Transmigrating to the Three Kingdoms as Lu Bu: I Have a Pseudo-Apocalypse System

On the seventh day of the first lunar month, Lü Bu's army arrived at Zhian County in Hedong Commandery.

Wei Kai, the Prefect of Hedong County, led the officials left behind to meet them ten miles outside the city.

When Wei Kai and his men saw ten thousand elite cavalrymen, each with two horses, in perfect military formation, but not a single grain cart or supply wagon in sight, they were dumbfounded.

"Your humble servant, Wei Kai, Prefect of Hedong Commandery, pays his respects to the General!" Wei Kai bowed respectfully.

Lü Bu dismounted and helped him up: "Prefect Wei, there's no need for such formalities. General Wang has gone north to fight the Hu, and you've worked hard on the affairs of Hedong."

"It is my duty as an official," Wei Kai hurriedly said. "General, please enter the city. The prefectural government has prepared food and lodging for you."

Lü Bu nodded: "Alright, the army will set up camp outside the city. I'm entering the city for two things: first, to receive the household registration records of Hedong Commandery and officially bring Hedong under the direct control of the imperial court; second, to allocate 50,000 shi of grain and 100,000 guan of cash to you for the purpose of paying salaries and providing shelter for displaced people."

Wei Kai was both surprised and delighted.

What surprised people was Lü Bu's decisive action, and what pleased them was that Lü Bu actually provided provisions and pay, which would greatly alleviate the pressure on provisions and pay in Hedong Commandery.

"I'll take care of it right away!" Wei Kai said excitedly. "The household registration records are already prepared! But what about the grain?"

After saying that, he looked at the troops behind Lü Bu, meaning that he did not see Lü Bu's grain transport carts and asked where the grain and pay he was talking about were.

Lü Bu smiled at Wei Kai and said, "Take me to the county granary, and I will deposit the grain and provisions directly into the county granary."

Wei Kai and the officials beside him were all shocked. Could it be that the story of the divine granary bestowed by heaven was indeed true?

It wasn't until Wei Kai took Lü Bu to the county treasury, where Lü Bu conjured up 50,000 shi of grain and 100,000 guan of cash from his storage space and deposited them into the treasury, that Wei Kai was completely convinced.

With such a divinely bestowed granary, the world has no choice but to belong to Lü Bu. As for the Xianbei and Xiongnu allied forces, that's a trivial matter.

At this moment, he was extremely grateful that he had advised the governor of Wangyi to submit to the imperial court and to Lü Bu.

Afterwards, Lü Bu accompanied Wei Kai to the prefectural governor's office and examined the household registers and official rosters. Looking at the densely packed names on the bamboo slips, Lü Bu knew that Hedong Prefecture had officially come under his control.

The next day, before the army set off, Lü Bu looked at Wei Kai and said, "Wei, you will stay and guard Anyi. Take good care of the government affairs and appease the displaced people."

"promise!"

During the march, military reports from the north kept arriving, and Lü Bu summoned his generals and issued orders.

"Gentlemen," Lü Bu spread out the map, "according to intelligence reports, Kebineng has led the main force of the Xianbei, about 10,000 cavalry, through Yanmen Pass and is currently plundering the counties north of Taiyuan Commandery, approaching the prefectural capital, Jinyang. The Southern Xiongnu Qubei tribe has about 3,000 cavalry in the vicinity of Lishi, the capital of Xihe Commandery. As for the western front, the Northern Di forces are relatively small, so we can leave them to Ma Teng."

He pointed towards Jinyang: "My target is Kebineng. As long as we annihilate the main force of the Xianbei, the Northern Di coalition will collapse on its own, and the Xianbei will be no threat. At that time, the garrison troops and powerful clans in various parts of Bingzhou will surely rise up in response to the imperial court's great victory and wipe out the scattered Hu cavalry."

Zhang Liao asked, "General, what is the strategy?"

A cold glint flashed in Lü Bu's eyes: "Blitzkrieg. Our soldiers, one man on two horses, can travel over a hundred li a day. The Xianbei will never expect us to arrive so quickly. After arriving in Jinyang, we will attack directly without rest, concentrating our forces to deliver a fatal blow."

