Chapter 121 Things are not what you think

Niu Fu was holding a sacrifice with a group of his trusted followers. The three animals were ready. Several priests dressed in witch costumes were dancing a strange dance. After taking a soup of herbal medicine with strong hallucinogenic effects, they sprinkled salt into the fire and performed divination.

Next to the fire, Niu Fu had a pious look on his face, preparing to worship God and pray for himself.

Unfortunately, it seemed that the heaven did not hear his prayers, nor did it intend to protect him.

When the sacrifice was halfway through, Duan Wei rushed into the scene with hundreds of his personal soldiers and shouted angrily: "Niu Fu, I work hard for you, and you actually want to kill me?"

"what?"

Niu Fu was shocked when Duan Wei revealed the truth. Seeing that Duan Wei had many people and he did not have many guards around him, he quickly covered up and said, "Zhongming, there must be a misunderstanding."

However, Duan Wei had seen through Niu Fu's guilty conscience, and he did not want to be buried with Niu Fu and the remnants of Dong Zhuo, so he did not believe Niu Fu's explanation at all: "I am ashamed to be with you, Niu Fu, you traitor. You betrayed the court and harmed the people. Today is the day you will die. Come and die!"

"Duan Zhongming, how dare you!"

Niu Fu has only a dozen or so confidants around him, and his martial arts skills are mediocre. He was able to get to the top only because of nepotism. How could he be a match for Duan Wei at this moment?

He was rushed upon by hundreds of his personal soldiers and immediately chopped into a pulp, deader than dead.

After chopping off Niu Fu's head, Duan Wei immediately opened the gate of Tongguan and led his entire army to surrender to Wang Jing.

Wang Jing once again captured two major passes without any soldiers, relying only on Li Ru as his insider. To Lu Bu, this was simply incredible.

He simply could not understand why he came to attack but ended up losing his troops and territory.

As soon as Wang Jing arrived, all kinds of internal strife broke out within the Xiliang army, and the fruits of victory were like something they had picked up for nothing.

All we can say is that this is the importance of reputation and prestige. Lu Bu was originally just Ding Yuan's chief clerk. Later, he was appreciated by Dong Zhuo and was thus granted a title and appointed as a general.

Although he was extremely brave and tyrannical, his dancing talent even amazed Dong Zhuo.

But Lu Bu himself had not yet achieved any military achievements at that time, and because of his humble status, Li Jue and others looked down on him from the bottom of their hearts.

Therefore, Wang Jing was able to recruit Xu Rong, Duan Wei and other Xiliang army generals to surrender, but if it was Lu Bu who came to recruit surrender, it would be strange if anyone paid attention to him.

Wang Jing smiled and said to Lu Bu, "Fengxian, Sun Tzu's Art of War says that the best strategy is to attack the enemy's plans, the next best is to attack their alliances, the next best is to attack their troops, and the worst is to attack their cities. The most taboo thing in using troops is not using your brain. If you can achieve your goal through strategy and diplomacy, don't blindly use force. Otherwise, not only will you get half the result with twice the effort, but if you fail in the battle, you will suffer unexpected disasters."

Lu Bu lost the bet and could only nod dejectedly: "My lord, you are right."

After leading his troops into Tongguan, Wang Jing saw Wang Fang and Duan Wei wearing armor.

Naturally, the two of them recognized Wang Jing and immediately knelt on one knee with a respectful look.

"The criminal general Wang Fang."

"The crime will be punished."

"Meet Lord Qi."

Wang Jing was no stranger to these two.

Wang Fang was not famous. He was just an ordinary general under Dong Zhuo. He basically did not do any evil, mainly because he did not have the opportunity to do evil.

As for Duan Wei, this guy is quite powerful.

Duan Wei came from the Duan family, a local prominent family in Wuwei. He was a brother of the Grand Marshal Duan Xing and a fellow townsman of Jia Xu, Zhang Ji, Zhang Xiu and others. He enjoyed prestige in the Western Liang army and had a group of loyal followers under his command, all of whom were his clansmen brought from his hometown.

In history, Duan Wei later pledged allegiance to Emperor Xian of Han, personally led his troops to kill Li Jue and wiped out his entire family. With this merit in saving the emperor, he was finally promoted to Guanglu Dafu, one of the few generals in the Xiliang Army who finally had a good end, and many people spoke highly of him.

