Chapter 281: Lü Bula's reinforcements failed, Cao Cao's troops entered Xuzhou
Seeing Wang Yun and Dong Cheng both looking at him, Lu Bu asked in confusion, "Me?"

Wang Yun nodded, picked out a scroll from among the many bamboo slips and threw it to Lu Bu, saying, "Take a look, don't bury your head in women all day long."

“When you have time, pay more attention to current affairs.”

Lu Bu thought that his secret meeting with Diao Chan was secret enough, but he didn't expect that Wang Yun seemed to see through everything.

Lu Bu couldn't help blushing a little and picked up the bamboo slips to hide the embarrassment on his face.

After a while, Lu Bu clasped his hands together and said, "Master Wang, your plan is brilliant!"

"I have a close relationship with Zhang Yang!"

It turned out that this was a job application letter that Yu Luofu sent to the court after he abducted Zhang Yang and escaped from Yuan Shao.

Yu Luofu's original intention was to acquire a piece of land in Hanoi County to recuperate.

Wang Yun did not see it that way: "Fengxian, time is running out. If you want to win over this force, please do it as soon as possible."

"We have too few troops in Chang'an."

"Hanoi County is a good place, but not as good as Chang'an."

Wang Yun looked directly into Lü Bu's eyes and asked, "Do you understand what I mean, Fengxian?"

Lu Bu nodded solemnly and said, "Don't worry, Situ Wang, this is easy."

"But..." Lu Bu hesitated, as if he had something to say.

Unfortunately, Wang Yun didn't fall for it.

Lü Bu was helpless and said bluntly: "It's just that my position is too low, General Fenwei, I feel ashamed if I say I can't go!"

Wang Yun couldn't fail to hear that he was asking for an official position so blatantly, but he still pretended to be confused and said, "Fengxian is the Marquis of Wen, what's there to be ashamed of?"

"Could it be that you still want to be granted the title of Marquis of Wanhu?"

Lu Bu was delighted and said, "That's possible!"

Wang Yun's face darkened instantly, just like how Lu Bu treated Li Su.

A mere common man dares to ask for this and that. Wang Yun looked down upon people like Lu Bu who came from humble backgrounds the most.

"This matter will be discussed later!"

Wang Yun said, "When you move Zhang Yang's troops to Chang'an, your Majesty will certainly not be stingy with the rewards you deserve."

This is just being a rogue.

Everyone knows that the current government is equally divided between Dong Zhuo and Wang Yun, and Emperor Liu Xie has absolutely no say at all.

Lu Bu did not give in and said, "What if I want the reward now?"

Lu Bu even said directly: "Ma Teng and Han Sui are just traitors, but Dong Zhuo was able to appoint them as General Guarding the West and General Conquering the West."

“Why am I the only one who can’t do this?”

"Don't forget, Situ Wang, without me, you wouldn't be in your current position."

Wang Yun stiffened his neck and said, "You can go and seek refuge with Dong Zhuo and see if he will give you a high position and generous salary again!"

"You!" Lu Bu was furious: "Do you really think I don't dare?"

"Go!" Wang Yun said like a fighting cock, "If you don't want to go, don't make a fuss."

Seeing that the two were about to fight, Dong Cheng immediately spoke out to dissuade them: "Why do you two have to argue over such a small matter?"

"Why don't we both take a step back? Situ Wang and I will each submit a petition to appoint Fengxian as the rear general."

Dong Cheng thought that this method was good enough. The position of Rear General was once the position of Xu Rong, Dong Zhuo's favorite general. Letting Lu Bu take this position would just anger Dong Zhuo and prevent the possibility of Lu Bu's defection.

But Wang Yun seemed to be irritated by Lu Bu, "No! It can only be General Annan!"

The Generals Siping and Si'an were just one level higher than the miscellaneous generals and one level lower than the generals of the imperial court. They were also the generals with the same title that Jin Mao had once held.

It's really vicious.

Lü Bu wanted to say something else, but Dong Cheng pulled him back and said, "Fengxian, stop while you are ahead."

Lu Bu broke away and asked, "I can accept this, but what about my men?"

Finally, the two sides agreed that after the matter was accomplished, seven of Lu Bu's generals would be appointed as Generals of the Central Army, and the matter would be settled.

