Sun Xiu (emperor) - Reign

Reign

As emperor, Sun Xiu was known for being tolerant of differing opinions, as well as his studiousness. However, he did not appear to be a particularly capable emperor, either in military or domestic matters, and he entrusted most of the important affairs to Zhang and Puyang Xing (濮陽興), neither of whom was particularly capable either. Both were also moderately corrupt. The government was therefore not efficient or effective. For example, in 260, at Puyang's suggestion, a costly project was started to create an artificial lake known as the Puli Lake (浦里塘, in modern Xuancheng, Anhui) to create a defense against the rival Cao Wei, even though most other officials believed the project to be too costly and futile. Eventually, the project had to be abandoned when it became clear that it could not be completed.

Also in 260, Sun Xiu, who had always been concerned about plots regarding his deposed brother, the former emperor Sun Liang, acted after receiving false reports that Sun Liang had used witchcraft. He had Sun Liang demoted from being the Prince of Kuaiji to the Marquess of Houguan and sent him to his march (in modern Fuzhou, Fujian). Sun Liang died on the way—with the prevalent theory being that he committed suicide, but with some historians believing that Sun Xiu poisoned him.

According to the Eastern Wu ambassador Xue Xu (薛珝), who visited Eastern Wu's ally Shu Han in 261 at the order of Sun Xiu, the status that Shu Han was in at this point was:

The emperor is incompetent and does not know his errors; his subordinates just try to get by without causing trouble for themselves. When I was visiting them, I heard no honest words, and when I visited their countryside, the people looked hungry. I have heard of a story of swallows and sparrows making nests on top of mansions and being content, believing that it was the safest place, not realizing that the haystack and the support beams were on fire and that disaster was about to come. This might be what they are like.

However, historians largely believe that Xue was not just referring to Shu Han, but rather using Shu Han's situation to try to awaken Sun Xiu so that he would realize that Eastern Wu was in a similar situation. Sun Xiu did not appear to realize this, however.

In 262, Sun Xiu created his wife Princess Zhu empress. He also created his oldest son Sun Wan crown prince.

In 263, due to the corruption of the commandery governor Sun Xu (孫諝), the people of the Jiaozhi Commandery (交趾, modern Hanoi, Vietnam) rebelled, and they were joined by people of Jiuzhen (九真, modern Khanh Hoa, Vietnam) and Ri'nan (日南, modern Quang Tri, Vietnam) Commanderies, and the rebels sought military assistance from Cao Wei. (The rebellion would in fact eventually receive assistance from Cao Wei and its successor state, Jin, and would not be quelled until 271, long after Sun Xiu's reign.)

Also in 263, Shu Han was targeted by a major Cao Wei attack and sought assistance from Eastern Wu. Sun Xiu sent two separate forces, one attacking Shouchun and one heading toward Hanzhong to try to alleviate pressures on Shu Han, but neither was at all successful, and Shu Han's capital Chengdu and its emperor Liu Shan surrendered later that year without having received major help from Eastern Wu. Sun Xiu then heard that many Shu Han cities were still not decided as to what to do, and he sent a detachment to try to occupy them, but his forces were repelled by the former Shu Han general Luo Xian (羅憲), the governor of Badong Commandery (巴東, now mostly under water as part of the Three Gorges Dam reservoir), who wanted to carry out Liu Shan's orders to surrender to Cao Wei, and was unable to seize any former Shu Han territory.

In summer 264, Sun Xiu fell ill and was unable to speak but still could write, so he wrote an edict summoning Puyang to the palace, where he pointed and entrusted Crown Prince Wan to him. Sun Xiu died soon thereafter. However, Puyang did not follow his wishes. Rather, after consulting with Zhang, they believed that the people were, in light of Shu Han's recent fall, yearning for an older emperor. (It is not known how old Crown Prince Wan was at this point, but Sun Xiu himself died at age 29, so it was unlikely that Crown Prince Wan was even a teenager.) At the recommendation of the general Wan Yu (萬彧), who was friendly with former crown prince Sun He's son Sun Hao the Marquess of Wucheng, Puyang and Zhang declared Sun Hao emperor instead.