Chapter 58: Get out of Xuzhou

  "I forgot, if the mastermind behind that matter is Lord Guan, he might be making two moves at once! Zi Jing, come on, let's go back!"

  Speaking in a low voice, Tao Ying immediately turned his horse's head and led his personal soldiers to retreat. Lu Su was somewhat perplexed but still obediently turned his horse's head and accompanied Tao Ying back to the Tao residence. Then Lu Su caught up with Tao Ying and asked in a low voice: "Young Master, what does it mean that you suddenly turn your head? What move will Lord Xuan De make at the same time? Who is the mastermind behind this matter?"

  "Of course, it's about my father's condition getting lighter and heavier." Tao Ying replied in a low voice: "Although this matter is not yet certain whether there is any ghosting behind the scenes, nor can it be confirmed that Xuande Gong is the mastermind, but if he really did it, then this time would be the best opportunity to make my father's condition even more severe or even die!"

  Lu Sui's intelligence was absolutely not inferior to Tao Ying, but he had not been trained in the most hypocritical and darkest places like Vice Director Tao. In terms of plotting and scheming, Lu Sui was not as gifted as Vice Director Tao. However, after hearing Tao's analysis, Lu Sui immediately came to his senses and thought: "That's right! If this matter is indeed Liu Bei's behind-the-scenes manipulation, then now is absolutely the best opportunity to take action! Because Liu Bei has made an unreasonable demand of 200,000 bushels of military grain and 1,000 war horses from Tao Fu Jun, he must have already prepared for war with the Xuzhou army. In this case, when the Tao and Liu families turn against each other and start fighting, if Tao Fu Jun suddenly falls ill, Xuzhou will immediately fall into a state of chaos and disorder, and the situation will be extremely favorable to Liu Bei."

  "Even if Lord Tao agreed to Liu Bei's unreasonable demands, it would be greatly beneficial for him if Lord Tao were to fall gravely ill and die at this time. After the lord's death, even if the second young master were to take over, he would first have to face various problems of personnel changes among the civil and military officials in Xuzhou and internal unrest, and would temporarily be unable to take action against Liu Bei. If the lord had already given the grain to Liu Bei by then, the military grain stores of Xuzhou would be emptied, and the army of Xuzhou would have no grain within a few months, which would inevitably lead to chaos, and the young master would also be unable to maintain control over Xuzhou."

  "If the military rations have been promised but not yet delivered, Liu Bei can also take advantage of the situation to demand that Gongzi pay off his father's debts. If Gongzi pays, it would be self-destructive; if he doesn't, then Gongzi will have to go to war with Liu Bei before he has even stabilized his position as Governor of Xuzhou. The situation is advantageous for Liu Bei and also gives him an excuse to invite the wolf into his home, drawing Lü Bu or Cao Cao onto the battlefield in Xuzhou, creating a crushing advantage over the Xuzhou army! Therefore, this is absolutely the best opportunity to make a move against Tao Qian!"

  Having understood these principles, Lu Su secretly admired Liu Bei's ability to grasp opportunities and make deep calculations. Moreover, he was deeply impressed by Tao Qian's cleverness and cunning - this young master, how much evil water should be in his belly? So many complex and profound problems, how can they be analyzed just by relying on a few clues? It's really unknown how this young master has such a thick skin, able to name his elite army with the title of "Gentleman", and still have the face to raise the banner of benevolence, righteousness, etiquette, wisdom, faith, and warmth, modesty, and humility.

  Hurriedly returning to the Xu Zhou governor's mansion, Tao Ying led Lu Su to find Cao Hong, the captain in charge of the security of the governor's mansion. Before Cao Hong, who was still dazed and confused, could ask why they had returned, Tao Ying asked abruptly: "General Cao, after my father retired to his quarters, did he have any soup or food?"

  "They haven't yet." Cao Hong replied truthfully: "After Master returned to his room, he drank a little warm water. The water was boiled in Master's room and handled by two people. One was the maid Lian'er who boiled the water, and the other was the eldest young master who fed Master the water with a silver spoon. It should be fine."

