Reign as the monarch of Eastern Wu Sun Quan

1 reign monarch of eastern wu

1.1 reign
1.2 middle reign
1.3 late reign

reign monarch of eastern wu
early reign

sun quan

early in sun quan s reign, wu administration known efficiency, sun showed knack listening correct advice , delegating authorities proper individuals. example, correctly trusted faithful lu xun , zhuge jin, so made duplicate imperial seal , left lu xun; whenever correspond shu s emperor liu shan or regent zhuge liang, deliver letter lu xun first (as lu s post near shu border), , if, in lu s opinion, changes needed, revise letter , restamp sun s imperial seal. further, lu xun , zhuge jin authorised coordinate actions shu without prior imperial approval. sun quan treated high-level officials friends , addressed them accordingly (with courtesy names), , in accordance dedicated effort wu s preservation. knew proper roles officials trusted; example, in 225, when selecting chancellor, while key officials respected zhang zhao , wanted him chancellor, sun quan declined, reasoning while respected zhang greatly, chancellor needed handle affairs of state, , zhang, while capable, had such strong opinions surely in conflict sun quan , other officials @ times. repeatedly promoted official lü fan though, while young, lü fan had informed sun ce improper spending habits, understanding lü did out of loyalty sun ce.

in 224 , 225, cao pi again made attacks on wu, each time wu forces able repel wei s fair ease — cao pi made comment, heaven created yangtze divide north , south. however, sun quan himself equally unsuccessful in efforts make major attacks on wei. after cao pi s death in 226, example, sun quan launched attack on wei s jiangxia commandery (around present-day xinzhou district, wuhan, hubei) forced withdraw wei reinforcements arrived. however, later year, able increase effective control on jiao province (交州, present-day northern vietnam) when general lü dai able defeat warlord shi hui (士徽) , end effective independence shi clan had. in addition, several independent kingdoms in modern cambodia, laos, , southern vietnam became wu vassals well.

mirror immortals , mythical beast. cast in 229, year sun quan declared himself emperor.

the book of liang records arrival in 226 of merchant roman empire (daqin) @ jiaozhi (chinese-controlled northern vietnam). prefect of jiaozhou sent him court of sun quan in nanjing. sun quan requested provide him report on native country , people. expedition mounted return merchant along 10 female , 10 male blackish coloured dwarfs had requested curiosity , chinese officer who, unfortunately, died en route.

the 1 major victory wu have on wei during period came in 228, when, sun quan s approval, general zhou fang pretended surrendering wei after pretending have been punished repeatedly sun quan. tricked wei general cao xiu, led large army south support zhou fang. walked trap set zhou fang , lu xun , suffered major losses, saved total annihilation jia kui.

in 229, sun quan declared himself emperor, damaged alliance shu, many shu officials saw sign of betrayal of han dynasty — shu claimed legitimate successor. however, zhuge liang opposed ending alliance , in fact confirmed formal treaty later year, in 2 states pledged support each other , divide wei equally if conquer it. later year, moved capital wuchang (武昌; in present-day ezhou, hubei) jianye, leaving crown prince sun deng, assisted lu xun, in charge of western parts of eastern wu.

middle reign

in 230, however, first sign of deterioration of sun quan s reign occurred. year, sent generals wei wen (衛溫) , zhuge zhi (諸葛直) navy of 10,000 east china sea seek legendary islands of yizhou (夷洲) , danzhou (亶洲) seek conquer them, despite strenuous opposition of lu xun , quan cong. navy not able locate danzhou located yizhou, , returned in 231 after capturing several thousand men — after 80-90% of navy had died illness. instead of seeing own fault in venture, sun quan executed wei wen , zhuge zhi. perhaps concerned deterioration in sun quan s judgment, sun deng left western empire in lu xun s hands in 232 , returned jianye, , remain @ jianye until own death in 241.

in 232, sun quan had misadventure involving navy — sent generals zhou (周賀) , pei qian (裴濳) nominal wei vassal gongsun yuan, in control of liaodong commandery (present-day central liaoning), purchase horses, against advice of yu fan - , indeed, exiled yu fan desolate cangwu commandery (roughly modern wuzhou, guangxi) punishment. yu fan predicted, however, venture end in failure — zhou , pei qian, on way back, intercepted wei forces , killed. regretting actions, sun quan tried recall yu fan jianye, learn yu had died in exile.

