Three Kingdoms: I switched to Liu Bei, why are you crying, Cao Cao?

Chapter 52: Give first before taking, Chen Gong's counterattack
Lu Bu is a man who really has no opinion of his own.

Most of the time, as long as I think something makes sense, I will do it.

Chen Gong's words also regained Lu Bu's trust.

Seeing that he had a way to preserve his reputation and could also help Liu Bei, Lu Bu asked:
"Whatever plan you have, just tell me!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Gong raised his head proudly and said:

"If you want to use my strategy, General, you must agree to one thing from me!"

"We must trap Chen and his son first!"

“Even if they are not imprisoned, they cannot be allowed to go free!”

"The father and son have always been friendly with Liu Bei. If they knew my plan, they would definitely find a way to inform me!"

Lu Bu had just felt resentful towards Chen Deng and his son, and upon hearing this, he said:

"That's right, I'm just going to bring him and his son to justice!"

Seeing this, Chen Gong nodded, stood up and said:
"If the general can trap Chen and his son, then my plan will work!"

"The reason why our army is in such a passive position right now is because the general has fallen into the enemy's trap!"

"Although I don't know who Wang He is under Liu Bei's command, his ability to scheme is truly amazing."

"This man is good at understanding people's hearts and knows that our army will not give him money and food, so he made this plan."

"But this person overlooked one thing. If our army does the opposite, they will have no excuse to make things difficult for our army."

"So in my opinion, the general should give them money and food first."

"No matter how much you owe him, give him all the money and grain!"

Lü Bu thought Chen Gong had some good plan, but when he heard Chen Gong asking him to hand over the money and food, Lü Bu was unhappy and said:

"Is Gongtai playing a trick on me?"

"I was just about to hear Gongtai's plan to defeat the enemy. If you ask me to pay more money and food, I won't do it!"

Chen Gong knew what Lu Bu was thinking, and shook his head:

"Marquis Wen has misunderstood. Giving them money and food is just to take them away!"

"Providing money and food is just the first step!"

"Just as what I, the talented Zifa below, said, what our army is afraid of now is that the army has no legitimate reason to fight!"

"Therefore, our army cannot attack and kill Liu Bei in an upright manner. We must change our flag and put the blame on others!"

"Wen Hou, think about it. If our army does not provide food and fodder, even if we disguise ourselves as others, people will think that our army is trying to take the money and food for itself, and will blame us for that!"

"And if our army gives them food and fodder first, the money and food are more important. If they are targeted by bandits, it will have nothing to do with our army."

"Now there are rebellions everywhere in Xuzhou, especially led by Zang Ba of Mount Tai and others!"

"So our army can pretend to be Zang Ba's troops. If Liu Bei leaves, our army can stay put.

"They are carrying provisions and baggage, so they will not be able to travel fast."

"After they leave, our army can march out at night and ambush in Pengcheng!"

"I think that although Wang He is cunning, he may not know that our army will ambush him in front of him. Even if he knows that our army is different, he may not know where our army is!"

"So, the enemy is in the open, and I am in the dark. They are carrying a lot of baggage. If they are suddenly attacked, how can we resist?"

"According to this plan, if we can kill Liu Bei, our army can then put the blame on the Taishan bandits."

"If we cannot kill Liu Bei and let him go, our army can also recover the money and food."

"Even if Liu Bei knew that it was our army that did it, he couldn't blame us openly, and he has no reason to come and ask for it!"

"And if our army delivers the food and fodder, then everyone in the world will know the general's trustworthiness!"

"Furthermore, after our army has handed over the food and grass, we can march south with peace of mind. Even if Liu Bei is not dead, he will not dare to turn against us in the name of benevolence and righteousness, and this can also solve the problem of Liu Bei's plot!"

"This is a plan that kills three birds with one stone!"

After Chen Gong finished speaking, he stopped talking and felt a little dry in the mouth.

His plan met all of Lu Bu's requirements.

Don't you want fame? Giving you food and fodder will just give you a good name!
Don't you want money and food? If you give it to me and then take it back and put the blame on others, you will feel at ease with the money and food in your pocket!
Aren't you going to go south to plunder? Get rid of Liu Bei first. Go to hell. Liu Bei has got food and grass, so he has no excuse to attack again!

Moreover, his plan is an open conspiracy. Even if Wang Hezhen deduces that he is going to take action, you don’t know how or where I will do it!
With so much baggage, there is no city to defend in the wild, and it is almost impossible to defend!

He has really put in a lot of effort. If Lu Bu doesn't respond, there will be no hope for him!
After hearing this plan, Lu Bu made a decision immediately.

If he were to fight openly, he would still feel a little afraid.

But if you pretend to be a bandit, that would be a different story!

As long as he does a good job and kills people to silence them, who would know it was him who did it?
Thinking of this, he looked at Yang Feng and others and said:

"What do you two think of this plan?"

Upon hearing this, Yang Feng and Han Xian thought that Lu Bu was more to their liking.

He might not have the courage to attack Liu Bei openly, but he was very brave enough to launch a surprise attack and rob food.

The two smiled at each other and bowed:
"Mr. Chen, this plan is brilliant. It will surely defeat Liu Bei's army!"

"Okay, since you two both think this plan is feasible, you two will go ahead this time!"

Lü Bu, thinking of his own small number of soldiers, was quite afraid of these two men, so he simply sent them to deal with Liu Bei. But as soon as he said this, Chen Gong stepped out and shook his head, saying:
"With Liu Bei's troops, why would we need two generals to go together?"

"All it takes is a general with his troops."

