"Tao Qian father and son, what are you planning to do?"

Our Xuande Gong was completely confused by Tao Qian and Tao Ying, the father and son, before Tao Qian held out the token seal letter representing the identity of Xuzhou Mu, Liu Bei was already taken aback, Tao Qian held the card seal in front of him again, Liu Bei, who faintly guessed Tao Qian's intentions, couldn't help but have a heartbeat and shortness of breath, but Tao Ying jumped out to sing this one, Liu Bei didn't understand it at all.

"Cousin, are you crazy?!" This exclamation was made by Tao Qian's nephew, Tao Ying's cousin, and Tao Ji, who had served as the assassin of Jiaozhou in Eastern Wu in history, and Tao Ji, who was only seventeen years old, was not even qualified to drink together, but under the strength of the blood, Tao Ji still exclaimed: "Xuzhou is the foundation of the uncle, how can you give it to others?!" ”

"Brother Xian's words are wrong." Tao Ying retorted loudly: "Xuzhou is the land of the Han family, and my father is only a pastor for the Son of Heaven, how can I say that I am the foundation?" As the old saying goes: The destiny of heaven is constant, only the virtuous live in it, Uncle Liu is a descendant of the Han Dynasty and Miao, with high morality, both civil and military, and thousands of miles to drive troops to kill Cao thieves, save thousands of lives in Xuzhou from fire and water, it is time to take over his father and take charge of Xuzhou! ”

Tao Ji's eyes widened, and for the first time, he realized that his second cousin was not only honest, but also stupid! The Xuzhou civil and military officials next to him were also dumbfounded, looking at Tao Ying as if they didn't know, Tao Qian was even more dazed, and looked at his son in surprise and couldn't say a word for a long time.

"Tao Envoy-kun, Ling Gongzi is joking, right?" It was Liu Bei who broke the silence, and asked Tao Qian in an extremely surprised tone.

"No, no." Tao Qian finally came back to his senses, quickly shook his head, and gave Liu Bei the card seal with both hands, and said sincerely: "Xuande Gong, although the dog is ignorant, what he said is exactly what the old man thinks. Today's turmoil, Wang Gang is sluggish, Xuande Gong is a member of the Han family, and it is appropriate to support Sheji. The old man is old and incompetent, and he is willing to give up Xuzhou, Xuande Gong please do not shirk, and write his own expression and play the court. ”

"Tao Yuanjun, you're joking." Liu Bei hurriedly knelt down on his knees, clasped his hands into fists, and said to Tao Qian very solemnly: "Although Liu Bei is a Miao descendant of the Han Dynasty, his merits are measurable, and he is afraid that he is incompetent for the plains. Now it is a great righteousness, so I came to help each other, and the public said this, is it doubtful that Liu Bei has the intention of annexation? If you think of this, the emperor will not bless you! ”

"Sure enough." Tao Ying sneered in his heart, "Liu Bei, Liu Bei, your acting skills are indeed brilliant, but it's a pity that you're not home yet!" - If you really don't want to take Xuzhou, what are you doing quietly clenching your fists just now? ”

"Uncle." After muttering in his heart, Tao Ying hurriedly said: "Uncle, don't shirk first, please listen to the words of the little nephew, the traitor Zhang Min was greedy for money and killed, and caused a catastrophe for Xuzhou. It is reasonable to say that my father should give up Xuzhou, and I hope that my uncle will take over from my father and take charge of Xuzhou for the military and civilian people of Xuzhou. ”

"Cao Bing hasn't retreated yet!" Tao Ji shouted angrily, "The Cao thieves are still besieging the city on all sides, and they may raise troops to attack the city at any time!" ”

"Shut up, Brother Ru is talking to Xuande Gong, Hugh has to interject." Tao Qian scolded angrily.

"Third brother, you don't have to worry about this." Tao Ying turned to Tao Ji and said sincerely: "Third brother, haven't you heard of General Guan Yunchang's famous name of Wen Jiu and Huaxiong? Haven't you heard of the three generals Liu, Guan, and Zhang fighting against Lu Bu? There is also Zhao Zilong, who is ugly in the battle of the general Jiehe, who killed Yuan Shao and lost his armor and collapsed into an army, now they are all in Xuzhou City, and they are still worried that Cao Bing will not retreat, and Cao Thief will not be destroyed? ”

Speaking of this, Tao Ying turned to the Xuzhou civil and military officials present again and asked, "Ladies and gentlemen, do you say yes or no?" ”

Most of the civil and military officials nodded yes, and Mi Fang echoed loudly, "What the second prince said is very true, there are three generals Xuande Gong and Guan Zhang Zhao here, and even if Cao Bing has one million, we can sit back and relax......." As a result, before the words were finished, Mi Fang was already stunned by her brother Mi Zhu, and her voice involuntarily decreased.