the next year, however, sun quan have yet misadventure in dealings gongsun yuan, gongsun sent messengers him, offering subject. sun quan ecstatic, , appointed gongsun yuan prince of yan , granted him 9 bestowments, , further sent detachment of 10,000 men sea north assist gongsun yuan in campaign against wei, against advice of every single 1 of high-level officials, particularly zhang zhao. once army arrived, however, gongsun yuan betrayed them, killing sun quan s officials zhang mi (張彌) , xu yan (許晏), whom sun had sent grant bestowments , seized troops. once happened, enraged sun quan wanted head north fleet attack gongsun yuan, , initially, not lu xun s opposition able stop him, although calmed down , did not follow through. credit, went zhang zhao s house , apologised him. further, despite deterioration in previous clear thinking, still capable of making proper decisions @ times. example, in 235, when, sign of contempt, wei s emperor cao rui offered horses him in exchange pearls, jade, , tortoise shells, sun quan ignored implicit insult , made exchange, reasoning empire needed horses more pearls, jade or tortoise shells.

in 234, in coordination zhuge liang s final northern expedition against wei, sun quan led major attack against wei s border city hefei, while having lu xun , zhuge jin attack xiangyang, strategy of trying attract wei relief forces , attacking them. however, wei generals correctly saw situation , let sun quan siege hefei. after sun quan s food supplies ran low did cao rui arrive reinforcements, , sun withdrew, did lu xun , zhuge jin.

in 238, when gongsun yuan under attack wei s general sima yi, sun quan, despite prior rage against gongsun, correctly judged situation 1 might able take advantage if sima yi unsuccessful, did not refuse gongsun s request help. however, sima yi able conquer gongsun yuan quickly, sun quan never launched major attack considered if sima got stuck in stalemate gongsun. year, recognised how lü yi, supervisor of audit bureau, had been abusing powers, , had lü yi executed; further confirmed trust in high-level officials writing emotional letter zhuge jin, bu zhi, zhu ran, , lü dai, blaming himself recent problems administration while urging them speak out whenever saw faults in him.

in 241, sun quan launch last major assault against wei of reign, in light of cao rui s death in 239, rejected strategy offered yin zha (殷札) attack wei in coordinated effort shu on 4 different fronts, , campaign ended in failure well.

late reign

later in 241, crown prince sun deng died — event left open issue of succession , appeared mark start of precipitous decline in sun quan s mental health. in 242, appointed son sun he, born consort wang, crown prince. however, favoured son consort wang, sun ba, , permitted sun ba have same staffing level crown prince — move objected number of officials encouraging sun ba compete sun he, sun quan did not listen them. after 245, when sun , sun ba began have separate residences, relationship deteriorated further, , sun ba began scheme @ how seize heir status sun he. fanned gossip daughter sun luban, sun quan blamed sun s mother consort wang — , died in fear. cut off sun , sun ba s access officials supported them in hopes of receiving future favours, not stop sun ba s machinations. indeed, when lu xun tried intervene protect sun he, sun ba falsely accused him of many crimes, , sun quan became provoked repeatedly rebuked lu xun, causing him die in frustration.

in 250, fed sun ba s constant attacks against sun he, sun quan carried out inexplicable combination of actions, forced sun ba commit suicide, while deposing sun (who had not been shown have committed crimes), , instead creating youngest son, sun liang, crown prince replace sun he. move opposed son-in-law zhu ju (the husband of sun quan s daughter sun luyu), zhu ju s pleas not did not sun he, resulted in own death, sun quan forced him commit suicide. many other officials opposed move, officials had supported sun ba, executed.

around time, sun quan had generals destroy number of levees near border wei, creating large areas of flooding, in order obstruct potential attacks wei.

in 251, sun quan created first empress of reign — sun liang s mother consort pan. (previously, had succession of wives, never made of them empress, except favourite, lady bu, created empress posthumously after death in 238.) later year, however, realised sun blameless , wanted recall him exile, persuaded not daughter sun dahu , sun jun, had supported sun liang s ascension. realised getting old (69 point) and, @ sun jun s recommendation, commissioned zhuge jin s son zhuge ke future regent sun liang, though correctly had misgivings how zhuge ke arrogant , had overly high opinion of own abilities. @ time virtually entire empire, awed zhuge s prior military victories, convinced zhuge correct choice regent.

in 252, sun quan neared death, empress pan murdered, how murdered remains controversy. wu officials claimed servants, unable stand temper, strangled while asleep, while number of historians, including hu sanxing, commentator sima guang s zizhi tongjian, believed top wu officials complicit, feared seize power empress dowager after sun quan s death. later year, sun quan died @ age of 70, , sun liang succeeded him. sun quan buried in mausoleum @ purple mountain in present-day nanjing.