Lü Bu

“ Su did not answer, but kept pushing the carriage inside. Wang Yun yelled out, "The traitor has arrived, where are the soldiers?" More than 100 people emerged from both sides; they stabbed him with halberds and long-handled spears. Zhuo was wearing armor, so he was not pierced. However, the blows to his chest caused him to be injured and fall from the carriage. He yelled out, "Where is my son Fengxian?" Lü Bu came out from behind the carriage, and shrieked, "There is an imperial edict which calls for the extermination of traitorous rebels!" ”

“ Jian then led the main force toward Sishui Pass. The soldiers who were guarding the pass sent someone on a fast horse to the chancellor's residence in Luoyang to report the emergency. Dong Zhuo had been throwing lavish banquets everyday since assuming power. After receiving the emergency communiqué, Li Ru went straight to Zhuo and gave him the letter. Zhuo was shocked, and immediately convened all of his generals to discuss the matter. Marquis of Wen Lü Bu stood up and said, "Don't worry father. [16] The nobles beyond the pass are as insignificant as mustard seeds. ”

“ Cao said, "Lü Bu is not someone that can be beaten by one person alone." With that, he sent Dian Wei into battle. The two of them engaged in a pincer attack against Bu. At the same time, Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan moved in from the left, while Li Dian and Yue Jin moved in from the right. The six generals attacked Lü Bu in unison. Bu was unable to fend them off, so he wheeled his horse around and returned to the city. When the man from the Tian family saw from the top of the city walls that Bu was returning in defeat, he hastily ordered someone to raise the drawbridge. ”

“ He then held talks with Guo Si, Zhang Ji and Fan Chou, saying, "Although Lü Bu is brave, he lacks a strategic mind, and is not worth worrying about. I will take my army and block the opening to the valley. Every day, I will draw him into a fight. General Guo will take his army and flank Bu, taking his rear. We will do it the same way that Peng Yue did when he circled to the rear of Chu: sounding the gongs will mean to advance, and beating the drums will mean to retreat. Zhang and Fan will split up, and make a two-pronged direct assault on Chang'an. ”

“ When Bu asked why he had come, Chi'er's attendant produced the head, saying, "Hu Chi'er has murdered Niu Fu and taken his gold and jewelry." Bu became angry and had Chi'er] ] killed. He marched his army forward, encountering Li Jue's forces. Lü Bu did not wait for them to form ranks before raising his halberd, then leading his army in a direct frontal charge at full gallop. Jue's army was unable to put up resistance and retreated for more than 50 li, [13] before pitching camp at the foot of a mountain. ”

“ Of the hundreds of citizens who passed by, not one of them failed to hurl things at his head with their hands and kick his corpse with their feet. Wang Yun also ordered Lü Bu, along with Huangfu Song and Li Su, to lead 50,000 troops to Fort Mei and secure Dong Zhuo's family possessions as well as his family members. ”

“ I would like for you to first consent to marry Lü Bu, and then later offer yourself to Dong Zhuo. You will take advantage of the situation to gather information about both father and son. This information can be used to turn them against each other, causing Bu to kill Zhuo, thus eliminating a major source of evil. Restoring the imperial sacrificial alter, and saving the nation, depends on your efforts. Are you willing to do it?" Diao Chan said, "I said that I will carry out your orders, even if it means dying ten thousand deaths. ”

“ Zhang Fei yelled out, "That must be Dong Zhuo! There's no great advantage to pursuing Lü Bu; it would be better to first capture the bandit rebel Dong; that way, we could pull out the weed by its roots!" He slapped the rump of his horse, and headed to the top of the pass in order to capture Dong Zhuo. It was a case of:
In order to capture the bandit rebels, one must capture the bandit rebel leader; in order to witness an extraordinary accomplishment, one really must wait for an extraordinary man. ”

“ Zhu said, "Cao's army only left because Lü Bu had attacked Yanzhou. They have stopped fighting for now, because of the famine. However, they will be back again next spring for sure. Your Excellency, you have tried twice to yield your position to Liu Xuande. At that time, you were still healthy, so Xuande was unwilling to accept your offer. Now that your illness has become dire, it is the perfect time to offer your position to him. ”

“ The evil minister Dong Zhuo deposed the young emperor, and his successor Liu Xie was weak and frightened by his own dreams. Cao Cao distributed an official call to arms throughout the land, and all of the nobles became angry and raised armies. After discussing the matter, they agreed to make Yuan Shao the leader of their alliance, and promised to bring stability and peace to the royal household. Marquis of Wen Lü Bu had no equal among men; the brave and talented came from all over, and bragged about their abilities. ”

