My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 116: Lu Bu Defection Again
In the second year of Jian'an, on the morning of August 1st, in the backyard of Xia Pi Prefecture's mansion.

"Bang!" As Lu Bu released the bowstring casually, a sharp arrow flew out steadily, with the arrow shaft hardly vibrating up and down, and hit the center of the bull's eye.

There were two beautiful women in the courtyard, one in her thirties and the other in her twenties. They were Yan and Diao Chan, holding a sweat towel and a water cup respectively. When Lü Bu lowered his carved bow, they came forward to wipe his sweat and feed him water:

"General, please take a rest and have breakfast first."

Lu Bu pushed away Diao Chan's wiping and said coldly, "Don't worry, I haven't been on a campaign since last year. I have been indulging in the pleasures of life and have been hurt by wine and women!

From now on, you should stop drinking. Shoot a pot of arrows every morning, and don’t eat until you finish shooting! You can go and eat, don’t wait for me. "

After saying that, Lu Bu very firmly drove Diao Chan and others back into the house, and continued to bend his bow and draw his arrows to complete today's training.

It was not known how long had passed, but the fifty arrows had just been shot, and the three arrow nests in front of him had all been shot into hedgehog shapes. Lu Bu could not help but smile with pride.

This was just an acceptable level for him, but at least it proved that the damage he had suffered from alcohol and sex was not serious and he could recover with diligent practice.

When Lu Bu shot the last arrow and smiled triumphantly, there were also voices of applause and praise from outside the courtyard gate: "General, you are a good archer, worthy of the style of a famous general in ancient times, always thinking of danger in times of peace, and having great ambitions and integrity."

Lü Bu didn't even need to look back, he could tell the identity of the person by the voice, and turned around proudly and asked, "What's the matter, Yuanlong? Why did you come so early today?"

The person who came was Chen Deng. He had actually been waiting outside the courtyard gate for a while, but he deliberately asked the servants in the mansion not to report in a hurry, saying that he was afraid of delaying the general's martial arts training. In fact, he just wanted to wait for a time when Lu Bu was in the best mood before speaking.

Over the past six months, Chen Deng and his father Chen Gui have been trying to find various ways to flatter Lu Bu.

Lu Bu was very fooled by this. In addition, he had not fought a war for more than half a year. In the comfortable environment, he could not tell which of his advisers could really contribute to him. Lu Bu's trust in Chen Deng completely overshadowed Chen Gong.

After all, Chen Gong was a proud man. He felt that he and Lu Bu were just partners, so he would not flatter Lu Bu for no reason.

At this moment, Chen Deng adjusted his mood and tone, and congratulated: "Congratulations to the general. The position of governor of Xuzhou that the general has been dreaming of will soon be handed over with both hands because Cao thief is too busy to run around."

Lü Bu was delighted when he heard this: "Oh? How can Yuanlong be so sure? Cao thief was so difficult to me last year, could he change his attitude so quickly?"

Chen Deng bowed and said, "General, you may not know that I just received news yesterday that Yuan Shu assassinated Chen Wang Liu Chong and Chen Guo Xiang Luo Jun, and immediately sent Zhang Xun to lead troops to follow Zhang Kai and occupy Chen.

With this incident, the relationship between Yuan Shu and Cao Cao would inevitably deteriorate further, and Cao Cao would definitely deploy heavy troops on the border between Chenliu and Chenjun to prepare for any unexpected events. Yuan Shu, seeing Cao Cao's fierce reaction, would also transfer troops from Huainan to Huaibei, abandoning Liu Bei to guard against Cao Cao.

Now both sides have piled up firewood, and the only thing missing is the person who can light the fire. If the general can reward Han Yin, who is stranded in the post house, and make Han Yin reply to Yuan Shu that the general is willing to attack Cao Cao together, and only ask Yuan Shu to launch the first wave of attack, then Yuan Shu will definitely take action.

