My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 208: We have always been a push and pull for the rebels

Liu Bei always listened to the advice of the Zhuge brothers.

Zhuge Liang advised him to find out the current situation of the generals in Lu Bu's camp before making a judgment. He also thought it made sense, so he ordered: "Come here, let Gongyou entertain Cao Cao's envoy first and ask about the situation. Also, arrange for these maids to be relocated to another hall."

The envoy sent by Cao Cao this time was not an official representative of the court. He just wanted to bring back some captives and their families. He was not worthy of being received by Liu Bei in person. As long as the matter was finally done, the process did not matter, even if he told the other party that "the General of Chariots and Cavalry was not in Xia Pi".

Liu Bei's second half of the sentence was also because some of the maids pouring wine were captured from the generals of Lu Bu's army - of course, they were only maids, not wives and concubines. Liu Bei was still very moral and would not arbitrarily seize the wives and concubines of enemy generals, unless they were criminals identified by the imperial edict and should be confiscated.

When Lü Bu stole Xuzhou three years ago, he also returned Liu Bei's family. In this regard, Liu Bei naturally could not lag behind the unfaithful and unjust people, and at least he had to be equal. In the days after the fall of Xiapi City, the families of Hou Cheng, Song Xian, Wei Xu, Cheng Lian were still settled in their original houses and no one harassed them.

However, ordinary maids were not supposed to be returned. The generals of Lu Bu’s army had originally robbed the maids, and they did not return them when they robbed Liu Bei’s maids three years ago.

At this moment, Liu Bei was also cautious. He felt that some of those enemy generals might return to the court and serve as officials in the same dynasty in the future, so he might want to leave them some room for retreat.

When Guan Yu heard his elder brother's decision, he was a little nervous, but then he saw that the beauty he had noticed just now was not among those who were sent back to the guesthouse to live separately, so he was slightly relieved.

He wanted to ask more questions, but it was difficult to speak in this situation. Fortunately, Liu Bei knew him too well and took the initiative to whisper in his ear:
"Yunchang, don't worry too much. Qin Yilu has been dead for more than two years. When Lu Bu killed Han Yin, the envoy who proposed marriage, Yuan Shu killed Qin Yilu. The people left by the Qin family are naturally not among those who will be returned."

Guan Yu was greatly embarrassed when his elder brother revealed his secrets. Fortunately, his face was already red, so no change was seen.

It turned out that one of the women he had just seen was Qin Yilu's widow, Mrs. Du.

Qin Yilu was originally responsible for helping Lü Bu handle various diplomatic missions, similar to the role of Sun Qian on Liu Bei's side. So four or five years ago, when Lü Bu was defeated by Cao Cao in Yanzhou and first went to Xuzhou to seek refuge, he sent Qin Yilu to contact Liu Bei for help. It was at that time that Guan Yu met Qin Yilu and his family.

Later, Qin Yilu was killed by Yuan Shu because Lu Bu sent Han Yin to Xudu for execution (as mentioned earlier, Qin Yilu died three years earlier than the same period in history, so Qin Lang did not exist). Given Lu Bu's lustful nature, he wanted to take Du for himself at that time.

However, Du Shi threatened to "lose her chastity and disgrace her reputation, and would rather die with her", temporarily calming Lü Bu down on the surface, saying that she would mourn for her deceased husband for three years, which actually meant at least 27 months. Lü Bu was afraid that she would really force her to death, and he had no shortage of women around him, Yan Shi, Diao Chan and other beauties were enough for the time being, so he endured it temporarily and wanted to wait until the three-year period was up before making a formal move.

At the end of last year, when Lü Bu personally went to Pengcheng to resist Cao Cao, it had been less than 27 months since Qin Yilu's death, so Du Shi was still living alone in Xiapi as a widow. Later, although the 27 months were up, Lü Bu was surrounded by Cao's army and had no way to escape, so naturally he could not take care of these trivial matters.