"What our army is doing this time is quite secretive. It would be a pity if you two go together!"

Upon hearing this, the two looked at each other again. Although they were rebelling together, they were actually self-centered.

Hearing that Chen Gong only allowed one person to go, this is something that can be distinguished!
After all, they are going to rob money and food, so they all want to go!

Seeing this, Chen Gong said in a deep voice:

"You two can discuss it on your own and prepare your troops. Once the enemy leaves, you can take action!"

When the two men saw this, they looked at Lu Bu again.

Seeing this, Lu Bu frowned and said:

"Just follow Gongtai's advice and discuss it with the two of you!"

At that moment, the two men knew that Lu Bu could not make the decision, so they could only leave.

After the two men left, Lu Bu asked:

"Didn't Gongtai say that he wanted to attack and kill Liu Bei? If Liu Bei was the target, the more people the better. Why did he only let one person lead the troops?"

Lu Bu is just selfish and indecisive, but he is not stupid.

He could see that Chen Gong did not think that one man was enough, but was unwilling to let two people go together.

Chen Gong heard this and bowed to Lu Bu and said:
"Although Liu Bei is a great threat, these two are not good people either. If we let them go alone, if they defeat Liu Bei and get his money, food and supplies, they might become disloyal!"

"We should leave one person here and send our generals to follow him to prevent him from rebelling!"

As a counselor, he naturally had to be thoughtful. Chen Gong's actions against Liu Bei were not simply out of personal grudge, but more out of public interest.

It was only him who looked down on Liu Bei. From a public perspective, Liu Bei was an enemy, and Yang Feng and Han Xian also had to be accounted for.

Lu Bu nodded after hearing this and asked:
"Who do you think would be the most suitable person for our army to send?"

To be honest, Gao Shun and Zhang Liao have not arrived in Xia Pi yet, and he really doesn't have many people available.

When Chen Gong heard this, he said without thinking:

"Let General Wei Xu lead the Xianzhen Camp!"

The Xianzhen Camp was Lu Bu's elite force, with less than 800 soldiers, but extremely formidable combat capability.

As mentioned earlier, because Hao Meng rebelled, Lu Bu was afraid that Gao Shun was an outsider general, so he transferred the Xianzhen Camp to Wei Xu, who was related to him.

Seeing that Chen Gong was going to let Wei Xu go, Lu Bu nodded again.

After all, Wei Xu was his confidant, so he felt at ease letting Wei Xu go.

"Let Wei Xu go!"

When Chen Gong saw that Lu Bu agreed one after another, he felt deeply moved. Finally, he had gained Lu Bu's trust again!
Although he was not quick-witted, he was able to seize the opportunity and immediately bowed and said:

"I dare to ask how the general intends to deal with Chen Deng and his son?"

When Lu Bu heard this, he frowned and said:

"What else can we do? Of course we should arrest him, interrogate him, and punish him!"

How could he not know that Chen Gong wanted to kill the two of them? In fact, he had some murderous intention.

But he was still a little hesitant about killing two people.

Because the Chen family is not a small family. Chen Gui’s grandfather Chen Wei was the prefect of Guanghan, his cousin Chen Qiu was the grand marshal, and even his cousin Chen Yu now has troops in Haixi.

If he killed this father and son, not only would he not be able to keep his hold on Xuzhou, he would certainly be despised by scholars all over the world.

As the saying goes, make up for what you lack. Lu Bu also knew that he had a bad reputation, and he was unwilling to ruin his reputation if it was not necessary.

Chen Gong also knew a little about Lu Bu's thoughts, so he took a step back and said:

"Instead of charging him, it's better to send him away!"

"This father and son have bad intentions, especially Chen Deng. Sooner or later, trouble will happen under the general's command. Cao Cao previously appointed Chen Deng as the governor of Guangling. The general might as well take advantage of the situation to expel him and let him take office in Guangling!"

"Leave Chen Gui in the city as a hostage. This way, I guarantee that Chen Deng will not have any other intentions!"

Guangling is Yuan Shu's territory. Letting Chen Deng go there will not harm Lu Bu and will also be beneficial to him.

He finally realized that this father and son were eloquent and that he would have no peace as long as they stayed in Xia Pi!
As long as Chen Deng could be sent away and Chen Gui was old and no longer a threat, he could devote himself to assisting Lu Bu.

Lu Bu thought for a while and agreed to Chen Gong's request again.

After going through so many things in one day, he was a little tired. He waved his hand and said:
"Just now I asked Chen Deng to go and give Zhang Fei money and food. Since you, Gongtai, have such a plan, you should go and give him the food and grass. You must not let Liu Bei find out about our army's plan!"

Upon seeing this, Chen Gong gladly accepted the order, took Wang Kai out of the government office, and finally revealed a hint of a sneer.

No matter what the process was, he won in the end!

Whether it is Chen Deng or Wang He, do they really think that if they are put in prison, he will be helpless?
Now that Chen Deng is gone, the only one left is Liu Bei!
Thinking of this, Chen Gong walked out of the mansion with a determined look on his face.

Under his manipulation, Chen Deng was taken back to the mansion and placed under house arrest before he could leave the city.

The 5,000 dan of grain and fodder originally given to Liu Bei's army was increased to 60,000 dan. In addition, there were tens of millions of coins, a large number of carriages and horses, and even more than 2,000 prisoners!
Zhang Fei shouted and cursed outside the city for a long time, and had no idea what was happening inside the city.

Seeing that supplies were really being sent out of the city, they thought that they were asking for money and food, so they happily escorted the supplies towards the camp.

(End of this chapter)