Sun Quan claimed the title of queen, and the courtiers twice recommended Zhang Zhao as chancellor. For the first time, Sun Quan did not agree, but only euphemistically said that there were many responsibilities for the chores of the minister, afraid of tiring Zhang Zhao, and finally chose Sun Shao as the minister. After Sun Shao's death, the Qunchen again recommended Zhang Zhao, but Sun Quan disagreed, and this time he bluntly said that he did not like Zhang Zhao, because his temper was "smelly and hard", so he appointed Gu Yong as the chancellor.
So, did Sun Quan really not choose Zhang Zhao because of Zhang Zhao's temper?
I. Zhang Zhao's Stinky Temper In history, Zhang Zhao was a man who was upright and upright, preferred not to bend, often violated Yan Zhi's advice, disagreed with Sun Quan, and often made Sun Quan step down.
Once, when Sun Quan set up a banquet and drank it, Sun Quan went berserk and ordered people to pour water on the ministers who were crooked from side to side. Sun Quan said to the Qunchen that if you want to drink today, you must all get drunk and fall into the fish pond! Zhang Zhao, seeing that Sun Quan was so foolish, did not say a word, and immediately left the palace.
Sun Quan stopped him and said, everyone is enjoying together, why is gong angry? Zhang Zhao immediately replied: I think that in those days, the King of Qi's wine pond meat forest feasted and reveled, and he also thought that this was a good thing rather than a bad thing. Sun Quan was speechless and immediately ended the banquet.
On another occasion, Sun Quan was very happy because Gongsun Yuan's envoy of Liaodong Gongsun Yuan said that he would rebel against Wei and return to Wu, and decided to send envoys to lead 10,000 people and gold, silver and jewelry to support. However, Zhang Zhao believed that Gongsun Yuan would be defeated and opposed Sun Wu's support for Gongsun Yuan. However, Sun Quan ignored Zhang Zhao's repeated dissuasion and insisted on doing so.
Later, Gongsun Yuan did betray Eastern Wu, killed the emissaries sent by Sun Quan to Liaodong, and annexed Sun Quan's soldiers and property. Zhang Zhao said that he was ill for this reason, Sun Quan personally called to the door, and Zhang Zhao did not come out. Enraged, Sun Quan ordered the soldiers to seal Zhang Zhao's door with soil to show that Zhang Zhao would never have to go out.
Zhang Zhao, not willing to show weakness, blocked the inner door and strongly stated that he did not intend to go out. Seeing that the ineffective Sun Quan further ordered the door to be set on fire and wanted to force Zhang Zhao to go out, he did not expect Zhang Zhao to close the door tighter, saying that he would rather die than die, and Sun Quan hurriedly ordered the fire to be extinguished. In the end, Sun Quan stood in front of Zhang Zhao's house for a long time without showing soft confession, but Zhang Zhao still did not want to go out.
Zhang Zhao's sons were afraid that things would be too stiff, and they thought that if they did not go out to give the emperor face, they would rebel against Zhang Zhao's loss, and jointly help Zhang Zhao to go out and reconcile with Sun Quan. Sun Quan took Zhang Zhao back to the palace and deeply criticized himself, and the two reconciled.
Judging from these two stories, Zhang Zhao and Sun Quan always have a hard top, just as Sun Quan said, Zhang Zhao's temper is smelly and hard, and he does not know how to be flexible at all. But is such a person really not suitable to be Sun Wu's chancellor?
Second, Sun Quan's frivolous madness
The author personally believes that not to talk about temper first, not to let Zhang Zhao take the position of chancellor, but to give this position to Sun Shao and Gu Yong, which is a great disrespect to Zhang Zhao.
I think that at the beginning, Zhang Zhao was deeply valued when Sun Ce was in charge, and before Sun Ce died, he entrusted Sun Quan to Zhang Zhao, and said to Zhang Zhao: If Zhongmou does not do anything, the jun will take it upon himself. At this time, Sun's foundation was unstable, a strong enemy was on the side, the lord was suspicious of the country, and Zhou Yu was in the field, which was really the critical moment of Sun's survival.
However, as soon as Sun Ce died, Zhang Zhao immediately made a decision, leading hundreds of officials to support Sun Quan as the mainstay, and at the same time playing the Eastern Han Court, and strictly ordering generals in various places not to leave their posts without authorization, quickly stabilizing the situation, Zhang Zhao did not live up to Sun Ce's trust. He served the Sun clan for two generations, has been loyal, never slackened, and sacrificed decades for the Eastern Wu regime, and on merit, the position of chancellor should be given to him.
Moreover, to be a virtuous man, you must dare to ask for advice. Zhang Zhao's eyesight, courage, and prestige were all the heads of the Eastern Wu Qunchen; and he was loyal to the country, upright, and the best candidate for the chancellor. What's more, after Sun Quan was promoted to King Wu, with the expansion of his territory, the stability of his position of power, and his arrogance and indulgence grew day by day, and his actions of light-hearted and improper behavior and transgressions occurred from time to time. Although the Minister of Culture and Military Affairs had some advice on these issues, he did not dare to speak directly. Du Zhang Zhao has no scruples, is upright and outspoken, and bluntly confronts Sun Quan every time.
It was with Zhang Zhao, who was not afraid of death, and who made Sun Quan also fearful, that Wu Guocai did not decay so quickly. In his later years, Sun Quan forced Lu Xun to die, causing the State of Wu to fall into long-term civil strife, not because Zhang Zhao was already dead, and no one could control Sun Quan anymore. Therefore, Sun Quan said so many bad things about Zhang Zhao, but he just didn't want anyone to take care of him.