The assassination of Sun Ce, the “Little Conqueror” of Jiangdong, is often attributed to a simple act of vengeance: his killing of Xu Gong, the former Administrator of Wu Commandery, led to retaliation by Xu’s loyal retainers.
In the chaotic aftermath of Dong Zhuo’s seizure of the Han capital in 190 AD, the anti-Dong Zhuo coalition, led nominally by Yuan Shao, struggled to maintain unity.