My younger brother Lü Fengxian

Chapter 224: The Loyal Han
Just when Zhu Fu regretted so much that he wanted to slap himself twice, he hurriedly led his troops out of the camp.

Lu Yi has led Lu Bu and others to the camp of Lu Zhi, the commander of the northern army of the Han army.

Although he had no contact with Lu Zhi, his teacher Cai Yong was a good friend of Lu Zhi.

They had worked together on compiling the Book of Han a few years ago, so their friendship was profound.

Lu Yi went to see Lu Zhi and relied on his status as his teacher to ask for a face-to-face meeting with him.

Lu Zhi was not only a great scholar at the master level, but also had famous students such as Liu Bei and Gongsun Zan under his tutelage.

He was one of the twenty-two teachers who were honored in the Confucius Temple along with Ma Rong and Zheng Xuan of the late Eastern Han Dynasty.

Moreover, Lu Zhi was an outstanding figure in both civil and military affairs, and was a man ahead of his time. He was strong, resolute, honest and dedicated to his work. Not only his ability but also his character was perfect.

As long as he knew about Lu Yi's achievements, he would report them to the court impartially and directly, even if Lu Yi was not Cai Yong's student and had never met him before.

For such a perfect person, Lu Yi would never doubt his character.

After two days of running around.

When they arrived at Lu Zhi's camp, just as Lu Yi had expected, they were received by Lu Zhi smoothly.

Lu Zhi was about forty years old, tall and thin, with bright eyes.

The Confucian elegance and the seriousness of a soldier coexist perfectly in him, giving Lu Yi a more concrete memory of this Confucian general who has left his name in history.

After arriving at Lu Zhi's central military tent, Lu Yi presented his and his men's battle records to Lu Zhi.

Before Lu Zhi opened his mouth, a handsome young officer behind him asked in disbelief.

"Are you saying that Jiuyuan County alone has killed tens of thousands of Xianbei people?"

"And 99% of the Xianbei people were killed by a village headman and more than a thousand villagers?"

Although he only asked the question subconsciously, his voice was so loud that Lu Bu and Zhang Xun behind Lu Yi couldn't help but frown slightly.

"exactly!"

Facing the young officer's half-questioning and half-shocked words, Lu Yi remained calm and answered neither humbly nor arrogantly.

"Are you doubting my brother's words?"

Seeing that this loud-voiced man seemed to be questioning Lu Yi just like Zhu Fu, Lu Bu could not help but snort and ask back.

"Oh, no, that's not the case..."

"But this record is too amazing..."

The young officer saw that Lu Yi and the others had extraordinary temperaments, especially the Lu Bu who was speaking in front of him, who looked like he had the word "fierce general" engraved on his forehead, so he believed half of it at first glance.

The reason for such exclamation was that he was shocked by the battle records described by Lu Yi and others.

Seeing that Lu Bu seemed to be unhappy, the young officer was afraid of causing misunderstanding and hurriedly explained. After all, his attitude was much better than Zhu Fu, who looked up to Xiang and wanted to raise his head to the sky.

Therefore, upon hearing this, Lu Bu snorted coldly and gave up.

"Bogui, don't you know that there are people better than you and there are higher powers than you?"

The young man wanted to say more, but was interrupted by Lu Zhi.

"Are you the last disciple of my good friend Cai Yong?"

"It's been a while since we last met. How's my good friend doing?"

Lu Zhi looked at Lu Yi with a smile and asked kindly.

It was as if the person standing in front of Lu Yi at this moment was not the commander-in-chief who commanded tens of thousands of Han troops, but a kind elder, which made Lu Yi feel good about him.

"The teacher is doing well, and he asked me to say hello to you."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yi immediately respectfully paid homage to Lu Zhi as his teacher.

Lu Zhi obviously had a very close relationship with Cai Yong, and he did not stop Lu Yi's behavior of currying favor with him. Instead, he calmly accepted Lu Yi's greeting.

"Let me introduce you. This is my student Gongsun Zan, also known by his courtesy name Bogui, currently the Chief of Liaodong."

Lu Zhi pointed at Gongsun Zan beside him and introduced him to Lu Yi.

"So it's Senior Brother Gongsun here. My name is Lu Yi, courtesy name is Sixiao. I'm honored!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Yi immediately bowed. He couldn't help feeling complicated as he looked at the handsome and noble young man in front of him.

As the most prominent princes during the period of the rise of many heroes in the late Han Dynasty.

Gongsun Zan can be said to be one of the princes most likely to conquer the world.

If the first battle had not been against Yuan Shao, the undisputed strongest warlord, this fierce man who tortured the Wuhuan to death and could stop the Wuhuan children from crying at night would have been difficult to stop by any other warlord.

