It was easier than Lu Bu had imagined. When he arrived at Pang Tong's house, his parents agreed as soon as he explained his intentions. They had no choice. Their family was indeed quite poor. Now that they had such an opportunity to make a meteoric rise, they naturally had to grab hold of it.
The next day, Lu Bu met Yi Ji at Sima Hui's place. He was indeed a young man. Under Sima Hui's recommendation, Yi Ji quickly acknowledged Lu Bu as his lord. Lu Bu remembered that he did not have a chief clerk in his army, so he directly made Yi Ji an official position. After all, Yi Ji was quite a capable person.
However, when he tried to recruit Zhuge Liang, he encountered a problem. When Sima Hui told him that Xu Shu and Pang Tong were going with him, he immediately rejected Lu Bu's suggestion, not moving at all no matter what kind of temptation he offered.
Lu Bu had no choice but to give up. However, he did not expect such a young child to hold such a grudge.
After waiting for two days in Xiangyang, Gan Ning's subordinates arrived with a dozen guards. Lu Bu then sent Sima Hui and the others to Nanyang, where his cavalry was.
Lu Bu's destination was Mianyang in Jiangxia Prefecture, where Huang Chengyan lived in seclusion. Lu Bu still wanted to meet him. No matter what, he had to bring him to Chang 'an so that his daughter would not marry Zhuge Liang again and help him become a wooden ox.
Mianyang was close to the Han River and was also a scenic paradise.
Huang Chengyan's secluded villa was located in a place near a mountain and a river. Under the guidance of the local guide, Lu Bu directly submitted his name card and went to see him.
Huang Chengyan was only in his forties and had the demeanor of a great master. He invited Lu Bu into the central hall and sat down. Huang Chengyan did not ask why Lu Bu was here and began to introduce the scenic spots in Mianyang.
Lu Bu secretly cursed him for being cunning, but he didn't reject him. He went along with his words and even followed him to the Han River. That night, Lu Bu brought Dian Wei and Gan Ning to Huang Chengyan's residence.
The next day, Lu Bu saw that Huang Chengyan wanted to drag him to enjoy the beautiful scenery. He couldn't take it anymore. After all, he didn't have much time left. Who knew if news of Gan Ning's betrayal would suddenly spread? If that happened, it would be difficult for him to move around Jingzhou.
"Brother Cheng Yan is a famous person in Jing state, I won't be polite with you. The emperor heard of your name and wants to invite you to the capital to worship the minister. When do you think we should leave?" Lu Bu said. Although he knew that he wouldn't believe it, it was difficult for him to reject this excuse.
"General, do you have an imperial edict?" Although Huang Chengyan knew that Lu Bu's purpose for this trip was to pass down the imperial edict to the south, he could not believe that the Emperor would give him such a mission. Although he was quite famous, he was only famous in Jingzhou. Even though he knew that Lu Bu was lying, he had no way to refute him.
"This is a secret edict from the emperor, how could he let outsiders know about it? ChengYan need not doubt, to Chang 'an will know whether it is true or not. I'm a provincial governor, why would I joke with you?”Lu Bu said "seriously". Huang Chengyan couldn't help but believe his words.
"The Emperor's secret decree? Why?" Huang Chengyan was quite puzzled. What was there to hide? He still had to sneak into the capital?
"Isn't that clear? The Emperor is plotting to get rid of Dong Zhuo and has ordered me to take this opportunity to invite all the wise men in the world to the capital.”Lu Bu whispered," Brother Cheng Yan, you must know that I am the emperor's son-in-law, a relative of the royal family. Naturally, I have to kill that bastard Dong and return the power to the emperor."”
Having said that, Huang Chengyan already had no way out. He had been informed of such an important matter. If he did not cooperate, there was only death. If he went to Chang 'an with him and could really get rid of Dong Zhuo, he would be a minister of the country. At that time, the Huang family would be even more glorious than they were now. After weighing the pros and cons, he finally made up his mind and said,"General, since the emperor has issued an edict, when should we leave?”
Lu Bu smiled faintly and said," Brother Chengyan, prepare yourselves first. When the time comes, I will send someone to bring you to Nanyang. There are 1,000 imperial guards stationed there. We will meet them and then rush to Chang 'an."”
"I can leave anytime. I don't have anything to bring.”Huang Chengyan thought that since he had already promised him, then he would go with him. If he went alone, even if something happened, it would be easy for him to escape.
"Brother Cheng Yan, the emperor has ordered that you have to bring your family along.”Lu Bu knew that he was going to say this. Without the restraints of his family, he could leave anytime. Besides, he was still worried about leaving her in Jing State.
"What? General, wait for me to tell my family. Pack up and set off immediately.”Huang Chengyan's path of retreat was completely sealed, so he could only obediently agree.
"In that case, Bu will go and rest first.”Lu Bu bade farewell and immediately called Gan Ning. He told Gan Ning to bring all his men to the Yangtze River. Once they reached Xiangyang, they would kidnap the craftsmen and rush to Nanyang overnight.
