The Three Kingdoms: Zhaolie, the strategist, and the rise of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 121 Close the door and release Lu Bu, bringing disaster to Yuan and Cao!

Facing Li Yi's sudden question.

Lu Bu was stunned for a moment. It was true what he had just said.

But after all, it was just a polite remark. Thinking that I was a guest, I couldn't really let myself go through fire and water right away, right?
Is this the way to treat guests?
"……Yes."

Lu Bu forced a smile, patted his chest and said:

"General Liu is a loyal and kind person. I am grateful to him for taking me in."

"If there is really a need for me, I will serve you."

"To be honest with you, General Lu, there is indeed an important matter right now that requires your help."

Ah this...

Lu Bu and his men looked at each other, and for a moment they didn't know what to say.

Li Yi directly explained the reason:

"To be honest with you, General Lu, we just received a military report from Yuzhou."

"Cao Cao raised troops in Yanzhou and marched towards the State of Chen. King Liu Chong of Chen and Yuzhou Governor Guo Gong both sent letters to ask for help from Xuzhou."

"My lord and Prince Chen are both members of the same royal family. Now Cao Cao is bullying the weak. There is no reason for us in Xuzhou not to come to the rescue."

"However, the general also knows the difficulties of Xuzhou. We have just fought in Qingzhou and Guangling. Our troops and horses are exhausted. It is really not appropriate to fight again."

"So after discussing with my lord, I want to ask General Lu to come forward to drive back Cao Cao's troops and lift the siege of Chen State."

"What do you think, General?"

This……

Lu Bu frowned, looking embarrassed.

I thought to myself that this script is wrong. I came to Xuzhou to live off the people, not to work hard for you Xuzhou people.

Especially since it is my, Lu Bu’s, blood that has been shed, I am trying to earn a favor from you, Xuzhou.

Besides, with Lu Bu's current wealth, how could he be a match for Cao Cao?

Even if Cao Cao was defeated by then, what benefit would Lu Bu get?
At that time, would King Chen Liu Chong be grateful to Lu Bu or Liu Bei of Xuzhou?

Faced with such a thankless business, Lu Bu was unwilling to do it.

But I've already made those big promises. If I refuse now, wouldn't I be slapping myself in the face?
What's more, now that I'm living under someone else's roof, whether I can stay depends on Liu Bei's mood. It's not good to offend him openly.

But if I agreed, I would feel unwilling.

Just when Lü Bu was in trouble, Chen Gong stepped in to help him:

"Our army also has a deep hatred for Cao Cao. It would be a blessing if we could unite with King Chen to fight against Cao Cao together."

"However, since the battle of Dingtao, our army has suffered heavy casualties and has lost a lot of manpower and horses. We can no longer fight."

"Cao Cao is now very powerful. Even if we mobilize all the soldiers of Marquis Wen, we will only end up like sheep walking into a tiger's mouth, which will only lead to further defeat."

"We are willing but unable to do so."

Chen Gong is a master of diplomacy and is very good at rhetoric.

The fact that Cao Cao was left with only three counties after inciting rebellion in the Yanzhou counties was largely due to Chen Gong's efforts.

He also understood at that moment that the people of Xuzhou wanted to use them to continue fighting against Cao Cao.

From a subjective point of view, the Yanzhou group headed by Chen Gong wanted to go back and fight Cao Cao.

But being used as a gun for others cannot be in vain.

There has to be some benefit.

Chen Gong is very pragmatic.

The land, money and food that Liu Bei had just promised have not yet been obtained.

"Don't worry, Mr. Gongtai. We will never embarrass you."

Seeing that a smart person had come, Li Yi immediately changed his words.

"Yuzhou Governor Guo Gong still has more than 10,000 soldiers and horses, enough to match the troops of Yanzhou."

"However, he does not have the talent of a great general and is definitely no match for Cao Cao."

"General Lu is a skilled warrior, a great general with divine powers, and a top-notch warrior in the world."

