My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 344 Lu Yi Changes His Name
"Wan Sheng!"

"May the Southern Expeditionary Army be victorious!"

"May the general be victorious!"

When Liu Feng, accompanied by Xu Sheng, entered Wu County through the north gate, the Southern Expeditionary Army erupted in a wave of cheers.

Such a fortified city was easily captured in less than fifteen days.

Not only was the city intact, but the casualties were also very minor.

After Liu Feng entered the city, the number of the Southern Expeditionary Army inside the city had exceeded 12,000, completely surpassing Xu Kun's forces.

Gao Shun respectfully knelt on one knee before Liu Feng, relinquishing command and accepting Liu Feng's personal command along with Gan Ning, Xu Chu, Xu Sheng, and others.

Besides his own generals such as Gao Shun, Gan Ning, and Xu Chu.

Zhu Huan and Zhang Yun, prominent families in Wu County, personally led their troops to assist in the battle. Although Gu Yong was not skilled in leading troops, he also came along, demonstrating his willingness to serve under Liu Feng.

Liu Feng immediately ordered Gan Ning to lead 600 armored soldiers with 1,500 troops, along with Zhu Huan and Zhang Yun's forces, to attack Xu Kun's county government from the front.

Gao Shun led 500 armored soldiers and 1,000 troops to the east of the city to take the east gate.

Dong Xi, along with Zhao Fan, Yu Zi, and Lu Yi, and an additional 500 armored soldiers, took a detour from the west of the city to the south, captured the south gate, and welcomed Jia Kui's army into the city.

Gu Yong stayed by his side to check for omissions and fill in the gaps.

Upon receiving the order, all departments quickly mobilized, cheering for victory as their voices spread like mercury across Wu County.

Although Sun Ce's army resisted with all its might, it could not sustain the fight. In terms of troop strength, morale, and power, it was overwhelmed by the Southern Expeditionary Army.

Today, Sun Ce's army is still able to maintain organized resistance instead of collapsing completely, which is worthy of its former title as the strongest army in Jiangdong.

Xu Kun had gathered more than 3,000 people at the county government office, but the situation was extremely chaotic.

Although the South Gate and East Gate were still under the control of Sun Ce's army, the problem was that these two city gates were actually dead ends. The camp of the Southern Expeditionary Army was blocking the city, so there was no way to escape.

Even though generals like Xu Yi, Sun He, and Xu Pang were all seasoned veterans who had experienced even the most dangerous battles, they had never felt so helpless and regretful as they did now.

Xu Kun's face was pale, and he felt both despair and resentment.

He knew that although the armies were still putting up an organized resistance, they could collapse at any moment.

Therefore, Xu Kun particularly hated those traitors who started it all.

Now, some information has been leaked. Xu Kun has learned that it was Lu Yi, a member of the Lu family, who opened the water gate in the west of the city, and Zhu Huan is now personally leading hundreds of troops to assist Gan Ning in the battle.

"Bring the people back first!"

Xu Kun managed to regain his composure and began issuing orders.

Breaking out would be a dead end, a fact that not only Xu Kun knew very well, but also Xu Yi, Sun He, Xu Pang, Zhu Chao, and others all understood.

There is only one path left: to bring Sun Ce's troops from other places back to the county government, deploy defenses using the buildings, and then request surrender, trying to negotiate an acceptable outcome.

The other generals secretly breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Xu Kun's plan. Even Xu Yi and Sun He, who were staunch loyalists to Sun Ce, understood that Xu Kun's plan was the best option at the moment.

Xu Yi and Sun He were not afraid of death and were willing to die for Sun Ce, but they did not want to die so rashly and so meaninglessly.

If it were a decisive battle between two armies, Xu Yi and Sun He would definitely be willing to fight to their last breath for Sun Ce, even if it was just to gain a slight chance of victory for him.

However, given the current situation, both of them knew that if they delayed any longer, it would only lead to the needless deaths of Sun Ce's soldiers, and might even incur the hostility of Xu Kun, Xu Pang, Zhu Chao, and others, or even cause internal strife.

The group split up, with Xu Yi and Sun He each leading eight hundred of their own troops to meet up with the retreating Sun army in the east and south of the city.

Zhu Chao then led a thousand men to support the main battlefield and help the defeated army stabilize the front line.

Xu Pang then led the remaining troops to hold the county government office.

Fortunately, Xu Kun made a timely decision, and in the end, he only lost one-third of his troops before withdrawing all his troops to the vicinity of the county government office. Relying on the county government office, armory, granary and other key points, he organized a fragile defensive line.

"Xu Kun surrenders?"

Liu Fengjun entered the city through various gates, and his army of over 20,000 men had completely surrounded the remaining 3,000-4,000 troops of Xu Kun.

While Liu Feng was adjusting his deployment and preparing for a new offensive, and was also preparing to send envoys to persuade Xu Kun to surrender, Xu Kun actually took the initiative to send someone to beg for surrender.

"Bring him up."

Liu Feng had originally planned to send someone to persuade Xu Kun to surrender, but since Xu Kun had taken the initiative to beg for surrender, the envoy would certainly have to meet him. Moreover, the overall offensive plan was still being adjusted, and the soldiers needed time to rest, replenish their fluids, and recover their strength.

