On the sixth day of the eighth month of the fourth year of Xingping, there was a bandit situation in Xiapi County, which was changed to a county, and Chen Deng used this as an excuse to go to Xiapi County to deal with the "banditry".

Ten days later, on August 16, Chen Deng officially announced his break with Tao Qian in his hometown of Huaipu County, Xiapi County.

Chen Deng's crusade against Tao Qian explained his opposition to Tao Qian's position as the king, believing that Tao Qian was an arrogator, who had no great merit but coveted fame, and colluded with the Liangzhou people who coerced the Son of Heaven to order the princes, trying to usurp the Han dynasty.

So he decided to unite the people from all over Xuzhou, and invited Guo Peng, the general of the chariot cavalry, to fight against Tao Qian together, return Xuzhou to the Han Dynasty, and refuse the establishment of the Duchy of Xu.

It is worth mentioning that after learning the news of Tao Qian's illness, Zhenrong, who was the Taishou of Xiapi County at the time, and was also from Danyang, chose to betray Tao Qian, and instead supported Chen Deng, joined the rebels, and followed the rebels in a hurry.

Chen Deng raised a force of 20,000 soldiers and horses and officially attacked Tanxian, the capital of Xuzhou.

After Chen Deng first proposed, the voices of the three counties that had been changed to counties, including Langya County, Pengcheng County, and Guangling County, also responded to Chen Deng's voice, and they united to organize an army, ranging from 35,700 to attack Tan County, and there were great signs of putting things in order.

In addition to Tokai-gun, there was a rebellion in the four counties together, and then there was a rebellion in Tokai-gun.

The leader is the Mi family, the leader is Mi Fang, Mi Fang mobilized the Mi family's servants and doormen, got 2,000 soldiers and horses, and scattered the wealth to recruit troops and horses, and raised 4,000 troops from Qu Ren County to Tan County.

There was a full-scale riot throughout Xuzhou.

The five counties of Xuzhou were in a comprehensive riot, and tens of thousands of troops marched to Tan County, and the potters were directly frightened after learning about it, and Cao Hong was also stunned for a long time, and then gritted his teeth and hated Chen Deng.

He discovered Chen Deng's abnormality, but he never expected that Chen Deng would really dare to rebel, and he would really dare to lead troops to resist Tao Qian's rule, setting off a civil war in Xuzhou.

Chen Deng's rebellion was definitely not an accidental event, it was definitely planned, prepared, and relied on.

Damn it! Chen Yuanlong! Damn it!

Cao Hong was annoyed, but the matter had come to this point, he had no other way, looking at the pottery merchant who had no master of the six gods, he thought of Tao Qian who was still lying on the hospital bed.

I had no choice but to tell Tao Qian about this matter and ask Tao Qian's opinion.

Chen Yuanlong...... Rebel? ”

Tao Qian was half-lying on the hospital bed, looking at Cao Hong with wide eyes.

"Yes, Duke Xu, Chen Yuanlong connected the powerful people from all over Xuzhou, rebelled in groups, and the momentum was huge, even there were rebels in Donghai County, Chen Yuanlong's rebellion must not only be himself, there must be foreign enemies, it must be Guo Zifeng's secret instructions! We are already facing enemies on all sides, what do we do now? ”

Cao Hong looked at Tao Qian anxiously.

Tao Qian was stunned for a long time, and then opened his mouth to spurt out a mouthful of blood.

Chen ...... Yuan...... Dragon ......"

Tao Qian clutched his chest and gritted his teeth and shouted out three words, then his eyes widened, his whole body trembled, and he fell straight on the bed board and did not move.

Cao Hong's mind went blank in an instant.

Tao Qian died, and his aging and sick body couldn't withstand the stimulation, so he was killed alive.

Cao Hong quickly straightened his mood after a short period of collapse.

He knew that if the news of Tao Qian's death was announced to the public at this time, everything would really be over.

Tao Qian's prestige is not comparable to the potter, the potter can't stabilize the situation, Danyang Bing trusts Tao Qian, but he doesn't trust the potter enough, even if Cao Bao supports it, it's useless, the potter has no prestige.

