Chapter 104

In the future... he had a great possibility of becoming the number one figure!

And besides status and position,

Gu Yi was also the "ultimate poisonous strategist" that no one in Dong Zhuo’s army dared to provoke.

Hearing Gu Yi’s intimidation, how could the three of them have the courage to say anything about resisting?

The fact that they could still stand instead of collapsing to the ground was already an extremely difficult thing!

"Gu... Strategist Gu, what do you want us to do for you?"

"We are at your disposal!"

Song Xian was the most quick-witted of the three.

Seeing that the situation was bad, he immediately expressed his loyalty to Gu Yi.

Wei Xu and Hou Cheng, seeing that Song Xian had already surrendered, also hurriedly followed him in expressing their willingness to accept Gu Yi’s orders.

"Very good, you three are all talents worth molding."

"It wasn't a waste of my efforts."

"Since that’s the case, I will give you three a task."

"After completing this task,"

"your official positions will be officially promoted to Captain!"

"Bang!"

The three of them hurriedly straightened their backs and said to Gu Yi with excitement:

"Please rest assured, Strategist! Even if we have to risk our lives, we will definitely complete the Strategist’s commission!"

Gu Yi showed an expression of "a child worth teaching."

Immediately, he informed the three of them of the task.

After listening, the three of them trembled continuously.

Sure enough,

wealth is sought in danger.

This task was truly using their lives to complete!

However,

at this moment, they were like Wang Yun, with no choice but to be manipulated by Gu Yi.

The next day,

Wang Yun suddenly announced his intention to resign from his position as Mayor of Chang'an.

And the person who forced him to resign was Wang Yun himself.

But... this was just the beginning.

Li Li, a subordinate of Li Jue, suddenly committed suicide in the camp without warning.

Hearing this news, the Bingzhou faction cheered.

But that evening, a "mutiny" suddenly broke out in the Bingzhou camp!

The leaders of the mutiny were none other than Wei Xu, Song Xian, and Hou Cheng.

The three of them took some soldiers and threatened to defect to the Xiliang loyalists.

Gao Shun and Cao Xing hurriedly led troops to stop them.

The two sides fought fiercely.

The number of dead exceeded a hundred!

Wei Xu and Song Xian were even wounded on the spot by Gao Shun.

Hou Cheng was shot in the ear by Cao Xing, almost becoming "one-eared."

This matter went straight to Dong Zhuo.

The furious Dong Zhuo ordered the Minister of Justice, Gu Yi, to be fully responsible for handling the mutiny of the Bingzhou army.

Gu Yi first stripped the three generals Wei Xu, Song Xian, and Hou Cheng of their military power and positions.

Then he scattered all the soldiers who followed them into other armies.

However, Gao Shun and Cao Xing, as well as the soldiers who followed them to stop the mutiny, were also punished.

It was equivalent to the Bingzhou faction losing five high-ranking officials in one go!

The five people—Wei Xu, Song Xian, Hou Cheng, Gao Shun, and Cao Xing—were sentenced to one month in the Chang'an prison.

After sentencing the five,

within the Bingzhou faction, besides Zhang Liao, who had become the garrison commander of Hulao Pass,

only Cheng Lian and Hao Meng remained by Lu Bu’s side.

But Hao Meng had previously been heavily lashed thirty times.

His injuries hadn't healed properly,

so he could only lie in bed every day to recover.

Cheng Lian was just a pure brute, not worth using.

Lu Bu looked back

and suddenly realized that he had almost become a commander of nothing.

But for all this, Lu Bu could not blame others,

because everything was the Bingzhou faction’s own doing.

A military mutiny with over a hundred casualties in the capital city of Chang'an—the impact of this matter was extremely severe!

Even if Lu Bu wanted to appeal for his men, he couldn't find a reason to do so.

If he had to blame someone, he could only blame himself...

Even Gao Shun was temporarily sent to the Chang'an prison.

The lonely Lu Bu could only sit in his residence alone, drinking his sorrows away.

Suddenly,

his daughter, Lu Lingqi, walked to his side in silence.

At this moment, Lu Bu no longer had the intention to urge his daughter to practice martial arts.

He just kept drinking his sorrows away.

Lu Lingqi didn't speak, sitting quietly beside her father.

Suddenly,

a knock sounded outside the Lu residence.

Lu Lingqi went to open the door for Lu Bu.

The visitor was carrying a pot of osmanthus wine, wearing a black robe, and his appearance was second only to the handsome readers!

Yes, this person was Gu Yi.

It was he who caused the Bingzhou faction to lose five high-ranking officials in one go!

However,

he had no idea what shame was.

He walked into the Lu residence with a grin, carrying the osmanthus wine, after greeting Lu Lingqi.

"General Fengxian, don't be depressed. I’ve come to drink with you and bring you some good news!"

Gu Yi said loudly.

In his pocket, one could vaguely see something resembling an imperial edict.

...

"Gu Linzhi?"

"You still dare to come to my Lu residence?"

As soon as Lu Bu saw Gu Yi, the expression on his face instantly turned to anger.

Although Gao Shun and the others were imprisoned in the Chang'an jail for a month mainly because of the Bingzhou army mutiny,

Gu Yi had used this method to indirectly and significantly reduce the military power of the Bingzhou faction.

How could Lu Bu give Gu Yi a good look?

"General Fengxian, calm down."

"Look, what is this?"

Gu Yi took out the object in his pocket that looked like an imperial edict.

