In the first year of Xingping (194 AD), the suburbs of Puyang.

Early in the morning, Tanma reported that Cao Cao's camp was empty. So Lü Bu, together with Zhang Miao and Chen Gong, led the army out of the city and came to Cao Cao's empty camp.

"Presumably, Cao Cao's grain and grass have been exhausted and he has to be withdrawn." Chen Gong looked at the abandoned cooking utensils in the camp and affirmed his opinion.

"If Meng De doesn't leave, we won't have enough food and grass. It is better to take advantage of this time and let the soldier hurry up and go around to collect it, if he comes back with a supplementary baggage, it will be too late. Zhang Miao proposed.

Lu Bu nodded and said to Zhang Miao: "It's okay, try not to disturb the people." ”

Indeed, if the surrounding area is deserted by raising food and salaries, then the replenishment of the army will also become a big problem.

At this moment, the soldiers in charge of checking the surrounding area had returned.

"Generals, there is no trace of Cao's army within a few miles, it's just ......" The soldier hesitated.

"Just what?" Chen Gong asked vigilantly.

"It's just that a group of refugees are heading towards Puyang."

"Refugees? Meng Zhuo, you go and arrange the food collection, and Feng and I will go and have a look. Chen Gong said to Zhang Miao.

So Zhang Miao led some of his troops back to Puyang City, while Lü Bu and Chen Gong led the rest of the men and horses in the direction of the refugees pointed out by the soldiers.

After walking for about a mile, I saw a lot of people in rags. These people all looked like they hadn't eaten for some days, and even the young men in the prime of life were emaciated and listless; And the elderly are shaking even when they walk.

"Yes...... It's the military master, folks, we have been saved. A man in his thirties said weakly to the refugees behind him.

"Stop!" Chen Gong shouted, "Who are you and why are you marching towards Puyang?" ”

"Ah......" The man was so frightened that he stumbled, almost fell, and replied tremblingly: "The military master spares his life, the military master spares his life!" The little ones are the people in the neighborhood, and three days ago a group of evil soldiers came and robbed most of the food in several of our villages here. We thought that was enough, but we didn't want more people to come and loot all the villages we were waiting for last night. Now that I have no food to put in the pot, I want to ask the military master to eat in Puyang. The military master spares his life! So saying, the man knelt down and kowtowed.

"Get up, in that case, then you can wait......"

"Bongxian!" Chen Gong stopped Lu Bu, "The military rations in Puyang City are also about to run out, and we don't have any extra food to give them anymore." ”

Although Lu Bu pitied these people, Chen Gong's words were not false, once the food ran out and the soldiers mutinied, it would be impossible to remedy.

"Master Jun!" The man spoke again, "I don't dare to ask for extravagance, I just hope that I can go into the city and take refuge." Ask the military master to be merciful! Ask the military master to be merciful! ”

At his words, the people knelt down in unison and kowtowed to Lu Bu and Chen Gong.

"Everyone, please get up, and come with me into the city." Lu Bu really couldn't stand it.

"Bongxian!" Chen Gong was about to speak again.

"Gongtai! If we can't even protect these people, how can we guard this huge Yanzhou! There was a hint of anger in Lu Bu's eyes, and he looked at Chen Gong intently.

"Alas!" Chen Gong sighed angrily, turned the horse's head and ran towards Puyang alone.

Lu Bu didn't stop Chen Gong, he just motioned for the team to return to Puyang.

……

In the procession of refugees, a man in his thirties, also in his thirties, casually walked up to the man who had just been questioned by Chen Gong and patted him on the shoulder.

The man who was questioned turned his head and glanced at him, both of whom smiled.

It worked.

These refugees were the "gifts" that Cao Cao and Duan Xuan left for Lu Bu. Most of the refugees were indeed the surrounding people, and in order to make everything more real, Duan Xuan really sent a team of soldiers to loot the food from the surrounding villages three days ago, and when he withdrew last night, he went to rob it again.

But among the refugees, there are also more than 100 Qingzhou troops. The two middle-aged men just now were both Nie Hong's subordinates. The person who was questioned by Chen Gong was called Jiang Xu, the word heir; It was Ge Yao who patted him on the shoulder, the word Zhai Zhi. Originally, Duan Xuan wanted to let each night commander send two sub-commanders, but Nie Hong thought that it would be easy to be exposed when there were too many people, so he only let his subordinates carry out the action.

However, in order to gain Lu Bu's trust, Duan Xuan let more than 100 people do enough play. The first is that for three or four days before the retreat, they were given only one meal a day, and they were not full, and they were not allowed to sleep much. And when he snatched food three days ago, he got more than 100 shabby clothes for them to wear.

But when they were dressed, "Duan Dashao" suddenly found that there was no such embarrassing feeling, so he let them crawl on the ground for an afternoon, and ordered that they were not allowed to clean. So when Jiang Xu and the others met the real ordinary people, they were even worse than them.

