Lu Bu: My wife comes from two thousand years later

Guo Jia left, Qingzhou fell, Zang Ba surrendered, the people rebelled, and coupled with the pressure that Lu Bu had always brought to Cao Cao and Zhang Mo's miraculous strategy, Cao Cao was really a bit desperate at this time.

Although it was a desperate move, his decision to shift the focus was not wrong. Compared with the Yangtze River Basin, Yanzhou was sandwiched between the Tang State and had no natural defenses. It was only a matter of time before it was lost. However, if Sun Ce could help him capture Qingzhou and consolidate the left wing of Yanzhou and Xuzhou, resistance would not be impossible.

Faced with Cao Cao's rogue behavior, Sun Ce and his ministers were a little dumbfounded. It was true that Cao Mengde could not defeat Lu Bu, but if he was determined to fight for Jiujiang, Dongwu would not get any benefits and both sides would suffer.

Cao Cao calmly waited with narrowed eyes for Sun Ce to make a decision. Sun Ce had no choice but to step back and ask, "How do you want me to help you, Lord Cao? I only have two thousand cavalrymen. Even if I lend them all to you, it's a drop in the bucket compared to the tens of thousands of cavalrymen the King of Tang has at his disposal."

Cao Cao opened his eyes and smiled. "I don't need your cavalry. My dear nephew, just send a navy north along the coast to the bays of Qingzhou and Bohai to burn Lü Bu's ships and shipyards. That would be a great help to me!"

"So simple?" Sun Ce asked a little curiously.

"It's that simple!"

Zhou Yu interjected, "Is this Lord Cao's move intended to make our Lord an enemy of Lü Bu?"

"If you don't want to make an enemy, do you want to form an alliance with him?" Cao Cao sneered. "Of course, if you, the Jiangdong nobles, are willing to accept the proposal of splitting up the Tang Kingdom, then just ignore what I said."

Sun Ce and the other two were all froze in expression. The Tang Dynasty's strategy of splitting up the clan was really unreasonable. Lu Bu even massacred tens of thousands of Jizhou nobles for this purpose.

Cao Cao continued, "I know that my nephew has no ambition to unify the country. He simply wants to take control of the Jiangdong region, nestled against the natural barrier of the Yangtze River. But will Lü Bu watch you sever a piece of our territory? He has both the ability and the ambition to complete the unification. Even if he can't take Jiangdong within ten years, what about twenty or thirty? Don't you consider your descendants?"

"I've heard that Lü Bu's eldest son, Lü Qian, is as brave as his father and as intelligent as his mother. Princess Tang even trained him early on. Four of these young men are known as 'Crouching Dragon, Phoenix Chick, Canglang, and White Tiger.' Crouching Dragon and Phoenix Chick were taught by Master Shuijing. Canglang is the second son of the Sima family in Henei. White Tiger is the grandson of Fazhen of Fufeng County. And Princess Tang, you've surely heard of what a remarkable figure she is. Do you think your descendants could ever defeat her?"

At this point, Cao Cao smiled again. "I heard that my nephew and Gongjin recently married two beautiful women from the Qiao family, and they don't have any children yet. Lü Qian seems to be seven or eight years old this year. In another ten years, he will be able to lead an army and conquer the world. By then, your son may just be learning to walk!"

The more Sun Ce listened, the uglier his expression became. He knew that he was no match for Lu Bu, but according to Cao Cao, his own son would not be able to compare to that other person's son in the future?

"Alright, no need to say more. Once Yuan Shu is defeated, I'll help you burn his port!"

Cao Cao smiled with satisfaction, "That's right. If you let me take back Qingzhou, I can at least help you delay for a few more years."

He asked someone to bring two bowls filled with wine. "Today, we will swear a blood alliance. I will take Yuzhou, Xuzhou, Jingzhou, and Nanyang north of the Yangtze River, and Yangzhou will all be yours. If you try to take Jingzhou in the future, I will not interfere. I will protect you from the Tang army. You only need to send your navy to destroy Lu Bu's shipping port from time to time. As long as the Tang Dynasty survives, you and I will never be enemies. How do you do it?"

