At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the death of Sun Ce can be called a very far-reaching event. In 200 AD, when Cao Cao and Yuan Shao were at a stalemate at Guandu, Sun Ce was preparing to go north to attack Xu Du. If Sun Ce succeeds in implementing this plan, the direction of the Battle of Guandu will undoubtedly change. However, before Sun Ce set out, he was assassinated by Xu Gong's protégés, and although Sun Ce was not dead at the time, he died of his wounds shortly after. Speaking of this, many people have to ask, who is Xu Gong, and why did his protégés assassinate Sun Ce? And this, naturally, we must talk about the grudge between Xu Gong and Sun Ce.
Specifically, according to historical records such as the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Xu Gong served as the governor of Wu Commandery (Wu County belonged to Yangzhou) during the late Han Dynasty (190-193 AD) and was a close friend of the famous scholar Xu Jing. Xu Jing fled to Jiangdong to escape Dong Zhuo's rebellion, and Xu Gong and others took him in. It is worth noting that Xu Jing later came to Yizhou and became a subordinate of Liu Zhang. In 214, Xu Jing surrendered Liu Bei at the Battle of Yizhou. Although Xu Jing changed hands many times, considering the greater fame of this person, Liu Bei still treated him kindly.
When Xu Gong served as the governor of Wu County, his superior was Sheng Xian, who served as the Taishou of Wu County. In 190 AD, after Dong Zhuo took Emperor Xian of Han hostage and moved the capital to Chang'an, the coalition against Dong Zhuo was disbanded. In this context, Yuan Shu, a prince, entered Yangzhou. The Huiji Zhou brothers, who had once divided Jiangdong, were defeated by Yuan Shu, among whom Zhou Zhe was killed by Xu Gong on his way back to Huiji's hometown. The original Yangzhou Assassin Chen Yu abandoned his post and fled to Xia Pi, and after Yuan Shu occupied Shouchun, he called himself the Yangzhou Assassin History.
However, after Yuan Shu proclaimed himself the Assassin of Yangzhou, the Eastern Han Court appointed Liu Shu as the Assassin History, of course, since Shouchun, the seat of Yangzhou, had been occupied by Yuan Shu, Liu Shu had to move the seat of governance to Qu'a in Wu County. By this time, Xu Gong had nominally become a subordinate of Liu Xuan (劉繇), the Assassin of Yangzhou.
Around the first year of Xingping (194 AD), Sheng Xian left office due to illness, and Xu Gong became the new Taishou of Wu County. At that time, the governor of Wu County was Sun Jian's old department, Zhu Zhi of Danyang.
After Xu Gong arrived in office, he tried to persecute the original Taishou Shengxian. In this regard, in the author's opinion, Xu Gong's move is obviously to consolidate his position. After all, Sheng Xian was a famous scholar at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and as long as he was still in Wu County, Xu Gong was still more jealous. However, Xu Gong's plan to persecute Sheng Xian did not succeed, and with the help of Gao Dai, a famous scholar in Wu County, Sheng Xian was able to escape. In addition, after 200 AD, Sheng Xian was eventually killed by Sun Quan. Of course, this is all an afterthought.
In the second year of Xingping (195 AD), Sun Ce, under the pretext of helping Yuan Shu fight against the Forces of Liu Shu, who occupied Jiangdong in Yangzhou, took the opportunity to break away from Yuan Shu and pass through Jiangdong himself. On this basis, Sun Ce not only defeated Liu Xuan, the assassin of Yangzhou, but also pacified Danyang County, Wu County and other counties. After being defeated by Sun Ce, Xu Gong defected to Yan Baihu, the leader of the mountain thieves who had divided wucheng in Wu County (present-day Huzhou, Zhejiang). However, soon after, Yan Baihu was defeated by Sun Ce, and the two had to defect to Xu Zhao in Yuhang.
In this regard, Cheng Pu and other generals said that Xu Gong and others should be exterminated, but Sun Ce said: "Xu Zhao has righteousness to the old jun (referring to Sheng Xian), sincerity to his former friend (referring to Yan Baihu), and this husband's zhiye." "So we didn't continue to kill them all.
After Xu Gong lost power, he still actively sought opportunities to retake Wu County. In 196 AD, Cao Cao welcomed Emperor Xian of Han and moved the capital to Xuchang. After learning of this news, Xu Gong submitted to the imperial court, believing that Sun Ce was brave enough to crown the world, emphasizing that allowing Sun Ce's power to sit on the throne would eventually become a major problem for Chao And Cao Cao, and put forward the idea of recruiting Sun Ce into Beijing by imperial order.
In this regard, in the author's opinion, if Xu Gong's expression is successful and his opinion is adopted by Cao Cao, then, according to Sun Ce's character, it is obvious that he will not be commanded. And this, naturally, would provide an excuse for Cao Cao to attack Sun Ce. Especially in the context that Sun Ce had not yet fully controlled Jiangdong, offending the Eastern Han court would undoubtedly increase the difficulty of Sun Ce's pacification of Yangzhou. Moreover, this was also an opportunity for Xu Gong to retake Wu County.
However, Xu Gong's upper table was intercepted by Sun Ce, who confronted Xu Gong, who said that there was no upper table, and Sun Ce ordered the samurai to hang Xu Gong.
Finally, in the view of many historians, in the summer of the second year of Jian'an (197 AD), the imperial court had already appointed Chen Yu as the new Taishou of Wu County, so Xu Gong's death would not be later than 197 AD. According to historical records such as the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, after Xu Gong was killed by Sun Ce, his protégés lurked in the folk and sought opportunities to avenge him.
On April 4, 2000 (May 5, 200) of the fifth year of Jian'an, Sun Ce hunted in the Dantu Mountains. He was riding a fast horse, and the cavalry guarding him was left far behind. At this time, he suddenly encountered three people, all of whom were the disciples of Xu Gong, the Taishou of Wu County, who had been killed by Sun Ce, and the three wanted to avenge Xu Gong.
After seeing Xu Gong's protégé, Sun Ce asked, "What are you?" The three replied, "We are Han Dang's soldiers, shooting deer here." Sun Ce said, "I know all of Han Dang's soldiers, and I have never seen you." After saying that, Sun Ce shot an arrow at one of them, and the person fell down with the sound of the bowstring. The remaining two immediately bent their bows and arrows and shot arrows at Sun Ce. In the middle of the shooting, Sun Ce was hit by an arrow in the cheek. At this time, the guards behind them found Sun Ce and killed all the Assassins.
In the same year, after Sun Ce died of illness, he handed over Jiangdong to Sun Quan. Thus, it is very obvious that because Sun Ce killed Xu Gong, which led xu Gong's disciples to die with him. In addition, the reason for Sun Ce's assassination may also be related to his decision to prepare to sneak attack Xu Du. For the Jiangdong Shi clan who lived in a remote corner, most of them did not have the ambition to chase the deer to the Central Plains, and they were even more unwilling to offend Cao Cao, who threatened the Son of Heaven to order the princes. Therefore, Xu Gong's protégés may also have the support of these clans, thus gaining the opportunity to assassinate Sun Ce.