In fact, similar words had been mentioned to Xiang Yu more than once by a group of aides headed by his father-in-law Fan Zeng.
However, when Fan Zeng offered his advice, he was used to laying things out. Although he was clear and fair, he did not take Xiang Yu's arrogant temper into consideration. His words were long and dry, which naturally made Xiang Yu drowsy and unable to move. Secondly, most of the Chu soldiers led by Xiang Yu were from the native land of Chu. They had been away from their hometown for many years and had a strong feeling of nostalgia for their hometown. If they were forced to stay, they would probably face the dilemma of a sharp decline in fighting spirit. Thirdly, Xiang Bo, who had ulterior motives, was interfering in the matter. Chen Ping pretended to be confused and let it go...
But with Lu Bu, the situation was completely different.
He saw the foolish behavior of this naive bully and unconsciously regarded it as his own childhood, when he was reckless and had taken many detours and made many mistakes. So he naturally put himself in the other person's shoes.
This is why there was a combination of praise, provocation, persuasion and advice. It seemed to be a coincidence, but in the end it all scratched the itch in Xiang Yu's heart that no one had touched before, and suddenly lit up the light in the originally confused mind of the Overlord.
With this major event in mind, Xiang Yu had completely forgotten the troubles caused by his uncle Xiang Bo's suspicious behavior.
Once he made up his mind, he wanted to get it done immediately.
Looking at Xiang Yu's back, he was so anxious that he couldn't wait any longer and rode away on his black horse...
Lu Bu, who had always been very courageous and allowed himself to rush forward, actually broke out in sweat on his back for the first time.
Oh my god, is Xiang Yu going to ask him to discuss the world and engage in verbal battles with that group of chattering Confucian scholars
Thinking of this, cold sweat broke out.
Lu Bu stood there, hesitating for a long time in great pain between "just give up and not face that mess" or "give up all the previous efforts and go back to find a way to deal with it", and finally chose the latter with difficulty.
—I just don’t believe it. If he refuses to speak, is there anyone in the world who can force him to do so
It's all that stupid Overlord's fault. He worked so hard for the past half month, just thinking of killing Liu Bang to avenge himself. But before he could avenge himself, he got into more and more trouble!
Lu Bu made up his mind, cursed Xiang Yu inwardly for causing trouble for him, whistled, summoned the jade lion that was still strolling nearby, and rode on it with a gloomy face.
—He sincerely hoped that Xiang Yu would not be so foolish as to ask him to engage in a debate with the scholars. If that were really the case... none of the scholars would be able to survive under his sword.
The jade lion, which had rested well, was completely unaware of the worries of its new owner. It let out a high-spirited "hiss" and then spread out its four hooves and galloped forward.
Although the Jade Lion cannot match the unrivaled Black Horse, it is still a rare and fine horse that can travel a thousand miles a day and is as swift as the wind.
Lu Bu just had a tense face and was distracted for a while, then he saw the gate of Xianyang right in front of him.
The jade lion carried its new master, who was covered in black aura, majestically and proudly, and shuttled through the streets as if it was familiar with the route. In just a moment, it arrived at the Qin Palace.
At this time, almost no one in the Chu army recognized Lu Bu, a rare warrior trusted by King Xiang. Seeing that it was Lu Bu who had followed King Xiang in the previous expedition, they skipped the step of interrogating him, opened the palace gate directly and let him pass.
Lu Bu had a smooth journey and soon arrived at the temporary palace used for meetings. He dismounted from his horse with a look of bitterness and hatred on his face and walked in with his neck stiffened.
As expected, as soon as the door was pushed open, he saw that it was already crowded with people. They were all staff members wearing tall crowns and wide robes with big sleeves that made it difficult for them to move.
Lu Bu was the last to arrive, and his figure was completely different from the thin and graceful figure of ordinary scholars. He was tall and mighty, as well as Xiang Yu. He was also the one who surprised the staff the most. He was the only one in the tent, except for Xiang Bo, his blood relative, who could repeatedly change Xiang Yu's decisions.
