Sun Quan's envoy went to Pengcheng and asked Pengcheng to ask for Huang Zu. Tao Ying hurriedly convened all the strategists to discuss, and Zhang Zhao said that it was better to give Huang Zu to Sun Quan, so that he could exchange for stability in the south. If the south can develop steadily, then there is no worry about the south, and after the training of Xuzhou soldiers and horses in 209, they can compete with Cao Cao, and this battle will divide the Central Plains with Cao Cao.

If Huang Zu is not returned to Sun Quan, this will inevitably offend Sun Quan, the hero of Yangzhou, and offend Sun Quan, and will inevitably push Sun Quan to his opposite, Cao Cao. In this way, Sun Quan and Cao Cao united, one attacked Xuzhou from the north, and the other attacked Xuzhou from the south, and Xuzhou would fall into a quagmire of war that had gone back five or six years. Therefore, leaving Huang Zu, getting a county, and losing the peace of the entire south, Zhang Zhao and many others want to use a Huang Zu to calm things down.

Jia Xu and other militants don't think so, he thinks that Xuzhou will fight with Sun Quan sooner or later, Jiangxia is a key place for war, and Jiangxia can connect to Nanyang, with Jiangxia, Nanyang is no longer an enclave! This can be said to be a Huang Zu, all the land in Xuzhou is linked together, and the advantages outweigh the disadvantages! And Huang Zu is good at water warfare, and it is better to get a good general than to get a few counties!

What both sides said made sense, so that Tao Ying could not adjudicate. Wenchen always looks at the stability and prosperity of Xuzhou, which is not wrong in itself, but if you only see Xuzhou, but you can't look at the people of the world, it is inevitable that you will be a little narrow-minded. Military generals look at the achievements on the battlefield, they will not pay attention to the development of the locality, they only have the territory in their eyes, because the standard for evaluating them is to expand the territory.

Tao Ying hesitated, and it happened that Kong Ming was still in Pengcheng and had not yet returned to the north, so Tao Ying summoned his son Kong Ming to ask Kong Ming's opinion. Kong Ming seemed to have thought of it a long time ago, so he took out a map for Tao Ying to analyze the situation in the world.

In September 208, Sun Quan's envoy came to Xuzhou again to ask Tao Ying to kill his father's enemy Huang Zu, and Tao Ying replied to the envoy and asked him to bring a letter to Sun Quan, saying that he was willing to mediate between Sun Quan and Liu Biao. At this time, the contradiction between Sun Quan and Tao Ying was increasing day by day, especially when Sun Quan heard that the jade seal of the country fell to Xuzhou, Sun Quan asked Tao Ying to ask for the jade seal of the country. Cao Cao saw that Sun Quan and Tao Ying gradually became incompatible, and now Tao Ying is getting bigger again, so he stirred up right and wrong in the middle.

Now the emperor Feng Tao should be the Duke of Peng, and Cao Cao was named the Duke of Wei, Sun Quan heard about it and offered gifts to the court to ask for the official, so Cao Cao took this opportunity to seal Sun Quan as Wu Hou, if he can get the jade seal of the country in his hands, he will be named the king of Yangzhou! Sun Quan is not interested in a throne, he is interested in the throne after getting the jade seal! However, Sun Quan still agreed to Cao Cao's suggestion, after all, he could ask for the jade seal in the name of Emperor Xian.

When Sun Quan asked Tao Ying for the jade seal of the country, Cao Cao sent an order to all the princes in the name of offering the emperor, saying that Tao Ying wanted to hide the jade seal and plot against him! The princes of all walks of life have long heard of the prosperity of Xuzhou, but there is no excuse to attack Xuzhou, and they can't beat Xuzhou. The princes responded to Cao Cao's call to unite to attack Xuzhou, and the first of these were Sun Quan in Yangzhou and Zhang Lu in Hanzhong in Western Shu.

Cao Cao saw that someone supported him, so he made waves in the imperial court again, preparing to send troops to attack Tao Ying again. Hearing that Cao Cao was going to send troops again, the ministers of the court opposed it one after another. Soldiers from all walks of life kept gathering in Yanzhou, and the ministers failed to persuade and leaked the news to the Xuzhou General Commercial Bank in Yanzhou, and the Xuzhou General Commercial Bank spread Cao Cao's conspiracy to Xuzhou. When Tao Ying learned that Cao Cao was going to crusade against him again, he was busy transferring Zhuge Liang to guard Shanyang County, the gateway to Xuzhou. But Jia Xu and others said that although Cao Cao led the princes from all walks of life to raise troops to attack Xuzhou, the princes were not single-minded, and there was a plan to break up the princes from all walks of life!

