Inside Xingyang City.
Although the princes were unwilling to fight Dong Zhuo, it did not mean that they did not care about the war.
After Liu Bei and others led their troops out of the city, the princes sent people to follow them to find out the news so that they could make countermeasures at any time.
But they miscalculated because the battle was going too fast.
It started with the battle between the coalition forces and Dong Zhuo, and there was no break after that. The battle lasted for two consecutive days, without even a gap for confrontation in the middle.
This led to a situation where Liu Bei's army had already embarked on its return journey as soon as the people sent by the princes conveyed the news back.
The princes who heard the news had mixed feelings in their hearts and had different expressions on their faces.
Liu Dai looked excited, with admiration and sigh in his eyes.
Xuande is worthy of being a good minister of our clan. He actually beat the Dong thief and escaped with his body, and fled westward in a hurry.
Qiao Mao and Kong Niao were silent in thought, already thinking about their plans for the future.
As for Zhang Miao and Yuan Yi, their faces were ashen and their expressions were sinister.
The 150,000 allied troops faced Dong Zhuo and were defeated, but Liu Bei and Sun Jian together only had 40,000 people, and they actually won so quickly.
Moreover, Dong Zhuo was defeated and his entire army was wiped out. Could it be said that we are really useless?
Fortunately, Dong Zhuo was not actually killed, otherwise even Liu Dai, who had the closest relationship with Liu Bei, would probably not be able to laugh anymore.
Just when the princes were harboring their own secrets, soldiers suddenly came outside to report that Liu Bei's army had arrived outside the city.
Hearing this, Liu Dai stood up first.
"Everyone, Liu Xuande has returned in triumph. We should go out of the city to welcome him. What do you think?"
Kong Niao and Qiao Mao both nodded and stood up.
As for Zhang Miao and Yuan Yi, they naturally didn't want to go, but Liu Dai's small group had already expressed their stance, and they couldn't be too stingy, so they reluctantly nodded along.
"What you said is absolutely true, I will go with you."
Under the city gate, Zhang Miao looked at Liu Bei's triumphant army in the distance, his eyes full of despair.
More than a month ago, it was also here that I returned home in a disastrous defeat, only escaping with my own life.
But now Liu Bei returned victorious, defeating the people who had defeated him.
A strong feeling of shame, anger and jealousy instantly filled Zhang Miao's chest, and his face turned red from the inside out.
Liu Bei's army gradually approached, and Liu Dai rode up to meet it.
"My dear brother defeated the Dong thief and returned in triumph. It's really gratifying and congratulatory!" Liu Dai dismounted and said with his hands in hand.
Seeing this, Liu Bei also quickly dismounted, raised his hands and returned the salute: "Your Majesty, you are so complimentary. The victory over the enemy this time was all down to the lives of the soldiers. Bei did not dare to take the credit. It is a pity that the Dong thief escaped in the end and failed to take full credit." , I’m really ashamed.”
"Hey, how can a good brother be so humble?" Liu Dai said with a smile, "In this battle, tens of thousands of enemies were wiped out. Such a feat is so great that the foolish brother must go to the emperor to ask for credit for the good brother!"
Liu Bei's achievements were obvious to all, and there was no room for them to be erased, so Liu Dai simply became a favor.
"In that case, I have thanked the envoy in advance." Liu Bei said with a smile.
Liu Dai waved his hands and laughed and said: "This is the merit that my virtuous brother deserves. How can I thank you!"
After laughing, Liu Dai asked curiously: "Since my good brother has completely wiped out the bandit army, why not take advantage of the situation to invade Chenggao and kill the Dong bandits to avoid future troubles."
Liu Bei smiled bitterly and said, "I feel ashamed to say that although I won the victory this time by luck, it was just a tragic victory. The soldiers under my command were already exhausted, and Chenggao was surrounded by copper and iron walls. To be on the safe side, I led my army back and waited for some time to rest." , and then continue to march against the thieves!"
After hearing this, Liu Dai glanced at Liu Bei's generals. With just one glance, he knew that what Liu Bei said was true. He immediately nodded and said: "A good brother loves his soldiers as much as his sons, which is admirable!"
"You are so praised."
At this time, Zhang Miao and Yuan Yi also came on horseback and reluctantly congratulated Liu Bei.
After another useless exchange of pleasantries, everyone joined hands and entered the city.
But it was this exchange of greetings that made all the princes understand a fact.
Dong Zhuo only escaped with his own life, and he will definitely not come back in a short time.
Although Liu Bei returned victorious, he was unable to fight again.
At present, the battle against Dong has come to an end for the time being.
In this battle, all the princes lost their troops and generals, and the resources they had previously accumulated were exhausted, and they were eager to make up for their strength. Now that Dong Zhuo's threat has been eliminated, they don't want to see Liu Bei's face after he wins, so they retreat in their hearts.