There is no need to mention these trivial matters.

……

Guan Yu drank the wine for a while in a daze, not daring to say a word. He wished he could get full and pretend to be drunk to avoid being verbally bullied by his eldest brother and the Zhuge brothers.

After drinking so much, he fell asleep at his desk within a quarter of an hour. Liu Bei did not expose him, but asked someone to help Guan Yu away and said to Zhuge Brothers with a smile:

"Yun Chang has been so tired from the journey that even his alcohol tolerance has decreased. Let's ignore him and just drink our own wine!"

Guan Yu had just been carried away when Sun Qian sent someone from the post station to pass on the message. It was obvious that he had already received Cao Cao's envoy and found out the latest situation of Lu Bu's generals.

Liu Bei did not allow anyone to avoid the question and directly told the other party to speak frankly. Then Sun Qian's subordinate told him everything he had learned:

"…My Lord, I have learned from Cao Cao's messenger that Lü Bu and Gao Shun have surrendered, and none of the main generals were killed. But Cao Cao was also worried that Lü Bu would settle accounts with Hou Cheng and others, so when he appointed officials, he promoted Hou Cheng and others to prominent positions, all of whom were made Generals of the Central Army. Lü Bu and Gao Shun were demoted to a level slightly lower than Hou Cheng and the other three generals."

When Liu Bei heard this, he finally sobered up a little, and looked at Zhuge Brothers with a slightly anxious look:

"Lü Bu is not dead! Ziyu, Kongming, what should we do? Is this a good or bad change for our army?
Our army stole Xiapi, so Lü Bu must be resentful... But if he has to hate someone, he must hate Cao Cao more. We just helped him get it back because he couldn't hold it anymore..."

Liu Bei asked, and couldn't help talking to himself. It was obvious that he was still a little worried. Lu Bu and Cao Cao had such a big grudge, but he could actually survive. This was really beyond his expectation.

In fact, let alone Liu Bei, Zhuge Jin, who knew the historical answer, was even more surprised than Liu Bei - after all, this was completely inconsistent with the historical knowledge he had learned.

"How could this happen? Could it be that because Cao Cao didn't have Liu Bei by his side to help him play the bad guy and no one reminded him about 'the matter of Ding Yuan and Dong Zhuo', Lu Bu was able to beg for mercy successfully?" This was the first thought that popped into Zhuge Jin's mind.

Fortunately, he had an extremely high IQ and quickly calmed down, realizing that it couldn't be that simple.

If Cao Cao wants to decide whether to kill someone, how can it be decided by just a few words from others?
Whether Liu Bei made suggestions or not, it was nothing more than a fig leaf to cover up the killing of the surrendered. As long as the interests were strong enough, given Cao Cao's temper, he would kill them even without a fig leaf.

So Zhuge Jin immediately realized that perhaps it was because of the butterfly effect caused by himself in this life that Cao Cao became less powerful than in the same period of history, while Liu Bei became increasingly powerful, which made Cao Cao feel uneasy.

Cao Cao may have felt that he could not defeat other potential enemies in the future, so he had to hold his nose and temporarily unite as many forces as possible to further strengthen himself.

Zhuge Jin firmly believed that Cao Cao would not allow Lu Bu to live forever and was definitely only using him temporarily.

Zhuge Liang, who was standing by, saw that his elder brother was lost in thought, so he had to step in and comfort Liu Bei: "Don't worry, my lord! Cao Cao will never sincerely and long-term use Lu Bu. You know best how much hatred he has with Lu Bu.

Maybe Cao Cao just feels that he is not strong enough at the moment, and needs to pretend to be friendly and win over more forces. Once the situation becomes clear in the future, Cao Cao will definitely kill Lu Bu with any excuse!"

Liu Bei stroked his mustache and sighed, "I know all this, but the saying 'when the bird is dead, the bow is put away' and the rabbit is dead, the dog is cooked' is too far-fetched. In Cao Cao's eyes, I am a bird or a rabbit. How can I let Lu Bu live that long?"

