My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 54 You can always believe in Lv Bu's potential for repeated jumps (suddenly notified to be released on August 8)

Although Zhuge Jin proposed the idea of "work-in-lieu-of-relief" to Chen Qun and others to solve the livelihood and management problems of the 40,000 families of soldiers who had just migrated south and the Danyang soldiers who were eliminated by Lu Bu.

However, how to do it specifically and which project to choose to get the fastest return on investment and best suit the current construction period and workload still need to be slowly investigated and studied.

Therefore, for now he could only give some ideas and let Chen Qun and others sort out the details of how to manage the food and wages for the subsequent projects and how to maintain order.

Today is a welcoming day, so you shouldn’t overwork yourself.

After eating and drinking his fill, Zhuge Jin returned to his lodgings and had a good rest for the night. The next day, he went south with Liu Bei to Guangling County. Anyway, he had to start from Guangling on the Yangtze River to go to Yuzhang in the end, so he had to take this journey.

Zhuge Jin's family is still in Guangling and needs to pack up and prepare for moving.

The entire journey is 280 miles, and it takes almost three days to travel by a small canal boat.

……

On the other hand, while Zhuge Jin continued to move south, Chen Deng, who had parted ways with him in Xiaxiang County, had also returned north to Xia Pi.

And he asked for an audience with Lu Bu early the next morning to convey the reply from the Xudu court.

Lu Bu was originally full of expectations, thinking that if Cao Cao did not bear grudges and appointed him as the governor of Xuzhou, he would be grateful and work hard for Cao Cao in the future.

Even if Cao Cao remembered the old grudge, he had prevented Yuan Shu's forces from entering Xuzhou, and Liu Bei had sincerely offered him the title of governor. Even if he gave him a discount, it wouldn't be too much to give him the title of governor, right?
As a result, after hearing the decree read out by Chen Deng, Lu Bu instantly became furious.

"What? Just the governor of Xia Pi? Even Wen Yuan can be in charge of Pengcheng and Gong Tai can be the prime minister of Pei?"

"You can become the governor of Guangling? Your father was also granted the title of Marquis of Guannei? How dare you sell me out! I failed to get the title of governor of Xuzhou, but your father and son both got high positions and titles, and are even on the same level as me? This is too much! Do you think my sword is not good?!"

A fire of ignorance rose up from Lu Bu's heart and rushed to his forehead, and he drew out his sword with a clang.

Fortunately, Chen Deng had already thought of a response. He didn't dare to breathe heavily at this moment. He laughed first to calm the situation and arouse Lu Bu's curiosity: "Hahahahahahaha..."

Lu Bu put his sword on Chen Deng's chest and angrily asked, "Why are you laughing?"

Chen Deng laughed enough and then said, "I have been running around to seek an official position for the general, but the general cannot distinguish between loyalty and treachery. Isn't this ridiculous?"

Lu Bu: "How can I not distinguish between loyalty and treachery?"

Chen Deng: "When I met Cao Gong, I tried my best to explain that raising a general is like raising a tiger. You should feed it enough meat. If you don't, it will bite you. But Cao Gong laughed and said, 'No, I raise Lü Bu like I raise an eagle. I dare not feed it before the fox or rabbit rests! When it is hungry, I use it. When it is full, it flies away!'"

Lu Bu's face changed several times, and he threw his sword to the ground angrily: "Cao the thief knows me!"

Chen Deng's life-and-death crisis was safely overcome according to the original inertia of history.

Lu Bu's anger comes and goes quickly, and he always gets angry on a whim.

However, history has ultimately been changed by the butterfly effect.

Just after Lu Bu put Chen Deng's failed attempt to get a government position behind him, he quickly thought of another question - Chen Deng was actually appointed as the prefect of Guangling, and Guangling was now under the rule of Liu Bei, so wouldn't he go to Liu Bei?

Thinking of this, Lu Bu picked up the sword he had just thrown on the ground again and pointed at Chen Deng and asked:

"Since you are the governor of Guangling, could it be that you have been conspiring with Liu Bei from the beginning just to rescue Liu Bei's family? I remember that your hometown is also in Guangling!"

Chen Deng continued to play innocent: "General, why do you doubt me? Although my ancestral home is in Guangling, my father is now an official in Xiapi. How could I betray my father? Moreover, regarding today's incident, Liu Bei's letter to the general, the governor of Xuzhou, was sincere and sincere. How could Liu Bei know that Cao Cao would not agree?
The three counties of Xuzhou were originally seized by the general from Liu Bei. Liu Bei not only did not care about it, but also covered up for the general and offered him the general's official position, just to get his family back. In the end, he was not given the official position, which was Cao Cao's fault, what did Liu Bei have to do with it?
In seeking an official position for the general, what is wrong with me cooperating with Liu Bei? If I had not cooperated, would there have been such a memorial? "

Lu Bu was finally speechless after being asked this question.

Although he is capricious, he still has basic logic and a sense of shame.

Even when Lu Bu killed Ding Yuan and Dong Zhuo, he was actually enlightened by someone's advice first. He felt that this was the right thing to do and found a self-comforting psychological hint before he did it.

He is not so shameless as to say, "I know this is wrong, it is disloyal, unjust, unkind and unfilial, but I still insist on doing it."

This time, Liu Bei really did not do him any wrong from beginning to end. Two years ago, when Lu Bu surrendered, Liu Bei took him in in Xiaopei and provided him with military rations.

