nycdaug Chapter 232 The waves wipe out the heroes
Chapter 232 The waves wipe out the heroes
The moon set and the sun rose, and the sky outside the tent gradually brightened. Lu Bu woke up from his sleep, looking a little dazed.
Last night he dreamed of his life again, from having nothing to being in power and then to being defeated and killed in battle. He had been busy and struggling all his life, but what did he get in the end?
When he was at the bottom of the society, he had been trying hard to climb up, and even killed two of his superiors for this purpose. However, when he and Wang Yun shared power in the government, he did not feel the happiness and sense of accomplishment of being a superior. Instead, he was worried every day, afraid that one day he would die at the hands of people around him like Ding Yuan and Dong Zhuo.
In Xia Pi City, he was betrayed by his subordinates. Is this retribution?
In this life, he was unwilling to accept his fate. He wanted to live a different life, and he really embarked on a different path. However, looking back on the past, no matter whether he obtained the military power to command tens of thousands of soldiers under Dong Zhuo, or was awarded the title of General of Cavalry with infinite glory, or robbed countless treasures in Mei County, or even saw Yuan Benchu, who had been a third-generation official for four generations, swallowing his anger and being humble in front of him yesterday, he did not feel much satisfaction and happiness.
Whether in a dream or in reality, the only person who can make him let down his guard and truly experience the joy of being a human being is his wife, the wife in his dream whose memory is already a little vague and the wife in reality who is unforgettable to him.
In fact, he is very easy to satisfy. Having a caring wife, a group of innocent and lovely children, and no worries about food and clothing are enough for him!
The delicate body in his arms twisted a little, and Lu Bu looked down at her. The satisfaction he had gained last night suddenly felt a little empty again. His hands began to wander over her fair and tender body. Zhang Mo opened her eyes dazedly and grabbed his moving hands, "It's dawn..."
"It doesn't matter……"
Her sleepy look was particularly charming, and Lu Bu's hands became more and more presumptuous.
"We are in the army. What if Gongsun Zan suddenly attacks..."
Lu Bu's hand, which was sliding towards her lower abdomen, stopped. "Madam, you are right. Let's fulfill our promise to Yuan Benchu as soon as possible. Then we can return to Bingzhou to get married. The little one is waiting for us!"
Just now, this time my wife will definitely not be able to escape!
Lu Bu climbed up and picked up her clothes. Zhang Mo was still curled up in the quilt. As he dressed, he asked, "What did you ask Yuan Shao for?"
"Nothing much, just asking him to send 400,000 dan of grain and a Henei County."
"Hanoi County? Did he agree?"
"What else? How could he not agree in this situation?"
"Why Hanoi County? This place is difficult for you to manage right now! You don't have anyone to send to govern Hanoi."
Lu Bu said with a bit of disapproval, "Why not? If they don't obey, kill them until they obey."
"My dear brother, are you trying to emulate Cao Mengde? Why do you think Chen Gong and the others wanted to welcome you as governor of Yanzhou? It was because Cao Cao slaughtered the nobles in Xuzhou. They were afraid they would follow in their footsteps, so they cut off Cao Cao's retreat."
Zhang Mo put her clothes on, smoothed her messy hair with her hands, and continued, "The various clans in Hanoi have probably been colluding with Yuan Shao for a long time. When Yuan Shao is free, he will definitely secretly unite with the clans to rebel. The reason he agreed to you so readily is that he has already thought of a way to get it back."
Lu Bu paused as he was putting on his shoes, and asked uncertainly, "Is Henei County really that troublesome? Why don't we go back?"
Zhang Mo rubbed his handsome face with amusement. "How can we go back now that we're almost here? We'll figure out a solution after we get back to Jinyang. Right now, helping Yuan Shao repel Gongsun Zan is the most important thing. So, do you really want to help him fight Gongsun Zan?"
Lu Bu also rubbed her face and said, "Am I that stupid?"
"Then what are you going to do?" She grabbed his claws and lowered her head to put on her shoes.
Lu Bu squatted down to help her put on her shoes. "Have you forgotten the shooting of the halberds at the gate? When Yuan Shao sends the hostages, I will invite Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao to the army and help them reconcile."
"Will this work? What if Gongsun Zan sends troops to attack Yuan Shao during this period? And what if Zhang Yan sends troops to aid Gongsun Zan?"
