Lu Bu (?) —199), the name Fengxian, a native of Jiuyuan County, Wuyuan County (now Jiuyuan District, Baotou City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region), was a famous military general in the late Eastern Han Dynasty and one of the heroes in the late Han Dynasty.
Lu Bu is brave and abnormal, good at arching and riding horses, and his arm strength is outstanding, comparable to the famous general Li Guang of the Western Han Dynasty, and also has the reputation of "flying general", and the folk have the praise of "Lu Bu among the people, and the red rabbit among the horses".
Lü Bu originally served in Bingzhou, and was deeply respected by Bingzhou Assassin Shi Dingyuan. After the death of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, the warlord Dong Zhuo of the Northwest took the opportunity to enter the capital Luoyang, and many ministers were dissatisfied with him, and Ding Yuan was one of them. Dong Zhuo also wanted to get rid of Ding Yuan a long time ago, but he was afraid of Lu Bu's bravery and didn't dare to do it.
Dong Zhuo used the trick ** Lu Bu for his own use to kill Ding Yuan. Lu Bu was bewitched and cut off Ding Yuan's head and offered it to Dong Zhuo. Dong Zhuo was very happy, and immediately promoted Lu Bu, and said that he would treat him like a father treats his son. Lu Bu became a celebrity all of a sudden, and his official position rose again and again.
Dong Zhuo is suspicious by nature, and he is often worried about being murdered, so he asks Lu Bu to follow him closely, no matter how he goes. Dong Zhuo is narrow-minded, irritable, and loses his temper when he is not satisfied.
Once, because of a trivial matter, he actually pulled out his halberd and threw it at Lu Bu, almost stabbing Lu Bu to death, and Lu Bu held a grudge from then on.
Dong Zhuo often sent Lu Bu to guard the inner palace, and Lu Bu took the opportunity to have an affair with Dong Zhuo's maids, but he was afraid of being discovered, so he was very worried. At first, Lu Bu had a good relationship with Situ Wang Yun, and whenever he was unhappy, he always went to Wang Yun to complain.
Wang Yun and others were dissatisfied with Dong Zhuo's monopoly on the government and misbehaved, and wanted to find an opportunity to get rid of him, so they took the opportunity to persuade: "Your surname is Lu, Dong Zhuo's surname is Dong, with Dong Zhuo's person, how can you really treat you as a son, or it is important to save your life." Lu Bu already had a grudge against Dong Zhuo, and when he heard Wang Yun say this, he joined forces with him inside and outside and killed Dong Zhuo.
After Dong Zhuo was killed, his old troops attacked Lü Bu, Lü Bu led his troops to flee, and after several rounds of defection to the northern warlord Yuan Shao, it didn't take long for him to become suspicious and had to leave. After running in many directions, Lü Bu took the opportunity to occupy Xiapi (pī) (present-day Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province) and forced Liu Bei to join him. Lü Bu sent Liu Bei to garrison Xiaopei (present-day Pei County, Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province), while Lü Bu proclaimed himself the pastor of Xuzhou (present-day Jiangsu Province).
In 196, the great warlord Yuan Shu sent the general Ji Ling to lead an army of 30,000 to attack Liu Bei, who was very weak and hurriedly asked Lü Bu for help.
The generals under Lü Bu persuaded him to get rid of Liu Bei by the hand of Yuan Shu. Lu Bu had already seen through Yuan Shu's intentions, and once he got rid of Liu Bei, he would unite with the forces in the north and surround him. So, Lu Bu led his troops to Xiaopei quickly, set up camp not far from Xiaopei, and set up a banquet to invite Liu Bei and Ji Ling. Liu Bei and Ji Ling couldn't guess Lu Bu's intentions, and they were afraid of his strength, so they had to go to the banquet.
During the banquet, Lu Bu said to Ji Ling: "Liu Bei is my brother, and now my brother is surrounded, I can't help it." I don't like to watch others fight, but I like to settle disputes. Ji Ji thought that it was not good, and lowered his head and remained silent. Lu Bu continued: "I invited you here today to make peace between the two of you. ”
After speaking, he ordered someone to take a halberd, insert it in the open space more than a hundred steps away from the gate, and said: "I will shoot an arrow from here, if you hit the small branch on the halberd, you two will stop the army; If you don't miss, you'll fight to the death. After speaking, he raised his bow and shot, impartially, with a small branch in the middle. Everyone was amazed again and again, praising Lu Bu's superb shooting skills. When Ji Ling saw that Lu Bu was so powerful, he didn't dare to say anything, so he led his troops back.
In 198, the warlord Cao Cao led his troops to conquer Lü Bu and besieged him in Xiapi City for three months. Lu Bu stood on the White Gate Tower, seeing Cao Cao's army besieging him layer by layer, he was disheartened, and he went out of the city to surrender, and Cao Cao ordered someone to raise him.
Lu Bu said: "Don't tie it too tightly. Cao Cao said: "You can't tie the tiger without tying it tightly." Lu Bu took the opportunity to say: "Now that I have surrendered to Cao Gong, I will lead the cavalry in the future, and Cao Gong will personally lead the infantry, so why worry about the injustice of the world." ”
Cao Cao was very moved, and Liu Bei on the side said, "Didn't Duke Cao see how Lu Bu served Ding Yuan and Dong Zhuo?" Cao Cao nodded and did not appoint Lu Bu. In the end, Lü Bu was hanged and beheaded in Baimen Tower.
Although Lu Bu was brave and good at fighting, he could not distinguish between right and wrong, and changed hands frequently, because of his complicated relationship with Ding Yuan and Dong Zhuo, he was called "three family slaves", which was despised by later generations.
This article is excerpted from "Twenty-four Histories Read Immediately, Language and History Are Progressing" - the fourth volume of the Book of the Later Han Dynasty, which is officially authorized to be published, welcome to continue to pay attention.