In the middle of the night, Lu Bu arrived at Wuwei City alone. Ma Teng, who was on the city gate tower, observed for a long time before putting down the wooden basket and pulling Lu Bu up.
Ma Teng was nearly fifty years old, and his hair was already white, but his body was quite strong. Behind him stood a white-robed general who looked very much like Ma Teng. He should be Ma Chao, Lu Bu thought. Although he was young, he already had the aura of a general. It seemed that the past few months of training had made him grow a lot.
Ma Teng greeted Lu Bu with a smile and was about to bring him to the city gate tower. However, he was stopped by Lu Bu, who saw that the soldiers were standing quite a distance away. Lu Bu took out an imperial edict from his bosom. He waited for Ma Teng and Ma Chao to kneel down before reading it.
When Ma Teng heard that the Emperor had conferred him the title of East Suppressing General, he immediately became happy. This was an official position of the second rank, which meant that he was also an important member of the imperial court. Then, he realized that Zhendong was asking him to guard the east of the country. Wasn't that sending him to his death? He had nothing.
Ma Teng's puzzled expression appeared in front of Lu Bu. He smiled and said,""Congratulations, General Ma. You have been promoted three ranks. This is a benefit that no one can imagine. Quickly get up and receive the decree."
Ma Chao, who was at the side, also urged softly,""Father, quickly receive the decree." He had not realized that this was not really a happy occasion.
Ma Teng hesitated on the ground for a long time before standing up. He took the imperial edict with both hands and asked Lu Bu,""Wen Hou, how are we going to destroy Han Sui's army?”
"Don't be anxious." Lu Bu patted Ma Teng's shoulder and said,""I know that General Ma has doubts in his heart, so I'll tell you first so that you won't be anxious. The Emperor is preparing to return to Luoyang, so he made you the Eastern General to guard the eastern gate of Luoyang. When the time comes, I will give you 50,000 troops to be stationed in Xingyang.”
After Ma Teng heard this, he finally calmed down and said,"Ma Teng thanks the Lord for his kindness."
Then, Lu Bu walked to the basket that he had brought up and took out two boxes. He placed them in front of Ma Teng and said,""In order to express my sincerity, I have brought two gifts for you.”
Ma Chao couldn't hold back his curiosity. He opened the two lids first and immediately took two steps back in fear. Then, he went forward to take a look. Ma Teng followed suit. Inside the box were the heads of Li Cui and Guo Si.
Seeing their heads, Ma Teng completely relaxed. He was also from Yong and Liang, so he naturally knew the relationship between Li and Guo and Dong Zhuo. They were the Direct Line of the Direct Line, and Lu Bu had killed them. It seemed that he and Dong Zhuo were irreconcilable enemies.
Lu Bu and Ma Teng discussed for a long time and agreed to attack Ma Teng at the third watch of the second night. Lu Bu sent infantry to surround the east and west sides of Han Sui's camp, digging trenches to prevent them from escaping. Ma Teng's army attacked from the front while Lu Bu's cavalry attacked from the back.
After the discussion, Lu Bu immediately returned to the camp. Now, all he had to do was wait until the attack time was up.
Ma Teng and Ma Chao were naturally extremely excited. Not only was he promoted, but the siege was about to be lifted. What could be happier than this?
After returning to the City Lord's Mansion, Ma Teng immediately gathered his subordinates to discuss defense. Of course, there were many things that he could not say. He could only tell everyone that Lu Bu's army would cooperate with them at midnight to eliminate Han Sui. Victory was not far from them.
Ma Teng's loyalty to the Han Dynasty was obvious, but he didn't have many loyal subordinates. Zhao Ang was one of them. He had a very good relationship with Han Sui. If it weren't for Ma Teng's tight defense, he would have given up the city long ago.
Now, hearing this news, Zhao Ang was shocked. This was not the result he wanted. When he returned home, he immediately called his trusted aide, wrote a secret letter, and sent him out of the city before dawn.
Han Sui did not sleep all night, reading over and over the treasure he had prepared for Lu Bu. He had no choice. Who asked him to be so lucky? If he had such a godfather, why would he be so humble?
Just as he was sighing, a soldier came to report that he had caught a spy who claimed to be a secret envoy. Han Sui was shocked. He thought to himself, Could it be that he had planted a spy in the city? He quickly ordered someone to bring him in.
Han Sui did not recognize the man in front of her, but the letter he sent was very familiar. He was quite familiar with Zhao Ang, but the contents of the letter surprised him even more.
Lu Bu actually wanted to collude with Ma Teng to destroy him. This was something he had never expected. No wonder he didn't move for two or three days. He must have been contacting the city.
The more Han Sui thought about it, the angrier he got. He had worked so hard for you and your son, but he had not received any benefits. Now, he wanted to burn the bridge after crossing the river and kill them to silence them.
He ordered his men to bring Zhao Ang's trusted aides to rest and immediately called his generals over. The Eight Warriors had always been his proudest subordinates, and this was the only way he had defeated Ma Teng.
The eight of them were furious after hearing Han Sui's story. The hot-tempered Cheng Yin immediately clamored to attack Lu Bu. The others also agreed. They wanted to take advantage of the other party's lack of preparation to sneak attack them. Kill Lu Bu and seize his military power.