However, just three days later, Zhang Miao and Yuan Yi lied that they had government affairs to deal with and left.
Less than ten days later, Liu Dai's small group also bid farewell to Liu Bei.
Naturally, Liu Bei had no reason to stop these people from leaving, and was even somewhat happy to see it happen.
In less than half a month, Xingyang, which was originally crowded, was empty, and all the jujube princes left.
Cao Cao and Sun Jian were naturally extremely angry about this.
We agreed to attack Dong Zhuo together, so it's okay if you don't contribute much, but now you've backed down again. You are really a bunch of losers!
Then...the two of them also went to Liu Bei to say goodbye.
After several months of war, Cao Cao finally understood the situation. He was no longer the passionate young man who was dedicated to serving his country.
No matter what you want to do, you must have soldiers and territory in your hands.
The thousands of people I have now are not enough even to protect themselves, so how can I make achievements?
But now all the counties in the Central Plains have their own ownership, so he plans to go south to Yangzhou to recruit troops.
As for Sun Jian, seeing that the war had reached a stalemate and the army rations he had brought were almost finished, he had no choice but to go back to his father Yuan Shu, his sponsor.
However, the cooperation in the past few days has made the three of them cherish each other and become close friends.
Before leaving, Liu Bei hosted a banquet for the two of them, but only Zhang Heng was invited to accompany him.
During the dinner, the three of them got very drunk and began to lament the current world, then expressed their worries about the fate of the imperial court, and finally looked forward to the future...
No matter how wise a hero in troubled times is, he is still a man at heart. When drunk, he can only brag and talk nonsense.
It is worth mentioning that in the end, Liu Bei pulled the two of them into another blood oath on a whim.
As for the content of the oath... it is not an alliance, but it is similar to the original Jujube oath.
The three of them agreed that no matter where they are or what their circumstances are, they must not forget to eradicate traitors and help the country.
Finally, Liu Bei said with passion: "I don't know when we will see each other again after this farewell. However, our sincerity cannot be changed by time. Today I swear an oath here, no matter where and when, we will always be together." Put an end to evil spirits, help the country, and restore a peaceful world!
If you violate this oath, you will be pierced by thousands of arrows and die, and be abandoned by both humans and gods! "
"I vow to put an end to evil and evil, help the country, and bring peace to the world!"
If you violate this oath, you will be pierced by thousands of arrows and die, and be abandoned by both humans and gods! "
Cao Cao and Sun Jian both nodded vigorously and echoed solemnly.
I don’t know if they drank too much. Not only did the three of them swear an oath, they actually asked Zhang Heng to write an oath on the spot and act as a witness.
Of course Zhang Heng didn't want to play this kind of kid's trick of playing house, but the three of them were all suffering from the secondary disease and insisted on doing so. In desperation, Zhang Heng had no choice but to order his soldiers to get paper and pen for the three animals, drafted an oath himself, and finally poured the blood of the three animals into the bowl.
After reciting the oath, the three of them each took a bowl of blood, wiped it on their faces randomly, and then fell asleep on the table.
Seeing this, Zhang Heng had no choice but to order his soldiers to carry the three people back to their respective rooms before leaving.
But before leaving, Zhang Heng turned his head and looked at the unused blood in the bowl, with a complicated look on his face.
"How useful is this so-called oath..."
The next day, the two set off together. Liu Bei led his generals ten miles out of the city to see each other off, all the way to the bank of Bian River. Watching the two disappear from his sight, Liu Bei reluctantly led his army back.
On the way back, Zhang Heng asked with a smile: "Mr. Xuande seems to be reluctant to leave?"
"That's true." Liu Bei nodded and sighed, "It's hard to find good friends in the world, and it's really rare to meet people like Cao Mengde and Sun Wentai. But after this farewell, I don't know when we will see each other again."
Zhang Heng smiled, "What Mr. Xuande said is true, but... sometimes it's better not to meet. The next time we meet, we still don't know whether we are friends or foes."
"What does Ziyi mean by this?" Liu Bei asked with some displeasure, "Sun Wentai and Cao Mengde sacrificed their lives to fight against thieves and slandered them behind their backs. This is not what a gentleman would do."
"I'm not slandering the two of them. It's just a matter of this world. After all, it cannot escape the changes of time. Mr. Xuande, people will change."
Liu Bei couldn't help but rolled his eyes, "This is a fallacy. A country is easy to change, but nature is hard to change. Even if the world changes again, this passion for serving the country will never change!"
"Not entirely true." Zhang Heng retorted with a smile, "Go back twenty years, and Dong Zhuo was still a border general loyal to the Han Dynasty. Now he is not arbitrarily abolishing the establishment and poisoning the people."
"this……"
Liu Bei was speechless and instantly understood that arguing with Zhang Heng was not a wise choice.