  "When does my father eat and take medicine? Is there anyone arranged to watch him?" Tao Ying asked again.

  "The master is about to take his medicine, and will probably have dinner at the beginning of the hour of You. Cao Hong replied truthfully: "The master's meals are prepared by the small kitchen, which has two cooks and two miscellaneous workers who supervise each other. To be cautious, I also arranged for someone to patrol at irregular intervals. After the meal is delivered to the room, a maid and the eldest young master will taste it first before inviting the master to eat. As for the master's medicinal soup, it was personally prescribed and brewed by Zhang Hang, the imperial physician most trusted by the master, and then sent to the master's presence, where the eldest young master would test the medicine before feeding it to the master."

  Here is the translation:

  "By the way, Cao Hong added, 'To be cautious, I also made preparations for the medicine brewing process. The prescription was written by Zhang Langzhong and arranged by Mo Jiang to have someone else check it first, then go to the largest Chinese herbal medicine shop in the city to grab the herbs, and finally have Zhang Langzhong check the herbs again before putting them into the pot to brew. Also, every time Zhang Langzhong brewed medicine for Master, he would first search his body, and there were guards stationed outside the door for protection. Today, I also searched him thoroughly and checked everything, but didn't find anything unusual.'"

  "The medicine-brewing process was normal, and Father's food and medicine all had to go through Brother's hands. Could it be that Brother is the biggest suspect?" Tao Ying was somewhat shaken, but after thinking for a moment, he ordered: "General Cao, please take me to the room where Father's medicine is brewed immediately. I want to inspect it personally."

  Cao Hong agreed and led Tao Ying and Lu Su to the backyard, then took them to a room with guards watching and full of medicinal smells. The room was very simple, with only a small mud stove burning charcoal, a small table, on which were placed stone inkstone, new bamboo pen, ink stick, paper and prescription, etc. A man in his 40s was squatting beside the stove, carefully simmering the medicine pot, and Tao Ying also recognized him as Zhang Hang, the imperial physician whom Tao Qian trusted most, who had been prescribing medicine for Tao Qian all these years.

  When Tao Ying and Cao Hong arrived, Zhang Hang was startled at first, then quickly stood up, bowed his hands to Tao Ying and Cao Hong, and called them "young master". Tao Ying smiled and said: "Zhang Langzhong doesn't have to be nervous, I just came to take a casual look. You're working hard, why didn't you call a servant to do this kind of medicine brewing? Why did you have to do it yourself?"

  "You don't know, sir, that brewing medicine is also a great learning, especially for some special medicines. If the fire is one minute too long or too short, it won't work. Only people who understand medicine can grasp how to control it." Zhang Hang's expression was slightly tense as he added: "In these five years, the master has used all the medicines that I personally brewed."

  "It's already been five years? I really haven't paid attention." Tao Ying showed a surprised expression, and smiled: "My father is old and ill, it seems that these five years have been too hard on Zhang Langzhong. When my father's illness improves, I will definitely report to him and ask him to heavily reward Langzhong."

  "Thank you, sir. I really don't dare to accept." Zhang Hang let out a sigh of relief and hastily bowed to thank Tao Ying. Tao Ying helped Zhang Hang up and casually asked about Tao Qian's illness and the medicine he was taking. As a result, although Zhang Hang responded fluently, his expression remained slightly tense, it was unclear whether it was because he had something on his mind or if it was just a normal reaction to talking to someone as important as Tao Ying.

  Tao Ying had a brief conversation with Zhang Hang without finding any flaws, and was about to give up when he suddenly caught sight of the prescription on the nearby table. He pretended to ask to see what medicine Tao Qian had taken today, and Zhang Hang, unaware of the ruse, hastily handed over the prescription for Tao Ying to examine. However, Tao Ying didn't know much about traditional Chinese medicine, so he could only hand the prescription over to Lu Su, who barely understood medicine, to take a look. At the same time, he asked Zhang Hang why he hadn't brought his medical box with him on his visit. Zhang Hang smiled bitterly, and Cao Hong, who was standing beside him, looked somewhat embarrassed and hastily spoke up for Zhang Hang: "Please don't be offended, sir. It's just that I was thinking of the lord's safety, so over the past five or six days, before Zhang would enter the room, he would always hand his medical box over to the guards outside to keep safe. Whenever Zhang needed something, the guards would send it in for him."

