God is fair many times, he once pulled Cao Cao back to the same starting point as Liu Bei, but also gave Liu Bei the same test as Cao Cao.

In the first year of Xingping (194), when Cao Cao attacked Xuzhou, Lü Bu raided Yanzhou and almost forced Cao Cao into a desperate situation, and two years later, when Liu Bei and Yuan Shu were at a standoff, Lü Bu raided Xiapi, seized Liu Bei's base, and also forced Liu Bei into a desperate situation.

But it's a pity that Uncle Huang didn't have his own Xun Yu and Cheng Yu at that time, he himself was not Cao Cao, and Zhang Fei was not Xiahoudun.

Liu Bei asked Zhang Fei to stay behind in Xiapi during the crusade against Yuan Shu, but Zhang Fei soon fell out with Tao Qian's former subordinates Cao Bao and Danyang soldiers. This is likely due to the fact that Cao Bao and Danyang Bing were Tao Qian's cronies before, and now that Liu Bei is in power, it has a great impact on them, and after Liu Bei left, Zhang Fei may have mishandled it, which led to the intensification of the conflict, which made Cao Bao and Danyang Bing have anti-will, and finally took action, invited Lu Bu and broke out with Zhang Fei in the city.

"Heroes" records that at that time, it happened that Lü Bu had been invited by Yuan Shu to march into Xiapi, Liu Bei's Zhonglang sent Xu Tan, a Danyang man, to meet Lü Bu, and revealed to Lü Bu that Zhang Fei and Cao Bao were fighting, Zhang Fei killed Cao Bao (not recorded in the "Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms"), the great turmoil in Xiapi City and the news that Danyang soldiers were preparing to meet Lü Bu.

After Lü Bu arrived in Xiapi, the Danyang soldiers immediately opened the city gate and brought Lü Bu in, Lü Bu sat on the city gate, and the infantry and cavalry set fire together, breaking Zhang Fei's troops, seizing Liu Beijun's materials, and capturing Liu Bei's wife, concubines, children and their families.

After learning the news that Lü Bu captured Xiapi, Liu Bei's military heart was hit a big blow, Liu Bei was ready to turn back to recapture Xiapi at first, but halfway through the march, the army collapsed on its own, and Liu Bei had to put away the rest of the army and take Guangling east first, but because the army was distracted and defeated by Yuan Shu, Liu Bei had to be stationed in Haixi County instead.

At that time, Lu Zhu married his sister to Liu Bei, and used 2,000 subordinates and gold and silver goods to fund Liu Bei's army, so that Liu Bei who was facing danger was reinvigorated.

Because Liu Beijun's family was arrested by Lu Bu and had a grudge with Yuan Shu, Liu Bei had no choice but to ask Lu Bu for peace and surrender, and Lu Bu was also very annoyed because Yuan Shu did not fulfill his promise to continue to provide grain and grass, so he prepared a carriage and horse to meet Liu Bei, returned Liu Bei's wife and family, and let Liu Bei serve as the assassin of Yuzhou, and sent him to garrison Xiaopei.

Lu Bu called himself Xuzhou Mu, and in this way, Liu Bei's Xuzhou was taken by Lu Bu.

But Liu Bei is still a major threat to Lu Bu, after all, Liu Bei is the former lord of Xuzhou, and Lu Bu is just a thief who stole the master's house while the master was not at home.

This time, Lu Bu didn't look for Liu Bei's fault for the time being, but Yuan Shu still didn't let Liu Bei go.

Yuan Shu was ready to seize Xuzhou, but Lu Bu was strong, Liu Bei was weak, and Yuan Shu also looked down on Liu Bei, so Yuan Shu started with Liu Bei, and soon Yuan Shu sent the general Ji Ling to lead a total of more than 30,000 horses to conquer Liu Bei, and Liu Bei asked Lu Bu for help.

At this time, Lu Bu's generals said: "General, you have always wanted to get rid of Liu Bei, and today you just want to kill him with the help of Yuan Shu."

Lu Bu said: "No, if Yuan Shu occupies Xiaopei, he will unite the troops in the Taishan area in the north, and we will be surrounded by Yuan Shu, I can't help but save Liu Bei."

So Lu Bu led 1,000 infantry and 200 cavalry, and hurried to Xiaopei. When Ji Ling and the others heard that Lu Bu had come to the rescue of Liu Bei, they had no choice but to withdraw their troops and did not dare to act rashly. Lu Bu set up camp one mile southwest of Xiaopei, and sent guards to invite Ji Ling and other generals, and Ji Ling and others also invited Lu Bu to drink and have fun together.