Now he had betrayed Liu Bei and stolen nearly three counties, but Liu Bei did not turn against him. Instead, he sold fish and bought grain for him and helped him to get promoted.

Given Lu Bu's moral integrity, he really had no excuse to hate Liu Bei.

After all, in the original history, after Liu Bei was robbed in Xia Pi, he did try to counterattack, but he could not defeat Lu Bu. In that case, it can at least be said that the two sides exchanged fire and became enemies.

Later, Lu Bu returned Xiaopei to Liu Bei and shot the halberd at the gate again. In this way, he felt that he was back on the moral high ground, "I have repaid all the injustices I owed Liu Bei, and I also made Liu Bei owe me a favor by shooting the halberd at the gate."

But all this did not happen in this time and space.

Liu Bei neither counterattacked nor took Xiaopei, nor asked him to shoot the halberd at the gate.

Lu Bu really couldn't find any psychological clue to vent his anger on Liu Bei, so he could only be honest and upright for once.

Lü Bu threw his sword to the ground for the second time and said, "Lord Xuande has done me no wrong. This matter is entirely my fault to Cao Cao!

Since I am a great friend of Yuan Shu but cannot obtain actual authority from the court, I might as well go and show my friendship to Yuan Shu and tell him clearly: I can join forces with Yuan Shu to defend against Cao Cao's bandits!
However, I want Yuan Shu to send me another 100,000 shi of grain and some equipment and military supplies, and this alliance is only aimed at Cao thieves, not Lord Xuande. Yuanlong, are you sure you can go on another mission for me?"

Even though Chen Deng had already made a plan, he still stood still when he heard this, and he didn't know how to respond for a moment.

With his intelligence, he did not expect that Lu Bu's patience was so poor. Just because he failed to get the post of governor of Xuzhou from the court, he instantly made up his mind to defect again and wanted to betray Cao and ally with Yuan.

Seeing that he didn't say anything, Lu Bu's tone and expression turned grim: "Why? Is this a small matter so difficult?"

Chen Deng had no choice but to admit that his mind was not quick enough, and pleaded sincerely: "General, your ideas are too radical, and I can't figure them out for a while. Please be patient and let me think about it carefully."

Chen Deng evaded the question while thinking rapidly in his mind.

Recalling the past ten days, on the way back from Xuchang, Zhuge Jin had talked to him about the future diplomatic prospects of Liu Bei's camp when he had nothing to do.

"Zi Yu once said that although Lord Xuande has now obtained Guangling County and several coastal counties in Donghai County, the situation is still grim. To break the situation in the future, the most critical factor is to facilitate Yuan Shu's rebellion. Once Yuan Shu becomes the public enemy of the world, Lord Xuande's deadlock will be completely solved.

Now that Yuan Shu has just been defeated, he will not take advantage of the defeat to claim the throne. He should be given a few more sweet treats to strengthen his heart. Zhuge's taking Yuzhang and pretending to be polite to Yuan is one of the bargaining chips. If Sun Ce defeats Wang Lang in the future and reports the victory to Yuan Shu, it will also be a bargaining chip.

If we can use Lü Bu this time and make him pretend to be angry and ally with Yuan Shu again because he was fooled by Cao Cao, we might be able to further encourage Yuan Shu to be arrogant..."

Chen Deng was thinking this in his heart, his expression changing from gloomy to bright.

It was impossible for him to accurately calculate how high Yuan Shu's psychological threshold was for treason, but it was obvious that the more chips he had, the better.

As for whether Lu Bu will follow Yuan Shu to the end if he really plots rebellion in the future, it is still something that can be discussed.

Given Lu Bu's fickleness, he could have easily said, "I only support you in dealing with Cao Cao together, but I didn't say I support you in becoming emperor."

Then he could go to Cao Cao to explain, or persuade Cao Cao to win back his sincerity with a "cash on delivery" model. It would be fine to first grant Lü Bu the title of Xuzhou Mu, and then break up with Yuan Shu again in exchange for Lü Bu.

After today's wave, Chen Deng has a full and comprehensive understanding of Lu Bu's potential for repeated sideways jumps.

After thoroughly sorting out his thoughts, Chen Deng finally showed a righteous look on his face and bowed solemnly to Lu Bu:
"Cao is indeed too unfair. I completely understand the general's decision! I failed to get the post of governor of Xuzhou for you this time. So, I will settle this matter!
Although Yuan Shu would certainly be angry because the general sent the heads of Xu Dan and Zhang Kuang to Xudu, the two thieves were not real traitors after all, so Yuan Shu only lost face and no real benefit.

This time, he will at most humiliate me, but he won't kill me in anger. I am willing to take another risk for the general to atone for my incompetence this time!"

There was a lot of generosity in Chen Deng's words, like Jing Ke's revenge on Prince Dan.

All that’s left to sing is a line: The wind is whistling and the Yishui River is cold.

Lu Bu was touched by their sincerity and said, "Yuan Long is truly a loyal and righteous man! Lord Xuande is also a loyal and honest elder! This is purely the despicable and shameless behavior of Cao Cao!"
But Cao has just given us three prefecture governors. It is the coldest time of the year now, so we should firmly control the three prefectures. Yuanlong can contact Yuan Shu in the first month of next year. There is no need to rush."

Chen Deng managed his expression very well. While he acted like he was grateful for the help he received, he secretly admired Zhuge Jin's profound thoughts:
On their way back, they chatted about various ideas of "leaving every opportunity to trick Yuan Shu into becoming arrogant from every angle", and some of them actually came in handy.

(End of this chapter)