The man who came to surrender was Xu Pang, the commander of Xu Kun's personal guard.

He brought Xu Kun's handwritten letter, which Gu Yong then handed over to Liu Feng.

After handing over the letter, Xu Pang stared at Gu Yong with blazing eyes, wishing he could devour him whole.

Gu Yong, on the other hand, remained calm and composed, showing no intention of paying any attention to Xu Pang's threats.

Liu Feng opened the silk scroll and began to read it.

After reading it, Liu Feng felt that they could talk. Xu Kun's performance in the silk manuscript was quite rational, and he did not make any excessive demands, which provided a basis for negotiations between the two sides.

If Xu Kun is not thinking clearly and makes unreasonable demands, then he will have essentially exhausted all avenues of opportunity.

"I agree to the first point, but there's no room for negotiation on the second. This general only accepts unconditional surrender."

Xu Kun made two main requests. The first request was that Liu Feng guarantee not to kill prisoners of war. Throughout history, killing prisoners of war has been an unavoidable issue, especially in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, when almost every family except Liu Bei was prone to killing prisoners of war.

After Cao Cao's great victory at the Battle of Guandu, he massacred 80,000 of Yuan Shao's surrendered soldiers, while Yuan Shao had also massacred more than 10,000 of Gongsun Zan's old soldiers.

Although Liu Bei and his son had a very good reputation and had never slaughtered civilians or buried prisoners of war alive, Xu Kun was still quite worried about this and wanted Liu Feng to give him a clear guarantee.

Liu Feng could agree to this, and was willing to do so. Moreover, Liu Feng did not consider it a condition; out of benevolence, it should even be a universally acknowledged bottom line.

After all, he himself couldn't bring himself to slaughter prisoners.

Compared to the first condition, Liu Feng was quite dissatisfied with the second condition and rejected it outright.

To be fair, Xu Kun's request to leave with only a few key officers was not unreasonable.

Sun Ce's forces won't become much stronger just because of the return of Xu Kun, Xu Yi, Sun He, and a few others.

The problem is that Liu Feng is in a very good position. He has already shown mercy by agreeing to Xu Kun and the others' surrender. Where do they get the confidence to leave?

Faced with Liu Feng's decision, Xu Pang dared not look him in the eye. After receiving the reply, he returned to the county office to inform Xu Kun.

Xu Kun sighed. He had expected this beforehand, but he just wanted to give it a try, in case Liu Feng agreed.

But now it seems Liu Feng is unlikely to make that exception. "Do any of you have any further objections?"

Xu Kun glanced at Xu Yi, Zhu Chao, and Sun He.

The three of them looked at each other, and finally shook their heads.

"Alright, since no one objects, let's lower the price."

Xu Kun finally made a decision: of the several thousand soldiers in Wu County, at least a thousand were his family members.

Xu Kun now understands why Xiang Yu dared not cross the Wujiang River to meet the elders of the Wu region, even though he had already fled to the Wujiang River.

He now understands the feeling all too well.

The news of Xu Kun's surrender was immediately delivered to Liu Feng's desk. Then, under the command of Xu Kun's officers, squads of Xu Kun's soldiers came out, piled up their weapons and armor in front of the Southern Expeditionary Army, and then went to the location designated by the Southern Expeditionary Army to imprison them.

Liu Feng was quite satisfied with Xu Kun's voluntary surrender.

The enemy still had more than 4,000 men at this time. If they fought to the death and held their ground in the key points of the county, the Southern Expeditionary Army would inevitably suffer heavy losses and casualties.

It was inevitable that there would be at least seven or eight hundred casualties, and the number of those killed in action might be three or four hundred more.

Now that Xu Kun has surrendered, not only have these casualties been eliminated, but the various supplies in Wu County have also been preserved.

Wu County was a large county, which had always been the seat of Wu Commandery and a gathering point for Sun Ce's supplies. It had accumulated a great deal of resources that Sun Ce's army had extracted from the powerful clans and gentry of various parts of Wu Commandery.

The grain alone amounted to a million bushels.

This was still the result of transporting a large amount of grain southward.

Without this grain, the 40,000 to 50,000 people of Wu County would all have to rely on Liu Feng to transport grain for relief. Including transportation costs and losses, this would be a considerable expense.

In addition, there were a large amount of military supplies, clothing, silk, shoes and other utensils, and hundreds of ships of various kinds were captured in one go.

With Wu County under control and Lou County not having any Sun Ce troops stationed there, it is highly likely that the county can be pacified with a simple proclamation.

In this way, almost the entire Wu Commandery fell into the hands of the Southern Expeditionary Army, and it was completely restored to its former state.

At present, only Fuchun County may still be in the hands of Sun Ce's army. At the same time, Wu Commandery in the hands of the Southern Expeditionary Army has been completely connected and will no longer be divided into two parts, north and south.

The following day, Liu Feng held a grand banquet for the entire army.

