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Zhuge Ke (203 – November or December 253), courtesy name Yuanxun (元逊), was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the eldest son of Zhuge Jin, a military general who served under Wu's founding emperor, Sun Quan. After Sun Quan's death in 252, Zhuge Ke served as regent for Sun Quan's son and successor, Sun Liang, but the regency proved to be militarily disastrous due to Zhuge Ke's aggressive foreign policy towards Wu's rival state, Cao Wei. In 253, he was ousted from power in a coup d'état and killed along with his family.
In 221, when the Wu kingAt this point, Sun Quan was still King of Wu; he would crown himself emperor only in 229. Sun Quan designated his son Sun Deng as crown prince, he set up a staff for the crown prince composed of the sons of key officials in his government or other well-known younger members of the administration. The four most prominent ones were Zhuge Ke (Zhuge Jin's son), Zhang Xiu (Zhang Zhao's son), Gu Tan (Gu Yong's grandson) and Chen Biao (Chen Wu's son).(于是诸葛恪、张休、顾谭、陈表等以选入，侍讲诗书，出从骑射。) Sanguozhi, vol.59 Sun Deng treated the four of them as his close friends and they served as his advisers. When he ordered his secretary Hu Zong (胡綜) to write a commentary on four of his advisers in 229, Hu Zong wrote that Zhuge Ke was the most skillful and intelligent of his generation.(《江表传》曰：登使侍中胡综作賔友目曰：“英才卓越，超逾伦匹，则诸葛恪。) Jiang Biao Zhuan annotation in Sanguozhi vol.59. The other three whom Hu commented on were Gu Tan, Xie Jing and Fan Shen. While this might have been true, Zhuge Ke was also known for being reckless – a negative trait that his father Zhuge Jin repeatedly chided him for. On one occasion, Zhuge Jin observed, "This child will either bring great honour to my household or destroy it."Zhuge Jin was commenting in light of Ke's plan to suppress the indigenous Shanyue tribes; see section "Pacifying the Shanyue" below.
After Sun Quan declared himself emperor in 229 and again designated Sun Deng as his crown prince, the four attendants were promoted to commandants under various titles; Zhuge Ke continued playing a supporting role to Sun Deng.(黃龍元年，權稱尊號，登為皇太子，以諸葛恪為左輔，張休右弼，顧譚為輔正，陳表為翼正都尉，是為四友， ...) Sanguozhi vol. 59. Among his four attendants, Sun Deng favoured and trusted Zhuge Ke and Gu Tan the most, and he regarded them more highly than others such as Fan Shen (范慎), Xie Jing (謝景) and Yang Hui (羊徽).(陸機為譚傳曰：宣太子正位東宮，天子方隆訓導之義，妙簡俊彥，講學左右。時四方之傑畢集，太傅諸葛恪以雄奇蓋衆，而譚以清識絕倫，獨見推重。自太尉范慎、謝景、羊徽之徒，皆以秀稱其名，而悉在譚下。) Gu Tan Zhuan annotation in Sanguozhi vol. 52.
After Hu Zong made his commentary public, Yang Dao (羊衜Not the same person as the father of Yang Hu and Yang Huiyu) commented to Hu in private on the four's shortcomings; Yang's criticism of Zhuge Ke was that "Yuanxun (Zhuge's courtesy name) is talented but neglectful." Later, Yang's criticism of the four became known to them, estranging them from Yang. However, eventually all four failed at politics, causing the people of Wu to comment that Yang's criticisms were valid.(衜乃私驳综曰：“元逊才而疏，子嘿精而狠，叔发辩而浮，孝敬深而狭。”所言皆有指趣。而衜卒以此言见咎，不为恪等所亲。后四人皆败，吴人谓衜之言有征。) Jiang Biao Zhuan annotation in Sanguozhi, vol.59. "Zimo" was Gu Tan's courtesy name, "Shufa" was Xie Jing's and "Xiaojing" was Fan Shen's.
However, Zhuge Ke's strategy turned out to be flawed when he switched his target from Shouchun (壽春; around present-day Shou County, Anhui) to Hefei, even though Hefei's defences were much stronger and built to withstand enemy attacks. After a long siege, the Wu forces failed to breach Hefei's walls. When a plague broke out in the Wu army, Zhuge Ke ignored it and continued to press on the siege. He only withdrew after hearing that Wei reinforcements had arrived. Instead of returning to the Wu imperial capital Jiankang to apologise for his mistakes, he stayed away from Jianye for some time and refused to take responsibility for the Wu defeat.