Xiang Yu sat in the main seat with an indifferent expression. He glanced at Lu Bu and nodded slightly. Han Xin, who was holding the spear behind him, instantly understood and led his brother to the position that originally belonged to Zuo Yin Xiang Bo.
Lu Bu looked around inconspicuously, but did not find any trace of Xiang Bo. He raised his eyebrows but did not react much.
As soon as Han Xin led him to his seat, he sat down with great fanfare.
Seeing his unruly and wild sitting posture, and the fact that he showed no intention of politely refusing before sitting down, his staff members couldn't help but frown.
However, Xiang Yu, who was in the main seat, obviously loved Lu Bu's talent very much. Even though the other party behaved so arrogantly under his nose, he did not show any resentment.
Perhaps in order to calm the anger in the hearts of the people, Xiang Yu, who was always frugal with words, actually spoke a few words to his followers. After a while, snacks were delivered to the people who were called in without having time to have lunch and were already a little hungry.
Everyone was flattered and thanked King Xiang for the food, but Han Xin's expression was a little subtle.
His eyes involuntarily fell on the snack in front of his brother, which was three times the size of the others.
The slice of meat, which looked particularly tempting because it was covered with steaming hot sauce, looked extremely familiar... It was exactly the same as the dried meat that he had secretly hidden for the other party at a banquet a while ago and asked his brother to eat it all without a care.
Han Xin seemed to be thinking about something.
-If he guessed correctly, everyone present here should have benefited from the fact that his brother was hungry last time and made King Xiang miss him.
Unlike Han Xin, Lu Bu was not as careful. He ate with relish and finished the three times portion of meat in a blink of an eye.
And there was a more important reason why he could eat so peacefully - Xiang Yu summoned him to attend this court meeting, but had no intention of letting him debate with his staff.
Once Xiang Yu decided to move the capital of Chu to Xianyang, he had to settle his soldiers.
If they were willing to stay, he would give them certain official positions; if they were unwilling to stay, he would give them certain rewards, allowing them to make their own choices confidently.
In fact, to Xiang Yu's surprise, the Chu soldiers who he imagined were extremely homesick and eager to return home only accounted for a very small number of the vast army of more than 400,000.
Most of the remaining people were either soldiers from other countries who were later incorporated into Xiang Yu's army, whose families had been separated and lost and had nowhere to return to, or they were Chu people but were unwilling to be satisfied with returning to their hometown to live an ordinary life with a wife and a warm bed. They wanted to continue to follow the powerful Xiang Yu to take advantage of the chaos to fight for more fame and fortune, and did not mind suffering some hardships.
For scholars and Confucian scholars who also desire to become famous and stand out, it is naturally more satisfying for them to follow a king who has both the potential to be a king and a hegemon, has great ambitions, and can make rational and beneficial decisions than to serve a vain king who acts only on his own will and is only concerned about the vanity of returning home in glory.
Anyone who is not blind can see that Pengcheng has no advantages over Guanzhong. Giving up the fertile land of Guanzhong and returning it to Pengcheng is like handing over a gift from heaven. It is childish and a complete failure.
Now that the stubborn King Xiang has come to his senses and wants to restore order, they are naturally happy to see it happen, so why would they oppose it
Even the few who sang a different tune were simply worried that it might be too difficult to win the hearts of the people.
Xiang Yu listened to the heated discussion below with an expressionless face, nodding from time to time to show his agreement.
He summoned Lu Bu purely to let everyone know who should receive the credit, or to save face for him, so he specially arranged him to sit at the seat of the former Zuo Yin Xiang Bo.
If it were someone else, facing Xiang Yu's sincere promotion, they would have been moved to tears and pledged to serve him until death.
As for Lu Bu... He was just secretly glad that he had escaped, and decided to curse the fool king less because the meat tasted good.
