Chapter 23: The Tiger General Returns to His Heart

  "You're cheating again."

  Xu Chu was stunned for a moment, then let out a loud roar and struggled with all his might.

  Alas, this net is extremely sturdy and made with special techniques, the more one struggles, the tighter it gets.

  Xu Chu was quickly tied up into a bundle and could no longer move even a small finger.

  Luo Zhen came up surrounded by several bodyguards, looking down at Xu Chu who was tied up in a bundle. He laughed loudly and said: "Xu Chu, are you going to regret it again? This general has already told you beforehand that there are pitfalls around the military account, and no sinister tricks were used to deal with you, but instead you were captured openly and fairly, what's the point of being deceitful?"

  Xu Chu was so shocked that he became speechless and his mouth was frozen in silence.

  As for how suddenly night turned into day, even if he cracked his brain, it wouldn't be in vain.

  Xu Chu's eyebrows were tightly furrowed, his face changing color several times, and his thoughts were in a fierce battle.

  Lu Zheng's face sank, and he lost his patience, saying coldly: "How about it, don't you admit defeat yet?"

  Xu Chu glared fiercely with his eyes, then hung his head in defeat and said, "I lost."

  Luo Zheng was overjoyed and hastily shouted, "Quickly, untie Zhong Kang!"

  "Yes, sir."

  He San was the thin man who was good at handling nets and he quickly opened the net as soon as he heard the call.

  Xu Chu relaxed his hands and feet, and immediately the dragon and tiger jumped up, with a fierce gaze staring at one of the guards protecting Luo Zheng's side. The guard's heart skipped a beat, thinking "Is this guy going to go back on his word again?"

  Luo Zheng's heart also skipped a beat, thinking to himself that he was indeed a bit too excited.

  Facing a fierce general like Xu Chu, how can we not summon the main army first to ensure absolute safety?

  At this moment of anxiety, Xu Chu pushed against the golden mountain and fell down like a jade pillar, loudly saying: "Xu Chu pays his respects to his lord."

  Luo Zheng's anxiety turned to joy, he rushed forward a few steps, pulled up Xu Zhu with both hands, and laughed so hard that his mouth was about to twist: "General didn't misjudge, Zhong Kang is indeed a trustworthy person, please get up quickly, please get up quickly!"

  Xu Chu stood up with the momentum, silently and solemnly standing on one side, actually still a bit embarrassed.

  Luo Zheng grabbed Xu Zhu's arm and said with a smile: "Come on, General Ben will take Zhang Kang to visit this place."

  Xu Chu was full of doubts and couldn't help but ask: "Why did the dark night suddenly become daytime, could it be that there are ghosts?"

  Lu Zheng saw that he had no fear on his face, and couldn't help but admire him even more. A fierce man is indeed a fierce man, this kind of bravery is not something that ordinary foolish people can match. When encountering such a terrifying thing, he actually showed no fear, it's clear that he is truly fearless of life and death, and therefore not afraid of ghosts and gods.

  Whoever has a fearful heart about death, how can they not fear ghosts and gods?

  Only those who truly fear no death are as firm as iron and dare not even ghosts and gods.

  Luo Zheng waved his hand to retreat his soldiers and lowered his voice: "Zhong Kang doesn't know this, but I have received the teachings of an immortal and can use immortal methods to open up a world in my palm. This place is about ten mu, it's just the world in my palm."

  "This..."

  Xu Chu widened his tiger eyes, staring blankly, unable to believe it, and couldn't even understand what the "world in one's palm" meant.

  For this era of backward and ignorant ideology, it is fundamentally impossible to understand such a fantastical thing. It's just like someone telling people in this era that they live on a planet with one root, which is really a bit too mystical.

  Luo Zheng said: "This is indeed General's greatest secret, so far only told Zhong Kang."

  Xu Chu was deeply moved at once, his embarrassment all gone. He bowed solemnly and said: "Thank you, milord, for your trust."

