Cong has already surrendered. I am now training eight hundred thousand men of the water forces and mean to join you, General, for a hunt in the land of Wu." When Sun Quan read it aloud to his court, every face went white with dread.〉 Only Zhou Yu and Lu Su argued for defiance; their view matched Quan's own. Zhou Yu and Cheng Pu were named commanders of the left and right wings, each at the head of ten thousand; with Liu Bei they moved upstream, met Cao Cao at Chibi, and broke his host decisively. Cao Cao fired his surviving ships and retreated north; hunger and plague wasted his ranks until more than half were gone. Liu Bei, Zhou Yu, and the allies pressed the pursuit as far as Nan commandery. Cao Cao then rode north, leaving Cao Ren and Xu Huang to hold Jiangling and Yue Jin to guard Xiangyang. Meanwhile Gan Ning was bottled up at Yiling by Cao Ren's detachments; following Lü Meng's plan, Sun Quan left Ling Tong to pin Cao Ren while half the army slipped away to relieve Gan Ning, and the column marched home in triumph. Sun Quan himself invested Hefei while Zhang Zhao struck at Dangtu in Jiujiang. Zhang Zhao's offensive stalled, and though Sun Quan hammered Hefei for more than a month, the walls held. Cao Cao, marching back from Jingzhou, ordered Zhang Xi to hurry cavalry to the relief of Hefei. Sun Quan broke camp and left before Zhang Xi could arrive.
9
Through the fourteenth year Zhou Yu and Cao Ren glared at each other across the lines for over a year, and the butcher's bill on both sides was enormous. At last Cao Ren abandoned Jiangling and fled. Sun Quan named Zhou Yu Administrator of Nan commandery. Liu Bei submitted a memorial recommending that Sun Quan be given acting rank as General of Chariots and Cavalry and Governor of Xu Province. Liu Bei took the title of Governor of Jingzhou for himself and camped at Gong'an.
10
In the fifteenth year the western part of Yuzhang was split off as Poyang commandery; the eastern fringe of Changsha became Hanchang commandery. Lu Su was appointed to the new command and took station at Lukou.
11
In the sixteenth year Sun Quan transferred his capital to Moling. The following year he ringed Shitou with walls and renamed Moling Jianye. Learning that Cao Cao planned a new invasion, he threw up the Ruxu dock fortifications.
12
退 使 西
In the first month of the eighteenth year Cao Cao struck at Ruxu; Sun Quan held him there for over a month. Cao Cao studied Sun Quan's lines—every rank in place, every banner true—and withdrew with a sigh of admiration. 〈The Wu li says Cao Cao advanced from Ruxu, built tar-daubed assault boats, and tried a night landing on the mid-river sandbank. Sun Quan's navy boxed them in and took over three thousand prisoners; thousands more drowned in the dark. Sun Quan taunted him day after day, but Cao Cao stayed behind his walls. Then Sun Quan himself took a light skiff and slipped into Cao Cao's camp from the mouth of the Ruxu channel. His officers assumed it was a daredevil challenger and begged leave to open fire. Cao Cao said, "That can only be Sun Quan come to survey my dispositions in person." He ordered the ranks to stand fast and forbade the archers to loose a single bolt without word. Sun Quan cruised five or six li through the enemy water camp, swung his boat about, and had his musicians strike up a fanfare as he withdrew. Watching the trim of hulls, gear, and soldiery, Cao Cao murmured, "The man worth fathering is a son like Sun Zhongmou; Liu Biao's boys are only piglets and pups by comparison." Sun Quan sent him a brush note: "The spring freshets are climbing; you had best march while your road is dry." On another sheet he added, "While you live, I shall never sleep soundly." Cao Cao showed the notes to his commanders and said, "Sun Quan speaks plain truth; I will not call him a liar." He struck his tents and marched north that same day. The Wei lüe adds another tale: Sun Quan came out in a great tower ship to reconnoitre; Cao Cao ordered a blind volley of bolts until one flank of the hull was so thick with shafts that the vessel listed and nearly rolled; Sun Quan had the helm put about, presented the untouched side to the archers until the weight balanced, and then sailed calmly away.〉 Earlier, fearing that Sun Quan would strip the Yangzi shore, Cao Cao had ordered the river counties evacuated inland. Panic spread from village to village, and well over a hundred thousand households from Lujiang, Jiujiang, Qichun, and Guangling fled east across the Yangzi to Sun Quan's protection. The left bank was left a wasteland; south of Hefei only Wan still held a garrison.
13
" "" " 使 使使 使 使使 西 駿 便 使 使
In the fifth month of the nineteenth year Sun Quan led an expedition against Wan. He stormed it in the intercalary month. He captured Zhu Guang, the Lujiang administrator, Dong He the army adviser, and tens of thousands of noncombatants. The same year Liu Bei brought the Shu basin under his control. Now that Liu Bei held Yizhou, Sun Quan sent Zhuge Jin to press him for the return of the Jingzhou commanderies promised long before. Liu Bei refused. "I am still planning the conquest of Liangzhou," he said; "once Liangzhou is mine, you may have the whole of Jingzhou." Sun Quan replied, "That is a loan no one intends to repay—only empty talk to stall for time." He therefore appointed magistrates to the three southern Jingzhou districts; Guan Yu expelled every one of them. Furious, Sun Quan ordered Lü Meng, at the head of twenty thousand men under Xianyu Dan, Xu Zhong, Sun Gui, and others, to occupy Changsha, Lingling, and Guiyang. He told Lu Su to bring ten thousand troops to Baqiu 〈The place called Baqiu in old texts is modern Baling.〉 He stationed them there to block Guan Yu's advance. Sun Quan took post at Lukou and coordinated the whole operation. Lü Meng swept in: two commanderies capitulated at once, but Hao Pu, the defender of Lingling, still held out. Then Liu Bei arrived at Gong'an and threw thirty thousand men under Guan Yu toward Yiyang; Sun Quan recalled Lü Meng and his column to reinforce Lu Su. Lü Meng talked Hao Pu into opening his gates; with the three districts secure, every opposing officer had submitted or fled. The Wu host then marched back, joined Sun Jiao and Pan Zhang to Lu Su's corps, and formed a battle line against Guan Yu at Yiyang. Before a blow was struck, Cao Cao drove into Hanzhong; Liu Bei, afraid of losing his new base in the west, sued for peace. Sun Quan had Zhuge Jin carry his reply and negotiate a fresh covenant. They partitioned the province: everything east of the line through Changsha, Jiangxia, and Guiyang went to Wu; Nan commandery, Lingling, and Wuling westward remained with Shu. Liu Bei pulled back, and by then Cao Cao had already quit Hanzhong. Sun Quan doubled back from Lukou and opened a new offensive against Hefei. The walls of Hefei did not fall, and he lifted the siege. As the army filed onto the roads, Sun Quan—still north of the crossing with Ling Tong, Gan Ning, and a small escort—was jumped by Zhang Liao; the bodyguard threw themselves into the fight to shield their lord. Sun Quan spurred a fleet horse across the pontoon and broke clear. 〈The Xian Di Chun Qiu states: Zhang Liao questioned Wu surrenderers: "Just now there was a general with a purple beard, long in the torso and short in the leg, handy on horseback and skilled at archery—who was he?" The surrenderers answered, "That was Sun the Intendant of Kuaiji." When Zhang Liao and Yue Jin compared notes, both cursed their luck at missing him; they gave chase too late, and the Wei army went home cursing the lost chance. The Jiang Biao Zhuan adds that Sun Quan cantered onto the bridge only to find the far span torn away—over a yard of open air and churning water. His groom Gu Li dropped behind the saddle, told him to sit tight and ease the bit, then lashed the horse from the rear; the beast gathered itself and cleared the gap. Once safe, Sun Quan raised Gu Li to village marquis of Duting on the spot. Gu Li had risen from a palace runner; his honesty won him a place at Sun Quan's elbow as overseer of the household. He was blunt, brave, and loyal, never trimming his words, and the ruler prized him for it.〉
14
That winter Cao Cao camped at Ju Chao and struck toward the Ruxu defenses.
15
使
The next spring Sun Quan sent Commandant Xu Xiang to sue for terms; Cao Cao answered with his own envoys, patched up the truce, and renewed the marriage bond between the two houses.
16
In the tenth month of the twenty-third year of Jian'an he set out for Wu and, still in the saddle, hunted a tiger at the Chengtang lodge. 〈The commentary spells the syllable cheng by the fanqie pair shu-ling, the standard way to indicate its pronunciation.〉 The beast mauled his mount; Sun Quan flung a pair of halberds and drove the wounded tiger back on its haunches. His bodyguard Zhang Shi finished it with a dagger-axe and dragged the carcass in.
