My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 35 Lu Bu: No one knows the traitor better than me!

After Zhuge Jin secretly gave Chen Deng and Jian Yong some advice with his plan, he did not act rashly immediately.

That afternoon, Chen Deng quietly returned to the city, did nothing, and continued to keep a low profile - Zhuge Jin told him that more haste makes waste.

Chen Deng now needs to continue to play the role of the good guy and represent Lu Bu's interests. If he is exposed, the effect of the subsequent strategy will be discounted.

As for Jian Yong, he did not return to Xia Pi City that afternoon and simply disappeared.

However, Lu Bu did not keep a close eye on him, so no one noticed Jian Yong left for a whole day.

Finally, when Chen Deng saw that the time was ripe, he found an excuse to hold a banquet at his own house and then sent invitations to each household.

When they were sent to Jian Yong's residence, they naturally "discovered" that the courtyard was empty, so Chen Deng very "loyally" sent someone to remind Lu Bu.

Lu Bu then personally inquired about it, but when he couldn't find him, he gave up and just asked Chen Deng how long it had been since he had seen Jian Yong.

Chen Deng said that he hadn't seen him for three or four days.

Lu Bu had no doubts and really thought that Jian Yong had escaped long ago.

After another two or three days, the wind grew calmer and this episode was almost forgotten.

Jian Yong, who had been missing for "many days", suddenly returned to Xia Pi in a high-profile manner. He also brought Liu Bei's letters and memorials, and openly asked to see Lu Bu.

Obviously, his character is "escaped from Xia Pi and rushed to Huaiyin, met Liu Bei and was sent back."

Even though Lu Bu didn't care about Jian Yong at first, he was now aroused with anger. That day, he formally summoned Jian Yong to the Xuzhou Mu Mansion, wanting to teach him a lesson.

You could have run away, but after running away you actually had the guts to come back and bring a message. Isn't this a provocation?
Jian Yong came to the main hall neither humbly nor arrogantly and bowed deeply to Lu Bu.

There were no civil servants standing next to Lu Bu, only Wei Xu and Song Xian. It was obvious that he had no intention of listening to diplomatic rhetoric today, but only wanted to bring a few rough executioners to make the other party pay.

"You bastard! I left you to continue serving as an official in Xia Pi, but you dared to escape and join Liu Bei. Why did you dare to come back? Aren't you afraid that I will punish you?"

When Lu Bu spoke, he held the sheathed sword in his hand and waved it casually. It was obvious that he didn't care whether a talent like Jian Yong stayed or left. He just wanted to be majestic and have others respect him.

Jian Yong said calmly, "The general and Lord Xuande have always been in harmony and have worked together to keep Xuzhou peaceful. I have been helping Lord Xuande govern the area during the past few days at the general's place. How can I say I am surrendering to him?"

Of course, he had repeatedly taught these lines to Zhuge Jin, but the fact that he could speak them so clearly, without fear, and with improvisations, was also a skill.

Zhuge Jin himself did not want to reason with a reckless man like Lu Bu, because the other party was emotionally unstable. Zhuge Jin only liked to compete with other cunning men. The more cunning a person is, the more rational and regular his words and deeds are.

Lu Bu on the opposite side was also confused after hearing Jian Yong's words. He had never expected that the situation would develop like this.

I fought desperately with Liu Bei for territory, but the people Liu Bei sent back said that both sides are still in a state of "working together". Have they not woken up yet?
Because he was too shocked, Lu Bu didn't know how to refute for a moment.

Jian Yong had no choice but to remind him: "General, do you think what Lord Xuande said is wrong? Lord Xuande still thinks that you are his arm, and you have been working diligently to help him stabilize the rear to prevent traitors from joining the rebellion.

In order to commend the general's righteousness, Lord Xuande also drafted a memorial to the court in Xuchang, in which he expounded on the merits of following the imperial edict to fight against Yuan Shikai and capture Guangling, and said that the general's merits were second only to his.

If the general had not killed the rebels, the hinterland of Xuzhou would have been offered to Yuan Shu by the rebels long ago. Therefore, Lord Xuande, in recognition of his merit in killing Yuan Shu, recommends the general to be the governor of Xuzhou! Or the governor of Xuzhou!"

