It's easy to please God, it's hard to send God, Tao Qian has such an idea now.

Xuzhou is rich, with a household registration of one million, and nearly 100,000 people in the three armies, and Tao Qian can sit firmly in the position of the state pastor, which shows that he is not a person who does nothing. Not only that, Tao Qian is also very knowledgeable, knowing that his two sons are difficult to become great, rather than let their sons inherit their father's business, so that it is difficult to survive in the troubled times, it is better to give Xuzhou to virtuous people, maybe it can allow future generations to live a stable and prosperous life.

Two years ago, as Tao Qian was getting older and his health had never been very good, he had the idea of choosing a successor. It was at this time that Liu Bei arrived in Xuzhou and naturally became the most ideal candidate in Tao Qian's mind. Kong Rong introduced that Liu Bei is a relative of the Han family, known as virtuous, and has no foundation, if he gives up the position of Xuzhou pastor to him, he will definitely be grateful to himself, and he will take care of his descendants more carefully. This is the reason why Tao Qian likes Liu Bei. Although Liu Bei politely declined Tao Qian's kindness, Tao Qian still kept him and temporarily settled him in Xiaopei, thinking that he would give him the position of state pastor again when he had an opportunity in the future.

With this layer of thought, the "great god" that Tao Qian wanted to send away was naturally not Liu Bei, but Zhang Liao and his five thousand soldiers and horses.

At the beginning, Zhang Liao could be said to have come uninvited, but because Tao Qian was afraid of Sun Jian's retaliation, he took the initiative to ask Zhang Liao to stay, and this stay was two years. In the past two years, Zhang Liao not only had close contacts with the civil and military officials in Xuzhou, but also formed a relationship with Mi Zhu. Of course, these situations could not be hidden from Tao Qian's ears and eyes, and they gradually attracted Tao Qian's attention. However, after all, Zhang Liao's men only had 5,000 men, and Tao Qian was not very worried. But now it's different, although he knew that Gao Shun only came to rotate with Zhang Liao this time, but the strength of the army suddenly increased to 15,000 people, and there were 5,000 cavalry, which made Tao Qian feel a little like pins and needles.

In fact, Tao Qian also knows that if Xuzhou is handed over to Liu Xin, it will be a good thing for the people of the whole state. But Liu Xin has just eliminated Dong Zhuo, and his strength is unprecedentedly strong, as if he is in the sky, even if he hands over Xuzhou to him, I am afraid he will not look at the Tao family differently. Moreover, Liu Xin's subordinates are full of talents, and it is difficult for these civil and military officials under him to be reused by Liu Xin, even if he is willing to take refuge in Liu Xin, Zang Ba, Sun Guan, and Zhenrong will not agree.

The house leak happened to rain overnight, and the "great god" of the Jingzhou army had not been sent away, and Yuan Shao of Jizhou sent someone to bring a secret letter. Yuan Shao said very directly in the secret letter, he had already supported Liu Biao as emperor, and asked Tao Qian to stand on his side clearly.

After several years of scuffle, the princes are on fire with each other, and now the most powerful are Liu Xin, Yuan Shao, and Cao Cao, and Tao Qian, who owns a state, can now also rank fourth, so it is more important which side he chooses to stand on, but he can't easily make up his mind.

Don't talk about Liu Xin's side, Zhang Liao hasn't left yet, Gao Shun is here again, a full 20,000 horses are stationed outside Xuzhou City, and what's even worse is that the local people in Xuzhou seem to be very welcoming to these Jingzhou troops.

Cao Cao occupies the two prefectures of Qing and Yan, which directly borders Xuzhou, and it is not something that Tao Qian can afford to offend. What's more, Cao Cao supported Liu Hong's son Liu Xie, and in that era of valuing orthodoxy, Cao Cao's side was obviously more morally active.

Despite this, for Tao Qian, Yuan Shao's secret letter must not be taken lightly. Everyone understands the truth that there are no two days in the sky and no two kings in the country, how can there be two Han emperors at the same time? Tao Qian is sure that Yuan and Cao will have a big battle sooner or later, and because of this, Yuan Shao attaches great importance to Xuzhou's side-taking. If Tao Qian stood on Yuan Shao's side, he would form a front and back attack on Cao Cao, causing him to suffer from the enemy in the abdomen. But if Tao Qian really stood on Yuan Shao's side, Cao Cao would probably choose to attack Xuzhou first, relieve this trouble, and then concentrate on dealing with Yuan Shao.

Tao Qian also knew that his best choice was to remain neutral. However, Yuan Shao's tone in the secret letter was very tough, and he did not give him room for maneuver at all, and if he did not support Liu Biao, he would treat him as a rebel of the imperial court.

Pinching this secret letter, Tao Qian hesitated again, he suddenly wanted to figure out Liu Xin's attitude, after all, after Liu Xin eliminated Dong Zhuo, his strength increased greatly, and he should be above Cao Cao and Yuan Shao. Therefore, which side Liu Xin stands on is very important, and it will directly determine the direction of the general trend of the world.

One thing Tao Qian is clear. Liu Xin has already publicly stated his attitude, he does not recognize the identity of Emperor Liu Xie, and Cao Cao also attacked Xiangyang some time ago, that is to say, the possibility of Liu Xin and Cao Cao uniting is very small, but it is possible to cooperate with Yuan Shao. However, no one can say anything in this world, and sometimes the most unlikely often happens, Tao Qian does not dare to make hasty decisions based on his own judgment alone, he needs more accurate information. So, Mi Zhu once again hurriedly left the state pastoral mansion and rushed to the Jingzhou military camp outside the city.

