Lu Bu: My wife comes from two thousand years later

According to Zhang Mo's understanding of Jia Xu in history, this man had no integrity, nor any loyalty to the Han Dynasty. He didn't care much about fame and fortune, and he was not greedy for money or lust. His only characteristic was that he was too afraid of death. Since he was reluctant to serve Lu Bu, he must have realized that Lu Bu was not in a good situation at the time.

However, Jia Xu did not directly explain the reason, but instead asked, "What is the general's ambition?"

Lu Bu subconsciously glanced at Zhang Mo, not understanding what Jia Xu meant by asking this question.

Ambition? When he joined Dong Zhuo, his main concern was to support the Han Dynasty. However, when he witnessed Dong Zhuo's transformation from a powerful ruler to his current state, saw the Han emperor and his officials being treated like slaves by Dong Zhuo, and saw heroes rising up and disputes continuing throughout the country, he had already thrown the idea of ​​supporting the Han Dynasty out of his mind.

How should he answer now? Support the Han or replace it? Lü Bu found it tiring to talk to scholars. They always liked to beat around the bush. It was clearly Lü Bu who asked him the question first, but he turned around and asked a question that was completely irrelevant to him.

Seeing that Lü Bu didn't respond, Jia Xu smiled knowingly and continued, "Ever since you asked the Prime Minister about coming to Bingzhou, I've seen you have high aspirations and a clear mind. But have you ever considered how you can return to Bingzhou honorably one day? Dong Zhuo is already halfway to death. If you can't leave your current identity behind before he dies, you'll have to carry the label of a Dong Zhuo remnant for the rest of your life. You'll be like a rat crossing the street, ready to be beaten whenever anyone wants."

The end of the Han Dynasty was not like the Three Kingdoms period, when rituals and music had completely collapsed. At that time, people still had to have reasons and names to send troops. Going to war without a name would mean losing the upper hand in terms of morality, public opinion and psychology. Lu Bu had the reputation of being a remnant of Dong Zhuo, so no matter who came to fight him, that side was the righteous army, while no matter where Lu Bu wanted to send troops, it could be regarded as unjust.

"Let's talk about Bingzhou. Aside from Yanmen, Taiyuan, and Xihe counties, the rest is occupied by the Xiongnu and the Baibo. There's also Black Mountain to the east, the Xianbei to the north, the Liangzhou rebels to the west, and Sili to the south. Where will the general go from here?"

"Let's not talk about the north. In the east, Black Mountain has gathered a million people. If the general cannot occupy the three counties of Bingzhou, two counties of Jizhou, one county of Youzhou, and Henei around Taihang, and attack from all sides to force them to surrender, there will be no way to eliminate them."

Lü Bu said, "Why bother with all this trouble? If I lead my troops to the Hutuo River and kill Zhang Yan, the remaining Black Mountain troops will be at my disposal."

Hearing this, Jia Xu couldn't help but laugh. "I believe you have the ability to kill Zhang Yan, but if you want to make the remaining Black Mountain troops yours, you need enough food to feed a million people, or even more. Do you have that, General?"

Lu Bu looked puzzled, "Why do I have to take care of them all?"

Jia Xu did not answer Lü Bu's question, but simply said, "General, if you do not believe me, go and destroy Zhang Yan yourself someday and see if the rest of his Black Mountain forces will serve you well."

Lu Bu knew that what Jia Xu said meant that killing Zhang Yan might be useless. He recalled that in his dream he and Yuan Shao had swept through the Black Mountain several times and captured many of his strongholds. Even most of Zhang Yan's elite troops were killed. However, Zhang Yan still stubbornly took root in Taihang Mountain. Until Lu Bu was hanged at Baimen Tower, Zhang Yan was still alive and well.

And as Jia Xu said, even if Zhang Yan was really killed at that time, could the Taihang bandits be completely eliminated?

After Zhang Yan was defeated, there were still Li Yan and Wang Yan. After the Black Mountain Bandits were defeated, there were still Yellow Mountain Bandits and Red Mountain Bandits. The reason why Taihang gathered millions of people had nothing to do with Zhang Yan's name, but was related to whether there were wars or famines around. If the survival problems of the surrounding people could not be solved, except for the encirclement on all sides as Jia Xu said, it would be impossible to defeat them. If you were to defeat him on your side, a steady stream of fleeing people would be attracted over there, continuing to expand his team.

