Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

The evening sunlight illuminated people's shadows. At the time of getting off work, the streets were still very busy. A sweaty man weighed the copper coins in his arms and walked to the street, thinking of buying some meat and vegetables. The remaining money was just enough to buy a pot of wine to drink at home. He was completely unaware that there was an undercurrent in the city. Outside the city, knights on war horses, in teams of three or five, rushed out of the barracks madly, riding their horses.

"Bian Xiang and Xiao Haili have left, Xi Sheng and Yuan Lang have also left, and the garrisons and officials of various military states have also left..." Ma Ling counted the papers, raised his head and shouted, "Where are the letters from Qiao Changshi and Wu Congshizhonglang?"

"Yes, yes, yes..." Deputy General Cheng Zhunahai came over and said, "General, have you forgotten? Li Zhubu will be in charge of these two. We will just be in charge of contacting the generals in the army."

"Huh..." Ma Ling took the brush and crossed out the name on the paper, then stuffed it to Cheng Zhunahai. He smiled and said, "That's not bad. Go and inform the military advisor and the chief clerk that the express horse has set out. The far ones will arrive in ten days, and the nearby ones will arrive in three to five days."

"Yes."

The general responded, ran out quickly, rode his horse and ran towards the city.

The horses' hooves rose and fell, raising a cloud of dust.

As time went by, it was already time for dinner. The former Liao general rode a warhorse to Li Zhu's house and saw Hu Cheng and Su Liang saying goodbye. They bowed and left. The man got off the warhorse and quickly shouted to the servant who was about to close the door: "Wait, I am a soldier, I have something to discuss with the chief clerk."

The person who was closing the door had seen many people coming in and out today, so he stopped when he heard what was said. Cheng Zhunahai did not dare to delay and hurried in. Inside the room, Li Zhu, Wang Zheng, Gao Zhen, and Yang Pu were sitting around the table.

"My young general greets you all." The bald man took out a piece of paper from his arms and said, "This is the list that my general asked me to deliver. Letters have been sent to all the people listed on it. I estimate that they will receive a reply in ten days at the latest."

"Okay!" Li Zhu was overjoyed. He stood up and took the letter and said, "Tell your general to go to the mansion of the General of the Cavalry more often in the next two days. He will understand what I mean."

"Yes."

Cheng Zhunahai responded and then said something to the four people before leaving. Li Zhu turned around and said, "Three of you, the generals have been sent to notify us now. Once they sign their names, we can push for the promotion again." He walked over to the table and sat down. "Madam Hu San and Madam Su Er both said that the general is hesitating. As long as we are firm in our attitude, it will not be difficult for him to take the throne."

Yang Pu stroked his beard and said, "These are easy to say. It is an ancient custom to decline three times. The general has already declined once. This time, we need one more time to complete the general's virtue. After he declines once, everyone can strongly recommend him again. Only then can it be in accordance with the etiquette and be legitimate." Then he pulled his beard and frowned, "But what name should we use to satisfy the general's wishes?"

The other three frowned. Li Zhu stroked his beard and spoke slowly, "I heard that the general admired the power of Han in the past. However, according to what the two ladies Hu and Su said today, the general said that the Han Dynasty has fallen and there is no need to talk about the past. Can we choose a country name from other aspects?"

"The name of a country is nothing more than tracing back to its origins, inheriting from ancestors, or responding to prophecies." Gao Zhen's sturdy body shook a little: "Now there are no prophecies circulating, so we can't use the name of Wei as 'Tu Gao is Wei'. The general has never been awarded a title, so we can't use it as a reference. We only know that his hometown is suspected to be Xijin Prefecture..." He hesitated and looked at the three people: "According to the theory of tracing back to the origin, King Wu of Zhou once classified the area around it as Yan. Should we persuade the general to use Yan as the name?"

"I also think Yan is better." Yang Pu clasped his hands together and placed them on the table. "The Book of History says that 'King Wu conquered Shang, released Ji Zi from prison, and sent him to Korea, where he was given a fief'. Ji Zi 'taught the people etiquette, morality, farming, silkworms, and weaving' when he arrived. This refers to the area near Liaoyang Prefecture. According to the records of the Zhou Dynasty, it belonged to Youzhou, which was owned by Yan. During the Han Dynasty, Gongsun Yuan, the grandson of Gongsun Du, also called himself the King of Yan near Liaoyang Prefecture. In my opinion, the general officially established his position in Liaodong in order to conquer Liaoyang Prefecture, and establishing Yan as a title should be in line with the conditions for the general's rise to power."

