You get Lu Bu as your starting character.

Chapter 189 The Will to Charge into Battle 'Gao Shun'

The Hall of Nourishing Heart.

Zhou Chen sat on the dragon throne and began today's sign-in.

Since becoming the emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Zhou Chen's biggest feeling over the past two months has been the lack of manpower.

No, to be more precise, it's the lack of sufficiently trusted civil and military officials.

Although Zhou Chen is the emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, he has civil and military officials in the court who can be at his beck and call.

But among all the civil and military officials, how many could Zhou Chen truly trust?

Even loyal ministers and veteran generals like the Minister of War and Marquis Weiwu could not be completely trusted by Zhou Chen.

Ultimately, the Minister of War and Marquis Weiwu, these loyal ministers and veteran generals, were loyal to the Great Zhou Dynasty, not to Zhou Chen.

To put it bluntly, even if it weren't Zhou Chen sitting on this dragon throne, the Minister of War and other loyal ministers and veterans would still be devoted to the king's affairs.

It won't change in the slightest because of who the emperor on the dragon throne is.

"Sign in."

Zhou Chen silently recited it in his mind.

Now we have four civil officials, including Fang Xuanling and Xun Yu, and several military officials, including Lü Bu and Zhang Liao.

This place seems to possess both literary and martial talents, and is full of capable individuals.

However, this number of talents is still a drop in the ocean for the entire Great Zhou Dynasty.

Especially in terms of military generals, after Zhou Chen takes over the titles of Marquis of Zhenbei and Marquis of Xiliang, he will need military generals to be stationed in the northern frontier and Xiliang.

Therefore, Zhou Chen hopes to sign in and get one or two generals in the next few days.

This way, we won't be so short-handed in terms of military commanders.

【bite…….】

[Check-in successful.]

[Congratulations, host, for gaining the loyalty of the character Gao Shun.]

Gao Shun?

Was there a general who was so determined to fight to the death that he had no intention of surviving?
Zhou Chen was shocked.

It's true what they say, what you wish for comes true.

Zhou Chen hoped to get one or two generals by signing in, and he actually did get one.

Zhou Chen knew a thing or two about Gao Shun, this outstanding person.

Gao Shun may not be as strong as Lü Bu in martial arts, nor as good as Zhang Liao in command, but his ability to train troops was outstanding.

His 700 elite troops were virtually invincible.

Gao Shun's loyalty, in particular, is both admirable and a pity.

Despite his loyalty, Gao Shun was not given important responsibilities, which may be the tragedy of his life.

A majestic figure clad in armor appeared before Zhou Chen.

"This humble general, Gao Shun, greets Your Majesty." As soon as Gao Shun appeared, he knelt down and bowed to Zhou Chen on the dragon throne.

Zhou Chen glanced at Gao Shun; "General Gao, no need for formalities, please rise!"

It must be said that the feeling Gao Shun gave Zhou Chen was very different from the feeling Lu Bu and Zhang Liao gave him.

If Lu Bu and Zhang Liao gave Zhou Chen the impression of being wild and domineering, then Gao Shun gave Zhou Chen the impression of being pure and meticulous.

No wonder the seven hundred elite troops were invincible in every attack and battle.

Based on the clean and rigorous feeling Gao Shun gave Zhou Chen, Zhou Chen could imagine that Gao Shun must be quite strict in disciplining his troops.

In fact, Gao Shunzhi's army was indeed very strict.

In the Three Kingdoms period, Gao Shun was undoubtedly among the most strict in disciplining his troops.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Gao Shun stood up.

Zhou Chen looked at Gao Shun and nodded slightly.

Although Gao Shun was not a commander capable of ruling a region, he was still considered a rare talent among generals.

Whether it's commanding troops or training soldiers, he's no slouch.

Of course, Gao Shun's martial arts skills have also reached the early stage of Grandmaster, which is enough to make him a capable figure in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

"Gao Shun, right now is the time when we need people."

"Go immediately to the Shenwu Guard camp outside the city to find General Lü Bu, and set off for the northern frontier with General Lü and the others!"

Zhou Chen gave the order.

