Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Chapter 38 On the fifth day of May, we meet in Zhangshui

There were only two people inside the big tent.

Sitting in the main seat is an old man with a short beard, wearing a patched scholar's uniform that has been washed and whitened. However, the whole person exudes a calm demeanor like a mountain, which is only matched by the waist. Beizhong Lang's general seal proves that this person is Lu Zhi, a great scholar who is famous all over the world.

Standing in front of Lu Zhi was Huan Huanzhonglang, whose face seemed to have been weathered. The scars on his face seemed to tell the story of the many battles he had experienced, and he was still fully armored even in the tent. General member.

"Mr. Lu, do you have important business to call me here?" the clan member bowed and bowed his hands in salute.

Lu Zhi handed the bamboo slips written by Liu Bei and the information compiled by Li Ji to the clan members, and while signaling the clan members to read through, he gave orders to the personal guards guarding the entrance of the tent.

"Haosheng will bring up the spies who brought the bamboo slips and the thief Cao Yinxin."

"Yes."

The personal guards took the order and left.

Soon, the clan member carefully read the two bamboo slips in his hand and asked.

"Mr. Lu, the information about Julu County is almost the same as what we have collected. There are only some minor differences, but this is normal."

The Han army, which was confronting the Yellow Turbans in the Guangzong area, naturally could not fail to collect intelligence from Julu County.

On the contrary, the spies sent by the Han army to lurk in Julu County were much more than those sent by Liu Bei, and they were even more detailed than the one compiled by Li Ji temporarily.

"However, this piece of information can't prove anything. The main thing is whether Lu Gong can prove the identity of this disciple Liu Bei?" asked the clan member.

Lu Zhi stroked his beard and smiled.

"Liu Bei was one of the disciples I took when I settled in Zhuojun. At that time, this son did not like reading. He was very fond of dogs, horses, music, and beautiful clothes."

"So, this guy is a mediocre person, but he wasted a great opportunity to receive guidance from Duke Lu." The clan member shook his head, and his impression of Liu Bei dropped greatly.

Lu Zhi recalled a little and said.

"No, everyone has two sides. Although Xuande could not concentrate on studying knowledge when he was young, he was already indifferent to joy and anger at such a young age. And although he was born into a clan of the declining Han Dynasty, he was able to express himself through his favorite things. dogs, horses, music, beautiful clothes, etc., but also successfully made friends with a large number of heroes, scholars, traders, etc."

"Therefore, when Xuande was studying, his martial arts were not as good as Gongsun Zan's, and his writing was not as good as Gao Yu's. However, I saw that he had great ambitions, and he might not be able to make a difference in the future. Now he has taken advantage of the situation and taken advantage of the situation to lead the thief Cao. Lead 6,000 soldiers southward to Changshan Kingdom."

The clan member who seemed to have a hard expression agreed. “It is possible that Lu Gong’s teachings contributed to this.”

Lu Zhi smiled lightly and continued.

"Xuande is in Zhuo County, and as a member of the Han clan, he has benevolent ambitions and will never take the initiative to join the bandits. If he is forced to survive and becomes a guest among the Yellow Turbans, it means that Youzhou has been captured by the Yellow Turban thieves. It was captured. However, if Youzhou was captured, it is impossible that there would be no information at all. Therefore, this matter is mostly true."

"Luke Mingjian." Zong Yuan said.

"However, we still need to ask the spy who sent the bamboo slips to find out." Lu Zhi said.

It was at this time that the guards led Xiahou Bo, who had been unarmed, into the tent.

After Lu Zhi observed Xiahou Bo carefully, he said.

"I am Lu Ziqian, and you are the messenger who delivers the message for my disciple Xuande?"

Xiahou Bo heard this and quickly saluted. "Jichang, the Marquis of Xia in Changshan, pays homage to General Beizhong Lang."

Seeing this, Lu Zhi, who had a great reputation among the entire Han Dynasty, stood up and helped Xiahou Bo up, then led him to sit down and spoke gently.

"Previously, my subordinates were rude and mistook Ji Chang for a Yellow Turban spy. I will accuse Ji Chang on his behalf. I hope Ji Chang will not blame him."

Xiahou Bo, who was treated so politely by Lu Zhi, undoubtedly felt flattered.

'It turns out that Xuande has the style of Beizhong Langjiang. '

Xiahou Bo said something secretly in his heart, and even said he didn't dare.

In other words, Xiahou Bo took the initiative to approach the Han army camp just to deliver the message in this way. Otherwise, Xiahou Bo would not have any channel to formally meet with Lu Zhi.

As for Xiahou Bo, dressed in black, he secretly sneaked into the Han army camp, left the bamboo slips and then floated away.

Xiahou Bo is a ranger, not a giant.

With the camp arranged by Lu Zhi, Xiahou Bo's left foot might have been chopped off by random knives before even stepping into the camp. Only his left foot was left.

