Three Kingdoms New Lü Bu

  Soon, Zhang Chao learned that Lü Bu had led his army back to Dai Commandery and again led the crowd to plunder, heading east. While plundering in Julu County, Zhang Chao was hit by a stray arrow and died of his injuries. Before his death, he ordered the crowd to follow Zhang Yan as their commander to lead the Black Mountain bandits. Zhang Yan changed his surname to Zhang to commemorate Zhang Chao's kindness and kept the character "Yan" in his name.

  Zhang Niujiao died, and Zhang Yan became the commander, leading 200,000 Black Mountain troops. Many cities and villages were plundered. However, Zhang Yan was not an ordinary person, thinking that being a mountain bandit would not be a long-term plan. He thought of going to join Lü Bu again. But he feared that one person traveling north to Dai Commandery was quite far, so he wanted to invite more people to go with him, which would also give them momentum and prevent them from being annihilated by government troops before reaching Dai Commandery.

  Then Zhang Yan sent someone to go east to Qingzhou to find Guan Hai, and at the same time went south to Runan to find Liao Hua and others. After a month, Zhang Yan received news from Guan Hai, who was willing to join forces with Zhang Yan's army to surrender to Lü Bu, but there was no news from Liao Hua's army for many days. So Zhang Yan made an appointment with Guan Hai, and the two of them led their troops to Julu first, and then joined forces to go north and surrender to Lü Bu.

  In the first year of Zhongping, Hei Shan Zhang Yan merged with Qingzhou's Guan Hai in Julu. The two armies combined into one place, with a total of 400,000 soldiers, and went to Youzhou. Along the way, the counties heard about it and were terrified, and they hastily reported to the provincial government, asking for troops to be sent to rescue them. Zhang Yan and Guan Hai marched northward. They entered Youzhou's Zhuo County, frightening the newly appointed Governor of Youzhou, Liu Yu, who urgently reported to the imperial court while also going to Dai County to ask Lü Bu for help.

  Lü Bu was busy governing the northern border, fortunately, there was Yan Ni, a highly talented person who came up with strategies and used modern methods to govern, making the northern border increasingly prosperous. The people of the northern border all knew that Lü Bu's wife, Yan Ni, was a rare talent, and many were grateful for her kindness in treating laborers well due to her being influenced by later generations. They respectfully referred to Lü Bu and Yan Ni as the Divine General and Holy Maiden.

  On this day, Lü Bu was discussing with Yan Ni how to create cheap and good white paper, thinking of making movable type printing. But then he saw the Imperial Guard Zhao Yun come to see him, saying that there was an urgent official document from the Governor of Youzhou. Lü Bu opened it and saw that the Governor Liu Yu reported that the remnants of the Yellow Turbans, Hei Shan bandits, had joined forces with the Qingzhou thieves to attack Youzhou, plundering along the way, and had already entered Zhuo County, heading towards Dai County.

  Lü Bu now has nearly 5,000 infantry and more than 10,000 cavalry in the north. He also has Gao Shun's orphan army of 2,000 men. With the help of Yu Ji, he is fully equipped with fine armor and sharp weapons. Not going to eliminate the remaining Yellow Turbans is already a great virtue, but now being invaded by bandits, how can he tolerate this anger? So he ordered Zhang Liao and Zhao Yun to prepare the infantry, combined with Xu Huang leading the northern cavalry, totaling 10,000 cavalrymen, to go to Zhuo County to join Liu Yu, the governor of Youzhou, to fight against the bandits.

  At this time, Lü Bu's near-guard armor was all equipped with the "Subduing Dragon Cuirass", which could shoot three arrows at once. Even if the northern border cavalry had improved their crossbows through Ou Xingzi's modifications, increasing their power and range, they were still no match for Lü Bu's cavalry today, as even the horses' vital parts were covered with cowhide armor.

  Lü Bu led his army out of Gaoliu, passing through Dai County and entering Zhuo Commandery. When they arrived at Zhuo County, they coincidentally met Liu Yu, the Governor of You Province, who was leading his troops out of Ji County, and the two forces merged to head south towards Fanyang.

  Liu Yu was the governor of Youzhou, and Lü Bu's superior. Because Liu Yu was a kind and gentle person, and also a member of the imperial family, Lü Bu naturally treated him with courtesy and respect, often showing deference to him. However, Liu Yu also knew that Lü Bu had great achievements, strict military discipline, and high prestige in the northern border region. Moreover, his soldiers were fierce warriors, so it was not easy to give him orders. Therefore, although the two men joined forces, they each commanded their own troops, discussing and deciding matters together.

