Chapter 3: Gao Shun Visits and Returns to Xudu!

  Lü Rui was in a very good mood after recruiting the four bald donkey bodyguards, and took Dian Wei and others out hunting the next day. Of course, the monk was also taken out, which was a scenic line in the Eastern Han Dynasty that could attract many eyeballs. Using religion? This is still to be said after Cao Cao established his position as the northern overlord!

  "Hehe, got another wild rabbit, today's dish is upgraded!" Lü Rui drew his bow and arrow, harvesting another prey.

  "Master Hou, your archery skills have improved again!" Tian Wei said with a smile, riding on his horse.

  "Want to come and practice archery too?"

  "No need, Tianwei doesn't like archery, hunting, just go and kill it directly!"

  Lv Rui was speechless for a moment, hunting is also an art, Tian Wei went up and killed him directly, no need to use bows and arrows, just use flying knives to kill, isn't this not having many fun in hunting?

  "Report to His Excellency, Sir Cai has requested your return to the Governor's mansion, there is an important matter to discuss!" A small soldier came galloping in to report.

  What's wrong? What happened again? Old Cao has called himself back again? How disappointing!

  Lü Bu settled the little horse and brought a group of people back to the mansion of the governor of Xuzhou. As soon as he entered the main hall, Lü Bu saw two men kneeling in front of Cao Cao, and these two were Gao Shun and Cao Xing!

  "Junior greets Uncle Cao!" Lü Rui entered the house and paid respects to Cao.

  "Ah, Rui'er? This is General Gao Shun and General Cao Xing!"

  "Met two generals!" What is Zhongfu doing? These two people must have known each other!

  "Long time no see, Young Master!" Gao Shun and Cao Xing returned the courtesy with a bow.

  "Rui Er, the two generals were formerly under Wen Hou's command and are men of loyalty and righteousness. They have heard that Wen Hou's daughter has been betrothed to you and have come to offer their thanks. At the same time, they wish to resign from their official posts and become ordinary guards at your manor. What do you think, Rui Er?" Cao looked at Lü Rui with a hint of a smile.

  "Ah, you're really something else! What exactly are you trying to say? Gao Shun has his own troops, and Cao Xing is also a high-ranking general. You want me to take them all in and be the mediator?"

  Lü Rui nodded and said: "Both of you are generals of the current generation, why do you want to stay in my marquis's mansion as a humble and unknown guard? If both of you serve under Prime Minister Si Kong, you will surely achieve great things and live up to Marquis Wen's expectations for you!"

  Gao Shun stepped forward, cupped his hands and said: "Your Lordship, we two have been through many battles together, and are tired and weary. I hope to rest well, please grant me this wish!"

  What do you want me to agree with? You must get the consent of Cao Xing's wife! Is Uncle Zhong dead or not? If he doesn't speak up, I'll pass the buck to him! Lü Rui cupped his hands and asked: "Uncle Zhong? Gao Shun and Cao Xing are under your command. If you agree, I have no problem!"

  "Please, Lord Cao, grant us our wish!" Gao Shun and Cao Xing clasped their fists in entreaty.

  Rui'er this clever ghost, kicked the ball to my side. Cao coughed a few times and said: "Two generals, according to our Han Dynasty laws, for a general, unless he is dead, resigning from his official position requires deliberation by the imperial court, which usually takes half a year. You two generals, even if you want to resign, can only leave your posts after half a year!"

  Cao is indeed Cao, his words are always on a high level!

  "They looked at each other, stunned. A soldier's duty is to obey, and since they had already surrendered to Cao Cao, the military law of the Han Dynasty still had to be followed!"

  "Two generals, I have a plan that can benefit both sides. Would you like to hear it?"

  "Please instruct us, Your Excellency!" The two men bowed slightly to Lü Rui.

  "The two generals are merely trying to repay the kindness of Duke Wen, and want to take care of his family. I have a compromise plan: the two generals can follow Duke Wen's family to garrison in various places, wherever Duke Wen's family goes, the two generals will be transferred there, making it convenient for them to take care of them. What do you think of this method?"

  "The method of Rui'er is very clever! The two generals, if you are not willing to follow this governor south to conquer and north to defend, garrisoning cities is also acceptable. As long as the family of Wen Hou is in a certain place, this governor will transfer the two generals to that place!"

  The two of them exchanged a glance, nodded, and clasped their fists in respect: "Thank you, Sir Sikong!"

  "Good, good! With two generals to assist me, what worry is there that great things cannot be accomplished?"

  "Your Excellency, Prince, Gao Shun has one more request, I hope you will grant it!"

  Lv Rui glanced at Gao Shun: "Honest words are so many? Are there any other requirements?"

  "Your Excellency, Gao Shun knows that the Marquis of Wen's family is taken care of by Young Master Hou. After returning to Xudu, they will move into the residence of the Minister of Works. Gao Shun requests to stay in Young Master Hou's courtyard and guard the Marquis of Wen's family!"

  Cao patted his thigh and said, "General Gao is indeed a man of loyalty and righteousness. If the Prime Minister agrees, General Gao can move into Rui'er's courtyard, and Rui'er will be responsible for his living arrangements. And General Cao can also come to live here!"

  "Thank you, Sir Cai! Young Master Hou!" The two men showed a joyful expression and clasped their fists in gratitude.

  "Alas, dead old man, isn't it just losing a ball of skin to you, and bringing two edible ones into my courtyard? Sigh, when under someone's roof, one cannot but bow their head. Who made me not have a place to live in Xudu? Hmph, once the Cao Wei regime is stabilized, I'll find a place to build a big courtyard, and no longer live with others!"

  Gao Shun and Cao Xing received the reply to stay at Lü Rui's residence, and they left the governor's mansion with joy. Only Cao Cao and Lü Rui were left in the house.

