My younger brother Lü Fengxian

Chapter 302 Messenger
"Master, I'm afraid that Commander Lu's move will offend this eunuch. Do you want us to find this eunuch privately and bribe him?"

Upon seeing this, Tian Feng, the military advisor behind Lu Yi, immediately stepped forward and asked in a low voice.

It is true that Tian Feng is strong, but he is not a pedantic person.

How could an advisor who could advise Yuan Shao to use the emperor to command the disobedient, which was actually a beautified version of using the emperor to command the princes, be so fussy about trivial matters?

If this eunuch falsely accuses Lu Zhi to Liu Hong after returning, Lu Yi might be implicated as well. Therefore, spending a little money to bribe him is the most cost-effective move.

"Of course we have to go, but Marshal Lu hates the eunuch party the most in his life. If he knew that we bribed the eunuchs on his behalf, he would definitely be unhappy. Bribery is not safe!"

Lu Yi nodded, and as he looked at the eunuch's departing back, a hint of ruthlessness suddenly appeared in his eyes.

"This little yellow-haired man is so arrogant that he only brought dozens of followers with him in this chaotic situation. You should quietly go to the camp and select 200 reliable cavalry and light cavalry to chase him. After the little yellow-haired man leaves Jizhou, kill them all and give the fake goods to the remnants of the Yellow Turbans."

"Although this plan is good, if it is leaked out, it may be disadvantageous to the Lord!"

Tian Feng hesitated when he heard this.

"It doesn't matter. Nowadays, there are so many high-ranking officials like county governors who have been killed by the Yellow Turbans. The death of a few eunuchs is nothing more than a small disaster."

Lu Yi waved his hand, not caring at all.

In another two years, not to mention killing the eunuchs around the emperor, even the emperor himself would be dared to be killed.

Moreover, now that the Yellow Turbans are so rampant, it is normal for Zhang Jue to bear some of the blame.

"Also, this eunuch must have received a lot of benefits along the way. We will be collecting refugees and captives in the future. It will cost a lot of money to settle these people. This eunuch must not have been a good person when he was alive. It will also be good for him to accumulate some virtue after his death."

"Haha, that's a good idea, my lord!" Tian Feng naturally agreed with a smile, and then immediately went out to settle it.

"Alas, Zhang Jue has not been eliminated yet, and we have already offended the emperor's envoy. With this man's face, I am afraid he will complain to the emperor and punish us when he returns. What should we do now?"

After the eunuch left in a rage, everyone in the big tent felt relieved, but some people felt deeply uneasy and sighed repeatedly.

"What are you afraid of! Even if the emperor really comes to punish you for your actions, I, Gongsun Zan, will take all the responsibilities and we won't be able to catch you!"

Gongsun Zan looked indifferent when he heard this.

"I am the commander of the army. Even if His Majesty asks you to punish me, it is not your turn. Since we are still the imperial army, we must be loyal to the country."

"Your Majesty, whether or not to punish him is a matter for the future. Right now, the most important thing is to wipe out Zhang Jiao."

"Besides Bogui's suggestion to attack the city, do you have any other opinions?"

However, Lu Zhi waved his hand, stopped everyone's discussion and brought the topic back on track.

"Master Lu, Yi has a plan."

Lu Yi smiled when he heard this.

"Oh? What good advice do you have for me, Sixiao?"

When Lu Zhi heard that it was Lu Yi who was speaking, he immediately became alert.

Although he had not been with Lu Yi for a long time, Lu Yi's fighting skills and strategy left a deep impression on him.

"It's just my humble opinion. I'm sharing it with you all for your consideration."

After saying a polite word, Lu Yi told them the strategy he had discussed with Tian Feng and others when he arrived.

"Although the Yellow Turbans' city is strong and the bandits are numerous, we cannot capture it in such a hurry."

"Although Bogui's words are true, if we attack by force our army will inevitably suffer casualties."

"But isn't it normal for people to die in war? When I, Gongsun Zan, led the troops to come to General Lu's camp to take orders, I never thought about returning to Beiping County alive. If Sixiao cherishes the soldiers under his command, I, Gongsun Zan, am willing to lead my troops as the vanguard and will definitely reach Guangzong first."

Gongsun Zan showed a sneer on his face when he heard this, as if he looked down on Lu Yi's cowardly remarks.

"Temple warfare is superior to military warfare. Bogui should not be reckless. It is not too late to discuss it after listening to Sixiao's words."

Upon hearing this, Lu Zhi scolded Gongsun Zan in dissatisfaction and then signaled Lu Yi to continue speaking.

"Haha, everyone in our army knows about Bogui's bravery, but everyone present here and the soldiers under his command are the backbone of their families. If too many are sacrificed, I'm afraid that we, the commanders of the troops, will have a hard time explaining to their families. Therefore, if we can use strategies, we should use them first!"

