Chapter 2 One Xu Zhou
New person, new book, newly uploaded.
Liu Bei was lucky this time. Originally, the main force of Cao's army was stationed in Xuzhou, but because Kong Rong and Tian Kai's two supporting armies arrived on the battlefield, they set up a large camp thirty miles north of Xuzhou. Cao Cao, who was attacked from both front and back, had to divide his troops to defend against them, relaxing his defense in other directions. Moreover, Liu Bei unexpectedly chose to break through Cao's defensive line and directly reinforce the city of Xuzhou, killing Cao's army by surprise.
One side was well-prepared, with famous generals leading the way, while the other was unprepared and caught off guard. The outcome of this small battle was naturally predictable. After fighting for more than half a day, Liu Bei's army successfully broke through Cao's blockade and killed their way to the city gate of Xuchang, where they joined forces with the troops who had come out of the city to meet them. Yu Jin, the general in charge of the eastern gate of Xuchang, was utterly humiliated, not only failing to stop Liu Bei but also losing over 500 men to his army. He went to apologize to Cao Cao with a heavy heart.
When Liu Bei entered the city and stationed, the whole city of Xuzhou was stirred up. Tao Qian personally led the civil and military officials to the city gate to welcome him, showing great respect and courtesy to Liu Bei. As Tao had no official position, he could not squeeze in front of Liu Bei to pay his respects, but instead squeezed among the crowd with the people of Xuzhou to watch this famous Liu Bei, observing whether he was worthy of his own surrender, with complex thoughts.
Just like the legend, Liu Bei, dressed in armor, was indeed born with an extraordinary appearance. In his thirties, he had a face as smooth as jade, lips as if painted with rouge, and ears that were not as large as those described in legends that reached his shoulders, but still far exceeded ordinary people. The corners of his mouth always hung with a warm smile, giving people a feeling of being easily approachable, while at the same time, he looked majestic and had an extraordinary temperament, making people feel that he was not to be trifled with, and involuntarily gave rise to admiration, having a natural air of leadership.
Tao Ying saw another red-faced general standing out from the crowd, with a three-foot long beard, wearing a green robe and a green crown, holding a giant iron knife with a dragon-shaped hilt - every move he made was majestic. The grass on the ground, the rind of the watermelon, Guan Gong's hat, the post office... who is this? No need to introduce him, I suppose.
With a leopard head and ring eyes, swallow shoulders and tiger whiskers, holding a snake spear as tall as two people, this is naturally Zhang Fei Zhang Yide. This time Liu's army entered the city, he was always at the forefront of the team, beheading countless Cao soldiers, breaking through the blockade first, and after entering the city, he naturally received the gratitude and respect of all Xuzhou military and civilians.
White horse silver spear, eyes like bright stars, handsome and beautiful as a 28-year-old maiden. This handsome guy's name doesn't need much guessing, who else could it be besides Zhao Yun Zhao Zilong? As a fan of Zhao Yun, Tao Ying naturally hopes to win his loyalty, but unfortunately, Zhao Yun is still a general under Gongsun Zan and has already formed a deep bond with Liu Bei. Tao Ying, who is aware of her own charm, can only give up on this thought.
It's just that Tao Ying is as mysterious as in history, and even after searching for a long time in the crowd, not a single trace of him can be found. Perhaps it's because he hasn't joined Liu Bei's team yet, or perhaps it's because he doesn't look impressive, so Luo Guanzhong didn't bother to write him into "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". But for Tao Ying, it doesn't matter much anyway. Soon, his father will definitely invite Liu Bei and his trusted generals to a banquet at the prefecture, and then Tao Ying will have plenty of opportunities to get acquainted.
As expected, after chatting with Liu Bei for a long time, Tao Qian suggested inviting Liu Bei to the government office for a banquet. Liu Bei did not decline much and first inquired if there was any food shortage among the troops and civilians in Xuzhou. After receiving an affirmative answer, he quickly agreed. Under the escort of a large group of civil and military officials from Xuzhou, including Mi Zhu, Mi Fang brothers, Chen Gui, Chen Deng father and son, they rushed to Tao Qian's mansion for the banquet. Tao Qian, as the governor, personally came forward to lead the way, while Tao Shang and Tao Ying brothers followed far behind. The city defense was temporarily handed over to Cao Bao and Cao Hong, among other military generals.