Lu Bu’s gaze was instantly attracted to it.

"General Fengxian, at the next grand court meeting, you will be officially appointed as General of the North!"

"The rank is the same as Xu Rong’s position as General of the West."

What Gu Yi held in his hand was a draft of an imperial edict.

As long as he reached an agreement with Lu Bu today,

the position of General of the North would become Lu Bu’s from then on.

However,

this was just an appetizer.

Before Lu Bu could respond, Gu Yi added:

"Besides the General of the North, the Prime Minister also intends to expand the establishment of the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry under your command, General Fengxian."

"The number will be about three times the original!"

"In addition, the money for raising the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry will all be paid by the Prime Minister!"

"But the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry will still be under your leadership, General Fengxian!"

"General Fengxian, do you want this great gift, or not?"

Hearing this,

Lu Bu’s breathing couldn't help but become rapid.

The Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry was his core elite force!

It was also one of the top cavalry units in the world!

And it was the foundation Lu Bu relied on for survival.

But it was very awkward... due to the difficult situation faced by the Bingzhou army,

the number of Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry under Lu Bu had always been only about two thousand.

These two thousand people consumed a large amount of the Bingzhou army’s military funds.

The remaining money also made the lives of other soldiers in the Bingzhou faction extremely miserable.

But there was no help for it; this was Lu Bu’s core force and the pride of the entire Bingzhou faction.

Even if everyone was dissatisfied with the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry occupying most of the military funds,

they couldn't let Lu Bu lower the treatment of the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry.

Raising cavalry burns money.

Raising elite cavalry burns even more money.

The Xiliang Iron Cavalry under Dong Zhuo was also just as expensive.

But Dong Zhuo had money!

The treatment of the Xiliang loyalists was far better than that of the Bingzhou faction.

The expansion of the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry’s military funds that Gu Yi mentioned was not just about increasing the number of people.

More importantly,

the six thousand Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry, while remaining under Lu Bu’s command, would no longer occupy the Bingzhou army’s military funds from then on, and all expenses would be paid by Dong Zhuo!

For Lu Bu, this was not just a great gift, but a favor of rebirth!

However,

as the saying goes,

if a pie falls from the sky, there must be a trap.

For Gu Yi, a "dangerous person," Lu Bu always kept his guard up.

He looked at Gu Yi with vigilance and said:

"Gu Linzhi, such a heavy gift, you certainly wouldn't give it to me for nothing, right?"

"Tell this general, what exactly do you want to do?"

Lu Bu really wanted to eat this pie Gu Yi had drawn for him.

But his intuition told him that Gu Yi’s plans were certainly not small.

"Hahaha, as expected of General Lu, your reaction is indeed fast."

"Actually, it’s nothing, I just want to have a heart-to-heart talk with General Lu."

"General, have you been troubled by a pile of worries lately?"

Being asked this by Gu Yi, Lu Bu was slightly stunned, then said:

"That is indeed the case."

"But in the end, don't you, Gu Linzhi, know the reason for these worries best?"

"Gao Shun, Cao Xing, Song Xian, Wei Xu, Hou Cheng."

"These five people were all sent to the Chang'an jail thanks to you, Gu Linzhi!"

Lu Bu became angrier the more he thought about it, but he couldn't vent on Gu Yi.

After all,

it was indeed the Bingzhou army that mutinied first.

The impact was extremely severe!

Gu Yi took this opportunity to purge the Bingzhou faction, and Lu Bu couldn't find a reason to refuse.

"General Fengxian, if I remember correctly, rather than saying I sent the five of them to jail,"

"it would be better to say that Wei Xu, Song Xian, and Hou Cheng wanted to betray you first, right?"

"The three of them were publicly going to take the soldiers under your command to leave the Bingzhou army and defect to the Xiliang army."

"As the leader of the Bingzhou army, can you really tolerate them being so arrogant?"

Gu Yi’s words made Lu Bu fall into silence.

That day, besides anger,

he felt more helplessness, hesitation, and guilt.

Although it was Wei Xu and the others who wanted to leave first,

it was indeed Lu Bu who had failed the soldiers of the Bingzhou faction!

As their leader, he didn't give them a good future or lead them to a good life.

"Gu Linzhi, you are right."

"But no matter what, Wei Xu, Song Xian, and Hou Cheng were my subordinate generals and once had merits."

"Could I really have killed them on the spot?"

Lu Bu was more conflicted than anyone else.

He wanted to lead his Bingzhou brothers to a better life,

but his intelligence and vision were not enough to achieve this.

As a result, the soldiers of the Bingzhou faction suffered a lot following him.

Some even almost couldn't eat.

"General Fengxian, what are you aiming for?"

"Can't you consider yourself more?"

Gu Yi suddenly jumped up and slammed the draft imperial edict in his hand in front of Lu Bu.

"Do you really think the Prime Minister is wary of you because you killed Ding Yuan?"

"I can tell you very clearly,"

"there is indeed that reason, but it is not the main reason!"

"The main reason is that you killed Ding Yuan and you have the entire Bingzhou faction behind you!"

"They take you as their leader, not the Prime Minister as their lord."

"General Fengxian, you are not actually a general under the Prime Minister."

"Your true identity has always been a warlord subordinate to the Prime Minister!"

"Do you think you are suitable to be a lord?"

"The reason you took these Bingzhou brothers to kill Ding Yuan and defect to the Prime Minister was because you wanted to obtain the power Ding Yuan held, right?"