The Rebirth of Lu Bu in the Legend of the Heroes of the Later Han Dynasty

In the first year of Xingping (194), there was a severe drought in Guanzhong, which made it difficult for many people to maintain their lives. In Chang'an, the capital of the former dynasty, there was even an incident of exchanging children for food.

It has been ten years since Lu Bu came to this era. He has completely integrated into the life of this era. The daughter Yan Danchen gave birth to for him is also two years old. Lu Bu named his daughter Lu Wen, with the courtesy name Lingqi, and the family lived happily.

In the long-term battle with Xianbei, the combat power of the Bingzhou reserve army has been greatly improved. Now, including the reserve army, Bingzhou already has 120,000 elite soldiers, and the total population of Bingzhou is less than one million. It can be said that it is basically Young people from all over Bingzhou joined the army. However, there was no food shortage in Bingzhou, all thanks to the implementation of the farming system.

Among the treasures previously excavated from Mangdang Mountain, the coins were distributed to the families of the soldiers on a monthly basis as military pay, while the ordnance and fine iron were all used to arm the army. With the flow of Fengxian trading companies across the country, coupled with the continuous establishment of sales markets, Bingzhou has experienced economic prosperity; Fengxian Academy has also trained the first batch of talents, who will be assigned after the final assessment by Lu Bu and Chen Gong. Give them temporary positions, and after the three-year probationary period, they can become official officials in Bingzhou.

When news of a severe drought in Guanzhong came, Lu Bu asked Wei Xu to donate 100,000 shi of grain to the people of Guanzhong in the name of Fengxian Trading Co., Ltd. The suffering people of Guanzhong regarded Lu Bu as their god and even spontaneously built a shrine to worship Lu Bu.

Niu Fu in Luoyang City, on the other hand, lived a life of extravagance, not expanding his territory or regaining Hulao Pass, but enjoying himself all day long. The Xiliang generals and Xiliang soldiers under his command also followed the example of their commander. The originally prosperous Luoyang City was plundered day after day by the Xiliang army, and all its industries withered.

Gongsun Zan's general Tian Kai, with the help of the three brothers Liu Guan and Zhang, Zhao Yun, and Tai Shici, finally defeated Yuan Shao and captured the entire territory of Qingzhou. Gongsun Zan also became the overlord of Hebei, which controlled the two states. With his sudden increase in strength, he accelerated the pace of recruiting troops. The next step was to eat Yuan Shao of Jizhou.

After Yuan Shao occupied Jizhou, he did not get the support of everyone. Many states and counties were loyal to Han Fu and launched resistance from time to time. Yuan Shao's generals were tired of suppressing the local resistance, but forced the rebels to the Black Mountains, and together with Zhang Yan, a remnant of the Yellow Turban who was originally hiding in the Black Mountains, formed the Black Mountain Army.

Zhang Yan had five generals under his command: Yang Feng, Yu Du, Bai Rao, Sui Gu, and Tao Sheng. Each of them commanded 20,000 to 30,000 troops. They burned, killed, and plundered on the borders of Jizhou, and launched guerrilla operations against the official army. They became Yuan Shao's confidants. Serious trouble.

What worries Yuan Shao even more is the issue of heirs.

The eldest son Yuan Tan had followed him in the army for many years and was originally the most qualified one. However, Yuan Tan actually took action on his own and poisoned Han Fu, the former governor of Jizhou, and seized Han Fu's property. He was scolded and excluded from the ranks of heirs. The second son, Yuan Xi, was castrated when he was a hostage in the previous episode and lost the qualification to become the heir. The youngest son Yuan Shang is still young and cannot see what his future development will be.

The civil and military forces under Yuan Shao were also divided into three camps.

The elders were the first group of people to follow Yuan Shao. Representatives include Xu You, Feng Ji, Xun Chen, Yan Liang, and Wen Chou.

The Hebei faction was a local gentry that was originally suppressed by Han Fu. Its representatives include Tian Feng, Ju Shou, Zhang He and Gao Lan.