In order to capture the Marquis of Zhenbei and the Marquis of Xiliang, and to completely resolve the issues in the Northern Frontier and Xiliang.

Zhou Chen not only sent Cao Zhengchun, the supervisor of the Eastern Depot, to the northern frontier to deliver the imperial edict, but also sent Lü Bu, Zhang Liao, and Zhou Zhan, the Prince of Kao Shan, to the northern frontier together.

After all, once the Marquis of Zhenbei and the Marquis of Xiliang are captured, generals will be needed to take over the Zhenbei Army and the Xiliang Army and be stationed in the northern frontier and Xiliang.

Zhou Chen can only rely on Zhang Liao and Lü Bu as generals.

Now that Gao Shun has signed in, Zhou Chen will send Gao Shun to the Northern Frontier as well.

Because after capturing the Marquis of Zhenbei and the Marquis of Xiliang, the Zhenbei Army and the Xiliang Army will definitely need to be purged.

At that time, both the Zhenbei Army and the Xiliang Army will lack generals.

"The general will obey the order."

Gao Shun bowed and accepted the order.

Zhou Chen waved his hand, signaling an imperial guard to take Gao Shun away.

Watching Gao Shun's departing figure, Zhou Chen felt somewhat helpless.

Zhou Chen didn't expect that after Lu Bu appeared in the sign-in, the generals who appeared in the sign-in afterward were all Lu Bu's eight generals.

I don't know what's wrong with this system.

Now that Gao Shun has also checked in, it's basically all the generals under Lü Bu's command have checked in. Next time, we should be able to check in other generals!

Zhou Chen thought to himself.

……

At the gate of Luoyang city.

One after another, supply wagons slowly walked out of the city gate.

Thousands of soldiers escorted them on all sides.

These supply wagons were filled with military pay, specifically for the Zhenbei Army and the Xiliang Army.

Previously, Zhou Chen had only paid half of the military pay to the Zhenbei Army and the Xiliang Army.

Zhou Chen temporarily withheld the remaining half of the military pay for the Zhenbei Army and the Xiliang Army.

Now, Zhou Chen sent Cao Zhengchun to the northern frontier with the other half of the military pay for the Zhenbei Army and the Xiliang Army to deliver the imperial edict.

Cao Zhengchun rode out of the Luoyang city gate, escorting half of the military pay for the Zhenbei Army and the Xiliang Army, and headed towards the northern frontier.

……

at the same time.

The Southern Camp of the Divine Martial Guard.

Squads of the Divine Martial Guards quietly left the military camp, led by Lü Bu, Zhang Liao, King Zhou Zhan of Kao Shan, and Gao Shun, and secretly headed towards the northern frontier.

Zhou Chen knew that after capturing the Marquis of Zhenbei and the Marquis of Xiliang, he would not be able to truly take over the Zhenbei Army with just a few generals like Lü Bu and Zhang Liao.

It requires the cooperation of troops.

Therefore, Zhou Chen specially dispatched one of the twelve Divine Martial Guards to secretly travel to the northern frontier with Lü Bu and his group.

This guard of the Twelve Divine Martial Guards serves both as a deterrent to the Zhenbei Army and as an additional layer of insurance for Zhou Chen, just in case.

Soon, Lü Bu and his generals, along with the Divine Martial Guards, disappeared at the edge of the military camp outside Luoyang.

No one in the entire court or outside the capital knew that a detachment of the Divine Martial Guard had been transferred away from Luoyang.

Even the Minister of War and Zhou Xian, the Eighth Prince, and other important officials summoned by Zhou Chen, were unaware of the mobilization of the Divine Martial Guard troops.

Zhou Chen maintained an extremely high level of secrecy regarding his true plan to capture the Marquis of Zhenbei and the Marquis of Xiliang.

It wasn't that Zhou Chen didn't trust the Minister of War and the Eighth Prince Zhou Xian.

Zhou Chen, however, knew the importance of resolving the issues in the northern border and western Liang regions.

If even the slightest mistake occurs, the consequences could be severe.

Therefore, Zhou Chen only knew the true arrangements from a few close confidants, including Lü Bu.

After all, the fewer people who know, the less risk there is.

……

Northern Xinjiang.

Zhenbeicheng.

