Lu Su 魯肅

His father died just after he was born, and he lived with his grandmother. His family was wealthy, but when the realm fell into disorder he gave away his wealth on a large scale and sold off his fields and land to relieve the destitute and form ties with men of quality, greatly winning the hearts of the people of his district. When Zhou Yu, then Chief of Juchao, came to him with several hundred men and asked for supplies and grain, Lu Su pointed to one of his two granaries, each holding 3,000 hu of rice, and handed it over whole; from this the two became close friends. Records, Wu 9 §32–33

Yuan Shu, hearing of his name, made him Chief of Dongcheng, but Lu Su judged that Yuan Shu lacked order and discipline and was not fit to undertake anything with, so he led a hundred or so followers to Zhou Yu at Juchao. He crossed the Yangtze with Zhou Yu and left his family at Qu'e. After returning from burying his grandmother, he was about to go over to the band at Chao Lake at the urging of his friend Liu Ziyang, but Zhou Yu, who had already moved Lu Su's mother to Wu, held him back, citing Ma Yuan's saying that in the present age it is not only the ruler who chooses his subjects, but the subjects who choose their ruler. He then recommended Lu Su to Sun Quan. Records, Wu 9 §33–36

Sun Quan was delighted to meet Lu Su, and after the guests withdrew he called him back alone, drank with him with their couches drawn together, and asked how he would assist him. Lu Su said that the Han house could not be restored and Cao Cao could not be quickly removed, so Sun Quan should hold Jiangdong like one leg of a tripod and, taking advantage of the many troubles in the north, destroy Huang Zu, attack Liu Biao, and take everything to the farthest reaches of the Yangtze, then proclaim an imperial title and plan for the whole realm. Sun Quan replied that he was exerting himself only in the hope of supporting the Han, and that such words were beyond his reach. Zhang Zhao often disparaged Lu Su as young and careless, but Sun Quan valued him all the more and bestowed clothing, curtains and other gifts on his mother. Records, Wu 9 §37–39

In the 13th year of Jian'an (208), when Liu Biao died, Lu Su argued that the land of Jing and Chu was the foundation of an emperor and that Liu Biao's two sons were at odds, and asked to go there on the pretext of offering condolences and persuade Liu Bei to join in attacking Cao Cao. On reaching Xiakou he heard that Cao Cao was already heading for Jing Province and hurried on day and night, but by the time he reached Nan Commandery, Liu Cong had already surrendered and Liu Bei was fleeing south. Lu Su went straight to meet him, met Liu Bei at Changban in Dangyang, conveyed Sun Quan's intentions, and urged him to join forces. At this time he struck up a friendship with Zhuge Liang, who was accompanying Liu Bei, saying, "I am a friend of Ziyu," and when Liu Bei reached Xiakou he sent Zhuge Liang to Sun Quan. Records, Wu 9 §40–42Records, Wu 2 §12

When news came that Cao Cao meant to move east, the generals all advised welcoming him, and Lu Su alone said nothing. When Sun Quan rose to change his clothes, Lu Su followed him out under the eaves and said that if he himself welcomed Cao Cao, he would be sent back to his home district and, as his offices accumulated, would still become head of a province or commandery, but if Sun Quan welcomed Cao Cao, where would he go? He urged him to settle on a grand plan early. Sun Quan sighed and said that it was Heaven that had granted Lu Su to him. Lu Su advised recalling Zhou Yu, who had gone to Poyang, and Sun Quan entrusted the affair to Zhou Yu and made Lu Su Colonel Assisting the Army (zanjun xiaowei) to help draw up the strategy. Records, Wu 9 §43–45

After Cao Cao was defeated and fled, Lu Su returned first, and Sun Quan assembled his generals in force to receive him, asking whether holding his saddle and dismounting to welcome him was enough to honor him. Lu Su answered, "Not yet," to everyone's astonishment, and went on to say that only when the Supreme One's majesty and virtue reached the four seas and he had achieved the imperial enterprise, and then summoned Lu Su in a comfortable carriage, would he truly be honored. Sun Quan clapped his hands and laughed with delight. Records, Wu 9 §45–46

