Jiang Wan

Jiang Wan (onyomi: Shō En) is a Shu official who is known as one of the Four Ministers. Throughout his career, he was known as a man who excelled in political endeavors, to which Zhuge Liang praised him to embody the will of the nation. After Zhuge Liang's death, it was Jiang Wan's composure and intellect which was said to have kept the retainers' spirits high.

Role in Games
In the Dynasty Warriors series, Jiang Wan serves in Shu's late battles such as Hanzhong and Wuzhang Plains. In Dynasty Warriors 7, he fights against Wei during Cao Shuang's invasion and later on, Jiang Wei's Northern Expeditions. He assumes a similar role in the sequel, which also has him present during Wei's hypothetical route at Baidi Castle.

Jiang Wan has one of the highest politics stats in Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Due to his high intelligence and charisma, he is among the best officers to use for domestic affairs. In the eleventh installment, his skill allows for more production of weapons, allowing the player to equip his troops faster and cheaper.

Historical Information
Born in Lingling commandery in Jing Province, Jiang Wan became a renowned person in his early 20's alongside his cousin Liu Min. He joined Liu Bei after the latter conquered southern Jing Province from Cao Cao's forces and followed him into Shu. Liu Bei put him in charge of Guangdu county after capturing Yi. One time, Liu Bei inspected Guangdu and saw a drunken Jiang Wan, who neglected his duties. Liu Bei was angered and wished to punish him, but Zhuge Liang was able to convince him otherwise, pointing out his talents and fair character. Liu Bei gave in and only stripped Jiang Wan off his position. Some time later, Jiang Wan had a dream about a bull's head hanging in front of a door, with blood dripping from it. Jiang Wan consulted Zhao Zhi, a dreams sayer, who told him that it was an auspicious sign hinting that he would be promoted. When Liu Bei took the title of King of Hanzhong, Jiang Wan was promoted to Governor of Shenfang. He then got a position within Liu Bei's court.

Liu Bei died in 223 and Jiang Wan was given a position in Zhuge Liang's staff, tasked with bringing officials into service. Jiang Wan was recommended as Maocai for his outstanding performance, but he insisted that the appointment should go to other men. Zhuge Liang told him to accept the recommendation, stating that he left his family and home to serve the state and gained it through his own merit. Jiang Wan then became an adviser.

Zhuge Liang stationed himself in Hanzhong in 227 and Jiang Wan was put in charge of the Prime Minister's affairs together with Zhang Yi. In 230, Jiang Wan succeeded Zhang Yi's appointment. He would always supply the Shu army with sufficient food and men in Zhuge Liang's various campaigns, earning him great praise from the latter. Zhuge Liang wrote to Shu emperor Liu Shan that should anything happen to him, Jiang Wan should succeed him. Indeed, when Zhuge Liang died in 234, Jiang Wan received a great promotion and eventually suceeded Zhuge Liang's position as Prime Minister.

Jiang Wan was greatly respected by the other officials for keeping his composure while carrying out his duties just as well as in the past. In 238, Liu Shan ordered Jiang Wan to prepare the army in Hanzhong in case the Wu army would make a move, allowing them to start a full-scale invasion on Wei. The reason for this was the rebellion of Gongsun Yuan in Liaodong, who was allied with Wu and sought their assistance. However, the rebellion was crushed the same year and Jiang Wan did not have a chance to launch a campaign.

A man named Yang Xi was not well-liked by other officials and behaved harshly, even ignoring Jiang Wan in some of their conversations. One of the officials complained to Jiang Wan about Yang Xi, but Jiang Wan said to him that one should rather be weary of someone who always approved another one's decision in front of him, but criticized him behind his back. Yang Xi on the other hand would not speak in order to not reveal Jiang Wan's weaknesses by openly disapproving him. On another occasion, a man named Yang Min spoke lowly of Jiang Wan, stating that he would be ignorant and inferior to his predecessor. Another man who overheard this went to Jiang Wan and told him of it in hope that he would punish Yang Min. Jiang Wan, however, agreed with Yang Min and when the man tried to push him towards punishing Yang Min even more, Jiang Wan stated that due to being incomparable to the saints, his actions would be unreasonable and thus he would indeed be a mediocore leader. Later, when Yang Min comitted a crime, Jiang Wan spared him of heavy punishment.

Jiang Wan felt that Zhuge Liang's failure in his campaigns was due to the mountain passes that made it difficult to transport supplies. Thus, he planned to build vessels in order to attack Wei through the Han and Mian Rivers. Jiang Wan became ill, however, and the plan was not implemented. Still, Liu Shan sent Fei Yi and Jiang Wei to present their arguments against such a plan, as it would pose difficulties when retreating. Jiang Wan wrote a letter to Liu Shan, which read:

"It was my duty to restore peace and extinguish Cao Wei. In the six years that I stayed in Hanzhong, incompetency coupled with illness and the lack of success in formulating stratagems had made me relatively uneasy. Wei had 9 provinces and its influence growing deep among the people. Eliminating them would be a daunting task. If Wu allied with us, we can at least form the Ox-Horn formation and though this does not guarantee immediate success, we can, at the very least, slowly advance and destroy its supporting border areas. However, Wu was often slow in meeting our dates for common invasion, which resulted in our defeats at times and predicaments upon withdrawals. Indeed, this issue is most worrying and upon discussions with Fei Yi, we agreed that Liangzhou is an advantageous and strategic land in the Northern territories as it's easy to advance while attacking, and retreat while defending. This was precisely why Cao Wei also considered the province to be important. Moreover, The Qiang and Hu tribes missed Han rule and their bravery can be seen in Guo Huai's defeats. Hence, after considering the pros and cons, we concluded that the imperative need is to use Jiang Wei as Liangzhou Cishi. If Jiang Wei attacked and was brought to a halt, I would then command troops to reinforce the rear position and be his reinforcements. With the advanced waterways in the Fu river, transport would be fairly efficient for emergency deployment purposes. If the North have any form of insurgencies, we can then advance with less difficulties."

Jiang Wan returned to Fu county in order to make preparations. However, he died one year later in 246 and was succeeded by Fei Yi.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Jiang Wan has a smaler role in Romance of the Three Kingdoms than in actual history. At first, numerous chapters refer to him getting promoted. In chapters 87 to 89, he additionally joins the pacification of the Nanman tribes in Nanzhong. There, he criticized Lu Kai's shelters and pointed out their danger to fire, but Zhuge Liang comforted him. Later, he urged Zhuge Liang to return home as their troops were exhausted and Meng Huo's fighting spirit was broken after his numerous defeats, but Zhuge Liang disagreed.

In chapter 96, he asked Zhuge Liang to spare Ma Su, but Zhuge Liang refused, citing Sun Zi. When Zhuge Liang wept, Jiang Wan asked why he did so, and Zhuge Liang answered that he wept because he did not heed Liu Bei's advice to not give Ma Su an important post. In chapter 101, he and Fei Yi managed to save Li Yan's life. In chapter 105, Jiang Wan argued in favor of Yang Yi when Wei Yan rebelled after Zhuge Liang's death. He was later promoted to Prime Minister and ordered Wang Ping and Zhang Ni to guard Baidicheng in case Wu would use Zhuge Liang's death as an opportunity to attack. His death is mentioned in chapter 107.