17
使使 西 使 使
In the twenty-fourth year Guan Yu pinned Cao Ren inside Xiangyang; Cao Cao ordered the Left General Yu Jin to march to the rescue. Then the Han swelled into a torrent; Guan Yu's boats rounded up Yu Jin's thirty thousand foot and horse whole and shipped them down to Jiangling, while Xiangyang town itself still held out. Sun Quan dreaded Guan Yu in his gut yet saw a chance to steal the glory; he wrote Cao Cao offering to destroy Guan Yu as proof of fealty. Cao Cao wanted Shu and Wu to bleed each other; he forwarded Sun Quan's letter by relay rider and told Cao Ren to loft it into the siege camp on a crossbow bolt for Guan Yu to read. Guan Yu wavered, unable to march away or stay. In the intercalary month Sun Quan moved against Guan Yu, first despatching Lü Meng to seize Gong'an and bag the general Shi Ren. At Nan commandery Mi Fang handed over the walls; Lü Meng took Jiangling, calmed the civilians, and cut Yu Jin loose from prison. Lu Xun peeled off westward, snapped up Yidu along with Zigui, Zhijiang, and Yidao, then swung back to Yiling to cork the Yangzi gorges against a Shu counterstroke. Guan Yu fell back to Dangyang and holed up in Mai fortress west of the river. Sun Quan sent agents to lure him out. Guan Yu staged a sham capitulation—dummy figures in armor along the parapet—then bolted with a handful of horsemen while his army melted away. Sun Quan had already posted Zhu Ran and Pan Zhang to seal the trails. In the twelfth month Pan Zhang's major Ma Zhong ran Guan Yu, his son Guan Ping, staff officer Zhao Lei, and the last companions to ground at Zhangxiang; with that, Jingzhou belonged to Wu. A plague swept the land that year, and Sun Quan wiped the year's land tax for every household in the conquered province. Cao Cao tabled the court to name Sun Quan General of Agile Cavalry, Governor of Jingzhou with full ceremonial credentials, and Marquis of Nanchang. He sent Commandant Liang Yu west with gifts for the shadow Han court. He told Wang Dun to purchase mounts abroad and returned Cao's captive officers such as Zhu Guang. 〈The Wei Lüe identifies Liang Yu, style Kongru, as a native of Wu. Sun Quan used him as eyes on the northern court; Cao Cao briefly kept him on staff, then sent him home to the south.〉
18
使
In the twenty-fifth year (220 CE), first month, Cao Cao died. Heir Cao Pi succeeded as King of Wei and chancellor; the era became Yankang. That autumn Wei's Mei Fu sent Zhang Jian to seek audience and negotiate surrender. From Nanyang's Yin and Zou's Zhuyang— 〈Note: zhu here is read like zhu "walk."〉 —with Shandu and Zhonglu—five thousand households submitted. That winter Cao Pi assumed the imperial title and proclaimed the era Huangchu.
19
" ? ? "使 "祿 祿 使使使使 !" 使
In the fourth month of Huangwu 2 (223) Liu Bei proclaimed himself emperor in Shu. 〈The Wei Lüe says that when Sun Quan learned Cao Pi had taken the throne and Liu Bei had followed suit, he called in star-readers to ask whether his own asterism favored a higher title—his first serious thought of kingship on his own account. His formal rank was still too slight to overawe his generals, so he chose a calculated path: abase himself first to win Wei patronage, then provoke a northern strike that would unite Wu in anger and justify his own climb. Hence he slammed the door on Shu and courted Wei with redoubled zeal.〉 He shifted the capital from Gong'an to E, renamed the city Wuchang, and grouped Wuchang, Xiazhi, Xunyang, Yangxin, Chaisang, and Shaxian into a new Wuchang commandery. In the fifth month Jianye reported an omen of sweet dew. In the eighth month he ringed Wuchang with new walls and lectured his commanders: "The sages taught that life is safest when ruin is never forgotten, and peace endures only when danger is always in mind." Remember Jun Buyi of Han, who wore steel even in quiet times; a true gentleman never lays aside preparation for war. We live on a border thick with enemies; slackness invites disaster. Lately I hear you ride abroad with a handful of attendants and no bodyguard—that is no way to protect yourselves or give your ruler peace of mind. Better a living name and a calm court than a hero's corpse and a mother's tears. Take this order to heart, arm yourselves as befits your rank, and do not disappoint me again. From the day Cao Pi took the Wei throne, Sun Quan has dispatched missions acknowledging himself as a tributary ruler and has sent home prisoners such as Yu Jin. In the eleventh month the edict of appointment began: "The way of the true king has always been to match titles to moral weight and pay to service rendered." He who toils most earns the richest stipend; he whose de is brightest is honored with the fullest ritual. Thus the Duke of Zhou won his fief for steadying the boy king from the side, and the Grand Duke Lü Wang for his martial nod to Heaven; each received land and the full set of insignia—tokens meant to mark supreme achievement and single out the sage among ministers. In our own Han, when Gaozu first took the mandate, he carved the fertile heartland into kingdoms for eight allies. Their precedent is the polished lesson of antiquity and the tortoise oracle for every throne that follows. We, unworthy as we are, have received Heaven's shift of mandate, face the myriad realms, and grasp the threads of cosmic order. We sit wakeful till dawn, measuring ourselves against those kings of old. You alone unite native loyalty with the clarity of a man Heaven sent to counsel the age; you read the turnings of fate as plainly as lines on a palm. From the distant south you sent boats up the Qian flow where it slips from the greater Han. 〈The Tribute of Yu records the Tuo and Qian channels; the gloss explains that an arm leaving the Yangzi is called Tuo and one leaving the Han is called Qian—your messengers rode that water-road north."〉 You clung to us like a shadow to wind: memorials of submission, bales of southern gauze, and every general We asked for marched north to Our court. Loyal resolve burned inward while good faith shone outward; your trust rings in bronze and stone, your rightness spreads wider than mountain and river. We are deeply pleased. Therefore We create you King of Wu, send Grand Master Zhen with the jade seal, silk-bound patent, gold tiger tallies one to five, and bamboo tallies one to ten, and name you Grand General with authority over Jiao and supervisory charge of Jingzhou; We hand you the clod of blue earth bound in white rushes—receive it and rule the eastern quarter as Our arm. You shall return the old insignia of General of Agile Cavalry and Marquis of Nanchang. We further heap upon you the Nine Distinctions; listen to what follows. First: you have brought peace to the south-east, set the pattern beyond the Yangzi, and given both settler and tribesman honest work so that none wavers in allegiance; therefore We grant you the great ritual chariot and the war chariot, one of each, and two teams of four black bulls. Second: you have urged trade and farming until the granaries groan—take the nine-tasselled court robe and crimson slippers. Third: you have taught the people through moral example until rites flourish—take the half-set of bells and chimes hung as for a feudal lord. Fourth: your kindness has folded the Yue peoples into the realm—take vermilion lacquer for your gates. Fifth: you match post to man with keen judgment—take the inner dais by which ministers mount to audience. Sixth: loyal blades have scourged wickedness from your ranks—take one hundred picked tiger guards. Seventh: your armies have thundered down the Jing corridor, struck off the heads of rebels, and dragged the guilty to justice. Therefore We award you paired execution axes; and because within your court there is pattern and beyond your borders there is awe, We add a crimson bow, a hundred crimson arrows, ten sable bows, and a thousand sable arrows. Finally, since loyalty is your root and frugality your ornament, We grant the dark sacrificial ale in its earthen jar and the jade ladle for pouring libations. Revere this charge. Teach the lessons We have set before you, obey Our word, strengthen Our house, and may your bright deeds never fade. 〈The Jiang Biao Zhuan says his court urged him to proclaim himself "Senior General over the Nine Provinces" instead of taking a title from Wei. Sun Quan answered, "The old books never mention a 'Lord of the Nine Provinces. Even Liu Bang once knelt for a seal from Xiang Yu when the moment demanded it; a temporary bow does not break the back." He took the patent. Sun Sheng objected: "Boyi and Shuqi chose starvation rather than serve the Zhou usurpers; Lu Zhonglian would not call himself a man of conquering Qin. If commoners may cling to honor rather than bow, what excuse has a warlord who holds a third of the realm to blow now hot, now cold—first feigning vassalage, then grasping for the throne? Look at Wu and Shu: both swore they upheld the Han, yet neither could keep honest fealty for a single reign; wise men foresaw from this that their lines would not endure and would be swallowed by the great northern power. Had Sun Quan kept the title of Han general to his dying day, his honor might have filled the cosmos and his mercy echoed down the ages."〉"
20
使使 谿 使 "?"" "" " 使 使 使 西 使 广 使 使 使 西
The same year Liu Bei marched east as far as Wushan and Zigui, sent runners to the Wuling tribes with forged seals, and promised titles and gold if they would turn on Wu. County after county along the Five Streams rose for Shu. Sun Quan named Lu Xun commander-in-chief and put Zhu Ran, Pan Zhang, and the rest under his orders to meet Liu Bei's host. He dispatched Commandant Zhao Zi on embassy to Wei. Cao Pi asked what manner of king Sun Quan was. Zhao Zi answered, "One who combines sharp intelligence, humanity, sagacity, and bold design." Pressed for proof, Zhao Zi said, "His eye for men: he raised Lu Su out of obscurity—that shows his clarity of mind;" he pulled Lü Meng straight from the ranks—that shows his discernment; he took Yu Jin alive yet never maltreated him—that is his humanity; he swallowed Jingzhou without a general slaughter—that is his cunning; he straddles three provinces and eyes the realm like a crouching tiger—that is his martial pride; and he bends the knee to Your Majesty when policy demands—that is his long view. 〈The Wu shu identifies Zhao Zi, style Dedun, as a Nanyang scholar of wide reading and ready tongue whom Sun Quan raised to palace counselor once he took the kingship and then sent north. Cao Pi took a liking to him and needled him: "I suppose your king still finds time to study?" Zhao Zi shot back, "His Majesty keeps ten thousand ships on the river and a million soldiers under arms; he appoints talent to office and thinks only of statecraft. When leisure allows he reads widely in the histories—not to ape bookworms who memorize lines." Cao Pi asked whether Wu could be invaded." Great powers wield punitive hosts," Zhao Zi said; "lesser realms keep walls that do not yield." The emperor pressed: "Then Wu can withstand Wei?" A million troops and the Yangzi and Han for ditches—what is there to fear?" How many envoys of your stamp does Wu breed?" The truly brilliant—eighty or ninety at a guess; men of my middling sort come by the cartload and the peck—too many to count." Zhao Zi shuttled north so often that northerners spoke of him with respect. Sun Quan, hearing the tales, commended him and named him Cavalry Commandant. Zhao Zi urged him: "The north will break faith sooner or later. Our dynasty stands where Han left a four-hundred-year mandate; we should answer Heaven's favor on the southeast by proclaiming a new reign title and fixing the court's colors and dress." Sun Quan took his advice.〉 