Although Tao Qian was old, he still heard what Jian Yong said, and hurriedly asked, "Could it be that Mr. Fei has a countermeasure?" ”

Jian Yong said with a smile: "If you want to find a countermeasure, you must first know who is spreading these rumors. To know who spread these rumors, you need to know who is most beneficial when they are spread. ”

Tao Qian muttered: "Xuzhou is in chaos, Cao Cao naturally has a chance to take advantage of it, could it be that these rumors were spread by Cao Cao?" ”

Jian Yong waved his hand and said, "Fei Ye, Fei Ye." Once these rumors spread, Cao Cao naturally had chaos to take advantage of, but it also made all parts of Xuzhou take precautions. Cao Cao is good at using soldiers, how can he not know that he can win by surprise? How can you miss the opportunity? ”

Tao Qian nodded and said, "Then according to Mr. Wang, who did it?" ”

Jian Yong bowed and said, "Please retreat from the main public screen, and dare to speak up below." ”

Tao Qian couldn't help but be secretly alert, could it be that the person who leaked the news was by his side? However, he still believed Jian Yong's words, waved his hand, and asked people to retreat.

Jian Yong took a step forward and whispered: "The subordinates got the secret report, Langya Zangba, Sun Guan, and Peng Chengrong all have different intentions, if Xuzhou is in chaos, the three of them can take advantage of it." The subordinates thought that the one who spread the news must be among these three people! ”

Tao Qian is a person who hates the poor and loves the rich, Zang Ba and Sun Guan were both born in poverty, in order to deal with the Yellow Turban Army, Tao Qian had no choice but to use them, and he didn't have any trust in them. Moreover, Cao Song was hiding in Langya at the beginning, and it is very likely that he had a secret relationship with Zang Ba and Sun Guan. As for Zhenrong, although he is Tao Qian's fellow countryman, Tao Qian also entrusts him with important tasks, but Tao Qian knows that this person is greedy by nature, and no one can say whether he will have different hearts.

Jian Yong saw Tao Qian's hesitation, and continued: "For today's plan, when guarding against Zang Ba and Sun Guanwai and Cao Cao, the lord can order Xuande Gong to secretly send an army to Langya, capture these two people, inquire in detail, and then Xu Turong." ”

At the beginning, Tao Qian was seriously ill and once wanted to give up the position of Xuzhou Mu to Liu Bei, but Liu Bei insisted on resigning, how could Tao Qian think that Liu Bei would now seek his Xuzhou in turn? Therefore, Tao Qian was convinced of Liu Bei, Jian Yong and others.

After listening to Jian Yong's suggestion, Tao Qian thought about it for a while, then agreed, and immediately ordered Liu Bei to be the special envoy, and the plenipotentiary representative Tao Qian went to Langya to the labor army, and by the way, to inspect Langya's garrison in case of Cao Cao's surprise attack.

Liu Bei got Tao Qian's secret order, ordered 5,000 military horses, and left Xuzhou with Guan Yu and marched to Langya.

Along the way, from time to time, you can see people in fear going down together. These fleeing civilians suddenly saw that such an army was hurrying north, which further confirmed the rumor that Cao Cao was going to raise troops to attack. As a result, even some people who originally wanted to stay at home began to stir up.

Seeing this scene, Liu Bei was uneasy, and ordered the soldiers to go into the nearby countryside separately and preach to the people that the so-called Cao Cao's attack was just a rumor spread by people with ill intentions, telling everyone to go home and farm with peace of mind.

At the beginning, when Liu Bei was in the army of Xiaopei, he did not commit any offense to Xiaopei's people, but his great reputation stopped at Xiaopei's area, and further north, how could those people believe his words, and they were still in a mess.

Liu Bei had no choice but to let those people go, and he also knew in his heart that in a few days, Cao Cao would definitely really call, and he was afraid that he would be scolded by tens of thousands of people.

Zang Ba and Sun Guan had already received the news that Liu Bei was coming to the labor army, so they brought their own guards and went out of the city fifteen miles to greet them. Although Tao Qian didn't like to see them very much, he also appointed the two of them as the Taishou and the other as the Duwei, and his subordinates were in charge of 30,000 cavalry to guard the northern gateway of Xuzhou, and they were also regarded as well-known figures in Langya County.

Liu Bei rode on the horse, and he saw a large group of people in front of him, knowing that it was Zang Ba and Sun Guan who were coming, so he turned over and dismounted without waiting in front of him, stepped forward, and arched his hand and said: "Two generals, how dare you meet you from afar!" ”

Although Zang Ba and Sun Guan were also from poor backgrounds, they also planted a few acres of thin fields, and they felt that they were much stronger than Liu Bei, a weaver and peddler, so they looked down on Liu Bei in their hearts. It's just that Liu Bei came on behalf of Tao Qian this time, and he also had the responsibility of inspecting the city defense, but Zang Ba and Sun Guan didn't dare to be too snub to him, so they would go so far. Hearing Liu Bei's words, the two of them bowed their hands together and said: "Lord Liu is here on behalf of the lord, how dare the last general be disrespectful!" ”

Guan Yu's red face was secretly a little gloomy, and he snorted coldly, how could he not see it, these two people said that they did not dare to be disrespectful, but they clearly did not take Liu Bei in their eyes. Guan Yu's hand holding the Qinglong Sword couldn't help but mention it, but when he saw Liu Bei's hand behind his back, he secretly made a patient gesture towards him. Guan Yu took a deep breath at this time, soothed his emotions, and slowly put down the Qinglong Knife.