  "Is that so?" Tao Ying also felt a bit awkward, and hastily cupped his hands to Zhang Hang, saying: "Zhang Langzhong, please don't mind, General Cao is my father's camp marshal, responsible for my father's safety. Although some things were done a bit excessively, it was all for the sake of doing his duty to my father. I hope you won't take offense, Zhang Langzhong."

  "No, no." Zhang Hang hastily waved his hand and said with a bitter smile: "I understand, General Cao is doing this for the lord, so I absolutely won't mind." Tao Ying felt wronged and apologized again. At this time, Lu Su had already returned the prescription to Zhang Hang and subtly shook his head at Tao Ying, indicating that it was nothing. Only then did Tao Ying completely let go of his suspicions about Zhang Hang and bid him farewell with a bow, leading Cao Hong and Lu Su to the small room to investigate.

  After walking out for over a dozen steps, Tao Ying suddenly stopped in his tracks again, closing his eyes to think carefully. Seeing Tao Ying suddenly stop, Cao Hong and Lu Su were both bewildered, and couldn't help but ask: "Young Master, what's wrong?"

  "Just now, it seemed like something was wrong, but where exactly was the problem? I couldn't think of it." Tao Ying furrowed his brow and thought deeply.

  "Sir, now that you've found something wrong, go back and take a look, and you'll understand?" Cao Hong reminded with a smile.

  "Yes, I should go take a look." Tao Ying found himself in an awkward situation and couldn't help but laugh. Then, he quickly led Cao Hong and Lu Su back to the room where Zhang Hang was, and after taking a casual glance around the room, Tao Ying immediately understood that something was off. He ignored Zhang Hang's greeting and walked over to pick up an object, weighing it in his hand and inspecting it briefly. A smile spread across his face as he turned to Zhang Hang with a warm and friendly expression, asking: "Zhang Langzhong, this thing, shouldn't it be from your medicine box?"

  Seeing the object in Tao Ying's hand, and seeing Tao Ying's kind smile, Zhang Hang felt dizzy, his crotch was hot, and a stream of water gushed out. How dare he say another word? Tao Ying didn't force him either, asking the guard at the door to confirm that this thing was taken from Zhang Hang's medicine box. Deputy Director Tao laughed even more happily, with an amiable attitude, asked Zhang Hang: "Zhang Langzhong, I couldn't see that you look ordinary, but actually have a big nerve, dare to secretly put mercury in my father's medicine, making my father's condition worsen."

  "Master! Spare my life! I deserve to die! I deserve to die! But I was also forced into this, ah!" Apparently not espionage materials, Zhang Hang was immediately exposed by Deputy Director Tao and slightly intimidated, his legs went soft and he crawled in front of Tao Ying, desperately kowtowing and begging for mercy...

  …………

  That night, the news from Tao Qian's mansion made Mi Zhu and Mi Fang brothers completely relieved. The news was that Tao Qian's condition had suddenly worsened, he was bedridden and unable to get up, and the situation was extremely critical. Tao Deputy Director, who was most hated by the Mi brothers, was also busy preparing for Tao Qian's funeral - of course, it was not ruled out that Tao Deputy Director had been looking forward to the day when his father would die and he could inherit his legacy.

  Actually, there was even better news for Mi Zhu and his brothers. That night, Jian Yong, Liu Bei's special envoy at this stage, came to visit and brought great joy to Mi Zhu. Tao Qian had agreed to provide Liu Bei with 200,000 bushels of military grain and 1,000 war horses to help him prepare for battle and defend against Cao Cao and Lü Bu's possible invasion.