However, Lu Yi said something to comfort Gongsun Zan.

Compared with Gongsun Zan's generous but somewhat irresponsible words, Lu Yi's words were undoubtedly more popular with the public, and everyone nodded in agreement when they heard it.

Even Lu Zhi nodded secretly.

He is a kind-hearted man and a great scholar of his time, so naturally he cares for his soldiers.

"And Zhang Jiaocheng also had a large number of bandit soldiers under his command, so his defeat was bound to be due to the number of bandit soldiers!"

Lu Yi spoke eloquently and told everyone about Zhang Jue's destined fate of failure.

"Two hundred thousand Yellow Turban bandits consume at least ten thousand dan of grain every day."

"I estimate that even if the Yellow Turban bandits in Guangzong City have food, they won't have much. If they delay for a few months, they will be starved to death."

"Although Sixiao's plan is good, Zhang Jiao is short of food, and we don't have much food either!"

"If it really drags on for a few months, I'm afraid our army will lose morale due to lack of food."

Gongsun Zan shook his head upon hearing this, obviously not satisfied with Lu Yi's plan.

"Haha, Zhang Jue is not in the central army tent now, how can he know that we are short of food?"

"Maybe he thinks our food situation is better than that of the Yellow Turban Army!"

Although Lu Yi himself was not short of food, he was not generous enough to use his own food to supplement the Han army. Therefore, he only brought two months' worth of food with him on this battle. The rest of the food was stored in the granary in Pingcheng. He also agreed with Lu Zhi that the food for the reinforcements would also be supplied by the Han army.

Anyway, Zhongshan County is not far from here, and there is a lot of grain in the Zhen family manor, so it is still possible to transport it from Zhongshan in time.

"But..." Gongsun Zan wanted to say something else but was stopped by Lu Yi who raised his hand.

"Sometimes it doesn't matter whether you have it or not, but it's more important to let the enemy know whether you have it or not!"

"Oh? Could it be that Sixiao wants Zhang Jue to think that our army has enough food and is unwilling to be trapped in Guangzong, so as to force them to go out of the city and fight in the field?"

When Lu Zhi heard this, he vaguely sensed Lu Yi's thoughts and asked with some confusion.

"Not bad!"

Lu Yi nodded.

"It doesn't really matter whether Zhang Jue knows the strength of our army or not. As long as we mobilize our soldiers to pretend to be a grain team and transport grain day and night, Zhang Jue will definitely be restless!"

"If we stay in Guangzong, we will surely die. If we win the battle outside the city, we will have a chance to survive!"

"Well! Sixiao has a good plan!" Gongsun Zan finally came to his senses after hearing what he said, and after changing his mind, he praised him repeatedly.

“Haha, that’s not all!”

Lu Yi continued.

"I wonder if there are any important Yellow Turban prisoners in the military camp?"

"Of course we captured quite a few prisoners, and one of them happened to be a disciple of Zhang Jue. I wonder why Sixiao is asking this?"

Gongsun Zan asked in confusion.

"Zhang Jue is now trapped in Guangzong, and has lost all his eyes and ears. If no one passes the message to him, I'm afraid that no matter how good our disguise is, it will just be a performance for the blind."

"Why not use this person as our messenger to pass on false information to that horn?"

Lu Yi smiled.

"Well, Sixiao's plan is feasible. Even if it fails, it will not take too long to attack the city again. So let's make the plan!"

After Lu Zhi thought about it for a while, he agreed with it and finally made the decision.

"Yes!" Upon hearing this, everyone including Lu Yi obeyed the order and retreated.

……

After the plan was made, within a few days, there were constant movements of carriages and horses in the Han army camp day and night, creating a scene where food and supplies were continuously delivered to the camp. Zhang Jue and others who had been closely watching the Han army's every move on the top of Guangzong City could not help but feel depressed.

"Brother, not only did the Han army arrive with nearly 10,000 troops the day before yesterday, but now the food carts in the camp are constantly arriving every day. It seems that Lu Zhi is determined to trap us to death in Guangzong City!"

"Our food supply can only sustain us for a month at most. Rather than waiting for the army to be too hungry to lift weapons in a month, we should fight the Han army while we still have morale and strength. Our numbers are still ten times that of the Han army, and we were not idle during the siege by Lu Zhi. The soldiers have been training for many days and can be used now!"

Upon seeing this, Zhang Bao immediately advised his brother Zhang Jue.

The other Yellow Turban generals standing by also showed expressions of approval, and were obviously quite interested.

But Zhang Jue frowned when he heard this.