"Ji Chang is from Changshan. I don't know how to get acquainted with Xuande, and why should he deliver a message for Xuande?" Lu Zhi asked.

When Xiahou Bo heard this, he naturally did not dare to hide it and respectfully explained the cause and effect.

When Lu Zhi learned that Xiahou Bo wanted to repay his kindness, so he took the initiative as a guide and was not afraid of the danger in crossing Julu County to deliver the message to Guangzong, he looked at Xiahou Bo with a little more appreciation.

"Although Ji Chang is a knight-errant, he understands kindness and is very kind."

Lu Zhi praised him, and Xiahou Bo couldn't help but feel a bit of joy on his face.

"Mr. Lu is too praised," Xiahou Bo said.

"Ji Chang has worked hard all the way. Let's go down and rest first. I still need to think about it for a while, and then I'll ask Ji Chang to bring the message back for me." Lu Zhi said.

Immediately, Lu Zhi ordered his personal guards to arrange a separate tent for Xiahou Bo to rest, and then turned to ask the clan members.

"General Zong, what do you think?"

"I have been observing Xiahou Bo's expression carefully just now, and there was no sign of panic when I responded to Lu Gong's questions before and after, so what I said must be true." The clan member said truthfully.

Lu Zhi nodded, but made the same judgment as the clan members in his heart, and then picked up the two bamboo slips again and read them carefully.

"wonderful!"

Suddenly, Lu Zhi smiled and said something.

"Huh?" The clan member looked at Lu Zhi with some confusion.

"Xuande must have experts around him to help him." Lu Zhi said decisively.

"How can you see it?" asked the clan member.

Immediately, Lu Zhi stood up and walked to the topographic map of Jizhou hanging in the tent.

Different from the simple map in Liu Bei's hand, the one in Lu Zhi's hand was clearly a topographic map collected by the imperial court that could be used for military purposes.

Lu Zhi scratched his fingers in the area of ​​Zhongshan Kingdom bordering Zhuo County in the north of Jizhou and said.

"Xuande entered Jizhou from Zhuojun, so he must have entered from this area. However, if Xuande wants to attack Julujun, or support Guangzong's battlefield, then the best choice is to go south from Zhongshan Kingdom and attack Juzhou. Go down to Quyang from Lujun; or from Zhongshan to Anping, take the shortest distance and go straight to Guangzong's front line."

"However……"

Lu Zhi's fingers slid from the northeastern side of Zhongshan Kingdom that bordered Zhuo County to the west side, entering the northern part of Changshan Kingdom, and then all the way south from the northern part of Changshan Kingdom, passing through Zhending, and then to Gaoyi, and said. "General Zong, look at Xuande's marching route. It went in a big circle, not to mention the difficulty of the march? What's more important is that Xuande is now stationed in Gaoyi, and his goal is undoubtedly to go straight to the giant city. Going to Lucheng."

Speaking of this, Lu Zhi couldn't help laughing and said.

"Xuande probably had the idea of ​​attacking the giant deer by surprise at first and swallowing the giant deer directly at once. Unfortunately, after Xuande investigated the intelligence of Julu City and understood the huge gap between the enemy and ourselves, he had no choice but to give up this idea. "

Hearing this, the clan members on the side could not help but marvel at the marching route pointed out by Lu Zhi, even as a veteran general.

"If Liu Bei is given 5,000 more men to surprise the giant deer and attack it unprepared, there may be a chance of success. That would be truly a miracle."

"Exactly."

Lu Zhi nodded, and said with a hint of pity in his tone.

"If Xuande can really capture Julu, Zhangjiao on the front line of Guangzong will become a turtle in an urn, and the Yellow Turban Rebellion will be put down in less than a month, and the people of the world will no longer have to suffer from this military disaster."

After a pause, Lu Zhi continued.

"Based on my understanding of Xuande, Xuande definitely does not have such foresight and planning in the art of war. There must be experts around him to help, so..."

Lu Zhi weighed the bamboo slip in his hand about the information about Julu and said.

"Whether Xiahou Bo, as the envoy, was not deliberately told to conceal the march route of the army led by Xuande, or the conclusion drawn from the investigation of Julu, it seems that it is just to further gain my trust and confirm his identity, but in fact But he is secretly showing off his abilities and..."

When Lu Zhi said this, his voice paused, his palms kept stroking his beard unconsciously, and he fell into deep thought.

The clan members were still observing Liu Bei's general marching route on the map, and then studying the location of Gaoyi.

Judging from the map, the directions between Gaoyi - Julu - Guangzong are like a triangle, spanning the three counties of Changshan, Julu and Anping.

However, Gaoyi is located on the edge of Changshan Kingdom near Julu County, while Guangzong is on the edge of Anping Kingdom near Julu County.

Therefore, although Gaoyi is located at the back of the main battlefield between the Yellow Turbans and the Han army and is ignored by the Yellow Turbans, it is separated by a vast mainland.

If you want to support Guangzong from Gaoyi, you still need to pass around Julu City.