  Lu Zheng's mood was even better, and he personally took Xu Chu to taste the specialties of this era that were not available in their time, such as tomatoes and cucumbers. He laughed and said: "Zhong Kang is indeed a rare talent, few people can match him. When I first brought these people into this world, they were almost scared to death, thinking that I was a god or something, haha!"

  Xu Chu also grinned with a big mouth, but there was still a strong sense of astonishment in his eyes.

  Obviously, Luo Zheng's words about Xianren granting methods still have some things that Palm World cannot understand.

  Lu Zheng looked at him and said: "This world in the palm of one's hand has only been entered by Zhong Kang and a small number of my personal soldiers, it cannot be lightly revealed to others. From now on, my personal soldiers will be led by Zhong Kang, you must strictly guard the secret."

  Xu Zhu said with a clang: "Don't worry, milord, I'll take care of it."

  Luo Zhen nodded in agreement and led Xu Chu out of the vegetable garden, returning to the military tent under the cover of night.

  Xu Zhu cupped his hands and said: "I still have some trivial matters to return to the village and entrust to someone, please, sir, grant me permission."

  Luo Zheng said with a smile: "Never mind, Zhong Kang can go now and come back to the central army early tomorrow."

  Also known as Qīn Bīng, he led a good horse over and presented it to Xǔ Zhù, this fierce warrior was even more moved, got on the horse and left.

  The next day, Xu Chu indeed came early to the army, bringing more than 50 strong men with him.

  Luo Zhen personally came out of the camp and looked at the more than 50 strong men behind Xu Chu, asking: "What is this..."

  Xu Zhu said loudly: "My lord, these are all brothers who have followed me for many years. Since I am about to leave the village and follow you, my lord, they have come to join your camp and offer their services, also to make a name for themselves on the battlefield and gain recognition. Please accept them."

  All the villagers said in unison: "Please, General, accept our hospitality."

  "Alright, alright, this general agrees."

  Luo Zhen clapped his hands excitedly and pulled Xu Chu to one side, saying: "If there are still loyal family members following you, why not summon them all to the army at once? If they have families, they can temporarily enter this general's care, waiting for a later opportunity to find a place to settle down."

  Xu Zhu thought for a moment and then said: "My lord, I'll return to the manor once more after a while."

  Luo Zheng nodded and said: "In that case, this general will go with Zhong Kang. As long as those who are willing to follow this general can directly bring their families into the city."

  The general has temporarily settled down in his hands, so as not to waste time running back and forth.

  Xu Zhu said with a clang: "Obeying orders."

  Luo Zhen then called up more than a dozen of his personal soldiers and went with Xu Chu to Xuzhuang Village.

  More than 50 tenant farmers also changed into military uniforms and temporarily served as his personal bodyguards.

  The Xus are a large clan in Qiao County, with a considerable population. Apart from Xujiacun, there are also scattered clansmen living elsewhere.

  Xu Chu had a very high prestige in the clan, and after calling out, more than 200 people gathered immediately, almost all of whom were young men in their twenties and thirties who were willing to follow him into the army to make a name for themselves on the battlefield and to be granted titles and wealth for their wives and children.

  Nearly three hundred people, just family members are not a small number, as many as eight hundred or more.

  There were only two mu of empty space left in the vegetable garden, and it was already quite crowded to put more than 800 people in it.

  Luo Zheng reluctantly gave the order to flatten an acre of land planted with wheat to accommodate the people from Xujiashan Village. Although it was still a bit cramped, at least they could have a place to sleep and some spare space to set up stoves for cooking.

  At night, Xujiayuan lit up with lanterns.

  Xu Chu personally supervised, letting over 800 tribesmen line up in a long queue and enter a warehouse.

  Wait until everyone has entered, this guy brought Luo Zhengdi's twenty personal soldiers and followed in at the end.

  As expected, the vegetable garden was in a mess, and the newly arrived Xushi family members were frightened and uneasy, with cries of surprise rising and falling.

  Xu Chu hastily calmed them down, and it wasn't until he was sweating profusely that he finally managed to quell the panic among his tribesmen.

  Xu Family Village has now become a temporary garrison for the Western Liang Iron Cavalry.