After Lü Bu left, Wang Yun said to Dong Cheng: "This boy must not be indulged, or he might become the next Dong Zhuo."

Dong Cheng really didn't know what to say. Wang Yun clearly had a good hand, but he played it so badly. So he simply didn't respond.

So Wang Yun started to hold a grudge against Dong Cheng again.

...

November.

After Yuan Shao, the governor of Jizhou, secured his seat, he contacted various parties.

Han Fu, the former governor of Jizhou, fled to Chenliu and was taken in by Zhang Miao. However, after catching a glimpse of Yuan Shao's envoy whispering to Zhang Miao, he committed suicide out of fear.

In fact, Yuan Shao wanted to win over a few allies and jointly nominate Liu Yu, the governor of Youzhou, as emperor.

mid-November.

Yuan Shao, the governor of Jizhou, Yuan Shu, the governor of Yuzhou, Yuan Yi, the governor of Yanzhou, Cao Cao, the prefect of Dongjun, Zhang Miao, the prefect of Chenliu and others jointly recommended Liu Yu as emperor.

Liu Yu firmly refused.

Later, Yuan Shao and others asked Liu Yu to take charge of the Secretariat and to be granted the title.

Liu Yu also refused, but still formed an alliance with Yuan Shao.

Late November.

Cao Cao found that with Yuan Yi, the governor of Yanzhou appointed by Yuan Shao, around, he had no chance at all, so he applied to develop eastward towards Qing and Xuzhou.

Yuan Shao agreed and sent three battalions of troops to support Cao Cao.

With Cao Cao attacking the east and Yuan Yi stationed in the south, Yuan Shao was finally able to let go and wipe out the bandits in Jizhou, completely taking control of the state.

Yuan Shao sent his troops into the entrance of Cangyan Valley at Luchang Mountain in Chaoge to attack Yu Du.

After five days of siege, they defeated Yu Du and killed more than 10,000 of his followers.

Then Yuan Shao went northward along Luchang Mountain to attack Zuo Xi Zhangba and other bandits, and wiped them all out.

He then attacked Liu Shi, Qing Niu Jiao, Huang Long, Zuo Xiao, Guo Daxian, Li Damu, Yu Digen and others, again killing tens of thousands of them and destroying all their camps.

Zhang Yan, the leader of the Black Mountain Army, thought he was no match for Yuan Shao, so he turned north to form an alliance with Gongsun Zan, the Yanmen Wuhuan, and the Four Camps Tuge to attack Yuan Shao together.

The two sides fought in Changshan County for more than ten days. Most of the allied forces of Zhang Yan and Gongsun Zan were killed or wounded, but Yuan Shao's army also showed signs of fatigue.

They all stopped fighting and rested.

the other side.

As Cao Cao advanced eastward, the Yellow Turbans of Qingzhou gathered to resist, and the two sides fought to the east of Shouzhang County.

Cao Cao "set up surprise ambushes and fought day and night" and defeated the Yellow Turbans, gaining 100,000 surrendered soldiers and a population of over 300,000.

Cao Cao gathered their elite troops, organized them into an army, and called them the Qingzhou Army.

In order to replenish food and also to gain a piece of land.

After Cao Cao assembled his army for more than a month, he headed south to attack Xuzhou.

Xuzhou Governor Tao Qian was defeated.

Cao Cao captured Langya County in Xuzhou and surrounded Donghai County.

The governor of Donghai County, Kong Rong, went out of the city and asked Cao Cao to withdraw his troops for the sake of their past friendship.

Cao Cao refused and sent troops to attack the city.

Donghai County was thus destroyed.

In order to repay his mother's kindness, Taishi Ci of Penglai helped Kong Rong break out of the siege and escape to Huaiyin County of Guangling Commandery.

Seeing that the four counties of Xuzhou were about to be conquered by Cao Cao (a small part of Xia Pi County and most of Guangling County belonged to Jin Mao), Tao Qian mobilized his entire army for a desperate battle.

The two sides fought in Pengcheng, and Tao Qian was defeated.

Cao Cao led his troops to pursue Tao Qian all the way to the Huai River.

At this point, Cao Cao controlled the four northern counties of Xuzhou, stationed troops in Tan County, the capital of Donghai County, Pengcheng, and Pingyuan County of Qingzhou, and submitted a petition to be appointed as the governor of Xuzhou.