Later, when Liu Bei came to the city of Jing to meet Sun Quan and asked to be given command of Jing Province, Lu Su alone advised lending him the land so that they could resist Cao Cao together. Hearing that Sun Quan had given Liu Bei land as his base, Cao Cao dropped the brush with which he was writing. Concerning Pang Tong, who had been dismissed as Magistrate of Leiyang, Lu Su wrote to Liu Bei that he was not a talent fit merely to govern a county of a hundred li. Records, Wu 9 §47Records, Shu 7 §6

When Zhou Yu, gravely ill, memorialized that Lu Su was fit to replace him, Sun Quan made Lu Su Colonel of Vigorous Might (fenwu xiaowei) and placed under him Zhou Yu's more than 4,000 soldiers and his fief of four counties. Lu Su was first stationed at Jiangling and then moved down to garrison Lukou, where his authority and kindness prevailed widely and his following grew to over 10,000; he was made Administrator of Hanchang and Lieutenant General (pian jiangjun). On his way to Lukou he visited Lü Meng, whom he still held in low regard, and on hearing Lü Meng's five plans for guarding against Guan Yu, he patted him on the back, saying he had not known his talent and strategy reached so far, then paid his respects to Lü Meng's mother and became his friend. Records, Wu 9 §47–48 · 63–64Records, Wu 2 §16

In the 19th year of Jian'an (214) he followed Sun Quan in breaking Wancheng and was made General Who Spans the River (hengjiang jiangjun). Earlier, when Sun Quan had wanted to take Shu, Liu Bei had stopped him on the grounds that he and Liu Zhang were of the same imperial clan, but later he himself went west to move against Liu Zhang, leaving Guan Yu behind to hold his ground. Once Lu Su shared a border with Guan Yu, suspicions arose repeatedly and border disputes became tangled, but Lu Su always calmed them through friendship. Records, Wu 9 §48–50

Even after Liu Bei had pacified Yi Province he would not hand over Changsha, Lingling and Guiyang, so Sun Quan sent Lü Meng to seize them, and Liu Bei sent Guan Yu to contest the three commanderies. Lu Su stayed at Yiyang facing Guan Yu; when Guan Yu sent 5,000 picked troops to a shallow ford upstream intending to cross at night, Lu Su gave Gan Ning, who volunteered to stop them, an additional thousand men, and Guan Yu did not cross. Lu Su invited Guan Yu to a meeting, and with both sides' troops and horses kept a hundred paces away, the generals met, each carrying only a single sword. Lu Su rebuked Guan Yu, saying the land had been lent because his side had lost in battle and had no base, yet now that they had obtained Yi Province they would not even hand over the three commanderies. When a man present said that land belongs only to those with virtue, Lu Su sternly rebuked him, and Guan Yu took up his sword, rose, and sent the man away, saying this was a matter of state. Liu Bei finally divided the territory with the Xiang River as the boundary. Records, Wu 9 §50–52Records, Wu 10 §59–60

Lu Su died in the 22nd year of Jian'an (217) at the age of forty-six. Sun Quan held mourning rites for him and attended his funeral in person, and Zhuge Liang also mourned him. Later, when Sun Quan ascended the imperial throne, he stood on the altar and said to his ministers that Lu Zijing had once spoken of this, and could be called clear-sighted about the course of events. Records, Wu 9 §53

In his assessment, Chen Shou wrote that when Lord Cao swept through Jing Province and cast his eyes eastward, those in council all wavered with doubt, but Zhou Yu and Lu Su established the clear insight to decide alone and rose above the crowd; they were truly rare talents. Sun Quan's appraisal, which Chen Shou included as fitting, counted Lu Su's speaking of the imperial enterprise and his having Zhou Yu summoned to strike back at Cao Cao as two delights, and his urging that land be lent to Liu Bei as merely a single shortcoming. It also said that when he commanded troops his orders were carried out and his prohibitions obeyed, so that no one picked up things dropped on the road. Records, Wu 9 §95 · 90–93