Next, Wang Yun took advantage of Dong Zhuo's absence in the Chang'an Palace to quietly win over officials and conspire with the emperor to eliminate Dong Zhuo. Lu Bu continued to follow Dong Zhuo and served as the chief guard of the Xiwu Palace, secretly slowly replacing Dong Zhuo in guarding the Xiwu Palace.
He replaced his confidant sergeant with his own confidant in preparation for big events.
After Dong Zhuo moved to Xiwu, he rarely went to Chang'an to manage the affairs of the state, often only once every half month or even once a month.
Dong Zhuo also knew that there were many people who wanted to harm him. In order to guard against plots, he wore iron armor under his court clothes every time he went out. He sent guards to line up in a dense line on both sides of the road into the palace, and he even asked Lu Bu to take them with him.
The painted halberd was guarding him behind him. In this way, he became Lu Bu. Wang Yun never found a suitable opportunity to attack.
After making this arrangement, he thought everything was safe. Dong Zhuo didn't know that Wang Yun and Lv Bu had already discussed the plot to kill him. He still trusts Lv Bu now. Except that his harem does not allow Lv Bu to enter or exit, Dong Zhuo always lets Lv Bu accompany him at other times.
about.
It has been several months since Dong Zhuo moved the capital to Chang'an, and early spring and March have turned into scorching summer. News came from all sides that the rebels no longer posed a threat and were slowly withdrawing their troops. This made Dong Zhuo's Xiliang
The army breathed a sigh of relief. No one wanted to live in endless battles, and military discipline gradually relaxed, especially at Hangu Pass, which was not so important.
On this day, a team of thousands of people appeared outside Hangu Pass in the direction of Chang'an. This team consisted of neat soldiers, civilians pushing carts, and more long carriages. There were thousands of them. There were also many people in the convoy.
Mixed with some cattle and sheep, they rushed towards Hangu Pass in great force.
The sergeant guarding Hangu Pass saw this team from a distance. At first, they thought it was the patrol army coming back again, but it was not until they got closer that they saw clearly that the colorful flags were flying with the words Yangzhou Lu Kang and so on. The guards guarding the pass
Wei immediately breathed a sigh of relief. This was not a traitor, but a convoy of Lu Kang's annual tribute. Governor Lu paid tribute to the emperor every year. The soldiers who originally guarded Hulao Pass knew about it, but they came a little late this year.
It’s no wonder that some time ago, the rebels of the Kwantung Alliance were harassed, and the road was difficult. Grand Master Dong moved the capital to Chang’an, which naturally slowed down those who paid tribute. Lu Kang was already well, and the Kwantung Alliance had just begun to withdraw its troops.
, he came to donate. Looking at this long motorcade, it shows his loyalty to the emperor and patriotism.
The lineup of this year's Suifu fleet is quite spectacular. There must be a lot of good things in it. Naturally, more sergeants are sent to guard it. This did not arouse the vigilance of the Hangu Pass defenders. These Xiliang troops, who are corrupt and bend the law, were still complaining.
Being sent to such a shabby place, there is not much to gain, but now, I am already thinking about how much benefit I can get from this convoy entering the customs.
The guarding soldier's estimate was correct. This was a team sent by Lu Kang, the prefect of Lujiang, to donate gifts. However, none of the people belonged to him, and most of the carriages were empty. This was Cao Zhi going to Xi'an under the banner of Lu Kang.
Robbery at the dock.
It took Cao Zhi a lot of effort to convince Lu Kang, an old man, that Cao Zhi even went to the Lujiang River in person to show his loyalty to the emperor and his patriotism.
Lu Kang refused to believe that Cao Zhi had such good intentions, but when Cao Zhi showed Lu Kang the tribute prepared for the emperor, he was shaken again.
Cao Zhi brought out several carts of gold and silver treasures and more than a dozen carts of rice and millet, and Lu Kang had to admit that Cao Zhi's family was well-endowed. It happened that Lu Kang spent most of the county governor's funds on this year in order to deal with the harassment of Jiangxia barbarians.
In terms of building fortifications, I really can't come up with anything decent this year to collect the annual tax and donate it to the emperor.