"I also heard that all the general's men are heroes and warriors from the north."

"A brave warrior is brave and good at fighting."

"Now, General, you only need to send one general to support the State of Chen, which will be enough to drive back Cao Cao's troops."

"Haven't you heard that one wise man can build a city of ten thousand miles, and one man can be as powerful as a million soldiers?"

These words were beautifully said, and all the generals under Lu Bu felt elated after hearing them.

They all have a high opinion of themselves and are brave and strong.

The people of Yanzhou were even more dissatisfied with their defeat to Cao Cao and wanted to find an opportunity to fight again.

Especially after hearing Li Yi's words, everyone was ready to fight.

Lu Bu was stunned for a moment, then smiled:

"Sir, you are too kind. I wonder which soldier under Lu's command you are interested in?"

"Just appoint the general directly!"

Wen Hou!

Chen Gong pressed Lu Bu's palm and frowned.

I wondered to myself, how could you fall into Li Yi's sugar-coated trap so easily?
Don't you realize that he wants to take advantage of us?
Now we haven’t gained any benefit at all!

"General Lu is straightforward, so Yi will appoint the generals."

Li Yi walked down from his seat and glanced at the generals.

Everyone secretly straightened their backs and straightened their chests, wanting to show themselves off.

Finally, Li Yi turned his gaze slightly and fell on Zhang Liao, and said with a smile:
"General Zhang, please go there!"

"……I?"

Zhang Liao was stunned. He never expected that Li Yi would choose him.

What was even more unexpected was that Li Yi seemed to recognize him.

"Sir, do you also know me, Zhang Wenyuan?"

"Wenyuan killed the Hu people at Yanmen in the past, and his power was feared outside the Great Wall. Yi in the Central Plains also heard of it."

Zhang Liao looked at Li Yi gratefully, then bowed and said:
"I don't know sir, what do you want Liao to do?"

"Okay, please come to the back hall after the banquet, General Zhang."

"My lord and I will discuss the specific details of the advance with the general alone."

Zhang Liao had no doubts and agreed immediately.

Chen Gong secretly wondered if Li Yi sent Zhang Liao away in order to weaken the strength of their group?

But they are now in a difficult situation and cannot cause any trouble.

It would be easy for Liu Bei to destroy them, so why go to so much trouble?

I really don't know what Li Yi is up to by doing this.

This man looks harmless, but in fact he is very cunning and has a lot of strategies.

Chen Gong also couldn't tell what Li Yi was thinking.

"Then I wonder when the money and food that Envoy Liu promised us will be delivered?"

Chen Gong asked, this was what they urgently needed.

"Eh!"

Li Yi waved his hand and said, "You all have come here from such a long distance today, you must be exhausted."

"Let's not talk about these official matters. You can enjoy the banquet and don't think about anything else."

"How could Xuzhou break its promise of money and grain?"

Chen Gong's eyes narrowed, thinking to himself that everyone says that Liu Bei is a trustworthy man, it is impossible for him to go back on his word.

I had no choice but to agree temporarily.

There is no way, because the initiative is in their hands.
Whether to provide money and food, and when to provide them, all depends on the mood of the people of Xuzhou.

Soon, under Li Yi's persuasion, everyone drank happily.

Temporarily recover from the defeat in Yanzhou.

After the banquet, Liu Bei led Li Yi and other trusted ministers to the back hall.

Guan Yu stroked his long beard, narrowed his eyes, and said in a deep voice:

"From my perspective, Lu Bu is rough, unfriendly, tough and rude, and doesn't look like a good person."

"Brother, you must be careful of this person."

Mi Zhu, the deputy driver, also disliked Lü Bu's character. He and Guan Yu were both upright and honest, so he agreed immediately:
"General Guan is right!"

"Lü Bu has a wicked ambition, and it is difficult to keep him for long. My lord, you should make plans early."