Zhuge Jin was reminded by the conversation between his second brother and his lord, and finally pulled his thoughts back from his deep thoughts. He quickly replied:

"My lord, you can rest assured about this! Cao Cao will definitely not be able to use Lu Bu for long. After all, Cao Cao has defeated Yuan Shu and has become more arrogant and complacent. He will definitely intensify the elimination and purge of court officials.

When he had not yet welcomed the emperor, Zhang Miao and Chen Gong rebelled against him. Now that he has taken control of the entire court, he has also purged and killed other loyal ministers and generals who returned to the east. Last year, he killed Zhao Yan. How could he not take advantage of the destruction of Yuan Shu to place his cronies in positions of power this year?
Therefore, there will definitely be others in the Xudu court who will rebel against Cao! We just need to wait and see, and then we can maximize our benefits! Although Cao Cao has conquered Lu Bu, he will not threaten us for the time being.

Yuan Shao has already destroyed Gongsun Zan for more than half a year. I heard that Zhang Yan's head was sent to Yecheng a few days ago. The Black Mountain bandits who led them have been wiped out, leaving only a few small gangs. Cao Cao will definitely regard Yuan Shao as the biggest threat in the next step, and will be on guard against him secretly, not daring to start a war again. Even if Lu Bu can play a role, it will mostly be on Yuan Shao!"

Liu Bei was completely relieved after hearing this analysis. It seemed that the unexpected factors of Lu Bu and Gao Shun would not affect him.

He quickly asked humbly: "Since Lü Bu and Gao Shun's surrender to Cao is inevitable, is there anything else we should pay attention to when returning the families of Lü Bu's generals? Hou Cheng, Song Xian and others have already made enemies with Lü Bu. Although returning their families can make peace with Cao Cao, will it make Lü Bu hate us even more?"

Zhuge Jin responded, "What is there to hate? We are just following the orders of the court. If Lü Bu wants to hate, he should hate Cao Cao. Moreover, my lord, when you release the wives, concubines and children of Hou Cheng and Song Xian, you can also release some of Lü Bu and Gao Shun's maids and servants, which can be regarded as a matchmaker to appease both sides.

Lü Bu and Gao Shun's wives and concubines were previously brought to Pengcheng with the army, but Xiapi was Lü Bu's lair after all, and they still had a mansion in Xiapi that needed to be taken care of, so they would definitely have some useful housekeeping servants. If they could send these people along, it wouldn't be in vain if they could make friends with Gao Shun.

Moreover, if the lord wants to show his disdain for the rebel generals, he can do it in more details: for example, if Cao Cao asks us to send back Hou Cheng Song Xian's wives, concubines and children, then we will really only send back his wives, concubines and children, and not send back any more, and not even let go of any maids and servants.

As for Lü Bu and Gao Shun, Cao Cao did not allow us to send them, so we should send more. In this way, Hou Cheng and Song Xian will certainly be more wary of Lü Bu and Gao Shun, and Cao Cao may also be suspicious. As long as Lü Bu and Gao Shun live more and more on thin ice with Cao Cao, it will be more beneficial to us. "

When Liu Bei heard this, his eyes finally lit up and he praised sincerely: "Great plan! For Hou Cheng and other rebellious generals, we can move them around and not give them any extra benefits. As for Lu and Gao, we can pretend to be willing to make friends with them!"

Cao Cao is so suspicious, how could he not have wild thoughts? Besides, there are no wise men around Lu Bu now, Chen Gong is already 'dead', Lu Bu certainly can't see the hidden meaning behind our 'good intentions'! "

Liu Bei rubbed his hands for a while, and immediately ordered people to do as Zhuge Jin instructed. On the same day, all the families and maids of Lu Bu's generals who were to be handed over to Cao Cao's envoys were loaded onto trucks and sent to Pengcheng as planned.

(End of this chapter)