Lu Bu: My wife comes from two thousand years later

"General, since you're just passing through, why not come to Jiangdong? As long as you're willing to serve my lord, the Grand Commander promises to appoint you as the governor of Danyang."

Sun Ce only had six counties in total, and he immediately offered Gan Ning Danyang County. This was a sincere offer of surrender. Gan Ning was stunned for a moment and asked Xun Chen, "Does he believe that I'm just passing through? A prefect, a two thousand stone official!"

"He's stalling for time so that others can attack us from both sides!"

Xun Chen looked at Gan Ning speechlessly and reminded him.

This fellow's personality was just as the princess had said. He had no problem breaking his promise. He was already tempted by the mere position of prefect. Xun Chen couldn't help but remind him, "My lord occupies the seven northern states. It's easy for him to fight from north to south, but Sun Bofu wants to unify the world from south to north. He will never be able to do it in his lifetime. General, do you want to be a two thousand stone official in the future Tang Empire, or a two thousand stone official in a remote area?"

Gan Ning smirked, "Of course the two thousand dan of the Tang Dynasty is valuable!"

He said to the messenger, "Go tell Zhou Gongjin that if he gives up the position of Grand Commander, I will stay here with all my might!"

Gan Ning was not stupid, so he knew that Zhou Yu wanted to delay. After he said this, he ordered the entire army to continue sailing forward. The ships of both sides came into range and arrows began to fly over the river.

Gan Ning arranged three large ships and sixty warships in the front. Although the number of soldiers on each ship was not as many as Zhou Yu's, he had more ships. After the close combat, he ordered the vanguard fleet to separate the enemy's warships on one side of the river, allowing the ships behind to pass first. When the ships carrying family members had almost left, he began to gather his fleet and prepare for evacuation.

Seeing this, Zhou Yu was a little dumbfounded. Were they really just passing by? Where were they going with so many people?

Zhou Yu understood after a moment's thought. Besides the Tang, who else would abandon Jingzhou? If this navy joined the Tang, it would be a fatal threat to the future of the Eastern Wu. However, it was obviously too late to change tactics now.

The two sides had similar military strength, and Gan Ning only wanted to break out, so Zhou Yu's small number of men could not stop him. The two sides fought until dark, and Gan Ning's ship finally got rid of Zhou Yu's pursuit and passed Pengze smoothly.

Gan Ning was afraid that the enemy would gather a large-scale army behind him to intercept him, so after passing Pengze, he rushed downstream. Although he encountered two ambushes along the way, fortunately, the enemy's troops were not numerous, so Gan Ning successfully got through them and entered the territory of Wujun on the twelfth day.

This is the last hurdle. Once they pass this level, they will be safe in the East China Sea. All members of the fleet are ready for battle. However, to Gan Ning's surprise, Sun Ce, who was personally in charge of Wujun, did not send anyone to intercept them.

"Why didn't Sun Bofu stop it?"

At the same time that Gan Ning raised his question, Cheng Pu also asked Sun Ce in confusion, "Why didn't you stop him, lord?"

Sun Ce stood by the river, sword in hand, gazing out across the water. He sighed softly, "It's not that we won't stop him, it's simply impossible! The river here is over three times wider than at Pengze. Gongjin said this man is an expert in naval warfare, and his subordinates are all experienced veterans. How can we stop him? It's better to let him go north and then take him down all at once."

Because Sun Ce was preparing to send troops to Jingzhou, after eliminating Yuan Shu, the main force of the Eastern Wu did not return to Wujun, and almost all of them were stationed in the Pengze-Poyang area. Zhou Yu initially mistakenly believed that the other side was coming to attack the Eastern Wu. Although he was well prepared, his purpose was to defeat the other side. He failed to stop Pengze, and he could not stop him at all later.

Cheng Pu frowned, "I know it's difficult, but I'm afraid the surprise attack might fail!"

Sun Ce said, "So this matter must be planned carefully. Only success is allowed! Also, the capture of Jingzhou must be advanced. At least the entire territory of Jingzhou must be taken before Cao Mengde is defeated."

Gan Ning took away so many warships from Liu Biao. Although this strengthened the Tang navy, it also weakened the strength of Jingzhou. This was not entirely a bad thing for the Eastern Wu.

…………

In the spring of 198 AD, Gan Ning, who had sailed on the sea for nearly a month, finally arrived in Buqi County, Qingzhou. Lu Bu and his wife and children came to the port to greet him in person.