The banquet not only invited all the generals of the Southern Expeditionary Army, but also the prominent families of Wu County, and even surrendered generals like Xu Kun. Even the surrendered soldiers of Sun Ce's army received a decent meal, and each of them was given half a salted fish.

This immediately calmed down the surrendered soldiers of Sun Ce's army. In those days, most people were still relatively honest. After the surrendered soldiers from Jiangdong ate salted fish, they all felt that their lives had been saved.

If the Southern Expeditionary Army wanted to kill them, why would they give them good food?
They probably wouldn't even waste the rice, let alone this salty and savory salted fish.

Immediately, Liu Feng made a decision to separate Xu Kun's officers and soldiers. All the soldiers were sent north and escorted to Liu Bei's place in Jiujiang, north of the Yangtze River, where there was a shortage of able-bodied men.

As for Xu Kun and other generals, including Wu Jing and others who were about to be sent from the south, they were temporarily placed in Wu County.

Following that, Liu Feng also gave a warning to the prominent families of Wuzhong.

Witnessing their battle-hardened elite troops being crushed head-on by the Southern Expeditionary Army, the prominent families of Wu, including the four major surnames, were filled with unease and fear.

Previously, it was thought that Liu Feng had come south to Jiangdong on the emperor's orders. This gave the powerful clans of Jiangdong the illusion that Liu Feng might be "easy to bully". After all, he had the emperor and the court above him. He couldn't just kill the whole family like the rebel Sun Ce.

But the harsh reality taught them that Liu Feng was only easy to talk to those he admired and approved of.

The powerful clans of Jiangdong realized that the emperor and the court could not really control Liu Feng, the general who conquered the south, and even the emperor had to side with Liu Feng.

Liu Feng has tens of thousands of skilled and brave soldiers. Do you, a prominent family in Wu, have such an army?

Liu Feng is willing to travel thousands of miles to welcome the emperor and provide him with money and grain every year. Do any of the prominent families in Wuzhong have such a tradition?
Liu Feng did not treat the four major surnames of Wu County equally.

He was undoubtedly closest to the Lu family, and he spoke kindly to Lu Ji, giving him wine and meat to take home and present to his mother, in order to commend his filial piety.

He greatly admired Lu Yi and even prepared a spot for him to be recommended as a filial and incorruptible official.

Although Liu Feng was neither the governor of Wu Commandery nor the governor of Yangzhou, he wanted a spot for the recommendation of filial and incorrupt officials, and who would dare to refuse him?

Based on Xu Gong?

Whether Xu Gong could save his life was another matter, let alone his position as the governor of Wu Commandery.

Lu Yiming was deeply grateful for Liu Feng's kindness and was willing to die for him. However, he humbly stated that he lacked talent and filial piety and was not worthy of being recommended as a candidate for the civil service examination.

In response, Liu Feng said that Lu Yi was a truly honest and kind person, as well as humble, respectful and modest.

Therefore, Liu Feng tentatively asked Lu Yi if he would be willing to change his name.

Upon hearing this, Lu Yi immediately stood up and bowed deeply to express his gratitude and willingness.

Liu Feng was overjoyed and immediately said, "You are naturally humble and exceptionally loyal. How about changing the character '议' to '逊'?"

Lu Yi immediately agreed and changed his name to Lu Xun from then on.

The Chinese language is truly profound. Although there is no clear record in history as to why Lu Xun changed his name to Xun, nor is there any explanation for the reason for the name change or the reason for using the character Xun.

However, some speculate that the character "逊" is composed of "孙" with the radical "走" (walking radical), possibly meaning "willing to serve the Sun family" or "loyal to the family."

However, the same character "逊" can also be interpreted as meaning to send away the Sun family. In the end, Lu Xun's enormous achievements, coupled with his direct support for the crown prince, directly ignited the aging Sun Quan's explosive suspicion, ultimately leading to the Coup of the Two Palaces, which made the Sun family regime almost never peaceful again.

A single word can have multiple interpretations, depending entirely on the perspective and the interpreter's stance.

Liu Feng's high regard for the Lu family led to a rapid rise in their status within Wu Commandery.

Although there were only two boys under the age of sixteen in charge of the household, the Lu family was always bustling with visitors, as if overnight they had returned to their former status as the leading family in Wu County.

All of this was naturally brought about by Liu Feng. Lu Ji and Lu Xun, the uncle and nephew, were well aware of this and kept this kindness deep in their hearts, willing to repay it with their lives.

Although Liu Feng treated Lu Xun far better than Lu Ji, Lu Ji's gratitude was no less than Lu Xun's.

Because Liu Feng's series of campaigns in Jiangdong were almost equivalent to avenging Lu Ji, and it was as if he had pulled Lu Ji out of hell.

Before Liu Feng arrived, Lu Ji had already given up hope.

He had clearly realized that, not only would he not be able to take revenge, but he might even have to serve under his enemy and be feared by him for the rest of his life.

But when Liu Feng arrived, everything changed.

Lu Ji was like a fish returning to the sea or a bird soaring into the sky; he was no longer feared or controlled by the Sun family.

Liu Feng not only helped Lu Ji avenge himself, but also gave Lu Ji a chance for a new life.

(End of this chapter)