If he cannot unify the north and suppress the Black Mountain bandits from all sides, he will never be able to solve the problem, unless he can really afford to support a million or even more people. To support so many people, he must unify the north and at least take Jizhou. Only with land can he support the population.

Thinking of this, Lu Bu continued, "Even if we can't capture all the Black Mountain bandits, we can still make them our allies."

Seeing the doubt in Lü Bu's eyes gradually disappear, Jia Xu nodded slightly in admiration. Although this warrior was a simple-minded man, he could figure things out after a few pointers. He was quite smart. He picked up the teacup and took a sip. "It may be okay in the early stages, but not in the later stages. In short, this problem will accompany the general for a long time."

"Secondly, there's the threat of Liang Province to the west. General, you appear to be commanding all of Dong Zhuo's troops, but those Liang Province soldiers haven't submitted to you. The higher your rank, the more respected you will be by Dong Zhuo, which will only make him more rebellious. If you can't use the Liang Province soldiers for your own benefit, how will you conquer Liang Province in the future? Relying on the Bing Province troops, you can only take them one city at a time, one county at a time, and who knows how long it will take."

People in every place are xenophobic. Unless Lü Bu can offer enormous benefits to the Liangzhou warlords, or completely crush them with military force, it would be harder than climbing to the sky for a Bingzhou native to conquer Liangzhou. And none of Dong Zhuo's former Liangzhou generals have yet to submit to Lü Bu.

"Thirdly, the Southern Sili General, you are Dong Zhuo's son-in-law. Your reputation is already bad enough. If you lead your troops south to expand further, you will become a complete traitor."

Jia Xu concluded, "Although you've left yourself a retreat in Bingzhou, the road ahead is extremely difficult. You're surrounded on all sides, making it difficult to escape. Furthermore, you're a remnant of Dong Zhuo's. If I follow you, I'll be in dire straits. This is not good!"

Lü Bu's face darkened after hearing this. He had thought Bingzhou was the best way out, but after hearing what Jia Xu said, it seemed that progress was truly difficult. So, was he still left with the only option, as he had dreamed, to seek a way out in the Central Plains? But the situation in the Central Plains wasn't much better than Bingzhou's.

Zhang Mo interrupted at this time, "Sir, you are exaggerating!"

Jia Xu looked at her with great interest, "I'd like to hear more about it!"

"Black Mountain is difficult to conquer, but Liang Province may not be difficult to capture. Lü Bu has people from Liang Province under his command. Li Li, Li Wenhou's trusted general, is now under Lü Bu's command. Moreover, aren't you also from Liang Province, and your family background is not bad. And there is also your fellow countryman Duan Zhongming. With the help of the two of you, taking Liang Province will be as easy as taking candy from a baby."

Jia Xu rolled his eyes at her and said, "You little fox, you're so calculating, why should I help him?"

Zhang Mo smiled and said, "If you don't want to help him, why bother with all this talk today?"

Jia Xu was speechless for a moment, then snorted, "I just told him that following him would be miserable, I didn't say I would help him."

Stubborn!

Zhang Mo muttered inwardly, then asked casually, "As for how to get off Dong Zhuo's pirate ship, I beg for your guidance, sir."

Zhang Mo originally thought that Dong Qing would agree to divorce since she had cheated on him, but she still clung to Lu Bu. After observing for so long, she still didn't get pregnant. Lu Bu couldn't find any evidence of her cheating. He was really tied down by her.

Jia Xu said disapprovingly, "This matter is very simple. Just sacrifice your relatives for the greater good!"

"If you can sacrifice your relatives for the sake of justice, why would you need to ask for advice, sir?"

Jia Xu snorted again, "How can you have the best of both worlds? In the end, you have to choose one."

This matter is indeed a difficult one. Lu Bu said, "We can discuss this matter later. Even if we can't escape in the end, it will only make the road ahead more difficult, not a dead end."

I've been a slave to three families before, so it doesn't matter if I'm a little worse!

Lu Bu bowed to Jia Xu again and said, "I will be leading my troops to Sishui Pass in the next few days. I sincerely hope you will accompany me!"

Jia Xu shrank his neck and said, "It's too cold, I won't go!"

"I'll prepare a few more stoves for you."

"It's too far, I won't go!"

"Chang'an is even further away!"

"Then... let's go!"

Lu Bu smiled brightly, "Sir, please pack some clothes. I'll send someone to pick you up on the day we leave."