My younger brother Lü Fengxian

Chapter 301 Lu Yi's Choice
However, generals like Zhang Fei and Gongsun Zan could drink as much as they wanted.

However, the two military commanders Lu Zhi and Lu Yi on the main seat were very sensible. Like Gao Shun, they only drank a little and did not get drunk. They were on guard against possible surprise attacks by the Yellow Turban Army in Guangzong City.

However, before this, Lu Zhi's 10,000 men were able to force Zhang Jue, whose army numbered as many as 200,000, into Guangzong City, making him dare not show his head.

Now that they had an additional reinforcement like Lu Yi, whose fighting power was even greater than Lu Zhi's, both Lu Yi and Lu Zhi believed that unless Zhang Jue had something fishy in his mind, he would never dare to risk leaving the city for a surprise attack.

After all, Lu Zhi had been besieging the city for months. If Zhang Jiao had this ability, he would have used it long ago. Why would he wait until now?

Just as Lu Yi and Lu Zhi had expected, Zhang Jue did not send any troops out of the city to attack the city all night. Instead, he was afraid that Lu Zhi would take advantage of the situation to attack the city after receiving reinforcements, so he held Guangzong in fear all night.

After settling Lu Yi's reinforcements, he rested for a night and finally sobered up the next day. He went to Lu Zhi's central military tent to participate in the military meeting and discuss strategies to defeat the enemy.

"Zhang Jue has gathered 200,000 troops to defend Guangzong and is in a stalemate with our army. Fortunately, the governor of Yanmen, Lu Yi, and the commander of the Xiongnu, Lu Bu, have come to help. Do you have any good strategies to defeat the enemy?"

In the big tent, Lu Zhi sat high in the main seat and looked at everyone.

Except for the brothers Lu Yi and Lu Bu, who were allowed to sit together because of their official positions and their status as foreign aid, the rest of the generals stood solemnly with their heads held high.

“General Lu, although Zhang Jiao has a large number of troops, they are just a mob. Before, we only had 10,000 troops to defeat Zhang Jiao and he dared not leave the city. Now that we have the help of Sixiao and Fengxian, there is nothing to worry about. Let’s just lead the army to attack the city from all sides. The Yellow Turbans in Guangzong City will definitely be defeated!”

Gongsun Zan, who was standing on Lu Zhi's right, immediately started shouting loudly upon hearing this.

He relied most on force throughout his life, and the frustration of confronting Zhang Jue over the past few months made him feel very uncomfortable. Therefore, after receiving help from Lu Yi, he could no longer suppress the murderous intent in his heart and gave advice to Lu Zhi.

"What does Sixiao think?"

Lu Zhi nodded when he heard this, and then looked at Lu Yi on his left.

Now that Zhang Jiao was hiding in Guangzong City and refusing to come out, Lu Zhi also tended to agree with Gongsun Zan's suggestion.

Moreover, among the three armies fighting against the bandits, two have already achieved great success, and only his side is still in a stalemate. Therefore, Lu Zhi is under great pressure.

However, it might be enough to hold off Zhang Jue with just these 10,000 troops, but it would not be enough if he chose to fight Zhang Jue head-on.

Therefore, Lu Zhi still needs the help of Lu Yi's troops. Although Lu Yi has now joined forces with Lu Zhi, he still has absolute command over the 7,000 Bingzhou troops under his command. If Lu Yi does not agree, then Lu Zhi can only choose another way.

"The student means..."

When Lu Yi saw Lu Zhi's expectant look, he knew exactly what Lu Zhi meant. He was about to speak when he was interrupted by a messenger who suddenly broke into the central army tent.

The Central Army Tent is the most important place in an army and is heavily guarded. Lu Zhi is a strict military commander and this is even more so.

In addition, this was a critical moment for discussing military secrets. The messenger dared to break into the central military tent at this time. Either he had something important to report or something major had happened. Therefore, everyone's attention was immediately attracted to the messenger.

"Report!"

"There is a group of people outside the camp who claim to be the emperor's envoys coming to supervise the battle."

"However, Marshal Lu is a strict commander. Without Marshal Lu's order, we dare not let him enter the camp. Marshal Lu will make the decision!"

"The Emperor's envoy?"

Lu Zhi, Gongsun Zan and others couldn't help but frown when they heard this.

They knew too well that Liu Hong was ambitious and impatient.

By now, Zhu Jun and Huangfu Song had pacified large groups of Yellow Turban bandits in Nanyang and Yingchuan. Only a few remnants of the Yellow Turbans were still struggling to survive, but it was only a matter of time before they were wiped out by the Han army.

Therefore, when Liu Hong saw that Lu Zhi and others were in a stalemate with Zhang Jue in Hebei, he must have been anxious to send a military supervisor to urge them to fight.

So this angel is most likely real.

Upon hearing this, Lu Yi glanced at the messenger inconspicuously and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

"I didn't expect the inertia of history to be so strong. Liu Hong's military supervisor has finally arrived!"

