While Deputy Director Tao was in the hinterland of Yuzhou to find trouble with the yellow turban thief, his old nest in Xuzhou was still turbulent, and his strong enemies in the north were not idle, intriguing with each other, deceitful and deceitful, while enthusiastically extending each other's big hands symbolizing friendship, while thinking about how to eat each other meat and bones. In order not to let you know anything about these situations, I will now give you a general introduction to them.

At the beginning, of course, Liu Bei sent Jian Yong as an envoy to Shanyang County to meet Lu Bu and Lu Wenhou, under the pretext of resisting Cao's southern invasion, and asked for an alliance with Lu Wenhou to resist Cao, and also took the initiative to promise reinforcements to Lu Wenhou's army 10,000 Hu, Lu Bu and Liu Bei did not have the slightest conflict of interest for the time being, and they were plagued by a food shortage, and the world suddenly fell such a big pie, Lu Wenhou was of course overjoyed, not only agreed to Liu Bei's request for an alliance, but also sent his subordinate Xu Yan as an envoy, and Jian Yong went back to Xiaopei to thank Liu Bei, and by the way, see if you can get more food.

After Xu Yan came to Xiaopei on behalf of Lu Bu, Liu Bei treated him politely, and kept his promise to take out 10,000 pieces of grain and handed it to Xu Yan. Of course, our benevolent and righteous Uncle Liu Huang will not refuse the request of his allies - he immediately suggested that Lu Bu send an envoy to ask Tao Qian and his son for an alliance and borrow grain from Tao Qian and his son to tide over the famine! As for our benevolent and righteous Uncle Liu Huang, I'm sorry, Uncle Liu Huang only has a city of Xiaopei at this time, and the grain, grass and military supplies all rely on begging from Tao Qian's father and son, so he really can't get it.

Xu Yan brought the news back to Changyi City, Shanyang County, which was 250 miles away from Xiaopei, and felt that Lu Wenhou, who felt that he was kind to Tao Qian's father and son, was of course tempted, and Chen Gong also felt that this was a good idea worth trying, and opened his mouth to agree, Lu Wenhou immediately sent Xu Yan and Wang Kai south to Xuzhou, bringing books to see Tao Qian and his son, asking for an alliance with Tao Qian and his son to resist Cao, and begging for 200,000 yuan of military rations - Lu Wenhou's appetite is notoriously small.

Immediately afterwards, Xu Yan Wang Kai arrived in Xuzhou, proposed an alliance and borrowed grain, Chen Deng and Tao Shang who stayed in Xuzhou had already prepared, and immediately acted according to the plan, in addition to the hospitality of Lu Bujun's second envoy, first led Xu Yan and Wang Kai to meet Tao Qian, who was so sick that he could not get out of bed, so that Xu Wang and Wang saw with their own eyes that Tao Qian was no longer a director, and then told Xu Yan and Wang Kai that Tao Qian had now handed over the state affairs to Tao Ying's agent, and now Tao Ying was not in Xuzhou, and led the troops to Yuzhou to ask for thieves, so the alliance and the matter of borrowing grain, We have to wait for Tao Ying to come back and get an idea.

After saying this, the pottery merchant, who was Tao Qian's eldest son, told King Xu and the others that although he could not call the shots, in order to repay Lu Wenhou for his indirect rescue, he could first give 10,000 Hu grain to Lu Wenhou for free, and he did not need to repay it. Chen Deng also helped beside him, saying that Tao Ying had long admired Lu Wenhou's righteous act of removing Dong for the country, and was very grateful to Lu Wenhou for his indirect rescue last time, and he had long intended to make friends with Lu Wenhou, so the problem of borrowing grain was not big, it was just a matter of borrowing more and borrowing less - but it would be decided until Tao Ying returned from the Yuzhou battlefield.

At the same time, Chen Deng, who was good at interpersonal relations, also took out gold, silver and jewelry to bribe Xu Yan and Wang Kai, Xu Wang and Wang took out short hands to eat people's soft mouths, and it was not a complete trip for nothing, so they naturally happily returned to Shanyang with gifts and 10,000 grains, handed over orders to Lu Wenhou and conveyed the words of Chen Deng and the potter. Uncle Liu Huang, who was looking forward to Tao Lu's turn of face in his dreams, was stunned in Xiaopei, and scolded Tao Ying'er for being shameless, and easily resolved the clever plan he had painstakingly arranged.

At this point, everything was already under Deputy Director Tao's control, but unfortunately, both Uncle Liu Huang and Deputy Director Tao missed a little bit in their calculations - to be precise, they missed a person!

