After a short period of discussion and analysis, the Huainan seat of the Xuzhou army was finally determined in Hefei - this is also the choice of the Cao Wei army in history, but throughout Huainan, if you do not consider the comfort and luxury of living, there is no city more suitable than Hefei to become the Huainan office, and there is no city more suitable than Hefei to become the first military town of Huainan Xuzhou army with both land and water.

The biggest advantage of Hefei City is its transportation, the land roads are wide and smooth, located in the center of the three major towns of Shouchun, Liyang and Shucheng, and it is most convenient to communicate with each other and mobilize troops to support each other. In terms of waterways, the water that can pass through the warships goes directly to Chaohu Lake and Misukou, Chaohu Lake is a natural training place for the naval army, and the important surname of Misukou does not need to be explained, in history, Cao Laoda and Sun Lao Er have countless battles in Misukou, and whoever gets the Susukou will occupy the strategic initiative, and it is the first place for soldiers in the Jiangnan battlefield!

In addition, the fertilizer water adjacent to Hefei is directly connected to Shaobi Lake and Huai River, which can be sent to Hefei in an endless stream of timber from Taihang Mountain and Shouchun, Anfeng, and even Guangling, Xiapi and other grain-producing areas, which is convenient and fast and extremely safe. Therefore, Deputy Director Tao cheekily copied Boss Cao again, set the strategic support point of the self-army in Huainan in Hefei, and also invested most of the money and grain in various constructions in Hefei.

After finalizing this resolution, and busy with various aftermath affairs, the time has reached the end of the third year of the first peace, and now the New Year is about to be celebrated, considering that the class division is now unable to return to Xuzhou before the New Year, Deputy Director Tao Suo surnamed chose to let the army spend the New Year in Huainan, and rarely rewarded the three armies for improving food, and spent Chinese New Year's Eve with the officers and soldiers of the three armies in the barracks, and reluctantly changed the name of the second year to the second year of Jian'an, and very covetously accepted the name of the year that Elder Cao set for Emperor Xian of Han before the year - there is no choice, Deputy Director Tao, who pays attention to reputation, wants to make himself a suspected conspiracy infamous like Xiao Yuan Sangong.

Of course, Deputy Director Tao's long stay in Huainan, which is full of talents, is not for nothing, during this period, Deputy Director Tao used the means of recruiting talents to recruit several famous and civil officials who are currently in short supply in the Xuzhou army, two of whom are very well-known, one is called Jiang Gan Jiang Ziyi, and the other is called Qin Song and Qin Wenbiao. In addition, there is also a well-known figure, Zhang Zhao and Zhang Zibu, who once refused the appointment of Deputy Director Tao's cheap father Tao Qian.

In fact, the last time Deputy Director Tao went on a campaign against Zhenrong, he had a great chance to recruit Zhang Zhao -- because at that time, Zhang Zhao lived in seclusion in Jiangdu City on the outskirts of Guangling, and for a time he moved to Guangling City with refugees because Sun Ce attacked Guangling. It's a pity that Deputy Director Tao was just starting out at that time, and the arrogant Zhang Zhao still didn't look down on Deputy Director Tao, and Tao Qian was not dead at that time, because Zhang Zhao, who refused to use Tao Qian and had been in prison, was also worried about his safety, so he not only ignored the recruitment order posted by Deputy Director Tao in Guangling City, but also simply moved from Jiangdu to Fuling, Huainan, so as not to be discovered by Tao Qian's father and son's cronies Guangling Taishouzhang.

But then the situation was different, as the reputation of Deputy Director Tao became more and more famous, the Xuzhou army became stronger and stronger, and the five counties of Xuzhou became more and more prosperous and powerful, Zhang Zhao gradually began to waver, coupled with Tao Qian's death and Sun Ce, who recruited Zhang Zhao, was killed in advance, Zhang Zhao, who was unwilling to be lonely, was inevitably even more tempted, and finally simply persuaded his friend Chen Duan Chen Zizheng to go to Tao Ying first, during which Chen Duan naturally leaked the news that Zhang Zhao was in Huainan, and threw an olive branch to Tao Ying by Chen Duan's hand.

