"A righteous person does not act immorally; he does not change his career because of poverty; he does not change his profession because of lowliness."
What is loyalty? In the bustling world of life, who doesn’t put profit first? Some people only want to eat and look good, under the guise of righteousness, but in fact they are not pursuing profit.
Lu Bu was disdainful in his heart. He came from a humble county and was used to seeing the cunning of foreigners and respecting the strong. He had never taken faith seriously. He was about to persuade him again, but when he saw Tai Shici's resolute and calm eyes,
But he couldn't help but shut up.
Perhaps, there are people in this world who truly believe in Dunyi.
Or maybe, I shouldn't disturb other people's dreams.
"That's alright." Lu Bu sighed and moved his hand back, only to see Wei Xuqiu stepping forward with a small cloth bag in his hand.
Lu Bu took the cloth bag, weighed it in his hand, and handed it to Tai Shi Ci again: "Here are twenty gold pieces. Zi Yi should take it with him in case of emergency."
Taishi Ci subconsciously wanted to refuse, but Lu Bu grabbed his arm firmly. He couldn't break away from the strong force on his arm, so he had to let the cloth bag be forced into his hand.
"Take it!" Lu Bu said with a firm tone that could not be refused: "Let me, Lu Feng, be your friend first!"
Taishi Ci accepted the cloth bag with half helplessness and half emotion, solemnly saluted Lu Bu with clasped fists, then turned his horse's head and led the long-awaited team along the dilapidated road to the west.
The team had gradually gone away, and Lu Bu was still riding his horse, looking intently at the edge of the Wei River, with an expression clearly like he was waiting for someone. There was some hope in his heart, hoping that Taishi Ci would change his mind and turn around to meet him.
Fighting side by side on the land of Qilu; but at the same time, he was looking forward to Taishi Ci's return, and even hoped that Taishi Ci could always uphold the faith he abides by and go on unswervingly.
After all, that is something Taishi Ci can do, but Lu Bu will never be able to do.
To the west are rolling hills and mountains. On the winding road in front of the mountains, a group of almost invisible teams are walking. Among the blurred crowd, Lu Bu can see the tall body of the man at a glance. Lu Bu suddenly
I feel that once he leaves, it means saying goodbye forever.
"Master Fu, they have gone far." Dong Zhao drove his horse over and whispered behind Lu Bu.
Lu Bu stared at him in silence for a long time, and it was not until a moment later that he spoke: "Gongren, do you know why I want to keep Taishi Ziyi?"
Dong Zhao has a horse face, and his overall appearance is not that outstanding, but his eyes are dark and shiny, piercing and shrewd. After listening to Lu Bu's question, he said without thinking: "This person
He is a righteous man who is extraordinary in terms of military strategy, courage, and resourcefulness. If he can be under the command of the Lord, he will be a great help to our army, and it will be easier to defeat Qingzhou."
Wei Xu, an in-law who had followed Lu Bu to fight thousands of miles, also interjected at this time: "It is a pity that Tai Shi Ci is so courageous and courageous that he cannot be used by the princes."
"Yeah, it's such a pity." Lu Bu looked back and stared at Dong Zhao with unclear meaning: "Does Gongren also feel it's a pity? It's a pity for me?"
"Of course I feel a pity for the prince." Dong Zhaotan looked at Lu Bu openly, with sincerity in his eyes: "The friendship between Yuan Shao and Zhang Miao was severed, and I was under suspicion because my younger brother served under Zhang Miao.
If you hadn't protected me all the way, I might have been punished by Yuan Shao."
"I thought the Yuan brothers were so talented, but now they are nothing more than that." After hearing this, Lu Bu couldn't help but smile and said, "You are a blessing in disguise."
Dong Zhao joined the army under Yuan Shao and was the governor of Julu. He could be said to be a close confidant. He came to Lu Bu just because Yuan Shao believed in slander and was framed by others. The reason for leaving Yuan Shao was to help Lu Bu stabilize Beihai.
How could Lu Bu worry about him?
Now Lu Bu seems to be in control of Beihai, but in fact most of his soldiers are given by Yuan Shao, so it is difficult to guarantee his loyalty. Moreover, Yuan Shao is rushing to send troops and food, and invites him to Qingzhou to take up his post. No one knows what the purpose of this is.
I can tell.
