Luo Shang

Luo Shang (died c.August 310), courtesy name Jingzhi, also called Luo Zhong, courtesy name Jingzhen, was a Chinese military general and politician of the Jin dynasty. In 300, the Jin court appointed him the Inspector of Yizhou and sent him to quell the rebellion of the previous officeholder, Zhao Xin. However, before Luo Shang arrived in the province, the refugee leader, Li Te, had ousted Zhao Xin from power. Luo Shang and Li Te attempted to coexist, but due to conflicting interests, the two men went to war with each other in 301. In 304, Li Te's son, Li Xiong, drove him out from provincial capital, Chengdu, allowing the Li clan to establish the Cheng-Han dynasty in the Ba and Shu regions. Luo Shang continued to resist Cheng-Han from Ba Commandery (巴郡; present-day Chongqing), but after his death in 310, Cheng was able to consolidate its power in southwest China.

Luo Shang was from Xiangyang and his father Luo Shi (羅式), who was Administrator of Zangke, died when he was still very young. Luo Shang was thus adopted by his uncle Luo Xian, the famed general of Shu Han who defended Yong'an from 30,000 Eastern Wu soldiers. Luo Shang inherited his uncle's talents in writing articles and found himself a position as Army Adviser under the Inspector of Jingzhou, Wang Rong. He partook in Jin's conquest of Wu in 279, in which he was ordered to attack Wuchang. Towards the end of the Tai'kang era (280-289) of Emperor Wu's reign, he was appointed as Inspector of Liangzhou.

In 300, during the reign of Emperor Hui of Jin, the Inspector of Yizhou, Zhao Xin rebelled against Jin in hopes of starting his own state. Hearing this, Luo Shang quickly wrote a petition to the Jin court volunteering himself to put down the rebellion. The court agreed, and Luo Shang was made the new Inspector of Yizhou. However, Luo Shang would not be the one to defeat Zhao Xin, rather it was a Ba-Di refugee named Li Te, who had originally joined Zhao but later turned on him. Along the way to Chengdu the following year, Luo Shang was openly welcomed by Li Te and presented with gifts. Luo Shang accepted the gifts and later made Li Te's brother, Li Xiang as his Cavalry Commander. However, Luo Shang's advisors, Xin Ran (辛冉) and Wang Dun (王敦, not to be confused with the more famous Wang Dun), objected to his decisions and cautioned him against Li Te. Luo Shang chose to ignore them, but suspicion between the two sides persisted.

Later in 301, the Jin court in Luoyang issued an order to all refugees in Yizhou to return north to their original homes in Yongzhou and Qinzhou (秦州, modern eastern Gansu). Many of the refugees refused to abide this as they received news that the north was still in disarray. Li Te decided to send his subordinate Yan Shi (閻式) along with bribes to Luo Shang to negotiate their stay until autumn, which Luo Shang permitted. As autumn approached, Luo Shang began making preparations to send the refugees back, but the refugees were still reluctant to leave. Li Te sent Yan Shi again to negotiate with Luo Shang but this time he did not permit. Luo Shang's popularity deteriorated further after he followed Xin Ran's advice of introducing checkpoints in Zitong to confiscate goods held by the refugees, with the reasoning that the refugees had stolen the goods from Chengdu when ousting Zhao Xin.

Li Te had Yan Shi meet with Luo Shang for one last time, but was once more fruitless. Meanwhile, Xin Ran, frustrated at Li Te's persistence, started placing bounties on Li Te's family, but Li Te used this against him by editing the notices to make it seem that he also wanted the other major refugee families dead. The notices caused many of the refugees to band themselves with Li Te for protection, allowing him to amass a large under him. At this point, war between Li Te and Luo Shang was inevitable.

Luo Shang's side would be the first to act, although without his knowledge. Xin Ran and Li Bi (李苾) personally ordered Ceng Yuan (曾元) and others to attack Li Te's camp. After being informed, Luo Shang backed their decision and sent Tian Zuo (田佐) to strengthen their attack. However, Li Te routed Luo Shang's forces and sent their generals' heads as a warning. Li Te then proceeded to attack Guanghan Commandery (廣漢郡; around present-day Guanghan, Sichuan) where Xin Ran was based. Luo Shang ordered Li Bi and Fei Yuan (費遠) to rescue Xin Ran but they were defeated. The county soon fell, and Xin Ran fled to Deyang County as Li Te's forces advanced to Chengdu.

Luo Shang's unpopular administration had caused many people to support Li Te over him. Because of this, Luo Shang decided to heavily rely on his defences, fortifying it and fighting Li Te to a stalemate. Meanwhile, he also called for reinforcements from Liangzhou. The following year, aid arrived in the form of Ya Bo (衙博), who marched into Zitong, so Luo Shang coordinated with Ya Bo by sending Zhang Gui (張龜) to Fancheng. However, Zhang Gui was defeated by Li Te while Ya Bo was forced into retreating by Li Te's son, Li Dang. After this victory, Li Te challenged Luo Shang's position of Inspector of Yizhou by proclaiming himself the Governor of Yizhou.

The armies of Li Liu and Li Xiang arrived at the outskirts of Chengdu later that year. Luo Shang sent an army to fight him, but they were routed. Luo Shang had his general Zhang Xing (張興) to feign surrender and scout Li Te's army. Once he returned and informed Luo Shang, Zhang Xing went back to Li Te's camp with thousands of Luo Shang's strongest soldiers during the night. They killed Li Pan (李攀) and routed Li Xiang, but Li Xiang returned with Li Liu's army to defeat Zhang Xing. Many of Luo Shang's men died that night, and most their equipment were abandoned.