Lu Bu: My wife comes from two thousand years later

There are still two bandit armies, the Black Mountain and the White Bo, and two foreign ethnic groups, the Xiongnu and the Xianbei, around Bingzhou. The person who manages Bingzhou must first have extremely strong military capabilities.

Then there is the ability to govern the local area. Although Bingzhou has experienced wars for a long time, except for Xihe County, which was rectified by Lu Bu last time, the people's hearts are basically allied with him. The big families in Taiyuan and Yanmen may not buy into Lu Bu's account. Among them is the Jinyang Wang family. Wang Yun now has a very bad impression of Lu Bu, but fortunately, the Jinyang Wang family is temporarily under the control of Wang Ding. With his help, dealing with the clan should not be too difficult.

The most important thing is the ability to govern. Where can we find such people?

In this era, most talents are in the hands of aristocratic families. With Lu Bu's current status, it is absolutely impossible for him to find a match with aristocratic families. The only people he can use are those from humble backgrounds, declining nobles, and wealthy families. Zhang Mo thought about the characters of the Three Kingdoms, and at this moment, the only one who meets the requirements in terms of age, status, and ability is Du Ji.

Du Ji was born into the Jingzhao Du family. His ancestors included two imperial censors, Du Zhou and Du Yannian. However, by Du Ji's generation, the family had fallen into decline. Du Ji's mother died early, and his father married a stepmother, but soon after, his father also died. Du Ji had to depend on his stepmother for life, and his life was extremely difficult.

Du Ji's stepmother treated him badly, but Du Ji remained very filial, thus gaining a reputation as a filial son and getting the opportunity to become an official.

Later, Du Ji was appointed as the prefect of Hedong by Cao Cao. During this period, he dismantled the powerful, attached importance to agricultural production, promoted education, summoned young and strong people for training during the slack season, loved the people like his own children, governed in a wise way, and was definitely a good hand at governing the local area.

At this time, Du Ji should have been an official in Jingzhao Yin, but after Dong Zhuo's rebellion, he resigned from his official position and fled to Jingzhou with his stepmother to avoid disaster. Maybe he was preparing to escape at this time.

Based on Zhang Mo's understanding of Du Ji, since he resigned from his official position to avoid Dong Zhuo's chaotic rule, he must hate Dong Zhuo and would probably not work for Lu Bu. Now he can only kidnap him first.

Zhang Mo said to Lü Bu, "I'll find you an assistant. When he arrives, you can go and ask Dong Zhuo for an official position. Then send Gao Shun. With this helper, it shouldn't be a problem."

"Who are you looking for?"

Zhang Moshen said mysteriously, "Secret, I'll tell you when the time comes."

"Amo, I feel like you have a lot of secrets. The longer I'm with you, the less I understand you."

"There aren't many secrets here. You know everything about me!"

Lu Bu thought about it and it seemed to be true, but he always felt that something was wrong. He had only told her a few things about the future, but she was able to analyze the general situation in the world and help him plan a retreat. If she hadn't reminded him, he would never have thought of sending people to manage Bingzhou and leave a retreat for himself.

Amo is really the best gift God has given him!

"By the way, did you accept Jia Xu?" Zhang Mo asked again.

Lu Bu said, "He is half my own. If I ask him, he will give me advice, but he does not recognize me as his master. I have already transferred him to my side."

"What about Li Ru?"

Speaking of Li Ru, Lü Bu frowned. "From what I've observed recently, he has average talent and poor moral character. He's the same type of person as Hu Zhen. After Yuan Shao left Luoyang, he surrendered to Dong Zhuo the same day. In a dream, he personally poisoned the young emperor to gain Dong Zhuo's trust. I don't want to use such a person."

Perhaps it was because the self in the dream was just as master-loving as this person, and Lu Bu subconsciously disliked and was uneasy about keeping such a person around.

Zhang Mo thought about the records of Li Ru in the official history. There was no record of any other great achievements, only that he poisoned his former master Liu Bian. However, in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he was portrayed as a man of extraordinary wisdom and strategy.

However, since he was able to poison Liu Bian and still keep his life after Dong Zhuo's death, it can be seen that he still has some ability. After the fall of Chang'an City, Li Ru followed Li Jue again. After Li Jue was defeated by Cao Cao, his whereabouts became unknown.

Like Jia Xu, this person's ability to preserve his life in troubled times is absolutely first-rate.

"Li Ru, you can do whatever you want. There's no need to deliberately target him. He is currently loyal to Dong Zhuo."

Lu Bu nodded, "I understand!"

…………

Half a month later, on the north bank of the Yellow River.

The wind was cold and snowflakes were flying. The merchants waiting at the ferry looked at the river and sighed and complained.

"With only two ships, how long will it take to transport all this cargo?"