“ Gong advised Miao, saying, "The world is now in disarray, and heroes are joining forces. You are in charge of a vast area, yet are under someone else's thumb. Is that not despicable? Cao Cao is now advancing eastward and Yanzhou is empty. Lü Bu is an exceptionally brave warrior in our time. If we were to join forces with him in taking Yanzhou, we could expand our power and influence." Zhang Miao was overjoyed. He ordered Lü Bu to bring Yanzhou to its knees, and to then occupy Puyang. ”

“ Xuande offered his thanks, at which point, the emissary pulled out a personal letter and handed it to Xuande. After Xuande finished reading it, he said, "Allow me to discuss this letter with my men." After the banquet had ended, the emissary was put up at the inn for the night. Xuande discussed the matter into the night with his men. Zhang Fei said, "Lü Bu is lacking in morals anyway. Why not just kill him?" Xuande said, "He came to us when he was weak; it wouldn't be right for me to kill him." Zhang Fei said, "Being a good person is hard!" Xuande did not follow his advice. ”

“ Having recently suffered a defeat, Cao was now hesitant. Suddenly, it was reported that someone from the Tian family had arrived, and had delivered a secret letter that read, "Lü Bu has already departed for Liyang, and the city is empty. I really hope that you will come quickly. I will be your inside man. I will place a white flag on top of the city wall. I will write the character for 'righteousness' in large script. [1] That will be the secret signal." [2] Cao was overjoyed, saying, "Heaven has allowed me to take Puyang!" ”

“ Lü Bu had a camp to the west of Puyang that did not have many soldiers. Tonight, those generals will surely be unprepared, having just been routed by our army. We could lead our men in an attack on them. If we can capture their camp, then Bu's soldiers will be terrified for sure. This is the best course of action." Cao followed his advice, taking with him his six generals --- Cao Hong, Li Dian, Mao Jie, Lü Qian, Yu Jin and Dian Wei --- as well as 20,000 horses and men, on an all night advance along a small side road. ”

“ Zan sighed, saying, "If that is the case, one might say that these two heroes have been neglected! Dong Zhuo is now causing unrest, and all of the nobles are on their way to take him down. You should abandon this lowly post, come with me to punish this bandit rebel, and help the House of Han; what do you think?" Xuande said, "I would like to go." Zhang Fei said, "If you had let me kill that scoundrel the last time, this wouldn't have happened." Yunchang said, "What's done is done; we should gather up our things and go." ”

“ Amid a great throng and clamor, he set out toward Chang'an. They had not gone more than 30 li, [3] when one of the carriage wheels broke. Zhuo got out of the carriage, and continued on horseback. They had not gone more than another ten li, [4] before his horse started to whinny and neigh very loudly, breaking its bridle. Zhuo asked Su, "The carriage broke a wheel, and the horse broke its bridle; what kind of omens are these?" Su said, "The omen means that you should accept the abdication of the Han. The old must be abandoned in favor of the new. ”

“ He fought in five bouts, defeating the enemy, and causing them to retreat in each case. King Zhuang thought it strange, and asked him, "I am not a particularly virtuous person, nor have I granted you any special favors. Why would you fight like this, as if your life depended on it?" ”

“ Si is abiding by the emperor's wishes. Will you?" Jue said, "I have the distinction of having defeated Lü Bu. I have helped in the administration of the government for four years and have received a number of accolades.. Everybody knows that Guo Aduo is little more than a horse thief. Not only that, he had the audacity to kidnap the Three Excellencies and the nine ministers, as well as to oppose me. I swear to you that I will kill him! Take a look at how many soldiers I have. Do you think I have enough men to defeat Guo Aduo?". Huangfu Li answered him, saying, "Not necessarily. ”

“ Bu went along with this suggestion, and made his way toward Xuzhou.
3 有人報知玄德。玄德曰:「布乃當今英勇之士,可出迎之。」糜竺曰:「呂布乃虎狼之徒,不可收留;收則傷人矣。」玄德曰:「前者非布襲兗州,怎解此郡之禍?今彼窮而投我,豈有他心?」張飛曰:「哥哥心腸忒好。雖然如此,也要準備。」 Someone reported this to Xuande. Xuande said, "Bu is a brave warrior; we should go out to greet him." Mi Zhu said, "Lü Bu is like a vicious tiger; we cannot take him in. If we do, he will bring harm to our people." Xuande said, "Previously, had it not been for Bu attacking Yanzhou, how could we have averted a disaster for this commandery? He has now been weakened and is seeking refuge from us ”

“ That's why he left Xue Lan in charge of defending Yanzhou, while he headed off for Puyang; how could he possibly have the foresight to hide his men here?" He instructed Cao Ren, "Take your army and surround Yanzhou. I will advance toward Puyang and quickly attack Lü Bu."
28 陳宮聞曹兵至近,乃獻計曰:「今曹兵遠來疲困,利在速戰,不可養成氣力。」布曰:「吾匹馬縱橫天下,何愁曹操!待其下寨,吾自擒之。」 When Chen Gong heard that Cao's army was approaching, he came up with a brilliant plan, saying, "Cao's army will be tired after such a long journey. Now is a good time to quickly attack, before they have a chance to regain their strength." ”

