Chapter 633: Meeting Yuan Hong
Chapter 633: Meeting Yuan Hong
September 25, 2017
In the blink of an eye, Lu HaiKong had been in Juelu for two days.
During this time, Dong Zhuo had been avoiding Lu HaiKong and showed no intention of meeting with him.
After visiting the Governor's Mansion, Lu HaiKong was in no hurry. Dong Zhuo's lack of action and words didn't bother him. He stayed in his camp, playing with Gun Gun and occasionally sparring with Dian Wei.
Although Lu HaiKong hadn't left the camp, he was well-informed about everything happening outside, thanks to the Ghost Shadow Guards he brought with him.
In these two days, Dong Zhuo had conquered two dungeons. First, he mobilized outsiders, and to Lu HaiKong's surprise, he somehow managed to find a group of outsiders that met the dungeon's requirements. Even more surprising was that Yue Qian Liu was among them.
This group consisted of only three people, all women, but they caught Lu HaiKong's attention.
In Lu HaiKong's eyes, loners were usually mediocre, with strengths generally below 70. In the Outsider Sanctuary, those with strengths above 80 were considered top-notch. Therefore, Lu HaiKong had underestimated the loners' strength.
To his surprise, Dong Zhuo had found a group of outsiders with dual attributes above 80 or single attributes above 85 in a short time. Among them, Yue Qian Liu's strength was even approaching 90.
This situation fully demonstrated that the outsiders were not as simple as Lu HaiKong had imagined.
Although Dong Zhuo had found this group of outsiders, they ultimately failed in their dungeon attempt. After their failure, Dong Zhuo, still unconvinced, asked them to try again with Lu Bu and others, but they failed again. After that, Dong Zhuo's side calmed down and stopped preparing to take over the Governor's Mansion.
However, while their actions towards the Governor's Mansion had ceased, they became more frequent in other areas.
Li Ru frequently visited Liu Bei and Cao Cao's camp to meet with them, clearly trying to get them to join the mission to kill Zhang Jiao.
Lu HaiKong found Li Ru's blatant attempt to poach them strange, and he remained silent, showing no intention of responding.
This situation surprised Dong Zhuo, who had expected Lu HaiKong to strongly oppose it. He had even prepared for a confrontation with Lu HaiKong, but once again, Lu HaiKong remained silent.
Although Lu HaiKong was silent, Liu Bei's side wasn't easily convinced. They seemed to care about Lu HaiKong's opinion and feared that he might have misunderstood, so they hadn't agreed to Dong Zhuo's request.
However, if Lu HaiKong continued to remain silent, Liu Bei and the others would likely eventually give in to Dong Zhuo's mobilization. After all, Dong Zhuo was the leader of the Ji Province military campaign, and his authority would be hard to resist.
As Juelu was filled with hidden turmoil, a secret visitor arrived—none other than Yuan Hong, whose subordinate had been detained by Lu HaiKong!
After receiving two terrible pieces of news, Yuan Hong quickly dealt with the Bohai affairs and headed straight to Juelu with a small team.
Yuan Hong seemed to want to keep his arrival a secret. His team was low-key, avoiding everyone's attention, and went directly to Lu HaiKong.
Ji Province, Juelu, Lu HaiKong's camp.
After exchanging greetings, Lu HaiKong and Yuan Hong sat down, the host and the guest.
To Lu HaiKong's surprise, Yuan Hong's attitude was very humble, unlike the arrogance and flamboyance he had expected from a Yuan family member. But of course, with a top general in Lu HaiKong's hands, Yuan Hong's attitude couldn't be too high.
In this situation, their meeting lacked the tension of drawn swords, and instead, they chatted and laughed, appearing as if they were old friends.
Both were curious about each other, but there was a difference. Lu HaiKong hadn't known about Yuan Hong before, while Yuan Hong had heard of Lu HaiKong, though his understanding was only superficial.
In this situation, their conversation often involved subtle tests of each other, so beneath the laughter, there was an undercurrent of sharp exchanges.
After a brief conversation, they both had a basic understanding of each other.
Regardless of Lu HaiKong or Yuan Hong, after talking, they both changed their views and acknowledged that the other was indeed extraordinary.
After talking for a while, Yuan Hong finally couldn't hold back and changed the topic: "Brother Lu, regarding Zhang He, it was indeed my fault for not disciplining him properly. Rest assured, after I return, I will definitely educate him well."
It was clear that he wanted his man back.
When he said this, Lu HaiKong paused and looked at Yuan Hong in silence.