Lu Bu was stunned and felt very strange when he heard the "or".

Regardless of why Liu Bei made the statement, shouldn't the suggestions in it be clear? Even if the court did not allow him to be appointed as governor of Xuzhou and demoted him to a governor, that was the court's decision. How could Liu Bei provide the court with multiple options?

However, Lu Bu's surprise was quickly resolved by a small action by Jian Yong.

Jian Yong took out two scrolls from his arms, which were obviously two memorials from Liu Bei. He could still choose which one to submit to the court in the end.

Lu Bu has always been greedy for profit. He was attracted by these two articles and temporarily stopped thinking about other reasonable questions. He just followed the bait and asked:

"So, of the two memorials proposed, one is to recommend me as the governor of Xuzhou for my merits, and the other is to recommend me as the governor of Xuzhou? Which one should you submit in the end to negotiate some terms with me? Can I take a look first?"

"General, you are really wise and you guessed it right at the first try." Jian Yong presented it respectfully and let Lu Bu look at it first.

Lu Bu first checked the seal and other documents on the memorial to make sure they were Liu Bei's - there was indeed Liu Bei's signature on it, as well as the seal of the General Zhendong.

Then he read the content with peace of mind, and the more he read, the more shocked he became.

"General Zhendong, I am ready to follow the imperial edict to attack Yuan..."

"However, the hateful Yuan thief secretly colluded with the Danyang thieves Cao Bao, Xu Dan, Zhang Kuang and others, promising them lucrative fake positions, making them the internal supporters and secretly occupying Xiapi, in order to cut off the rear of the king's army to suppress the rebellion...

"Fortunately, General Lu Bu, who was stationed in Pei County, was brave and resolute. He rushed to the rescue the very night after hearing about the rebellion. When Zhang Fei, the commander of Xia Pi, was deadlocked with the rebel Xu Dan and his troops, he attacked Xu Dan from behind and defeated the remaining rebels overnight, thus preventing Xia Pi from falling into the hands of the rebel Yuan Shikai and preventing the king's army from being cut off from support and being defeated..."

"Later, the defeat of Ji Ling, the annihilation of Liu Xun, and the recovery of Guangling were all due to Lu Bu's contribution in stabilizing the rear and transporting military supplies. The envoy was also able to transfer Zhang Fei to the Huaiyin front line to make a desperate effort to defeat the bandits..." After reading this, Lu Bu was dumbfounded.

"Liu Bei actually described my attack on Xia Pi as suppressing the rebellion of the Danyang soldiers and helping him stabilize the rear?"

This is really an unexpected way to flatter him.

How could Liu Bei be so tolerant that he not only accepted the loss of three counties in Xuzhou, but also helped Lu Bu to cover up his lie and even submitted a petition to the court to ask for an official position?
But when Lu Bu thought about it carefully, this excuse did make sense.

As long as Liu Bei is willing to do this, there is a good chance that the court will believe him.

Because during this month, although Lu Bu occupied the two counties of Xia Pi and Pengcheng, he did not take any further hostile actions against Liu Bei's army at the front. In the original history, after Liu Bei was robbed of Xia Pi, he tried to come back and counterattack to retake it. In that case, the two sides would have fought a bloody battle and completely torn their faces apart.

But the problem is that in this life, Liu Bei was led down another path by Zhuge Jin's heaven-defying plan. He chose to block the news and continue to fight Yuan Shu. Lu Bu was also happy to digest the territory that had not yet been firmly taken, and did not want to make more enemies, so there was peace for the past month.

It is said that Liu Bei did not have enough troops and was unable to defend his home, so he asked Lu Bu to help him secure his retreat, which is nominally reasonable.

Lü Bu felt that his brain was no longer enough, but his tone when speaking to Jian Yong was much more gentle: "Brother Xianhe, you said that Lord Xuande was willing to recommend me as the governor of Xuzhou, but how can the court believe what he said? He said that I came to suppress the rebellion of the Danyang soldiers, can this statement be hidden from Cao Cao?"

Jian Yong bowed his hands solemnly and said: "My Lord Xuande has always been sincere to others. Whether Cao Cao can believe it is not something he can guarantee. But he should try his best to be fair and speak frankly and have no regrets in his heart.

