Chapter Thirteen: All Things Are Difficult at the Beginning

  After confirming that Cao Cao had withdrawn from Xuzhou, Kong Rong and Tian Kai withdrew their troops together. Although these two brothers were a bit inferior in terms of ability, luck, and lifespan, they were still quite good at showing loyalty. They brought a large group of younger brothers to rescue their old friend Tao Qian in Xuzhou from afar, and in the end, they didn't ask for any reward. After listening to Tao Qian's father and son say a few ungrateful words, they left without saying another word, taking their younger brothers with them to collect protection fees, without even drinking a few more cups of tea.

  As brothers, in this chaotic Three Kingdoms world where the strong prey on the weak, Kong Rong and Tian Kai were indeed two rare good brothers. So Tao Ying not only remembered their kindness and righteousness but also made up his mind to repay them when he had the chance - and then swindle them out of a fortune!

  Zhao Yun also left, taking the thousand cavalry borrowed from Gongsun Zan with him. On the day of their departure, Tao Ying took his brothers Tao Shang and Tao Ji to see Zhao Yun off. Seeing Liu Bei holding Zhao Yun's hand and crying bitterly, Zhao Yun was also choked with emotion. Tao Ying understood that it was almost impossible for him to win over this powerful general, so he didn't bother to show off his exceptional acting skills, which surpassed even those of Liu Xuan. Instead, he solemnly thanked Zhao Yun and told him that if he ever wanted to come to Xuzhou, the city gates would always be open to General Zilong. Zhao Yun politely thanked Tao Ying for the invitation, while Liu Bei secretly sneered at Tao Ying's reckless attempt to poach his general right in front of him.

  Liu Bei also left with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, taking his more than 2,000 plain troops to garrison in Xiaopei City. He also took away the 90,000 dan of grain and 300,000 yuan of military salary supported by Tao Qian, as well as a large number of weapons, war horses, fodder, military tents, armor and various military supplies, which was absolutely a great gain.

  Cao Jiao and Cao Hong, among others, disagreed with giving so much. The young and vigorous Tao Ji was even more strongly opposed, feeling that Liu Bei had only over 2,000 troops, and giving so much would be a pure waste. For Xuzhou, which had just experienced the turmoil of Cao Cao's rebellion and was still reeling from the blow, it would be an unbearable financial burden.

  Tao Qian did not accept the opposition of his nephews and confidants, Tao Ying also firmly stood on Tao Qian's side. Under the pretext of knowing gratitude, he barely suppressed the opposition of Tao Ji and Cao Jiao, and handed over the promised military grain to Liu Bei as promised. Because Tao Ying calculated very clearly that even if these funds were left in hand, it would be difficult to create an army as strong as Liu Bei's in a short period of time, and at the same time, they would also fall into the name of forgetting gratitude and faithlessness. Therefore, rather than being stingy, it is better to generously send off this gatekeeper dog, which can temporarily calm down this white-eyed wolf and old rival, and gain the reputation of knowing gratitude, which has infinite benefits for the current Xu state army that has been greatly injured.

  Although the abacus was played beautifully, the next two messages made Tao Qian and his son Tao Ying unable to laugh. The first message was that Xu Zhou's richest man, Mi Zhu and Mi Fang brothers, who had tens of thousands of slaves, used the excuse of helping Liu Bei to reduce the burden on the people of Xu Zhou, and sent 2,000 private soldiers and a batch of grain and military supplies to Liu Bei, making Liu Bei even fatter.

  The second news was even worse. Xu Zhou's general, Zhang Bao, who was stationed in Kaiyang, Xuchang, refused Tao Qian's invitation to go to Pengcheng to discuss the reconstruction of Xuzhou on the grounds that he had been injured in battle with Cao Jun. At the same time, he sent his deputy, Sun Guan, to Xiaopei to congratulate Liu Bei on his move to Xiaopei.

  Zang Ba's title of Riding Lieutenant was conferred by Tao Qian during the Yellow Turban Rebellion. After the rebellion was put down, Zang Ba led his army to Kaiyang and gradually broke free from Tao Qian's control, becoming virtually independent. Now that the five counties of Xuzhou had gone through Cao Cao's turmoil, the main force of the Xuzhou army was severely damaged, and Zang Ba's army, with tens of thousands of soldiers, actually surpassed the military strength of Xuzhou. Tao Qian nominally invited Zang Ba to Pengcheng to discuss the major affairs of Xuzhou, but in reality, he also wanted to tie up this unruly small warlord again and try to bring him under his control. However, Zang Ba refused Tao Qian's summons and instead actively approached Liu Bei, which was extremely dangerous.

  Tao Qian, no matter how hard he gritted his teeth, was unable to do anything about Zhang Miao. The military strength of Xuzhou was not enough to teach Zhang Miao a lesson, and they did not dare to offend him either. Therefore, Tao Qian could only swallow his anger and send an envoy to Kaiyang to offer Zhang Miao medicine and pay his respects, trying to maintain the weak connection with Zhang Miao and ensure that the last layer of window paper was not torn apart. At the same time, he accelerated the work of reorganizing the Xuzhou army. Taking advantage of this favorable wind, our Deputy Director Tao was finally appointed by Tao Qian as the Military Governor of Xuzhou, and together with Cao Jiao, the Chief General of Xuzhou, they began recruiting soldiers.