Moreover, even when facing Yuan Shao, Gongsun Zan was not at all inferior in the early stage. At the beginning, he beat Yuan Shao so hard that he lost his weapons and armor and almost captured Yuan Shao himself. It can be said that 30% of Cao Cao's rise was due to his own talents and efforts, and the remaining 70% was due to Gongsun Zan using his own life to hold Yuan Shao back, giving Cao Cao time to grow.

Lu Yi's future development focus will always be on Bingzhou, a vast land with a sparse population and great potential.

Therefore, if nothing unexpected happens, Gongsun Zan will inevitably become a strong rival for Hebei and a powerful competitor in his development.

However, he was also a national hero who defended the Han Dynasty's borders. Whenever he encountered invasions from foreign tribes such as the Wuhuan, he would fight to the death as if he were his enemy. Therefore, as long as Gongsun Zan was there, foreign tribes such as the Wuhuan would temporarily no longer be a threat to the borders.

If the Han Dynasty had not continued to weaken, Gongsun Zan would most likely have become another figure like Longcheng or Feijiang, and could have ensured peace in the northern border of the Han Dynasty for decades.

Therefore, Lu Yi naturally had mixed feelings towards such a senior brother.

After introducing Gongsun Zan, Lu Zhi then

"Bogui, this is a disciple of my good friend Cai Yong. From now on, you should treat him as your senior brother."

"Gongsun Zan meets Senior Brother Lu."

The young Gongsun Zan in front of him had no idea what would happen to him in his future life. After hearing his teacher's instructions, he smiled and greeted the senior brother who suddenly appeared in front of him.

He is now just a small chief historian of Liaodong vassal state. How can he imagine that in the future he will be one of the heroes who will control several states and compete for the world's dominance.

"You are Bo Ji's disciple, so I naturally trust your character, but Bo Gui's doubts are also my doubts."

"I don't know how Sixiao was able to defeat Hutuo's army with only a small pavilion and a few thousand men, killing tens of thousands of enemies and beheading the bandit leader Hutuo in battle?"

After Lu Zhi introduced the two of them, he also asked Lu Yi.

Gongsun Zan behind him was also curious when he heard this, and quickly looked at Lu Yi, waiting for his answer.

"The villagers of Jiuyuanting can barely protect themselves. The reason why the students were able to defeat Hu Tuo was actually because of an elite cavalry unit of 800 people."

"Eight hundred cavalry troops?"

"Cavalry costs a lot. Even I don't have many in the army now. Sixiao is just a captain, and he is not from a wealthy family. How can he afford so many cavalry?"

Lu Zhi and Gongsun Zan looked at each other, both of them incredulous. "I hope you know that my family is poor, and I have no choice but to do some errands to support you, and occasionally go to the border to do business."

"But I didn't expect that this business outside the Great Wall was so profitable that it not only supported the students to support their teachers, but also employed hundreds of employees."

"These guys have been following me on my business trips outside the Great Wall for many years, and inevitably have to deal with the Hu people and horse bandits, so everyone is skilled in archery and horse riding."

"The students also used the profits from the merchants to buy horses, so they formed a horse team of 800 people."

"At the end of last year, the Xianbei were rampant. Although I am only a small Jiuyuan Pavilion Chief, I have a heart to serve my country, so I paid for the equipment of this cavalry."

"It just so happened that in Jiuyuan Pavilion, I had a batch of fine iron squeezed to the side because of the Xianbei people. So after reporting to the county magistrate and getting permission, I spent half a year building iron armor and horse harnesses, and equipped all 800 men into fully armed iron cavalry. Then I lured the enemy into a weak state, and then I took advantage of the old thief Hutuo's unpreparedness and killed him in a single battle!"

He plans to lead 1,500 cavalrymen to actively participate in the war in the future.

Therefore, it was impossible to hide the news of his armored cavalry.

It would be fine if there were more than a thousand servants, and it would not be considered a violation of the rules if the number was larger. After all, the population of some aristocratic families was far greater than the total population of Luwu.

In history, when the Mi family of Xuzhou married their daughter to Liu Bei, they gave thousands of slaves as a dowry.

Therefore, Lu Yi's more than 800 men are nothing at all.

Having said that, the iron frames equipped on the eight hundred guys are deadly gadgets.

Not only could they easily take the lives of Hutuo and other Xianbei people, but if reported to the court by someone with ulterior motives, they could also easily take Lu Yi's own life.

One armor carries three crossbows, and three armors enter the underworld.

Possessing armor privately is a capital offense.

Zhou Yafu, a famous general of the Western Han Dynasty who put down the Rebellion of the Seven Kings, was killed by Emperor Jing of Han, who was afraid of him, because he secretly prepared 500 sets of armor to be buried with himself. Unexpectedly, he actually became his own burial object.

Even a hero like Zhou Yafu died because of this. Lu Yi hid more than just 500 sets of armor.

It's not just the 800 sets of armor that have been exposed, but also the remaining 700 sets that have not yet been exposed.

Either one could convict Lu Yi of the heinous crime of exterminating three clans.