Moreover, didn't the general notice the difference between the two letters? The first letter stated that the general was the governor of Xuzhou, so the evidence required was less. Whether Cao Cao was willing to believe it was entirely up to fate.

The second memorial, which recommended the general to be appointed as the governor of Xuzhou, required more evidence from the general and was more difficult to prove, but it was also easier for Cao Cao to believe. Even if he could not be appointed as the governor in the end, he should be able to be appointed as a provincial governor without any problems. "

Lu Bu was blinded by the benefits just now and didn't have time to carefully look at the conditions he needed to pay. After being reminded by Jian Yong, he looked carefully again and noticed:

In the memorial written relatively solemnly by Liu Bei recommending him as the governor of Xuzhou, there was an additional statement, which was "Zhang Fei presented the head of the traitor Cao Bao at the gate, and Lu Bu presented the heads of the traitors Xu Dan and Zhang Kuang at the gate."

That is to say, he killed all the three traitors who were accused of being Yuan Shu's accomplices, and took their heads to Xuchang to prove that he hated Yuan Shu and would not show any leniency.

Your contribution, Lu Bu, is to suppress the rebellion and kill the traitors who assisted Yuan Shu!
If you don't take the rebel's head to Xuchang, the probability that Cao Cao will believe you will certainly be lower, and your contribution will be much smaller.

If you send the head, I cannot say that Cao Cao will believe it, but at least the probability will be greatly increased, and your nominal contribution will also be much greater.

Lu Bu had no relationship with those people to begin with, and after hearing about it, he couldn't help but have some ideas.

He desperately needed the official title of Mu of Xuzhou and the imperial court's appointment to strengthen the legitimacy of his rule over the three central counties of Xuzhou, which would help him to quickly and thoroughly take over the territory.

It might even help him formally conquer Zang Ba who was entrenched in Langya County.

In comparison, Cao Bao was already dead, and his head had been taken away by Zhang Fei. What was there to be stingy about with the remaining small fry, Xu Dan and Zhang Kuang?
Cao Bao was originally the commander of Xiapi and the chief general of the Danyang troops under Tao Qian, while Xu Dan and Zhang Kuang were only Sima officers of other divisions under Cao Bao.

Moreover, Lu Bu himself had betrayed his master many times, so no one understood betrayers better than him.

He knew that those people could sell out Liu Bei yesterday and might sell him out in the future. What was the point of keeping such disloyal and ungrateful villains?

Now there is a legitimate excuse for the sake of justice to chop him off, and then let Gao Shun's trap camp swallow up the Danyang soldiers, isn't that great?

The cruel and greedy Lü Bu could not help but order: "Song Xian, go and tell Gao Shun to invite Xu Dan and Zhang Kuang to come..."

Upon hearing this, Song Xian and Wei Xu immediately looked embarrassed.

Of course, they didn't care about the life or death of Xu Dan and Zhang Kuang.

But they knew Lu Bu too well: sometimes Lu Bu made an impulsive decision and then regretted it, and would vent his anger on others, blaming the bystanders for not stopping him.

They had all suffered this loss and been beaten with military sticks, so they added a word of advice:
"General... this is a serious matter. Once the news leaks out, whether Xu Dan and Zhang Kuang are summoned or not, I'm afraid it will be difficult to resolve... Should we ask Gongtai and Mr. Yuanlong to discuss this matter together and make a decision?"

Lu Bu was stunned, then he realized that he was indeed reckless.

His original intention today was just to scare Jian Yong and to stop this guy's provocation, so he did not bring his advisers to listen.

This is not a team configuration for discussing diplomatic affairs at all, and we almost got into a trap.

Lu Bu felt embarrassed and coughed a few times to cover up his weakness. Then he pretended to be dignified and ordered:

"Song Xian, take Jian Yong away and put him under house arrest! No outsiders are allowed to meet or talk to him! Wei Xu, go and invite Gongtai and Yuanlong to discuss the matter!"

Wei Xusong Xian then breathed a sigh of relief and went to do it immediately.

They have already reminded that if there are any wrong decisions in the future, it will be the responsibility of Chen Gong and Chen Deng.

(End of this chapter)