On October 23, under Lu Bu's order, the staff of Liangzhou Prefecture gathered in Lingzhou City to hold a meeting.
Nowadays, Lu Bu is the envoy of Chijieyibi Sansi Liangzhou Mu, Fenwu General, and Protector of the Western Regions. He is nominally in charge of all the land west of Longshan and has become his own country, but in fact it is not like this.
Lu Bu's inner circle was the Shangdang Xiangdang who had followed him since the merger of the prefectures, such as Gao Shun, Zhang Liao, Cao Xing and others. Their bravery was commendable, and they were also superb on the battlefield, but there were only a few who could appease one party.
Fortunately, after appointing Liangzhou Mu, Chen Chong assigned the original Northern Army to Lu Bu. His generals included Wei Jie, the commander of the enemy, Du Kai, the commander of the Weilu, Gaishun, the commander of the eagle and harrier, Jiao Jiao, the commander of the bird attack, and Rong Shao, the commander of the Qing invaders. et al. These people were originally the confidants used by Wang Yun when he killed Dong Zhuo. After the Battle of Longshouyuan, they all came under Lu Bu's command and were highly used.
Then there are the Liangzhou generals who defeated Lu Bu at the beginning of this year and then surrendered. After discussing with the imperial court, they legally occupied the four most prosperous counties of Wuwei, Anding, Hanyang, and Longxi in Liangzhou. Apart from paying taxes to the state every year and recruiting troops, Lu Bu had little influence on his tribe. However, after Jia Xu made peace, both parties decided to work together to achieve a common goal.
But when it comes to the core of the Liangzhou Prefecture, they are actually the officials sent by the imperial court. After all, Liangzhou is located in a remote area, and it also has the important task of appeasing the Qiang people and fighting against rebellion. It is really difficult to supply what is needed just by what is produced locally in Liangzhou. Therefore, the state capital relied heavily on grain transportation from Guanzhong. Chen Chong also used this as an excuse to insert party members all over the Liangzhou state capital. As a result, almost all the Zhizhong Cao, Gong Cao, Dianxue Cao, and Book Cao Cao have their hearts set on Bafu.
Therefore, if Lu Bu wanted to use force in Chang'an, he would definitely get rid of these people in one fell swoop. So based on Jia Xu's suggestion, Lu Bu mobilized the state government's staff to discuss the matter in the name of transferring troops to Guanzhong. The officials present at the meeting included: Zhang Chang from Biejia, Zhang Meng from Zhizhong, Wang Ling from Book Cao, Li Jun from Gongcao, Wu Qian from Classics, Zhang Xi from Admonition and others.
These people were basically officials appointed by the Central Government, and there were no military personnel attending the meeting. From the soldiers who conveyed the order, they had already learned about the defeat of the Kwantung Army, so they were not surprised by the troop transfer. Besides, this is their business, and they should be the first to discuss it.
The meeting time was in the morning. They all got up early, put on their velvet robes, and rushed to the front hall of the mansion one after another since a quarter past nine o'clock. There were only about thirty people attending the meeting, and the angel shooting aids also arrived early. The shooting aids were familiar with Zhang Chang and others, and as soon as they met, they began to greet each other.
After a while, everyone arrived. It's just that Lu Bu hasn't entered the hall yet. This made them a little strange and asked the soldiers in front of the hall. The soldiers replied that the governor of the state was in a hurry, so please wait a moment.
So after waiting for another two moments, Lu Bu was still nowhere to be seen. Zhang Meng was impatient and wanted to go out to the side door for convenience. Unexpectedly, when the soldiers guarding the gate saw this, they refused to let him in. Zhang Meng tried to break out, but the soldiers pulled out their knives and forced him back.
Everyone in the hall couldn't help but be shocked when they saw this. Zhang Chang saw that something was not good, and immediately led his colleagues up and reprimanded the soldier loudly: "Where is Mr. Lu? What do you want to do!"
This sentence was like a signal, and the sound of clashing armored weapons suddenly sounded from both sides of the hall. Like a flood overflowing the embankment, hundreds of people surged up and instantly surrounded the entire hall.
Lu Bu, wearing iron armor and holding a Zhongxing sword, stepped into the door from among the soldiers and said in a cold voice: "Your Majesty's imperial decree, Chen Chong and Liu Bei deceive the emperor and harm his good, and the party is united and opposed, which is really a danger to the country. You are specially ordered to attack them!" Are you a comrade?"