Tao Yingdu has already said it to this point, and Liu Bei has no other way but to bow his hand to Tao Qian and say: "Tao Gong is very loving, and it is difficult to repay ten thousand deaths, but now that Cao Bing has not retreated, he should discuss the withdrawal of the army first, and wait until Liu Bei kills and retreats Cao Bing and relieves the siege of Xuzhou, and then reason." ”

"What Xuande Gong said is extremely true." Mi Zhu also stood up and said respectfully to Tao Qian: "Although the prince of the palace is a good intention, but now that Cao thief soldiers are coming to the city, he should discuss the strategy of retreating from the enemy. When things are calm, it is okay to discuss the matter of concessions. ”

"Since that's the ......, let's wait until Cao Bing is retreated, and then discuss." Tao Qian hesitated for a moment, and finally withdrew the card seal, and glanced at Tao Ying again, his eyes were very complicated.

"Retired Cao Bing? Easy to say. Tao Ji sneered in his heart, and said in his heart that if Cao Bing was really so easy to retreat, he would have retreated a long time ago, and he was still waiting for the two or three thousand soldiers and horses in your Liu Guanzhang's hands? But it's okay, as long as you are willing to go out of the city and fight the Cao thief, no matter whether you win or lose, Uncle and we can reap the benefits.

At this time, Tao Qian had already asked Liu Bei about the strategy of retreating, Liu Bei thought carefully for a moment, and replied solemnly: "There is a way to salute first and then soldiers, and you should send a letter to Cao Ying first to persuade him to reconcile, if you don't obey, it is not too late to lead the troops to fight with him." ”

"Repair the book and persuade peace?" How do you look at Liu Bei, how unpleasant Tao Ji almost didn't laugh out loud, and said in his heart that if Cao Ying could accept the request for peace, he would have accepted the persuasion of others before, and he was still waiting for you, a mat weaver and peddler?

"Sure enough, slippery." Tao Ying smiled even colder in his heart, "I'm wondering, how could Liu Bei write a letter to Cao Ying when he saved Xuzhou, he wanted to preserve his strength for a long time, and he didn't want to fight hard with Cao Ying." ”

Tao Qian obviously didn't expect Liu Bei to give such an answer, so he nodded after a while, coughed and said, "It's okay, it's okay." ”

Seeing that Tao Qian agreed with his suggestion, Liu Bei immediately ordered someone to take pen and ink and silk, and wrote a letter to Cao Ying in public, persuading Cao Ying to stop the war and stop fighting. ”

"Then there's Lao Xian's nephew." Liu Bei didn't think much about it, put the silk with the written text into the lacquer and sealed it, and handed it to Tao Ying, Tao Ying took it respectfully with both hands, and obtained Tao Qian's consent, and soon went out to arrange for someone to deliver the letter.

…………

After Tao Ying left, the banquet ended quickly, Tao Qian was old and sick, and could not accompany Liu Bei for a long time, so he ordered the Mi Zhu brothers to arrange the pavilion for Liu Guan, Zhang and Zhao to stay, and asked Chen Deng and Tao Ji to arrange wine and meat to treat Liu Bei's team, and arrange a camp for Liu Bei's team, while Tao Qian himself returned to the back room to rest with the support of the pottery merchant.

After arriving at a place where no one was, Tao Qian suddenly whispered to the Tao Shang: "Send someone to find your second brother, let him finish the matter and come back immediately, because his father has something to discuss with him, don't alarm others." ”

The pottery merchant is really honest, hearing his father's order, he is naturally embarrassed, Tao Qian impatiently urged: "Go and arrange it immediately, remember, don't let others find out." The potter nodded and hurriedly arranged for his subordinates to go to the church to meet Taoying.

…………

It was not only Tao Qian's father and son who were also discussing in secret, but at the same time, Liu Bei temporarily dismissed Guan Zhang and Zhao Sanjun under the pretext of restraining the soldiers not to disturb the people, and went to stay at the pavilion alone with the Mizhu brothers. On the way, Liu Bei smiled and asked Mi Zhu: "Zizhong, Tao Yuanjun's second son, doesn't seem to be the same as you described?" ”

"Mi Zhu is also strange about this matter." Mi Zhu said suspiciously: "It stands to reason that the lord invited the Duke of Xuande to enter Xuzhou, and he and the eldest prince should be resolutely opposed, why would he express his support and propose to give up Xuzhou before the lord?" ”

"Or he, like the lord, was scared of being killed by the Cao thief, so he thought of a place with the lord, and planned to stuff the red-hot coals of Xuzhou to Xuande Gong." Mi Fang interjected and said: "Or this matter is simply instructed by the father-in-law, otherwise with his little ability, he will definitely not be able to say so many suitable and appropriate words." ”

"It's not from Tao Envoy's instructions." Liu Bei shook his head and said with a smile: "I can see that he took the lead in proposing to give up Xuzhou, and the surprised look on Tao Yuanjun's face is definitely not a fake, which is enough to prove that Tao Yuanjun has never been angry with that Tao Ergongzi before." ”

"Could it be that this stupid boy has opened his mind and become smarter?" Mi Zhu also felt that Tao Qian's surprise did not seem to be fake, and sighed: "Regardless of whether this second son of Tao is enlightened or not, he took the lead in proposing to give Xuzhou to Xuande Gong, but he also inadvertently added some trouble to Xuande Gong. If the lord first proposed to give up Xuzhou to Xuande Gong, then no one in Xuzhou would dare to oppose - but now that the second son of Tao first proposed to give up Xuzhou, some people would have the courage to oppose it. ”