Once the main forces of Yuan and Cao gather in Chen to fight, the general can send Zhongda (Gao Shun) from Xiaopei to cross Mangdang Mountain, attack Cao Cao's Liangdi, and take Suiyang. Cao Cao will be unable to take care of both ends, so he will definitely ask for peace from the general and voluntarily offer the position of governor of Xuzhou in order to temporarily stabilize the general and concentrate on dealing with Yuan Shu.

Once Liang County is in hand, you will also be given the post of governor of Xuzhou. The general will have a large and fertile county, official titles, and can leave unscathed. Isn't that wonderful?"

After hearing what Chen Deng had said, Lu Bu was overjoyed. It seemed that he had already imagined the beautiful scene of a bumper harvest in both his official position and his territory. He was so happy that he rubbed his hands wildly and scratched his ears.

But he still had some brains after all. After fantasizing, he still felt that something was wrong, so he asked back:

"If Cao Cao was really being held back by Yuan Shu, he would not want to fight against us at the same time. But Yuan Shu has declared himself emperor after all. If I join forces with him now, wouldn't I be an accomplice of the rebels? Alas, why didn't Yuan Shu start fighting Cao Cao a few months earlier? Last year, our army and Yuan Shu agreed to an alliance to fight against Cao Cao together. At that time, we didn't know that Yuan Shu would declare himself emperor and rebel! The situation has changed. Although I have defected to different masters many times, I am still a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty after all!"

After Ding Yuan, Dong Zhuo and Wang Yun, Lü Bu joined Zhang Yang, Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao, and finally joined forces with Zhang Miao and Chen Gong to establish himself. He did not hide the fact that he repeatedly joined forces. But in his heart, he still had to give himself a psychological hint, that is, we are all Han officials, so what's wrong with changing a few partners temporarily?
If he lost even this psychological comfort, it would be difficult for Lu Bu to deceive himself into thinking that he was a good person.

Fortunately, Chen Deng had understood Lu Bu's mentality in the past six months. He dared to come today, of course he was fully prepared. He just shouted:

"General, how can you not understand? You and Yuan Shu secretly contacted and attacked Cao Cao. This matter is just a secret discussion. There is no need to make it public. You are just using the traitor Yuan Shu to do what you think is right. What does it have to do with conspiring with the rebels? You only need to publicize that Yuan Shu and you happened to attack Cao Cao separately. There is no need to mention the alliance."

Lu Bu stroked his beard and said, "If we don't tell others about our alliance with Yuan Shu, what is our reason for attacking Cao Cao alone?

"I accepted Cao Cao's official position and reward last year, and in the eyes of the world, the old feud between Cao Cao and me was over. Now I suddenly attack him again, and I am afraid that I will be ridiculed by the world."

Chen Deng secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and was also proud in his heart: the words that Lord Xuande had secretly sent to him the day before yesterday were finally going to come in handy. Who was the author of this exquisite words? Could it be Zhuge Liang?
In fact, Chen Deng guessed wrong on this point. The material for the speech Liu Bei secretly gave him was drafted by Lu Su, who was very professional in finding excuses to rebel against Cao.

Chen Deng laughed confidently and said, "General, why can't you see this? You have many reasons to fight Cao Cao yourself.

I heard that after Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor, Cao Cao killed those loyal ministers who had once been friends with Yang Feng and Han Xian and who had returned to the east to protect the emperor, just to eliminate dissidents. He even used the marriage between the Yuan family and the Hongnong Yang family as an excuse to severely torture the Grand Marshal Yang Biao.

The general can use the banner of clearing the court and removing cruel officials to attack Liangdi as a military remonstration, and only say that he wants to support the imprisoned Yang Taiwei and support the junior official Kong who works for Yang Taiwei, and rescue those court officials who were taken advantage of by Cao Cao to expand the attack and kill dissidents, so as to deter Cao Cao from using the excuse to purge the group of loyal officials who returned to the east. In this way, the troops will be sent with a legitimate reason. "

When Lu Bu heard this, his pupils shrank involuntarily. With his IQ, he really couldn't think of such a good excuse.