In fact, after detaining Zhang He, Lu HaiKong had not planned to return him. Who was Lu HaiKong? He wasn't much different from a skinflint. How could he easily return such a top historical general?
However, after meeting Yuan Hong, Lu HaiKong hesitated slightly.
With Lu HaiKong's keen insight, it was not difficult to see that the Yuan Hong before him was not an ordinary person. With the Yuan family backing him and the Yellow Turban Rebellion coming to an end, Jizhou would likely fall into his hands.
In a sense, this guy would become Lu HaiKong's future neighbor. Whether they would be good or bad neighbors remained to be seen, but for now, Lu HaiKong did not want to directly confront Yuan Hong. That would bring him a lot of trouble and hinder his development.
Just as Lu HaiKong was about to nod and have someone bring Zhang He up, Yuan Hong spoke first.
"Brother Lu, I must thank you. These past few years in Jizhou, although I had the Yuan family backing me, I still had the Yellow Turban Army above me. It's been a tough time, but now that you've eliminated them, I can finally develop my territory."
Lu HaiKong narrowed his eyes, unsure of what Yuan Hong was trying to say. He could only respond with 'That's great' and wait for Yuan Hong to continue.
"Regardless, I must thank you, Brother Lu. After the Yellow Turbans were cleared out, I can also develop my territory in Bo Hai. I heard that you have a business dealing in warhorses and livestock. Perhaps we can cooperate in the future?"
Yuan Hong had openly extended an olive branch for cooperation. On the one hand, Jizhou had a large market for warhorses and livestock, but more importantly, he wanted to form an alliance with Lu HaiKong.
Despite Yuan Hong's ambition to control Jizhou and eventually conquer Youzhou and Bingzhou, replacing Yuan Shao as the overlord of the north, he knew it was just a plan. To truly achieve it, he had a long road ahead, possibly a decade or more.
It would be foolish to break ties with Lu HaiKong now for the sake of conquering Bingzhou a decade later. In this world, there were countless hidden outsiders, and even if he killed Lu HaiKong now, Bingzhou might not be his a decade later. He couldn't expect any immediate benefits either.
The most rational move for Yuan Hong was to form an alliance with Lu HaiKong, helping each other develop and grow stronger without conflicting interests.
Indeed, Yuan Hong was no ordinary man. Despite being thwarted by Lu HaiKong in the Yan Liang incident and having Guan Hai captured, he was able to control his emotions and make the most rational judgment. In this regard, Yuan Hong was far better than a certain subordinate who immediately mobilized troops upon hearing of his injury.
"If Brother Yuan is willing to support my business, I won't refuse," Lu HaiKong readily agreed, and the two shared a smile, forming an unspoken alliance.
After Lu HaiKong's agreement, their communication became smoother, and they gradually opened up to each other.
Some issues that were initially used to test each other were now openly discussed as they began to share what they felt comfortable revealing.
Their subsequent conversations were quite heart-to-heart, but it was just in spirit. Neither was a fool, and they couldn't truly bare their souls. Even if they did, it wouldn't be out of trust but rather a necessary investment in each other's eyes.
Yuan Hong spent a day with Lu HaiKong, and during that time, they reached a tacit understanding to cooperate.
The day after, Yuan Hong left Lu HaiKong's camp with Zhang He and headed straight back to Bo Hai. Unexpectedly, Yuan Hong also left Lu HaiKong a Whisper Token and promised to help him secure the position of Governor of Bingzhou.
Initially, Lu HaiKong didn't take this promise to heart. Although Yuan Hong was from the Yuan family, he was an outsider, and Lu HaiKong knew that the aristocratic families were generally opposed to outsiders. Despite Yuan Hong's strength, Lu HaiKong didn't think he had the capability to influence the Yuan family, assuming he was just boasting to increase his value.
However, after hearing Yuan Hong repeat this promise over and over, Lu HaiKong realized he was serious.
In that case, Lu HaiKong would have to reassess Yuan Hong's capabilities. If he could truly help Lu HaiKong secure the governorship of Bingzhou, he would be even more outstanding than Lu HaiKong had expected.
"To make such a promise to an ally he just met, Yuan Hong has quite the ambition! But I wonder if this ambition is genuine or just for show?"
As Lu HaiKong muttered these words, Yuan Hong, who was leaving Julu with Zhang He, also turned to look back at the direction of Julu.
"Letting go of a top historical warlord like that, Lu HaiKong isn't as domineering and brainless as the intelligence suggests. But I wonder if he'll be as indecisive as the reports indicate?"
Both parties had a change of heart after their first meeting, but it remained to be seen if their cooperation would truly come to fruition...
(End of Chapter)
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