In 250, the 69-year-old Sun Quan made a surprising decision, and he ordered his youngest son, Sun Liang, to be crown prince. As the saying goes, "the country depends on the long king", at this time, Sun Quan has entered his old age, but he chose a young child as the heir. Sun Quan did not have no other sons, according to historical records, Sun Quan had a total of seven sons, and by the time he was crown prince in 250, there were three adult sons alive. However, why did Sun Quan choose Sun Liang, who was not yet an adult?
It turned out that before that, a turmoil broke out in Eastern Wu for the position of storage, known in history as the "Southern Lu Party Struggle". In 241, Sun Quan's eldest son, Sun Deng, fell ill and died, and in the following year Sun Quan made his third son and crown prince, and at the same time, he created the fourth son, Ba, the King of Lu. Although Sun Ba was the King of Lu, he was deeply favored by his father, "pampering Chongte, and (Sun) and Wushu". In this case, Sun Ba began to covet the position of prince, so he began to make friends with courtiers and start a dispute for the throne.
In addition to Sun Ba, Sun He's opponent has a very important figure, he is Sun Quan's beloved daughter Sun Dahu! Sun Quan had many wives, and his favorite Lady Bu bore him two daughters, namely Sun Luban and Sun Luyu. Because Sun Quan liked tigers very much, he named the eldest daughter Sun Luban big tiger, and the second daughter Sun Luyu named Xiaohu. Sun Dahu had two marriages, she was originally married to Zhou Xun, Zhou Yu's son.
However, Zhou Xunying died young, so Sun Dahu remarried the Wei general Quan Chun, so people also called her "Quan Princess". Although Sun Dahu is a female stream, he is not a fuel-saving lamp. In Sun Quan's harem, in addition to Lady Bu, Sun He's birth mother, Lady Wang, was also deeply favored, and Sun Quan even wanted to make Lady Wang empress. Sun Dahu was very unhappy, she had always resented Madame Wang, and she also hated Sun He to the bone.
Sun Dahu often went in and out of the palace to say bad things about His father, Sun He, about Lady Wang and The Crown Prince Sun He. Once, when Sun Quan was sick in bed, Sun Dahu said that Madame Wang had a happy face. After hearing the news, Sun Quan was furious and sent people to severely rebuke Lady Wang, causing Lady Wang to "die in sorrow." After taking out Lady Wang, Sun Dahu began to attack Sun He with all his might. At this time, the ministers of the court were also divided into two factions, and Sun Dahu's husband, Sima Quanqun, supported Sun Ba, the King of Lu.
Sun Dahu knew that his grudge with Sun He was too deep, and the relationship between the two sides was like water and fire, so he must completely crush Sun He. Once, The Crown Prince and Sun Went to the Temple to hold a sacrifice. Next to the temple is the residence of Zhang Xiu, the uncle of Sun and his wife Zhang. This allowed Sun Dahu to seize the opportunity, and she said to Sun Quan: "The prince is not in the temple, and he is specifically on the concubine's family." This made Sun He completely lose Sun Quan's trust.
At the same time, Sun Dahu found that Sun Quan was also very dissatisfied with Sun Ba, the King of Lu, so he began to lay out the next plan. In 243, Sun Liang was born, Sun Quan had a son, and naturally loved this child very much, plus Sun Liang's birth mother, Lady Pan, was very favored. Sun Dahu was very sensitive to politics, so she took the initiative to befriend Lady Pan and recommended her niece to Sun Liang as a concubine. In 250, the eight-year-old Sun Liang became the Prince of Eastern Wu, and Sun Dahu's niece, Quan Shi, became the Crown Princess.
The reason why Sun Liang was able to become the crown prince was directly related to the "Southern Lu Party Struggle" in the late Eastern Wu Dynasty. In this political struggle, Sun Dahu played a role in fueling the waves. In 252, Sun Liang ascended the throne, and because of Sun Dahu, the power of the Quan clan reached its peak, "since Wu Xing, foreign relatives Guisheng is beyond reach". Due to the ascension of the young lord to the throne, the imperial power fell by the wayside, and there were constant coups d'état in Eastern Wu after that, and the national strength gradually declined.
References: 1. Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms; 2. Zizhi Tongjian