Sun Ce (175 – 5 May 200), courtesy name Bofu, was a native of Fuchun, Wu Commandery (present-day Fuyang District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang). The eldest son of the general Sun Jian and the eldest brother of Emperor Wu's Sun Quan. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, he was one of the princes of the Jiangdong region, one of the heroes of the late Han Dynasty, and one of the founders of Eastern Wu. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Luo Guanzhong said that his martial courage was like the overlord Xiang Yu, nicknamed "Little Bawang". Of course, in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and other canonical histories, Sun Ce is also a fierce general who does not lose Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Ma Chao, Lü Bu and others.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Cao went to the imperial court, appointed Sun Ce as a rebellious general, and created him the Marquis of Wu. In April 200, when Cao Cao and Yuan Shao were engaged in the Battle of Guandu, Sun Ce prepared to lead an army north to attack Cao Cao's rear. However, at this time, Sun Ce was assassinated by the Assassins while hunting in Dantu, and died after returning to Wu County, at the age of 26. And this, naturally, made posterity sigh for it. Because when the Battle of Guandu broke out, Cao Cao could be said to be struggling to support, if Sun Ce really sneaked into Xu Du at this time, it would inevitably lead to Cao Cao's belly and back to be attacked, and even change the direction of the Battle of Guandu.
It is worth noting that when Sun Ce was dying, he chose to pass the position of the lord of Jiangdong to his younger brother Sun Quan, that is, this obviously belonged to the brother and the brother. So, the question is, Sun Ce obviously has a son, why should he pass the throne to his younger brother Sun Quan? In this regard, in the author's opinion, combined with the situation at that time, Sun Ce was relatively helpless, that is, he could not pass the throne to his son.
One
First of all, according to the Records of the Three Kingdoms and other historical records, Sun Ce's son was named Sun Shao. In 200 AD, when Sun Ce died, Sun Shao was about 10 years old. Correspondingly, Sun Quan, who was born in 182 AD, was about 18 years old at the time. Therefore, it is very obvious that in terms of age, Sun Quan is more suitable than Sun Shao to inherit the position of duke of Jiangdong. Combined with the historical background at that time, when Sun Ce died, he was in the historical stage of the crowd chasing deer. As far as the Sun clan of Jiangdong was concerned, they had to face strong princely forces such as Cao Cao, Liu Biao, and Yuan Shao externally. If Sun Ce did not choose a suitable heir and led to civil unrest in Jiangdong, then Cao Cao, Liu Biao, Yuan Shao and other princes would naturally not miss such an opportunity, and might even join forces to divide the territory of Jiangdong.
As far as the internal affairs of Jiangdong are concerned, although Sun Ce has pacified the six counties of Jiangdong by force, sun Ce has not yet had a relatively stable foundation as far as Jiangdong is concerned, where the warrior clan is everywhere. In other words, Sun Ce needed time to consolidate his occupation of Jiangdong. However, Sun Ce was eventually murdered by three of Xu Gong's disciples, which naturally disrupted Sun Ce's plans and prevented him from passing the throne to his son Sun Shao. Xu Gong was an official at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Successively serving as the governor of Wu Commandery and Taishou, he wanted to send a secret letter to Cao Cao, asking Cao Cao to pay attention to Sun Ce, but was discovered by Sun Ce and killed. The "Three Kingdoms Chronicle, Shu Zhi VIII, Xu Jing Biography", "Three Kingdoms Chronicle, Wu Zhiyi, Sun Ce Biography", and "Three Kingdoms Zhi Wu Zhi VI Sun Shao Biography" are all recorded. In this regard, in the author's opinion, among the warriors in Jiangdong, there is obviously more than one Xu Gong, that is, many people are secretly in contact with Cao Cao. For Cao Cao, holding the Son of Heaven hostage to order the princes, which naturally had a great impact on the heroes of the world, such as Sun Ce's official positions and titles, nominally crowned by Liu Xie, the Emperor of Han Xian, but in fact granted by Cao Cao.
Two
On this basis, in the view of many historians, the reason why Sun Ce was assassinated was because he wanted to lead his soldiers north to the Central Plains, which seriously damaged the interests of the Jiangdong family, so there was a result of the assassination. In the context of internal and external troubles, if Sun Ce insisted on letting Sun Shao take the throne, he was likely to become a puppet of the Jiangdong family. And this, of course, is the result that Sun Ce does not want to see. Therefore, weighing the pros and cons, Sun Shao is obviously not the best person to inherit his career.
