My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 36 Traitor! What's the point of keeping you! (Please vote for the new book, please collect it, and please follow it. Thank you)

When Jian Yong was taken away by Song Xian, he felt unwilling.

He had once thought that he might be able to achieve his goal in one fell swoop by relying on his own words.

Lu Bu is impulsive and moody, and he will easily make a decision without paying attention to his principles when he sees profit.

What a pity, I missed the opportunity!
But soon, his mentality calmed down again:
Fortunately, Mr. Zhuge had already thought of this situation and had laid an ambush. The follow-up depends on Chen Yuanlong.

Everything was still going as planned, except that Jian Yong himself failed to exceed his target.

……

Jian Yong was taken away and kept under house arrest with good food and drink.

In the evening, Chen Gong and Chen Deng were summoned to the governor's mansion to discuss this important matter with Lu Bu.

Chen Deng was very low-key and did not speak first.

Because he felt that what Zhuge Jin had said to him the day before was so insightful.

Zhuge Jin said at the time: "I heard that Lü Bu is easily influenced by others. Whoever persuades Lü Bu last will have the advantage, and whoever speaks first will lose."

Chen Deng recalled his past experiences and found that it seemed to be true.

So he decided to let Chen Gong take charge of the situation today, and he would just be responsible for saying “ah, yes, yes, yes”.

After Lu Bu stated Liu Bei's conditions, Chen Gong immediately objected:
"General, you can't do that! Although Xu Dan and Zhang Kuang are of low rank and have little influence, they are the heroes who welcomed you to Xia Pi! If you go back on your word and kill the heroes to curry favor with Cao Cao in exchange for an official position, how will the scholars of Xuzhou view you? Can you still win the hearts of the people?"

In my opinion, Liu Bei is weak and Yuan Shu is strong, and our army has just taken Xuzhou, so its foothold is not stable. If we want to reconcile with Liu Bei and not offend each other, this is possible.

Huaiyin, which Liu Bei occupied, was located at the intersection of Huaishui and Sishui. If Yuan Shu wanted to capture Pi, he had to first seize a point along the Sishui River to ensure the food supply. If Liu Bei was left in Huaiyin and Yuan Shu's advance was blocked, the three counties in the middle of Xuzhou would be safe!
However, the general's cooperation with Liu Bei can only go so far, and he must not compromise his prestige to cater to Liu Bei's narrative. At most, he can release the families of his generals, that's it, and he must not make any other concessions!"

Lu Bu was easily influenced, and even though he no longer trusted Chen Gong very much recently, he felt that Chen Gong's words made some sense, so he was willing to accept them temporarily.

The rift between Lu Bu and Chen Gong was actually related to a recent incident, which was the rebellion of Hao Meng, a general under Lu Bu.

After Hao Meng was killed a while ago, some people blamed Chen Gong, saying that Chen Gong was also guilty of knowing the crime but not reporting it. Lu Bu did not completely believe this statement, but it still left a thorn in his heart.

At this moment, after repeated deliberation, Lu Bu finally remembered that Chen Deng had not spoken yet, so he motioned for him to say a few words as well:

"Why did Yuanlong remain silent? What do you think of Gongtai's argument?"

Chen Deng acted like a gentleman: "What Gongtai said is very true. I can't change the strategy, so I can only polish it a little bit.

For example, I think that even if the general accepts Liu Bei's proposal, it is not considered "seeking credit and currying favor with Cao Cao", at most it is just "seeking credit and currying favor with the court". Now that the emperor has returned to the east, the righteousness and moral principles must not be wronged. "

Chen Deng's words seemed to be just a sour scholar's quibbling, but Lu Bu's heart was moved.

Chen Gong said "to curry favor with the imperial court" instead of "to curry favor with Cao Cao". Isn't it because Chen Gong was a traitor to Cao Cao!

In the battle where Yanzhou was stolen a year and a half ago, Cao Cao's hatred for Chen Gong was probably even greater than that for Lu Bu!
If everyone under Lu Bu could surrender to Cao, the only person who could not surrender was Chen Gong. If he was caught by Cao Cao, he would definitely die.

