Sun Sheng (Southern Tang)

In 937, Wu's final emperor Yang Pu yielded the throne to Xu Zhigao, ending Wu. Xu Zhigao took the throne as emperor of a new state of Southern Tang,[7] and shortly after changed his last name back to his birth last name of Li[8] while taking a new personal name of Bian.[9] During Li Bian's reign as emperor, Sun Sheng successively served as Zhongshu Sheren (中書舍人, a mid-level official at the legislative bureau of government (中書省, Zhongshu Sheng)), imperial scholar (翰林學士, Hanlin Xueshi), and Zhongshu Shilang (中書侍郎, deputy head of the legislative bureau).[3] There was a time when the official Feng Yanji, a close associate of Li Bian's oldest son and heir presumptive Li Jing the Prince of Qi, joked with Sun, "What abilities do you have, Lord, that you get to be Zhongshu Shilang?" Sun, who had long despised Feng, responded:[10]

I, Sun Sheng, am only a foolish scholar from east of the Taihang Mountains. My writing is not as good as yours, Lord. My humor is not as good as yours, Lord. My trickery is not as good as yours, Lord. But the Master made you, Lord, a friend to the Prince of Qi in order to ask you to guide him with kindness and righteousness, not to spend time in entertainment and games with him. Even though I am not capable, your capabilities are enough to bring the state into danger.

When Li Bian fell ill and then shortly after died in 943, Sun was concerned that Feng and his associates would become powerful, and therefore considered claiming that Li Bian left a will naming his wife Empress Song regent over the new emperor Li Jing. However, when the imperial scholar Li Yiye (李貽業) objected, pointing out that LI Bian himself had often spoken against the idea of female regents and that it would be unnatural for Li Jing, well into his adulthood, to have a regent in any case — going as far as stating that if the emperor will were published with the directions to name Empress Song regent that he would publicly tear the edict apart — Sun relented and did not forge such a will. Li Jing shortly after took the throne as the new emperor.[10]

After Li Jing took the throne, at the urging of his younger brother Li Jingda (李景達), who apparently did not like Sun Sheng, Sun was sent away from the imperial administration to serve as the military governor of Yongtai Circuit (永泰, headquartered in modern Anqing, Anhui). It was said that Sun governed the circuit's army with strict discipline.[3] In 944, when the official Xiao Yan (蕭儼) offended Li Jing by comparing his palace to that of Chen Dynasty's last emperor Chen Shubao, Li Jing had Xiao exiled to Yongtai's capital Shu Prefecture (舒州). Sun subsequently sent guards to put Xiao under strict guard. Xiao met him and rebuked him for doing so, while pointing out that Sun himself had nearly disrupted the proper imperial succession. Sun, humbled, withdrew the guards.[10] At one point, two soldiers at Yongtai, apparently resenting Sun for his discipline, entered headquarters and wanted to assassinate Sun. However, Sun happened to be not at the headquarters at that time, so they assassinated the officer Li Jianchong (李建崇) and then escaped. As a result of this incident, Sun was demoted to be the minister of palace supplies (光祿卿, Guanglu Qing). However, Li Jing, who had respected Sun, did not further punish him, and later made him You Puye (右僕射, one of the heads of the executive bureau (尚書省, Shangshu Sheng)).[3][11]

In 952, Li Jing named Sun, along with Feng Yanji and Xu Jingyun (徐景運), chancellors with the designation Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi (同中書門下平章事). When hearing of this, Sun, who had long disrespected Feng, made the comment, "Is it that gold goblets and jade bowls are going to contain dog feces?"[12]

At the time that Sun, Feng, and Xu became chancellors, Southern Tang had just destroyed its southwestern neighbor Chu, but was in effective control of only one of the three main circuits of Chu — Wu'an (武安, headquartered at Chu's formal capital Changsha, Hunan); the other two main circuits, Wuping (武平, headquartered in modern Changde, Hunan), and Jingjiang (靜江, headquartered in modern Guilin, Guangxi), remained out of Southern Tang's effective control, with Wuping effectively under the control of the warlord Liu Yan, and Jingjiang's having been seized by Southern Han when Chu fell to Southern Tang. Li Jing initially did not want to carry out further campaigns over Chu territory, and therefore considered effectively letting Southern Han retain Jingjiang and bringing Wuping under only formal and not actual control by issuing a commission to Liu, allowing him to retain Wuping. Sun agreed with this idea, but Feng opposed, believing that this would cause Southern Tang's conquest effectively meaningless. Under Feng's advice, Li Jing maintained the campaigns to take Jingjiang and Wuping, but those campaigns were unsuccessful,[12][13] and, in winter 952, Liu attacked Changsha and took control of it, effectively chasing Southern Tang out of the former Chu territory. Hearing of the defeat, Feng and Sun submitted petitions blaming themselves and asking to be relieved from their posts. Li Jing initially declined, but upon Sun's insistence, removed them from their chancellorships and leaving them as Puyes.[13]