  In the first year of Xingping (194 AD), on March 2, Tao Zan received the seal of Point Military Commander in the main hall of the Xu State Governor's Office and officially took office as Point Military Commander. On the day he took office, the first order issued by Tao Zan was to post a notice calling on the people of Xu State to enthusiastically join the army, receive military training, and jointly defend the land of Xu State.

  By the way, Tao Ying actually wanted to go back to his hometown of Danyang to recruit soldiers, but unfortunately, the current governor of Danyang and Sun Ce's uncle Wu Jing was a sworn enemy of Tao Ying's father Tao Qian, who was under the control of Liu Yao, the governor of Yangzhou. The old Tao family thought it would be suicidal to go back to Danyang to recruit soldiers, so Tao Ying had no choice but to recruit soldiers locally in Xuzhou. Fortunately, however, Tao Ying's military philosophy had long since broken free from the constraints of this era, and his requirements for soldier recruitment were not high, so the impact was not great.

  Tao Ying's recruitment point was set up in a small school field outside the east gate of Xuzhou. On the third day of March, as soon as the sky brightened, Tao Ying, fully armed, rushed to the school field, ready to personally select qualified soldiers. However, when he arrived at the scene, Tao Ying was suddenly stunned. It turned out that there were no crowds of people on the small school field as he had imagined, not even a few people in sight. In front of the Xuzhou official responsible for registering new recruits' names, there were only about ten pale and thin Xuzhou citizens queuing up, among whom some were old and some were young, clearly not good material.

  "How can there be so few people?" Taizhen asked his deputy, his cousin Tao Ji, in shock: "Was the notice torn down by someone, and the people of Xuzhou didn't see it?"

  Tao Ji was appointed by Tao Qian as a deputy to Tao Ying, but he had no intention of serving under someone with no military experience. He only reluctantly agreed due to his respect for his uncle, who had raised him. As a result, he became a gate general under Tao Ying's command, but he was not pleased about it. When Tao Ying asked him, Tao Ji immediately replied in an ill-tempered tone: "The proclamation is posted on the city gate, and there are guards watching over it. Who dares to tear it down?"

  "Why didn't anyone come to join the army?" Tao Ying asked, "Xuzhou has just gone through a great upheaval, and countless civilians have been displaced, shouldn't there be many people willing to join the army for food?"

  "Second brother, do you understand the military situation at all?" Tao Ji said with an even worse tone: "Now it's March, the busy farming season. Cao's army has retreated, and the people of Xuzhou can't wait to return home to farm. How many will stay in the city waiting to starve? Moreover, General Cao started recruiting soldiers ten days ago. Those who wanted to be soldiers have already gone to join General Cao. What are you waiting for?"

  Tao Ying was so angry that he cursed his cheap father, Tao Qian, for being slow in handling matters and dragging himself down. How could he let Cao Jie recruit soldiers first and then recruit soldiers himself, allowing him to leisurely select qualified soldiers?

  "Second brother, why not give up?" Tao Ji hurriedly persuaded: "Report the situation to Uncle Bo, and ask Uncle Bo not to let you form a new army alone. Let's both go under General Cao Jiao's command and ask General Cao Jiao to assign a branch of the army for us to command."

  "Come on, you're still not willing to follow me, right?" Tao Ying glared at Tao Ji and sneered: "If you insist on going back to General Cao's side, I won't force you. But don't blame your second brother for not warning you in advance, or you'll regret it later! The soldiers under Cao Pi are simply not worth mentioning!"

  Taoyi turned his face away, snorting at the arrogant words of Bookworm Erge, but only looked at his brother's share and didn't make a sound. Instead, behind Taoyi and Taoye brothers came a loud, sharp cold laugh: "The generals under General Cao are not worthy? What kind of general can enter the eyes of the second young master? Is it Cao's tiger and leopard cavalry? Gongsun Zan's white horse righteous followers? Or is it Lü Bu's trapped array camp?"

  "Here comes someone who knows the way!" Tao Ying was overjoyed, thinking that anyone who knew these three elite troops must be quite something! In his excitement, Tao Ying quickly turned around and saw a man standing five or six steps behind him. The man wore a robe from the nomadic tribes, had a headscarf wrapped around his head, and hung a precious sword at his waist. He was extremely handsome, with very fair skin, truly a rare beauty among men.

  "What are you looking at?" The handsome man's temper seemed to be not very good, seeing Tao Ying not stopping staring at himself, suddenly getting a bit angry, he snorted: "The words I said just now were what I meant, what are you dissatisfied with?"

  Tao Ying looked at the handsome man a few more times, a mysterious smile on his face. He cupped his hands and smiled, saying: "This brave warrior, Tao Ying is not dissatisfied, but rather feels that your words are not like those of ordinary people, so I took a few more glances. Please forgive me. May I ask your esteemed surname and given name, and where do you reside?"