  "Good! Good!" As soon as he finished listening to Jian Yong's introduction, Mei Fang, who had never gotten along with Tao Ying, burst out laughing and patted the table, saying: "As long as Tao Qian is willing to give it up, I've already figured out the military grain storage in the five counties of Xuzhou. Originally, it was barely enough to last until next autumn's harvest, but now that Zang Ba has added several thousand mouths to feed and given us 200,000 dan of military grain, even without the expenses of marching and fighting, by next March or April at the latest, Tao Ying will be crying! Lord Xuande's plan to drain the pot from the bottom is truly brilliant! Too brilliant!"

  Unlike Mo Fang's excitement, Mo Zhu's reaction to this news was completely unexpected. He asked in surprise: "Agreed? How is that possible? Mr. Xian, how did Tao Yingxiao answer you? What was his attitude at the time?"

  "Tao Er Gongzi's attitude was very kind and his words were also sincere." Jian Yun replied truthfully: "Tao Er Gongzi said that our lord, Xuande Gong, has a great favor for saving the lives of the five counties in Xuzhou, and has been resisting the external enemy for so long. Now, he is forced to expand the army to fight against Cao Mengde and Lü Wenhoul's invasion of Xuzhou, so it is only right that we provide him with grain and war horses. It is not reasonable to refuse this request. I will report back to our lord, and the 200,000 dan of military grain and 1,000 war horses that our lord needs will definitely be provided in full, but the quantity is too large, and it will take some time to prepare and collect."

  "Is Tao Ying really that easy to deal with?" Zou Zhu was a bit unbelievable, and hurriedly asked again: "Mr. Xianhe, did Young Master Tao say clearly how much time he needs?"

  "In a month, first supply me with 50,000 dan of staple food and 500 horses. The remaining military rations and horses will be supplied in full within two months." Jian Yun replied truthfully.

  Taoying needed time to prepare grain and fodder, so naturally there was no doubt about it. The military rations in Xuzhou were not stored in one city, and the most important granaries were also located in Xiapi and Tancheng. Transporting such a large amount of grain and fodder would certainly take some time. After some calculation, Taoying quickly nodded and said: "Although the time is a bit long, we can't push Tao Ying into desperation and let Lord Xu be slandered too much. Please ask Mr. Xuan to persuade the lord to agree to this preparation time."

  "That's natural." Jian Yun nodded and continued: "Mr. Zizhong, Mr. Zifang, I came to your place in the middle of the night, apart from telling you this matter, there is also a message from our lord that I need to bring to you. Our lord said that although he demanded a large amount of grain and fodder for the sake of the people of Xuzhou's five counties, it may also cause misunderstanding and anger towards the Tao family's master and young master. Therefore, Lord Xuande hopes that you two gentlemen will be prepared and pay attention to your safety. If something unexpected happens, I hope you two gentlemen can quickly leave the city and take refuge in Xiaopi."

  "Please go back and thank Lord Guan for his concern. Please assure him that we will take good care of ourselves." Zuo Ci bowed his hands in gratitude.

  "Yes, please rest assured, Lord Guan. We brothers have long been prepared." Zou Fang also said: "In our mansion, there are 300 loyal and brave guards, each with high martial arts skills. In the city, we also have 500 soldiers in our shops who can be summoned at any time. Moreover, we have some trusted generals hiding in the Xuzhou army, controlling some troops. If necessary, not to mention protecting us from leaving the city, even opening the gate to welcome Lord Guan into the city is no problem."

  Jian Yong and others were just waiting for this sentence. At that time, Jian Yong told Mi Zhu brothers that he would return to Xiaopei tomorrow and bid farewell. Mi Zhu brothers did not retain him either, and personally sent Jian Yong out of the house. After that, Mi Zhu brothers quickly returned to their own secret room and continued to discuss how to betray Tao Qian's father and son.