During the more than two decades that Sun served under Li Bian and Li Jing, he accumulated great wealth. It was said that each time at dinner, Sun did not use dinner tables; rather, he had his servant girls each hold a vessel of food and surround him (and perhaps dinner guests), calling them "fleshy dining tables." The rich people of the Southern Tang realm much imitated this style.[3]

By 956, Southern Tang was under serious attack by its northern neighbor Later Zhou. Faced with this great crisis, Li Jing bestowed the grand title of Sikong (司空, one of the Three Excellencies) on Sun, and sent him with the minister Wang Chongzhi (王崇直) as emissaries to Later Zhou's emperor Guo Rong, offering to formally submit as a vassal and offering gifts, begging Guo to stop his attack. (It was said that before departing on the mission, Sun believed that he would not return alive, and stated to Feng, "While this mission should have belonged to the Zuo Xiang [(左相, an alternative way of referring to Zuo Puye)], if I, Sun Sheng, do not go, I would be neglectful in my duties to the deceased emperor." The instructions that Li Jing gave him were to offer to Guo the terms of 1) Li Jing would no longer refer to himself as an emperor and become a vassal; 2) cede six prefectures to Later Zhou; and 3) offer yearly tributes of gold and silk — the same instructions that Li Jing had given earlier emissaries Li Deming (李德明) and Zhong Mo (鍾謨).[1]

After Sun and Wang arrived at Guo's camp — with Guo then sieging the major Southern Tang border city of Shou Prefecture (壽州, in modern Lu'an), Guo had Sun taken to just outside Shou's walls to show him to Shou's defender Liu Renzhan (劉仁瞻) the military governor of Qinghuai Circuit (清淮, i.e., the circuit formerly named Fengguo), to try to persuade Liu to surrender. When Liu saw Sun, he bowed in his armor. Sun, however, stated to him, "You, sir, had received great grace from the state. You shall not open your gates to welcome the bandits [(i.e., the Later Zhou army)]." When Guo heard what happened, he was angry with Sun, but Sun stated to him, "I, your subject, is a chancellor of Tang. How can I teach a military governor to defect?" Guo thus did not punish him.[1]

However, the terms that Li Deming and Zhong, and later Sun and Wang, offered Guo on their emperor's behalf, was not sufficient enticing to Guo, with his generals repeatedly prevailing over Southern Tang forces, causing him to want to take control of all of Southern Tang territory north of the Yangtze River, so he refused Li JIng's offer. Li Deming, concerned about Later Zhou advances, requested to return to Li Jing's court to persuade Li Jing to yield all of the territory north of the Yangtze. Guo agreed, and, at Sun's request, allowed Li Deming and Wang to return to Southern Tang's capital Jinling. Upon their arrival in Jinling, Li Deming reported to Li Jing the capabilities that Guo had as well as the strength of the Later Zhou army, advocating increasing the Southern Tang offer, to cede all territory north of the Yangtze. However, the chancellor Song Qiqiu opposed any cession of territory. With Chen Jue, then chief of staff, and his deputy Li Zhenggu (李徵古), long disliking Li Deming and Sun, Chen and Li Zhenggu enticed Wang into giving a different report than Li Deming. Chen and Li Zhenggu then accused Li Deming of selling the state out. Li Jing, in anger, executed Li Deming.[1]

Subsequently, Southern Tang forces, under the overall command of the general Zhu Yuan (朱元), made much gains on their counterattack, taking back several prefectures that Later Zhou forces had taken. Guo decided to return to his capital Kaifeng to reorganize his attack, while leaving the matters of the front to his generals, one of which was his cousin Li Chongjin (the son of the sister of his adoptive father, Later Zhou's founding emperor Guo Wei). Guo took Sun and Zhong with him back to Kaifeng, and initially treated them with respect. However, news came that Li Jing had tried to entice Li Chongjin into rebelling against Later Zhou by sending him letters that were much accusatory against Guo — letters that Li Chongjin then submitted to Guo. (Sun had previously, in his attempts to try to persuade Guo to accept peace, claimed that Li Jing was very respectful and fearful of Guo.) Seeing the letters, Guo angrily confronted Sun and accused him of lying. Sun did not beg for his life, instead responding with dignity and asking for death. Guo then asked Sun to give him secrets of the Southern Tang state, and Sun refused. When Guo subsequently had his general Cao Han (曹翰) again ask Sun to do so, Sun also refused Cao's overtures. Cao then stated to Sun, "The Emperor issued an edict, granting death to you, Lord Chancellor." Hearing of this, Sun's expression did not change. He asked for his shoes and dressed with formality, bowing to the south (toward Southern Tang), stating, "I, your subject, now will repay the state with my death." He was then killed, as were over 100 of his attendants. Guo then exiled Zhong. However, he then regretted killing the faithful Sun and recalled Zhong.[1] Meanwhile, hearing of Sun's death, Li Jing wept, and gave him the posthumous honors of Taifu (太傅) and Duke of Lu, and he gave much wealth to Sun's family.[3]