  Liu Yu also knew that Lü Bu often sent soldiers to plunder the northern tribes, and he had many words of persuasion in his heart. On the road, he spoke kindly to Lü Bu, saying: "Fengxian is truly a great hero of the Han Dynasty, blocking the barbarians in the north and pacifying the Yellow Turbans in the south, beheading Zhang Jue. The Han Dynasty has the prestige of Fengxian, why worry that it will not flourish again?"

  Lü Bu thought to himself: This Liu Yu is flattering me for no reason, what's he up to? Historically, Liu Yu has been evaluated as a good person, I don't know what he wants to say. So he smiled and said: "Elder An, please instruct me, speak freely."

  Liu Yu smiled and said: "Everyone says that Feng Xian is straightforward and refreshing, truly not deceiving me. I have one thing to say, if there's anything that has offended Feng Xian, I hope you can forgive me."

  Lü Bu smiled and said: "Bu Gong listens to your instructions, Bo An."

  Liu Yu said: "Before I took office as the Governor of Youzhou, I often heard in Luoyang that when Feng Xian was on the northern border, he would frequently lead his soldiers to plunder and kill the Man tribes. Sometimes they killed over a hundred people in one day. Is this true or not?"

  Lü Bu's mouth twitched slightly as he said, "This is no lie."

  Liu Yu sighed and said, "Alas... although the northern barbarians are fierce, not everyone among them is cruel. When Feng Xian raided their tribes, he often exterminated entire clans. Although this may have intimidated other tribes for a time, it also left deep resentment in their hearts. When they become powerful one day, they will surely seek revenge, and so the cycle of hatred will continue. Liu Yu thought that these barbarians were also human beings, different from us Han people only because they lacked education and culture. If we treat them with kindness and teach them our ways, they will surely be grateful and adopt our civilization. This is a long-term plan. I hope Feng Xian will consider it."

  Lü Bu said, "As for what Bo An said, how could I not know? My father-in-law also often told me that the barbarians are human beings. If we can educate them, it's not just that they won't harm us, but we can also gain their strength. I understand this principle."

  Liu Yu was overjoyed to hear that someone shared his opinion and asked: "Oh, I wonder who this Mr. Feng Xian is? His views are exactly the same as mine."

  Lü Bu smiled and said: "Chen Liu Cai Boji is indeed, but Miss Cai is still young and has not yet married."

  Liu Yu was overjoyed and said, "Ah, it's actually Cai Zhonglang. What a fortunate thing! In that case, Taizhen should listen to my words and stop slaughtering innocent people."

  Lü Bu said, "Bo An is unaware of the truth. I am not a person who delights in killing. My orders to plunder the northern barbarians have their reasons. When I was the county magistrate of Shuofang, the imperial court had long abandoned many border counties. The lands of Yunzhong and Shuofang were left unattended, and my hometown of Wuyuan is still under the control of the Xianbei. The imperial court's abandonment of the border counties has brought suffering to the people living in those areas. Since I became the county magistrate of Shuofang, I have never received a single grain or coin from the imperial court as salary. If I do not plunder the barbarians, how can I make a living? If I do not plunder the barbarians, what will I use to feed my troops? If I do not plunder the barbarians, with what will I equip my elite cavalry after my death?"

  Liu Yu was speechless for a moment. Lü Bu continued, "The border provinces are cold and bitter, the taxes collected by the government are far from enough to cover military expenses. How can we defend against the enemy without military funds? Moreover, when the Xianbei tribe arrived at Tan Shi Huai, they took over the land of the Xiongnu people, and their power grew stronger day by day. This is the root of our great Han dynasty's troubles. Although Tan Shi Huai is dead, we still don't know what the situation with the Xianbei tribe is like. My looting and plundering of foreign tribes is a national strategy. Firstly, it can weaken their strength, secondly, it can intimidate them, and thirdly, it can strengthen our military. Our army has many newly recruited soldiers, if we don't use plunder to train them, how can they quickly become skilled? Therefore, my looting and plundering of foreign tribes is not because I enjoy killing, but a necessary move. Bo An and my father-in-law's words, I deeply understand, it's just that Bo An thinks the time has come, but I think it's not yet ripe. If we want to use kindness to win them over, we should wait until the foreign tribes are weak, then take action, which will have twice the effect with half the effort. At present, the Xianbei tribe is still strong and arrogant, if we try to use kindness to educate them, they will only think that our great Han dynasty is weak and can be bullied. Not only will it be difficult to win their hearts, but they will also think that our great Han dynasty is easy to bully. In the past, I heard that the Xianbei often raided the borders. When I was the county magistrate of Shuofang, the Xianbei suffered some losses, and within two years, they didn't dare to come again. Now that I'm in charge of the three northern provinces, last year we also didn't see any Xianbei raids on our borders. It can be seen that these barbarians are contemptuous of weakness and fear strength."

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