After coming into contact with Lu Bu, Liu Bei had no good impression of him at all.

This kid, who had no sense of boundaries, kept calling him "brother", which made his head hurt.

In fact, in history, Liu Bei was very dissatisfied when he first met Lu Bu.

It's just that he is the type of person who doesn't show his emotions on his face, so he never shows them.

——It is called "to be prepared for the external unpleasantness while being unhappy within."

Then they threw him to Xiaopei.

The same was true for Liu Bei in this timeline. He felt that Lu Bu's words were erratic and that working with such a person for a long time would definitely lead to trouble.

"I know what you mean, but Lu Bu is desperate and has come to me."

"If I refuse to let them in, everyone will think I am intolerant."

"I am now bringing you to the back hall to discuss how to deal with Lu Bu in the future."

My childhood friend Jian Yong suggested:

"Lü Bu is treacherous and disloyal, and is intent on rebellion."

"It is better to eliminate it now to prevent future troubles."

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei immediately shook his head and rejected the proposal.

"This is a mistake. I have already made it clear that I took in Lu Bu to let the world know that I, Liu Bei, can tolerate others."

"I hope the wise men from all over the world will come to Xuzhou."

"If we kill him now, we will lose the support of the people."

Even Guan Yu felt that this was an extreme move, although he disliked Lu Bu's character.

But now Lu Bu has nowhere to go. It would be unmanly to get rid of him when he is in dire straits.

"My lord, you are right. Although Lü Bu has evil intentions, he has made contributions to the country and has surrendered because of his desperate situation."

"Even if we can't tolerate him, we can't harm him openly."

From the perspective of later generations, although Lu Bu was the father of the Three Kingdoms, his father could defeat a country and he was the leader of the Alliance of Those Who Worry About His Father.

But from the perspective of that time, Lu Bu's killing of Dong Zhuo was a super politically correct thing.

Directly rebuilt the core of the Han Dynasty.

When Chen Gong, Zhang Miao and other scholars were campaigning for Lu Bu in Yanzhou, the slogan they shouted was that Lu Bu had made great contributions to the country.

Including Emperor Xian of Han, Liu Xie, everyone always believed that Lu Bu was a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty.

It can be said,
Lu Bu's reputation was not actually completely ruined, especially after he killed Dong Zhuo, his reputation actually improved.

Unfortunately, he later had a brain short circuit and instead of performing well under the command of Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, he allowed his troops to plunder.

The reputation that had finally recovered was ruined again.

"I now want to station Lü Bu in Pei State. What do you think?" Liu Bei asked for everyone's opinions.

The area north of Pei State was Liu Bei's sphere of influence, while the area south of Pei State was Yuan Shu's sphere of influence.

Qiao County to the west is where Cao Cao's family lives.

According to Liu Bei's idea, if he could drive the tiger to devour the wolf, he would use Lu Bu to steal the crystal from Cao Cao's house.

It is also a beautiful thing.

It's better than having it in front of you and making you feel uncomfortable.

"inappropriate."

Li Yi shook his head. "Lü Bu is frivolous, cunning and fickle, and only cares about profit."

"Now that Chen Gui is the governor of Pei, he is also likely to be harmed by Lü Bu."

Lu Bu regards whoever gives him milk as his father and is only interested in profit.

When he really gets mad, he starts punching everywhere with his fists.

Even if Lu Bu was transferred to Pei State to harm Cao Cao's family, there is no guarantee that Chen Gui in the north would not be harmed by him.

So what Li Yi meant was to send Lu Bu further away.

"So what does sir mean...?"

Liu Bei asked tentatively.

Li Yi made his own suggestion:
"Why not recommend Lü Bu as the governor of Runan and send him to Runan?"

Runan was Yuan Shu's sphere of influence, and Yuan Shu's family was in Runan.

Moreover, since Lu Bu is in Runan, he will definitely not be able to harm Old Liu.