Gao Shun frowned: "General, although our army is elite, the soldiers may be exhausted after such a long march and immediate combat."

"Therefore, we must press on with our momentum," Lü Bu said. "Tell the soldiers that this battle must be won quickly. If we win, everyone will be rewarded, and the merits will be doubled."

He stood up and looked around at his generals: "I have a divinely bestowed granary, so transporting provisions and military supplies will not be time-consuming or laborious. Our army also has stirrups, saddles, and horseshoes, allowing for two horses to be ridden in rotation, which will double the combat power of our cavalry. If we still can't defeat a bunch of barbarians who can't even afford leather armor, then I, Lü Bu, should not bother fighting for the world."

The generals were filled with fervor and shouted in unison, "We are willing to fight to the death with our great general!"

Lü Bu's army, led by one man and two horses, galloped northwards.

Without the burden of grain carts or baggage, the entire army was lightly equipped and could travel over a hundred li a day.

The people along the way were amazed to see this strange army—without any supply wagons, yet everyone was in high spirits and the horses were plump and strong.

The news spread like wildfire: General Lü Bu, the Marquis of Wen, had personally led the imperial army north to quell the barbarians.

The panicked officials and common people of Hedong County, as well as some powerful landlords who were preparing to flee, finally felt at ease.

It was just past noon on the eighth day of the first lunar month, outside Linfen County.

A cold wind swirled the remaining snow, sweeping across the withered fields. The city walls weren't high; the rammed earth surfaces were eroded by time and war, leaving many pits. The city gates were tightly shut, and the drawbridge hung high above.

About a mile outside the city, hundreds of dilapidated leather tents were pitched, leaning precariously and flapping in the wind.

This was the temporary camp of Yufuluo's three thousand Xiongnu cavalry.

In the camp, the Xiongnu soldiers gathered in twos and threes around a small fire, on which earthenware pots were placed to cook thin millet porridge—this was "military rations" sent by the magistrate of Linfen County. Each person was given no more than half a liter of rice, and after being cooked into porridge, it was so thin that you could see the bottom.

A bearded Xiongnu veteran scooped up a spoonful of porridge, looked at the meager number of grains of rice, and spat, "Han officials are so stingy! They said it was rations for the troops, but this is all they have. Who can eat this much?"

A young soldier standing nearby trembled and said, "Uncle, I heard that the magistrate of Linfen County is afraid we'll come into the city and loot, so he's afraid to open the city gates. It's already good enough that he can give us some millet to cook porridge to fill our stomachs."

"Nice my foot!" Another burly Xiongnu man stood up, pointing angrily at the city wall. "We are marching north to fight the Bei rebels under the imperial edict of the Han Dynasty! We are the royal army! Why are they only giving us this little bit of food? How can our brothers fight on empty stomachs?"

His shout caused dozens of Xiongnu soldiers around him to stand up, their emotions running high.

"Yes, we're going to fight the Qubei rebels; we're quelling the rebellion for the Han Dynasty!"

"Open the city gates! Let us come in, have a good meal, and get a good night's rest!"

"If you don't give us food, we'll go and steal it ourselves!"

Chaos spread like wildfire.

Soon, hundreds of Xiongnu soldiers gathered in front of the camp gate, shouting loudly towards the city wall. Some even began to pack up their weapons, their eyes filled with hostility.

The soldiers guarding the city wall became tense.

The county constable, crouching behind the battlements, whispered to the magistrate beside him, "My lord, the barbarians are causing trouble. Should we fire arrows as a warning?"

The magistrate of Linfen County, a scholar in his fifties surnamed Zhou, was pale-faced but forced to remain calm: "No! They are, after all, acting on the imperial edict to go north. If we shoot them, we cannot bear the responsibility. If we anger them, they might turn around and plunder the surrounding villages, causing even more suffering to the people. Send an order to send out another fifty shi of millet, saying that the county treasury is empty and this is all we can scrape together."

"Fifty shi? Divided among three thousand people, that's only two jin per person." The county magistrate smiled bitterly.

"We should stall for time as long as possible." Magistrate Zhou wiped the sweat from his brow. "According to the courier reports, the imperial army led by the Grand General should be arriving soon. Once the Grand General arrives, the Xiongnu will be unable to cause any trouble."