Xu Sheng 徐盛

Xu Sheng, courtesy name Wenxiang, was a native of Ju in Langya. When disorder broke out he lived as a sojourner in Wu, where he became known for his courage. When Sun Quan took charge of affairs, he made him Major of a Separate Command, gave him 500 troops, and had him serve as acting Chief of Chaisang to hold off Huang Zu. When Huang Zu's son Huang She came down the river to attack with several thousand men, Xu Sheng's officers and men numbered fewer than 200, yet he resisted and fought them, wounding more than a thousand of Huang She's officers and men, and then opened the gates, sallied out and inflicted a great defeat on him. Huang She at last vanished and raided no more. Records, Wu 10 §81–82

Sun Quan made Xu Sheng Colonel and Prefect of Wuhu, and for his merit in suppressing the bandits of Mount Nan'e in Lincheng he was transferred to General of the Household and supervised the colonels' troops. While Prefect of Wuhu, Xu Sheng arrested an officer of the camp of Jiang Qin, who was stationed at Xuancheng, and submitted a memorial asking to behead him, but Sun Quan refused on the grounds that Jiang Qin was far away. Because of this Xu Sheng felt uneasy toward Jiang Qin. When Cao Cao marched out to Ruxu and Jiang Qin was put in charge of directing the armies together with Lü Meng, Xu Sheng constantly feared that Jiang Qin would use some pretext to harm him. Jiang Qin, however, always praised Xu Sheng's good qualities, and Xu Sheng was won over by his virtue. Records, Wu 10 §82 · 24

When Cao Cao marched out to Ruxu, Xu Sheng followed Sun Quan to resist him. When Wei sent a large force out to Hengjiang, Xu Sheng hurried with the other generals to attack it; he was aboard a mengchong warship when a violent wind struck and drove the ship under the bank on the enemy's side. While the other generals were too afraid to come out, Xu Sheng alone led his troops ashore and cut down the enemy, who scattered and fled, and as soon as the wind dropped he returned. Sun Quan thought him very brave. Records, Wu 10 §83

When Zhou Tai was put in command at Ruxu, Zhu Ran, Xu Sheng and others were under him, and none of them submitted to him. Sun Quan went in person to the Ruxu fortress, held a banquet, had Zhou Tai take off his clothes and asked him where each of his scars had come from. The next day he bestowed an imperial canopy on Zhou Tai, and only then did Xu Sheng and the others submit. Records, Wu 10 §29–30

In the 20th year of Jian'an (215), when he followed Sun Quan in attacking Hefei, Xu Sheng was wounded and lost his spear to the enemy who came out of the city to fight, and He Qi led his troops to hold them off and recovered the spear. According to the Biography of Pan Zhang, when Zhang Liao suddenly swept down in the battle of Hefei, Chen Wu died fighting while Song Qian and Xu Sheng both broke and fled, and Pan Zhang, who was in the rear, beheaded two of Song Qian's and Xu Sheng's fleeing soldiers, whereupon the troops turned back to fight. Records, Wu 15 §15Records, Wu 10 §91

When Sun Quan declared himself a vassal of Wei, Wei sent Xing Zhen to invest Sun Quan as King of Wu. When Sun Quan went out to the Duting pavilion to receive him and Xing Zhen showed an arrogant manner, Zhang Zhao was already angry, and Xu Sheng too, indignant, turned to his colleagues and said, 'We, Xu Sheng and the rest, have failed to exert ourselves and risk our lives to annex Xu and Luo and swallow Ba and Shu for our state, and have made our lord enter into a covenant with Xing Zhen. Is this not a disgrace?' and tears streamed down his face. Hearing this, Xing Zhen told his party that since the generals and ministers of Jiangdong were like this, they were not men who would long remain beneath others. Records, Wu 10 §84

He was later transferred to General Who Establishes Martial Might, enfeoffed as Marquis of a Chief Village, made concurrently Administrator of Lujiang, and granted Lincheng County as his fief. In the 1st year of Huangwu (222), when Liu Bei came with a great army, Xu Sheng was among the generals under the Grand Commander Lu Xun, and he attacked and took the various camps of Liu Bei, who had halted at Xiling, winning merit wherever he went. When Liu Bei stayed at Baidi, Xu Sheng, together with Pan Zhang, Song Qian and others, vied in submitting memorials saying that Liu Bei could surely be captured and asking to attack him again. When Sun Quan asked Lu Xun, Lu Xun, together with Zhu Ran and Luo Tong, said that Cao Pi was harboring treacherous intentions and they should return at once. Records, Wu 10 §85Records, Wu 13 §17 · 28

When Cao Xiu marched out to Dongkou, Xu Sheng crossed the river with Lü Fan and Quan Cong to hold him off. They ran into a great wind and lost many men from their ships, but Xu Sheng gathered his remaining troops and faced Cao Xiu across the river, and with a small force held off the troops and officers Cao Xiu sent against him, until both sides withdrew. The Biography of the Lord of Wu records that in the 11th month, winter, of the 1st year of Huangwu (222), after several thousand of Lü Fan's and others' troops drowned in a great wind, the generals Quan Cong and Xu Sheng pursued and beheaded the Wei general Yin Lu. Xu Sheng was transferred to General Who Pacifies the East and enfeoffed as Marquis of Wuhu. Records, Wu 10 §85Records, Wu 2 §47

Later, when Emperor Wen of Wei marched out with a great army intending to cross the Yangtze, Xu Sheng proposed a plan to build a wall with palisades starting from Jianye, set up false watchtowers on the wall, and float boats in the middle of the river. The other generals thought it useless, but Xu Sheng would not listen and insisted on building it. When Emperor Wen reached Guangling and saw the wall stretching for several hundred li, he was astonished, and since the river was also in high flood, he withdrew his army at once. Only then were the generals won over. Xu Sheng died during the Huangwu era, and his son Xu Kai inherited his title and took command of his troops. Records, Wu 10 §86–87

In his assessment, Chen Shou said that the various generals of this volume were all tiger-like servants of Jiangbiao whom the Sun family treated generously. Records, Wu 10 §109