He was surrounded by the three forces of Yuan Shu, Cao Cao and Liu Biao.

If you really want to fight back, you have to pick a troublemaker.

As for how Cao Cao, Yuan Shu and others should deal with Lu Bu, that is a problem that they should worry about.

This is not a problem that Lao Liu and his Xuzhou need to worry about.

Anyway, with Li Yi around, it's impossible for Lu Bu to launch a surprise attack on Xuzhou again.

"Okay, I will explain this to Lu Bu tomorrow."

Liu Bei readily accepted Li Yi's suggestion.

Guan Yu asked:

"What if Lu Bu refuses to follow me?"

Li Yi answered without hesitation:
"Lü Bu is now in dire straits and can only rely on Xuzhou."

"If he doesn't go to Runan, we will never give him money or food."

"He has no choice but to obey."

Well.

Guan Yu nodded and had no more objections.

I secretly sighed that being rich means being arrogant.

After a while, a servant came to report that Zhang Liao had arrived for a visit.

Liu Bei immediately ordered someone to invite him in.

Zhang Liao came to the back hall, and after the two sides exchanged greetings, they sat down as host and guest.

"I wonder when you hope Liao will send troops to aid Chen?"

Zhang Liao did not forget his mission and asked directly.

Seeing Zhang Liao's directness, Liu Bei did not hesitate and said loudly:
"Wenyuan could have set out tomorrow, but Cao Cao was too powerful and Wenyuan was defeated again following Lu Bu."

"I'm afraid there aren't many of my troops left. Tomorrow I'll give you 5,000 county soldiers from Xuzhou."

"You can accompany the envoys from Liang and Chen to Chen."

"All the food and supplies needed during the journey will be supplied by Xuzhou."

This!
Zhang Liao was shocked when he heard this.

He never expected that Liu Bei and Li Yi, the king and his minister, were so stingy when facing Lu Bu at the banquet just now.

Not only did he refuse to provide soldiers and horses, he also kept delaying the issue of money and food and avoided talking about it.

But when it comes to myself, I will provide soldiers when I am told to, and I will provide food when I am told to.

Who am I?

This made Zhang Liao a little confused. He wondered if he was really that charming.
In terms of reputation, he was far inferior to Lu Bu at this time.

Even if he had the means, it would be difficult for him to use them under Lu Bu.

But after arriving in Xuzhou, everything was different.

Not only was he chosen among all the generals, he was also chosen by Li Yi, the second-in-command military advisor of Xuzhou.

Next, when he faced Liu Bei, the governor of a state, he treated him even more kindly.

What have I done to deserve this?

When we first met, he gave us five thousand soldiers and also provided us with food and drinks.

Looking around the world, who can enjoy such treatment?
"Wenyuan, do you think five thousand soldiers are enough?"

Seeing that Zhang Liao did not answer, Liu Bei began to ask further questions.

"This! That's certainly enough!"

Zhang Liao replied repeatedly, "Liao will definitely fulfill its mission and lift the siege of Chen State."

"Good." Liu Bei nodded, "If Wenyuan can really lift the siege of Chen State by this trip."

"I will report to the court, commend Wenyuan for his merits, and request that he be made the Prime Minister of Lu."

I go!

Zhang Liao's body swayed and he almost fainted.

Liu Bei was so good to him.

You have to know that the position of Prime Minister of Lu is not a remote one, where Zhang Liao can just be a figurehead.

Liu Bei had really ordered Zhang Fei to march into Lu and take control of most of the counties in the southern part of Lu.

This means that Zhang Liao, the Prime Minister of Lu, really has real power, rather than just a castle in the air or a moon in the water.

Of course, the reason why Liu Bei was so good to Zhang Liao was naturally because Li Yi had done ideological work for him in private.

Zhang Liao is a general who is very worth winning over and who there is every chance of winning over.

As the only man from the Wei State selected into the Temple of Martial Arts, Deng Ai can only be considered half a man.