The Eastern Depot's secrets.

Jia Xu's eyes lit up as he looked at the message on the slip of paper in his hand.

This news just came from Luoyang. It's brief, only a few words.

But even these few words made a glimmer of light appear on the face of Jia Xu, the cunning strategist.

"His Majesty has also sent Prince Kaoshan to the northern frontier, which makes it much easier to resolve the problem of the Zhenbei Army."

Jia Xu looked at the message on the note and thought to himself.

It should be noted that the Prince of Kao Shan was no ordinary person; he was a veteran of three dynasties and one of the two pillars of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

With the prestige and influence of the Prince of Kaoshan in the army, it shouldn't be difficult to stabilize the Zhenbei Army after the Marquis of Zhenbei is captured.

Originally, Jia Xu was still struggling with this problem.

Although Jia Xu had already broken through the ironclad defenses of the Marquis of Zhenbei's mansion from within, no one could guarantee that there wouldn't be any unforeseen complications later.

Now, with Zhou Zhan, the King of the Mountain, a veteran of three reigns, things are much more secure.

"Your Majesty's thinking is indeed more comprehensive."

Jia Xu sighed inwardly and put away the note in his hand.

Just then, a guard walked in with a grim expression.

"Mr. Jia, our people who were keeping an eye on the remnants of the Fan family have been discovered by the secret guards of the Marquis of Zhenbei's mansion."

"Furthermore, many of our other personnel in Zhenbei City have been exposed by the secret guards of the Zhenbei Marquis's mansion."

"So far, more than ten people have died at the hands of the Zhenbei Marquis's secret guards."

"This is what the imperial guard said in a deep voice."

Because of the Marquis of Zhenbei's residence, the Eastern Depot had a considerable number of people stationed in Zhenbei City.

However, the deaths of more than ten people still weakened the forces that the Eastern Depot had deployed in Zhenbei City.

Jia Xu's expression remained unchanged upon hearing the words of the imperial guard; "This is to be expected. After all, Zhenbei City is the stronghold of the Marquis of Zhenbei's mansion."

"The Zhenbei Marquis's Mansion has been operating here for generations. If we couldn't dig out some of your Eastern Depot's people in Zhenbei City, the Zhenbei Marquis's Mansion would have been devoured long ago."

"Furthermore, the Marquis of Zhenbei deliberately used the remnants of the Fan family as bait to lure your people from the Eastern Depot."

Jia Xu seemed to have anticipated this, and said without any surprise.

In fact it is.

Who is Jia Xu?

This is a cunning and ruthless mastermind hiding in the shadows.

How could the Marquis of Zhenbei's method of using the remnants of the Fan family as bait to lure the Eastern Depot possibly escape the notice of Jia Xu, the cunning strategist?

Upon hearing this, the guard's face darkened immediately; "Mr. Jia, since you already knew, why didn't you tell us?"

"If you had told us earlier, more than ten of our Eastern Depot employees wouldn't have died at once."

This imperial guard was very dissatisfied with Jia Xu.

Since Jia Xu already knew these things, why didn't he tell them sooner?

This caused the Eastern Depot to lose more than ten men for nothing.

Jia Xu calmly glanced at the imperial guard; "How can you lull the Marquis of Zhenbei's mansion into complacency without the deaths of a few people? Do you want the Marquis of Zhenbei to know that the court has sent someone who can see through his methods to Zhenbei City?"

Jia Xu said calmly.

It wasn't that Jia Xu was unwilling to remind the imperial guards, but rather that he couldn't.

Because if Jia Xu were to alert the imperial guards, he might expose himself.

It should be noted that the Marquis of Zhenbei commands hundreds of thousands of Zhenbei troops and is a powerful figure in the northern frontier; he is no ordinary person.

They are absolutely no less capable than those old foxes in the imperial court.

If even the slightest flaw is revealed and seized upon by the Marquis of Zhenbei, it could alert him.

It might even affect their plans.

Besides, if we can use the lives of a few imperial guards to achieve our desired goal and lull the Marquis of Zhenbei into a false sense of security, what's wrong with that?

Upon hearing Jia Xu's words, the imperial guard's expression shifted between light and shadow.