Cao Pi offered a noble title to Sun Deng; Sun Quan pleaded the boy's youth, memorialized a polite refusal, sent Shen Heng west with further apologies, and forwarded tribute goods. 〈The Wu shu describes Shen Heng, style Zhongshan, as a Wu commandery scholar who in youth mastered the classics and knew the Gongyang and Guliang traditions of the Spring and Autumn inside out. Sun Quan, trusting his wit and his tongue for solo diplomacy, sent him to Luoyang. Cao Pi opened with, "Does your court resent our armies looking east?" Not in the least," said Shen Heng." Why not?" He said, "We trust in the old alliance and have returned to good relations—therefore no resentment. Should Wei tear the pledge, we already keep countermeasures in hand." He pressed again: "Rumor says your heir is coming north—is it so?" I am too low in rank to sit at dawn levees or join palace banquets," Shen Heng said; "I have heard no such plan." Pleased, Cao Pi kept him at his side and talked the day away. Shen Heng parried every question without bending a knee. On his return Shen Heng warned, "I watched Liu Ye, the palace attendant: again and again he whispers stratagems for Wei against us; he will not stay true long. The old maxim says never trust the foe to spare you—trust only in making yourself unbreakable; I urge that thought on our court. Cut corvée elsewhere and pour every spare hand into the fields and mulberry groves to swell the granaries and arsenals; refit ships and wagons, stack spare weapons until every depot overflows; feed soldiers and farmers alike so none wander hungry; summon able men and pay the troops their due—then we may speak of the wider world." For his success on embassy he received the village marquisate of Yong'an and rose to the Junior Minister's office.〉 Sun Quan named Sun Deng crown prince of Wu. 〈The Jiang Biao Zhuan notes that in the same year Cao Pi's envoys asked for sparrowhead incense, giant clams, pearls, ivory, rhino horn, tortoiseshell, peacocks, kingfisher plumes, fighting ducks, and long-crowing roosters. His officials protested: "Jing and Yang already send their statutory tribute; these gewgaws lie outside the rites—we should refuse." Quan said, "Formerly Hu Shi honored Qi as king; a guest challenged him, saying, 'Your doctrine does away with exalting rulers; now you make Qi king—how contrary! Hu Shi replied that if a blow must fall, better a light stone than a child's skull—sometimes the lesser thing must shield the greater." We face war in the northwest; the people along the Yangzi hang their lives on their ruler—are they not my children? What the northerners ask costs us no more than a heap of pebbles—why hoard it? They still wear mourning for their own lord yet send a shopping list like this—this is no time to lecture them on propriety!" He ordered every item sent.〉
21
使 使 西 使使
In Huangwu 1 (222 CE), Song Qian under Lu Xun attacked five Shu camps, overran them all, and slew their commanders. In the third month Poyang reported a yellow dragon. The Shu army held strong positions in more than fifty camps. Lu Xun adjusted his forces from the first month through the leap month and crushed Liu Bei. Tens of thousands were killed, captured, or surrendered on the field. Liu Bei fled alone with his life. 〈The Wu Li says Sun Quan sent envoys to Wei with a full tally of Liu Bei's defeat—seals, heads, land—and recommended honors for his officers. Emperor Wen replied with a badger robe, bright armor, paired horses, and his own Dian Lun with poems. Wei Shu carries edict reply saying: "Old bandit border den—cross peril deep enter—long days endure—inside pressed weary ruin—outside exhausted stratagem—therefore showed body at Jitou—divided troops planning Xiling—their plan merely thought could shift foot former tracks to shake Jiangdong. Even without tearing Liu Bei limb from limb, the slaughter and surrenders would terrify his army. Wu Han burned Jingmen before storming Yiling—Gongsun Shu could not escape; Lai Xi's strike on Lüeyang delighted Guangwu and showed Wei Xiao had no tricks left. Strike Liu Bei as Han struck Shu—General, plan for total victory."〉"
22
Outwardly Sun Quan played the vassal of Wei; inwardly he never opened his heart. Wei proposed sending Xin Pi in his court roles to take the blood oath and to insist on a hostage prince; Sun Quan found excuses and refused. That autumn, in the ninth month, Wei struck on three lines: Cao Xiu, Zhang Liao, and Zang Ba from Dongkou, Cao Ren toward Ruxu, while Cao Zhen, Xiahou Shang, Zhang He, and Xu Huang closed on Nan commandery. Sun Quan gave Lü Fan five armies and river squadrons to meet Cao Xiu, sent Zhuge Jin, Pan Zhang, and Yang Can to the relief of Nan commandery, and left Zhu Huan as Ruxu chief to block Cao Ren. Because hill tribes in Yang and Yue still smoldered and rebels stirred at home, Sun Quan wrote in the humblest terms, promising to mend his ways and adding, If my sins cannot be forgiven, I will hand back every field and subject I hold, and ask only to live out my days as a private man in Jiao Province.
23
使 使 使 便 驿使 使 姿 鸿 殿 殿 宿 殿 殿 使 殿使 使使使 使 使 宿使
Cao Pi answered: You were bred in chaos and once dreamed of carving your own fate; you bent the knee to serve the empire and so won the fortune you hold. From the day you pledged allegiance, your gifts have choked the highways north. The strike that broke Liu Bei was finished only with your help. To dig up what you yourself buried is the shame the classics warn against. 〈The Guoyu says the fox who buried the meat is the fox who digs it up—such work comes to nothing. Between your house and mine the great understanding is fixed; why would I delight in driving hosts to the Han and Yangzi? Policy debated under the palace eaves is not mine alone to fix; the Three Excellencies laid out your misdeeds point by point, and I was slow to see the truth. Even when rumor painted you faithless as Zeng Shen's flight, I prayed the whisper was a lie—for the empire's sake. So I first sent messengers with gifts, then ministers to repeat our bargain and fix the hostage question. You raised new objections and barred their entry—my advisers were baffled. 〈The Wei lüe preserves the Three Excellencies' indictment: "When limbs grow too large they tear the trunk; when the tail grows fat the beast cannot wag it—every dynasty has feared that lesson. Han rose on Qin's ruin while great feudatories still sneered at the throne; Xiao He and Zhang Liang failed to clip their wings early, so six kings rebelled in turn and chariots rolled without cease. Emperors Wen and Jing hoarded peace, forgot the sword, and pampered Wu and Chu until a worm became a dragon—almost costing the dynasty; the past, not forgotten, must school the present. Sun Quan is a green boy who never won an inch of ground by himself; he clings to his father's and brother's mantle, yet repays the egg's warmth with kite cruelty and heaps offense on Heaven's favor. He traded glances with Guan Yu, each chasing advantage, while mouthing submission. Our late emperor saw his cunning but, when Yu Jin drowned and Guan Yu had to be struck, handed him the chore. He shrugged off the late emperor's trust, tried to turn Cao Cao's death into a chance to cripple Luoyang, leaned on Dong Zhao's forged story of edict, seized Xiangyang before Luoyang answered, then played the penitent once he was driven off. His crooked tongue ran on; though he returned Yu Jin under flag of truce, within he played Wei Xiao's double game and without he courted Shu to buy time. This court bore with him, pardoned him, gave him a fresh start—then foolishly crowned him king, let him style himself ruler, heaped titles, finished the Nine Honors, sent a hundred teams of steeds, and made him blaze brighter than any vassal before or since. A cur in tiger's stripes, he forgets he should die in harness to repay kindness without measure. We read his smug memorials: he trusts the river moat, sneers at fealty handed down for generations, apes Zhao Tuo's separatism and Ying Bu's plots, mutters Wu Bei's rebellious slogans—he will never be the sort who keeps peace at the border. Had Chao Cuo not cut the princes down to size while he could, the Seven Kingdoms would have faced the throne as a single bloc and the bloodletting would have lasted longer and run deeper. Had Kuai Tong not pressed Han Xin to storm the Li line, Tian Heng would have nursed his own treason until the crime and the mutiny both swelled beyond remedy. We weigh his case by the Nine Punishments of the Rites of Zhou: fifteen counts of treason and violence stand proved. The Nine Li once defiled the moral order and Huang Di cut them down; Xiang Yu's sins were tenfold, yet Gaozu showed him no mercy. Sun Quan's guilt is plain—not to be nursed by mercy or borne by Heaven. We ask to cashier him, strip fief and title through the Minister of Guests, and clap him in bonds. Should he refuse, march and strike to show how the law loves the loyal and hates the traitor, and to give peace to the people of the three southern provinces." The fifteen-count bill ran too long for the excerpt to carry every line.〉 Recall how Hao Zhou begged you for a hostage—that was our court's probe; you wriggled free, citing Wei Xiao's failed hostage and comparing yourself to Dou Rong the loyalist. Times change; men read the same events with different hearts. When Hao Zhou came home his breathless tale convinced every sceptic; with no sure proof of your good faith left, I bowed to the hawks in council. Reading your latest letter, I feel its anguish in my bones. Today I order every host to dig in and forbid a rash advance. Prove your faith: let Sun Deng reach my capital at dawn and I will sound the recall at dusk. On that pledge I stake as much as the Yangzi holds water! 