Liu Bei didn't show a trace on his face, and said with a smile: "Two generals, Liu came all the way, and saw that the people were all panicking south, could it be that what happened to Langya?" ”

Zang Ba glanced at Sun Guan and arched his hand and said, "Lord Hui, the last general is also worried about this matter." Recently, I don't know who is spreading rumors here, saying that Cao Cao is about to commit a crime. I think that my Xuzhou and Cao Cao have always been well water and do not violate river water, not to mention that Cao Cao's fierce rivals are Liu Xin of Jingzhou and Yuan Shao of Jizhou, how could he offend me in Xuzhou for no reason? The last general has sent someone to secretly investigate, and once he knows who is making Lang from Zhongfeng, he will definitely capture him and present him to the lord. ”

Liu Bei nodded and said, "I see, those clowns who jump off the beam, the general doesn't have to pay attention to him." The two generals, please see, those are all ordered by the Lord to bring Liu to reward the officers and soldiers of the three armies, please let the two generals collect them in person! ”

Sun Guan was stunned for a moment, and arched his hand and said, "My lord, why do you need to accept such a trivial matter in person." According to the practice of previous years, it was enough to ask a few soldiers to settle the accounts casually. ”

Zang Ba also said: "My lord, the last general will prepare a little water and wine in the city, catch the wind for the adults, please move, and just leave it to the people below." ”

Liu Bei waved his hand and said, "Liu is entrusted by the lord, how can he borrow others?" If the two generals are unwilling to do such a trivial matter, then ask the two generals to wait on the side, and send a few soldiers to accompany Liu to count together. ”

His words were soft and hard, Zang Ba and Sun Guan glanced at each other, but they couldn't disobey his intentions, so they had to say in unison: "The last general will obey the order!" ”

So Liu Bei was in front, Zang Ba and Sun Guan followed, and walked into the ranks of the labor army together, and saw that the carts were full of wine, cloth, gold and silver. Liu Bei took out a roll of bamboo slips with a matter of urgency, and handed them over to Zang Ba and Sun Guan one by one according to the list recorded on the bamboo slips.

Sun Guan originally had some doubts about Liu Bei's insistence on handling the delivery in person, but now seeing that these things have been delivered, and there is no mistake, he can't help but put his mind at ease, stretch his waist, and say: "Lord Liu, everything is right, it is accurate, now you can rest assured that you can go to the city." ”

Liu Bei smiled and said: "Don't be busy, the lord also asked Liu to send fifty cows and one hundred sheep to reward the three armies." Two generals, please come over here and take a look. ”

For Zang Ba and Sun Guan, mutton is not a rare item, but beef is rarely eaten. Because this society is still in an agrarian economy, cattle are very important production tools, which generally cannot be slaughtered, and only when rewarding the three armies and sacrificing ancestors, will one or two cows be killed. Tao Qian has always attached importance to agricultural production, and in previous years, he would reward the soldiers stationed in various counties, but he would always only lead some sheep, and it was the first time to drive some cattle over.

Zang Ba had already seen that behind this row of carts, sure enough, there were soldiers driving a herd of cattle and sheep, and he couldn't help but walk towards there, and said with a smile: "The lord has really invested a lot of money this time, General Sun, if you and I can't keep Langya, then I won't have the face to see the lord." ”

Sun Guan also said as he walked: "Lord Liu, since these sheep have been delivered, the last general will not be polite to you, and when he picks up a fat cow and slaughters it, he will ask Lord Liu to sit as the chief." ”

Before his words fell, he heard the wind in the back of his head, and a voice said coldly: "Before slaughtering the cow, wait until so-and-so slaughters your dog's head!" ”

Sun Guan is also a battle-hardened person, crawling out of the pile of dead people, although his martial arts are not top-notch, but his reaction is extremely fast, and when he hears the wind, he feels bad. Sun Guan's heart froze, his body scurried forward, and he pulled a personal soldier behind him. Hearing only the sound of "poof", Sun Guan rolled on the spot, had already stood up, and when he looked back, the pro-soldier had been split in half by someone, and blood splashed and sprayed him. Sun Guan Kankan raised his head, and saw a flash of cold light, and a big knife slashed at his waist, unstoppable.

Zang Ba walked in front, heard the movement behind, hurriedly turned around, and saw the red-faced man who was following Liu Bei, swinging a knife and slashing at Sun Guan. In a hurry, he wanted to find Liu Bei to speak, but there was still no trace of Liu Bei, only to know that Liu Bei lured them to come, and the inventory of items was fake, and it was true to take their lives.

Over there, Sun Guan was already in danger, and he had to be blocked by two pro-soldiers, and he even rolled and crawled to avoid this knife. In fact, with Guan Yu's martial arts, it was a sudden attack, and Sun Guan would never be able to dodge his two knives. It's just that Guan Yu came from behind, and there were several big cars blocking in front, and he shouted loudly at the same time, which made Sun Guan alert, so he didn't succeed. Although these two knives did not kill Sun Guan, they also killed all three of his own soldiers around him, and also scratched one of Sun Guan's arms.

Guan Yu couldn't succeed with two knives in a row, he was already furious, slapped the saddle with his left hand, and the whole person jumped up from the horse, jumped in the air, and slashed down with one hand with the Qinglong knife, like a god. The horse under his seat shook twice, and actually fell to the ground, which shows how powerful Guan Yu is this time.

Sun Guan was already very embarrassed to dodge those two knives just now, and now he can't avoid it. It just so happened that a fat sheep was "bleating" beside him, and Sun Guan didn't even want to pick up the sheep and hold it high above his head to meet Guan Yu's thunderous knife.