Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 303 297. Take advantage of the situation
However, although everyone was interested, no one spoke up. This was easier said than done. No one wanted to be the first to speak up. What if someone in the future wrote about it and described them as cowards? Wouldn't that make them a pillar of shame?
Don’t you see that Lu Bu’s reputation has become so bad that it is infamous because he first betrayed Ding Yuan, then betrayed Dong Zhuo, and then ambushed Liu Bei who took him in.

When talking about Lu Bu, everyone will naturally marvel at his martial arts, but they will also spit on his character.

Now that Eastern Wu has just been destroyed, if these former generals of Eastern Wu join the Han army too decisively, won't they be gossiped about by others and be considered spineless? Are they so eager to join the next army when Sun Quan's body is still warm?
Feng Xi naturally understood their thoughts, so some of the steps had to be given by him personally.

"You have devoted yourself to Jiangdong for several years, more than ten years, or even decades. You have made contributions to Jiangdong. The king chooses his subjects, and the subjects also choose their king. From the perspective of the former enemies, you have done the best you can, and it is not your fault.

You all have martial arts skills. If you hadn't fought for Jiangdong, how could you have become prisoners? You gentlemen no longer owe Jiangdong anything. Instead, it was Sun Quan who, for his own selfish interests, insisted on becoming emperor. At the same time, he was extravagant and decadent, forcibly conscripted young men into the army, and selected beauties to enter the palace. His evil deeds are too numerous to list.

If you were to die for such a tyrant, I'm afraid people all over the world would lament your "foolish loyalty."

Feng Xi was a great speaker, and he gave everyone a way out with just a few words. Yes, in order to save Jiangdong, everyone fought many battles with the Han army in Dongting Lake and Jianye City, and did not run away or surrender immediately. It was reasonable to be loyal to the Eastern Wu. Now, even if they died for their loyalty, it would not matter. It seemed reasonable to surrender to the Han army.

"Moreover, most of you are from Jiangdong, and your families and friends are also in Jiangdong. In order to protect your families and friends, it is understandable that you serve the Han army. In the past, you were besieged by Cao Cao at Tushan in Xiapi and fought to the death, but in order to protect the family of Emperor Zhaolie, you had to surrender. Can anyone in the world blame you?"

Feng Xi also used examples to further reduce the resistance of the people to joining the Han army. After all, you can not consider yourself, but you can't not consider your beautiful wife, young son, and old mother at home, right? To protect your family, clansmen, and elders, you surrender, and there is no reason to find fault with it from the perspective of justice.

In addition, now that Sun Quan was dead, Jiangdong's laws naturally followed the Han Dynasty's, and the ban on newspapers also no longer existed. Feng Xi and Jiaozhou Governor Li Hui had previously cooperated, selecting some skilled printers and woodblock workers, sending them to Jiaozhou, and establishing a newspaper printing line in Jiaozhou.

As for writing articles, Feng Xi only provided Li Hui with some ideas. Li Hui himself was not a stupid man, and he gained a lot from Feng Xi's behavior of disrupting the Cham people. Without Feng Xi's explanation, Li Hui also learned to use newspapers as a propaganda machine to further divide the Cham people, using one group to attack another.

As Jiangdong was newly established, it was not difficult for Jingzhou to train some new woodblock workers and printers. As long as they got started for ten days or half a month, the old workers could master this simple technology. Therefore, it was not difficult to expand another newspaper printing line in Jiangdong.

By then, we can use newspapers to publicize the Han army and let some officials who are familiar to the people of Jiangdong appear occasionally to serve as role models, which can also appease the people.

"Alas, the Han army is strong, and I accept defeat with all my heart. And as the Grand Commander said, my family is all in Jiangdong. The defeated general is willing to serve the Han army."

The first person to speak was He Qi. He Qi was truly defeated by the Han army. In the Battle of Chaisang, He Qi tried his best but was unable to stop the Han army. He was no less than a mantis under a wheel. In addition, what Feng Xi said made sense. He Qi himself was not someone who had to be loyal to Sun Quan, so he simply surrendered.

"General He, what are you saying? You are the one who has abandoned darkness and joined the light. We are the orthodox Han Dynasty, and Cao Wei is the traitor who usurped the Han Dynasty. You have also received Han salaries for generations, and now you are joining us in fighting against rebellion. This is in accordance with the will of heaven and the people. Why should you feel so guilty?" Feng Xi was overjoyed when he saw the first person stepping forward. He offered a few high-sounding words to give everyone a righteous reason for surrendering to the Han army, making their behavior more justified morally and psychologically.

Following He Qi's example, Lü Dai, who had also experienced Sun Quan's extravagant reign and fought fiercely with the Han army, also surrendered. The two were the last pillars of Jiangdong, but unfortunately, their efforts were in vain in the face of the Han army's overwhelming momentum.

Now that the Han army is willing to take him in regardless of past grudges, Lu Dai is also willing to continue to serve in the army, which is better than dying at the hands of others or dying of old age in the fields.

With the surrender of Lu Dai and He Qi, the intentional or unintentional persistence of others seemed to have little meaning.

"Thank you, General, for your generosity. If I continue to insist, I will be ungrateful. I am also willing to continue to contribute to Jiangdong and the Han Dynasty and fight against the traitor Cao Pi together."

Next was the scholar Luo Tong. Scholars were more flexible in their thinking than the Wu generals, and Luo Tong's perspective was more righteous, that is, to fight against the traitors together. Feng Xi naturally knew that this was a way to get out of the way he had just given him, so Feng Xi naturally would not expose it, but instead appeased him with kind words.

"I have long heard that Gongxu is a man of integrity and considerate of his people. It is a blessing for all the people to have Gongxu's help."

Feng Xi is quite good at business bragging, which made the three people who surrendered first feel very happy and felt that surrender was not so unacceptable.

"General Ling, I heard that your father fought for the Eastern Wu and died at the hands of Gan Ning during the Western Expedition against Huang Zu. Now he is gone, and both Gan Ning and Sun Quan are people of the past. Your family sacrificed their lives for the Eastern Wu. If it weren't for God's help, I'm afraid you would have died in the explosion. You have already lost your father and your life for Sun Quan, so why should you hesitate to remain loyal to someone who is already buried?"

Feng Xi saw that the other people seemed to have some psychological burden, so he simply called out their names one by one, and Ling Tong was the first one to be called out by Feng Xi. The affair between Ling Tong's father Ling Cao and Gan Ning was known to everyone in the world, and Feng Xi's argument was also very simple.

Your father died for the country, and if you are not lucky, you will also die for the country. If God doesn't let you die, doesn't it mean that he thinks you shouldn't die here?

Theoretically speaking, you have already died fighting for the Eastern Wu, but God spared your life out of pity. You and the Eastern Wu no longer owe each other anything.

Since we don't owe each other anything, what psychological burden is there?

(End of this chapter)