〈The Wei lüe names Hao Zhou, style Kongyi, a native of Shangdang. Under the Jian'an reign he governed Xiao county and rose to Inspector of Xu. He next commanded the escort for Yu Jin's column; when that army drowned he fell into Guan Yu's hands. Sun Quan's raid on Guan Yu delivered Hao Zhou as well, and Wu treated him as an honored guest. When Cao Pi became King of Wei, Sun Quan sent Hao Zhou north with a letter: "When we destroyed Guan Yu and took Yu Jin, I told your late father at once that the prisoner should be returned. That was sincerity needing no speech—it showed in the deed itself. Your father read ill will into it and never quite trusted me; I burned with honest worry, so the thing dragged on unresolved. Then your father died and you mounted the throne; only then could a son of Wu speak his heart to the north. Public duty and private grief kept us apart, so the old pledge could not yet be spelled out in full. When Liang Yu brought your word, every nuance reached me; I knew then what you expected of me. My loyalty admits no second thought; I beg your clear pardon and ask you to respect what Wu still holds. I send Hao Zhou and Dongli Gun to speak the plain truth Zhou has already laid before you." Another sheet added: "I am shallow stuff, no shining talent; I took the army my father and brother left, won your father's praise, and leaned on Han favor to rule the east. Midway I misjudged things, feared your power, and forgot my debt of honor—that earned me your heavy anger. Yet your father was kind: he forgave old faults and opened a road of good faith. Even when I risked my neck in your camp and brought you Guan Yu's head, the service was trifling—nothing like repaying what I owed. Before the work was done, your father was gone. You took the throne in a flood of grace; I feared my honest word had not yet reached your ears. Liang Yu's visit showed you did not mean to cast me off but would comfort me and trace our old tie. I danced with relief—suddenly I could see again. Your house has favored mine for years; the bond runs deep; I swear one heart for this day—only read my plea and fold me in your mercy again." Another passage said: "Your father saw my good faith proved and meant to pull his troops back—he cleared the Hefei garrison to seal north–south trust and let me march deep without watching my rear. Lately Zhou Tai and Quan Zong wrote that after the sixth a column of seven hundred foot and horse hit Hengjiang, then Ma He pushed four hundred more to Ju Chao; hearing of crossings, they rode to look and stumbled into a fight—both sides took heavy losses. That news struck terror into me. I was far downriver and knew nothing; discipline on the line failed— I own the fault. Now rumor says Zhang Liao and Zhu Huan are back at Hefei. Your father's oath is still warm; I know of no new crime on my side—why stir a host to our frontier? I was about to march for you against Liu Bei; this rumor wrecks every plan. Distance needs clear faith; finish what your father began, speak plainly, and let me swear my life to the old bargain. Let Zhou carry every word." Dongli Gun had served Yu Jin as army major, shared Zhou's captivity, and marched home with him—both were summoned to court. Cao Pi asked their view: Hao Zhou swore Sun Quan would submit; Dongli Gun said you could not bank on it. Cao Pi liked Zhou's answer and thought he had the true measure of Wu. That winter Cao Pi took the throne and sent the patent naming Sun Quan King of Wu, telling Hao Zhou to escort the envoys south. At a private feast Hao Zhou whispered, "The Son of Heaven doubts you will send a hostage; I stake my hundred kin on your word." Sun Quan took his hand: "Hao Kongyi, you bet your clan on me—what answer can I give but yes?" Tears soaked his robe. When they said farewell he pointed at the sky and swore an oath. Hao Zhou went north; Sun Quan sent no prince, only excuses—so Cao Pi kept the Wei envoy hanging. In the eighth month Sun Quan wrote thanks and told Zhou, "Since messengers ride free again, I have not forgotten courtesy. I meant to visit Hebei myself once the new duties were clear—so my greetings could not come in person. You know how wearisome longing is. I am a dull man; my good faith did not show and I earned blame—yet you pardoned me; I rejoice that with you I can still finish our bargain. The classic says one may botch the start yet finish honorably—that is my prayer." He also said, "Formerly when you, sir, came, you wished to make me send a son to attend court; at the time I inclined my heart gladly to receive the command, only because Deng was young, I wished to borrow the space of some years. My red heart went unread; your court blamed me—I lived in shame and dread. Your latest kindness wiped the old slate and asked only for future proof—now I can keep the oath after all. I tabled the hostage plan already; you must have seen it on your way north." He also said, "Now the son ought to enter attendance but has not yet a spouse; formerly you, sir, thought of it and held that one could above connect to a lineage house like the Xiahou clan; though midway he himself broke off, I always held it respectfully in mind. Please keep that match in mind and order the rites so he may "cling to the dragon's scales" and stand secure. What gratitude I owe for such favor words cannot measure. I will send Sun Shao with the lad to complete the betrothal—success rests with you." He also said, "The young child is weak in years, moreover instruction is insufficient; thinking I must part from him, for him I am moved deeply—father-son feeling—how can it have an end! Zhang Zhao will go with him as tutor and shield. I hide nothing: every thought is laid bare here. I spell this out lest my heart not shine clear—read it and tell me your mind." Cao Pi's edict sneered: "Sun Quan swore to Zhou he would be a vassal forever; his letters grovel head to foot—a rat knows how much cheese it can guard. Now he promises a prince by the twelfth month plus Sun Shao and Zhang Zhao—his own right arm and heart. He wants a Luoyang bride for the boy—clear proof, he says, that he means no treachery." Cao Pi swallowed the honey and Zhou's earnest tale, yet Sun Quan's words were lacquer—no hostage ever left. When Sun Quan's deceit showed plain, Hao Zhou fell from favor and never served again.〉
24
使 使 西 使 使 殿 西
Sun Quan changed his reign title and drew his line on the Yangzi. A great wind struck in the eleventh winter month. Lü Fan's fleet lost thousands to the waves; the rest limped back south of the Yangzi. Cao Xiu sent Zang Ba with five hundred fast boats and ten thousand volunteers to raid Xuling, torched the siege train, and killed or captured thousands. Quan Zong and Xu Sheng ran down the Wei officer Yin Lu and took his head. Some hundreds more were killed or seized. In the twelfth month he sent Zheng Quan to Liu Bei at Baidi—the first embassy since the war. 〈The Jiang Biao Zhuan states: Quan said, "Recently I received Xuande's letter; he has deeply taken blame on himself and seeks to restore the old good relations. I called his realm "Shu" while the Han emperor lived; now that Han is gone, he may style himself king of Hanzhong." Zheng Quan, style Wenyuan, came from Chen commandery. Broadly learned with a strange ambition, yet his nature loved wine; in idle residence he often said, "I wish to obtain five hundred hu of fine wine filling a boat, place seasonal sweet crisp at both ends, and repeatedly dive to drink it; when weary then stop and eat delicacies. As each dip lowered the level, servants would pour more—what bliss!" Sun Quan named him gentleman consultant. Sun Quan once asked, "You scold me in open court and forget courtesy—are you not afraid of the emperor's wrath?" Zheng Quan said, "When the sovereign is wise, ministers speak straight; this court forbids nothing—I trust your tolerance, not your temper." Later at a feast Sun Quan feigned rage, had him seized and hauled toward the judge. As guards marched Zheng Quan out he kept twisting his head; Sun Quan called him back laughing: "You said you feared no dragon scales—why the backward looks?" Zheng Quan said, "I knew your favor would spare my neck; at the palace gate your majesty's aura still shook me—that is why I looked." Sent to Shu, Liu Bei asked, "Why did the King of Wu not answer my letter—can it be that he thinks my taking the proper title was improper?" Quan said, "Cao Cao and his son rode roughshod over the Han house and in the end seized its throne. Liu Bei, as imperial kin, should have led the vanguard against Wei; instead he crowned himself—opinion under Heaven frowned—so my lord held his brush." Liu Bei flushed with shame. When Quan was near death, he said to those of his kind, "You must bury me beside the potter's field so that after a hundred years, transformed into earth, I may fortunately be taken to make a wine jug—truly obtaining my heart's wish."〉 Envoys still passed between him and Cao Pi for a time; the break came later. That year Yiling was renamed Xiling.
25
退 西 便西 使 使宿 西使 使怀 使 使 使
In the second year (223 CE), first month, Cao Zhen seized the Jiangling midstream islet. The same month they fortified Jiangxia Mountain. Wu adopted the quarter-reckoning system and the Qianxiang calendar. 〈The Jiang Biao Zhuan says Sun Quan claimed earth virtue with wei-month sacrifices to the ancestor and chen New Year's rites. Zhi Lin thinks the chen sacrifice correctly tracks earth's reckoning. Earth peaks in xu—yet honoring wei as ancestor misstates the theory. Earth rises from wei—wei opens the Kun trigram. The monthly ordinance sacrifices yellow essence in the wei month when earth is strongest. Using the "birth" month for ancestral rites hardly fits the cycle.〉 In the third month Cao Ren sent Chang Diao with five thousand men in oil boats across the Ruxu sandbar at dawn. Cao Tai pressed Zhu Huan, whose men held firm. Sun Quan sent Yan Gui and others to defeat Chang Diao. Wei armies withdrew that month. In summer, fourth month, Sun Quan's ministers urged him to take the imperial title; he refused. 〈The Jiang Biao Zhuan quotes Sun Quan declining: "Han lies beyond saving—why should I rush to rival it? His ministers cited omens and pressed again. Sun Quan had not agreed, but told his commanders: "When Xuande threatened the west I first had Lu Xun gather troops against him. The north split and offered help; I feared strings attached—rejecting their king-making would insult Wei and hasten attack on both fronts, so I swallowed pride and accepted their kingly patent. You may not fully grasp why I bent low—I explain it now."〉" Liu Bei died at Baidi. 〈The Wu Shu says Sun Quan sent Feng Xi of Xindu to Shu to mourn Liu Bei. Feng Xi, courtesy Zirou, was from Yingchuan and a descendant of Feng Yi. When Sun Quan was general of chariots and cavalry, Feng Xi served as eastern bureau clerk; after his mission to Shu he became grand counselor. Later, on embassy to Wei, Emperor Wen asked: "If the Wu king wants old friendship renewed he should mass troops at the river passes and plant banners in Ba–Shu—yet he sends envoys again—something has changed." Feng Xi said: "The western envoy brings routine courtesy—watching for openings, not plotting." He added: "Wu has suffered drought for years—what do you make of it?" Feng Xi replied: "The Wu king is clever and knows how to use men—he taxes and drafts only after counsel—cherishes guests and scholars—rewards without ignoring enemies yet punishes only the guilty—his officers honor him with loyalty. A million under arms, grain and silk like hills, fertile paddies—people face no famine—a kingdom of bronze walls and boiling moats. Your servant cannot weigh who holds the advantage." Emperor Wen frowned and ordered Chen Qun, from the same commandery, to tempt Feng Xi with rich bribes. Feng Xi refused to turn. They sent him to Mopi wishing to break him. When summoned back before he arrived he feared coercion—death or dishonor—and stabbed himself. His driver stopped him before he died. Sun Quan wept: "How is this unlike Su Wu?" He died in Wei in the end.〉 In the fifth month Qu'e reported sweet dew. Earlier Jin Zong at Xikou slew Wang Zhi and defected with his troops; Wei named him Qichun governor and he raided the border often. In the sixth month Sun Quan sent He Qi, Mi Fang, and Liu Shao against Qichun; Liu Shao captured Jin Zong alive. In winter, eleventh month, Shu sent Deng Zhi on a goodwill mission. 〈The Wu Li says Shu sent two hundred horses, a thousand bolts of brocade, and local tribute. After that embassies traveled regularly. Wu answered with its own regional goods.〉