What Wang Jing admired most was not Duan Wei's ability to lead troops in battle, but his expertise in farming. In troubled times, there were many generals who could lead troops in battle, but not many who could lead troops in farming. Duan Wei happened to be one of the best.

"Please stand up, both of you."

Wang Jing helped Wang Fang and Duan Wei up from the ground, and then talked to them in a friendly manner.

These two had a pretty good reputation in the Xiliang Army. They were not the same kind of people as Li Jue and Guo Si, and did not have many bad deeds.

Especially Duan Wei. Other Xiliang generals liked to rob, but he just liked to farm. He just farmed wherever he went. He was the only genius under Dong Zhuo who did not engage in destruction but focused on construction.

After a conversation, Wang Jing was very satisfied with Duan Wei's knowledge and experience, so Wang Jing appointed him as the prefect of Hongnong without saying a word, and ordered him to lead the surrendered soldiers to garrison in the local area and develop military settlements.

Wang Jing took out a farmer's manual that recorded matters related to military farming and methods of making soil and fertilizers, and handed it to Duan Wei. "The Northern Army has been developing military farming in the Hedong area for some time, and has achieved a lot. Now there are refugees everywhere, and a lot of good farmland has been abandoned because of the war. I hope Zhongming will take root in Hongnong County, develop military farming for our army, and ensure food supply."

Duan Wei was an expert in farming. After receiving the manual, he could not wait to read it. Then he showed an expression of ecstasy: "My lord, this method of farming is really wonderful!"

Wang Jing then gave him a few more instructions: "In this case, I will leave the matter of farming in Hongnong County to you, Zhongming."

At this moment, Duan Wei was already convinced by Wang Jing and had no second thoughts. He bowed deeply to Wang Jing and said, "Wei is willing to serve you like a dog and a horse."

In Duan Wei's opinion, Wang Jing cared about the people and attached importance to agricultural production. He must be a wise leader who was worthy of his loyalty and following.

In troubled times, food is the ultimate weapon.

Therefore, whoever obtains food will rule the world.

At present, all the princes are busy fighting for power. How many of them lower their heads to see what the people crawling on the ground want?
Duan Wei despised them for cutting off their own roots.

He didn't know anything about the righteousness of the court, nor did he know anything about the glory of the aristocratic family. He only knew that people would die if they didn't eat. If a force did not have its own base and could not obtain a stable output of food, then no matter how glorious or powerful this force looked, it would be a castle in the air and would fall apart at the slightest breeze.

This is the case with the Xiliang Army, and it must be the same with the so-called eighteen princes outside Hulao Pass.

Historically, Cao Cao established the powerful Cao Wei regime by recruiting millions of Yellow Turbans from Qingzhou and then frantically developing military farming. In comparison, people like Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu were just successors who came on stage and eventually became a thing of the past.

The lesson of the Yin Dynasty was not far away, so Wang Jing naturally attached great importance to the food issue, so he let Duan Wei stay in Hongnong County and farm well.

The food and fodder must be sent before the troops move. When enough food is stored next year, the Northern Army can continue to attack Liangzhou and advance westward. Hongnong is located between Luoyang and Chang'an, making it a good outpost and food transfer station.

In order to be able to use troops in Guanzhong in the future, Wang Jing began to make active preparations now, which is to prepare for a rainy day.

After dealing with these things, Li Ru came to Wang Jing with a team of soldiers and several prisoners.

"My Lord, we caught some big fish."

Li Ru's face is now full of smiles and he is very proud.

The big fish he caught were a male and a female.

The man was Dong Zhuo’s nephew Dong Huang, and the other was Dong Zhuo’s granddaughter Dong Bai.

They are really big fish!

"Marquis Qi, spare my life!"

After Niu Fu was killed by Duan Wei, the two were captured in one fell swoop. Now they all knelt on the ground and kowtowed desperately.

However, Wang Jing had no mercy in his heart. In the depths of his eyes, there was a cold murderous intent flowing through his eyes: "Dong Huang, you have the nerve to beg me for mercy? When Dong Zhuo was in power, there were many people in Luoyang who begged you for mercy. Did you spare them?"

Thinking of the countless people in Luoyang who lost their homes and families because of them, Wang Jing's anger could not be calmed down: "Come here, drag him out and behead him in public! I want the world to know that whoever dares to do evil will not die a good death."

"Yes, General!"