"I see, it doesn't matter, wait a few days, just wait a few days, you don't have to run in vain, go down and rest."

After listening to Xu Yan and Wang Kai's recital, and seeing the 10,000 Hu of grain and valuable gifts brought by Xu Yan and Wang Kai, as well as hearing the respect of Xuzhou Wenwu for his kindness, Lu Wenhou, who was greatly satisfied with his self-esteem, smiled, first waved his hand to let Xu Yan and Wang Kai go down to rest, and then laughed and said: "I didn't expect Tao Qian's father and son to be so reasonable, and they will repay their kindness, good, good!" When Tao Yinggongzi returns to Xuzhou and borrows more than 100,000 or 200,000 yuan of military rations from him, we can also take Yanzhou in one go. ”

"Really?" Chen Gong suddenly sneered, and said to Lu Bu: "Lord, I'm afraid you are happy too early, in my opinion, I am afraid that even if Tao Ying Gongzi returns to Xuzhou, Wen Hou will not get a single piece of grain, this ten thousand tons of grain is already the maximum amount that Tao Qian's father and son can send beggars." ”

"Why did the public station say this?" Lu Bu asked in surprise.

"My lord, with all due respect, this matter has been a bureau from the beginning." Chen Gong sneered and said: "Before Liu Bei begged the alliance to offer food, his intention was not in Cao Ying at all, but in Xuzhou!" Because Liu Bei is very aware of the shortage of food in our army, only 10,000 pieces of grain is of no help to the lord, the lord still needs more food, and then take the opportunity to instigate the lord to ask Tao Qian and his son to borrow food, if Tao Qian and his son promise our army to ask for food, they will be overwhelmed, if Tao Qian's father and son do not allow, Liu Bei will inevitably instigate the lord to attack Xuzhou, join the Xuzhou battlefield to stir up the situation, Liu Bei took the opportunity to fish in the water, and achieved his long-cherished wish to annex Xuzhou! ”

"Gongtai, why are you slandering Xuande so much?" Lu Bu was shocked and asked: "Xuande took the initiative to help my army with grain and grass, and persuaded me to borrow grain from Tao Qian's father and son, all out of good intentions, why did the public say that Xuande was just to annex Xuzhou?" ”

"Isn't it?" Chen Gong smiled even more coldly, and said: "Liu Bei has great ambitions, after living in Xuzhou, he always indiscriminately gives kindness and buys people's hearts, and his intention is to annex the five counties of Xuzhou as early as the anti-guest!" And Tao Qian's father and son have long been alert to this, this time Tao Ying went west, Zang Ba immediately led the army to garrison Liuxian, making it clear that he did not trust Liu Bei, and was afraid that Liu Bei would take advantage of the situation and seize Xuzhou by force! And Liu Bei's strength is insufficient, and there is no excuse for war, so he came up with this poisonous plan to kill people with a knife, pretending to ask for an alliance with our army, and taking the opportunity to pull the lord into the battlefield of Xuzhou, in order to use the lord as a knife to kill his enemy Tao Qian and his son, and he took the opportunity to profit from it and annex Xuzhou! ”

Lu Bu first opened his mouth, and then jumped up and kicked over the table in front of him, shouting: "Big-eared thief, dare to fool me like this!" I swear to kill you! ”

"Lord, it's not just Liu Bei who fooled you, but also Tao Qian's father and son, this father and son are also a pair of thieves!" Chen Gong sneered and said: "Although Tao Qian is seriously ill, he can be the master of forming an alliance with our army, and he can also be the master of borrowing grain, but why should he use the excuse that the state affairs have been handed over to Tao Ying?" And why do you want to give 10,000 pieces of grain to our army? ”

"Why?" Lu Butie shouted with a blushing face.

Chen Gong smiled and replied: "Because Tao Qian knows very well that if he agrees to our army's request for food from the alliance, his money and grain will inevitably be overwhelmed, but if he refuses your request, it may lead to your lordship sending troops to retaliate, plus he has Liu Bei's internal worries, the consequences will be unimaginable." That's why Tao Qian found such an excuse, didn't agree or refused, and sent us with 10,000 pieces of grain, temporarily stabilizing the lord, delaying the time, and waiting until the war between our army and the Cao thief resumed, then it was not their father and son who wanted the lord's face, but the lord, you must see the face of their father and son. ”

"Thief! Thief! It's all thieves! Lu Wenhou, who was played one after another, was furious and shouted loudly: "Since he Tao Qian and his son dare to send me, a life-saving benefactor, as a beggar, then I won't beg from this father and son!" There is a shortage of food on the left and right, so I should personally lead the army to the south, first cut down Liu Bei, and then cut down Tao Qian, and take the five counties of Xuzhou to eat! ”

