newbobooks Chapter 149 Lü Bu is going to have a new adoptive father! Who will be his adoptive father?
Chapter 149 Lü Bu is going to have a new adoptive father! Who will be his adoptive father?
Yellow sand filled the sky, and dust billowed everywhere.
A temporary camp
Lu Bu sat on the back of Red Hare, his face covered in dust and dirt.
Behind him, the original Bingzhou army of tens of thousands had dwindled to just over 20,000 defeated soldiers.
Fortunately, Chen Gong, Zhang Liao, Gao Shun, Wang Ruohua, Lü Lingqi and others are still alive.
However, because of Wang Yun's death, Wang Ruohua harbored considerable resentment towards Lü Bu.
Throughout the journey, they didn't give Lü Bu a friendly look at all.
Lu Bu wasn't exactly known for his good temper either.
Although Wang Ruohua was the youngest daughter of Situ Wang Yun, Lü Bu was still the Marquis of Wen, which was the highest-ranking county marquis among marquises!
Besides, the defeat at Chang'an wasn't entirely Lü Bu's fault.
Wang Ruohua blamed all the crimes on Lü Bu, which naturally made Lü Bu extremely dissatisfied.
Seeing that Wang Ruohua was about to lose her temper again, Lü Bu was so angry that he wanted to slap her to death!
Chen Gong quickly tried to dissuade him:
"My lord, please calm down. My wife was just angry in a moment of anger and did not mean to spite you."
Wang Ruohua was also frightened by Lü Bu's raised hand, and shrank back like a quail.
Immediately afterwards, Chen Gong frantically gave Lü Bu meaningful glances.
Lu Bu finally understood his meaning and apologized to Wang Ruohua as a way of appeasement.
But Wang Ruohua was clearly still angry, and turned her head to walk in the other direction.
After Wang Ruohua left, Chen Gong cupped his hands and said to Lü Bu:
"My lord, the Western Liang army is too powerful, and it is no longer feasible to retake Chang'an."
"At this moment, my lord has only two choices."
"First, return to Bingzhou and join forces with Zhang Yang, the governor of Shangdang and an old friend of the lord. While Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan are locked in a stalemate and have no time to attend to Bingzhou, we will take over Bingzhou."
Before he could finish speaking, Lü Bu refused:
"This plan is not advisable."
"Bingzhou is bitterly cold and has long been plagued by invasions from the Xianbei and Southern Xiongnu."
"Even if I were to occupy Bingzhou, I would still be unable to contend for the world with Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, and others."
Chen Gong shook his head slightly.
Lü Bu disliked the barrenness of Bingzhou, but this was only a small part of the reason.
The main reason was that Lü Bu had led a large contingent of soldiers from Bingzhou to join Dong Zhuo, intending to make a name for himself.
As a result, several years later, he returned to Bingzhou looking dejected.
He couldn't bear to lose face in front of his fellow villagers in Bingzhou!
If his fellow villagers asked him where the other able-bodied men from Bingzhou who hadn't returned had gone, how should he answer?
Just like Xiang Yu never crossed the Yangtze River before his death, it's the same principle.
Returning home in wealth and honor, returning home in glory.
If I'm not doing well, I really don't have the face to go back and embarrass myself!
Chen Gong did not insist on having Lü Bu return to Bingzhou.
Currently, Bingzhou faces two major foreign tribes to the north, Yuan Shao to the east, and the "Western Liang F4" to the south, making it unsuitable as a base.
So Chen Gong blurted out the second option.
"With your martial prowess, my lord, and the fighting strength of the soldiers of Bingzhou, apart from the Xiliang army, all the warlords in the world will accept you."
"You can choose to temporarily serve one of the warlords, and when the time is right, you can take their place!"
Having said that, a wolf-like glint appeared in Chen Gong's eyes.
This wasn't the first time Lü Bu had done something like insubordination.
Practice makes perfect, so why would anyone still accept Lü Bu?
The answer is simple: Lü Bu is just too strong!
They possessed unparalleled martial prowess, commanded great generals like Zhang Liao and Gao Shun, and had the peerless Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry.
