Formerly, when Minister Liu Wan had gone to Wu to visit the Sun family, he said of the family of brothers, “I have looked well at them all, and they are all clever and perspicacious, but none of them have the very ultimate degree of good fortune. Only the second, Sun Quan, has the look of a deep thinker. His face is remarkable, and his build unusual, and he has the look of one who will come to great honor.”
When Sun Quan succeeded to his brother and his brother's might, there was still some reorganization to be done. Soon Zhou Yu had arrived Wujun. The young ruler received him very graciously and said, “I need have no anxiety now that you have come.”
Zhou Yu had been sent to hold Baqiu. When he heard that his chief had been wounded, he thought it well to return to see how he was. But Sun Ce had died before Zhou Yu could arrive. He hurried to be present at the funeral.
When Zhou Yu went to wail at the coffin of his late chief, Lady Wu, the dead man's mother, came out to deliver her son's last injunctions. When she had told him the last charge, Zhou Yu bowed to the earth, saying, “I shall exert the puny powers I have in your service as long as I live.”
Shortly after Sun Quan came in, and, after receiving Zhou Yu's obeisance, said, “I trust you will not forget my brother's charge to you.”
Zhou Yu bowed, saying, “I would willingly suffer any form of death for you.”
“How best can I maintain this great charge which I have inherited from my father and brother?”
“He who wins people, prospers; he who loses them, fails. Your present plan should be to seek humans of high aims and farseeing views, and you can establish yourself firmly.”
“My brother bade me consult Zhang Zhao for internal administration, and yourself on external matters,” said Sun Quan.
“Zhang Zhao is wise and understanding and equal to such a task. I am devoid of talent and fear to take such responsibility, but I venture to recommend to you as a helper one Lu Su, a man of Linhuai. This man's bosom hides strategy, and his breast conceals tactics. He lost his father in early life and has been a perfectly filial son to his mother. His family is rich and renowned for charity to the needy. When I was stationed at Juchao, I led some hundreds of soldiers across Linhuai. We were short of grain. Hearing that the Lu family had two granaries there, each holding three thousand carts, I went to ask for help. Lu Su pointed to one granary and said, 'Take that as a gift.' Such was his generosity!
“He has always been fond of fencing and horse archery. He was living in Que. His grandmother died while he was there, and he went to bury her in Dongcheng, and then his friend, Liu Ziyang, wished to engage him to go to Chaohu and join Zheng Bao. However, he hesitated about that and has not gone yet. You should invite him without loss of time.” Sun Quan at once sent Zhou Yu to engage the services of this man, and Zhou Yu set out. When the obeisance was over, Zhou Yu laid before Lu Su the inducements that his own master held out.
Lu Su replied, “I have been engaged by Liu Ziyang to go to Chaohu, and I am just starting thither.”
Said Zhou Yu, “Of old Ma Yuan said to Liu Xiu, 'This is an age when not only do princes select their ministers, but ministers must also choose their princes.' Now our General Sun Quan calls to him the wise and treats his officers well. Thus he engages the help of the wonderful and gets the services of the extraordinary in a way that few others do. But if you are not engaged elsewhere, come with me to the South Land as the best thing to do.”
Lu Su returned with Zhou Yu and saw Sun Quan, who treated him with the greatest deference and with him discussed affairs very fully. The conference proved so interesting that it went on all day and neither felt fatigue.
One day at the close of the usual reception, Sun Quan kept Lu Su to dine with him. They sat up late and by and by slept on the same couch as would the closest of friends.
In the dead of night Sun Quan said to his bedfellow, “The dynasty is failing, and everything is at sixes and sevens. I have received a great charge from my father and brother, and I am thinking of imitating the actions of the celebrated Protectors of Reign, Wen and Huan, and becoming the leader of the feudal lords, and I pray you instruct me.”