"Lord, wait!" Chen Gong also hurriedly spoke to stop it, stood up again, forced Lu Bu back to his seat, and said with a pleasant face: "Lord, please calm your anger, listen to a certain word, in fact, as early as when Liu Bei sent an envoy to ask for an alliance, he had already seen through Liu Bei's murder trick of borrowing a knife to kill people, but he felt that the lord could also take this opportunity to profit from it, so he deliberately did not say it, what I was afraid of was that the lord you couldn't hold your breath and missed this rare opportunity." ”

"Gongtai, you have already seen through this plan?" Lu Bu asked angrily, seeing Chen Gong smiling and nodding, Lu Bu couldn't help but be even more angry, and asked, "Then why didn't you say it early?" Will I be fooled by these thieves? Don't you know that I hate people lying to me the most! ”

"The lord is angry, and Chen Gong is guilty." Chen Gong confessed, and said with a smile: "Besides, if you break this plan, wouldn't the situation be even worse?" And where there are 20,000 pieces of grain to relieve the urgent needs of our army? Lord, please think about it, if Liu Bei's thief was exposed at that time, Liu Bei would honestly hand over 10,000 pieces of grain? Will Tao Qian's father and son donate 10,000 pieces of grain? ”

"That's just as well." Lu Bu thought about it carefully, and immediately his anger towards Chen Gong disappeared, and then he gritted his teeth and scolded, "Liu Bei annihilated the thief, Tao Qian annihilated the thief, how dare you fool me like this, if you don't cut off your head, it will be difficult to eliminate the hatred in my heart!" ”

"What the lord said is extremely true, Liu Bei and Tao Qian's father and son take turns to fool our army, which is indeed hateful, but the lord can't act impulsively." Chen Gong was like coaxing a child, and it was not easy to hold Lu Bu down again, and said with a pleasant face: "Lord, at the moment, the great enemy of life and death of our army is Cao Ying's thief, if the lord acts impulsively and rashly sends troops south, Cao thief will inevitably raise troops to attack, and once the lord can't capture Xuzhou, Yanzhou will be lost, and we will have no place to stay." Moreover, our army has long been out of food, relying on looting to raise the army, attacking Xuzhou grain and grass is insufficient, if the relocation under the fortified city of Xuzhou is delayed, the grain and grass are exhausted, then our army will also have a big deal. ”

"Then you can't just leave it at that!" Lu Bu shouted angrily: "Tao Qian's old man will take revenge, Liu Bei annihilated the thieves and fanned the flames, fooled our army, and if I don't kill the two thieves, I can't vent the hatred in my heart!" ”

"Revenge, of course, you have to take revenge, but revenge doesn't have to be done by the lord himself!" Chen Gong smiled and said: "The reason why I have been holding back is to take the opportunity to find out the situation in Xuzhou, as well as the situation between Tao and Liu, and to find an opportunity to plan and seek more benefits for the main public." Now I have come up with a plan to make Tao Liu and the two thieves suffer from it, and the lord will sit and reap the profits. ”

"Oh, and that?" Lu Bu's temper and temper of not listening to people's persuasion are famous all over the world, but only Chen Gong's words Lu Bu can still listen to a few words, so Lu Bu hurriedly pulled Chen Gong's sleeve and asked, "What is the trick of the public platform?" Come on! ”

"Don't be in a hurry, and listen slowly." Chen Gongyin said with a smile: "Judging from the news collected in the past few days, Tao Qian and Liu Bei and the two thieves have actually been incompatible, Liu Bei wants to annex Xuzhou, Tao Qian not only guards against Liu Bei, but also wants to drive Liu Bei out of Xuzhou or even completely eliminate it, but Liu Bei is afraid of the infamy of swallowing the lord with a guest, so he doesn't dare to do it, and Tao Qian's father and son are also afraid of being infamous for being ungrateful, and they don't dare to do it first!" That's why the two thieves have been falsely and wronging each other, and no one dares to take the lead in tearing their faces and falling into injustice! ”

"But!" Speaking of this, Chen Gong paused, and then said in a low voice: "But although the two thieves didn't make a move, they were already ready to tear their faces and start a war, just like a cart of firewood and grass that has been poured with fire oil, as long as a little spark is thrown on it, it can ignite a sky-high fire!" Therefore, the lord does not have to risk going south, and he does not need the main force to lean south to give the Cao thief a chance to take advantage of, he only needs to throw a torch into this cart of firewood and grass, so that the two thieves can completely tear their faces and turn their faces to start a war, and the lord can take the opportunity to reap the profits from it, and when the two thieves are defeated, the lord will take Xuzhou, which is naturally easy! ”