Fan Zeng was pleased that Xiang Yu, who had always been stubborn, had quietly changed his mind and made a wise decision this time. At the same time, he admired and liked Lu Bu.
Such a wise and brave man who could persuade even the stubborn King Xiang repeatedly appeared out of nowhere, but he did not care about fame and fortune, and only stayed loyally by the king's side...
It can only be said that this is the fortune bestowed upon the Overlord by God.
As the head of Xiang Yu's staff, Fan Zeng was the one who would appoint specific people to carry out tasks once the strategy was decided.
He also fully learned the lesson of Xiang Yu's rage and decision to attack Liu in front of Hangu Pass, and his impulse to change his mind again and again. In order to prevent any further trouble, Xiang Yu went back on his word again. This time, he was not willing to wait until tomorrow, and arranged the matters one by one on the spot.
After eating and drinking his fill, Lu Bu lazily watched the excitement for a while with his chin propped up on one side, but soon he felt extremely bored.
Since the position of Sima should be given to Zhang Han, formerly the King of Yong, shouldn't he be able to ask for a separate job
Seeing Fan Zeng, the old man with white hair and beard, working hard to arrange the duties, Lu Bu was afraid that he would be assigned to handle internal affairs, so he quickly found an excuse and tried to slip out of the hall.
As soon as Lu Bu opened his mouth, Xiang Yu, who had been in a daze with a stern face, came back to his senses and glanced at him indifferently.
It was not difficult for him to see that Lu Bu, who kept changing his sitting position and looking sad, really could not sit still. He really raised his hand and not only did Lu Bu's wish come true, but he also let Han Xin, who had always been on good terms with him, go out with him.
When Xiang Yu suddenly changed his mind and decided to move the capital to Xianyang, Xiang Bo had no way of knowing it.
He was also completely unaware that his act of taking out bribes from the property sent by Liu Bang earlier to get the jailers to keep an eye on Zhang Liang in prison had been exposed. Also, because of the unique treasure mark on the treasures of the Former Qin Dynasty, even a slow-witted Xiang Yu was able to follow the clues and suspected that he had been secretly communicating with Liu Bang.
His self-esteem was equally high, no less than Xiang Yu's, and he always believed that his every move was in accordance with "righteousness". Therefore, whether he informed Zhang Liang of the movements of the Chu army, met with Liu Bang in private, accepted treasures, or tried his best to negotiate for Liu Bang in front of Xiang Yu, even at the expense of the interests of the Chu army... he strangely never felt guilty.
During the banquet that day, he had to stand up to protect Zhang Liang, but was openly provoked and humiliated by Lu Bu, a nobody. However, due to the disparity in martial power, even though he was angry, he knew he was no match for the other party and could only swallow his anger.
This incident alone was enough to make him depressed, but what was even more unbelievable to him was that Xiang Yu, who had always trusted and respected him, was determined to condone Lu Bu's rude treatment of him!
Considering that he was the patriarch of the Xiang clan, and had endured many hardships for many years, serving the younger generation attentively, but ended up with such a miserable ending, it was inevitable that he felt full of resentment towards Xiang Yu.
Since Xiang Yu did not come to discuss matters with him, he was secretly uneasy about the sudden decline in his status in the other party's heart, and he felt that his face was damaged again. How could he go and beg for peace in a servile manner
While his hatred for Lu Bu and Xiang Yu deepened, he simply stayed in his own palace most of the time, except for visiting Zhang Liang in the cell. He was naturally one step behind in sensing the movements outside.
The only thing that remained unchanged was his determination to release Zhang Liang privately - Xiang Yu was unpredictable and had a strong murderous nature. The longer Zhang Liang was imprisoned, the more danger he would be in.
After the enfeoffment, the army set out back to Pengcheng. Being in the capital of Chu, it was even more difficult to escape.
Xiang Bo tossed and turned, but finally decided to ignore Zhang Liang's opposition during their previous meeting and try to rescue the people first.