Chapter 280: Lü Bu is captured alive, Xuzhou is initially settled As for why everyone followed Lu Bu, it was actually because of people's herd mentality. Ancient military strategists were divided into four schools, namely, military strategy, military yin and yang, military situations, and military skills. Military strategists focused on the study of military strategy and were proficient in the strengths of various schools of thought such as situation, yin and yang, and skills, with Sun Wu being the best. Those who follow the yin and yang of the military will act according to the time, impose punishment and virtue, fight and attack according to the situation, and rely on the five victories to seek help from ghosts and gods. Sima Rangju is the representative figure. The military situation is like thunder and wind, it starts later but arrives first, it is separated and reunited, and it is ever-changing. It defeats the enemy with speed and lightness. Xiang Yu is the representative figure. Tian Dan is a representative figure in terms of military skills, who are good at using their hands and feet, and are familiar with weapons and mechanisms in order to win attacks and defenses. Lu Bu is definitely the epitome of military strategy. Although he is not as brave as Xiang Yu, he is also the best in the world. This type of people are naturally brave and have an aura that attracts soldiers. Once they gain momentum, everyone will follow them. Just by virtue of his personal courage, he was able to boost the morale of his subordinates and even turn the entire battle situation around.

This is also the reason why Lu Bu was able to dominate the world and why Cao Cao and Yuan Shao were extremely afraid of Lu Bu. At this time, Lu Bu had killed two generals alone, which had already calmed the morale of his subordinates. So when they saw him charging, their soldiers gathered together. The army rose up, gathered into a group, and charged towards the south gate. Unexpectedly, before he reached the South Gate, he heard that the East and West Gates were broken at the same time. It turned out that Qin Zhen's decision to send out troops this time was to decide the outcome through a single battle. In addition to the soldiers guarding the camp, 40,000 troops moved at the same time. Ten thousand soldiers were deployed at each gate to launch a series of fierce attacks, leaving no way out. When the rebellion broke out in the city, Qin Zhen ordered Zang Ba and Zhang Liao to lead troops to take the east and west gates, and sent Zhao Yun and Gan Ning to leave from the north gate. As Xu Si opened the south gate, he led his troops and charged straight into the city. So when Lu Bu rushed towards the South Gate, the two gates had already been broken. Hearing that the three gates had been breached, Lu Bu saw the troops advancing from the south and thought that the main force was there, so he hurriedly led his troops to break out to the north. When the army reached the main street, they suddenly saw Zang Ba and Zhang Liao blocking the way. When Lu Bu saw Zhang Liao, he became furious and said: "How dare you stop me, you traitor? Get out of the way!" With a loud shout, he led his troops forward and fought with the two men. He still had Wei Yue's guards under his command, and when he saw the two generals, he stepped forward to share the pressure. For a while, Lu Bu fought Zhang Liao, and Wei Yue fought Zang Ba, and the fight was fierce. But at this time, Qin Zhen led his troops to break in from the south gate. Seeing this, generals Xu Sheng, Sun Guan, Wu Dun, Yin Li, Sun Kang and others led their troops to attack. The crowd surrounded Lu Bu and beat him, forcing him to respond hastily. He didn't have many soldiers to begin with, although he was able to muster several thousand men thanks to his bravery.