"Disaster!"

The clan member shook his head and said. "The number of Yellow Turban thieves in Julu City is immeasurable. Even if Liu Bei intends to attack Guangzong's rear with a surprise attack, how can he overcome Julu's obstruction?"

Lu Zhi, who was deep in thought, heard the words and spoke. "Since Xuande already knows the general information about Julu County, how can he not know such crucial things?"

"Furthermore, Xuande has scholars around him, and he mentioned in the letter that he can help me. It must be that he has a way to cross Julu City in his mind. He may even have a plan to break the Yellow Turban, but he is worried about whether I will be concerned about it. I just didn’t say anything on the bamboo slips.”

When the clan members heard this, they looked at the two bamboo slips in their hands in disbelief.

Even though he had been in the army for many years and had reached the rank of Zhonglang General, and was appointed by the imperial court as Lu Zhi's deputy, he could not tell at all that the bamboo slip that seemed to be just a statement stating that he was stationed in Gaoyi, and the one that seemed to just share the Julu County The bamboo slips of intelligence still contain this information.

"I don't know who the scholar is, but he is so cautious. Could it be that I think I don't have the capacity to tolerate others?"

Lu Zhi laughed, then took out a bamboo slip and wrote a sentence on it.

[Zhangshui, the fifth day of May, the Dragon Boat Festival, the teacher wants to meet his disciples. 】

The clan member who had witnessed the whole process asked. "Mr. Lu, what do you mean by this? Are you planning to go to Zhangshui to meet Liu Bei on the fifth day of May to confirm your identity?"

Lu Zhi smiled and said nothing, then tied up the bamboo slips and put them into the cloth bag. He tied red ropes to the front and back ends of the cloth bag, and then he spoke.

"Since there are scholars around Xuande who want to study me, I should respond. If Xuande can understand the meaning, it will be a blessing to the world, and the yellow turban thieves will be put down as soon as possible."

Immediately, Lu Zhi waited for a long time, asked his guards, and confirmed that Xiahou Bo had finished eating and rested for a while. Then he set off to find Xiahou Bo in person, and then handed the cloth bag and the volume of military books to Xiahou Bo to take back. .

……

When Xiahou Bo brought the cloth bags and military books back to Gaoyi, Liu Bei looked at the brief sentence on the bamboo slips and was a little confused.

"what?"

Immediately, Liu Bei quickly looked up the map of Julu County and searched for a while, only to find that the Zhangshui River was located between Julu County and Anping Kingdom.

Zhang Fei also looked at the contents on the bamboo slips and shouted.

"Damn it, General Bei Zhonglang still doesn't seem to trust my eldest brother's identity. This is because he wants me to go to Zhangshui River to meet him in person."

"Zhangshui is located to the west of Julu County. If I want to go to Zhangshui, I have to cross Julu County..."

Guan Yu said slowly. "If the eldest brother goes with a large number of guards, he will be exposed; if there are only two or three cavalry accompanying him, there will be many dangers."

When Liu Bei heard this, he couldn't help but frown a little, but for a moment he didn't know what to do. He could only look at Xiahou Bo and ask.

"Ji Chang, apart from the bamboo slips, does Master Lu have anything else to say?"

"No." Xiahou Bo shook his head and replied.

Liu Bei closed his eyes and weighed it for a while before speaking.

"It seems that only a personal visit by Bei can convince Master Lu of my identity. Anyway, on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, Yide, Ji Chang and Bei will go to Zhangshui to meet Master Lu."

At this moment, Li Ji, who glanced at what was written on the bamboo slips on the desk, put down the brush in his hand and spoke.

"There is no need to do this, just leave this bamboo slip in the hands of General Beizhong Lang."

With that said, Li Ji handed the bamboo slips he had just finished writing to Liu Bei.

Liu Bei took it and took a look and found that the reply on the bamboo slip was also very simple and unusual:
  [Bo Luojin, after Xu Shi, the disciples waited quietly for the master to arrive with his guests. 】

Liu Bei asked after reading it, his eyes still full of confusion. "Zikun, are you confirming the specific time when Bizen will go for a while?"

When Li Ji saw this, he laughed dumbly and said.

"Brother Xuande, General Bei Zhonglang did not invite you to meet him. Please note that the Zhangshui River is located behind Guangzong. How could General Bei Zhonglang choose that place to meet Brother Xuande?"

"If General Bei Zhonglang wants to meet Brother Xuande, he has already arrived at Zhangshui, but how many miles can he still go before going to Guangzong's Han army camp? Why not let Brother Xuande go to the camp to meet him?"

Hearing this, Liu Bei suddenly reacted.

Although two parties whose identities have not been confirmed meet, they often choose a position between them.

However, Zhangshui is located between Julu City and Guangzong County controlled by the Yellow Turbans, which is very dangerous for Lu Zhi and Liu Bei.

"What is Master Lu's intention?"

(End of this chapter)