Jia Xu dedicated the plan to Tao Ying, and Tao Ying was a little embarrassed after hearing it. However, considering that the soldiers and horses in Xuzhou have not yet been trained, and the construction of warships has not been completed, it is not possible to talk about the war lightly, so Tao Ying can only accept Jia Xu's strategy.

So Jia Xu drafted a list of documents and sent them to the locations of the princes, and at this time the military horses sent by Zhang Lu, Sun Quan, and Liu Zhang had already arrived in Yanzhou. Because it was the order of the emperor, even the princes Ma Teng, who was far away in the northwest, also led his troops to Xuzhou. Not only Ma Teng, but even the soldiers stationed in the southernmost part of the country also sent people to participate in Cao Cao's army to ask for the jade seal, and for a time Yanzhou's soldiers and horses were about to have nearly 400,000 people.

Jia Xu sent someone to lobby the hesitant Jingzhou Liu Biao, Liu Biao was originally an ally of Tao Ying's alliance, but Liu Bei said that this was for the sake of the country's society, and he should not forget his public affairs because of selfishness! Liu Bei told Liu Biao about the affairs of Nanyang and Jiangxia County, and said that if he didn't take the opportunity to defeat Tao Ying, Jingzhou would sooner or later be like Youzhou and Bingzhou in the north. Liu Biao believed Liu Bei's words, so he also rejected Jia Xu's lobbying and sent Liu Bei to lead 30,000 troops to Yanzhou to help.

Taking advantage of the autumn, the army gathered by Cao Cao kept gathering in Yanzhou. Tao Ying was afraid that Cao Cao would suddenly attack Bianjing, so he asked Zhuge Liang to lead the soldiers and horses of the four northern provinces to rush to Hexi County together with the Wuhuan army and horses. In addition to letting Zhuge Liang garrison in Hexi, Tao Ying also asked Deng Ai to seize the time to train soldiers and horses in Bianjing, and then use the northern land to transport the advanced Taoling sixth-generation artillery to Bianjing.

It took too long to transport artillery from Pengcheng to Hexi, so Tao Ying simply set up an artillery factory in the north and began to build Taoling's sixth-generation artillery day and night in Bingzhou. In addition to supporting Bianjing in terms of weapons, Tao Ying personally led his troops to Shanyang County to meet the princes of the Six Roads. In October 208, after the princes of the Six Routes gathered in Yanzhou, and after the princes met with Emperor Xian, Emperor Xian had to accept Cao Cao as the governor of the Eastern Expedition and let him lead 400,000 troops to conquer Tao Ying.

After Cao Cao received his order, he discussed with the princes and prepared to attack Tao Ying in two ways. The first way was to attack Xuzhou from Shanyang County led by him, and the second way was to attack Deng Ai stationed in Bianjing led by Ma Teng from Sili. Before sending the army, Sun Quan asked Cao Cao about the benefits of victory, and Cao Cao promised to cede Tao Ying's Jiangnan Mansion, Jiujiang Mansion and Huainan County to Sun Quan after defeating Tao Ying. Liu Bei of Jingzhou asked Cao Cao for benefits, and Cao Cao promised to send Nanyang County and Jiangxia County controlled by Tao Ying to Jingzhou at that time, and in addition, he would also promote Liu Bei to Emperor Xian as the pastor of Yuzhou.

After saying the benefits, Yuan Shang, who was stationed in Runan at this time, heard that he was going to attack Tao Ying, and Yuan Shang led 5,000 troops to help. Cao Cao promised to give up the state of Liang to Yuan Shang at that time, and Yuan Shang happily joined Cao Cao's allies. After the Xuzhou Intelligence School found out the news, it was reported to Tao Ying, and Tao Ying asked the military advisor Jia Xu again, and Jia Xu asked the Intelligence School about Yanzhou, only to know that not everyone in Yanzhou supported Cao Cao.

In the imperial court, many people opposed the war, and there were many people in the court who were dissatisfied with Cao Cao's dictatorship, so they wanted to take refuge in Tao Ying, hoping that the powerful Tao Ying could really realize his dream of reviving the Han dynasty. Among these people, the most typical is Xun Yu, who is loyal to the Han family, Xun Yu is an expert in governing the country, but he is not a person loyal to Cao Cao. After learning the news, Jia Xu asked the Intelligence Academy to unite the forces loyal to the emperor in the imperial court, and then promised them to rescue them, and then welcome the Han Emperor to Xuzhou.

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