But at this time, under the siege of 30,000 troops, how could they be their match? Seeing that he and his companions were no match for the enemy, Wei Yue took the time to shout: "Brother, please leave quickly. I will come to cover your retreat!" Upon seeing this, Lu Bu hurriedly led his troops to retreat to the north. Unexpectedly, when the city gate opened, Zhao Yun and Gan Ning rushed into the city. As soon as Lu Bu entered, he met the two of them. Lu Bu and Zhao Yun confronted each other and were blocked again. With Gan Ning's help on the side, he was anxious, but couldn't escape from the battle. Seeing that more and more soldiers were coming, Lu Bu began to fight for his life. Gan Ning could not bear it and was stabbed on his horse and fell off. Only Zhao Yun remained unusually strong. No matter how Lu Bu attacked, Zhao Yun stood still like a mountain. After a short delay, Zhang Liao and Zang Ba of the rear army captured Wei Yue, and then led other generals to join the battle. When Lu Bu saw this, he felt despair in his heart. He was ready to die, but he still endured the siege of everyone. But at this moment, a man suddenly climbed up to the beam and shouted: "Lü Bu is a worthless man. Chen Gong is dead, and all your children have been captured by me!" "If they still refuse to surrender, do you want them to follow you and die?" When Lu Bu heard this, he looked up and saw Wei Xu holding Chen Gong's head and fighting on the house. It turned out that just when Lu Bu was fighting hard against the enemy, Chen Gong, with Yan Shi and others, wanted to take advantage of the chaos to escape. But at that time the city was in chaos and how could one escape without a horse? In desperation, he took Lu Bu's family to the stable and intended to take a carriage to leave the city. But Wei Xu had already surrounded the stable according to everyone's plan. As soon as Chen Gong arrived here, he was captured by Wei Xu's troops. When Yan saw Wei Xu, she quickly pleaded with him to let everyone go. But when Wei Xu saw this, he refused to agree. He quickly ordered the killing of Chen Gong and then came to Qin Zhen with a white flag. When Qin Zhen saw that Chen Gong was dead and Lu Bu was fighting like a trapped beast, he ordered Wei Xu to persuade him to surrender. At this moment, he suddenly appeared, and Lü Bu was so shocked that his eyes widened and he cursed: "Wei Xu, little boy, I will kill you right here!" But as he was distracted, Zhao Yun hit him on the back with his spear and he fell off his horse. As soon as Lu Bu stood up, everyone rushed forward with swords and weapons, trapping him on the spot. At this point, the fierce general Lu Fengxian was captured in Tan County.

All the soldiers under his command surrendered, and among all the civil and military officials, only Wei Yue, Wei Xu, and a few counselors were left alive. After Qin Zhen's victory, he ordered his soldiers to recover the prisoners in the city and posted a notice to reassure the people. As for the palace, he ordered people to bring all the captives to him. Although they were a group of prisoners, they were actually just Lu Bu and his generals. Especially Lu Bu, who was more than ten feet tall and was tied up with hemp ropes and pulled by four soldiers until he knelt in front of Qin Zhen. Seeing Wei Xu, Qin Song, Xu Si and others standing beside Qin Zhen, he said angrily: "I believe I have treated you well, why have you betrayed me and surrendered to me one after another?" As soon as he said this, Qin Song, Xu Si and others were all ashamed, but Wei Xu cursed: "Man, we are wholeheartedly assisting you, but you only care about your wife and children, yelling and cursing at will, and having affairs with the wives of generals. How can you say that you are not mean to them?" As Lu Bu's brother, he knew that Lu Bu had a lot of negative information. After hearing this, Lu Bu remained silent for a while, then looked up at Qin Zhen and said: "You once called me an old friend, and you sent your wife and children here." "Now I am willing to surrender, why don't you untie me?" Qin Zhen saw that he was wearing only a single layer of clothing and his nose was red from the cold, so he smiled and said: "To make friends with you is like trying to get the skin of a tiger. Now that I have caught the tiger, how can I let it go?" "Zhen is too weak to even tie up a chicken, yet he is afraid of being hurt by the tiger!" Seeing this, Lu Bu knew that Qin Zhen looked kind but was actually cruel, so he quickly begged for mercy: "Although Bu is vicious, he has already submitted. Now that I have your advice and your military skills, why should I worry about the world being unstable?" "Just tell Ming Gong that Bu is willing to surrender and will never rebel again!" "I will obey your orders in the future, and I will do anything for you." "If you hear this, you will not want to kill me!" He knew that begging for mercy from Qin Zhen would be far less effective than asking Liu Bei for mercy, so he placed his hopes on Liu Bei again. As soon as he said this, Chen Deng stepped forward and said to Qin Zhen: "This man is fickle and unreliable. It is better to kill him first!" Qin Zhen listened and naturally hesitated. I have to say, capturing Lu Bu was really a waste of effort! If it weren't for the favorable time, location and people being on his side this time, Lu Bu might not have been captured. In the era of cold weapons, Lu Bu was a double-edged sword. If it works, you'll be invincible. If used improperly, it will not only hurt others, but also hurt yourself! I guess in history, when Cao Cao killed Lu Bu, he must have felt conflicted. Thinking of this, he looked at Lu Bu and said slowly: "Does Fengxian remember the story of Ding Jianyang and Dong Zhongying?"