  …………

  Liu Bei and Guan Yu were a bit too hasty in their joy. On the second morning after Jian Yong left Xuzhou, four identical notices suddenly appeared outside the four gates of Xuzhou City. The notice read: "Taoyuan, General of the East, Governor of Xuzhou, leading the governor's affairs, announces to the officials and people of the five counties of Xuzhou: Crows have the virtue of returning kindness, sheep know the gratitude of kneeling and sucking milk. As a person living between heaven and earth, one should take loyalty and righteousness as the foundation. Miao Gong lost his good horse, and the people of Qi ate the horse but did not take care of it. Instead, they gave him wine, and when the people of Qi saw Miao Gong's difficulties, they also rushed to die in battle to repay the kindness of eating the horse. This is what it means to know gratitude and repay kindness."

  "Formerly, when Xuzhou was in distress, Liu Bei, the Governor of Yuzhou (the official position given to Liu Bei by Tao Qian), did not hesitate to travel far and rescue him, forcing Cao to retreat. Later, he stationed his troops at Xiaopei, helping the people of Xuzhou to defend against the strong enemy, and Xuzhou was finally able to be at peace. Although Tao Qian had provided Liu Bei with 1,000 fine horses, 104,000 dan of grain, 6,300 bolts of silk and cloth, 800 carriages, and countless weapons, it was still difficult for him to repay the great kindness of Liu Bei. Now, with the locusts rising in Yanzhou, one dan of grain costs 50,000 coins, and Cao's army has run out of food and stopped fighting. I fear that he may intend to invade Xuzhou again. Therefore, Liu Bei cannot help but write to Tao Qian once more, asking for 200,000 dan of grain and 1,000 fine horses as preparations for war."

  "The amount of money and grain is large, although I have a heart to repay Liu Bei's great kindness, but Xuzhou is in ruins and has no power to make arrangements. I also refused the invitation, but Liu Bei's kindness is in front of me, if I refuse, I fear it will bring shame and ridicule from all over the world, and the people will scold me. Moreover, I know that Liu Bei's request for grain is not for himself, but for the sake of Xuzhou's millions of people to resist the enemy. I was moved to tears again and again, and could not respond.

  However, the state and county treasuries are empty, and there is a lack of grain. My close relatives and brothers, although they enthusiastically donated money and scattered their family wealth to help me buy grain and horses to repay Liu Bei's great kindness, it was like trying to put out a fire with a cup of water, and the amount of money and grain was still far from enough. I had no way to deal with it, and could only seek help from the people of Xuzhou.

  I hope that the officials and people of Xuzhou will feel Liu Bei's kindness, remember the emotions of rescue, and follow my relatives' example in generously donating money and grain to repay Lord Xuande's great kindness. If after donating, the money and grain are still insufficient, I can only divide the money and grain among the various counties and states, and forcibly collect them to thank Liu Bei for his kindness."

  To prove that their family had indeed been generous and enthusiastic in donating, a donation list of Tao Qian's father and son, Chen Deng's father and son, Cao Jiao, Cao Hong, Lu Su and Zang Ba was posted next to the notice, and the donation location was announced. At the same time, this notice and the list were copied multiple times, sent by fast horse to the remaining four counties of Langya, Donghai, Guangling and Xiaopei, posted on the city gates, calling on the people of Xuzhou to enthusiastically donate, and also announcing the news that they were preparing to forcibly collect money and grain to repay Liu Bei's debt.

  It's imaginable that when our brother Mo Bie saw this notice, the expressions on his face were colorful, just like a dye shop, with all sorts of colors, green, white, black, red, and finally turned into a dull gray, because Brother Mo Bie was very clear that after the people of Xuzhou saw this notice, they would have some kind of reaction.

  "Liu Bei, you damned thief!" A man from Xuzhou suddenly burst out in curses beside Cao Bao's carriage. "Heavenly slayer of a dog thief! He wants us people of Xuzhou to contribute 200,000 hu of grain to him, and he's not afraid that it will choke him to death! Now snow is about to fall, where are we going to find food? We've given everything to this dog thief, what are we going to eat? Are we supposed to starve all the people of Xuzhou to death?"

  "Too greedy, too shameless!" Another villager also started scolding loudly, "Does Liu Bei have any face left? Tao Shichen has already given him tens of thousands of bushels of grain and countless bolts of cloth and horses, but he's still not satisfied, how much more does he want? Two hundred thousand bushels of grain, let him go rob it himself! I refuse to donate, and even more so, I won't give!"