“ Cao Cao personally led a force of men and horses to intercept. His army ran straight into Gao Shun's. The three armies were intermingled, and fought each other indiscriminately. As dawn approached, the sound of drums shook the earth from the west. Someone reported that Lü Bu had arrived, personally leading a rescue force. Cao Cao gave up on the camp and left. Following in pursuit was Gao Shun, Wei Xu and Hou Cheng, when Lü Bu arrived personally with his army. Yu Jin and Yue Jin both tried to hold back Lü Bu, all to no avail. Cao headed north. ”

“ Su smiled and said, "'A good bird chooses for himself the tree upon which to perch, the talented subject chooses for himself the lord that he shall serve.' Your time is running out for spotting opportunities, you may regret waiting until it's too late." Bu said, "You are at court, which person do you consider to be a world-class hero?" Su responded, "I have looked around at all of the ministers, and none of them can compare to Dong Zhuo. Dong Zhuo respects men of talent; he rewards or punishes based on merit. He will end up doing great things." ”

“ How can you impose your will, and have the emperor deposed? A sage once said, 'If one has the will of Yi Yin, then it is possible; if one lacks the will of Yi Yin, then it will result in rebellion.'"
20 卓大怒,拔劍欲殺植。議郎彭伯諫曰:「盧尚書海內人望,今先害之,恐天下震怖。」卓乃止。司徒王允曰:「廢立之事,不可酒後相商,另日再議。」於是百官皆散。卓按劍立於園門,忽見一人躍馬持戟於園門外往來馳驟。卓問李儒:「此何人也?」儒曰:「此丁原義兒:姓呂,名布,字奉先者也。主公且須避之。」卓乃入園潛避。 Lü Bu, holding the square sky painted halberd in his left hand Zhuo was furious; he drew his sword, intending to kill Zhi. Court Advisor Peng Bo admonished him, "Chief of staff Lu represents the hopes of all of the people. ”

“ The entire region to the east of the mountains had been conquered by Cao Cao. It goes without saying that he pacified the locals and rebuilt the cities.
30 卻說呂布正走,逢諸將皆回。陳宮亦已尋著。布曰:「吾軍雖少,尚可破曹。」遂再引軍來。正是:兵家勝敗真常事,捲甲重來未可知。不知呂布勝負如何,且看下文分解。 Let us now turn to Lü Bu, who had once again regrouped with his generals. Chen Gong had also already managed to find Bu. Bu said, "Our army is small, but it can still defeat Cao." With that, he once again led out his army. It was a case of:
A military man has many victories and many defeats; who can know whether he will return again after having been routed. ”

“ I would rather put my life on the line and drown the enemy in my own blood, for I am the one whose headpiece cord was yanked off on that night." The Jin army was subsequently defeated, and Chu became stronger. This goes to show that covert kindnesses have overt rewards. ”

“ If the exploits of a despot are successful, he will become emperor; if not, he will still become a wealthy man.
Who knew that the will of heaven is so impartial; no sooner had Fort Mei been built, than it was destroyed!
19 卻說呂布當下大呼曰:「助卓為虐者,皆李儒也!誰可擒之?」李肅應聲願往。忽聽朝門外發喊,人報李儒家奴已將李儒綁縳來獻。王允命縳赴市曹斬之;又將董卓尸首,號令通衢。卓尸肥胖,看尸軍士以火置其臍中為燈,膏油滿地。百姓過者,莫不手擲其頭,足踐其尸。王允又命呂布同皇甫嵩、李肅領兵五萬至郿塢抄籍董卓家產人口。 Let us now turn to Lü Bu, who presently yelled out, "The one who helped Zhuo in his tyranny was none other than Li Ru! Who will arrest him?" Li Su responded to the call, and volunteered his services. ”

“ Cao said, "Dong Zhuo has amassed troops at Hulao. He has been blocking the way of our nobles. We should take half of our soldiers to meet the enemy." Shao then dispatched eight of the nobles -- Wang Kuang, Qiao Mao, Bao Xin, Yuan Yi, Kong Rong, Zhang Yang, Tao Qian and Gongsun Zan -- to head toward Hulao Pass to meet the enemy. Cao led an army that would reinforce them. Each of the eight nobles formed their armies. Governor of Henei Commandery, Wang Kuang was the first to arrive with his soldiers. Lü Bu rapidly responded by leading a contingent of 3,000 armored cavalry out to face them. ”