  The Xus left with nearly a thousand people, and Luo Zheng no longer had any scruples, summoning the large army to come over and station in the Zhuangzi.

  If there are still some members of the Xu family who do not want to leave, they will not be able to make such a big show of it. Once the news comes out, the remaining members of the Xu family will definitely be accused of privately communicating with the Western Liang rebel army and their fate will likely not be good.

  In fact, the majority of the Xu family members were still unwilling to leave their homeland.

  After all, life is good, who would want to leave their hometown.

  Xu Chu was not fond of using his brain, but he also knew that joining the Western Liang army would bring disaster to his clan, so he made it clear to his clansmen, which led to the relocation of the Xu family.

  In the Zhuangzi, in a spacious hall above.

  Luo Zheng finished dealing with the matter of Xujiayuan and hastily convened a meeting with the military officers to discuss matters.

  "Where has Sun Jian's army gone?"

  Luo Zheng glanced at Commander Xi Hou and asked in a deep voice.

  "General He, Sun Jian led three thousand cavalry to Chen County and stopped advancing. Fifteen thousand infantry have arrived at Xinxiang, and in one more day, they can arrive at Chen County and join forces with Sun Jian's three thousand cavalry."

  Luo Zheng said in a deep voice: "From Chen County to Qiao County is one day's journey, that is to say, at the earliest, it will only take two days for Sun Jian's 18,000-strong army to arrive at Qiao County, which is one day earlier than expected. And the time left for our army to prepare is also only two days."

  The captain of the Hou team nodded hastily, "General is wise, it's just like that."

  Luo Zheng stood up and walked back and forth a few steps, suddenly asking: "What's going on in Qiao County?"

  The captain of the Xiao Hou team was stunned for a moment and replied: "We will wait with our swords drawn and defend ourselves tightly, there is no chance to take advantage of us."

  Lu Zheng rubbed his eyebrows and fell into deep thought, remaining silent.

  If we don't capture Baoxiang County, it will be impossible to force Kong Rong to retreat without regard for anything.

  Yuan Shao and Cao Cao are absolutely not going to retreat without destroying Luoyang, while Yuan Shao's old nest is far away in Bohai, and Cao Cao still has no place to settle down today, these two people will never let the vassals retreat easily.

  Therefore, if you want to force the various lords of different routes to retreat without hesitation, there is only one way: to attack their old nests.

  Otherwise, even if the vassals wanted to withdraw their troops, they would mostly be blocked by Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, with reservations in mind.

  Yuan Shu did not retreat his troops after being defeated at Wan City, and naturally he would not allow other vassals to retreat either.

  Sun Jian's army will arrive in two days at most, and there are only two days left.

  Since the Western Liang army arrived at Qiao County, Qiao County has been strictly guarded and there is no opportunity to take advantage of it.

  A fierce gale raged outside, but Luo Zheng's face remained calm as water.

  Just as I was having a headache, I suddenly heard a "crack" outside the tent, followed by the sound of something heavy falling to the ground.

  "What's going on?"

  Luo Zheng gazed out of the tent and let out a loud shout.

  Some of his personal guards rushed in and knelt down, saying: "General, it was a strong wind that broke the flagpole."

  "What's with this big wind?"

  Lu Zheng's sword eyebrows frowned for a moment, and then he thought of a plan. Suddenly, he was overjoyed, "I've got it! Qiao County can be broken!"

  All military schools were spiritually invigorated, and their eyes became scorching hot.

  Luo Zheng returned to his seat and said: "Listen to King Fang's orders."

  The end will be.

  Wang Fang hastily stood up and walked out of the tent, standing under it.

  Luo Zhen said: "I order you to lead two thousand soldiers and horses, divided into two teams, day and night, surround Qiao County and harass them."

  "I will obey orders."

  Wang Fang hastily responded loudly and immediately received the order, then led the troops out of the account.

  Lu Xun immediately dispersed the crowd of generals and led Xu Chu into the vegetable garden, summoning a group of artisans to ask questions.