According to the original history, Lu Zhi did not bribe Zuo Feng, the eunuch sent by Liu Hong, so Zuo Feng held a grudge against him. Zuo Feng returned and reported to Liu Hong that Lu Zhi was passive in the war. Liu Hong was furious and immediately dismissed Lu Zhi from his post, deprived him of his military power, and escorted him back to Luoyang in a prison cart. He also sent Dong Zhuo, a capable official who was already famous for his good fighting skills, to serve as the new commander of the Hebei battlefield. However, due to Dong Zhuo's poor background, he was despised by Hebei officials and could not get help, so he failed to eliminate Zhang Jue. In the end, he replaced him with Huangfu Song as the commander, and finally completely wiped out Zhang Jue and others.

But now, because of the appearance of Lu Yi, the originally destined future has come to a fork in the road.

There are two choices before Lu Yi.

One was to stand idly by and allow Zuo Feng and his ilk to go back and falsely accuse Lu Zhi to Liu Hong, causing Lu Zhi to be imprisoned.

In this way, Lu Yi, who was already in Guangzong and was far more famous for his fighting skills than Dong Zhuo of the same period, would definitely be able to defeat Dong Zhuo's competition, directly take charge of Lu Zhi's troops, and take over the position of commander-in-chief of the Han army in Hebei. If he could successfully wipe out Zhang Jue, he would be able to steal the greatest victory of this Yellow Turban Rebellion, which would be a great help to his hegemony.

Secondly, he wanted to change Lu Zhi's situation. Although this could save Lu Zhi, it would have some impact on his own development. After annihilating Zhang Jue, Lu Yi could only be ranked second to Lu Zhi in merit. If he competed for the position of Governor of Bingzhou in the future, he might fail because of his insufficient achievements. However, Lu Zhi had done a great favor to Lu Yi, and Lu Yi had always admired Lu Zhi as a person.

Therefore, these two choices put Lu Yi in a dilemma and made him hesitate.

"Since it is an angel coming, all the generals should quickly follow me out of the camp to welcome him."

Lu Zhi did not notice the strange look on Lu Yi's face, and reacted very quickly to lead everyone out of the tent.

Lu Zhi was loyal to his subjects and remained faithful to his principles even when he was insulted by Liu Hong and was dismissed from office and imprisoned several times. Therefore, when he heard that the angel had arrived, he was unwilling to lose his manners no matter what.

"Your subject Lu Zhi greets the angel."

After Lu Zhi met and confirmed the identity of the visitor, he immediately respectfully invited Liu Hong's envoy into the central military tent to pay him a visit.

"Well, I came here this time on the order of the emperor to question General Lu. Why is it that General Zhu and General Huangfu have already pacified the Yellow Turbans in the Central Plains, but General Lu is still in a stalemate with Zhang Jue and others in Hebei?"

Although the general trend of history had not changed, Liu Hong still sent the eunuchs around him to hold him accountable. However, the eunuch leading the team was not the historical Zuo Feng. Instead, he was replaced by an unknown eunuch. This made Lu Yi feel a sense of urgency.

Now, as his influence grows, history has begun to change beyond recognition. It won’t be long before his advantage as a prophet will be greatly reduced, so there is not much time and opportunity left for him.

"Your Majesty, Zhang Jiao is the leader of the Yellow Turbans. There are already 200,000 Yellow Turbans gathered in Guangzong City, while our army only has over 10,000. Therefore, we cannot destroy Zhang Jiao for the time being."

Seeing this, although Lu Zhi was very displeased with the eunuch in front of him, he had no choice but to suppress his anger and defend himself in a low voice. "However, now I have the help of Lu Yi, the governor of Yanmen County, who is leading 7,000 Bingzhou troops. We will be able to defeat the Yellow Turbans in a few days. Please ask the angel to go back and tell His Majesty that within ten days, there will be victory news back to Luoyang!"

"It will take another ten days?"

"General Lu has no idea how hard the emperor is working in Luoyang to supply General Lu's army. You know, His Majesty has no interest in even having fun recently!"

"General Lu only needs to concentrate on fighting on the front line, while Your Majesty has a lot to consider while sitting in the rear!"

"If everything continues to drag on like General Lu, when will His Majesty be relieved of his worries?"

The eunuch frowned in dissatisfaction when he heard that. The shrill voice full of dissatisfaction floated in the big tent, making all the young and vigorous soldiers in the tent feel disgusted.

Even ordinary men are naturally averse to eunuchs, who are their incomplete counterparts.

Not to mention these fierce warriors whose hormones are simply exploding.

"Humph, we are fighting for our country and killing the enemy at the front line, risking our lives. How dare you, a eunuch, speak nonsense in front of General Lu? If we hadn't been at the front line, the three brothers Zhang Jiao would have led hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turbans across the Yellow River and marched westward to Luoyang long ago?"

When Gongsun Zan saw that the eunuch seemed disrespectful to Lu Zhi, he immediately flew into a rage and stepped forward to argue with the eunuch.