Therefore, Lu Yi’s top priority is to find a way to resolve this hidden danger.

Now it seems that the Xianbei invasion was not completely without benefits.

At least Lu Yi found a perfect excuse.

With the reason of being threatened by the Xianbei people, and the fact that Lu Yi "reported to Zhang Xun in advance", it provided a certain rationality for Lu Yi to privately make armor.

The death of Hutuo himself and the 10,000 Xianbei heads quietly piled up in the Luwu warehouse also gave Lu Yi's evil intentions a cloak of merit.

After all, what Lu Yi killed were not ten thousand pigs, but ten thousand foreign invaders who entered the Han territory.

The year before last, the Han army suffered a rare defeat at the hands of the Xianbei people. This year, the Xianbei people were able to invade Han territory as if they were in an empty land. The heads of these foreign races were a huge military achievement.

No one can unreasonably accuse Lu Yi, a loyal and righteous man who truly sacrificed his family and career to serve the court, at a time when everyone in the court hopes to successfully repel the Xianbei Qing invaders.

This hat was so big that Lu Yi could explain it directly to Lu Zhi without any scruples.

The reason why Lu Yi did this was that he hoped to use Lu Zhi, one of the commanders of the court, to solidify his military achievements and completely eliminate hidden dangers.

There were some truths and lies in Lu Yi's words, and he distorted some key information. He then transformed himself into a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty and a hero who killed the Hu people!
The reactions of Lu Zhi and Gongsun Zan did not surprise Lu Yi.

Compared with the suspicious armor, the two, under Lu Yi's deliberate guidance, focused their attention on Lu Yi's military exploits and the combat effectiveness of the Xianzhen Camp.

"I never thought that the merchants outside the Great Wall could make such huge profits and could build an armored cavalry of this scale!"

Gongsun Zan was shocked when he heard this, because his mother also had a lowly status and had climbed up step by step from the bottom. He couldn't help but envy Lu Yi's generosity.

"So that's how it is. With such an alien army, we can take advantage of the sudden rise of Hutto's army to defeat them!"

However, Lu Zhi nodded slowly upon hearing this, as if he had finally put aside his doubts about Lu Yi's great military achievements.

"Hahaha……"

"I never thought that Bo Ji's lifelong wish of leading troops to conquer the barbarians would eventually be realized by his own disciple."

Lu Zhi seemed to remember something and suddenly burst into laughter again.

After a moment, Lu Zhi finished laughing and suddenly looked at Lu Yi with a serious expression.

"Sixiao's victory in battle is a great achievement for both the imperial court and the people of Bingzhou. After I send someone to Jiuyuan Pavilion to commend you for your achievements and inspect the heads, I will report to the imperial court for your reward!"

"Thank you, Lu Shuai!"

Lu Yi and Lu Bu and Zhang Xun behind him all felt relieved when they heard Lu Zhi's words.

With Lu Zhi's intervention, Lu Yi's private armor-making incident was safely resolved.

However, in order to prevent Lu Zhi from coveting his troops, Lu Yi immediately knelt on one knee and expressed his opinion.

"However, the students went into battle to kill the enemy only to protect the people and maintain peace in the area, not for any reward!"

"After I won this great victory over Hu Tuo, I seized another 700 pieces of armor from Hu Tuo's camp. In addition, Lü Bu, the military commander of the Great Wall Pass Army of Mayi, Zhang Xun, the county magistrate of Jiuyuan, and the heroes of Bingzhou Gao Shun, Cheng Lian, Hou Cheng, Wei Xu, and Song Xian heard about my great victory and led hundreds of good family men to join me. Therefore, I now have a total of 1,500 armored cavalry under my command."

"General Lu, please allow me to continue leading this unit to participate in the subsequent battles against the Xianbei people, considering our dedication to serving the country!"

As he spoke, Lu Yi raised his head, and in front of the surprised gazes of Lu Zhi and Gongsun Zan, he asked for a fight with a frank and sincere face.

"Please, General Lu, help us fulfill our desire to serve our country!"

After Lu Yi finished speaking, Lu Bu and Zhang Xun behind him also knelt down and made a request.

"One thousand five hundred people? All of them are armored cavalry!?"

Even Gongsun Zan, who was now Lu Zhi's vanguard general, was shocked by the power displayed by Lu Yi.

"Oh? A full 1,500 people? Could it be that they all have the same fighting power as when we defeated the Huto tribe last time?"

As the commander, Lu Zhi thought more about it. He immediately helped Lu Yi up and asked him anxiously.

"I guarantee with my life that they are all highly skilled warriors who are devoted to serving their country!"

Lu Yi said with determination.

"Good good!"

Lu Zhi was overjoyed when he heard this.

"The war against the Xianbei has now reached its most urgent stage. With an elite force like Sixiao coming with a great victory, great things can be expected!"

"Sixiao and his group of virtuous people are truly the loyal and good people of our Han Dynasty!"

……

(End of this chapter)