The autumn wind was cold, and in an open space outside the Jingzhou military camp, 20,000 soldiers were neatly arranged, except for the fierce sound of flags and the occasional neighing of war horses, the whole team was silent. Not far away, just after the autumn harvest, the local people who had been idle gathered in groups, looking curiously at this army from afar, pointing from time to time.

In fact, the people are no strangers to these troops, and just a few days ago, these soldiers took off their clothes and armor to help them harvest the crops in the field. Those young faces always had a slight smile on their faces, skillfully wielding the sickles in their hands, sweating like rain, but they were tireless one by one, not screaming tired. The people were familiar with these soldiers, and they felt as if they were their own brothers and nephews, and their own relatives.

The situation of this army today is obviously different from what they usually see, the faces of the soldiers are no longer the smiles of the past, they are a little more solemn and firm, holding swords and guns and flags in their hands, motionless in the fierce autumn wind, like statues.

At the front of the line, five young soldiers were stripped of their armor and fell to their knees in a row, each with two blade-wielding axemen standing behind them.

The five soldiers had been temporarily imprisoned for some time, and Zhang Liao had never known what to do with them. However, this time, Gao Shun followed Xiangyang and brought Liu Xin's instructions, which included principled opinions on how to deal with such incidents.

Liu Xin's instructions not only solved Zhang Liao's problem, but also made Zhang Liao admire his uncertain prophet very much, and he was even more desperate for him. In fact, Liu Xin also deduced according to common sense that no matter how well-disciplined the army is, after being away from home for a long time, it is inevitable that it will become tired and do some illegal things, such as stealing, robbing, **, etc., maybe these soldiers are not bad by nature, they just want to vent their emotions, but it will bring unspeakable pain to the victim and irreparable impact on the Jingzhou army, so Liu Xin wants to take precautions, but he didn't expect to help Zhang Liao solve the problem.

The situation of these five soldiers is not the same, two of them are strong, and three of them are in love with the girl from the nearby village, so the methods of dealing with them are also different.

With Zhang Liao's order, the knife and axe hand raised the sharp blade in his hand, and the two soldiers who were tying the folk girl were beheaded on the spot, blood burst out, and the head rolled to the side. After all, these soldiers had been with Zhang Liao for two years, and Zhang Liao still couldn't bear to suddenly order the execution of these two soldiers. Zhang Liao waved his hand and asked the soldiers to carry the two bodies down and bury them outside the camp.

For the soldiers of the Jingzhou army, death is not terrible, but these two soldiers died very worthless, they did not die in battle, but violated military discipline and died, they are not martyrs, their families can not get pensions, even their own bodies can not enter the cemetery in Xiangyang, this is the most shocking place for other soldiers.

The other three soldiers were apprehensive when they saw their companions lose their lives, but when they heard Zhang Liao's order again, a knife and axe had already stepped forward to knock them to the ground, ripped off their pants, and "crackled" and beat up their sticks.

The discipline of the Jingzhou army is strict, and the soldiers who enforce the law never dare to engage in favoritism and irregularities, and each of the 20 military sticks is a real fight, and all of them are beaten to the point that their skin is broken, but no one says a word. The three tortured soldiers all knew in their hearts that what they were saving was not their lives, but the honor of being a soldier of the Han Dynasty. Even if they grit their teeth, they can't shout, otherwise they will never be able to hold their heads up in front of their comrades.

Seeing the performance of these three soldiers, Zhang Liao's mood relaxed a little, and then announced an order that these three soldiers would not be able to participate in this rotation, and must continue to stay in Xuzhou and wait for the next rotation in a year.

However, they are not all gainless, because Liu Xin's handling principle is still very humane, for this kind of soldiers who violate military discipline because of their mutual affection, they are allowed to marry the girl they like home, and all the financial gifts are borne by the army. The reason why Liu Xin has this regulation is not to encourage the soldiers to fall in love with the girls stationed there, but to have conditions, and they must be stationed outside for a long time, more than one year and three months, before such conditions can be applied, otherwise they will be punished for the same crime as the rape of the people. After all, Liu Xin did not let these soldiers stationed abroad carry out routine rotation, because Liu Xin was not thoughtful enough, and the consequences were completely borne by these soldiers, which was obviously a bit unfair.

Mi Zhu, who had just arrived from Xuzhou City, saw all this in his eyes, and his heart was mixed. He was aware of the crimes committed by the soldiers, and the family of one of the victims had sued him. However, because these Jingzhou troops were not under his jurisdiction, and even Tao Qian did not dare to offend them, Mi Zhu could only turn a blind eye. But Mi Zhu was still very angry in his heart, and even had some opinions about Zhang Liao, who was just imprisoning these soldiers.

Seeing this scene today, Mi Zhu finally understood that Liu Xin's status today was definitely not obtained out of thin air, and such strict military discipline alone could not be seen in the armies of other places.

Mi Zhu couldn't help but hesitate, he always felt that it was not a gentleman's attitude to find out Liu Xin through Zhang Liao, and he was even more suspected of using Zhang Liao, a prospective brother-in-law, and now seeing this good show of executing the criminal soldiers, he couldn't make up his mind even more.