On the south bank of the Yellow River, in Hongnong County, Lu Bu heard the news from the scout, and he was immediately a little nervous.

He thought about it for a while, but finally resisted the urge to lead the troops to kill the past, but he didn't move, and then sent scouts to investigate the movements of Guo Yanjun.

Fan Chou and Zhang Ji were defeated and were chased and killed by Li Dao and Guo Yan. If I go to the rescue at this time, Fan Chou and Zhang Ji will not die. ”

Thinking of this, the corners of Lu Bu's mouth curled up in a cruel arc.

"Fan Chou, who has insulted me repeatedly, hated to eat his flesh raw. Zhang Ji and Fan Chou are a gang, and it is not a pity to die. ”

Although Li Dao and Guo Yan defeated Fan Chou and Zhang Ji, their own strength was also greatly damaged. If I take them by surprise, I can destroy them in one battle. ”

As early as yesterday, all of Lu Bu's subordinates had been transported by Gan Ning to the south bank of the Yellow River. Now Lu Bu not only has 5,000 Hun cavalry under his command, but also 2,000 Xiliang cavalry surrendered by Puzi.

Although Puzi's Xiliang cavalry was only two thousand, and most of them were taken away by Gan Ning.

However, Lu Bu took Chen Xu's military order, and Gan Ning had no choice but to hand over all the Xiliang cavalry of Puzi to Commander Lu Bu.

After crossing the Yellow River, Lü Bu set up camp in a secret location. Then he sent scouts to closely watch the movements of the Xiliang army.

"Wait for me to behead Li Dao and Guo Yan and welcome back Your Majesty. I want to see, what else is Gan Ning fighting with me? ”

Thinking of Gan Ning's apology to him, Lu Bu felt a little inexplicably excited.

Hedong County, Fenyin County, Chen Xu with a large army, is resting here.

Li Ru had a trace of melancholy on his face, and after a while, he couldn't help it after all, and went to look for Jia Xu.

Coming to Jia Xu's residence, Li Ru looked at Jia Xu, who was kneeling next to the desk and reading, and called in a low voice: "Wenhe." ”

Jia Xu raised his head, saw Li Ru coming, hurriedly got up and said, "How can Wen You have time to come here to see me today?" ”

Li Ru thought for a while, and finally said: "Wenhe, why did you give this great credit to Lu Bu? ”

The relationship between Jia Xu and Li Ru is not bad. Whether it is their background, experience, or personality, the two have become close friends.

Li Ru was loyal to Dong Zhuo and resented Lu Bu's affairs, and almost everyone knew about the civil and military affairs of the entire state.

However, this time, Jia Xu recommended Lu Bu and asked him to take over most of Gan Ning's military power and act as the vanguard of the extermination of Li Dao and Guo Yan.

Now that Guanzhong is in chaos like this, Li Ru has no doubt that Lu Bu can use the 7,000 cavalry in his hand to eliminate Li Dao and Guo Yan before the Bingzhou army arrives, and welcome back the Son of Heaven.

If Lu Bu really succeeds, the credit he has made is absolutely unprecedented.

This is not the result that Li Ru hopes to see.

In Li Ru's heart, no matter which military general in Bingzhou wins this credit, it is better than Lu Bu.

When Chen Xu arrived in Puzi, he followed Li Ru's advice and prepared to attack thousands of miles on light horses and take Guanzhong directly. At that time, the generals of the state were all arguing in order to seize this credit.

Even if he is as calm as Zhao Yun, he can't resist the temptation of exterminating Li Dao and Guo Yan and welcoming back the Son of Heaven, and participates in this competition.

Zhao Yun's position in the Bingzhou army is simply unshakeable. Originally, Chen Xu also wanted to give this credit to Zhao Yun, but he didn't want to, so Jia Xu recommended Lu Bu.

It can be said that the chaos in the entire Guanzhong office is inseparable from Jia Xu's plan.

Therefore, in the face of Jia Xu's strong recommendation, Chen Xu was not easy to refuse. Even though he was very jealous of Lu Bu in his heart, he still appointed Lu Bu as a pioneer.

Jia Xu looked at Li Ru quietly, and suddenly asked, "Wen You, did you come to defect to the lord, is it because you fancy the future of the lord, or to take revenge on Lu Bu." ”

Li Ru was stunned for a moment, and then his face turned red, and he said with some excitement: "Although I resent Lu Bu, I really wanted to defect to the lord. ”

"Wen He's words like this, do you mean that I am abolishing my public because of my own selfishness?"

"I admit that I want to take revenge on Lu Bu. However, I will never ignore the great cause of the Lord for the sake of my own personal grievances. ”

"Lu Bu is a jackal, even if the lord accepts him and marries his daughter, it is difficult to guarantee that he will not bite the lord in the future."

"In the face of a person like Lu Bu, shouldn't he be suppressed and not allowed to grow, but instead give him great credit?"

"If Lu Bu gets this credit, can Wen He guarantee that his ambitions will not swell again?"

In the face of Li Ru's questioning, Jia Xu not only did not get angry, but a smile appeared on his face.

"Wen You's words are good, Lu Bu is a jackal. However, the lords are not Ding Jianyang and Dong Zhongying. ”

Speaking of this, Jia Xu sighed: "Since ancient times, the monarch chooses the minister, and the minister also chooses the king. If there is a great chaos today, and the princes rise together, how many people can be compared with the lord? ”

"Since my generation has defected to the lord, I should do my best to plan for the lord and remove all obstacles for him."

