Succeeding Zhuge Liang as regent of Shu After
Zhuge Liang's death in 234, Jiang Wan succeeded him as regent and held the office of Prefect of the Masters of Writing (). He was subsequently appointed as acting Protector-General (), granted imperial authority, and given the gubernatorial appointment of Inspector of
Yi Province (). In May 235, Jiang Wan relinquished his position as Prefect of the Masters of Writing to his deputy
Fei Yi, got promoted to General-in-Chief () and received an additional appointment as Manager of the Affairs of the Masters of Writing (). He was also enfeoffed as the Marquis of Anyang Village (). At the time, as Zhuge Liang's death was still quite recent, the people of Shu felt deeply troubled by his passing and began to fear for the future of their state. After Jiang Wan took charge as regent, he demonstrated his talents and skills in leading Shu into a post-Zhuge Liang era. He showed neither sadness nor joy, maintained his composure, and performed his duties as before. Over time, he gradually gained the Shu government and people's confidence in him as their new leader.
Receiving orders to attack Wei In 238, the Shu emperor
Liu Shan issued an imperial decree to Jiang Wan as follows: "The enemy has yet to be defeated.
Cao Rui is arrogant and vicious. The people in the three commanderies in
Liaodong have long suffered from tyranny so they have decided to band together and break free from
Wei rule. Cao Rui has sent an army to
attack Liaodong and suppress the rebellion. In the past, the fall of the
Qin dynasty started with
an uprising led by
Chen Sheng and
Wu Guang. The rebellion in Liaodong is a Heaven-granted opportunity for us. You should prepare the troops for battle, mobilise them and get them ready in
Hanzhong. Once
Wu makes a move, both the east and west will launch a coordinated attack on Wei and seize the opportunity to secure victory." Liu Shan then granted Jiang Wan permission to create a personal staff to assist him in administering state affairs. In April or May of the following year, he gave Jiang Wan an additional appointment as Grand Marshal ().
Ideas on taking an alternative route to attack Wei Jiang Wan considered that one reason for the failure of
Zhuge Liang's Northern Expeditions against
Wei was that he chose the difficult route through the
Qin Mountains; the mountainous terrain had made it difficult for the Shu army to navigate their way and transport their supplies to the frontline. Jiang Wan then thought of switching from the land-based route to a water-based one. According to his plan, the Shu forces would construct more warships and sail along the
Han River to attack the Wei-controlled Weixing () and Shangyong () commanderies in present-day southern
Shaanxi and northwestern
Hubei. However, due to poor health, Jiang Wan was unable to set his plan into motion. When his plan was put up for discussion in the Shu imperial court, many officials objected to it and pointed out that the water-based route was too risky and not viable in the long term. The main reason was that if the Shu forces failed to capture Weixing and Shangyong commanderies, it would be much more difficult for them to retreat back to Shu along the Han River than if they were to retreat via a land-based route. The Shu emperor
Liu Shan then sent
Fei Yi and
Jiang Wei to
Hanzhong Commandery to meet Jiang Wan and present their case for rejecting Jiang Wan's plan.
Relocation to Fu County In response, Jiang Wan wrote a
memorial to Liu Shan as follows: In late October or November 243, Liu Shan approved Jiang Wan's request to relocate from
Hanzhong Commandery to Fu County (涪縣; present-day
Mianyang,
Sichuan).
Death In late November or December 243, as his health deteriorated, Jiang Wan relinquished his positions as General-in-Chief () and Manager of the Affairs of the Masters of Writing () to
Fei Yi, thus making the latter the
de facto head of the Shu government. In the following year,
Dong Yun succeeded Fei Yi as Prefect of the Masters of Writing () Jiang Wan's health continued to worsen over time until he died sometime between 26 November and 25 December 246.
Liu Shan honoured him with the
posthumous title "Marquis Gong" (恭侯; literally "respectful marquis"). ==Appraisal==