Wang Lian 王連

Wang Lian, courtesy name Wenyi, was a man of Nanyang. In Liu Zhang's time he entered Shu and became Prefect of Zitong. When Liu Bei rose up at Jiameng and advanced south, Wang Lian shut the city gates and would not surrender, but Liu Bei thought him righteous and did not force him. Records, Shu 11 §10

When Chengdu was pacified, Liu Bei made Wang Lian Prefect of Shifang, and Wang Lian was transferred to Guangdu; wherever he served he achieved results. Promoted to Colonel in Charge of Salt, he managed the monopoly on the profits of salt and iron, and the revenue he collected was very large and helped the state's finances. Wang Lian selected outstanding talents to be his subordinates, and men such as Lü Yi, Du Qi (杜祺) and Liu Gan all eventually reached high office; all of them were men Wang Lian had raised up. Records, Shu 11 §10

The Biography of Lü Yi records that when Liu Bei pacified Yi Province he established a Colonel of the Salt Office to manage the profits of salt and iron, and that later the Colonel Wang Lian requested Lü Yi, Du Qi of Nanyang, Liu Gan of Nanxiang and others, and made them all Commandants of the Bureau of Manufactures. Records, Shu 9 §39

Wang Lian was promoted to Administrator of Shu Commandery and General Who Promotes Enterprise, while continuing to direct the Salt Office as before. In the 1st year of Jianxing (223) he was appointed Colonel of Garrison Cavalry, concurrently held the post of Chief Clerk to the Chancellor, and was enfeoffed as Marquis of Pingyang Village. Records, Shu 11 §11

At this time the southern commanderies would not submit, and Zhuge Liang intended to campaign against them in person. Wang Lian remonstrated, 'This is a barren land, a region of pestilence; it is not fitting that one on whom a whole state looks should run such a risk in going there.' Zhuge Liang, worried that none of his generals matched him in ability, was determined to go, but because Wang Lian's words were always so earnest, he stayed for a long time. Meanwhile Wang Lian died. Chen Shou's main text does not record the year of his death. His son Wang Shan succeeded him and rose to Administrator of Jiangyang. According to the Biography of Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Liang led his host on the southern campaign in the spring of the 3rd year of Jianxing (225) and had pacified it all by the autumn of that year. Records, Shu 11 §11Records, Shu 5 §24

Meanwhile Liao Li thought his talent and reputation ought to make him second only to Zhuge Liang, but he drifted among unimportant posts below Li Yan and others, and was always discontented. When the Chancellor's Clerk Li Shao and Jiang Wan came to see him, Liao Li disparaged a number of people, saying, 'Wang Lian is a vulgar sort who has done nothing but harsh exactions, exhausting and impoverishing the people and bringing things to the state they are in today.' Records, Shu 10 §35 · 37

In his assessment, Chen Shou said that Huo Jun held a lone city without letting it fall and Wang Lian held firm to his integrity and did not change, and that, together with Xiang Lang, Zhang Yi (張裔), Yang Hong and Fei Shi, all had something worth recording. Records, Shu 11 §50