Lu Bu and Zhang Fei behind Lu Yi also showed angry expressions and wanted to step forward to support Gongsun Zan.

“You…you…you…!”

When the skinny eunuch saw a powerful general like Gongsun Zan approaching him, his spirit suddenly dropped. He no longer looked like a fox pretending to be powerful. He took several steps back in fear and was so scared that he couldn't even utter a complete word.

"presumptuous!"

"This is an angel sent by the emperor. Seeing him is like seeing the emperor in person. Are you offending the majesty of heaven and want to learn from Zhang Jiao and his brothers to rebel?"

The eunuch was shocked by the momentum of Gongsun Zan and others. Before he could say anything, Lu Zhi stood up with a look of shock and anger and started scolding Gongsun Zan and others.

He acted in this way not only to uphold his loyalty as a subject, but also to protect Gongsun Zan, lest he lose control of his mouth and say something even more outrageous.

"Humph! The generals under General Lu are not good at killing Zhang Jiao, but they are quite good at intimidating angels!"

"Your name is Gongsun Zan, right? I am now an angel, the emperor's eyes and ears. If you threaten me, you are threatening the emperor. When I return to the palace, I will sternly sue you in front of His Majesty!"

When the eunuch saw that Lu Zhi was backing him up, he immediately became angry and pointed at Gongsun Zan and threatened him.

Gongsun Zan was a man who would hang his head on his belt and regarded fighting for his life with the Wuhuan people as the greatest pleasure in his life. He was brave enough to lead his followers, who were dozens of meters long on white horses, and go deep into the desert for hundreds of miles to fight the Wuhuan people. He was not even afraid of the brutal Wuhuan people, so would he be afraid of the threat from the weak eunuch in front of him?
If Lu Zhi hadn't been standing by, Gongsun Zan could have easily crushed the noisy insect to death with just one finger.

However, Gongsun Zan was not afraid, but Lu Zhi was still afraid that his beloved disciple would be harmed. Therefore, although he was unwilling to bow to the eunuch, he still controlled his temper and apologized to the eunuch in a low voice.

"My student has always been a rude person and does not know etiquette. I will definitely discipline him strictly in the future. I hope the angel will forgive me."

"Bogui, why don't you apologize to the angel!"

As Lu Zhi said this, he was afraid that the eunuch would not be satisfied and would go back to complain, so he turned around and gave the order to Gongsun Zan, who was looking indignant behind him.

"Someone made a mistake in speaking, please don't blame me, angel!"

Gongsun Zan became even more angry when he heard this. According to his temper, he would rather die than bow to the eunuchs. However, since his teacher Lu Zhi had spoken, he dared not disobey, so he could only turn his head away and bow symbolically.

"Haha, I'm not a person who doesn't know etiquette. Since General Gongsun sincerely apologizes, I will let bygones be bygones. But speaking of etiquette..."

The eunuch couldn't help but smile complacently when he saw Gongsun Zan surrender. Then he looked at Lu Zhi with a playful expression on his face, and at the same time rubbed his right index finger and thumb. The meaning was self-evident.

Everyone in the tent immediately understood that the eunuch wanted to extort a bribe.

Lu Zhi had experienced ups and downs throughout his life, so he could see it clearly. However, he pretended not to see it and did not move at all.

"We are here on official business under the Emperor's order. Shouldn't Commander Lu express his gratitude?"

The eunuch thought that Lu Zhi was a nerd who didn't know what he meant, so when he saw that there was no follow-up after the hint, he couldn't help but be anxious and just say it out loud.

You have to know that this job of representing the emperor to tour the four directions is a lucrative job, which can be said to be both prestigious and rewarding.

Therefore, among the eunuchs in the palace, there was also competition to accumulate jobs.

He had to use up his wealth accumulated over several years to finally stand out from the crowd of eunuchs, defeat other competitors, and grab this job.

Among them, there was a eunuch named Zuo Feng who was in particularly fierce competition with him, but he only offered one or two thousand coins less than him.

Since this eunuch has invested so much money, it is impossible for him to just come here to show off, and he will naturally not want to miss out on any benefits.

Along the way, he had received tributes from officials from all over the country, which had already paid off. As long as he could make a fortune from Lu Zhi, his mission would be successfully completed.

"Lu is an honest official. Even if he has some extra money, he uses it to help the poor people. Where would he get the money to pay tribute to the angels?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Zhi snorted coldly.

Integrity is more important to him than life. Even if he offended this eunuch, he would never fawn on the eunuch party in such a way.

"Good! Good! Good!"

When the eunuch saw that his attempt to extort bribes failed, he became angry again and pointed at Lu Zhi and Gongsun Zan and started to mock them.

"You two are both upright and honest. You are such a model for officials. When I return to the palace, I will report your actions to the emperor!"

"Humph!"

Having said that, the eunuch left the tent in a rage with his followers, regardless of everyone present.

……

(End of this chapter)