The potter told Yuan Tan that he had something to do, so he took his leave first.

As a captive, Yuan Tan naturally didn't ask much, just let the potter take care of himself.

The potter then changed his clothes and met the messenger who had arrived from Yecheng in the council chamber.

Xu Yu was one of the eight most important masterminds under Yuan Shao's command, and before Yuan Tan was captured, he had already been appointed by Yuan Shao to be fully responsible for communicating with the potters and taking charge of redeeming Yuan Tan.

It's a pity that Yuan Shao is a bit of a non-human this time.

For more than three months, Xu You has not moved, and the reason is very despicable.

Through the Mi family, the potters kept giving money to Xu Yu during this period.

Xu You was also hesitant at first, but the magic and temptation of money were too great for him, and his heart was hit back and forth several times, and finally took the money of the people of Xuzhou.

Because in his mind, the people of Xuzhou would not dare to kill Yuan Tan, after all, although the pottery merchants occupy the southeast half of the country, but Yuan Shao's overall strength is still several times stronger than him, especially the northern soldiers are tall and strong, brave and good at fighting, and there are a lot of war horses, which really angered Yuan Shao, and the soldiers of Hebei went south, and the pottery merchants could resist this thunderous blow?

Based on this, Xu You secretly accepted the money and secretly postponed the time.

But now, it is almost the end of the year, and Xu Yu really can't delay it any longer.

He has been telling Yuan Shao that rescuing the eldest prince is an important matter, and it must be very serious, and when he acts in a hurry, the gains will outweigh the losses, and he must be well prepared.

This reason has lasted until now, and it can no longer be used.

No matter how well you prepare, can you still prepare for next year?

At this time, Xu You could only go out in person and come to see the potter.

In the hall, in addition to the potter and Xu You, only Pei Qian accompanied the potter.

The potter smiled tacitly at Xu You, and said directly: "Some time ago, the Mijia business prepared a year-end congratulatory gift for Xu Gong to send to Yecheng, and now that Xu Gong is here in person, it is just right to bring it back together, and it will also save our Xuzhou people from the trouble of traveling and horses." ”

It has always been Mi Zhu's business name that gave Xu You gifts, but Xu You naturally understood who the real black hand behind the scenes was.

However, Xu You is not afraid at all, he is not afraid that the potter will turn back and harm him.

The matter of receiving Tao's gifts, Xu Yu did it extremely secretly, and even those who secretly handled it for him have been dealt with by him recently.

And a large amount of money has been transferred by him, which can be described as unaware of the ghosts, and there is no proof of death.

"Taifu laughed, if you go back with things like this, how can the generals be compatible? Taifu didn't want to give me a gift. ”

The two looked at each other for a while, and suddenly laughed in unison.

After the laughter, the potter asked Xu Youdao: "I don't know Mr. Ziyuan, but he is sincere to your general?" ”

Xu You's back straightened, his face was straight, and he said: "Naturally, you are loyal, you are loyal to the general, heaven and earth can be learned, I should be a minister of the Yuan family in this life, and I will be a ghost of the Yuan family in death." ”

The potter suddenly let out an "oh" and said, "Since Mr. Ziyuan is so benevolent to the general, why do you want to accept Tao's money?" Is it possible that he is not afraid of delaying the general's major events. ”

Xu You smiled and said, "Money can be earned, and loyalty is also deserved!" A certain Taifu didn't dare to kill the eldest son...... After all, with the situation in Xuzhou, I don't want to anger the general's tiger whiskers now, so as not to cause overturning, Taifu, am I right? ”

The potter's eyes narrowed slightly.

Xu You, this old boy, does have some skills, quick response, scheming, clear thinking, just based on the few words just now, the potter knows that his ability should not be under Chen Deng, at least not too low.

The potter's mind was racing, and he expected that Xu Yu had come to ask for someone.

But on the one hand, he had to figure out the most beneficial countermeasures for himself, and on the other hand, he had to find a way to touch Yuan Shao's bottom through Xu You.

Seeing that the potter frowned and bowed his head without speaking, Xu You showed a smug smile and said, "Taifu, Xu is right, right?" ”

The pottery merchant let out a long sigh and said helplessly: "Brother Xu guessed wrong...... I'm a little sorry for you about this, when I was drinking with Yuan Tan last night, that bastard was arguing with Tao, Tao was drunk for a while, and he was crazy and ordered Yuan Tan to be cut down, and now he is thinking about how to deal with this matter. ”

Xu You's face suddenly turned blue.

"Taifu Ke, don't make fun of me!"

The potter arched his hand at Xu You and said, "Duke Xu, I'm sorry for you...... Come on, present Yuan Tan's head to me......"

Pei Qian has been with the potter for a long time, and he is thoughtful, knowing that the potter is fooling people, but he is also pretending to arrange it.

I saw Xu You stumbling, and collapsed directly on his stomach, almost not kneeling down for the potter.

"Gong Xu, what's wrong with you?" The potter wondered.

Xu You pointed at the potter tremblingly, his eyes were blood-red, and he gritted his teeth and said, "You, you tiger!" Xiansi Gongzi is the eldest son of the general, although he is not his parent, but he is also born flesh and blood, you kill him, are you not afraid that the general will raze your Xuzhou to the ground in the spring of the next year, and the chicken and dog will not be left? ”

The potter shrugged his shoulders casually and said, "Didn't I tell you that I killed you by alcohol?" I didn't mean to, either. ”

Xu You almost didn't have a mouthful of old blood sprayed on the ground when he heard this.