This alliance did not harm Sun Ce. The main beneficiary of preventing the Tang State from forming a navy was Jiangdong, so Sun Ce had no reason to disagree.

He drew out the dagger he carried with him, cut the tip of his middle finger, and dripped two drops of blood into two bowls. Cao Cao did the same. The two men raised their wine bowls, clinked them together, and then drank them all in one gulp, fulfilling their agreement to divide Yuan Shu and deal with Lu Bu today!

After leaving Liyang City, Xun You asked, perplexed, "My Lord, what good does it do us to have Sun Bofu burn Lü Bu's navy? Can we capture Qingzhou just by burning his navy?"

Cao Cao sighed, "How difficult! But if we don't tie this Sun family kid to our boat, when Lu Bu marches south, we'll be like Yuan Gonglu today!"

"No way, he's aiming for Jingzhou, and he doesn't have that much ability!"

"Why not? Just look at his battle record over the past two years. If he had been born ten years earlier, perhaps Yuan Gonglu and I wouldn't have had anything to do with the south. He's a better fighter than his father, Sun Wentai. With Zhou Yu, Lu Zijing, and Sun Wentai's former generals assisting him, his rise to power might even be faster than Lu Bu's."

Xun You nodded thoughtfully. After all, Lu Bu had to fight against the powerful families and govern the places he conquered. Sun Bofu, on the other hand, had the full support of the Jiangdong gentry. As long as he could capture a few important strongholds, other counties would come to him and submit to him. His speed was indeed much faster than Lu Bu's.

"Then what should Yanzhou do?"

Cao Cao shook his head. "My mind is in a mess right now. I really don't know how to keep Yanzhou. I can only ask Sun Bofu to cause some trouble for Lu Bu and give me some breathing space."

He jumped on his horse and said, "Go back and withdraw the troops. Let Sun Bofu take care of the remaining remnants of Yuan Gonglu's army. Let's focus on Lu Bu."

Cao Cao rode ahead on horseback, followed closely by Dian Wei and his guards, and the group headed towards Xia Cai City.

…………

Jizhou, at this time Lu Bu was on his way to Bohai County with his wife and eldest son.

"Dad, what does the navy's ship look like? Is it big? How many people can it carry?" Lu Qian sat next to Lu Bu on the four-horse carriage. He opened the curtains to admire the scenery along the way and asked questions excitedly. Since he was a child, except for the last time he came to Yecheng from Jinyang, this was the first time he went on a tour with his parents. He was so happy.

Lu Bu leaned comfortably on the cushions and replied, "I don't know what the new boat looks like. As for the old boat, it's just like a ferry on the river."

"Then can I take a boat to the sea? I've never seen the ocean in my life. I want to go to the beach and pick up beautiful shells to make wind chimes for my sister and sister Qi. I also want to catch crabs for Mom to eat. I also want to go fishing, surf, swim, and more..."

Lu Bu glanced at the drowsy A-Mo and made a gesture to silence her. Lu Qian's voice suddenly stopped. After a pause, he whispered, "I still have to watch the salt being boiled!"

"Okay, I'll take you out to have fun, but forget about surfing, it's too dangerous. And swimming isn't suitable in this season either. If you want to learn how to swim, wait until next summer and I'll take you swimming in the river. It'll be the same."

Lu Qian looked at the yellow leaves falling outside and nodded helplessly. He then said, "Can we eat grilled seafood by the sea?"

"Of course this is no problem!"

Both father and son had a look of longing on their faces, but Lu Bu was longing for the navy, while Lu Qian was longing for eating, drinking and having fun. However, Zhang Mo attended university in her previous life in a seaside city and had seen the sea a lot, so she was not as excited as the other two.

Although the ultimate goal of the couple's trip was to inspect the Bohai Sea Army and Qingzhou, they also wanted to inspect the people's livelihood and economy of various counties along the way, so they were not in a hurry to travel. They would stay in each city for a day or two and visit various villages.