When Li Ru heard this, his heart suddenly moved, and he asked, "Is there something about Wenhe, hiding it from the lord?" ”

Jia Xu smiled mysteriously, and then said: "The parents who gave birth to me, Wen You, who knows me, is also." ”

Jia Xu put his hands behind his back and walked slowly around the room.

"Wen You thinks that the lord has weaknesses?"

Li Ru thought for a moment, and then nodded and said: "Although the lord values love and righteousness, he loves the people and wins the hearts of the people. However, at times, it also seems too indecisive and lacks the ruthlessness that a hero should have. ”

Talking about his own lord like this behind his back, I'm afraid ordinary people don't dare to do this at all.

Li Ru knew that Jia Xu would never leak what he said. That's why he dared to speak so unscrupulously.

Jia Xu stroked his palms and laughed, and said: "What Wen You said is good, although the lord is benevolent and righteous, but sometimes, 'benevolence and righteousness' will become his fetters. ”

"If there is a famine today, I don't know how long this drought will last."

"At this time, even if the state has been prepared, it should be careful to prevent problems before they happen."

Speaking of this, Jia Xu stared at Li Ru with a smile and said, "Just imagine, if our army defeats Li Dao and Guo Yan and captures a lot of prisoners of the Xiliang Army, how will the Lord Guild act?" ”

Li Ru said without hesitation: "According to the character of the lord, it will naturally be incorporated, so that it can be incorporated into the sequence of the state army in the future." ”

Nodding, Jia Xu continued: "If you collect a large number of Xiliang army prisoners, you will definitely spend a lot of grain and grass to feed them. ”

"Moreover, these Xiliang troops are unruly, they have long been accustomed to plundering the people. It can be said that every Xiliang army's hands are stained with blood. ”

"However, the lord is extremely strict in governing the army, and after these Xiliang troops are absorbed, they may not be able to adapt to this strict military law."

"If you indulge them, the discipline of the state army will surely be corrupted; If it is severely suppressed, it is difficult to guarantee that these Xiliang troops will not rebel. In this way, the Xiliang Army will only become a burden to the state. ”

"In that case, why not take advantage of this opportunity to annihilate all the Xiliang troops in one fell swoop?"

Li Ru looked at Jia Xu who was smiling, but he felt a little cold in his heart.

At this moment, he seemed to understand a little why Jia Xu would recommend Lu Bu as a pioneer.

Lu Bu killed Dong Zhuo, which can be regarded as the enemy of all the Xiliang army. He naturally didn't want to see a large number of Xiliang troops defect to the state.

What's more, during this time, Lu Bu was suppressed everywhere in Bingzhou, and he had already held back his anger. If he is allowed to go to battle, he will surely become a river of blood.

"Wen He is right, although the Xiliang Army is elite, it is corrupt in discipline and difficult to control. It's like chicken ribs, tasteless to eat, and it's a pity to throw it away. ”

"If the rest of the generals lead the troops, they will inevitably receive a large number of prisoners. According to the righteousness of the lord, he will not kill the soldiers. ”

"Now with Lu Bu's butcher's knife, it is not a good way to completely destroy the Xiliang Army in one battle."

Suddenly, Li Ru seemed to think of something, and looked at Jia Xu with wide eyes.

He stammered a little and said, "Wen He, Fan Chou and Zhang Ji were ambushed, is there any plan for you?" ”

Jia Xu's smile suddenly froze on his face.

Li Ru saw Jia Xu's expression and felt cold.

He can already be sure that Fan Chou and Zhang Ji were ambushed and almost all the troops were annihilated, and they must have something to do with Jia Xu.

As Jia Xu said, if he wants to clear all obstacles for Chen Xu, he will not ignore Fan Chou and Zhang Ji, who are ready to surrender and merge with the state.

There are tens of thousands of elite Xiliang troops under the command of these two people, and their official positions are still above Chen Xu. Even if they came to defect to the state, it would be impossible for Chen Xu to confiscate their military power.

In this way, although these two people are nominally under Chen Xu's command, they are actually equivalent to one warlord.

This situation is not a good thing for the current internal consolidation of the state.

What's more, Fan Chou and Zhang Ji defected to Bingzhou, and Bingzhou was obliged to provide them with grain and grass to survive this famine.

However, the Xiliang soldiers were not like ordinary people, who only needed a little food and barely starved to death. The consumption of tens of thousands of Xiliang troops is completely worth the grain and grass needed by hundreds of thousands of displaced people.

Raising troops for others at a huge cost can be regarded as a loss-making business.

From this point of view, the death of Fan Chou and Zhang Ji is more beneficial to the state than to be alive.

What's more, even if Fan Chou and Zhang Ji were ambushed, Li Dao and Guo Yan would not be able to take the two intact. Their strength will definitely be weakened a lot.

In this way, Fan Chou and Zhang Ji were eliminated, and Li Dao and Guo Yan were weakened, killing two birds with one stone.

"With Wenhe's resourcefulness, if he really wants to persuade Fan Chou and Zhang Ji to surrender, he will consider all aspects of the problem properly. Fan Chou and Zhang Ji will never be ambushed like this. ”

"What's more, Fan Chou and Zhang Jinai are battlefield veterans, and if they take away the Son of Heaven to defect to Bingzhou, they will definitely keep it extremely secretive."

"If my expectations are correct, the person who sent a message to Li Dao and Guo Yan, and offered them a plan to set up an ambush, is the one sent by Wenhe!"

Li Ru stared at Jia Xu with burning eyes and said affirmatively.