But there was nothing Lu Bu could do if he didn't accept it. If he didn't accept it, he would have no choice but to succumb to others and have a hard time getting ahead. It would be better to endure it for the time being, wait until he reaches Qingzhou, have independent power, and then slowly crowd out Yuan Shao's influence around him.
.
This is one of the reasons why Lu Bu wanted to stay with Tai Shici. On the one hand, he admired the opponent's faith and military strategy, and on the other hand, he wanted to use the local soldiers of Qingzhou to balance the forces placed by Yuan Shao around him. When he had enough strength,
You can just kick away the soldiers sent by Yuan Shao, and you won't have to be ordered around anymore.
Lu Bu's words of "a blessing in disguise" sounded a bit harsh to Dong Zhao. He lowered his stance and said sarcastically: "Yuan Shao is too generous on the outside and can't tolerate people on the inside. Fortunately, thanks to the protection of the king, Zhao will be able to run around with his oxen and horses."
."
"You serve me with loyalty, and I should treat you with sincerity." Lu Bulang laughed loudly, and after saying that, he turned his horse and walked back. Everyone followed Lu Bu Xin's horse and walked along the river bank. He looked at the greenery on both sides of the bank.
Looking at the scenery, he asked: "Since Gongren is the chief administrator, he should help me manage the county. I wonder what the situation in Beihai is like now?"
Dong Zhao smiled slightly and said: "I once chatted with Kong Gong. There are more than ten counties in Beihai Kingdom, with more than 158,000 households and a total of more than 853,000 people. However, there has been drought for decades.
Frequently, people suffer from famine and are scattered in the wild; people from rivers and lakes become bandits and plunder counties. Hungry people can be seen walking naked in groups on the road, eating vegetation..."
"In the six counties of Qingzhou, there are more than 800,000 people in Beihai Kingdom alone?" Lu Bu seemed not to have heard Dong Zhao's words, because he was shocked by this population figure. You must know that his hometown Wuyuan County also had a population of more than 800,000 in its heyday.
There are only more than 20,000 people: "Then there are at least three million people in Qingzhou as a whole?"
Dong Zhao turned his head and looked at Lu Bu. Seeing the surprise and joy in his expression, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows: "Qingzhou did have more than three million people in its heyday, but over the years there have been frequent droughts, famines, and yellow scarf moths.
The thieves even gathered crowds to rebel. The yellow scarf thieves who went north to Jizhou the year before last and to Yanzhou westward last year all kidnapped hundreds of thousands of people to cause trouble for the thieves. Nowadays, apart from those who fled the mountains or became thieves, there are not many Li Shu people left in Qingzhou.
There are not millions. The only counties and cities such as Dong'anping, Duchang, Pingshou, and Juxian under the ruler of Fu are less than half of the Beihai Kingdom. They can only govern tens of thousands of people. The remaining counties and cities may be supported by local wealthy families.
, or perish for thieves."
After hearing this, Lu Bu immediately looked worried. He originally wanted to recruit troops here to expand his strength, but he didn't expect Beihai to be so dilapidated.
He said in a deep voice: "I defeated Guan Hai last time and weakened his spirit. Now that I am the Prime Minister of Beihai, the counties in various places should send envoys to surrender. But after I have defeated the bandits in the territory, the next step should be
how?"
Dong Zhao nodded and continued: "Beihai County only has Zhang Rao, Guan Hai and other thieves and bandits. It seems that they have a large number of troops, but in fact they are already weak. The prince can rely on his bravery to defeat his army first, and then send his guests to say Then, we can persuade them to come and surrender. Then we can select elite soldiers from their tribes, and the rest can be organized into households and farmed on the spot."
"Who can tell me this?" Lu Bu asked.
"Xu Qian of Beihai is quite talented and good at writing, so he is worthy of this post." Dong Zhao said without thinking.
After hearing this, Lu Bu said in embarrassment: "This appointment is indeed prestigious. I also sent people to conquer him, but he always complained that he was ill, and there was nothing I could do."
Winning over local celebrities to gain strong support was a strategy that Dong Zhao proposed to Lu Bu from the very beginning, and Lu Bu also believed in it. When he first came to Beihai, he sent people to conquer the country, but the results were mixed. Some valued Lu Bu's ability to quell the chaos. Some were brave and accepted him happily; some were disgusted with Lu Bu's vulgarity and closed the door to him.
"This man is just showing off to show off." Wei Xu seemed to be unhappy with Lu Bu and said to one side, "Why don't you tie him up and take a look to see if he is sick?"