Tao Qian led only a hundred remnants across the Huai River, and later asked the Guangling County Governor Yu Fan to send someone to escort him to Luoyang to meet up with General Zhu Jun.

There were also three thousand elite soldiers that Tao Qian gave to Zhu Jun.

Yu Fan turned a deaf ear to it and was lucky enough not to kill Tao Qian so that he could send people to protect him. What the hell was he dreaming!

Tao Qian had no choice but to sell off his property in his hometown Danyang County at a discount. After collecting enough money, he crossed the river to Luoyang to meet up with Zhu Jun.

Kong Rong, who escaped earlier, was much better than Tao Qian. Relying on his eloquent mouth, he made it seem like a great achievement that he had once praised Jin Mao to death.

Yu Fan ignored and did not support Taishi Ci for the sake of being a famous scholar, but was very concerned about him. When he heard that Taishi Ci's old mother was still in Tan County, the capital of Donghai County, Yu Fan immediately sent someone to tell Cao Cao to send her over.

No matter how unwilling Cao Cao was, he had to accept it now.

In order to thank Yu Fan, Taishi Ci agreed to work for him.

As for Kong Rong, he was able to thrive in Huailing County thanks to his title of celebrity.

Yu Fan didn't care much and focused on guarding his one and a half acre of land.

...

November of the same year.

Changan.

When Yu Luofu arrived in Luoyang, he refused to go any further west. Even Zhu Jun, who stayed in Luoyang, tried to stop him.

Lu Bu had no choice but to take Zhang Yang's troops back to Chang'an to report.

"Zhishu (Zhang Yang's courtesy name), just listen to me this time, and I promise to at least make you a marquis!"

Zhang Yang said cheerfully, "Then I will rely on the help of Lord Wen."

"Uncle Zhi, why should you be so polite? Just call me Fengxian." Lu Bu promised, "Don't worry. My words are the most effective in Luoyang."

"Let's just say this time, the emperor just promoted me to General of Annan. Just wait and see, when I return, all my subordinates will be promoted to General of the Central Army."

"When the time comes, I will submit a petition to the emperor to ask for the position of general for you, and then confer you the title of Marquis of Ting!"

Zhang Yang was very happy: "Fengxian, you said this! I'll keep it in mind!"

Lu Bu pounded his chest and boasted all the way to Hangu Pass.

Before this, when Dong Zhuo retreated to Chang'an, he stationed Niu Fu in Shan County and Duan Wei in Huayin County.

Li Jue and Guo Si were defeated and fled back, and returned to Niu Fu's command, leading troops to garrison Hangu Pass.

"Who is coming?"

On top of Hangu Pass, Li Jue asked the question even though he knew the answer.

Lü Bu shouted, "I am General Annan, Marquis Wen Lü Bu!"

"Li Jue, why don't you open the door quickly?"

Li Jue was defeated. If Dong Zhuo had not been in urgent need of manpower, he would have been killed long ago. The fact that he was retained as the General of the Central Army was already a special favor from Niu Fu.

However, Li Jue was still very unhappy with Lu Bu, the sadistic man.

Apart from his higher martial arts skills and being taller and more powerful, what else does Lu Bu have?

What right do you have to climb over the heads of these veterans and act so arrogantly?

"It's Marquis Wen." Li Jue clasped his fists and said casually, "I'm really sorry, the gate inside the pass is broken today, please wait for a few days, Marquis Wen."

As soon as these words were spoken, the Xiliang army in Guanshang burst into laughter.

How could Lu Bu not know that Li Jue was playing a trick on him. He had just been bragging to Zhang Yang, and then he turned around and got slapped in the face.

Can this be tolerated?
"Li Jue! Do you want to try the sharpness of the Fang Tian Hua Ji in my hand?"

"Humph!" Li Jue snorted angrily, "The courage of a common man!"

Lu Bu immediately shouted: "I don't think you dare!"

"Someone come here!" As a military general, Li Jue must respond to provocations regardless of whether he can win the battle or not, otherwise his subordinates will not obey him.

"Bring me the bow!"

Li Jue drew his bow and arrow, aimed at the good horse under Lu Bu's crotch and shot.