"That's right. I remember when I came to Luoyang a few years ago, there were no less than a hundred ferries of all sizes on the river. It was a spectacular sight."

An old man with a white beard who had just come from the other side glanced at the few people and said, "It's good to have a ferry!"

The old man looked at the many carriages and horses behind them and asked, "Are you going to Luoyang for business?"

"Yes!" a young man replied.

The old man said seriously, "I advise you all to turn back. By the time you get to Luoyang, only half of these things will be left."

The man was surprised, "Why?"

"This ferry originally had nearly a hundred boats, large and small. Ever since Dong Zhuo took control of government, he's been levying heavy taxes around Luoyang. Everyone has to pay taxes. There are tax collection points at the ferry, at the entrance to the official road, and at another point at the entrance to the city. Merchants passing through are required to pay a tax of 20% of the total value of their goods. Merchants can't stand the exploitation, and the number of merchants coming here has gradually decreased."

The old man pointed to the only two boats left on the river and said, "Even the ferry boats are subject to a tax of three thousand coins per month. The original boat owners on the river have all moved elsewhere. These two are official boats of the government. The price of the ferry boat is twice as much as before."

The man's face turned pale. According to the old man, he might only be able to keep one third of his goods after entering the city.

"How come you know so much, old man? But you're from Luoyang?"

The old man sighed, "It won't be like that in the future. Luoyang is like a tiger's den right now. Many people want to escape but can't. I am an old man, alone and without any ties, so I can still leave. Listen to my advice and turn back."

Taishi Ci, who was also standing at the dock waiting to cross the river, heard the conversation between the two clearly. In fact, the old man didn't need to say anything, the scene before him said it all. He remembered that when he came to Luoyang to intercept the memorial that year, there were constant merchants coming and going at the ferry, and ferries were parked on both sides. There was even a market at the dock over there, but now it was deserted.

Ever since he heard the news that Dong Zhuo had deposed the emperor, he had regretted it in his heart. Why didn't he trust her at the beginning? If he had gone with her to kill Dong Zhuo, would the result have been different?

Some of the waiting merchants believed the old man's words and prepared to turn back, but some did not believe him and still wanted to cross the river.

Taishi Ci led his horse and followed a group of merchants across the river.

…………

Although Luoyang was immersed in Dong Zhuo's dark rule, life had to go on.

Today is the first birthday of Wang Yun’s eldest grandson Wang Hei. The Wang family gathered together to celebrate the birthday of their first youngest.

During this special period, Wang Yun was afraid of being accused of forming a clique for personal gain, so he did not dare to invite anyone to his home and only had a casual meal with his family.

Zhang Mo got up early and made a cake by herself. There was no colorful cream, no fruit in winter, and the cake was not soft enough, but Zhang Mo made it into the shape of a little rabbit, which was novel. Little Wang Hei was so happy that he clapped his hands, walked to the table with his short legs, and reached out to grab the cake.

The eldest sister-in-law, Mrs. Lin, picked up her son and tapped his little nose. "This is specially made for you by your aunt. Hei'er, thank your aunt!"

Wang Hei still couldn't speak very well. He looked at Zhang Mo and said in a baby voice, "Thank you... Dudu..."

Zhang Mo took Wang Hei from Lin's hand, pinched a small piece of cake and put it into his mouth, looking at him expectantly, "Hei'er, is it delicious?"

"Sweet, sweet!" Wang Hei pointed at the cake and exclaimed with saliva hanging from the corners of his mouth.

Zhang Mo simply held him and sat beside the table, feeding him little by little.

The little baby was white and chubby, with round eyes and a crescent-shaped smile. He was very cute and Zhang Mo wouldn't let go of him once she held him.

Seeing his grandson eating so sweetly, Wang Yun stroked his beard and smiled, "Only Mo'er has so many clever ideas. In my life, I've never heard of food like cake, where you have to light candles and make wishes on it. How can Hei'er, at his age, understand such things?"

Zhang Mo smiled and said, "It's just for fun. I'll practice more and try to make the cake better. If I use milk to make cream, it will taste even better."

"Amo, please teach me when you have time. Once your second sister-in-law learns, she will cook for you every day." Wang Jing's wife, Li, said with a smile.

"The baby in my second sister-in-law's belly will be born in a few months. I dare not let you work hard, or my second brother will beat me." Zhang Mo laughed.

"You naughty boy, you are even making up bad things about your second brother. When have I ever hit you? And with your skills, I'm afraid even if several of us put together we can't beat you." Wang Jing pretended to scold.

Lin said from the side: "That's right, my Ah Mo is good at both literature and martial arts. From now on, Hei'er will be trained by you. If he can learn half of your skills, I will be satisfied."

"I don't have any ability, sister-in-law, please don't make fun of me."

The family was chatting and laughing when the servant at the door came in to report that there were guests.