26
"" 广 西退 西 便
In the third year of Huangwu he sent Zhang Wen west on embassy. In the eighth month he declared a general amnesty for capital crimes. Cao Pi rode to Guangling in the ninth month, stared at the Yangzi, muttered, "They have men on that bank," and marched home. 〈Gan Bao records that Wu threw up phantom walls from Shitou to Jiangcheng overnight—wooden frames draped in rush matting and paint. From the north bank the Wei host thought them real and retreated. Sun Quan had Zhao Da cast the yarrow: "Cao Pi withdraws—but Wu will wane in a gengzi year." How many years off?" asked the king. Zhao Da counted on his fingers: "Fifty-eight." Sun Quan laughed: "Today's troubles will not last fifty-eight years—that is a worry for my grandchildren." The Wu lu adds that Liu Shan sent Deng Zhi the same year to renew the treaty. Quan said to Zhi, "The mountain people make rebellion; many river guards have been withdrawn; I feared Cao Pi would exploit the emptiness with tricks, yet he instead seeks peace. His advisers said trouble at home made Wu lucky to get an offer—accept and steady the realm. He feared Shu would still doubt his good faith. Wu straddles frontier and sea—every mile wants a garrison. Cao Pi waits for an opening; finding none, he talks peace while plotting war."〉"
27
便 耀 使 西 西 使 广 寿寿
In the fifth month of the fourth year Chancellor Sun Shao died. 〈The Wu lu describes Sun Shao as eight chi tall, style Zhangxu, from Beihai. Kong Rong employed him as merit clerk and called him "timber for the state hall." He crossed to the east with Liu Yao. Once Sun Quan held power, Sun Shao kept urging sensible measures—pay tribute, exchange embassies with the north—and the king adopted every one. He rose from Administrator of Lujiang to chief clerk on the staff of the General of Chariots and Cavalry. When Huangwu opened he took the chancellorship, the title General Who Spreads Might, and the marquisate of Yangxian. Zhang Wen and Ji Yan impeached him; Sun Shao offered his seal in shame; Sun Quan forgave him and sent him back to his desk; he died at sixty-three. Pei Songzhi's Zhi Lin notes the oddity: Sun Shao was Wu's founding chancellor yet the standard history gives him no chapter. I once put the question to Liu Yue. Shengshu, a gentleman broad in learning, said, "Weighing his name and station, he naturally ought to have had a biography established. The manuscript trail breaks with the fragment "Xiang Jun"— (one edition reads "Wu Fu") another reads "Ding Fu"; notes already existed, which contradicts the claim that Zhang Yan could not have written them. Later the Wei clan compiled the history—they were probably Huishu's faction—therefore it does not appear in the book."〉" In the sixth month Sun Quan named Gu Yong, Grand Master of Ceremonies, as his new chancellor. 〈The Wu shu adds that Chen Hua rose from Secretariat Director to Grand Master of Ceremonies. Chen Hua, style Yuanyao of Runan, was tall, stern, and formidably read. As Palace Director he visited Wei; at a drunken banquet Cao Pi needled him: "Which of us will own the world?" Hua replied, "The Changes says the emperor comes forth from the Zhen trigram; moreover I have heard former sages knew fate—the old saying of the purple canopy and yellow banner means the mandate lies in the southeast." The emperor said, "Formerly King Wen as lord of the west ruled the realm—was he again in the east?" Hua said, "At Zhou's first foundation Taibo was in the east—therefore King Wen could rise in the west." Cao Pi laughed, could not answer, and admired his wit. When his embassy ended Wei sent him home with lavish gifts. Sun Quan rewarded him with the Qianwei commandery and a full staff. Soon he doubled as Grand Master of Ceremonies and Secretariat Director. He forbade his clan to hoard land or trade for private gain—they would live on stipends alone. After his wife died he refused remarriage, citing antique models of widower restraint. Sun Quan admired him but tried to marry him to an imperial princess; Chen Hua pleaded illness until the king dropped the match. Past seventy he asked leave to retire, moved to Zhang'an, and died in his house. His heir Chen Chi, style Gongxi, was a careful accountant from boyhood. Quan Zong recommended him for Grand General; he died en route to the appointment.〉 Wankou reported the omen of interlaced trees. That winter the Poyang rebel Peng Qi declared himself general, overran a string of counties, and gathered tens of thousands. Earthquakes shook the south year after year. 〈The Wu lu records: The same winter Cao Pi rode to Guangling, paraded more than a hundred thousand men along the bank, and meant to cross. Sun Quan threw up a tight river defense. Ice locked the channel—no hull could move. Watching the waves, Cao Pi sighed, "Ah— —this is Heaven's ditch between north and south!" He turned his host homeward. Sun Shao's officer Gao Shou ambushed him by night with five hundred volunteers, panicked the Wei camp, and carried off a prince's parasol as trophy.〉
28
" " 便調
In the fifth year spring, an order stated, "Arms have risen long; the people have left the plough; fathers and sons, husbands and wives, cannot hear each other's grief—I am deeply pained. Now that the north had pulled back, every district was told to ease corvée and taxes. Lu Xun noted local grain shortfalls and asked every camp to break new farmland. Sun Quan answered, "Excellent— my son and I will plough with eight oxen in four yokes ourselves. We fall short of ancient sages, yet we mean to sweat beside the people." In the seventh month word came that Cao Pi was dead; Sun Quan struck Jiangxia and besieged Shiyang without success, then withdrew. Cangwu reported a phoenix sighting. He carved ten hardscrabble counties out of three commanderies into a new Dong'an commandery, 〈with its seat at Fuchun, says the Wu lu.〉 He named Quan Zong its administrator and sent him to tame the hill Yue. In the tenth month Lu Xun urged gentler laws, lighter taxes, and fewer emergency levies. He added that blunt advice died in small men's throats while flatterers chattered of profit. Sun Quan answered:
29
?使 ??? 調 ? 調便
Laws exist to choke crime before it blooms. Punishments must frighten rogues—command first, strike only after the breach. If you call the code harsh, know I take no joy in it—I act from necessity. I will weigh every clause you dislike and bend where I can. Good courts pair blunt ministers with watchful kin—that is how a throne stays straight. The Shang shu tells ministers to contradict the throne to its face—why then say you "dare not speak out"? Judge words, not mouths; only flattery is beneath notice. Emergency levies exist because the empire is still at war. If we hugged the river in pure defense we could slim the army—but passive cowardice would shame us. Without stockpiled supplies, panic would find us empty-handed. You and I share one glory and one fall; your pledge not to trim sails for safety is exactly what I ask of you.
30
使
He had the full law code copied for Lu Xun and Zhuge Jin to strike or add as they saw fit. That year the far south was split into Guang Province. Almost at once the old Jiao–Guang boundary was rolled back. 〈Sun Quan launched a new palace ship named Chang'an from Wuchang and trial-sailed it toward the fishing terrace. A gale sprang up; Gu Li ordered the helm laid for Fankou. Quan said, "We ought to spread sail and make for Luozhou." Gu Li put a blade to the steersman's neck: "Fankou or your head." The ship clawed into Fankou as the storm peaked, then limped home. Sun Quan teased, "Gu Li is terrified of wet feet." Gu Li knelt: "You are the state; to dice with a typhoon in a tall tower is to gamble the realm. So I defied you on pain of death." Sun Quan prized him ever after and called him simply "Gu" instead of by name.〉
31
In the first month of the sixth year the generals ran Peng Qi to ground. In the intercalary month Han Zong, son of Han Dang, defected with his troops to Wei.
32
使
In the third month of the seventh year he named Sun Lü marquis of Jianchang and dissolved Dong'an commandery. In the fifth month Poyang's Zhou Fang played traitor to bait Cao Xiu. In the eighth month Sun Quan came to Wankou while Lu Xun shattered Cao Xiu at Shiting. Grand Marshal Lü Fan died that year. Hepu was renamed Zhuguan commandery. 〈The Jiang Biao Zhuan records General Zhai Dan's flight to Wei the same year. Quan feared the various generals would flee in fear of punishment and therefore issued an order saying, "From now on generals who commit serious crimes—three counts—only then shall we deliberate."〉
33
In spring of Huanglong 1 (229 CE) every minister urged Sun Quan to take the throne. In summer, fourth month, Xiakou and Wuchang reported yellow dragons and phoenixes. On bingshen he took the imperial title at the southern suburb altar. 〈Wu Lu carries Quan announcement astronomy saying: "Emperor subject Quan dare use black bull announce to August sovereign August Emperor: Han enjoyed state twenty-four generations—passed years four hundred thirty-four—moving qi number ended—salary fortune luck exhausted—all Heaven lax cut—leading earth splits apart. The traitor Cao Pi seized the throne; his son Rui continued the evil and corrupted the norms. Sun Quan was raised in the southeast, seized the moment, bore Heaven's mandate and arms, meant to pacify the age, and acted for the people. Ministers across Wu believed Heaven had abandoned Han—Han sacrifice had ceased—the throne stood empty with none to sacrifice at the suburban altars. Good omens piled one upon another—Heaven's mandate rested on him—and he could not refuse. Sun Quan bowed to Heaven's command, chose an auspicious day, mounted the altar for the burnt offering, and took the imperial throne. May the spirits accept this sacrifice—guard Wu on every side—and grant enduring Heaven's blessing."〉" He proclaimed a general amnesty that day. He changed the era name and canonized his father Sun Jian as Emperor Wu Lie, his mother Lady Wu as Empress Wu Lie, and his brother Sun Ce as Prince Huan of Changsha. The Wu heir apparent Sun Deng became crown prince. Generals and officials received promotions and rewards.