"Not bad! Not bad! That's it. Lu Bu nodded again and again, and couldn't wait to ask: "Gongtai, say it quickly, how can I let these two thieves turn their faces and start a war?" ”

"Simple, throw the torch on the firewood cart and go!" Chen Gongyin smiled and said: "The lord can send a messenger to see Liu Bei again, and say that he asked Liu Bei to come forward as a guarantee in the friendship of the alliance and help our army borrow 200,000 grains and grass from Tao Qian and his son, and after defeating Cao Ying in the coming year, it will definitely be returned." And Liu Bei can neither refuse, in order to pull our army into the Xuzhou battlefield to borrow a knife to kill, nor will he refuse, he will inevitably come forward for our army to negotiate with Tao Qian and his son, Tao Qian and his son If they agree, of course, it is the best, 200,000 Hu grain, which is enough to alleviate the urgent need of our army and break through the Cao thief! If Tao Qian's father and son continue to refuse......"

"What if Tao Qian's father and son refuse?" Lu Bu couldn't wait to ask.

"If Tao Qian refuses, then the lord will divide an army and unite with Liu Bei to attack Xuzhou!" Chen Gong said viciously: "The lord is kind to Tao Qian's father and son, Tao Qian's father and son are ungrateful and refuse to borrow grain, and the lord is famous for his master!" And Liu Bei saw that there was an opportunity to take advantage of it, and he would inevitably form an alliance with our army and join forces to crusade against Tao Qian's father and son! Then our army first fought with Tao Qian and his son, set fire to the firewood cart full of fire oil in Xuzhou, and then immediately retreated, letting Liu Bei and Tao Qian and his son go to the fire! ”

"Fight a battle, and then retire immediately?" Lu Bu asked in surprise.

"Not bad!" Chen Gong nodded vigorously, and said with a smile: "This battle does not need to care about victory or defeat, if the Tao army is defeated, then Liu Bei will definitely attack Tao Qian with all his might, and our army will retreat and fight with the two of them!" If our army leaves, retreat and avoid the edge of Tao Jun, Liu Bei is an ally of our army, even if he doesn't dare to fight with Tao Qian's father and son, Tao Qian's father and son will definitely not miss this opportunity to eliminate hidden dangers, and they will still fight Liu Bei's thieves to the death! And Tao Qian's father and son and Liu Bei's military strength is not as good as our army, no matter who they lose, who wins, or both lose, they will inevitably lose their strength, and the lord will take Xuzhou again, it will naturally be easy! ”

"Brilliant plan! That's it! When Lu Bu heard this, he quickly jumped up and shouted, "Come on, go and tell Xu Yan and Wang Kai to get back for me, I have an errand to explain!" Fast, the sooner the better! ”

"Liu Bei annihilates thieves! Tao Qian annihilates the thief! Seeing that Lu Bu adopted his own proposal, Chen Gong smiled on his face, but snorted coldly in his heart, "Just because you also want to play Wen Hou as a monkey?" I'm sorry, although Wen Hou is an ignorant and ignorant child, I, Chen Gong, am not! ”

In the end, Chen Gongtai, who has defeated Cao Boss many times in strategy, will not make a move, and it will be a fatal trick to make a move, Xu Yan and Wang Kai returned to Xiaopei, and asked Liu Bei to come forward as a guarantor in the reputation of their allies, Uncle Liu Huang, who was worried about how to put Lu Bu into the battlefield in Xuzhou to stir up the situation, was suddenly overjoyed, and after thinking for a long time and not feeling that it was unfavorable to him, he agreed to Lu Bu's request, and asked Jian Yong to go out and borrow grain from Xuzhou. Of course, Tao Qian and Chen Deng could not agree to such a difficult request, so they could only prepare to turn their faces and start a war, while continuing to ask Lu Bu and Liu Bei to wait for a response under the pretext that Tao Qian was seriously ill and Tao Ying was not in Xuzhou.