(Note: In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Chen Gong was portrayed as Lu Bu's counselor from the beginning, but in the official history, Chen Gong was a subordinate of Cao Cao until 193. He conspired with the brothers Zhang Miao and Zhang Chao to lure Lu Bu into Yanzhou. Zhang Miao and Zhang Chao had been wiped out by Cao Cao last year. If Chen Gong was captured, he would definitely be killed by Cao Cao, and he would not even have the chance to surrender.)
The more Lü Bu thought about it, the more he felt that Chen Gong, out of fear and hostility towards Cao Cao, would indiscriminately destroy the possibility of harmony between him and the court in Xuchang, and he did not want him to get a high position in the court controlled by Cao Cao...

Chen Deng only pointed out these two words, which aggravated Lu Bu's suspicion.

Chen Gong also realized that the situation was not good, but he just couldn't explain it. Some things, the more you talk about them, the more likely they are to remind Lu Bu, so it's better to just ignore them.

Chen Gong could only talk about other things, focusing on the argument that "people who voluntarily betray their master and come to surrender should not be killed", so that Lu Bu would think twice.

Finally, he did not forget to remind Lu Bu: "General! Liu Bei used to be in Xiapi, he loved beautiful clothes and music. Now he has retired to Guangling, but he can endure to this point. His ambition is not small! Even if our army temporarily reconciles with him, it is just a pretense. In order to better receive Xuzhou, we must not really reconcile with Liu Bei all the time!
After our army completely controls the three counties, goes north to subdue Langya Zang Ba and Taishan generals, and stabilizes the internal situation, we will still turn against Liu Bei! General, you must not learn from the Overlord to tolerate traitors, which eventually led to Emperor Gaozu's survival of the Hongmen disaster! "

Chen Gong had tried his best to persuade him, but because his position was questioned, he was inevitably restrained in his wording, which at least reduced his debate ability by 30% to 50%.

After listening to this, Lu Bu said confidently: "How could I not know these principles? My decisiveness is not comparable to Xiang Yu, and how can Liu Bei compare with Emperor Gaozu? Between peace and war, I know my limits!"

Chen Gong had nothing more to say, and seeing that Chen Deng did not seem to object to him, he had no choice but to leave.

After Chen Gong left, Lu Bu looked at Chen Deng again. He felt that the other party was a little unfathomable today, so he insisted that he add something more.

Chen Deng then added modestly: "Xu Dan, Zhang Kuang and others betrayed Liu Bei today because the military positions Liu Bei gave them were not as good as those of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. If the general gives them official positions in the future, they will still be not as good as those of Gao Shun and Zhang Liao..."

In his heart, Chen Deng actually understood very well the root cause of Cao Bao's Rebellion.

After all, in this real world, there is no such thing as Zhang Fei getting drunk and offending Cao Bao. In the final analysis, it was because Cao Bao was originally the commander of the Danyang troops, and he had great military power during the Tao Qian era. At that time, the total number of Danyang troops in Xuzhou was at least over 10,000, and there were still 30,000 or 40,000 other miscellaneous troops (before the decisive battle with Cao Cao). Cao Bao was equivalent to a general who commanded more than 10,000 troops for many years. Even if he was not capable, he was definitely old.

Liu Bei brought more than a thousand Youzhou cavalry and two or three thousand militiamen who were recruited on the way to rescue Tao Qian. Tao Qian gave Liu Bei 4,000 Danyang soldiers. Later, Xuzhou officials pushed Liu Bei to lead the state affairs, and Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's status also climbed above Cao Bao. What did he think?
After all, the issue of interest distribution cannot be reconciled.

The real world is not a game. Just because a player sees a general with “strength 95 and command 95”, he cannot automatically replace him with a much more experienced general with “strength 70 and command 70”.

If you do this in the game and then reward the demoted general with a bunch of gold, silver and treasures, his loyalty value will be restored.

But in the real world, you might encounter a rebellion on the level of having your home robbed.

After Chen Deng hinted this truth to Lu Bu, Lu Bu must have felt the same way.

When he entered Xuzhou, he actually had very few troops left. After so many years, how many veterans of his Bingzhou Army were left? How many of Gao Shun's Xianzhen Camp were left? He also needed to infiltrate his own people to completely transform and control the Xuzhou Army.

Of course, Zhang Liao and Gao Shun's status is much higher than that of the former generals of Danyang Army.

"I have made up my mind... I have long been worried about these despicable people who betray their masters for fame and fortune! Yuanlong, this matter depends on you. You are also from Xuzhou. Xu Dan and Zhang Kuang will definitely believe you. Just tell them that I am hosting a banquet tonight to celebrate my success and invite them."