Hearing this, he paced back and forth anxiously, and was about 70% moved: "Well... although this is something I have never heard of, it seems to make sense. But I have also read a little bit of history books, and I heard that the banner of 'clearing the court' was raised during the rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms of Wu and Chu before the Han Dynasty. Hasn't it been used by the rebels?"

Chen Deng shouted: "General! How can the name of purging the court of evil officials be used in a bad way? The reason why King Wu Liu Bi became infamous is that after he started his campaign to purge the court of evil officials, Emperor Xiaojing had already killed the treacherous minister Chao Cuo, and then sent messengers to Liu Bi's camp to announce the decree, but Liu Bi still refused to withdraw his troops. His rebellious intention to seize the throne was already obvious to the world, so he became infamous.

If the general wants to show the world that you are truly sincere in clearing the emperor's side, you can set a condition for withdrawing your troops. For example, if you feel that Cao Cao is too powerful to be subdued, you can retreat and say that it was only because the cruel official Man Chong deceived his superiors and subordinates, misled Cao Cao, and harmed the three ministers and the loyal ministers who returned to the east.

The general led an army to seize Liang County and continued to march westward, in order to make the court kill Man Chong and release Yang Biao and other loyal ministers who returned to the east. As long as Cao Cao really killed Man Chong, apologized to the general, and promoted the general, the general could get both the official position and Liang land, and then stop there, slowly control the newly acquired territory, strengthen the army, and wait for the next change to grab another piece. "

Lu Bu was not stupid. He followed Chen Deng's thoughts and asked, "But when King Wu Liu Bi raised the banner of clearing the court of corrupt officials, he had no way out, right? If he retreated to Wu, Emperor Xiaojing would gradually cut off his power and eventually kill him.

If I raise the banner of clearing the court of evil, will I still have a chance to stop while I am ahead? Isn't this a situation of no return but death?"

Chen Deng: "General! This is a different time. At that time, the world was unified, but the seven kingdoms were in rebellion. If they were allowed to surrender, there would be no way to persuade them to do good, so Emperor Xiaojing must kill them all. Today, the world is in turmoil. There are more than one family who pretend to obey Cao Cao and disobey him, and who fight first and then make peace! If Cao Cao wants to settle accounts, can he spare the time?
And if he betrayed his loyalty and first liquidated the general, how would the other princes view him? And if Deng persuaded the general to rescue General Yang, he would definitely win Yuan Shao's favor. Yuan Shao would also be afraid: if Cao Cao could kill Yang Biao just because he was Yuan Shu's brother-in-law, then Yuan Shao was Yuan Shu's brother, and when Cao Cao had time, wouldn't he also find an excuse to deal with him?
If Cao Cao kills Yang Taiwei because of the general's slogan, Yuan Shao will surely become enemies with Cao Cao. If Cao Cao releases Yang Taiwei because of the general's military advice, then the general can take the favor of saving Yang Taiwei as his own, and let Yuan Shao thank you as well.

"General, this is to gain a prefecture and an official position for yourself, and you are also doing a dirty job for Yuan Shao. How dare Cao Cao investigate further in the future? This is a sure win no matter what!"

"Ah! Yuanlong's words have opened my eyes, like a cloud of fog has been cleared for me!" Lu Bu finally figured out all the connections. He no longer had any doubts about whether he would become a traitor or whether he would purge the emperor's side.

"I have made up my mind! I will summon Han Yin today, comfort him, send him back to Shouchun, and tell him about Yuan Shu's intention to join forces. As long as Yuan Shu sends troops to attack Cao Cao first, I will definitely send troops immediately and will never break my oath! If Yuan Shu doesn't believe me, I can break an arrow in front of Han Yin as an oath! Please ask him to pass on the message!"

"General, please understand! I will go to the post station to invite Han Yin here." Chen Deng bowed and slowly walked out of the backyard of the government office.

(End of this chapter)