Now that this boy from the Cao family is willing to make a trip for him and donate so much property and rice, I believe him once and give him a chance to be loyal to the emperor and serve the country. Lu Kang is not the kind of person who just takes advantage of a ready-made bargain.
Lu Kang scrimped on food and clothing and scraped together more than 200 cattle and sheep as a tribute gift to him.
Lu Kang always thought that he was a member of a poor family and had a high self-esteem. He was generally not willing to make friends with people with eunuch backgrounds like Xiang Cao Zhi. But now that the war in Lujiang was about to break out, he really couldn't leave. Seeing Cao Zhi's sincere face, he just
He gave Cao Zhi a letter stamped with the seal of the Lujiang Prefect and passed the customs Wendie and a letter addressed to Emperor Xian.
Before leaving, Lu Kang made it clear to Cao Zhi: "You are you, and I am me. I don't have anything good to offer to the emperor this year, but my heart for the Holy Lord remains unchanged. This time with you
We have no choice but to jointly pay tribute. You don’t need to say that yours is mine, and mine cannot be confused with yours.” After saying this, he turned around and left.
No matter how hard Lu Kang tried, he never thought that Cao Zhi would use his name to attack Dong Zhuo. Otherwise, he would not agree to Cao Zhi helping him in this dynasty. Lu Kang most likely thought that Cao Zhi wanted to imitate their Qingliu people and get close to their old establishment.
A large family shows its loyalty and patriotism to enhance the reputation and status of itself and its family, and eliminate the contempt of the world for the eunuch born in his family.
Facing Lu Kang's unkindness, Cao Zhi didn't care! He stared at Lu Kang's back, with a sinister smile on his lips, and said to himself: "What's wrong with you, I'll blame you for this, haha
..."
After Cao Zhi achieved his goal, he immediately ordered the troops staying outside Lujiang City to leave immediately. Cao Zhi did not go through Hulao Pass or Sishui Pass, and even changed his original plan not to go through Wuguan, and detoured to Hangu Pass and went straight to Feng Yi into Chang'an.
This was Mi Heng's suggestion. He wanted to take the Eight Great Passes of Luoyang as mentioned by Cao Cao. Although it would save time, it would inevitably encounter the remnants of the Kwantung Rebel Army. Although the rebel army had begun to disintegrate and the various princes had begun to retreat in a planned manner,
However, there are always more than 100,000 people, some are slow and some are fast, and it is inevitable that there will be more troubles. Besides, Dong Zhuo also attaches great importance to the Eight Passes, and they are tightly defended, so it is not easy to get through. The Hangu Pass is backed by Huashan Mountain, relying on natural dangers and lax defenses.
.
Cao Zhi accepted Mi Heng's suggestion. He was not in a hurry anyway and had plenty of time to make a detour. Cao Zhi did not forget Liu Bei and promptly informed Liu Bei of the change of route.
The Kwantung Rebels in Suanzao ate up all the rations they had raised, and before they could wait for the so-called signs that Dong Zhuo was weakening, they all withdrew their troops and returned to their bases. The Kwantung Allied Forces were disbanded.
After Liu Bei took the initiative to ask Gongsun Zan for a tassel, Liu Bei took Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and more than a thousand men and horses to get the last jujube, and returned to Peiping. He should have crossed the Yellow River and headed north. Liu Bei had gone all the way, but turned around and headed for Hangu Pass.
The past few months have been so exciting, everything has been predicted by Cao Zhiyan; Dong Zhuo built a palace in a place called Xiwu more than 200 miles away from Chang'an. The Kwantung Rebels automatically disbanded when they were unable to obtain fighter planes, and now they are
Lu Bu was sent to rebel against Dong Zhuo.
In any case, this incident gave Liu Bei hope of success, and he decided to take a risk with Cao Zhi.
Cao Zhi waited for Liu Bei and his party outside Hangu Pass. Liu Bei was still in official uniform, sitting on the saddle like a monkey on tour in a circus. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were not like the elegant robes and bright weapons shown on TV.
His level is not high yet, he is just wearing ordinary armor and Fan Kuai Guan.