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[Humble Hero]

So I was reading some of the extremely old posts in the Q & A section and the topic of succession came up in a few of the questions. What I'm wondering though is were you in a warlords shoes, who would succeed you?

If I were Liu Bei, I would probably have named Liu Feng my successor (obviously this means I wouldnt kill him). I'm not saying this just because of Liu Chans reputation, but because Liu Feng is a little older and has had a little campaigning experience

The I know too little about the massive Cao and Sun family for me to go in to them, but you get the picture...

So, who gets to carry on your legacy?

[scholar]

Cao Cao contemplated giving the throne to two sons over Cao Pi after the death of Cao Ang. Cao Chong and Cao Zhi. Chong died young. Zhi was a drunkard who was ultimately disappointing to his father, nevertheless Cao Cao never truly lost faith in him, and Zhi would later reform himself and try desperately to be of service to the state despite Pi and Rui refusing nearly all actions as such. When you think about it, Cao Pi was fourth on Cao Cao's list. After Ang went and Chong went Zhi needed to seriously mess up his own chances of succession before Pi became the chosen successor. If I were Cao Cao, I may have chosen Zhi. But this would be an action in hindsight. Cao Zhi lived longer than Pi, and reformed himself later in life. It was due to Cao Pi and Rui's relatively early demise's that ultimately lead to the dissolution of the Wei Dynasty. Then again, Zhi may never have became Emperor... and remained a King. This could postponned the onset of the Three Kingdoms indefinitely.

[Gongsun Zan]

We all know that Yuan Shu did not have any successor, did he even have any children to succeed him?

[El Jefe]

He had Yuan Yao?

[Ma Su]

My eldest natural son, unless he was somehow incapacitated, as whatever my feelings for the son, trying to alter the system of heirship would only bring death and chaos after my death and undermine the legitimacy of the throne. 

[GuanXing-Shu]

I would go along with Ma Su, unless he was either lazy or young. If so, I would either give it to my younger brother, or a mature nephew.

[Yue Fei]

My successor? Well naturally I'd rear all of my kids to be competent individuals so that I have a choice in the matter. I'd also take note of any hatred or rivalry between them. Either way, I'd chose the most able of my children, and make it known to them from an early age that birth will not determine who gets what. Also, depending on their closeness will determine who will be left alive.

If the brothers of my heir choice dislike him, or have an intense rivalry against him. I'll just have them executed or exiled to a remote location. Harsh, but it means the best person for the job will get it.

[Mitsurugi]

I would have to agree with Yue Fei, who ever i believed was capable even though he may not have appeared to be the wisest choice

[Gongsun Zan]

If the brothers of my heir choice dislike him, or have an intense rivalry against him. I'll just have them executed or exiled to a remote location. Harsh, but it means the best person for the job will get it.

It's a sad thing to have to happen to get done.  It's an evil act, but a necessary evil to preserve the realm one rules.  And I agree with the common notion here of regardless who is in line, I'd choose the most capable.  And I might say any who were in line before may have to be executed, so no one can rally behind them either, regardless if the other one even wanted the throne or not.  People will find all sorts of reasons to fight and wage war.

[Humble Hero]

Would anyone here be comfortable with the notion of stepping over your (in this case incompetent) children in favor of a close (extremely capable) friend?

[Yue Fei]

Would anyone here be comfortable with the notion of stepping over your (in this case incompetent) children in favor of a close (extremely capable) friend?

Depends on the support they also garner with my retainers. If they're viewed as the same as myself, I would be if only for the sake of stability to the realm.

If they were not well liked, I'd leave my child on the throne, but put in things to completely limit his stupidity so he doesn't do anything dangerous. But at the same time try to make it so that if he has a son who is competent such things do not hinder him.

Basically make it fool proof so that even an idiot can succeed, but with a genius such a system would be magnified to be even better.

[King of Ba Shu]

I would keep it in the family. Until I would be able to tell based on ability I would select the eldest, and if I lived long enough to see the capabilities of the younger son(s), I would then consider changing the heir. I would set up some sort of way to test the younger son to make sure he could either general or lead a political faction successfully. I would not blindly choose the son to take what I took my entire life to accomplish, relying on chance that the eldest was the best for the job.

[Raheem]

After watching the film "Ran" by Akira Kurosawa; it makes me second guess picking the eldest son. I'd have to listen to my advisers, my sons, and would choose the most competent and modest one. I would not want a over entitled arrogant son, who might ruin the kingdom. 

[Louhawk]

Do you think it would be strange or wrong to allow the populace to vote for who they would want as successor?  Or maybe a governing council or something like that?

[Raheem]

That sounds very democratic. The 3k era warlords usually ran under sovereign.