The soldiers responded loudly. Many people in the Northern Army became refugees because of Dong Zhuo.

Now that Dong Huang, the accomplice of the evil, has been brought to justice, they feel extremely happy.

Li Ru glanced at Dong Bai, who was still kneeling on the ground and trembling, and asked cautiously: "My lord, what should we do with this girl?"

When Dong Bai heard Li Ru mention her, she was so frightened that her face turned pale.

Dong Zhuo was as fat as a pig, but he unexpectedly had a cute granddaughter. Dong Bai lived up to her name, with a face more beautiful than flowers and skin as white as snow. She was canonized as Lord Weiyang when she was just fourteen years old. She was so glorious that many people envied her. But flowers cannot stay red forever, and people cannot stay good forever.

Dong Zhuo's rise was only short-lived. After his defeat, the Dong family fell into decline. Now they are in a state of panic all day long, with only fear and anxiety in their hearts.

Dong Bai's happy life came to an end from the moment Dong Zhuo died.

At this moment, she was just a prisoner, waiting for Wang Jing's decision.

Wang Jing did not intend to pursue Dong Bai. After all, she was just a little girl and had never done anything wrong. The only mistake she made in her life was that she was born in the Dong family and became Dong Zhuo's granddaughter.

Killing an innocent girl?
Wang Jing didn't think there was any need for this. The Dong family had been nearly uprooted anyway. It would be hard for Dong Bai, a young girl waiting to be married, to survive in the troubled times. How could she pose any threat to him?

Therefore, Wang Jing did not care too much about Dong Bai's life or death. What he was thinking about now was how to deal with the remnants of the Xiliang Army.

In history, Wang Yun failed to handle this matter properly, which led to his and his entire family's death in battle.

Although Wang Jing was not afraid of this group of spineless surrendered soldiers at the moment, if he handled them improperly, it would still bring him huge trouble, so he was a little hesitant.

Li Ru seemed to have thought of this problem as well. With regard to the current predicament of the Northern Army, he quickly came up with a good idea that would satisfy both sides: "My Lord, what you are worried about is that the surrendered soldiers from Xiliang might become disloyal, be instigated or bribed by outsiders, and turn against us at a critical moment. I wonder if my guess is correct?"

"Oh, since Wenyou took the initiative to speak, I guess you have a plan in mind, right?"

"Of course there is, but this will require the lord to make some small sacrifices."

"Huh? Let's hear it."

Wang Jing looked at Li Ru curiously, wanting to see what he was up to.

I saw that Ru Ru bowed to Wang Jing, then pointed at Dong Bai and said, "My lord, why don't you take this girl as your concubine? Then you can take over the Dong family and use Dong Zhuo's power for your own benefit. Wouldn't it be great if you could get both the money and the people?"

"Nonsense, I'm not the person you think I am!"

Wang Jing refused without hesitation.

Kill Dong Zhuo, then forcibly marry his granddaughter, and then seize the Dong family's inheritance?
This kind of thing is outrageous just by hearing about it, and the evil index is at its highest point.

What's more, if Dong Bai holds a grudge against him for killing his relatives and does something secretly in the future, wouldn't he be leaving a time bomb by his side?

Wang Jing felt that Li Ru’s bad idea was too unreliable.

But Li Ru obviously didn't think so. Compared with Wang Jing, the time traveler, he actually understood the social rules of this era better. Therefore, with a sly smile on his face, he kept advising Wang Jing: "My lord, if you don't want her to get into trouble, you should take her as a concubine. Dong Zhuo loved this girl the most during his lifetime. She was made a lady before she even reached the age of marriage. But now that Dong Zhuo has been defeated, there are countless enemies in the world who want to kill her. Even within the Dong family, they may not tolerate her. Looking around the world, she can only survive if she marries a hero like my lord as a concubine."

Li Ru was well aware of the evil of human nature. Not to mention that Dong Zhuo had enemies all over the world, just within the Dong family, all the main heirs were dead, leaving only Dong Bai, an orphan.

In order to divide up the inheritance left by Dong Zhuo with ease, it was inevitable that the other branches would wipe out the entire clan.

Dong Bai's fate was either an inexplicable "death from illness" or something even worse, being kicked out of the house and sold as a slave to prevent future troubles.

Don't think that you can't do such things just because you are a relative. For money, human nature can become cruel beyond imagination.

