When it comes to the Emperor of the Three Kingdoms period, Liu Chan, the lord of the Shu Han Dynasty, and Sun Hao, the lord of the Eastern Wu Dynasty, must be on the list. The subjugated monarchs of these two regimes represent two typical examples, one is weak and incompetent, although there is no tyranny, but the talent is really not enough; the other is tyrannical and unkind, although he has great ambitions, but in fact he acts perversely, and finally destroys the country.
Now many people like to overturn the case for Liu Chan, thinking that he is a wise and foolish fool; but the number of people who overturned the case for Sun Hao is obviously not as many as Liu Chan. The following small editor will talk about this cruel Sun Hao, what his historical image should be.
The sun hao that later generations know is probably accompanied by the cruel and bloody words of peeling skin and chiseling eyes, which are also clearly recorded in the "Three Kingdoms Chronicles, WuShu , and Three Heirs", which is the main history of the Three Kingdoms and an important material for understanding or studying the history of the Three Kingdoms. Therefore, Sun Hao's brutal image is also deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
However, historical records and real history can not be confused, the author of the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" Chen Shou was originally a minister of the Shu Han Dynasty, after the fall of the Shu Han became the Minister of the Western Jin Dynasty, he wrote the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" as a Jin person, involving the content of the Western Jin Dynasty will often be carefully considered content.
For example, in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" about Sima Yi's embarrassment, Chen Shou is not recorded at all. Zhuge Liang's "Battle of Halo City" against Sima Yi, sima Yi's forced Zhang Guo to pursue Zhuge Liang and cause Zhang Gao to die in battle, is not mentioned in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and the content of Pei Songzhi's supplementary notes is needed to be passed on to future generations. It can be seen from here that when Chen Shou was revising history, he had to consider the factors of political stance.
The same is true for Sun Hao. Sun Hao was the last emperor of Eastern Wu, and Eastern Wu was destroyed by Sima Yan, the founding emperor of the Western Jin Dynasty, and Sun Hao became Sima Yan's guest. For this former enemy of the Western Jin Dynasty and the object of the crusade, Chen Shou naturally used the Spring and Autumn Brushwork when he wrote it. Of course, a moral historian will not reverse black and white, and Chen Shou will not mold a benevolent monarch into a tyrant. However, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" does exaggerate Sun Hao's brutality.
Pei Songzhi quoted a lot of content for the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which has extremely high historical value. Most of them take the content of other historical materials, but also mixed with their own views. Pei Songzhi has an interesting record: after the fall of Eastern Wu, Sun Hao, including Eastern Wu's Qunchen, also came to Luoyang like Liu Chan.
Emperor Sima Yan of the Jin Dynasty asked Sun Hao's attendant Li Ren, "I heard that Lord Wu likes to peel people's skins and dig people's knees, is it true?" Li Ren replied, "'Gentlemen are evil and inferior, and all evil in the world is returned.'" 'Lord Wu uses corporal punishment to punish sinners, and there is nothing to blame. "
Yu Jun asked again, "I heard that Lord Wu hates to be looked at directly at by others, and if anyone looks directly at himself, he will be tortured with a chiseled eye." Li Ren replied directly: "There is no such thing." Moreover, the courtier should not have looked directly at the monarch in the first place, which was a rude act. Punishing rude courtiers is also beyond reproach. "
All in all, Li Ren's point of view is very clear: Sun Hao's reputation for cruelty is partly due to the accusations of punished people; partly because of "the evil of a gentleman and a vulgarity". To be fair, Sun Hao is indeed not a benevolent prince in history, but the records of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms also exaggerate Sun Hao's brutality.
Xiaobian once again stressed that Sun Hao is definitely not a good man or a woman. His methods of governing Eastern Wu were also very harsh, appointing cool officials, killing ministers, and clans, which can be said to be a combination of tyrants and emperors. However, Sun Hao's strategy of governing Eastern Wu by harsh means was also related to the historical background of the time to some extent. This is the situation in which Eastern Wu has long been in power.
Sun Quan was very dimwitted in the late period of his reign, and one of the most prominent manifestations of this was the "Dispute of the Two Palaces", which was the struggle between Sun Wu's crown prince Sun He and Sun Ba, the king of Lu. Sun Quan made Sun He crown prince and made Sun Ba accept the same treatment as Sun He. As a result, the group of subjects was ambiguous about the ownership of the heirs between Sun He and Sun Ba.