  "Not a single grain of food should be given to this scoundrel! We can't even feed ourselves, and yet we're supposed to give him so much food. What are we going to do? Are we all going to starve to death?"

  "Cao Cao retreated his troops, it's the credit of our Second Master. What does it have to do with that treacherous Liu Bei? It was Second Master who sacrificed himself and jumped into the oil cauldron, moved Cao Cao, so he retreated his troops. What does it have to do with that treacherous Liu Bei? Why should we repay him? Even if we want to repay, it's Second Master we should repay!"

  "That's right! Not a single grain of food will be given to the treacherous Liu Bei! If the Second Master wants food, even if my whole family has to starve to death, I will give him the seeds and grains, because it was the Second Master who saved our lives, saved our Xuzhou. We must repay the Second Master! What is Liu Bei? Why should I give him the grain that we worked hard to grow?"

  "Shameless scoundrel! I used to think he was a good person, but now I see him for the scoundrel he is! In Yanzhou, one dan of grain sells for 50,000 coins, and yet he dares to demand 200,000 dan. If these grains were exchanged for wuzhu coins, they would pile up as high as Mount Tai! Is he not afraid that the grain and wuzhu coins will bury him alive?!"

  Among the angry murmurs and curses, a louder slogan emerged from the crowd: "Liu Bei is a traitor, get out of Xuzhou! Liu Bei is a traitor, get out of Xuzhou! Liu Bei is a traitor, get out of Xuzhou! Fellow villagers, we must shout, Liu Bei is a traitor, get out of Xuzhou——!"

  With Xu Zhou's five Mao leading the way, the crowd of onlookers in Xuzhou soon erupted into a chorus of angry slogans: "Liu Bei is a traitor! Get out of Xuzhou! Liu Bei is a traitor! Get out of Xuzhou! Get out of Xuzhou——!"

  More and more people are shouting this slogan, men and women, old and young, regardless of whether they are peasants who farm the land, soldiers who resist guns and eat rations, or merchants who carry goods on their shoulders, or officials who wear silk robes, all with angry faces and raised arms, shouting in unison, "Liu Bei is a traitor! Get out of Xuzhou! Get out of Xuzhou——!"

  Upon hearing these angry voices, Mi Zhu and Mi Fang's faces turned even paler, their minds completely blank. They couldn't understand how Tao Qian and his son could come up with such a despicable idea, shifting the blame of Liu Bei's extortion to the people of Xuzhou, easily destroying Liu Bei's carefully crafted image as a benevolent ruler. What Mi Zhu and Mi Fang couldn't imagine was what kind of reaction Liu Bei would have if he found out about this notice and the reaction of the people of Xuzhou. Would he be furious or speechless?

  Similarly, Lu Su couldn't understand how many evil intentions Tao Qian had in his heart. Just on the city wall above the heads of Mi Zhu and Mi Fang brothers, Tao was smiling and watching the angry reaction of the people of Xuzhou. Lu Su beside him admired and said: "Young master, I really admire you, how can you come up with such a wonderful idea, to shift the anger of the people to Liu Bei's head, making all the anger and flames vent on Zhuge Liang's body?"

  "It's not that difficult, if you have managed real estate before and say it's the Wenzhou house-flipping team driving up housing prices, you might be able to come up with a better idea." Deputy Director Tao responded with a sentence that left Lu Su completely baffled.

  Then, Vice Director Tao smiled and looked at the disheartened Cao brothers in the crowd, saying with a smile: "Wait for it, this is just the beginning. I not only want to let the people of Xuzhou see Liu Bei's true face, but also let these two fools see through this fake gentleman's true face, and incidentally settle an old score!"

  Note: Where did Zhang Hang hide the mercury? Vice Director Tao also discovered a clue from that abnormality. Because friends like to guess and analyze, Pure Wolf intentionally didn't answer in this chapter but left logical hints, welcoming friends to compete for the truth, which will be revealed later in the plot.