The news of Tao Qian's death must be sealed and must not be known to outsiders.

Fortunately, Tao Qian has been living in seclusion since he became ill, not seeing outsiders, and leaving everything to the potters and Cao Hong to do, and now there is still room for reversal.

After figuring out this matter, Cao Hong immediately found Cao Bao and the pottery merchant and took them to see Tao Qian's body.

Cao Bao was shocked, and the potter's face turned pale, and he collapsed on the ground and cried bitterly.

"Your Highness! Get up! Can't cry! You can't cry! ”

Cao Hong picked up the potter and looked at Cao Bao again.

"Now the only one who can save the situation is us, Duke Xu is dead, but the news must not be leaked, otherwise we will all die without a place to be buried, the only thing we have to do now is to break through, protect His Highness, and break through and return to Yangzhou's hometown!"

Cao Hong determined what they could do now, and Cao Bao's six gods were in turmoil, so he decided that according to what Cao Hong said, at least this was a way to live.

Return to your hometown, rely on the Jiangdong Sun family, maybe there is still a way to live, stay in Xuzhou, and everything will be over!

As for the frightened potters, it really can't be a reason for them to continue to struggle in Xuzhou.

Xuzhou couldn't stay still and could only leave.

After thinking for a moment, Cao Hong decided to order the gathering of Cao Bao and Zang Ba's troops in the name of the pottery merchant, and prepared to take the initiative to attack without staying in Tan County.

At present, Cao Bao has an army of about 23,000 troops, with Danyang soldiers as the backbone, which is the most trustworthy and only trustworthy basic army under Tao Qian, while on the contrary, Zang Ba's Taishan soldiers, who only have more than 11,000 people, can not be trusted.

Tao Qian himself is more afraid of Zang Ba, because his hometown is Yanzhou, not Yangzhou, nor Xuzhou.

Such an identity seems a little embarrassing, so Tao Qian uses him, but he also guards against him.

At this time, Zang Ba's Taishan soldiers are a rare force, and if they are used well, they can smoothly attack the south and kill a bloody road, but Cao Hong can't use Zang Ba to carry out this plan with confidence.

He knew that if Zang Ba knew that Tao Qian was dead, he would definitely not continue to obey the Tao merchant's orders, and maybe he would immediately turn back.

After thinking about it, Cao Hong thought of a way.

Claiming that he wanted to take the initiative to attack the rebels, he sent Zang Ba to fight and attack the rebels in the south.

When this order was sent to Zang Ba's barracks, Zang Ba hesitated for a moment and made a decision.

If you discuss a good thing, you can do it to the end, you can't have any hesitation, it's just a way to do things, you can have a choice.

He quickly regrouped his troops, and then left the barracks and set off, but the purpose was not to go south to fight the rebels, but to go all the way north without stopping.

Zang Ba's subordinate Sun Guan was a little surprised by Zang Ba's approach.

"At this time, we can lead the army to raid the county seat, and when Cao Bao doesn't react, take the city, capture Tao Gongzu and his son, and kill Cao Hong, so that Cao Bao is alone, we can make a greater contribution, why didn't the general do it?"

Zang Ba pursed his lips and sighed.

"After all, Tao Gongzu took me in when I was down, and he was kind to me, and now that he is in trouble, even if I don't help him, I can't harm him, otherwise, I'm not just a disloyal and unrighteous villain? Can a man standing between heaven and earth do such an ungrateful thing? ”

Zang Ba did not accept the proposal of his subordinates and gave up the opportunity to achieve great merit, but chose to turn around and go north.

Cao Hong was shocked when he learned about this, he didn't know what was wrong with Zang Ba, what was he going north to do at this time?

"What the hell is Zang Xuangao going to do?!"

The potter shouted in some dismay.

He was flustered enough, and now Zang Ba is heading north with the army without saying hello, not listening to orders, is this going to break up?

Having taken away a third of the military strength at once, the situation in Tan County became more and more dangerous.

Cao Hong and Cao Bao thought for a long time, and decided to decisively lead the army to attack, protecting the pottery merchant and his younger brother Tao Ying and the Tao clan to the south together, returning to their hometown, and seeking a way to live.