Three days later, Huang Chengyan brought his wife and daughter, who was only three or four years old, with a butler and a few servant girls. They drove a carriage and followed Lu Bu to Xiangyang. Naturally, he had servants to take care of his manor. Huang Chengyan was the brother-in-law of the Jing Prefecture Overseer. No ignorant thief would come to his house to cause trouble. Lady Cai had a very good relationship with his sister.
Lu Bu and Huang Chengyan wandered around for an entire day before finally arriving at Xiangyang at dusk. Gan Ning had already been waiting for them with Lu Bu's personal guards.
After a hasty meal, Lu Bu left a few guards behind to protect Huang Chengyan's family before following Gan Ning to Jingzhou. It wasn't until dawn that they finally reached the Yangtze River. It was the middle of winter, and the sky brightened late. When they reached the riverside, it was still pitch-black.
Gan Ning took the torch from his subordinate and lit it up. He then sent a few signals to the river. A moment later, the same signal came from the river. Following that, the four ships slowly rowed to the shore. When the five hundred men were almost gone, Lu Bu ordered the ships to sail to the center of the river and sink them.
Watching the ship drift downstream without anyone controlling it, Lu Bu gathered everyone and assigned them their tasks. Then, they headed straight for the village by the river. Gan Ning had spent the past few days figuring out the situation in the village. Under his leadership, they quickly surrounded the village. Leaving 300 men outside the village to prevent anyone from escaping, and sending Gan Ning and 50 others to guard the dock, Lu Bu and Dian Wei quietly led the rest of the men to the camp at the village entrance.
On one side were the soldiers who were sleeping soundly and had never been on the battlefield, while on the other side were the pirates led by two generals who lived a bloody life. The battle of great disparity began silently and ended silently.
When the troops entered the village, they immediately attracted the barking of the dogs. Lu Bu didn't bother with them. He immediately knocked on the doors of every household and began to forcefully move them. Fortunately, there were only a hundred or so households. In less than two hours, they were all brought out of the village. Of course, there were a few who took advantage of the chaos to escape, but they were all caught red-handed by the people on the periphery. After being beaten up, they all became obedient.
At dawn, Lu Bu led the pirates and nearly a thousand craftsmen and their families to Xiangyang. It would take at least three to four days for someone to find out that the village had been attacked. The rations in the camp were enough to feed 200 people for a month, so Lu Bu naturally gathered them for himself. Otherwise, what would such a large army eat?
It only took them three to four hours to get here, but it was troublesome to go back. All the craftsmen had to bring their families along, and the only twenty horses were used to transport grain.
Two days later, everyone arrived at Xiangyang. Many of them had fallen ill from the overnight march. Fortunately, Xiangyang was already close to Nanyang County. They would reach Nanyang City in two days. Lu Bu wrote a letter to the head of the Imperial Army and put Gan Ning in charge of the troops, ordering him to lead the troops to Nanyang to meet up with the Imperial Army.
Lu Bu himself took Dian Wei to Yangzhou, where there were many famous people. He also wanted to go to Xuzhou to find Lu Su, who was someone Lu Bu wanted to get.
When the news that all the shipbuilders had been captured reached Liu Biao's ears, he did not care at all. Yuan Shu's attack was fierce, and Cai Mao, that good-for-nothing, was not made to lead the army. He lost twenty to thirty thousand troops in vain and ran back. If he was not the brother of his new wife, he would have cut off his head. Fortunately, an unknown general, Wen Pin, led an army to block Yuan Shu's attack. However, he only had 20,000 men, while Yuan Shu had 50,000 to 60,000. Failure was only a matter of time. In Changsha, Huang Zu's navy had inexplicably stopped attacking, allowing Sun Jian to seize the opportunity to defeat his army in one fell swoop. Huang Zu was even more stupid. He was actually stabbed to death by a sixteen-year-old general. Now, under the leadership of Zhou Tai and Huang Gai, Sun Jian's army had already recovered their lost territory and was attacking Jiangxia. When he joined forces with Yuan Shu, he would really be finished.
Liu Biao was in a terrible state on the main seat, while the strategists below were also scratching their ears and cheeks. Liu Biao was so anxious that he shouted,"You guys should think of a way quickly!"”
Seeing that everyone had no choice, Fu Xun glanced at everyone proudly and said,"Don't worry, my lord. Although the bandits are powerful, they can easily retreat. As long as two eloquent men were sent to Yangzhou and Xuzhou to attack Sun Jian and Yuan Shu respectively, the two armies would certainly retreat.”
"Good, good idea." Liu Biao immediately stood up,""Then who should we send?"
Fu Xun took two steps forward and said,"Gongti is willing to share the Lord's worries."”
Seeing Fu Xun taking the credit, the two Kuai brothers quickly stepped forward and said,""My lord, the two of us are also willing to go to Xu and Yang Prefecture.”
Liu Biao was happy and didn't pay attention to them snatching credit. He immediately said,""Alright, Gongti and Zirou, go to Xuzhou and Yangzhou respectively. You have to bring me reinforcements.”
"Yes." After the two of them answered, they went their separate ways, leaving Kuai Yue, who didn't manage to get a job, to curse his bad luck.
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