Sun He's crown princehood is justified, but Sun Ba seems to have the possibility of succeeding to the throne. This has led to some political speculators supporting Sun Ba. This situation was also very common during the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, such as Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, who had children and heirs infighting, because the heirs were unclear and improper. A large number of Eastern Wu ministers were either involved in or actively participated in the "Two Palaces Dispute" and used the "Two Palaces Dispute" to attack political enemies. In this very acute situation, Sun Quan abandoned Sun He and Sun Ba, made the youngest Sun Liang the crown prince, and selected Zhuge Ke, Sun Hong, Sun Jun, Lü Zhao, and Teng Yin as auxiliary ministers.
Sun Quan's approach undoubtedly led to a situation in which Eastern Wu lords were suspicious of the state and powerful ministers were in charge. After Sun Quan's death, first Zhuge Ke and Sun Jun killed Sun Hong; then Zhuge Ke was killed by Sun Jun. In this process, the Young Emperor Sun Liang had no right to speak at all. When Sun Junhuo and Zhuge Ke were together, Sun Liang kept stressing: "It is not my doing!" After Sun Jun's death, his subordinate Sun Qihuo (孙綝) was also angry and Lü Zhao and Teng Yin monopolized power. Sun Liang still did not have the power to pro-government. In the end, due to a failed coup, Sun Liang was deposed by Sun Qiang, who supported Sun Xiu as emperor.
Later, although Sun Xiu successfully eliminated Sun Qi, he still had signs of power and interference in politics. During Sun Xiu's reign, Puyang Xing and Zhang Bu were reused. Puyang Xing was Sun Xiu's close confidant when he was the King of Langya, and Zhang Bu was the biggest contributor to the removal of Sun Qiu. These two people were the most powerful figures in Sun Xiu's period, and they were also the most trusted by Sun Xiu. Before Sun Xiu's death, he entrusted his young son to Puyang Xing, with Puyang Xing as his assistant chancellor. However, Puyang Xing did not follow Sun Xiu's will, followed Wan Yu's advice, and supported Sun Hao as emperor.
As can be seen from the above, the political situation in Eastern Wu is very deformed. During the Sun Liang period, there was no chance to govern at all; although Sun Xiu was able to personally govern, the authority given to Puyang Xing and Zhang Bu was so great that Puyang Xing and Zhang Bu could easily abandon Sun Xiu's first line and establish Sun Hao instead of Sun Xiu and the first line, without much resistance. The situation of Eastern Wu's long-term rule of power will undoubtedly make a very deep impression on Sun Hao, who used harsh punishments to control courtiers and establish authority, which is not a concern for the power of the courtiers.
For example, Sun Hao executed the biggest contributors to his ascension to the throne in the early days of his reign: Puyang Xing and Zhang Bu, most likely to avoid the pride of both of them, as well as the political influence of their long-term operation, and to kill chickens and monkeys to warn other courtiers. Sun Hao used cool officials to monitor the group of ministers, treated the group of ministers with cruel punishment, and explicitly forbade the ministers to look directly at themselves, which was also obviously a measure to deter the group of ministers and strengthen the control of the Eastern Wu regime.
A similar situation existed during the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty. For example, after Liu Bei pacified Yizhou, he asked Zhuge Liang, Fazheng, Li Yan, Yi Yuan, and Liu Ba to formulate the Shu Ke. Fazheng means to use leniency to win the support of Yizhou people and "Dongzhou scholars", and Zhuge Liang insists on using severe punishment and harsh law, because the long-term law in Shudi is lax, resulting in the local magnates who are not afraid of their might, do not have their morality, and need to use strict laws to correct. Eastern Wu had long been weak and strong, and also needed Sun Hao to use extraordinary means to suppress qingfeng.
However, Sun Hao and Zhuge Liang are obviously not the same. Although Zhuge Liang used strict laws, he clearly distinguished rewards and punishments, and at the same time preached morality and religion, and vigorously developed national strength; while Sun Hao's blind use of strict torture methods was even worse than Zhuge Liang's, even to the extent that black and white were reversed. At the same time, Sun Hao was also far from being an excellent or even qualified politician, and during his reign, he was extremely extravagant, built a lot of civil engineering, superstitiously believed in Weiwei, and consumed national strength. In the end, the Western Jin Dynasty easily eliminated Eastern Wu, and Sun Hao became the king of Eastern Wu, which was also a normal thing.
Reference: "Three Kingdoms"