After saying that, he pointed at Zhang Chang and said: "This man is really Chen Chong's lackey, how can we not kill him?" As soon as he finished speaking, several soldiers stepped forward to capture Zhang Chang, put the tip of their knife against his right chest and stabbed him in, stirring up another Stir, Zhang Chang let out a groan of extreme pain. As the blade was withdrawn, he collapsed to the ground and immediately lost his breath.
When Zhang Meng saw the tragic death of his brother, he was very angry and jumped to his feet and cursed: "Thief, do you dare to be loyal? How dare you not remember the affairs of Ding Yuan and Dong Zhuo, but also dare to slander the good ministers of the Zhuguo!"
Lu Bu's face darkened when he heard this, and he immediately called his soldiers up, intending to cut off his head. However, he changed his mind and said to himself: "Such a traitor, how can I establish my authority without severe punishment?" So he changed his mind and called for his head. A large cauldron was temporarily moved, filled with water, and then boiled over firewood. When the smoke and boiling water steamed away, everyone was sweating.
Lu Bu sneered at Zhang Meng and said, "Good thief, if you beg for mercy, I will give you a pleasure."
Zhang Meng's face turned pale. He knew that Lu Bu was going to cook him alive in a big cauldron, and his legs could not help but tremble slightly. But in the blink of an eye, he saw his brother's body again, and the anger in his heart arose again. He still yelled: "You don't trust the little thief! The third surname is House slave! Do you regard me as yours? If a man dies, his ears will die, so why should you be afraid? I'm afraid you won't have a good death either!"
As soon as he said this, Lu Bu immediately picked him up, walked a few steps quickly, and threw him into the boiling water.
Everyone immediately heard Zhang Meng's screams, which were as sharp as if they came from the Nine Netherworld. Even though the screams gradually subsided into moans, and the moans turned into sighs, and finally fell into silence, everyone was still immersed in the first scream and did not dare to say anything. It seems that his soul is still lingering here and cannot be dispersed for a long time.
Lu Bu turned around to look again at this time. Everyone saw his indifferent sneer, and their faces turned pale, and their faces trembled. Among them, the cowardly ones were so frightened that they fainted. In fear, no one dared to speak out. Lu Bu was then satisfied, and according to Jia Xu's arrangement, he ordered his soldiers to detain him in one place until he was done, and then release him.
But the farce of killing brothers Zhang Chang and Zhang Meng just now was not planned by Jia Xu, but was impromptu by Lu Bu. Lu Bu thought that to accomplish anything, he had to kill one or two people, otherwise there would be no need to establish his authority, so he did not inform Jia Xu. After Jia Xu heard this, he couldn't help but sigh.
Brothers Zhang Chang and Zhang Meng were famous in Liangzhou for a long time after Zhang Huan, the Sanming Dynasty in Liangzhou. Zhang Chang, in particular, has excellent calligraphy. He is good at official script, regular script, and especially cursive script. He is known as the "Sage of Cursive Script" in the literary world. Now that he died at the hands of Lu Bu, Jia Xu was a little more gloomy about the future.
But the matter has come to this, and it is useless to dwell on it. The most urgent task is to send troops to Chang'an as soon as possible. So Lu Bu immediately summoned the remaining trusted cronies in the government to discuss the matter with Jia Xu.
The terrain of Liangzhou is long and narrow, with mountainous foothills. If the troops are mobilized in the usual way, although it is better than in Shuzhong, it will not be more than ten days earlier. Especially Lu Bu's direct troops, there are currently only 30,000 cavalry guarding Lingzhou in the north. The remaining troops under his command, about 30,000 men, were scattered in Jiuquan, Dunhuang, Zhangye, Wudu and other places, and could not be mobilized in a short time.
Fortunately, Jia Xu had a plan. During this period, Jia Xu had been secretly planning with Han Sui and other troops. After Liu Bei sent troops to Guandong, Ma Teng, Song Jian, and Han Sui secretly mobilized their troops. They only claimed to be hunting, but in fact they had gathered 40,000 troops in Shehu Valley. The elite soldiers are drawn but not sent, always waiting for a good opportunity to send troops.
Sixty thousand soldiers may not be enough to occupy Guanzhong, but they are more than enough to attack Chang'an. Therefore, Jia Xu presented to Lu Bu a strategy of using Ming Jia's hidden soldiers, responding internally and externally, and attacking first and then acting later.