Lu Bu pleaded with Tao Qian's father and son twice and was refused, Liu Bei of course laughed so much that his mouth was about to crooked, and quickly told Lu Wenhou that he had been rejected, and also took the opportunity to take bad medicine to secretly instigate Lu Wenhou to do it, and Lu Wenhou finally did not disappoint Liu Bei this time, while angrily deciding to start a war against Xuzhou, he sent Zhang Liao as the vanguard, led 3,000 troops to Xiaopei, and used the excuse of crusading against the ungrateful Tao Qian father and son, asking his ally Liu Bei to send troops to help, and also said that the main force of Lu Bu's army was about to go south and divide the land and grain of Xuzhou peacefully. Although Uncle Liu, who had been looking forward to this day in his dreams, felt that things were a little too smooth, in order not to miss the opportunity, he also agreed to the request of his allies and decided to form an alliance with Lu Bu to discuss Tao Qian......

……

Xuzhou is a little far away from Chen Guojun, when Chen Deng sent an emergency messenger to gallop on the road, our deputy director Tao couldn't wait to personally lead the Junzi Army to set off south, passing through Nanton County, passing through the no-man's land in the middle of Runan, and going straight to Yangshan east of Runan County, where he sabotaged Cao Laoda's plan to rob grain, and unscrupulously weakened Cao Ying, the most dangerous enemy in Xuzhou.

In this southern expedition, Tao Ying did not even bring a single infantry except for the cavalry of the Junzi Army, because it was absolutely impossible to bring back the grain this time, and the hungry and red-eyed Cao Jun would never give Tao Ying the opportunity to bring the grain back to Xuzhou, so this time, Tao Ying had already made up his mind - set fire to burn the money and grain of the He Yi brothers!

When the Junzi Army arrived at the bank of the Zhushui River, which is less than forty miles away from Yangshan, the only bridge in this area on the other side of the river, there was already a Cao army waiting for it, and it also built temporary fortifications such as horse antlers to guard the bridge. Cao Hong, the general of the Cao army who led the team, laughed and shouted loudly, "Master Tao, my lord said that you will definitely come to help our army carry grain and grass, but there is no need, thank you for your kindness, we have our own manpower, so please go back." ”

"Cao thief! Sure enough, it was deceitful! You never believed me! Deputy Director Tao muttered aggrievedly, saying in his heart why Cao Ying didn't trust me so much, and even suspected that I would come to make trouble again, and arranged for the army to guard the ferry in advance, am I such a trustworthy person?

Grievances are grievances, but Tao Ying still refuses to suffer, and arches his hand to Cao Hong, who still has arrow wounds on his body, and says with a smile: "General Cao Hong, please don't misunderstand, I'm really worried about Meng Degong's lack of manpower, so I came to ask, do you want me to transfer a team of people to help?" ”

"Thanks, but still not." Cao Hong smiled on his face, but said viciously in his voice: "I don't dare to deceive Tao Gongzi, in fact, as early as yesterday, our army had already broken through Yangshan and beheaded He Man!" Tens of thousands of captured captives! Therefore, in terms of transporting grain, there is no need to worry about the son! ”

"Yesterday you already took Sheep Mountain? Cao thief's hands and feet are so fast. Tao Ying's heart sank, and he asked Chen Zhi next to him: "Shuzhi, you are a native of Runan, are there any other ferries or bridges to cross the river in the upstream and downstream of the river?" ”

"There are both upstream and downstream, but the ferry port upstream is too far away, and it is still next to the county Zhiping Yucheng in Runan County, which is controlled by the Runan official army." Chen Zhi replied quickly: "There are two downstream, one is near Gepiwu, less than thirty miles away, and the other is in Geling, about forty miles away. ”

"Go!" Tao Ying didn't want to think about it, and immediately ordered to go down the river, "I don't believe it, Cao Thief can still block all the ferry bridges in this area?!" ”

The order was conveyed, and the gentleman's army, who had never been afraid of a long-distance attack, immediately turned around and hurried downstream, Cao Jun found that the situation was not right, and the left and right deputies hurriedly came to Cao Hong, and said nervously together: "General, it's not good, Tao Yingxiao'er went downstream, he must be going downstream to find a ferry to cross the river, what if we can't catch up with him?" ”

"Don't be afraid." Cao Hong smiled happily and said: "It's also a coincidence, I just received the news that the lord has personally led the army to the downstream ferry Gepiwu, and Tao Ying will go downstream, and he will only happen to run into the main force of our army." So we don't need to chase after us, we just need to send a fast horse to report to the lord. ”

"The lord went to Gepiwu? Why? "Left and right are big odds.

"There is a mysterious strong man in Gepiwu Fort, who first captured He Yi and then defeated General Dian Wei." Cao Hong replied: "Although General Dian Wei is wounded, he can defeat General Dian Wei who has been injured, and this strong man is also very remarkable. The lord was very surprised, so he personally led the troops. ”

(To be continued)