There is no need to brag about Liaoshen's abilities.

Sun Shiwan was beaten violently at Xiaoyaojin, and Tadun was killed in the Bailangshan formation.

In addition to his personal bravery and ability to charge into battle, Zhang Liao's military command ability was also top-notch in Cao Wei.

He also has strategies, tactics, and the ability to govern a region.

After the Battle of Guandu, Zhang Liao followed Xiahou Yuan to attack Chang Xi of the Donghai Kingdom.

After besieging for several months, they were unable to capture the city.

So Xiahou Yuan planned to withdraw his troops, but Zhang Liao said not to do so yet.

For several days, every time I went to the front lines to inspect the various areas, Chang Xi would stare at me from the opposite side.

And their archery is becoming less and less frequent.

This must mean that Chang Xi was a little shaken.

So he went alone to persuade Chang Xi to surrender, but unexpectedly, Chang Xi was really persuaded by Zhang Liao and surrendered to Cao Cao.

Cao Cao was of course very happy to see Chang Xi surrender, but he couldn't help criticizing Zhang Liao.

It's too risky for you to go up the mountain alone. This is not the way of a general.

Zhang Liao said, "Your Excellency's prestige is known throughout the world, and Chang Xi dare not harm me."

From this incident, we can see that Zhang Liao is not only wise and courageous, but also has a high emotional intelligence, making him very suitable for the workplace.

It was obvious that he went into the thieves' den alone only after he had confirmed his guess step by step and judged that the enemy was likely to surrender.

But he said that he dared to be so reckless only because of his leader's reputation.

It can be seen that Zhang Liao has good vision, eloquence, and the ability to seize opportunities.

He is capable of doing great things.

And in history, Zhang Liao really served as the prime minister of Lu and governed an area.

In his early years, he also worked as a county official and served under Ding Yuan.

His political level is at least above the passing line.

In terms of ability, Zhang Liao is the strongest in Lu Bu's group.

So Li Yi attacked him first and pulled the strongest one over first.

And Zhang Liao is also the easiest person to win over in Lu Bu's group.

Compared with Gao Shun's loyalty, Zhang Liao is much more flexible.

Like Xu Rong, Zhang Liao is a typical working person with a completely worker's mentality.

Even after Dong Zhuo killed Ding Yuan, he still followed Dong Zhuo.

When Lu Bu killed Dong Zhuo, he followed Lu Bu.

Even after Cao Cao killed Lu Bu, he still followed Cao Cao.

He followed the man who killed his former master three times, and his main character was to go with the flow.

But once he got to Cao Cao, he was considered to have followed him.

Compared to Lu Bu, Zhang Liao was the one who truly wandered for half his life.

"You are so kind to me, I don't know how to repay you."

Zhang Liao bowed to Liu Bei to express his gratitude.

A gentleman will die for his friend. Even a stone can feel Liu Bei's love for him.

"I heard that Wenyuan is strong and resourceful, and has great skills in commanding troops."

"When I was in Xuzhou, I wanted to make friends with Wenyuan."

"But I never had the chance. It's a great relief to see you today."

"If there is anything I can do to help Wenyuan, I will do my best."

Zhang Liao's eyes turned red as he said with emotion:

"Your Excellency's kindness is great, Liao is grateful in my heart."

Li Yi took this opportunity to interrupt and said:

"Lü Bu is brave but not righteous. Now he is expelled by Cao Cao and is displaced and wandering around."

"Wenyuan has the talent to summon tigers, but following a fickle person may damage his reputation."

Li Yi raised the topic to a very high level.

I'm not trying to steal Lu Bu's girls. I'm just feeling sorry for you, Wenyuan.

For a warrior like you, Wenyuan, following Lu Bu would only damage your own reputation.

Reputation was something the ancients valued extremely.

Sure enough, when Zhang Liao heard Li Yi's words, he blinked.

Thoughtful...

(End of this chapter)