Sun Jun, a Wu general distantly related to the Wu emperor Sun Liang, decided to launch a coup d'état against Zhuge Ke to oust him from power. He lied to Sun Liang that Zhuge Ke was secretly plotting to usurp the throne and then set up a trap for Zhuge Ke. (The extent of Sun Liang's involvement in the coup d'état is unclear. However, historians traditionally consider him to have understood and approved Sun Jun's actions even though he was only about 10 years old then.) Zhuge Ke met his end at the hands of Sun Jun's assassins when he unsuspectingly attended a banquet hosted by Sun Liang in the imperial palace. After Zhuge Ke's death, Sun Jun used the opportunity to send his troops to capture and execute Zhuge Ke's family members.
Sun Jun became the new Wu regent after Zhuge Ke's death and he monopolised state power until his death in 256, after which his cousin Sun Chen succeeded him and continued to rule as regent. In 258, Sun Chen deposed Sun Liang and replaced him with his brother Sun Xiu as the new Wu emperor. Sun Xiu staged a coup against Sun Chen shortly after his accession to the throne and succeeded in eliminating him. Sun Xiu posthumously rehabilitated Zhuge Ke and ordered him to be reburied with full honours. However, he refused to have a monument built to commemorate Zhuge Ke when someone suggested doing so, because he felt that Zhuge Ke's recklessness and the losses he caused to Wu made him unworthy of such commemoration.
In another anecdote, also in a banquet setting, Sun Quan once asked Zhuge Ke whether he thought that his father Zhuge Jin was better compared to his uncle Zhuge Liang, the Imperial Chancellor of Wu's ally state Shu Han. When Zhuge Ke said his father was better, Sun Quan asked him why and he replied, "My father chose the right Emperor to serve while my uncle didn't. Therefore, my father is better than my uncle." Impressed by the subtle flattery, Sun Quan instructed Zhuge Ke to serve wine to the other guests present at the banquet. (It was an honour for junior officials to serve wine to senior officials at the time.) When Zhuge Ke came to Zhang Zhao, the latter refused to drink and said, "This isn't the proper form for a ceremony to pay respect to an elder." After learning of Zhang Zhao's refusal, Sun Quan told Zhuge Ke, "Get Zhang Zhao to drink for me." Zhuge Ke then returned to Zhang Zhao and said, "Long ago, the great strategist Jiang Ziya, at the age of 90, went to battle holding a signal flag and carrying a battleaxe; he never considered himself old. In days of trial by arms, you are always in the rear; in days of feasting, you are always in the front. What do you mean when you say this is not a proper ceremony to pay respect to an elder?" At a loss for words, Zhang Zhao consented and accepted the wine offered by Zhuge Ke.(他日复见，权问恪曰：“卿父与叔父孰贤？”对曰：“臣父为优。”权问其故。对曰：“臣父知所事，叔父不知，以是为优。”权又大噱。命恪行酒，至张昭前，昭先有酒色，不肯饮。曰：“此非养老之礼也。”权曰：“卿其能令张公辞屈，乃当饮之耳。”恪难昭曰：“昔师尚父九十，秉旄仗钺，犹未告老也。今军旅之事，将军在后，酒食之事，将军在先，何谓不养老也？”昭卒无辞，遂为尽爵。) Sanguozhi, vol.64 After this incident, Sun Quan regarded Zhuge Ke even more highly and consequently appointed him as a close aide to his then-heir apparent, Sun Deng.
On another occasion, an ambassador from Wu's ally state, Shu, showed up with a gift of horses for Sun Quan. Knowing that Zhuge Ke was a good rider, Sun Quan summoned him with the intention of giving him one of the horses. When Zhuge Ke arrived, he immediately knelt down and thanked Sun Quan for the gift. Sun Quan was surprised at how Zhuge Ke already knew why he was summoned there, so he asked him. Zhuge Ke replied, "Shu is only capable of serving as Your Majesty's stable. That is why I am certain that the ambassador came here to offer a tribute of fine steeds."(后蜀好，群臣并会，权谓使曰：“此诸葛恪雅使至骑乘，还告丞相，为致好马。”恪因下谢，权曰：“马未至面谢何也？”恪对曰：“夫蜀者陛下之外厩，今有恩诏，马必至也，安敢不谢？”) Sanguozhi, vol.64 Sun Quan was impressed.
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