34
"" 西 使 "
A Xingping-era children's song in Wu ran: "Golden coach, painted ears, Chang Gate swings wide—the Son of Heaven rides out." 〈Chang Gate was the west wall gate built by King Fuchai of Wu.〉 In the fifth month he sent Zhang Gang and Guan Zhu to treat with Liaodong. In the sixth month Shu's Chen Zhen arrived to bless Sun Quan's enthronement. They partitioned the notional empire: Yu, Qing, Xu, and You to Wu; Yan, Ji, Bing, and Liang to Shu. Sili they split at Hangu Pass, and the oath began:
35
? 使 使西
Heaven sent ruin; regicides ran from Dong Zhuo to Cao Cao and overturned the realm. The nine provinces lie in strips; no Son of Heaven sits at the center; gods and men alike groan without rest. Cao Pi, dregs of treason, stole the throne. Cao Rui, his puny heir, apes that crime and still breathes. Gonggong and the Three Miao earned the punishments of old—so may Wei. To extirpate the Caos falls to no one but Shu and Wu; justice demands we read their crimes to the world. Carve their soil first so every subject knows which sun to face. The Spring and Autumn shows Jin dividing Wei's fields before the strike—that is the pattern we follow. Jin handed Wei's acres to Song's farmers; we do the same in spirit. Great deeds begin with oaths—the Rites of Zhou and the Shang shu say so; Han and Wu trust each other in the heart, yet a written partition of the map must seal the bargain. Zhuge Liang's moral authority reaches to the horizon; he steadies Shu abroad and his good faith sways heaven and earth. Their renewed covenant rings with honest oaths so every household from the Yangzi to the Han knows the league is sealed again. They built the altar, cut the victims, smeared the oath, filed a copy with the spirits—every deity from the high god to the river lords stood witness. Henceforth Shu and Wu march as one against Wei, share weal and woe, and call disloyalty treason. An attack on Shu is an attack on Wu— and the reverse holds as well. Each realm keeps its own map and crosses no border. Let sons and grandsons honor the pact as the founders did. Every clause is written plain: no flowery lies, only good faith. Breakers of the oath face the scourge of gods and hills—armies scattered, lineages cut off. Let the high gods read and remember.
36
That ninth month Sun Quan shifted the court to Jianye, kept the old yamen, and left Lu Xun at Wuchang to tutor the crown prince and mind the western capital.
37
Wei threw up a new fortress at Hefei in the first month of the second Huangwu year. Sun Quan created the post of chief instructor to school his sons at court. He sent Wei Wen and Zhuge Zhi with ten thousand men across the sea in search of Yizhou and the fabled Danzhou. Legend placed Danzhou where Xu Fu's Qin flotilla vanished seeking immortals. Folk said tens of thousands of households still lived there. Eastern sailors sometimes drifted there after storms. Danzhou stayed beyond reach; the fleet brought back only a few thousand natives of Yizhou.
38
In the third year (235 CE), second month, Sun Quan sent Pan Jun with fifty thousand men against the Wuling tribes. Wei Wen and Zhuge Zhi were jailed and executed for disobeying orders and achieving nothing. That summer wild silkworms spun cocoons as large as eggs. Wild rice sprouted unplanted at Youquan—the county was renamed Hexing. Sun Bu feigned surrender to lure Wang Ling, who marched out to receive him. In winter, tenth month, Sun Quan ambushed Wang Ling at Fuling; Ling sensed the trap and withdrew. Shiping south of Kuaiji reported auspicious grain sprouting. On dingmao in the twelfth month he proclaimed amnesty and adopted the inaugural year Ming.
39
宿 使 西
Sun Lü, marquis of Jianchang, died in the first month of Jiahe 1. In the third month Zhou He and Pei Qian sailed for Liaodong. Wei's Tian Yu ambushed the convoy at Chengshan and took Zhou He's head. In the tenth month Gongsun Yuan sent Su Shu and Sun Zong south with tribute and a pledge of fealty. Sun Quan showered Gongsun Yuan with titles. 〈The Jiang Biao Zhuan states: That winter the host of ministers, because Quan had not yet performed suburban sacrifice, memorialized: "Recently auspicious omens have repeatedly arrived; distant states admire righteousness; Heaven's intent and human affairs, front and rear, are all complete—it is fitting to perform suburban sacrifice to receive Heaven's intent." Quan said, "Suburban sacrifice ought to be at the central earth; now this is not its place—where would one perform this?" They memorialized again, "Under all Heaven there is none that is not the king's soil; and the Son of Heaven has no private home but the realm. King Wen and King Wu sacrificed at Feng and Hao without standing on the central plain." Quan said, "King Wu punished Zhou and ascended the throne at Haojing, and sacrificed there. King Wen was only a feudal lord at Feng—what canonical text lets a subject offer the suburban rite?" They wrote again, "We have seen in the Han shu's 'Suburban Sacrifice' chronicle that Kuang Heng memorialized to move Ganquan and Hedong, sacrificing at Chang'an, stating King Wen sacrificed at Feng." Quan said, "King Wen's nature was modest and yielding; he stood in the place of a feudal lord—clearly he had not yet sacrificed to Heaven. No classic proves Wen sacrificed to Heaven; Kuang Heng was a hack—ignore him." Pei Songzhi notes Sun Quan's harsh swipe at Kuang Heng. Listeners thought him the soul of practical wisdom. Against the texts his argument collapsed. Master Mao's explanation states, "Yao saw that Heaven through Tai brought forth Hou Ji, therefore enfeoffed him at Tai and ordered him to serve Heaven." Therefore the poem says, 'Hou Ji began the sacrifices, so that there was no crime or regret down to this day.'" That implies every heir may worship heaven, as Lu did at its suburban altar. Hence the ode piles brushwood for the heaven fire. The canon plainly says Wen sacrificed at Feng—was Kuang Heng wrong to cite it? Wen held two-thirds of the realm, crushed Chong and Li, and made Yin tremble. Heaven abandoned Shang for the west; Taibo's triple yielding opened the way. Calling Wen "king" in spirit offends no rite. Kuang Heng was therefore partly right. Emperor Wu's Ganquan and Fenyin altars rested on fangshi gossip, not the Odes. Wu Di copied Yellow Emperor lore to justify those shrines. Han governed from Chang'an, while Ganquan lay to the north—calling it the Qian position—and Kuang Heng said, 'Emperor Wu dwelt at Ganquan and sacrificed at the southern palace'—this is already mistaken. The sacrifice at Fenyin was on the shui's mound of the river, called 'within the marsh,' while Kuang Heng said 'east to Shaoyang'—missing the original meaning. Pei admits Sun Quan's debate was partly special pleading for Wu. The commentary glosses the rare character shui as in the Han shu sound glosses.〉
40
使 使 使 使 使 西 姿 西 使使 怀 使 便 使 簿 使 使 使 簿
In the second year spring, first month, an edict stated, "We, lacking in virtue, first received the primal mandate; morning and night We are fearful, without leisure for short sleep. He vowed to end war, feed the people, and answer Heaven. He called for heroes to share the burden of peace. Whoever serves faithfully will never walk alone. He praised Gongsun Yuan, isolated in Liaodong yet loyal at heart. Heaven itself, he said, brought the Yan king's envoy. Their letters thrilled him more than ancient tales of Yi Yin or Lü Wang. He ranked the moment with Tang, Zhou, and Guangwu's first gifts from the west. Nothing could surpass this omen. Empire-wide unity, he declared, was now in sight. The Shang shu asks, when the ruler is blessed, the people rest on him." He proclaimed amnesty and ordered every circuit to spread the word. Especially send down to the state of Yan, proclaiming and spreading the edict's grace, now causing all within the seas who follow the soil entirely to hear this rejoicing." In the third month he sent a ten-thousand-man fleet laden with regalia to crown Gongsun Yuan at sea. 〈The Jiang Biao Zhuan records Quan's edict: "Former Wei Bearer of Credentials, General of Chariots and Cavalry, Liaodong Administrator, Marquis of Pingle: Heaven and Earth have lost their order; the great pivot is not established; the chief villain, greatly hateful, does harm to the people; within the seas split apart, the thronging lives are buried and extinguished—though Zhou's leftover black-haired people almost none survived—compared to today, disorder is even worse. Sun Quan styled himself universal king facing a drowning world. He claims to have scourged evil wherever his armies marched. Wei, he sneers, hangs like a bound man on a dead tree. He heaps praise on Gongsun Yuan's genius and loyalty. He compares Yuan to Dou Rong who served Guangwu from the west. He professes deep joy in Yuan's choice. Sage kings always paid merit with title and stipend, the greater the deed, the richer the reward. He cites Zhou and Lü Wang as models for Yuan's honors. Yuan's service, he says, outshines petty statecraft of old. The Odes promise reward for every virtue, so he invests him as Prince of Yan over seventeen commanderies and sends Zhang Mi with tallies and seal. The clod of black earth and white rushes marks the fief altar. Yuan keeps military command over You and Qing with full general's panoply. The Nine Distinctions follow in the usual litany. First honor: chariots and black oxen for pacifying Liaodong. Second: full court robes for filling the granaries. Third: bells for moral harmony. Fourth and fifth: vermilion gates and a hundred guards for winning barbarians and sorting officials. Sixth: paired axes for military justice. Seventh: bows and bolts for inner pattern, outer dread. Eighth: sacrificial ale for steadfast service. Receive this charge with awe. Obey the classics, aid the dynasty, and keep your bright fortune to the last."〉" From Gu Yong down every minister warned that Gongsun Yuan was a snake not yet tame. Sun Quan would hear of nothing less than a ten-thousand-man coronation fleet. 〈Pei Songzhi blasts Sun Quan's stubborn faith in Yuan. Sending ten thousand lives to deliver a patent was wanton waste of soldiers. Pei calls the expedition not merely foolish but unjust.〉 Gongsun Yuan beheaded Zhang Mi and company, sent the heads to Wei, and seized the gifts. Sun Quan boiled to lead an army against Liaodong himself, 〈the Jiang Biao Zhuan quotes him roaring that at sixty he would not be mocked by a "ratling" in the north. Unless I sail north myself and pitch that vermin's head into the sea, I cannot face the world again. Let the venture ruin me—I will not call it regret."〉" Xue Zong and the secretariat talked him down from the Liaodong expedition. The same year he struck Hefei's new walls and sent Quan Qiong against Lu'an; both sieges failed. 〈When Zhang Mi's embassy reached Xiangping, four hundred men followed him ashore. Gongsun Yuan split the party, scattered Wu men through Liaodong, and parked Qin Dan's sixty in distant Xuantu. Xuantu was two hundred li into the wilds; its magistrate had only a few hundred people under him. The Wu survivors billeted on farmers and ate their food. After forty days Qin Dan told his comrades, "We have shamed our king and sit waiting to die—what honor is left? This district is defenseless. If we fire the yamen, kill Wang Zan, and die in the act, we wipe out the insult. Better than rotting forever as Yuan's prisoners?" Huang Qiang and the rest swore to it. They set the breakout for the nineteenth night of the eighth month. At noon a traitor named Zhang Song warned Wang Zan, who slammed the gates. Qin Dan's band went over the wall and ran. Zhang Qun's knee festered; Du De half-carried him through the hills. Seven hundred li later Qun collapsed; they lay in the brush and wept together. Qun said, "I am unlucky that the wound is severe; death is not distant; you gentlemen ought quickly to advance on the road, hoping to reach somewhere. Huddling here to die in a ditch helps no one." De said, "Ten thousand li drifting in exile, we share death and life—I cannot bear to abandon you." They sent Qin Dan and Huang Qiang ahead for help while Du De foraged for Qun. After days of marching Qin Dan and Huang Qiang reached Koguryŏ (the royal court) They read Sun Quan's edict at the Koguryŏ court and to its chief clerk, explaining that Liaodong had robbed Wu of its gifts. The Koguryŏ king received them gladly and sent escorts back for Du De and Zhang Qun. That year he sent twenty-five guards in black to convoy the Wu officers home with tribute of sable and bustard pelts. They wept on Sun Quan's shoulder. Sun Quan called them loyal and made each a commandant. A year later Xie Hong and Chen Xun crowned the Koguryŏ king chanyu and heaped silks and gems on him. At Anpingkou Chen Feng learned the king had agreed with Wei's Youzhou inspector to arrest the Wu mission. Chen Feng spun his boat about. The king sent Ze Zi and Dai Gu to parley with Xie Hong. Xie Hong seized thirty hostages until the king apologized and sent horses. Hong then released the edict and gifts through the clerks. His ships could carry only eighty of the promised horses home.〉
41
" " 退
An edict of the third year blamed endless war and bad harvests. Cancel back taxes and stop dunning the villages. In the fifth month Lu Xun and Zhuge Jin moved to Jiangxia and Hankou while Sun Quan himself besieged new Hefei. Sun Quan thought Cao Rui would stay home while Zhuge Liang marched; instead Wei reinforced Sima Yi. Cao Rui then took the river fleet east himself. Sun Quan retreated before reaching Shouchun; Sun Shao lifted his wing. He named Zhuge Ke to pacify the Danyang hills. A killing frost on the ninth month's new moon ruined the crop. Pan Jun finished the Wuling campaign and came back to Wuchang. Qu'a became Yunyang again and Dantu Wujin by edict. Li Huan and Luo Li raided Luling.