"It doesn't matter, Beiben has no intention of annexing Xuzhou, and Tao Ergongzi likes to play little tricks and follow him." Liu Bei replied easily, then frowned again, and muttered: "Speaking of small tricks, the words behind Tao Ergongzi seem to be playing tricks, saying that as long as I am here, I will not worry about Cao Bing not retreating, and his words seem to be flattering, but in fact they are a test run, a test of my determination to retreat from Cao, and a run to encourage me to go out of the city to fight Cao." ”

Mi Zhu was stunned, subconsciously reined in the horse's head, and after carefully recalling for a while, Mi Zhu exclaimed in a low voice: "Xuande Gong said this, Mi Zhu also felt that it was wrong, Tao Ergongzi's words seemed to be flattering and flattering, and they were stable, but in fact they were clever temptations, instigating Xuande Gong to send troops to retreat from Cao, and at the same time blocking the road for Xuande Gong to immediately take over Xuzhou, forcing Xuande Gong to withdraw Cao's soldiers first, and then discuss state affairs." ”

Liu Bei nodded silently, admitting that what Mi Zhu said was true, and Mi Fang on the side said contemptuously: "That straw bag also has this ability?" I'm afraid it's a coincidence, right? ”

"Let's hope it's a coincidence." Liu Bei sighed secretly, and said faintly: "In short, this second son of Tao is not that simple. ”

"Don't drive! Don't drive! ”

Suddenly there was a nervous shouting sound in front of the street, and a member of Xuzhou 100 people rushed over, grabbed Mi Zhu's horse reins, and shouted sweaty: "Don't drive, something is wrong!" General Cao Bao ordered to meet the lord immediately, where is the lord? ”

"Don't rush, take your time, what's wrong?" Mi Zhu asked.

"Second son......, second son!" The hundred people wiped their sweat and stammered: "Second son, he is out of the city!" ”

"The second son is out of the city? Where did he go out of town? Mi Zhu's surprise is not trivial, and he said that now Cao Bing is besieging the city on all sides, and going out of the city is looking for death, what is Tao Yingxiao doing when he goes out of the city?

"He's out of town to deliver letters! Go to Cao Ying to deliver a letter! The hundred people shouted hoarsely: "The second prince said that he is the son of the lord and should contribute to the military and people of Xuzhou, so the second prince took the persuasion and letter of the Duke of Xuande and personally went to Cao Ying to deliver the letter!" The second son also said that if he can't come back, he will ask us to kowtow to the lord for him and apologize, saying that he can no longer fulfill his filial piety under the knees of the lord! ”

Liu Bei, Mi Zhu and Mi Fang and others were all dumbfounded, and the military and civilian people of Xuzhou who were watching next to them were also shocked, saying that they didn't expect that the legendary cowardly and incompetent Tao Er Gongzi would have such a brave and righteous side, and he could personally send a letter to Cao Ying to ask for peace in order to save the military and civilian people of Xuzhou from being slaughtered by the Cao army!

"The lord is resting in the mansion, come with me." The matter was big, and Mi Zhu didn't dare to slack off, so he hurriedly led the hundred people to rush to Taofu to deliver the letter and arrange for Liu Bei to rest at the pavilion, which was entrusted by Mi Zhu to his brother Mi Fang.

"Looks like I'm too careful." Looking at the back of Mi Zhu leaving in a hurry, Liu Bei breathed a sigh of relief, and said with a smile in his heart: "Mi Zizhong is right, a stupid person is a stupid person, even the sarcasm of Cao Ying in my letter was not seen, so I dared to personally go to Cao Ying to deliver the letter, this second son of Tao will definitely not come back." ”

"That's not right!" Thinking about this, Liu Bei suddenly remembered something, and hurriedly turned to Mi Fang next to him and asked, "Zifang, in Cao Ying, is there anyone who knows this second son of Tao?" ”

"I don't think anyone knows each other." Mi Fang said lightly: "The second son of Tao lives in a simple place, and he either practices martial arts or studies all day long, even in Xuzhou City, not many people know him, and no one on Cao Jun's side should know him." ”

"That's good." Liu Bei sighed and said slowly: "Fortunately, no one in Cao Ying knows the second son-otherwise, the second son will inevitably be poisoned, Tao Gong is old and sick, if he receives the bad news from his beloved son, he is only afraid of ......." ”

"Ah, how did I forget that?" Mi Fang woke up with a scream, and leaned into Liu Bei's ear and whispered: "Don't worry, Xuande Gong, there will definitely be someone over there who will recognize the second son!" ”

Liu Bei remained silent, turned his horse's head and said: "Lord Mi, over there in the pavilion, please go and arrange it, prepare to see Tao Envoy Jun, Tao Er Gongzi went out of the city to deliver a letter, went deep into Longtan Tiger's Den, and was ready to go to Tao Envoy Jun to ask for an order to fight and rescue the second son." ”