Chen Deng even pretended to be loyal and righteous: "General, think twice. If you really want to do this, have you thought clearly about the consequences? At that time, you must temporarily break up with Yuan Shu and maintain peace with Liu Bei, at least temporarily. It cannot be easily changed within a year or two.

Secondly, if these two thieves were executed, some of the arrogant and fierce generals in the Danyang army might be in an uproar again. The general should first let General Gao Shun prepare to divide and receive and directly reorganize the remaining Danyang soldiers.

Moreover, if the general wanted to seek an official position at the court, but Liu Bei's soldiers were scattered and fleeing day and night, it would be embarrassing in the future, and Cao Cao might find an excuse. The general might as well go all out and let the families of Liu Bei's soldiers go and stay as they please.

Then banish the stubborn and hard-to-conquer group of Xu Dan and Zhang Kuang's loyal followers to Liu Bei, and let Liu Bei bear the responsibility for their instability... In this way, the general will lose about one or two thousand local Xuzhou troops, but he will also be able to eliminate the most unruly troublemakers."

Lu Bu nodded quickly, thinking that it was okay to let some people go, the most important thing was the unity of the army. The private soldiers of the rebel generals in Danyang were originally unruly, and if they stayed, they might be a destabilizing factor.

He originally needed Liu Bei's army to help him hold Huaiyin and block Yuan Shu's army from entering Sishui, so of course he had to ensure that Liu Bei's army would not escape day by day.

Historically, after he released Liu Bei back to Xiaopei, Liu Bei also "regrouped 10,000 soldiers". The cost of Lu Bu's acquiescence in that matter was actually no less than letting Liu Bei's military family go now.

Therefore, this was a condition that Lu Bu could have endured in the original history, and it was not too outrageous.

After deducing the general consequences, Lu Bu was no longer vague.

After thinking it over, he still had one last worry, so he asked Chen Deng directly: "What if Jian Yong makes another false move after we fulfill our promise and keeps Liu Bei's memorial that he showed us and actually gives him another memorial? What will our army do?"

Lu Bu had just seen that Jian Yong had more than one memorial with Liu Bei's seal of General Zhendong in his hand. Lu Bu felt that he had no control over which one Jian Yong would hand in after arriving in Xuchang. At that time, he had already fulfilled his promise, so he had to be on guard against Liu Bei going back on his word.

In response to this question, Chen Deng immediately clasped his fists and asked: "General, you should submit another memorial and send it together with Liu Bei's memorial to verify each other. If you are uneasy, I am willing to be your envoy, carrying your memorial to Xuchang, traveling with Jian Yong, and monitoring him all the way. It would be best if you first order Jian Yong to seal the memorial and keep it with me, so that there will be no risk of any loss."

Lu Bu was finally overjoyed. With his confidant Chen Deng helping him monitor the submission of the memorial throughout the process, he was no longer afraid that Liu Bei would go back on his word.

Lu Bu laughed and praised: "Yuanlong is indeed thoughtful. In this case, I'll thank you for your hard work in the boat and carriage."

Chen Deng bowed and said: "It is my wish to be an envoy to the court as a general. I dare not complain."

……

The next day, Chen Deng found Xu Dan and Zhang Kuang as planned.

He also ordered Gao Shun's Xianzhen Camp to be on alert and prepare to receive the troops.

Because Chen Deng was also a fellow villager from Xuzhou, the two of them had no suspicion at all and went to Lu Bu's place at noon to attend the banquet and receive the reward.

But as soon as they entered the courtyard, they were stunned to see Lu Bu standing in the courtyard holding the Fang Tian Ji in his hand.

The two men hurried forward to salute, but Lu Bu suddenly shouted: "Treasonous traitor, what use is there in keeping you!"

As he spoke, he raised his hand and stabbed it hard, piercing Xu Dan's chest and abdomen. He twisted and pulled his internal organs, and they spilled all over the floor.

Xu Dan had no idea what was happening and died instantly.

Zhang Kuang was so frightened that he turned around and tried to run away, but his limbs were so weak that he could only stumble three or five steps.

Lu Bu had already drawn his painted halberd and hurled it with all his might, hitting him squarely in the back, piercing through his chest and pinning him to the courtyard wall.

Only then did Lu Bu leisurely draw his sword and neatly cut off two heads. He handed them to his attendants to be pickled with lime so that they could be sent to Xuchang to report his achievement.

But internally, Lü Bu still announced: "Xu Dan and Zhang Kuang colluded with Yuan Shu and plotted rebellion again, so I killed them!"

(End of this chapter)