A large group of people entered the provincial governor's mansion, and Tao's family had already set up a banquet. Cao's army had been besieging the city for two months, relying on Xuzhou's wealth, although the city had not yet run out of food, it was impossible to serve mountain delicacies and seafood again, only some pork and mutton dishes could be served. Tao Qian, who was warm and thick in character, was extremely ashamed and repeatedly apologized to Liu Bei, but Liu Bei obviously didn't mind these trivial matters, humbly thanked him again and again, and felt grateful for Tao Qian's kindness, thinking that Tao Qian could set up such a banquet to entertain himself during the enemy's siege, which was already too much. As a humble and insignificant person, he was deeply honored to receive such generous treatment from Governor Tao of Xuzhou.
Liu Bei's humility naturally won the applause of the whole room, and every day in Xuzhou City, the brothers Zong Yu and Zong Fang spread Liu Xuande's reputation for kindness and benevolence. They were extremely flattering, constantly praising Lord Xuande's noble character without stopping. Tao Qian was also very pleased, first inviting Liu Bei and his party to take their seats, then chatting with Liu Bei and the others for a long time. It wasn't until Zhang Fei hastily picked up the wine jug to pour wine that he was rebuked by Liu Bei, that Tao Qian finally remembered his two sons, beckoning to Tao Shang and Tao Ying, ordering: "Mingwen, Mingwu, come and pay your respects to your uncle Liu."
"Yes." Eldest brother Tao Shang replied respectfully, and quickly pulled his younger brother Tao Ying up, pulling him to Liu Bei's face, both fists and feet, first saying: "Young nephew Tao Shang, has seen uncle."
"Little nephew Tao Ying, meet your uncle." Tao Ying imitated his elder brother's courtesy, but instead invited Tao Qian's rebuke, "Kneel down, Lord Xuande is the benefactor of all the people in Xuzhou and also your benefactor, show great respect."
"Yes." The pottery merchant replied again and was about to kneel down, his robe fluttering.
"Two gentlemen, please, do not be too polite." Liu Bei quickly got up, his left hand supporting Tao Shang, and his right hand came to support Tao Ying. Unexpectedly, Tao Ying didn't move at all, and Liu Bei's right hand grasped nothing but air. A flash of displeasure flickered in his eyes, but it vanished instantly. However, since Tao Ying was standing very close to Liu Bei, this small movement did not escape the notice of Tao Ying's bright young eyes.
"Governor Tao, they are all my unworthy sons." Tao Qian coughed and introduced his sons: "The eldest is named Shang, styled Mingwen, the second son is named Ying, styled Mingwu. They are both mediocre and useless people, not worthy of important tasks. I hope Governor Liu will take care of them."
"Tao Gong was humble, both of the two gentlemen were talented and heroic in appearance, they will surely make a name for themselves one day." Liu Bei's polite words sounded very sincere, just like it was a fact.
"Xuande Gong is overpraising, overpraising." Tao Qian let out a sigh from the bottom of his heart, and for these two useless sons, Tao Qian was heartbroken.
"Three generals, today my father has treated you to the most famous good wine in Xuzhou, called 'Toupingxiang'. Tao Ying suddenly spoke up and turned to Zhang Fei with a bowing hand and a smile: "It's still an old cellar-aged wine that has been stored for many years, General, please have another drink."
"Really?" Zhang Fei didn't think much, raised his hand and patted open the wine jar seal, without pouring it into a wine bowl, he hugged the wine jar and gulped down several big mouthfuls. When he put down the wine jar, Zhang Fei was already beaming with joy, laughing loudly: "Indeed it's good wine, rare good wine! Thanks to Tao Shi Jun!"
Tao Qian hastily showed humility, and Tao Ying said again: "If the three generals like it, my humble home has many more good wines. In a moment, I will ask my father to send someone to deliver ten more jars to the three generals."
"Hahaha... Alright, alright, thank you, thank you." Zhang Fei burst out laughing, "You're Tao Gongzi, right? I, Old Zhang, remember you!"
Tao Ying smiled slightly, bowed and retreated to his brother Tao Shang's side. He glanced at Liu Bei out of the corner of his eye and saw that he was indeed surprised, and also looked at the brothers Zhen and Fu with a mixture of surprise and curiosity. The brothers were equally astonished, their eyes filled with suspicion as they looked at Tao Ying. Seeing this, Tao Ying, who had been in the official circle for several years, suddenly had an idea: "Liu Bei must have known about the previous situation with me."
After this calm and peaceful interlude, the banquet officially began under Tao Qian's repeated invitations. During the banquet, both the host and the guests were extremely happy, and Liu Bei's majestic appearance and frank words left a deep impression on everyone present. Meanwhile, Mi Zhu and Mi Fang brothers repeatedly praised Liu Bei's rescue efforts, which led to many wallflowers echoing in agreement, making Liu Bei the absolute protagonist of the banquet, and making him seem like the true master of Xuzhou.