There are also the original officials under Han Fu. Representatives include Guo Tu, Xin Ping, Xin Pi, Chunyu Qiong, Jiang Qi, Lu Kuang, and Lu Xiang.

There is another person who does not belong to these three camps, that is Ju Yi. This general from Liangzhou has caused Yuan Shao's army to suffer a lot before. However, he has the talent to lead the army, and Yuan Shao has to use him.

Yuan Shao came from a noble family. He had been used to seeing the struggles between the factions in the court since he was a child. He had personally experienced the chaos of the party and the eunuchs, so he was very good at weighing the forces of all parties and controlling his subordinates.

He had a plan to divide the Han Dynasty equally with his younger brother Yuan Shu, one in the north and the other in the south. He once thought of supporting Liu Yu as emperor to fight against Liu Xie, the Han Xian Emperor supported by Dong Zhuo, but Liu Yu died at the hands of Gongsun Zan, leaving him This plan failed. Liu Dai of Yanzhou surrendered to Cao Cao, Liu Yao of Yangzhou surrendered to Yuan Shu, Liu Biao of Jingzhou and Liu Yan of Yizhou had both passed the age of knowing their destiny, and neither of them had much time to live, so they were not good candidates to succeed the emperor.

So Yuan Shao and Cao Cao formed an alliance of scholar-bureaucrats and proposed using scholars to govern the world. Yuan Shu believed that the Han Dynasty was exhausted and the Yuan family was in the ascendant, so he formed a warlord alliance with Tao Qian and Gongsun Zan to deal with Yuan Shao's alliance of scholar-bureaucrats. The two brothers parted ways because of different political views.

On this day, Yuan Shao held a meeting in Yecheng to discuss how to expand his strength.

Xu You was the first to speak, "My lord should take advantage of Gongsun Zan's occupation of Qingzhou and its unstable foothold, raise an army to attack it, and then form an alliance with Lu Bu to divide Youzhou equally. If Gongsun Zan is eliminated, only Lu Bu will be left in Hebei. At that time, my lord will fight with Xianbei and Wu Huan unites and destroys Lu Bu, and Hebei can be conquered."

"It's impossible." Tian Feng objected, "Gongsun Zan is a wolf of wealth, and Lu Bu is a tiger. Our army has no chance of winning against either of them. The most important thing right now is to recruit the Black Mountain Army. With their joining, the lord will But by relying on Jizhou's economic advantages and developing steadily, when there is a conflict between Lu Bu and Gongsun Zan, and then sending troops to fight against it, we can win in one battle."

"What Tian Feng said is a big mistake! According to his method, my lord will not be able to unify Hebei within ten or twenty years. I see that Gongsun Zan has resorted to militancy and is already a strong external force. Our army should be divided into two groups to capture Youzhou and Qingzhou respectively, and then Alliance with Xianbei and annex Lu Bu." The speaker was Guo Tu.

Yuan Shao looked at the general, "What do you think?"

Yan Liang said, "My lord, give me 30,000 elite soldiers. I will surely capture Qingzhou. As for the Black Mountain bandits, they are just an itch."

Chunyu Qiong said, "General Yan's words are wrong. If the Black Mountain bandits are not eliminated, they will become a big trouble!"

Wen Chou couldn't hold himself back, "You are a surrendered general, what qualifications do you have to say about my elder brother's strategy? I can pacify the Black Mountain bandits with only three thousand men."

Everyone expressed their opinions. After listening to Wen and Wu's ideas, Yuan Shao decided on the next strategy. "Yan Liang led 50,000 troops to attack Qingzhou, Wen Chou led 30,000 troops to wipe out the Black Mountain Army in Jizhou, and Chunyu Qiong led 20,000 troops to Jieqiao. To prevent Gongsun Zan from sending troops from Youzhou, Xunchen went to Bingzhou to negotiate peace with Lu Bu. Ju Yi and Jiang Qi each led 10,000 troops to support all parties."

The war is about to break out in Hebei.