Lu Su - Appraisal

Appraisal

"I had a discussion (with Lu Su) and obtained a plan on establishing a dynasty. That was one pleasant moment. Later when Mengde took control of Liu Cong's territories, he declared that he would lead thousands of land and marine troops south (to attack me). I gathered all my subordinates and asked for their opinions, but none of their responses matched my thoughts. Zibu and Wenbiao suggested that I surrender, but Zijing argued that I shouldn't, and he urged me to recall Gongjin and put him in command (of the army) to engage the enemy. This was another pleasant moment. However, in terms of decisiveness, he was inferior to Zhang and Su. Although this weakness of his was evident when he advised me to lease land to Xuande, this shortcoming was not enough to overshadow his two strengths." – Sun Quan

In this statement, Sun Quan commented that he was very pleased with two things that Lu Su had done for him: drafting a plan for him to emerge as one of three major contending powers in China; and helping him arrive at his resolution to ally with Liu Bei against Cao Cao just before the Battle of Red Cliffs. However, Sun Quan also thought that Lu Su was incompetent in managing diplomatic ties as compared to Zhang Yi and Su Qin, two famous strategists and diplomats in the Warring States Period. Despite so, Sun Quan still felt that Lu Su's two major contributions outshone this imperfection.