Although Dong Bai was still young, she understood what Li Ru said so bluntly. She was so frightened that her lips turned blue and her whole body trembled. She was originally more afraid of Wang Jing than hated him. Now that she knew that only Wang Jing could save her, she immediately chose to surrender: "I am willing to marry you. Please show me mercy, Lord Qi."

The sad and sobbing expression, the two lines of tears on the fair face turned into trickles, it was really pitiful.

Such a beauty, who has inherited a rich legacy from her ancestors, and who is so proactive in "confessing", how many men in the world can refuse?
Wang Jing was not hypocritical, but he still asked him in the end: "Have you thought it over? Do you regret it?"

"I have no regrets about marrying a great hero like Marquis Qi."

Dong Bai stood in front of Wang Jing with his head lowered and his eyes submissive, as if he was ready to be picked.

Wang Jing was in a good mood immediately. He stepped forward and touched Dong Bai's pointed chin with his finger: "Raise your head and look at me."

Dong Bai immediately raised his forehead and looked at Wang Jing, who was tall, strong and handsome.

The two stood very close to each other. Dong Bai seemed to be able to smell the masculine scent of Wang Jing, and her heart couldn't help but beat fast. It was obvious that it was not only her chin that was aroused, but also a hint of sexual desire.

Li Ru saw everything, smiled and said, "Congratulations, my lord. Congratulations, my lord. Not only have you found a good match, but you have also got a helping hand."

Wang Jing married Dong Bai, and the forces left behind by Dong Zhuo would certainly rush to join him and surround Wang Jing. Although these Xiliang nobles were only vassals of Dong Zhuo, they controlled the local area, had a large population and food supply, and were very familiar with the local situation in Xiliang.

If used properly, it can indeed be a great help.

It can only be said that this was an outright political marriage. Wang Jing needed the forces left behind by Dong Zhuo, and the group of people who originally surrounded Dong Zhuo also needed a new backer.

As for what Dong Zhuo would think...

Who cares what a dead person thinks?
After all, the past is the past, and the present is the present. People should always look forward in life.

Make money, not shabby.

It was late at night and the evening breeze was blowing gently, bringing a slight chill that made people drowsy.

Wang Jing was just about to lie down on the bed and have a good sleep.

As a result, at this moment, the door was opened from the outside, and the person who came in was Dong Bai. She was wearing a purple silk dress and sneaked in.

The silk dress was very thin and clung tightly to the girl's soft skin, revealing her charming curves.

"It's so late, you..."

Without Wang Jing saying anything to me, Dong Bai started to undress.

She pursed her lips, as if she had made a great decision, and her belt was gently untied by her bare hands, and then her collar...

Suddenly, the room was filled with white.

White! Really white!

After a sleepless night, when I woke up the next day, the beautiful girl was still sleeping soundly.

Wang Jing is used to getting up early, but he lost control last night and ended up going crazy all night. After getting up, Wang Jing couldn't help but feel a little sore in the waist, and then sighed: "Alas, after coming to the Three Kingdoms, I thought I could be a good person, but I didn't expect to fall in the end."

What's more, Dong Bai has a well-developed body. After all, she was born in a wealthy family. She has never had to worry about food and clothing since she was a child and she doesn't have to worry about malnutrition. It is normal for her to mature a little early.

Her skin is not small where it should be big, and not small where it should be small. And because she is young, her skin is full of collagen and is white and rosy, as if water could be squeezed out of it. It is really hard to resist.

Such a beautiful woman, coming to me in the middle of the night to throw herself into my arms.

Wang Jing is not Liu Xiahui, how can he withstand this?

Of course, we did what we should and shouldn’t do.

After getting up, Wang Jing quickly put on his clothes, but as soon as he walked out of the house, he met Li Ru.

Wang Jing coughed awkwardly: "It's Wenyou, why did you come to see me so early in the morning?"

"My lord, this is bad. Lord Weiyang is missing."

When Wang Jing heard that Li Ru was looking for Dong Bai, he became even more embarrassed: "Well, so it's this matter, don't worry, she is in my room."

Li Ru stared at Wang Jing for a long time before he came back to his senses. Then his whole face suddenly turned into a chrysanthemum and he gave Wang Jing a thumbs up: "You are worthy of being the lord. You captured it so quickly. You are amazing."

"Things are not what you think..."

"My lord, there is no need to explain. We have all been young before. I understand."

(End of this chapter)