The voices in the room slowed down. Li Zhu frowned and shook his head. "If you really want to say that he made his fortune, it should actually be within the territory of Song. At that time, the general occupied Liangshan and recruited brave warriors from all over the country. He defeated the invading troops of the Song court in succession, destroyed several military states, and plundered their wealth and weapons for his own use. That's why he had the soldiers and generals to conquer half of Liaodong..."

Wang Zheng, Gao Zhen, and Yang Pu's eyes flickered. Although they all guessed that most of Lu Bu's men were not from Liaodong, they never thought that it was more complicated than they thought.

Li Zhu ignored what the three of them were thinking, twisting his beard and continuing, "Liangshan is located in Yunzhou. There is a vast lake at the foot of the mountain, known as the 800-li Water Margin. Counting..." He put down his hand, "During the Spring and Autumn Period, the western part belonged to Jin, the northern and southeastern parts belonged to Lu, and during the Warring States Period, they belonged to Qi. So I think these three country names are also in line with the theory of tracing back to the origin."

Wang Zheng lazily leaned back in his chair, looked at Yang Pu and Gao Zhen, whose brows were knitted into a shape of a "川" (river character), and then looked at Li Zhu, whose eyes were filled with worry. He rubbed his stomach with his hand and said, "Three of you, are you hungry?"

The three of them looked over, and the military advisor shrugged: "What's the point of you arguing today? Can you make the decision for the general? Why don't you write down the names of these countries tomorrow and present them to the general to let him decide? Wouldn't it be better than arguing here?" "...That's right." Yang Pu's face relaxed and he laughed: "It's me who is obsessed. My dear nephew, what you said makes sense."

Li Zhu also breathed a sigh of relief: "Too many things happened today. It's not wise to get stuck in a dead end for a while."

"In that case..." Gao Zhen looked around, propped his hands on the table and said to Li Zhu, "Is there anything to eat at the master's house?"

Li Zhu smiled and said, "Yes, there are some, but they can only fill your stomach. It's late today, why don't the four of us go to a restaurant in the city to eat and drink?"

Gao Zhen immediately used his arms to stand up: "What are you waiting for? Let's go."

The four of them stood up and walked out. The sky was darkened and a crescent moon hung in the air. Although the lights were just coming on, there were still people walking on the street. They turned a street and found that it was much more lively than where Li Zhu lived. There were mostly wine shops and tea houses on both sides, and carriages occasionally passed by on the wide road.

"Let's do it here." Wang Zheng weakly pulled Gao Zhen's clothes off and pointed to the two-story restaurant: "If you go any further, I'll end up lying on the street."

"Then we can't let the military advisor rest in the open air."

Li Zhu said something, and walked into the building with Yang Pu. Gao Zhen laughed and supported Wang Zheng as they followed behind.

On the second floor of the restaurant, a young man named Lu Guan was sitting by the window. The faces at the table were all young and immature.

"I have been in Liaoyang Prefecture for almost half a month, and the General of the Cavalry has been back for several days, but I still haven't seen him. Brother Guan, could it be that the General doesn't like your family?"

The person who was speaking was a younger member of the Han family, who was related to the Lu family by marriage. His name was Han Duo. The two families had been intermarried for several generations, and the nephews and nephews in the family were mostly friends with each other. Moreover, the two families taught each other knowledge, and later they simply merged their schools together. As a result, they were not only friends and brothers, but also classmates.

"When the master came, he told me that the general is most likely from my family, but I don't know which branch. You said he doesn't like my family..." The handsome young man spread his hands helplessly, "It's possible."

"Doesn't that mean we have to wait till who knows how long?" Han Duo wailed, and several older cousins ​​around him also smiled bitterly and sighed sadly.

"...Maybe." Lu Guan said, glancing at the street outside the window, and instantly sat up straight, sticking his head out to take a closer look.

"Brother Guan, what are you looking at?" Han Duo looked at him strangely.

"Today might be our lucky day." Lu Guan said as he put down his wine glass. "I saw the chief clerk and military advisor from the General's Mansion come here for dinner. Brother Duo, will you go with me to meet them?"

"Is it such a coincidence?"

Several young men were delighted. (End of this chapter)