Correspondingly, although Sun Quan is only 18 years old, he is wise and decisive, advocates chivalry, and likes to attract talents from all over the world, which prompts Sun Quan to gradually become on a par with Sun Jian and Sun Ce. For Sun Quan, he often followed Sun Ce around, and his talent made Sun Ce sigh to himself.
Chen Shou recorded in the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Vol. 56, Wushu XI, Zhu Zhi Zhu Ran Lü Fan Zhu Huan Biography Xi xi: In the fifteenth year of quan, the rule was filial piety.
In 196 AD, during Sun Ce's southern conquest of the Northern War, the fifteen-year-old Sun Quan had already begun to hold the official position of county commander, which meant that Sun Quan had been trained very early.
Three
For Sun Quan at that time, he had already accumulated a certain prestige among the generals of Jiangdong, such as Zhang Zhao, Zhou Yu and others, who were very optimistic about sun Quan, who had become famous at a young age, and were willing to assist the lord.
In 200 AD, before Sun Ce was dying, he called Sun Quan to his side, personally gave him a seal, and said: "Leading the Jiangdong soldiers, fighting a decisive battle between two fronts, and using force to fight for the world, you are not as good as me; however, if you are able to do your best, and urge them to do their best, so as to guard Jiangdong, I am not as good as you." In this regard, in the author's opinion, Sun Ce's remarks point out the advantages of Sun Quan's knowledge and good use, which is naturally an essential quality for becoming a party prince. For example, Cao Cao and Liu Bei naturally possessed such abilities.
Among the princes at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, relying solely on bravery and martial arts obviously could not be based on for a long time, such as Lü Bu, Ma Chao, Gongsun Zhan and other princes. Therefore, it is obvious that there will be a large number of excellent talents under the command of the princes who will really come to the end, and these talents must be fully appointed. For example, although Yuan Shao's subordinates were full of talents, Yuan Shao's ability to employ people was obviously inferior to That of Cao Cao, which was also an important reason why he suffered defeat in the Battle of Guandu.
Four
Finally, at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, many emperors took the throne at a young age, such as The Young Emperor of Han and the Emperor Xian of Han. Among them, two days after the death of Emperor Hanling (on the thirteenth day of April of the same year, that is, on May 15, 189 AD), Liu Jie took the throne, and was known as the Shao Emperor. The Young Emperor honored his mother Empress He as empress dowager, and due to the young age of the young emperor, Empress He held great power. Therefore, it is very obvious that after the Han Shao Emperor Liu Wei ascended the throne, he never held real power. In 189, after the defeat of both the general He Jin and the eunuch, Dong Zhuo took the opportunity to come to Luoyang, the capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and thus usurped power. On this basis, Dong Zhuo eliminated the Han Shao Emperor Liu Wei and established Liu Xie as emperor, which was emperor Xiandi of Han.
Like the Han Shao Emperor Liu Jie, the young Liu Xie was also a puppet emperor. After Dong Zhuo was killed, Emperor Liu Xie of Han was again held hostage by Li Dai, Guo Feng, Cao Cao, and other powerful ministers. In view of this situation, Sun Ce naturally did not want to repeat the same mistakes. Therefore, letting Sun Quan inherit his position is precisely to avoid this situation. Moreover, Sun Ce left two ministers for Sun Quan, Zhou Yu and Zhang Zhao, to assist him, and also hoped to balance the power between Sun Quan's ministers, so as to ensure that Sun Quan could gradually grasp the power of Jiangdong. On this basis, from the final result, Sun Quan did become a prince who rivaled Cao Cao and Liu Bei, that is, he did not live up to Sun Ce's expectations.
In addition, in 229 AD, when Sun Quan ascended the throne as emperor, sun Ce was posthumously awarded the title of Prince huan of Changsha, and sun Ce's son Sun Shao was only given the title of Marquis of Wu, and later the Marquis of Shangyu. As a result, Sun Shao did not even receive the treatment of a clan king. More crucially, during the reign of Sun Quan's grandson Sun Hao, there were rumors that Sun Shao's son Sun Feng should take the throne, which prompted Sun Hao to kill Sun Feng. Therefore, the ending of Sun Ce's descendants is naturally rather bleak. Of course, this is all an afterthought, and it is not a result that Sun Ce can predict.