"Be a court master! Why are you so capricious? It's okay, why are you drinking so much! It's not okay to go back to bed early! ”

The potter smiled helplessly and said: "Kill and kill, there is no way to regret it, anyway, Yuan Shao will have to send troops to Xuzhou in the future, whether I kill Yuan Tan or not, in fact, I can't change the ending of Xuzhou at all...... Yuan Shao will always crusade against me, and I will burn the jade this time. ”

Xu You's eyes glared angrily: "You can think about it!" But what about me? Xu is responsible for discussing the exchange with the Taifu, and if you act like this, aren't you pulling me to make a cushion?! ”

The potter smiled slightly: "I'll let you die." ”

Xu Yu wanted to cry without tears.

Seeing the anger shooting out of Xu You's wide eyes, and the sad expression of the soul. The potter was happy.

"I'll tease you."

Xu You: "......"

"Yuan Gongzi is still drinking in my mansion, safe and sound, we just had a drink, I just saw that Mr. was so confident that he was thinking about me, deliberately scaring you, and please don't blame Mr. Ziyuan."

Xu You's face turned red all of a sudden.

He triumphantly said that the potter didn't dare to kill Yuan Tan, but when someone acted in a play casually, he scared himself.

This kid, as the general said, is really a demon.

"As an important minister of the imperial court, Taifu is talking nonsense so casually, doesn't he consciously lose his dignity?"

The potter smiled, didn't care about Xu You's accusation, and suddenly said: "Mr. Ziyuan, I just said that I killed Yuan Tan, and you said to me angrily, 'Aren't you afraid that General Yuan will crusade against me in the spring next year?'" ’…… It seems that Yuan Shao has already arranged the date and itinerary of his trip to the south, Tao really has to thank you for this important information. ”

Xu Yu is really about to vomit blood now.

"I—I didn't say it! Not what I said! Xu Yu shook his head and denied it.

The potter didn't care at all, and said to Xu You: "Mr. came to redeem the hostages on the order of Yuan Shao...... In this way, you go back and tell Yuan Shao that I will return the hostages, as for the ransom? I only need 100 catties of lintoe gold and 1,000 stones of grain and grass, which is enough. ”

"Huh?"

Before Xu You came, he had already prepared to bargain with the potter, what tens of thousands of stones of grain and grass, countless gold leaf, cities, population, the geographical division of Xuzhou and Qingzhou, Xu You was fully prepared to deal with the rules and regulations, just waiting for the potter lion to open his mouth.

But who would have thought that the potter would open his mouth and ask for such a thing?

To put it mildly, these things are not as many as the things that Mi Zhu has given to Xu Yu in the past few months.

"Is Taifu's words true?" Xu You looked at the potter suspiciously, and inquired about it.

"Tao is a well-known sincere gentleman in the world, and he will naturally not lie to you if he says anything." The potter patted his chest.

When Xu You heard this, he couldn't wait to spit out his face with a mouthful of thick phlegm.

I don't know which bastard just tricked himself into killing Yuan Tan.

"In that case, then dare to ask when Tao Gongzi plans to return the eldest prince?"

"Years later." The potter said slowly.

Xu You frowned and said, "Why did you have to wait so long?" ”

The pottery merchant's expression was very flat: "No, if Xu Gong is unwilling, then I am afraid that when General Yuan sends troops to attack me, I will not let Yuan Tan go." ”

Xu You's brows furrowed, and he said, "Taifu, you act like this, Xu Mou returned to Yecheng, I'm afraid it will be difficult to explain to the general." ”

The potter pretended to think for a while, and then relented: "That's it, I promise you to go back this time, but you can bring Xiao Ji back first, how about it?" With him to testify to you, you probably won't be too embarrassed in front of the general. ”

Xu You frowned, lowered his head and pondered.

With his keen mind, he calculated that there must be something wrong with the potter's arrangement...... There must be some kind of trickery.

However, after weighing it repeatedly, Xu You did not find any factors that could threaten him.

Anyway, if you go back first, you will receive the discipline first.

Forgive him for his surname Tao, what other tricks can he play?

He looked at the potter deeply, and said: "Since this is the case, then it is disrespectful to go down, a hundred catties of lintoe gold, a thousand stones of grain and grass, it will arrive in the near future." ”

The potter said with a smile: "The New Year's gift given to Mr. Mi Zhu will also arrive in the near future, and Mr. will have to send someone to sign for it at that time." ”

Xu You's face couldn't help but turn red when he heard this, and he secretly said ashamed.

But driven by his greedy nature, he still didn't refuse.

"Taifu." Xu You pondered for a long time, and finally said something heart-wrenching: "Thanks to Taifu's kindness, Xu is grateful, and I still want to persuade Taifu...... Xuzhou and Yangzhou, whether it is the strength or the power, you are far from the general's opponent, stubborn resistance will only increase the life of the soul, Taifu might as well or surrender early, the general admired you very much, his mind is also broad-minded, Xu You will also say good things for you in front of the general, never let the Taifu be wronged under the general, maybe you can also be graced to continue to govern Xuzhou, what do you think? ”

Tao Shang smiled and said: "Thank you Mr. Ziyuan for your kindness, your opinion, I will discuss with the generals under me before making a decision, if Tao really has this intention in the future, he will send someone to inform Mr., and then I have to bother Mr. to mediate a lot in it." ”