"Ahem... maybe that's just a trick by the Han army to force us to fight outside the city. If we attack rashly, we may fall into the Han army's trap!"

"But, if it's true, we won't have a chance to fight the Han army even if we want to in a month!"

Zhang Bao, however, kept admonishing him.

"General Tiangong!"

But Zhang Jue kept coughing, so Zhang Bao and others stopped admonishing him and helped Zhang Jue up.

"I'm fine..." After a long time, Zhang Jue stopped coughing and stood up with a pale face.

It was just because of weakness and pain that he could only hunch his body, looking gray and exhausted.

"Now most of our brothers in the Central Plains have been defeated by the Han army. We are the last of the Yellow Turbans. If we are defeated again, I'm afraid we will be in great danger!"

"This matter is of great importance. Let's observe for a few more days before making any decisions. If this is a plan of the Han army, it will be too late for us to regret it!"

Zhang Jue became conservative due to the torture of illness, and no longer had the vigor and enthusiasm he had when he attempted to overthrow the Han Dynasty a few months ago.

He became increasingly thinner, with thick white hair on his temples, looking like a dying man.

The Yellow Turbans in Guangzong City were gradually influenced by Zhang Jue, and most of them had sad faces.

No matter what, Zhang Jue was the organizer and supreme commander of the Yellow Turban Army. No one could disobey his words, so they could only continue to patiently observe the Han army in Guangzong City.

In the Han army camp, after several days of preparation, it was time to wrap up.

Lu Yi personally took action and arranged the matters concerning the "messenger".

"Hurry up, everyone!"

"In my opinion, you Yellow Turban bandits should be executed on the spot. It's a waste of food to keep them alive!"

"If it weren't for Master Lu's compassion for the world and his unwillingness to cause more killings, how could you have survived until today?"

"However, the death penalty can be avoided, but the living punishment cannot. You should thank General Lu for your kindness in keeping alive and having food to eat. You should all work hard. If you dare to be lazy, I will recognize you, but the saber in my hand will not recognize you!"

Lu Yi disguised himself as an ordinary middle-level officer, escorting a group of Yellow Turban captives and unloading bags of food from the convoy that had just entered the camp to the designated location.

While urging, he also waved the whip in his hand from time to time, whipping a Yellow Turban captive who was lagging behind in progress, making him cry for his parents. It was obvious that he was a ruthless person.

Among this group of captives, there was a captive named Zhou Tang, who was a disciple of Zhang Jue and also a messenger carefully selected by Lu Yi.

Zhang Jiao had many disciples, and Zhou Tang's name did not leave any mark in history. However, after a few days of observation by Lu Yi, he found that he was a shrewd person. Not only did he behave very well, but even when he was a captive, he often observed the military camp. It was obvious that he was not content to be a captive.

Since you are a smart person, it will be easy.

Sometimes, what you see or hear with your own eyes or ears can be more convincing to others than others’ painstaking persuasion.

Therefore, Lu Yi set up a trap to make Zhou Tang's cleverness backfire.

And this man did not disappoint Lu Yi's high hopes. Under Lu Yi's not very careful supervision, he immediately seized the opportunity to help the Han army transport food and started to spy on the Han army's strength.

"Huh? These grains are real!"

"With so many bags of food, I'm afraid the Han army will have to besiege Guangzong City for a long time!"

"No, I can't just watch General Tian Gong and Huang Tian's plan being defeated by these Han dogs. I must seize the opportunity to escape back to Guangzong City and report this information to General Tian Gong!"

Looking at the mountains of grain bags in front of him, Zhou Tang couldn't help but make up his mind.

However, what he didn't know was that although the few carts of grain he carried with his own hands were real, most of the other pressed grain bags were filled with sand. As long as he could turn over the real grain covering them and touch them lightly, he would be able to find out the real thing.

However, as a prisoner, Lu Yi would not give him such an opportunity, nor could he gather military intelligence so carefully under the watchful eyes of the Han army.

Fortunately, Lu Yi immediately understood Zhou Tang's thoughts through observation. That night, he found an opportunity to pretend to be drunk, relaxed his supervision, and fell into a deep sleep.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Tang immediately used hidden tools to cut the ropes that bound himself and the people around him, and prepared to escape.

Lu Yi had made complete preparations. Tonight, although the entire camp was still brightly lit as usual, the guards seemed to have missed this place. As long as Zhou Tang and his companions wanted to escape, they would be able to do so.

"Should we take this opportunity to kill this bastard?"

When a man passed by Lu Yi, he said to Zhou Tang with a look of resentment that Lu Yi had performed very hard in the past few days. All of them, including Zhou Tang, had been beaten and abused by Lu Yi, so everyone hated him. This also strengthened their determination to escape from the Han army's den of evil.

……

(End of this chapter)