Lu Bu said to Ji Ling and the others: "Xuande, is my Lu Bu's younger brother. Now that he is surrounded by all of you, I have come to save him. I, Lu Bu, don't like to watch others fight each other, I only like to resolve disputes for others. ”

Lu Bu ordered the gate to erect a halberd in the camp gate, and said: "Look at the small branch on my halberd, if it is fired, you should immediately stop the attack and leave here, if you don't shoot, then you will stay and fight Liu Bei to the death."

He drew his bow and fired an arrow at the halberd, which hit the small branch. The generals were shocked and praised, "General, you really have the power of a god!" The next day, Lü Bu had a banquet with the generals, and then returned to their own troops, and Liu Bei's siege was relieved.

But this does not mean that the relationship between Lu Bu and Liu Bei is really good.

Liu Bei was stationed in Xiaopei, his strength recovered quickly, as the original lord of Xuzhou, Liu Bei's men soon gathered more than 10,000 troops, which made Lu Bu very uneasy and disgusted, so Lu Bu personally led troops to crusade against Liu Bei, and fought with him in Xiaopei, Liu Bei was defeated, and fled to Xuchang to rely on Cao Cao.

After Liu Bei defected to Cao Cao, Cao Cao's group had different views on how to treat Liu Bei.

Cheng Yu persuaded Cao Cao: "Liu Bei has heroic ambitions, if you don't clean him up as soon as possible, he will definitely become a big trouble for us in the future." ”

But Guo Jia didn't see it that way, he said: "That's true. However, Cao Gong raised his sword to rebel against the army, eradicate violence for the people, and introduced integrity to recruit heroes and heroes, but I am afraid it has not yet been achieved. Now Liu Bei has a reputation as a hero, he took refuge in us at the end of the road and we killed him, this is the notoriety of killing the Magi, the wise man and the soldier will doubt themselves, and once again want to choose who to be the master, so who does Cao Gong want to settle the world with? Therefore, the choice to get rid of one person and endanger the prestige and safety of the four seas cannot be ignored! (Note 1)

Cao Cao agreed with Guo Jia's point of view, saying: "Now is the time to recover the heroes of the world, and you can't do this by killing one person and losing the trust of the people of the world." ”

So not only did he not do anything to Liu Bei, but reused Liu Bei, wanting Liu Bei to convince him, and appointed Liu Bei as the pastor of Yuzhou, Liu Bei decided to return to Xiaopei to collect the lost soldiers, Cao Cao funded military rations, replenished soldiers and horses, and sent him east to contain Lu Bu.

In history, Tao Qian, Lu Bu, and Cao Cao all appointed Liu Bei to be the assassin of Yuzhou or the pastor of Yuzhou, so the imperial uncle was called "Liu Yuzhou" by others.

Yang Feng and Han Xian took refuge in Yuan Shu and then turned to Lü Bu, they copied in Xuzhou and Yangzhou, and went to rob Liu Bei's military assets at the behest of Lü Bu, and were finally defeated by Liu Bei. (Note 2)

In history, Yang Feng was finally booby-trapped by Liu Bei, and Han Xian was also killed by Zhang Xuan, the commander of Zhuqiutun.

In the third year of Jian'an (198), Lü Bu sent people to buy horses in Hanoi County, an ally of Zhang Yang, but they were taken away by Liu Bei's soldiers. In order to prevent Liu Bei from further expanding, Lü Bu then sent Zhonglang to attack Liu Bei with Gao Shun, Beidi Taishou Zhang Liao and others.

Cao Cao also sent Xiahoudun to support, but was defeated by Gao Shun, Peicheng was finally broken by Lü Bu's army, and the emperor's uncle's wife and children were captured by Gao Shun and sent to Lü Bu, and Liu Bei barely escaped.

Later, Cao Cao decided to personally crusade against Lü Bu, and Liu Bei went to Xuzhou with him, and this time Lü Bu's grievances with Liu Bei and Cao Cao were about to end.

Note 1: The "Book of Fu" and the "Book of Wei" record the conflict here, and the "Book of Wei" is the official historical material of Cao Wei, and there is no question of position here, so I personally focus on the "Book of Wei", supplemented by "Fu Zi".

Note 2: The timing of Yang Feng, Han Xian's fight with Liu Bei is slightly conflicting in the Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms and the Book of the Later Han Dynasty, but Liu Bei was defeated.