  "Lin Qing, a native of Xuzhou." The handsome young man Lin Qing replied briefly and hummed: "Lin Qing heard that the second son of Tao Shi Jun recruited soldiers and admired the second son's heroic act of sacrificing himself to save Xuzhou. He wanted to meet him to see his heroic demeanor, but unexpectedly, he was not as good as his reputation. The famous Tao Er Gongzi turned out to be a self-righteous and arrogant madman, which greatly disappointed Lin Qing. Farewell."

  After saying that, Lin Qing really turned around and left. Tao Ying hesitated for a moment, then hurriedly called out: "Lin, please stay, I'm not one to be arrogant, what I just said was just a joke with my third brother."

  "Isn't that arrogant?" Lin Qing turned back, sneering coldly: "A rich young master who has never been to the battlefield dares to be rude to General Cao Jue, a seasoned veteran. It's not only arrogant, but also ignorant and reckless!"

  "Zhuang Shi's lesson is well-deserved, Tao Ying indeed has never been on the battlefield and should not have spoken disrespectfully to General Cao Jiao. Tao Ying knows his mistake." Tao Ying bowed his hands in apology, then smiled and said: "As for whether Tao Ying is arrogant or ignorant, Zhuang Shi has not seen the elite soldiers trained by Tao Ying with his own hands, how can he make such a judgment?"

  "So you're very confident in your ability to train troops?" Lin Qing seemed to have taken an interest, and asked with a cold smile: "Then Second Young Master, how do you plan on training troops? Can you enlighten me?"

  "The law is not passed on to six ears, how can Tao Ying's military training method be publicized in a large court? Tao Ying smiled and said: "Besides, the military training method is not something that can be explained clearly in three or two sentences. If Lin Zhuang has interest, he can join my army and witness and experience Tao Ying's military training method with his own eyes and body. Does Zhuang have any interest?"

  "Second Brother, have you gone mad?" Tao Ji whispered discontentedly to Tao Ying: "Look at his arm, it's as thin as a hemp stalk. His voice is neither male nor female, like a second-rate actor. What's the use of pulling him into our group?"

  "Not interested." Lin Qing refused in one breath, coldly smiling and saying: "If Lin Qing wants to join the army, General Cao Jiao at the North Gate's large drill ground is still recruiting soldiers. Lin Qing can go there to enlist. As for Second Young Master here, I'm afraid Lin Qing won't be keeping you company."

  "Hmph." Tao Ying suddenly laughed and said with great disdain: "After all the fuss, it's just another arrogant fool who only knows how to talk big but doesn't have the guts to fight on the battlefield and achieve meritorious deeds."

  "Who do you say is all talk and no action, without the guts to take to the battlefield?" Lin Qing's handsome face turned slightly green with rage as he retorted: "When I was wielding my sword and chopping down enemies, Tao Erlang was probably still reading his Four Books and Five Classics!"

  Tao rolled his eyes, revealing two white pupils, and snorted: "Lin Zhuangshi dares not to join the army, why should Tao have much to say with you? Lin Zhuangshi can leave now. Although Tao is not talented, he also does not welcome cowardly and useless people."

  After finishing, Tao Ying turned around and left, while Lin Qing's face turned even greener. Suddenly, he gritted his teeth and stepped forward, rushing to the front of the Xu Zhou official who was recruiting soldiers on behalf of Tao Ying. He pushed aside a half-grown child who was registering and said loudly: "I'm joining the army, Xu Zhou Lin Qing, 17 years old!" The Xu Zhou official who was recruiting soldiers on behalf of Tao Ying did not dare to make his own decision, and turned his head to look at Tao Ying. Only after Tao Ying smiled and nodded did the official put Lin Qing's name on the bamboo slip.

  Having registered his name and hometown, Lin Qing didn't go to receive his weapons and uniform. Instead, he strode up to Tao Ying's face, gritting his teeth as he said: "Second Master, I, Lin Qing, want to see with my own eyes how you trained a crack troop that surpasses General Cao's army!"

  "Please wait for Lin Zhuang's arrival." Tao Ying replied with a smile, and then said: "Lin Zhuang rushed to join the army, I suppose he didn't inform his family. I'll give you a day off, Lin Zhuang can go home first to settle things at home, and come back to report tomorrow. I'll reserve a position for him as a personal soldier."

  "Who made you a personal soldier?" Lin Qing's face turned red with anger, and he shouted: "I joined the army to become a general!"

  "It can be done, but you have to start from being a soldier first." Tao Ying smiled and said: "Wait for Tao Ying to observe the performance of Zhuang Shi, and then decide whether or not to appoint Zhuang Shi as a general!"

  "Just you wait!" Lin Qing threw down a ruthless remark, then turned and strode away.

  "Try to get him by your side as a personal soldier, it's not bad to play with him in daily life." Tao Ying looked at Lin Qing's back and smiled slightly, but when he turned his head to look at the bleak scene of recruiting soldiers, Tao Ying couldn't smile anymore. He sighed in his heart: "Trouble, I said I only planned to recruit 800 people, it should be enough for a morning, but with this situation, I'm afraid it will take ten days or half a month to fill the quota? They say that starting everything is difficult, but mine is too difficult!"