At this time, the sun was setting and Lu Bu was illuminated by the sunlight, so he could not see Li Jue's movements clearly.

"Herod!"

Li Jue was an excellent archer. He shot an arrow into the eye of the good horse, and the horse screamed and threw Lu Bu off.

"How brave!"

Lu Bu tapped his toes repeatedly and finally avoided being crushed by the warhorse. With a painful look on his face, he took out the precious carved bow, drew the bow, put an arrow on it, and fought back.

This horse is quite good. Even though it is not as smart as Red Hare, it took Lu Bu a long time to get it.

How could Lu Bu not hate Li Jue for destroying all his hard work with just one arrow?
Even though this arrow was shot against the sunlight, it was still very powerful. It shot off the iron helmet on Li Jue's head and almost pierced through his head.

The Xiliang army cried out in alarm, but Li Jue took off his helmet without changing his expression. In fact, he was terribly scared.

Unexpectedly, Lu Bu's archery skills were so terrible that Li Jue almost lost his life even when he was at a disadvantage.

"Hahaha!"

Li Jue used laughter to hide his fear and said, "Lü Bu! You are nothing more than this!"

Unexpectedly, Lu Bu located the target based on the sound and shot another arrow.

Fortunately, Li Jue was prepared and lowered his head to dodge the moment Lu Bu raised his hand.

"Oh!"

This arrow penetrated deeply into the gate tower behind Li Jue, three-quarters of the way into the ground!
"Lü Bu! How dare you launch a sneak attack!"

Li Jue's martial arts skills were not as good as Lu Bu's, so he just used his mouth to humiliate the opponent.

"You call yourself a brave man, but you are actually a villain!"

"I think Sun Jian was killed by your sneak attack."

"Whoosh!"

Lu Bu seemed to have been hit on the heart, and shot a defender to death with hatred.

"Brothers!" Li Jue was immediately alert when he saw the dead man: "Lü Bu dared to launch a sneak attack and kill the warriors of my Great Xiliang Army!"

"The whole army has them!"

"Crossbowmen, get ready!"

"preparation!"

"put!"

Seeing that the situation was not good, Lu Bu dared not stay any longer and told Zhang Yang to retreat quickly.

I've lost all my face, but I can't lose my life here as well.

At Hangu Pass, Li Jue watched Lü Bu fleeing in panic, and said in a happy mood, "Did you see that?"

"I've said it before, Lu Bu is a lost dog, always losing battles."

"Look at this skillful escape technique. Is there anything you don't believe?"

Immediately, the Xiliang army burst into laughter, and their morale improved visibly.

the other side.

Lu Bu and Zhang Yang fled to a safe area, turned back to count the number of people, and found that more than 500 people were missing!
It can be imagined that the powerful crossbows at Hangu Pass are not vegetarian.

Zhang Yang only has more than 5,000 people in total, and this time one-tenth of them are missing. It would be strange if he could look happy.

Unexpectedly, Lu Bu's face became even worse, and he gnashed his teeth and roared: "Uncle Zhi, lend me two thousand men and I will go and break through Hangu Pass right away!"

There was a hint of anger and shame.

This time, relying on his relationship with Zhang Yang, Lu Bu only brought dozens of followers instead of a large army.

Hearing what Lu Bu said, Zhang Yang was furious: "No need for that!"

"Please, Lord Wen, say something good for me when you return to Chang'an. I won't go."

Lu Bu finally reacted and asked, "Where are you going?"

Zhang Yang was not a good-tempered person either. His suppressed anger exploded and he shouted, "I am not your subordinate!"

"I can go wherever I want!"

Lu Bu and Zhang Yang parted on bad terms.

Before they parted, Zhang Yang told Lü Bu: "I will join Luo Fu and station our troops in Henei County."

Zhang Yang didn't think about official positions or anything like that.

Just look at Lu Bu's appearance and you will know that he has no say at all, he is just bragging.

As for whether Wang Yun has that ability?
Zhang Yang didn't want to take any risks, as Chang'an would definitely become a meat grinder in the future.

Why do you have to take risks? Wouldn't it be better to just occupy a place and develop it?

Moreover, Henei County is not far from Luoyang and Jizhou. It has plains and forests, and can be attacked or defended. It is a good place that can have the best of both worlds.

(End of this chapter)