42
使" ?"
Summer of the fourth year Lü Dai marched against them. Hail fell in the seventh month. Wei offered horses for pearls and tortoiseshell; Sun Quan shrugged that he had no use for the trinkets. Why refuse an even swap?
43
使 殿
In the fifth year Wu minted the five-hundred cash piece. Subjects were told to bring copper scrap for credit against the new coins. Counterfeiting was made a statutory crime. Wuchang reported dew omens on the Libin Hall. Zhang Zhao died. Wu Can took Li Huan; Tang Zi bagged Luo Li. Drought ran from the tenth month deep into summer. A comet hung in the eastern sky that winter. Peng Dan rebelled in Poyang.
44
The sixth year opened with an edict on mourning:
45
Three years' grief is the world's common rule and the deepest human sorrow. Worthy men trim their tears to the rite; lesser men are whipped up to the same mark. In quiet times the sage does not tear men from their parents' graves. Hence three years pass before the state knocks on a mourner's door. In wartime he knots hemp and goes back to his desk. The sages wrote law accordingly, for rites without timing are empty words. Staying at post during a parent's death is a wartime compromise, not the old way. Wu had required handover before leave; men broke the rule anyway. Trials came too late—the office had already emptied. In crisis every official should serve the realm before the family; anything less shames the court. He ordered a full debate on how to tighten the mourning code.
46
?
Gu Tan's deliberation held that "if rushing home for mourning is set in statute, light penalties are insufficient to restrain a filial son's feeling; heavy ones are originally not a crime deserving death—though harsh punishments are abundantly set, violations and seizures must be few. Any middle course either shreds mercy or voids law. He proposed punishing only those whose flight was reported during handover. Death for the reported few would clear magistrates and spare most mourners." General Hu Zong's deliberation held that "though mourning rites have canonical forms, if there is no timely occasion, they may not be carried out. Men flee anyway because the penalty feels light. A minister cannot be both dutiful son and loyal servant—pick one. Hu Zong demanded death written plain in the code. No mercy for deliberate flight. Using killing to stop killing—carrying it out on one man—afterward it will surely cease." Gu Yong sided with the death penalty.
47
Magistrate Meng Zong ran home for his mother's funeral, then chained himself in Wuchang for judgment. Lu Xun begged mercy; Sun Quan commuted one degree but refused ever to cite the case again—ending special pleas. Lu Xun crushed Peng Dan the next spring. Quan Zong failed at Lu'an that winter. Zhuge Ke moved north to Lujiang after the Yue campaign.
48
"殿 " 使
Chiwu 1 saw the thousand-cash coin. Lü Dai cleared Luling and returned to Lukou. Wuchang claimed a qilin sighting. Officials urged a new reign title for the omen. Sun Quan said he had seen red crows at court himself. Let the reign be renamed for those birds. Ministers cited King Wu's red crows as precedent. The reign was renamed Chiwu. Lady Bu died and was posthumously made empress. Sun Quan long trusted the inspector Lü Yi, a cruel man with a sharp code. Crown Prince Sun Deng protested in vain; ministers held their tongues. When Lü Yi's plots surfaced and he went to the block, Sun Quan blamed himself and sent Yuan Li to apologize to his marshals and ask what policy should change. Yuan Li's return brought a second edict scolding Zhuge Jin, Bu Zhi, Zhu Ran, and Lü Dai by name.
49
便 ? ? ?? ? ?
They had met Zhuge Jin, Bu Zhi, Zhu Ran, and Lü Dai; each pleaded that civil business was not his portfolio and sent Yuan Li to Lu Xun and Pan Jun. Lu Xun and Pan Jun wept to the envoy, their words raw with fear for the throne. Sun Quan said the tale left him heartsick and self-reproaching. Only sages never err; wise men catch their own mistakes. He admitted he might have bruised his captains' pride without seeing it—that bred their silence. Fifty years of war had drawn every grain and levy from the people. The realm was still unsettled; he knew how hard life was. Yet he said troubling the people was the price of peace. He had grown old beside them and thought trust ran both ways. He begged for blunt counsel again. He cited Duke Wu of Wei who kept hiring advisers in old age. 〈The Jiang Biao Zhuan states: Quan also said, "Under Heaven there is no all-white fox, yet there is an all-white fur robe—what the multitude accumulates. Purity comes from gathering many strands. Use every man's strength and none can stand against you, use every wit and even sages need not frighten you."〉" Common friends share dirt without shame, he said, yet ministers feared to speak like kin. Glory and grief should be shared. He compared them to Guan Zhong needling Duke Huan without end. He had less of Huan's patience, he said, yet heard fewer rebukes than Guan Zhong gave. So he joked he outranked Huan while they fell short of Guan Zhong. He asked again for plans to set the realm right.
50
宿 使 姿 怀
The second year of Chiwu opened in spring— 〈with an edict on court cadets as the ancient "ordered knights. Lately the wrong men had filled those posts. Future picks must pass the four tests—no hollow résumés."〉" In the third month Yang Dao, Zheng Zhou, and Sun Yi sailed for Liaodong. They hit Wei garrisons under Gao Lü and took captives. 〈Zheng Zhou, style Jingxian, came from Pei. His father Zheng Zha helped Zhang Zhao draft Wu ritual. The son rose to Administrator of Jian'an. He jailed Lü Yi's lawbreaking client. Lü Yi slandered him in return. Sun Quan nearly destroyed him; Pan Jun and Chen Biao won his pardon. He later tried to aid Gongsun Yuan, failed, and became Bearer of the Mace. His son Zheng Feng befriended Lu Yun in letters. Zhang Hua summoned him to Jin service; he died before answering. Pei Songzhi notes Sun Yi was no kinsman of the Sun house.〉 Lingling reported sweet dew. They walled Shaxian in the fifth month. General Jiang Mi marched south against Yi tribes. Jiang Mi's deputy Liao Shi murdered Yan Gang, styled himself a general, and raised tens of thousands across the south. Lü Dai and Tang Zi crushed them within a year.
51
" "穿
A famine edict opened: no ruler without people, no people without grain. Lately, war, weather, and corrupt clerks had starved the countryside. Magistrates were ordered never to call corvée during planting. A fourth-month amnesty paired with orders to dig moats and raise watchtowers. Famine in the eleventh month forced granary relief.
52
使西寿 寿西 便 便 退
Fourth year: snow three feet deep, wildlife perished in heaps. Quan Zong raided Huainan that summer. They breached Shao Lake dikes, torched Ancheng posts, and carried off the population. Zhuge Ke struck Lu'an. Quan Zong clashed with Wang Ling at Shao Lake; Qin Huang and a dozen others fell. Zhu Ran besieged Fan while Zhuge Jin seized Zuzhong. 〈The Han Jin Chun Qiu states: Lingling Administrator Yin Li spoke to Quan, saying, "Now Heaven casts off the Cao house; mourning executions pile up; in the time of tigers contending a child holds affairs. He sketched a pincer from Longyou to Huaiyang. Xiangyang and Shouchun would choke; Luoyang would split its reserves, and the people would rise within Wei, one rout would let Wu ride the breaker wave to the Central Plain. Half measures, he warned, would only mean repeated retreats. Draining strength in futile raids was no strategy at all." Sun Quan did not take the plan.〉 Crown Prince Sun Deng died in the fifth month. Sima Yi reached Fan the same month. Wu lifted the sieges in the sixth month. Zhuge Jin died in the intercalary month. Lu Xun fortified Zhu in the eighth month.