This Lu Bu is like a succubus at full power, difficult to grasp, yet irresistibly tempting to test him.
Even back to the time of the White Gate Tower in the original history.
If it weren't for Liu Bei's remark, "Have you not seen the fates of Ding Jianyang and Dong Zhongying?", Cao Cao, a fan of fierce generals, might still have chosen not to kill Lü Bu.
Lu Bu licked his lips, clearly very interested in Chen Gong's suggestion.
Without further ado, Lü Bu was eager to find a new adoptive father—or rather, a new sucker to swindle.
If the feudal lords insist on having a godfather before accepting him, that's not impossible...
Conditions are negotiable; there's no need to set them so rigidly.
"Gongtai, who do you think we should seek refuge with?"
"Yuan Shao? Yuan Shu? Liu Biao? Or Cao Cao?"
Lu Bu put forward four candidates for adoptive father in a row, counting on his fingers whether he could have more adoptive fathers.
Chen Gong's eyebrows twitched wildly. Why did he feel that Lü Bu was even more excited than he was?
Is it an illusion?
No! It was the overwhelming joy of about to gain a new godfather!
"Yuan Shu, that fellow is rich and powerful. If we take his territory, my lord, you won't have to worry about a lack of soldiers and food in the future."
After careful consideration, Chen Gong still chose Yuan Shu to be the scapegoat.
Lu Bu nodded.
Yuan Shu is good!
Yuzhou, Nanyang, and Huainan—each of these three regions is a rich and fertile land.
If all of them belonged to Lü Bu, sweeping across the world would be no big deal!
(It should be noted that there were a total of thirteen provinces at the end of the Han Dynasty; Liaodong was an autonomous prefecture, but its territory was very large, comparable to any province, possessing the population and territory of a province, but without the name of a province.)
(Nanyang and Huainan are nominally prefectures, but in reality they can be considered enhanced versions of municipalities; their population and wealth even exceed those of a single prefecture in a frontier region like Youzhou or Bingzhou.)
(In other words, Yuan Shu started with the wealth of three provinces.)
……
What is it called when two sides go to each other?
Is it the Tyndall effect?
No! This is called the godfather-godson effect!
Little did they know that Chen Gong was advising Lü Bu to seek refuge with Yuan Shu.
On Yuan Shu's side, upon receiving news of the coup in Chang'an, he was also pondering how to persuade Lü Bu to join him.
In the council chamber
Yuan Shu listened quietly to Yang Hong and Yan Xiang's analysis, then suddenly interrupted:
"If Lü Bu were to surrender to me, would I still have to adopt him as my son?"
Yang Hong and Yan Xiang exchanged a glance, then quickly shook their heads.
What kind of adopted son am I?!
At least Dong Zhuo and Ding Yuan were more than twenty years younger than Lü Bu.
Where is Yuan Shu?
He's even younger than Lü Bu!
Lü Bu's actual age was similar to Yuan Shao's, but older than Cao Cao and Yuan Shu. (Records of the Three Kingdoms)
If Yuan Shu had adopted Lü Bu as his godson...
First, let's set aside the question of whether Lü Bu actually killed his father.
The last person to do something so absurd seems to be Liu Bang!
Liu Bang, for example, treated Xiang Yu, who was more than twenty years younger than him, as his sworn brother.
Furthermore, since Xiang Yu was Xiang Liang's nephew, Liu Bang was also Xiang Liang's nephew in a certain sense.
In ancient times, a nephew was considered half a son.
Therefore, Liu Bang was essentially half the son of Xiang Liang, who was about the same age as him...
Upon realizing this, Yang Hong and Yan Xiang frantically waved their hands, dissuading Yuan Shu from his idea of becoming Lü Bu's adoptive father.
Yuan Shu still listened to Yang Hong's advice, after all, Yang Hong was a loyal minister who had "escaped back" from Yanzhou alone.
But soon, Yuan Shu's smile vanished.
Cao Cao reinforced his troops by another 50,000 on the border. What does this mean?
They came to pick a fight with Yuan Shu right after the New Year?
……