Jia Xu could disregard the lives of the Eastern Depot people, but this guard could not.

However, the orders from above commanded them to fully cooperate with Jia Xu, so even if the imperial guard harbored many grievances against Jia Xu, there was nothing he could do.

"Go and tell your people in the Eastern Depot to stop all activities for the next few days."

"Also, send a message to Cao Xing and the others, and tell them to start preparing!"

Jia Xu said nothing more, glanced at the imperial guard, and said calmly.

"Yes."

The guard didn't say anything more, just responded and turned to leave.

……

Zhenbeihou Mansion.

When Jia Xu received the news, Zhenbei Marquis Xue Shaowen also received news that the imperial court had sent people to escort the other half of the military pay owed to their Zhenbei Army towards the northern frontier.

However, what made Xue Shaowen frown was that the people escorting the military funds this time were not ordinary people.

It was Cao Zhengchun, the Grand Supervisor of the Eastern Depot and a confidant of the man in the palace.

Xue Shaowen had long heard of Cao Zhengchun.

It can be said that Cao Zhengchun was a sharp knife in the hands of the emperor in the palace.

Commanding the Eastern Depot and its guards, they could execute commoners and officials, and arrest nobles and high-ranking officials.

General Wu Jin, former Minister of Revenue, and Minister of Personnel—these important court officials were all taken down by this Director of the Eastern Depot.

Most importantly, Cao Zhengchun was a powerful expert who was half a step into the Celestial Realm.

The arrival of such a ruthless person in northern Xinjiang is not good news.

"What exactly does that emperor in the palace want to do?"

"Did they send Cao Zhengchun, the head of the Eastern Depot and a half-step Celestial Realm expert, to the Northern Frontier simply to escort these troops who owe the Zhenbei Army their wages?"

"Also, that person in the palace was withholding half of the Zhenbei Army's pay before, so why is he suddenly going to pay the Zhenbei Army half of their pay now?"

Marquis Xue Shaowen of Zhenbei frowned as he pondered these questions.

As the saying goes, when things go wrong, there must be a monster.

Marquis Xue Shaowen of Zhenbei did not believe that the emperor in the palace, who was unaware of the situation of the Zhenbei Army, would be so kind as to send half of the military pay owed to the Zhenbei Army to the northern frontier.

Marquis Xue Shaowen of Zhenbei was even less convinced. He believed that the person in the palace who sent Cao Zhengchun, the head of the Eastern Depot, to the northern frontier was simply there to escort military funds.

You should know that this amount of military pay is not worth sending a half-step Celestial Realm expert to escort it all the way.

"It seems that Cao Zhengchun's purpose in coming to the northern frontier is not simple."

"I must be careful and make more preparations."

Marquis Xue Shaowen of Zhenbei's eyes flickered. He put down the news in his hand and called out to the door, "Someone come here."

"Master Hou."

The steward of the Marquis of Zhenbei's residence walked in.

"Go and inform Fan Shaohe that I wish to see him."

Xue Shaowen said to the butler.

Xue Shaowen had not seen Fan Shaohe since their last meeting.

Instead, they left Fan Shaohe temporarily in Zhenbei City.

Furthermore, Xue Shaowen used Fan Shao and this fugitive from the Fan family as bait to uncover the secret agents of the Eastern Depot.

It must be said that Xue Shaowen, the Marquis of Zhenbei, was quite capable.

"Yes, Lord Marquis."

The butler turned and left.

After the steward left, Xue Shaowen pondered for a moment; "An Yi, send more men to keep an eye on the various generals in the army."

"Report any unusual activity to me immediately."

Xue Shaowen understood a principle: a fortress is often breached from within.

Therefore, although these generals in the army were all Xue Shaowen's confidants.

However, Xue Shaowen still secretly sent people to monitor these generals in the army.

As the saying goes, one should not have the heart to harm others, but one must have the heart to guard against others.

Even with the most trusted confidant, one must have measures to guard against them.

This is the survival rule of Xue Shaowen, the Marquis of Zhenbei.

"Yes, Lord Marquis."

You can't see the person, you can only hear their voice.

A dark figure disappeared beside Xue Shaowen.

(End of this chapter)