In order to express welcome to the soldiers of Jingzhou, Zhang Mo had the dock decorated simply, with the national flag and military flag of the Tang Dynasty planted on both sides. Among them, the one closest to the port was a flag of the Tang Dynasty navy. On a piece of blue brocade, there was an embroidered great white shark with sharp teeth on one side, and the word "Gan" in small seal script on the other side. A red carpet was laid on the road in the middle. Headed by the King of Tang and the Queen, stood Qingzhou Mu Tianfeng and a group of Donglai officials, with a gong and drum guard beside them.

Seeing such a grand welcoming ceremony, Gan Ning felt that he had received unprecedented respect. Tears filled his eyes. He quickly got off the boat and walked up to Lu Bu, performing the most serious and formal salute in his life.

"Xingba, please don't be polite. Ever since I heard of Jinfan's great name, I've dreamed of meeting you day and night. Now that I have you as my soulmate, it's like adding wings to a tiger. I hope that one day you can lead the Tang navy and conquer every river in the Han land, helping me unify the country sooner rather than later!"

Gan Ning bowed again, "Your Majesty has treated me so well, I dare not but die for you!"

Behind him, all the generals of Jingzhou also bowed and said, "We are willing to die for the king!"

"No need to be polite. You have all worked hard on this journey. I have already prepared a new home for the soldiers and will arrange for their families to settle down first!"

Buqi County could not accommodate these more than 30,000 people, and half of them were sent to Zhuangwu County of the neighboring Beihai State by ox-horse carriages. Due to time constraints, some of the houses were newly built, and some were old houses that had been vacant before. For these soldiers and civilians from Jingzhou who came to seek refuge, the Tang Palace not only allocated houses and land to them, but also gave each household one year's living expenses, and their children could go to school for free. The treatment of those officers was even better. In addition to promoting their original military positions in Jingzhou, each person was also rewarded with a lot of extra money.

The local officials were responsible for settling the families. Lu Bu hosted a banquet for Gan Ning and a group of officers that day. They drank distilled liquor that cost one gold coin in a small bottle in Jingzhou and tasted delicacies they had never eaten before. Everyone once again sighed that it was the right decision to come to the Tang Kingdom.

The next day, Xu Rong formally handed over the Bohai Sea Army to Gan Ning, and stationed his own troops in Wen'an City, Hejian State, preparing to attack Youzhou.

After the spring, the pirate Guan Cheng came to Qingzhou to plunder again. By chance, he ran into the navy sent by Eastern Wu to attack the Tang military port. Guan Cheng mistakenly thought they were Tang troops and had a friction battle with Eastern Wu. Later, both sides were defeated by Gan Ning. Guan Cheng was captured alive and led his people to surrender.

During this period, Tian Chou and Tian Zitai, who had been living in seclusion in Youzhou, could not bear the invasion of Wuhuan and led their people to surrender to the King of Tang.

Lu Bu did not know Tian Chou, but Zhang Mo knew him. He was a man of great talent, both civil and military. He was a good hand at leading troops in battles and governing the local area. The key point was that he was a man of pure morality. In history, when Cao Cao conquered the Wuhuan, Tian Chou gave him advice and contributed manpower, but he refused to accept any reward afterwards.

What is even more surprising is that Tian Chou also brought hundreds of grassroots talents to the Tang State, all of whom were young talents he taught when he lived in seclusion in Xu Wushan.

Zhang Mo immediately transferred Zhuge Liang from Hejian State to serve as Gan Ning's military advisor, and appointed Tian Chou as the prefect of Hejian. Zhuge Liang was reluctant to accept the position at first, but Zhang Mo told him that after Youzhou was pacified, he would still be needed to contribute to the conquest of Wuhuan. Only then did he accept the position.

With the investment of so many talents and the successful experiment of salt-drying method, the relatively low price of Tang Dynasty's sea salt attracted countless wealthy merchants to gather in Qingzhou and Bohai. In two years, the economy and military of Tang Dynasty developed rapidly.

In the spring of 200 AD, the first year of the Wude reign of the Tang Dynasty, Xu Rong, Gao Lan, and Qian Zhao pacified Youzhou, and Gongsun Xu and Gongsun Fan died in battle!

On the fifth day of May, Gongsun Du was forced by the situation to surrender to Lü Bu under the persuasion of Xu Rong. Lü Bu appointed him commander of the Liaodong Army and joined Xu Rong in conquering the Three Han Kingdoms.

In the second year of Wude, the King of Tang issued a conscription order in Yecheng. Except for Gongsun Du and Xu Rong who had not returned from the expedition to the Three Han States, all military regions of the Tang Dynasty entered a state of preparation for war. The world, which had been relatively calm for three years, was in turmoil again.