"With my four thousand elite cavalry here, and my attendance at a banquet at Yuan Shao's camp last night, Gongsun Zan will undoubtedly have guessed why I've come. He won't dare act rashly. As for Zhang Yan, if he sends troops, we'll have no choice but to fight him."
"With my Juyi Camp accompanying us, there's nothing to worry about with Zhang Yan. Even if a fight breaks out, we won't lose too many men. As for Gongsun Zan, he'll definitely come over in the next two days to win you over as an ally. What if he wants to carve up Jizhou with you?"
Lü Bu recalled the strategy Jia Xu had suggested for dealing with Black Mountain—encircle them from all sides and force their surrender. If he truly carved up Ji Province, along with Henei Commandery, would he be able to force Zhang Yan to surrender?
However, Lü Bu was not overwhelmed by the temptation. He hesitated and asked, "What was Yuan Shao's final fate? Did he finally gain control of the world?"
He remembered that when he died, Yuan Shao had completely defeated Gongsun Zan, occupied the four northern states, and had hundreds of thousands of troops. Cao Cao had only occupied Yanzhou, Yuzhou, and Sili, and had just obtained Xuzhou. Compared with Yuan Shao, his strength was still far behind.
If Yuan Shao finally conquers the world, then there is no need to worry about anything else and just kill him.
Zhang Mo shook her head. "Not long after your death, Yuan Shao launched the Battle of Guandu, intending to wipe out Cao Cao in one fell swoop. However, he was defeated in this battle and died of illness within two years. Because Yuan Shao loved Yuan Shang the most during his lifetime, Shen Pei and others tampered with Yuan Shao's will and made Yuan Shang his heir. His other two sons refused to accept this, and the three brothers and their three forces attacked each other. Within four or five years, they were all defeated by Cao Cao one by one."
"Finally, Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan divided the world into three parts. Cao Cao never became emperor until his death. His son Cao Pi usurped the Han throne, but this was also short-lived. The Cao Wei regime was eventually usurped by the Sima family. Not long after, both Shu Han, founded by Liu Bei, and Eastern Wu, founded by Sun Quan, were destroyed. The Three Kingdoms were unified under the Jin Dynasty. However, due to the Sima family's illegal seizure of the throne, the Western and Eastern Jin regimes did not last long. The Rebellion of the Eight Princes and the massive invasion of the Hu people led to more than two hundred years of turmoil and war in China. The population dwindled and the people suffered. It was not until more than three hundred years later that a man named Yang Jian founded the Sui Dynasty, and China was once again unified. However, like the Qin Dynasty, the Sui Dynasty collapsed in its second generation. The Li Tang Dynasty replaced the Sui Dynasty and ushered in the prosperous Tang Dynasty."
Lü Bu's emotions were mixed. He had always believed Yuan Shao would ultimately conquer the world. Only to have Yuan Benchu, at the height of his power, be defeated in a single battle. His painstakingly built empire was completely shattered by his three sons in just four or five years. The Yuan family faded from history. And Cao Cao, after a lifetime of fighting through thick and thin, finally saw everything taken away from him by others? He wondered if Cao Mengde, after his death, would rise from the underworld to see his family's legacy taken away.
After listening to Amo's story of the past few hundred years, Lu Bu suddenly felt that all these struggles were meaningless. Life is only a few short decades long, but a drop in the ocean in the long river of history of hundreds or even two thousand years. Right and wrong, success or failure are all gone in the blink of an eye. No matter if it is a brave and invincible person like Lu Fengxian, or a three-generation official like Yuan Benchu, or a treacherous hero in troubled times like Cao Mengde, what did they get in the end after fighting?
Lu Bu has no descendants left, Yuan Shao's three sons are all dead, and the Cao family will probably not have a good end after their throne was usurped. As for Liu Bei and Sun Quan, how can their descendants be well after their countries were destroyed?
Lu Bu looked at Zhang Mo and thought of the chubby and cute little girl. In fact, with his wife by his side, wouldn't it be more comfortable and free to retire to the mountains and be a farmer or hunter for the rest of his life than to fight on the battlefield?
However, this is just a thought. Since he refused Amo's persuasion and resolutely chose to join Dong Zhuo that year, there was no turning back. Fortunately, with Amo, his wife who knows the future well, his Lu family should not follow in the footsteps of the Yuan family and the Cao family.