Originally, this was Lao Liu's reminder to Lao Cao, but now he asked Lu Bu if he remembered these two things. When Lu Bu heard this, he frowned and looked at Zhang Liao, Wei Xu and others and said: "If you can tolerate them, why can't you tolerate Bu?" Seeing him asking this question, Qin Zhen smiled and said: "May I ask what it felt like when Lord Fengxian was betrayed?" Speaking of this topic, I think no one knows what it feels like better than Lu Bu now. Ever since Qin Zhen attacked Xuzhou, he has been betrayed all the way. He didn't feel anything when he betrayed others before, but now when the word betrayal is mentioned, he feels disgusted. So for a moment, he didn't know how to reply to Qin Zhen. But when Qin Zhen saw this, he stood up and smiled at him: "This is what you don't want others do to you. Wenhou only blames the people for rebelling against him, but he doesn't know why they rebelled." "I might as well tell Lord Wen because Lord Wen is not qualified to be a ruler." "If Marquis Wen is content to be a general, where in the world can he not go?" "You can only be made a marquis and appointed as a prime minister. With Marquis Wen's ability, he can get land, money, beautiful wives and concubines." "It just so happens that Marquis Wen wanted to be the ruler, but he had no way to control people, which is why we have come to this point." "Marquis Wen only said that he knew his faults, but he was inconsistent before. Who dares to believe him now?" "Marquis Wen said today that he would not rebel. If he rebels again tomorrow, who will take the blame?" When Lu Bu heard this, a look of regret appeared on his face. He could understand Qin Zhen's subtext. In short, it was he who had narrowed the path. He has rebelled repeatedly before, who would dare to spare his life now? Qin Zhen has no relationship with him. If we let him go now and he rebels again in the future, who will bear the responsibility? Why would Qin Zhen take such a risk to guarantee him? "From what you said, sir, does it mean that the only way to break the deadlock is to kill Bu?" When Qin Zhen saw this, he turned around and looked at Zhang Liao and said: "In the past, I persuaded Wenyuan to surrender, but Wenyuan only asked to spare Marquis Wen's life." "Marquis Wen is in imminent danger now. Can Wenyuan guarantee that he will not rebel?" Upon hearing this, Zhang Liao glanced at Lu Bu and remained silent, appearing a little conflicted. When Lu Bu heard this, he was surprised. He did not expect that Zhang Liao, who surrendered first, would be the first person to plead for him. Seeing Zhang Liao silent for a moment, he hurriedly said to Zhang Liao: "Wenyuan is an old friend of mine. Now that he has achieved great success, he will be either rich or noble. Why don't you say something to help him?" Seeing him like this, Zhang Liao couldn't help but sigh, clasped his fists towards Qin Zhen and said: "Please, Lord Qin, spare this man's life. Liao is willing to guarantee it!" Seeing that he finally begged for mercy, Lu Bu was overjoyed and looked at Qin Zhen again.

But at this time, Wei Xu stepped forward and bowed to Qin Zhen and said: "Mr. Qin, this man cannot be trusted, he must be killed immediately!" As soon as he spoke, Lu Bu became furious again and started yelling at him. For a while, the two of them yelled at each other, and everyone frowned. Seeing this, Qin Zhen looked at Xu Shu and others and said: "This is the case, what do you think we should do?" When everyone saw Qin Zhen like this, they knew that Qin Zhen was conflicted and Chen Deng was determined to kill Lu Bu. Qin Song and others pleaded for mercy out of guilt. Only Xu Shu knew what Qin Zhen was thinking, so he stepped forward and bowed, saying: "Since the military advisor is hesitant, why not spare his life for now?" "We will make a decision after reporting to the Lord!" Seeing that he had finally spoken out what he was thinking, Qin Zhen nodded and said: "Well, in that case, let's keep him alive for now and wait for the Lord to deal with him personally." Having said this, he ordered his men to take Lu Bu away and continued to meet with other prisoners. When he met everyone in a row, everyone was willing to surrender, except Wei Yue, who refused to surrender. Seeing him like this, Qin Zhen actually admired Wei Xu as a brother. Although the elder brother is a villain, his younger brother is loyal and brave. Seeing that he refused to surrender, he simply ordered his men to suppress him and imprison him together with Lu Bu. After settling the captives, Qin Zhen ordered people to find Chen Gong's body and his wife and children and send them to Cao. After all, Chen Gong had no relationship with him, so he would not help him support his wife and children. Just let Lao Cao handle it himself. I believe Lao Cao will not treat Chen Gong unfairly. After making these arrangements, he appointed Zang Ba as the acting Prime Minister of Langya, Sun Guan as the acting Prime Minister of Pengcheng, Wu Dun as the acting Prime Minister of Lu, and Chen Deng as the acting Governor of Donghai. As everyone took office, the overall situation in Xuzhou began to stabilize. At this time, the news that Qin Zhen had captured Xuzhou also reached Liu Bei. (End of this chapter)