  "Uncle, if there's nothing else, I'll take my leave!" Lü Rui cupped his hands and asked Cao.

  "Wait a minute, Second Uncle has something else to discuss with you!"

  "Yes, Uncle!" Lü Rui had no choice but to sit down again.

  "Ruier, Chen Deng came to visit this morning and wants to obtain the manufacturing rights for the new five-tongbao coins. He plans to set up a mint in Xiapei, which will be supervised by the imperial court, while the Chen family will be responsible for production. I have already asked Bo Ru for his opinion, and he agrees with it. Ruier is good at managing the affairs of the merchants, what are your thoughts on this?"

  Lü Rui listened and said, "Chen Deng is really formidable. He immediately saw the wonderful use of new money. Is it made by the Chen family? If there was no Chen family, I'm afraid the new money would not be able to be promoted in Xuzhou." Lü Rui clasped his hands and said, "Uncle Zhong, the Chen family is a big clan in Xuzhou and controls part of the commerce in Xuzhou. Without the support of the Chen family, I'm afraid the new money will not be able to be promoted in Xuzhou, let alone the Ji family."

  Cao nodded and said, "Rui'er makes a lot of sense. Zongzi is not on the same mind as us and will definitely not assist us. In Xuzhou, we can only rely on the Chen family. Rui'er has grown up gradually and his strategy has also improved a lot. I'm very happy. After Rui'er's coming-of-age ceremony, I'll let him lead an army alone, how about that?"

  What? You want me to lead an army by myself? Isn't that going to make me train soldiers? This is a tough job, getting rained on every day, practicing martial arts every day, can't be careless, Old Cao's workaholic, if the training isn't good, I'll be punished!

  Lü Rui hastily cupped his hands and said: "Uncle, I'm lazy by nature, I don't want to lead the army, I just want to command it. If you trust me, give me the Tiger Tally, let me also bring a few tens of thousands of troops to show off!"

  Cao looked at Lü Rui's appearance, then pointed to Lü Rui with his hand and said: "Rui'er, Rui'er, you are really greedy. You don't want to practice martial arts, but just want to take the ready-made ones. This is not good. Let's discuss this later, go down first!"

  "Thank you, Uncle!" Lü Rui heard and happily retreated, heh heh, judging from Cao's tone, he himself didn't need to practice military tactics, he could directly command the army!

  After Lü Rui left, a black shadow appeared beside Cao. Cao smiled and said: "At first, Rui'er didn't choose you as his master, but was spoiled by Feng Xiang this scoundrel and became more and more lazy!"

  "Hei Ying bowed and said: 'Master, the Marquis likes to be self-willed. If he were to bow to me as his master, it would definitely lead to discord between us. It's best for you, Master, to instruct him.'"

  Cao nodded and said, "Yes, Zhi Cai's words are reasonable. Let's leave Rui Er's matter for now and consider how to train him later. By the way, Zhi Cai, how is Lü Bu's matter going?"

  "Hei Ying cupped his hands and said: 'Master, you've forgotten, this matter isn't something I'm good at!'"

  Cao smiled and said: "I forgot, you three are one entity, all come out!"

  Two men walked out from behind the black shadow, dressed in the same attire as the black shadow, wearing a bamboo hat on their heads and a raincoat on their bodies, with only slight differences in height among the three.

  Cao looked at the three of them and then said: "Dào Cháng? Are you really confident that Lü Bu will be forever loyal to me?"

  A dark figure said: "Don't worry, my lord. I have absolute confidence in this method, which has been tested many times by me and is guaranteed to be foolproof! However, you must choose one person who is absolutely loyal to you before we can carry out this plan!"

  Cao stroked his beard and said, "Alright, Daozhang, I'll leave this matter in your hands!"

  "Yes, sir!"

  Cao thought for a moment and asked: "Lü Bu, the bravest warrior in the world, what if there's any weakness? Is it because of his lack of wisdom or is he too careless, not bringing enough men with him to guard against unexpected events?"

  "My lord, you are worrying too much. Lü Bu is known as the bravest warrior in the world, but in my eyes, he's just an evenly matched opponent. He excels at cavalry battles, but it's not certain that he's the best in the world on foot. I have absolute confidence that I can suppress Lü Bu!" Another dark figure bowed and said.

  "Then I'll have to trouble you, Master!" (Master isn't a monk, don't get any wrong ideas)

  "Please be at ease, sir. I will definitely keep an eye on Lü Bu. If this matter fails, I will kill Lü Bu. A dead man can die again, it's no big deal!"

  "Master's martial arts, I still trust you, Zhi Cai. You stay in Xuzhou to deal with Lü Bu, and I'll leave half of the assassins with you. Be careful!"

  "Thank you, sir!"

  "Alright, you can withdraw now!"

  The dark figure bowed and said: "Yes, sir!" The dark figure waved its long sleeve, and the other two dark figures disappeared.

  "Dismissed!" The dark figure nodded his hands.

  "Alright, go!" The black shadow vanished from Cao's line of sight.

  Cao Cao, after handling some government affairs in Xuzhou, appointed Che Zhou as the governor of Xuzhou and had him lead troops to defend the city. Then he returned to Xuchang with Liu Bei and his two brothers, along with the main army.

  Lü Bu brought his whole family with him, and they marched towards Xuchang in a grand procession, returning to the residence of the Minister of Works. As soon as Lü Bu entered his own courtyard, the steward came to report that Cao Cao was hosting a banquet that evening to welcome Lü Bu's family to the Minister of Works' residence. Upon hearing this, Lü Bu's heart sank, and he thought to himself: "It's all over! There will be a great show tonight, a beauty trap!"