During the Three Kingdoms period, among the many heroes, the most outstanding were undoubtedly Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Sun Quan. Among them, Sun Quan is famous for his wisdom and bravery, and his military talent is unrivaled, and he is known as the "Jiangdong Tiger". However, despite his remarkable abilities in his youth, he appears to be very mediocre in his later years.
Many people wonder why a once wise leader could become like this? The answer may lie in the death of one person – that is, Zhou Yu.
Zhou Yu was an important advisor to Sun Quan and his friend. The two of them laid a foundation together and jointly opened a new chapter in the history of Soochow. However, when Zhou Yu died, Sun Quan's life changed drastically.
First of all, the loss of Zhou Yu deprived Sun Quan of an important spiritual pillar. Throughout their friendship, Zhou Yu has always been the one who encouraged and supported Sun Quan. His trust and admiration for Sun Quan made Sun Quan more confident to realize his ideals. However, when he needed this support and trust the most, Zhou Yu passed away suddenly. This made Sun Quan feel deeply lost and lonely, and his psychological state was also greatly affected.
Second, Zhou Yu's departure caused Sun Quan's political decision-making to begin to skew. Since Zhou Yu is a thoughtful strategist, he can always make the right advice at critical moments to help Sun Quan make wise choices. But without his guidance, Sun Quan began to rely on personal feelings to make decisions, rather than relying on rational analysis. This led to some wrong decisions, such as the southern conquest of the north, the repeated wars, the consumption of a lot of resources and manpower, and even the loss of many important cities.
Finally, Zhou Yu's death also changed Sun Quan's mentality. In his youth, he was a motivated man who dared to challenge authority. However, as he grew older and Zhou Yu left, his mentality gradually became negative and conservative. He thinks he's already achieved enough and there's no need to take too many more risks. Under the influence of this thinking, he also became more selfish and cold, and took a harsh attitude towards those who opposed him, which caused him to lose a lot of supporters.
Overall, Zhou Yu's death had a profound impact on Sun Quan, making him increasingly mediocre in his later years. Although he was a great monarch in history, he was not immune to weaknesses and flaws in human nature. However, it also reminds us how important relationships are between people, whether it is friendship or family, can affect the trajectory of our lives. Therefore, we should cherish the people around us and strive to maintain good interpersonal relationships.