Fortunately, Yang Qiu and Ma Wan were relatively calm. They mentioned the danger of Ma Teng and said that Lu Bu's army was nearly three times their own, so attacking was not a wise move.
Han Sui also gradually calmed down. He knew that the two of them were telling the truth, so he immediately decided to retreat. A real man could yield and stand firm. The world was so big, there must be a place for him to stay.
But where to retreat to became a problem. To the north was the Xiongnu, so it naturally wouldn't work. The east was Dong Zhuo's territory, so he couldn't go there. The west side was desolate and full of desert. In the end, only Zhang Lu from Hanzhong was left.
Han Sui did not dare to hesitate. He immediately ordered his men to pack their bags and prepare to escape. It was already the fifth watch. In a few more minutes, the sky would be bright. At that time, there would be no chance.
The nine of them split up and quickly packed up. Han Sui left Yang Qiu, Ma Wan, and five thousand men to act as the rear guard, and the rest immediately followed him.
By the time Lu Bu realized that something was wrong, Han Sui had already run 30 miles away. Lu Bu naturally understood the principle of not pursuing a cornered enemy. Moreover, Han Sui had left in such a hurry. He must have leaked the secret in the city and probably left an ambush in the dangerous areas.
The battle had ended before it even started. This was something that no one had expected. Lu Bu didn't enter the city and called Ma Teng to the camp to discuss the matter of whether he should stay or leave.
Lu Bu naturally wanted to bring a large number of Qiang people outside the city to Mei Dock to settle down. They were natural warriors, or else they would not have been able to develop in the gap between the Xiongnu and the Great Han.
Ma Teng naturally agreed, but he still had to discuss it with the leaders of the various tribes before it could be confirmed.
He let Ma Teng stay behind to deal with the tribe's problems and gave him 30,000 infantrymen to increase the defense. Lu Bu led Ma Chao, Pang De, and Ma Teng's 8,000 elite cavalry back to the capital.
Ma Chao was kept by his side as a deputy general. As for Pang De, Lu Bu had given him the position of Cavalry Lieutenant and made him the commander of the 8,000 cavalry. Lu Bu had generously given him two thousand cavalrymen, making a total of ten thousand.
After solving the problem of Liangzhou, only Yang Feng and Fan Chou were left. Towards them, the attitudes of the people in the court were also different. Seeing how easily Lu Bu had killed Li and Guo, Wang Yun naturally urged Lu Bu to kill them again to prevent future trouble. But Lu Bu knew that Han Sui had already fled to Hanzhong. He must have figured out the situation in Chang 'an. Yang and Fan must have received his letter. Otherwise, Han Sui would not have escaped so easily.
In the end, it was Wang Yun's compromise that ended the quarrel. Now, he could not fall out with Lu Bu. Liangzhou was divided into two and handed over to Yang and Fan. As for how to divide it, it was their own business. Of course, all of this had to wait until Ma Teng brought the Qiang and Liangzhou Han people to Mei Dock before announcing.
Then, someone brought up the issue of Huandu. After all, Luoyang was the real capital of the Great Han Dynasty, and it was not just a little bigger than Chang 'an.
This matter quickly reached a consensus. Lu Bu wanted to break free from the restraints of the Imperial Court and focus on development. Wang Yun and the others did not want to be threatened by a general who commanded more than 100,000 troops.
However, the people's fate became the biggest problem. The 600,000 to 700,000 people from Luoyang had already scattered to various parts of Yongzhou, and their spring grain had already been planted. If he were to take them with him now, it would definitely stir up a rebellion. However, the capital could not just have the imperial court and the army. That would be too inappropriate.
After four or five days of discussion, they finally decided to move the people from the Central Plains to Luoyang. However, where to move from became a problem. However, this was not something Lu Bu could consider. He left it to Wang Yun to deal with.
Now, his problem was how to recruit those talented people to supplement his lack of internal affairs talents.
Moreover, Lu Bu wanted to keep Cai Yong and use his reputation to open an academy to attract and reserve talents. However, this was only his own idea. He had to convince Cai Yong. Otherwise, everything would be just a delusion.
Now, apart from nearly 40,000 cavalrymen, there were 110,000 infantrymen stationed in Chang 'an. Dong Zhuo and Niu Fu were both dead, so his 50,000 soldiers naturally followed Lu Bu. Including the 10,000 he brought from Liangzhou, the total was 110,000. However, there were many old, weak, sick, and disabled people, and they still needed training.
Lu Bu selected 50,000 strong infantrymen and handed them over to Xu Huang, who was in charge of the defense of Chang 'an. He also ordered Li Su to bring thirty thousand old and weak soldiers to Mei Dock to replace Zhang Ji's fifty thousand men. The main construction of Mei Wu had been completed and the 100,000 migrant workers had become the first batch of residents. Their families had also been moved over. Naturally, there was no need to leave too many troops to be responsible for the construction. Since it was so close to Chang 'an, defense would not be a problem.
As for the remaining 80,000 infantry, Lu Bu had already decided to pick out another 20,000 elite soldiers and send the rest to Luoyang. Although they were just a motley crew, they were enough to guard the capital region.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]