What's coming is always coming, when the banquet was about to end, Tao Kui suddenly ordered his men to take out his token and seal, took it in his own hands, seeing Tao Kui making such a move, the people present naturally looked at each other in dismay, not knowing why Tao Kui had suddenly taken out the token representing the highest ruling power of the five counties of Xuzhou. Only Tao Ying, who was sitting at the end of the table, felt a sudden jump in his heart, understanding that his old father had finally made up his mind to hand over the territory after all.
Through these days of personal experience, Tao Ying finally understood why his father, Tao Kui, would give Xuzhou to Liu Bei. Thanks to the blessing of Cao Cao's father, Cao Song, the Cao army, with eyes red from hatred, slaughtered tens of thousands of civilians in Xuzhou, leaving the northwest region desolate and empty. Except for Guangling, the five counties of Xuzhou, including Langya, Donghai, Xiapi, and Pengcheng, were all visited by the Cao army, which killed people until the rivers flowed with blood, greatly injuring their vitality and thoroughly weakening their overall strength.
The house leaks and encounters continuous rain, at this time, Tao Qian's fellow townsman from Xiapi, Cao Bao, raised his troops in rebellion, using the excuse of avoiding Cao's army to lead his troops into Guangling. During a banquet, he assassinated the governor of Guangling, Zhao Yu, and looted the entire territory of Guangling, leaving it empty. The five counties of Xuzhou, which Tao Qian had painstakingly managed, all collapsed together, and years of hard work were reduced to nothing. The paradise of Xuzhou in a chaotic world was instantly transformed into a slaughterhouse.
In terms of the military, after the Battle of Xiapi, the main force of Xu State was completely annihilated by Cao's army, with corpses thrown into the river, causing it to stop flowing. The entire Xu State was left with less than 7,000 soldiers and was forced to retreat back to Pengcheng, barely holding on. Additionally, although there were still some troops led by Zhāng Bó stationed in Kaiyang, they had long been disobedient to Tao Qian and were virtually independent. Tao Qian was furious but could do nothing about it, let alone expect them to come and rescue Pengcheng or drive back Cao's army.
Internally and externally, troubles erupted simultaneously. Before confirming that Kong Rong, Tian Kai, and Liu Bei were sending troops to rescue him, the helpless Tao Qian had almost prepared to escape back to his hometown in Danyang - if Mi Zhu hadn't brought back accurate news of the approaching reinforcements to Xuzhou, Tao Qian would have definitely done so.
It is also likely that it was precisely because of this that Tao Qian decided to hand over the post of Governor of Xuzhou to Liu Bei after Liu Bei's rescue troops entered the city and saw Liu Bei's bravery and talent! ——Although Tao Ying thinks this reason is far-fetched.
In the midst of a crowd, Tao Qian held up his official seal and stepped down from his seat. He walked steadily to Liu Bei's front, bowed deeply with the seal in hand, and presented it to him. Liu Bei was taken aback, hastily rose to return the courtesy, and asked in puzzlement: "Sir Tao, why do you show such great respect? Is there something you wish to instruct me on?"
"Here it comes." Tao Ying's heart skipped another beat, knowing that his father was going to say something next. At this moment, a crazy idea suddenly flashed through Tao Ying's mind. Without thinking much, he also stood up and shouted loudly: "Uncle Liu!"
At this shout, Tao Ying's voice was like a stone breaking the sky, instantly drawing everyone's attention to himself, including Tao Qian, who withdrew his words and turned his gaze to his second son, with surprise in his turbid old eyes.
"Uncle Liu." Tao Qian called out again, taking big strides to walk up to Tao Qian's side, and then knelt down on both knees in front of Liu Bei, clasping his fists together in respect. His eyes shone with fervor as he stared at Liu Bei, saying loudly: "Uncle, today the world is in great chaos, and the imperial court is not at peace. As a member of the Han royal family, you should be the one to lend your strength to support the state. My father is old and ill, my younger brothers are weak and incompetent, and I am also lacking in virtue and talent. I am willing to yield these five districts of Xuzhou to you, uncle - please do not decline!"
"Ah!" Countless people exclaimed in surprise, looking at Tao Ying with incredulous faces. Tao Qian was even more stunned, unable to believe that this foolish son of his could actually guess his intentions and say what he wanted to say on his behalf.
"The first key to success in officialdom is to observe words and expressions, and guess the superior's intention! I know what Tao Qian thinks in his heart, Liu Bei, what you think in your heart, I must carefully observe!" Tao Ying's expression was full of enthusiasm and expectation, his eyes staring intently at Liu Bei's face, not missing any subtle clues...
