Background
Sun Ce was the eldest son of Sun Jian, who was killed in action during the Battle of Xiangyang in 191 against Liu Biao, the Governor of Jing Province. Although Sun Ce was 17 when his father died, he was already well-known and was acquainted with many reputable men.
In 194, Sun Ce went to meet Yuan Shu, the warlord whom his father was subordinate to. Yuan Shu was surprised, but he refused to return the command of Sun Jian's troops to Sun Ce. At that time, Sun Ce's maternal uncle Wu Jing, the Administrator of Danyang, was also under Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu then ordered Sun Ce to travel to Danyang and rally his own troops there. Although he managed to muster about a few hundred men, Sun Ce came under attack by Zu Lang, a bandit leader in Jing County, and almost lost his life. Sun Ce went to meet Yuan Shu again, with Yuan this time agreeing to return about 1,000 of Sun Jian's troops to Sun Ce. Yuan Shu also initially promised to let Sun Ce be the Administrator of Jiujiang, but he went back on his word and appointed Chen Ji instead.
Subsequently, Yuan Shu planned to attack Xu Province and requested 30,000 hu (斛) of rice from Lu Kang, the Administrator of Lujiang, but Lu refused and Yuan was enraged. Sun Ce bore a grudge against Lu Kang, because there was once when he visited Lu, Lu refused to meet him and sent a registrar to entertain him instead. Yuan Shu sent Sun Ce to attack Lu Kang, promising Sun, "It was my mistake to appoint Chen Ji, and now I often regret not abiding by my original decision. If you defeat Lu Kang, Lujiang will truly be yours." However, Yuan Shu reneged his promise again when Sun Ce conquered Lujiang, appointing Liu Xun as the administrator instead. Sun Ce became disappointed with Yuan Shu. Concurrently, Sun Ce gained the support of Wu territory residents such as Ling Cao and his kinsman, and pirates such as Zhou Tai and his gang.
At that time, the territories in Yang Province in southeastern China were under the jurisdiction of Liu Yao, who was appointed Inspector of the province. However, Liu Yao only controlled the four commanderies of Danyang, Wu, Kuaiji and Yuzhang, with Jiujiang and Lujiang (both located north of the Yangtze River) not under him. Shouchun was initially the capital of Yang Province, but as it was occupied by Yuan Shu, Liu Yao moved his capital to Qu'e, Danyang. Liu Yao drove away Wu Jing, Yuan Shu's appointed Administrator of Danyang. Wu Jing and Sun Ben (the former Commandant of Danyang, and a cousin of Sun Ce) retreated to Liyang. As a defensive measure against Wu Jing, Liu Yao ordered Fan Neng and Yu Mi to garrison at Hengjiang Ford (southeast of present-day He County, Anhui), Zhang Ying to defend Danglikou (east of present-day He County, Anhui). Yuan Shu appointed his follower Hui Qu (惠衢) as Inspector of Yang Province, Wu Jing as Military Inspector-General of the Household, sending them along with Sun Ben to attack Liu Yao's forces.
Read more about this topic: Sun Ce's Conquests In Jiangdong
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