This is why before leaving, when Nie Hong asked Jiang Xu and Ge Yao if there was anything else they wanted to say, their words would be so consistent - "Please ask Nie Shuai to bring a message to the military advisor: 'Duan Xuan, your uncle's!" ′”

After several days of not having enough food and sleeping, and crawling on the ground in clothes full of holes, it is time for a person with a good temper to explode.

But after all, it was Duan Xuan, and in the face of the "greeting" conveyed by Nie Hong with a wry smile, he just smiled slightly, shrugged his shoulders and said: "Duan Mou, how can he be virtuous, several people have praised it." ”

This directly caused more than half of the generals of the Cao army to laugh.

But now Jiang Xu and the others couldn't laugh, because as the sun gradually rose, they walked into Puyang City.

Lü Bu personally ordered to get food for the refugees first, and then find a place to settle them.

The more than 100 people who came here were really hungry, and they would only do it at night anyway, so they simply gobbled it up. It's just that when eating, while the people around them are not paying attention, they secretly pass on a message to each other - Zi Shi did it.

Unbeknownst to Lu Bu, the food he was distributing was filling the stomachs of those who were about to force him out of the city......

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Youzhou, right Beiping County, Xu Wu County in the mountains.

Surrounded by mountains, there is a flat place. It seems to be a blessed place from heaven, with only one entrance at the mouth of the valley, blocked by a walled gate.

Xanadu.

That's right, when the gate was lowered, this mountain plain was cut off from the world.

In the middle, there is a village surrounded by dozens of thatched huts, surrounded by cultivated fields, and unlike the golden iron horses outside, it is peaceful.

In a thatched hut in the middle of the village, two young men in their twenties are sitting opposite each other drinking tea.

"Zitai, did you really let it go?" The person who spoke was not dressed in Han Dynasty clothes, but looked like a foreigner.

"I'm living in seclusion here now, I just don't want to ask about the world anymore, Mo Shuai is dead, and his Yefeng is basically exhausted when he ambushes Lu Bu again. I also heard that Lu Yuan and Tian Yao had come to Hebei, but with the hundreds of people they had gathered in a hurry, it was difficult to do anything. The person who spoke was dressed as a civilian, but everyone here knew that he had sent an envoy to Chang'an for Liu Yu to meet the Son of Heaven.

He is Mo Yue's subordinate, the branch of Yefeng Jicheng - Tian Chou, the word Zitai. Because he had been dealing with Gongsun Zan in Youzhou, he did not participate in the plan to ambush Lu Bu. It is precisely because of this that he escaped the catastrophe.

In the fourth year of Chuping (193 AD), Liu Yu was killed, Tian Chou went to worship, and was imprisoned by Gongsun Zhan. At this moment, when he learned that Mo Yue was dead, he was extremely sad and disheartened. Although he was eventually released, he was completely dead. So, with the acquiescence of Yefeng, he went into seclusion.

"You and I have been friends for many years, and I also know that you Yefeng only care about the people, but you should also see Liu Yu's kindness to the common people before his death, don't you want to avenge him?"

"I'm just an ordinary person, so I don't want to worry about this anymore." Tian Chou picked up the tea, but did not drink it.

The man on the other side stood up suddenly, "Since you have made up your mind, I won't say more, but I want to tell you that Liu Yu's old subordinates Qi Zhou, Xian Yufu, and Xian Yuyin have already approached me and want to avenge their lord." After getting in touch with Yuan Shao, he will send troops. ”

"May you wait until you are done." Tian Chou arched his hand.

The man snorted and walked out, and when he arrived at the door, he said without looking back: "Tian Zitai, you have abandoned the righteousness, and I Yan Rou has not!" I will show you how small you are doing. With that, he strode away.

Tian Chou looked at the teapot on the table and smiled bitterly: "It's a pity that there is a good pot of tea, alas! ”

He picked up the cup and drank it down.

The tea in the cup has already cooled......

He didn't say anything to Yan Rou too much, but he knew in his heart that these people were just Yuan Shao's pawns.

Yuan Shao had already coveted Youzhou a long time ago, and the reason why he didn't move Gongsun Zan was just because he was afraid of the gossip of the world. Now, these people just gave Yuan Shao an excuse, a high-sounding excuse.

Yan Rou did uphold the righteousness, but his righteousness was worthless in the face of today's world.

Any ambitious and capable tyrant who raises troops and kills in troubled times will be called righteous. The fourth and third princes of the Yuan family, raised their arms and resonated in the sea, if there is a justifiable reason, who will be an enemy of him for Gongsun Zhan.

For the sake of the so-called righteousness, Yan Rou and others caused another war in Hebei for no reason, and in the end, it was the people who suffered.

Facts have proved that Tian Chou's worries are not superfluous at all. In the years that followed, the people of Hebei were displaced by the fighting between Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zhan.

But it is precisely because of his persistence that these people have a place to live. In just a few years, the population grew from a few hundred to more than 5,000 households. And the rules he himself set made it so powerful that even Karasuma and Xianbei would come to pay tribute and promise not to intrude again.

Although Tian Chou had broken away from Yefeng, he still chose a path that did not violate Yefeng's principles.

Only miss the common people!