He Shao 賀邵

He Shao, courtesy name Xingbo, was a native of Shanyin County in Kuaiji Commandery. When Sun Xiu took the throne he went from Gentleman of the Household to Palace Cavalier Regular Attendant, and then went out to become Administrator of Wu Commandery. According to the Biography of Wang Fan, when Sun Xiu took the throne Wang Fan, together with He Shao, Xue Ying and Yu Si, all became Palace Cavalier Regular Attendants and received the additional title of Commandant-Escort, and opinion at the time held them to be men of integrity. Records, Wu 20 §14 · 2

Under Sun Hao, He Shao came back to court as Left Director of the Army (zuo dianjun), was transferred to Prefect of the Palace Secretariat and concurrently served as Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince. As Sun Hao grew brutal and arrogant and the affairs of government deteriorated day by day, He Shao submitted a memorial of remonstrance. It opens by saying that the reason the sage kings of old, though dwelling within layer upon layer of palace gates, could know the state of affairs ten thousand li away was the merit of entrusting affairs to the worthy. Records, Wu 20 §14

He Shao said that in recent years the ranks of the court had fallen into confusion, with truth and falsehood trading places, and that while the flattering crowd toyed with the authority of the court, the loyal and good were pushed aside and trustworthy ministers came to harm. For that reason, he said, upright gentlemen broke off their sharp integrity and loyal ministers held their tongues, while His Majesty kept company with favored flatterers and heard only agreeable words every day. Records, Wu 20 §15–16

He also said that rulers who make their states flourish delight in hearing of their faults, while rulers who bring disorder delight in hearing their praises, and that Sun Hao made the penal laws severe to stifle frank words. The former Regular Attendant Wang Fan had suffered the extreme penalty over something that happened while he was drunk, and the Herald Ge Xi, an old minister of the late emperor, had provoked Sun Hao's anger with words spoken when very drunk and lost his life after being made to drink strong wine and being poisoned; since then, he said, those in office counted themselves fortunate to withdraw. Records, Wu 20 §17–19

Of He Ding, He Shao said that he was by origin a petty man who ran errands, yet Sun Hao, fond of his flattery, lent him authority and power, so that, relying on favor, he wielded punishments and rewards as he pleased. He said that He Ding had conscripted the soldiers guarding the riverbank to drive elk and deer, wearing out the soldiers and leaving the old and weak to starve, and that the solar eclipses and earthquakes of recent years and the frost in midsummer were all caused by the yin force overriding the yang and petty men toying with power; he asked that the flatterers and the wicked be driven out. Records, Wu 20 §20–22

He went on to say that since Sun Hao took the throne the laws and prohibitions had grown ever harsher and taxes and levies ever more burdensome, and that palace eunuchs had spread through the provinces and commanderies, arbitrarily imposing labor service. The people were starving and households were scattering, and the soldiers guarding the riverbank lacked clothing and food, so that fathers and sons abandoned each other and deserters followed one after another; the state had not a year's reserves and households not a month's stores, yet in the rear palace more than ten thousand people sat and ate. Records, Wu 20 §23–25

Finally, He Shao said that the enemy in the north was watching for the rise and fall of the state, yet Sun Hao relied only on the belief that the enemy would not come, and he urged him not to take lightly the great enterprise of the Great Emperor (Sun Quan), who had toiled in person to carve out and hold the land of rivers and mountains. Even the barrier of the Yangtze could not be relied on forever, he said; if it were not defended, it could be crossed on a single reed. He urged Sun Hao to take as a warning before his very eyes the fall of Qin and, more recently, of the Liu family, who perished despite relying on rugged terrain. Records, Wu 20 §26–28

Meanwhile, according to the Biography of Lu Kai, when Lu Kai fell ill in the 1st year of Jianheng (269), Sun Hao sent the Prefect of the Palace Secretariat Dong Chao to ask what he wished to say. Lu Kai said that He Ding must not be employed in affairs of state, named Lou Xuan, He Shao, Xue Ying, Lu Kang and others as all pillars of the altars of state and fine supporters of the nation, asked that they be consulted on the affairs of the day, and then died. Records, Wu 16 §28–29

When the memorial was submitted, Sun Hao deeply resented He Shao. Because He Shao served the public interest with integrity and uprightness, those close to the throne feared him, and together they slandered him, claiming that he and Lou Xuan had defamed the affairs of state, so that both men were censured. Lou Xuan was sent to the southern province, while He Shao was pardoned and restored to office. The Biography of Lou Xuan records that someone falsely accused Lou Xuan of meeting He Shao, stopping to whisper with him, laughing loudly and slandering the government. Records, Wu 20 §29 · 9

Later He Shao suffered a stroke that left him unable to speak, and he was away from his office for several months. Sun Hao suspected him of feigning illness, had him seized and confined in the wine store, and had him beaten nearly a thousand times while being interrogated, but He Shao never said a single word, and in the end he was put to death. His family was moved to Linhai, and Sun Hao also issued an edict to kill Lou Xuan's sons and grandsons. This was the 1st year of Tiance (275), and He Shao was forty-nine years old. Records, Wu 20 §29

In his assessment Chen Shou quoted the judgments of Xue Ying and Hu Chong. Xue Ying said of He Shao that he was lofty in his disciplined resolve and clear and incisive in judging the principles of affairs. Hu Chong held that Lou Xuan, He Shao and Wang Fan were all pure and outstanding in their time, with hardly any difference between them, but that if one had to choose, Lou Xuan should stand first and He Shao next. Records, Wu 20 §84