During the Three Kingdoms period, Gongsun Yuan, the governor of Liaodong, sent an envoy to the state of Wu, expressing his desire to pledge allegiance to Wu's ruler, Sun Quan. Delighted, Sun Quan immediately appointed Gongsun Yuan as the King of Yan, as well as the governor of Youzhou, the inspector of Qingzhou, and the governor of Liaodong, granting him jurisdiction over 17 commanderies and 170 counties.
After staying in Wu for several days, the envoys prepared to return to Liaodong. Sun Quan dispatched Zhang Mi, Xu Yan, and He Da with ten thousand troops, loaded with countless gold, silver, and treasures, to escort them by sea. Before departure, his ministers warned, "Gongsun Yuan is treacherous by nature, and Liaodong is too far from Wu—our reach is long but our control short. Do not trust him lightly." Sun Quan refused to listen.
When Zhang Mi and his companions arrived in Liaodong, Gongsun Yuan had them executed, sent their heads to Emperor Wen of Wei as a tribute, and absorbed the troops they had brought into his own forces.
After learning of this, Sun Quan furiously cursed Gongsun Yuan, saying, "I am sixty years old—if I don't kill this rat and throw his head into the sea, I will have no face left to be emperor!" He insisted on personally leading troops to punish Gongsun Yuan.
The Grand Commander Lu Xun advised, "Liaodong is far from Wu, and Gongsun Yuan holds the coast. A sea crossing would be perilous. Besides, Wei and Shu are pressing us. If you cannot endure this and unleash your thunderous rage, you'll waste our army and risk the kingdom. Wait until you've pacified the realm before dealing with him."
Sun Quan then abandoned the idea of a distant expedition. Later, the idiom "Thunderous Rage" came to describe extreme anger.
Source: *Records of the Three Kingdoms*, "Book of Wu: Biography of Lu Xun"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "雷霆之怒" came to describe how extreme anger.