53
" "
He named Sun He crown prince and declared amnesty. Hexing county became Jiaxing. Court asked for an empress and princes; Sun Quan refused while men still starved. He shelved the motion. Haiyan claimed a yellow dragon in the third month. He banned luxury tribute and cut palace kitchens that summer. Nie You and Lu Kai took thirty thousand men against Hainan. Plague returned; officials again begged for an empress and princes. In the eighth month he made Sun Ba prince of Lu.
54
使
Xindu reported a white tiger in Chiwu 6. Zhuge Ke shattered Xie Shun at Lu'an and took his people. Gu Yong died in the eleventh month. Funan's King Fan Zhan sent musicians and tribute. That year Sima Yi advanced into Shuxian while Zhuge Ke shifted his headquarters from Wancheng to Chaisang.
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" " ?便退便? ??? 使
He named Lu Xun chancellor in the first month of the seventh year. Wanling reported exceptional grain. Bu Zhi and Zhu Ran cited travelers' tales that Shu was building fleet and walls and that Jiang Wan held Hanzhong. They said Shu had pulled back from Hanzhong when Sima Yi moved—not the act of an ally. The signs, they said, demanded Wu prepare for betrayal. "Quan weighed it and did not think so, saying, "I have treated Shu generously; envoys, feasts, covenant oaths—I have not failed them. Sima Yi's feint into Shu had lasted days; Shu could hardly know Wei's mind in time—Wu itself had once armed at rumor and stood down. Could Shu again for this have suspicion? Moreover others governing states—boats and ships, walls and moats—how can they not defend them? Now here we drill troops—could it again be meant to ward off Shu? Men's words are bitterly untrustworthy—I for you gentlemen stake my house on it." Shu, as Sun Quan predicted, had no treachery in mind. 〈The Jiang Biao Zhuan records Quan's edict: "When supervising generals flee in rebellion and their wives and children are killed, this makes wives leave husbands and sons abandon fathers—it greatly wounds moral instruction; from now do not kill them."〉
56
西 西
Lu Xun died in the second month of the eighth year. Summer lightning scarred the palace gate and the Nanjin bridge. A flood at Chaling washed away two hundred homes. Ma Mao's plot cost his kin three generations. An eighth-month amnesty followed. Chen Xun drove a canal road through Jurong with thirty thousand colonists, linking markets and post stations. 〈Ma Mao had been Zhongli magistrate until Wang Ling crushed him; he fled to Wu and won high rank—only to plot again. Sun Quan often took his courtiers into the imperial park for archery. They planned a coup: Zhu Zhen would flash false orders at the gate while Ma Mao struck the archery party. Ma Mao meant to seize the palace and Shitou and signal Wei. The plot leaked; every kin line went to the blade.〉
57
广 便
In the second month of the ninth year Zhu Ran raided Zuzhong and took more than a thousand heads. Wuchang again reported sweet dew in the fourth month. That autumn he reshuffled the summit: Bu Zhi as chancellor, Zhu Ran and Quan Zong as left and right grand marshals, Lü Dai as senior grand marshal, Zhuge Ke as grand marshal. 〈The Jiang Biao Zhuan states: That year Quan's edict said, "Xie Hong formerly memorialized on casting great cash, saying it would broaden currency—therefore We permitted it. Now that the people call the reform a nuisance, minting stops and old coins are to be melted for bronze vessels. Private hoarders must turn them in at fair weight—clerks must not short-change them."〉"
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退 西
Quan Zong died in the first month of the tenth year. 〈Sun Quan sent Zhuge Yi to bait his kinsman Zhuge Dan; Dan marched ten thousand men to Gaoshan to meet him. Sun Quan slipped troops onto the heights to spring the trap. Zhuge Dan smelled ambush and pulled back.〉 In the second month he took up residence in the Southern Palace. The third month saw the start of Taichu Palace; generals and counties donated corvée as a gift. 〈The Jiang Biao Zhuan records Quan's edict: "The Jianye palace is only the general's headquarters We built when coming from the capital—timbers and pillars are all thin and mostly rotten; We constantly fear collapse. Now We have not yet returned west; We may transport Wuchang palace's timbers and tiles and repair it anew." The offices memorialized, saying, "The Wuchang palace is already twenty-eight years old—we fear it cannot be used; it is fitting to order the places everywhere generally to fell and deliver fresh timber." Quan said, "Great Yu took lowly palaces as beautiful; now military affairs have not ceased and everywhere there are many levies—if We again order general felling, it will harm farming and sericulture. The old Wuchang beams, he said, would have to serve."〉" Bu Zhi died in the fifth month. The tenth month brought another amnesty for capital crimes.
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?
Zhu Ran ringed Jiangling with new walls in spring of the eleventh year. Aftershocks still shook in the second month. 〈The Jiang Biao Zhuan records Quan's edict: "We, with scant virtue, have exceeded Our place in inheriting the ancestral sacrifices; in attending affairs We are not wise and have incurred the spirits' reproof—morning and night We tremble in awe as if the day were not enough. Let the host of officials each sharpen spirit, ponder Our faults, and hold back nothing."〉" The new palace shell stood finished in the third month. Hail struck in the fourth month while Yunyang claimed a yellow dragon. Poyang reported a "humane" white tiger. 〈The omen book says gentle tigers appear only under gentle kings.〉 An edict stated, "Of old sage kings piled up conduct and accumulated goodness, cultivated themselves and walked the Way, thereby possessing all under Heaven. Portents, he said, mirror the throne's moral weight. He quoted "though blessed, do not slacken" and told his bureaucracy to earn the omens."
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Zhu Ran died in the third month of the twelfth year. Two crows dropped a magpie in the East Hall—an ill omen. Zhu Ju became chancellor and expiated the bird with fire. 〈The Wu lu dates a bronze tripod rising from Linping Lake. A white dove appeared at Zhang'an on guichou in the eighth month.〉
61
西 西
At summer solstice of the thirteenth year Mars entered the Dipper—an omen readers dreaded. By the seventh month it had brushed the second star of the Dipper's handle. Landslides and flash floods wrecked Danyang commandery that August. Sun Quan wiped tax arrears and handed out seed grain. Crown Prince Sun He was deposed and banished to Guzhang. Sun Ba, prince of Lu, was forced to die. Wen Qin played turncoat to trap Zhu Yi; Sun Quan sent Lü Ju to stiffen Zhu's line. Zhu Yi's caution kept Wen Qin from closing. In the eleventh month Sun Liang was named heir. A hundred thousand laborers dammed the Tangyi flats to flood Wei's northern approach. Wang Chang and Wang Ji pressed Jingzhou; Dai Lie and Lu Kai parried until both sides drew off. 〈Yu Chan describes the Yangzi beacon chain that could flash alarm a thousand li in a night. Sun Quan's night signal at Xiling beat thrice to Nansha in one dusk.〉 A spirit medium's book prophesied a new reign title and empress.
62
使
Taiyuan 1, fifth month: Lady Pan became empress, amnesty was declared, and the era turned. A voice in Linhai's Luoyang county called itself Wang Biao. 〈The Wu lu identifies Luoyang with modern Angu.〉 It spoke and feasted like a man but showed no body. A servant girl named Spinning announced its wishes. Li Chong carried a princely seal to escort the spirit to court. Wang Biao talked circles around every official who met him. At each river the maid hailed the local deity for him. Sun Quan built Wang Biao a lodge outside the Canglong Gate and fed him like an oracle. Its weather tips often came true. 〈Sun Sheng wrote: rising states heed the people, dying states heed ghosts. He blamed Sun Quan's senility, the He–Ba purge, and Lady Pan's elevation. Forged omens, he said, foretold collapse.〉 A gale struck on the eighth month's new moon. The storm surge stacked eight feet of water on the flats, tore the tombs' pines, and ripped off the capital's south gate. An eleventh-month amnesty followed. Sun Quan fell ill after the suburban sacrifice. 〈The Wu lu calls it a wind-stroke malady.〉 He relay-summoned Zhuge Ke and named him the heir's grand tutor. His last edicts cut taxes and corvée.
63
In the second year (252 CE), first month, the former heir Sun He was made prince of Nanyang and sent to Changsha. Sun Fen became prince of Qi and resided at Wuchang. Sun Xiu became prince of Langye (the received text miscopies the second graph of Langye) and lived at Hulin. In the second month he proclaimed amnesty and changed the era name to Shenfeng. Empress Pan died. Officers repeatedly asked the medium Wang Biao for blessings until Wang Biao vanished. In summer, fourth month, Sun Quan died at seventy-one with the posthumous title Emperor Da. He was buried at Jiangling mausoleum in autumn, seventh month. 〈The Fu Zi says Sun Ce was decisive and brave—after his father Sun Jian fell he united his troops young to avenge him, fought across the Jiangnan heartland, slew local strongmen, and awed neighboring states. Sun Quan inherited that work with Zhang Zhao as his counselor, Lu Xun, Zhuge Jin, and Bu Zhi as his ministers, Lü Fan and Zhu Ran as his commanders—each given charge, striking only when opportunity allowed—so Wu seldom lost and the south stayed calm.〉
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Appraisal
65
" ? 使
Chen Shou's verdict: Sun Quan had Gou Jian's patience and a hero's cunning. Thus he held the southeast and made Wu the third leg of the tripod. Yet he grew paranoid and bloody-handed in old age. Slander wiped out heirs, 〈Ma Rong glossed "destroy" as cutting off the gentleman's way.〉 Was this "planning for grandsons"? Chen Shou ties Wu's fall to the harem and succession ruin. 〈Pei Songzhi answers: the purge of Sun He seeded trouble, but Sun Hao's tyranny sank the ship. Even a lawful Sun Hao would likely have destroyed Wu. The doom was cruelty, not the choice of heir alone. Had Sun Liang kept the throne and Sun Xiu lived long, Sun Hao might never have mounted it. Without Sun Hao, Pei concludes, Wu might not have fallen.
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