Jia Xu thought that although Chen Chong did not have enough informants in Liangzhou, he had many loyal ministers among Fufeng and Feng Yi. No matter how careful you are at night and day on the road, it is difficult to cover up your traces. Once the news is leaked, all your previous efforts will be in vain.
Therefore, it is better to send more than 10,000 people as the vanguard, pretending to be horse traders, and march to Chang'an with great fanfare. Even if there are occasional deficiencies at the moment, Lu Bu is in the hands of the shooting aid. He can borrow his seal and forge documents. Officials along the way will not dare to intercept him. After the vanguard has left a place for ten miles, the following sergeants can take the opportunity to press the border and destroy the pavilions along the way. Death, while the vanguard blocked the road to prevent the news from leaking out. In this way, the army can disappear and arrive at Chang'an City quietly.
However, there are still Northern Army, Huben Army, Palace Guard and other troops in Chang'an City. According to Dong Zhao's information, there are more than 30,000 soldiers under contract. Xu Huang will lead more than 20,000 Northern troops to attack Dong Cheng, and there will be about 10,000 people left in Chang'an City. If the command is proper and the people assist in the defense, it may not be impossible to defend the city gate and wait for reinforcements to return to the defense. After all, important places such as Jiguan, Puban, and Tianjingguan are still in the hands of the Han army. If Bafu really ignores Guandong and returns to defend Guanzhong, then it will be a big deal.
Therefore, Jia Xu placed the core of this attack in Chang'an City. After Liu Bei's defeat, Chen Chong was the leader of the entire hegemony in Kansai. No one except him could stabilize the situation. Therefore, Jia Xu thought that before entering the city, he should order the emperor's party in the city to assassinate Chen Chong. If successful, Chang'an would naturally fall. If not, he should take the opportunity to cause chaos, so that the imperial army would not be distracted outside the city, and the Liang army would take advantage of the opportunity to attack in one fell swoop. Lockdown.
After everyone heard this, they all thought that this plan was very appropriate, and then discussed the personnel arrangements.
This troop dispatch was actually divided into two groups, one in the north, led by Lu Bu personally, from Nishui to the south. Under his command were Gao Shun, Zhang Liao, Cao Xing, Wei Xu, Hou Cheng, Cheng Lian, Hao Meng, Zhang Qin, and Zhao Shu. , Li Zou and others, almost all their cronies came out of the country.
The other route is in Hanyang County in the south, led by Han Sui, Ma Teng, and Song Jian, and under the jurisdiction of Ma Chao, Cheng Gongying, Yang Qiu, Liu Xiongming, Zhang Heng, Cheng Yi, Li Kan and other tribes. , leaving along the Lianshui River, the two armies met at Anling. However, for the South Road, they did not have caravans to cover them, so they could only move as hard as they could after sending out troops, so they would send out troops later.
As for the generals who stayed in the prefecture, Jia Xu made the following arrangements: Gaishun guarded Lingzhou and transferred supplies to Liangzhou; Du Kai guarded Yiju and responded to the army's return if the attack failed; Jiao Jiao went to Didao to meet with the Hereditary Three The garrison troops communicated with each other; Rong Shao sat in Wudu to appease the Baima Qiang, Shenlang Qiang and other Qiang.
When discussing the matter, Jia Xu believed that the vanguard had the heaviest task and the most detailed thoughts and actions. If anything went wrong, all previous efforts would be wasted. Therefore, he volunteered to select more than 3,000 people from the remaining 10,000 Liang people to pretend to be horse traders and explore the way for the army. Lu Bu knew that he was cautious, so he allowed everything.
The deployment was over, and the state government immediately adjourned the meeting to prepare. But when everyone left, Gao Shun called Jia Xu and asked privately: "I admire Sir's plan, but I suddenly thought of a flaw. I wonder if Sir has any arrangements?"
Jia Xu asked: "What is it?"
Gao Shun frowned and said: "Sir, I hope that the capital will respond to the chaos, but Chen Chong has been running the business for six years. Even if there are people who are dissatisfied, there are only a few hundred people at most. How can there be chaos in the city?"
Jia Xu smiled when he heard this and said in a low voice: "Don't worry, Mr. Gao, I have been in Wudu for many years, but I am well aware of the changes in the capital. Naturally, I have an internal response! In the past few months, I have discussed with him in Fei Shu, secretly recruiting thousands of people Entering the city, this is the day we have been waiting for!”
Devour
Gao Shun was horrified and couldn't help but look at Jia Xu's indifferent eyes. There seemed to be many terrible secrets hidden in his deep eye sockets.