Tao Ying did not disappoint Zhang Zhao, and learned that Zhang Zhao, the only one full of politics in the Three Kingdoms game, was in Huainan, Tao Ying immediately took the time to personally visit Fuling, and finally recruited Zhang Zhao to the court, and also gave Zhang Zhao the title of Xuzhou Zhizhong, which is not a small official position, and let Zhang Zhao assist Lu Su to govern Huainan civil affairs, Chen Duan and Qin Song and other Huainan celebrities also have their own appointments, and Mr. Jiang Gan, who is now famous, was used by Deputy Director Tao as a military adviser with a very bad taste - ready to use Mr. Jiang Gan's words to listen to it in reverse, In order to correct the fallacy of his own scheme, it is also convenient to send an envoy to do some of Deputy Director Tao's favorite things of abduction and abduction.

After arranging these things, Deputy Director Tao, who had been away from Xuzhou for a long time, also decided to triumph on the fifth day of the first month of the second year of Jian'an, and when all the affairs of the retired army were arranged, the time was already the afternoon of the fourth day of the first month.

Just as the so-called happiness and sorrow, the wine was half-drunk, just when Deputy Director Tao and a gangster were drinking the expensive and good wine with the people's fat and ointment, a guard suddenly came in outside the hall and sent an urgent document to Tao Ying, saying that it was a letter sent by Chen Deng and Cao Bao, who were left behind in the rear, and Cao Bao sent a fast horse, and there was a major event. Deputy Director Tao didn't pay too much attention to it, he took the glass in one hand and unfolded the letter in the other, and when he looked down at the content of the letter, the smile on Deputy Director Tao's face suddenly disappeared, and the wine glass in his hand slammed into the case, splashing the clothes on his body.

To tell the truth, it is really rare for the new and old lackeys of Deputy Director Tao to see Deputy Director Tao so out of shape, the hall was suddenly silent, and Lu Su, who was familiar with Deputy Director Tao's surname, also quickly stood up and asked in surprise: "Why is the lord so shocked?" ”

Deputy Director Tao's face was solemn, and he was silent for a long time before he said: "Cao Thief used the reputation of the Son of Heaven to give Xuzhou two edicts of the Son of Heaven, one edict to my brother Pottery Merchant, and named my brother Pottery Merchant as the Assassin of Yangzhou!" The second edict was given to me, appointing me as the governor of Xu and Yang, and ordering me to send troops to defeat the rebel Gongsun Zhan's subordinate general Tian Kai, and level the Gongsun Zhan's rebel team in Qingzhou! ”

As soon as Deputy Director Tao said this, Jia Xu and Liu Ye and other masters of power and strategy also immediately changed color on their faces, and Lu Su, who was the best at forming alliances to resist the enemy, was also a little surprised, but the other Xuzhou generals present looked at each other, I don't know why Tao Ying was surprised? Among them, Chen Zhi also said: "Lord, Cao Thief named you as the governor of Xu Yang Erzhou in the honor of the Son of Heaven, and named the brother of the lord as the assassin of Yangzhou, this is a good thing?" Why is the lord not happy? ”

Deputy Director Tao smiled bitterly, and said after a moment: "A good thing? I cousin my brother is Lujiang Taishou, but Cao thief named my brother as Yangzhou Assassin in the honor of the Son of Heaven, Yangzhou five counties and one country, at present I only won Jiujiang Lujiang two counties, but Cao thief can't wait to seal me as Yangzhou pastor, which is also a good thing? This is clearly an attempt to instigate discord and make Yuan Shu, Liu Xuan, Wang Lang, Yan Baihu and others on the south bank of the Yangtze River hostile to me! ”

"Cao Mengde's move will definitely have a future." Jia Xu analyzed: "Cao Mengde named the lord as the pastor of Yangzhou, so that the lord commanded the Jiangnan heroes in honor, although the Jiangnan heroes will be jealous and dissatisfied with the lord, but they may not be able to start a war against our army, if you want to use the hand of the Jiangnan heroes to contain and harass our army, Cao Mengde will definitely have a follow-up, instigating and instigating Yuan Shu, Liu Miao and others to send troops to attack me." ”

Tao Ying nodded, picked up Chen Deng's letter and said in a deep voice: "Yes, there is still a follow-up, and it is still a very troublesome follow-up, Chen Yuanlong also reported a piece of information that has been confirmed to be true or false behind the urgent document - our army sent to Xudu to lurk in the detailed report, there are rumors that Cao thief played Jiangxia Huangzu as the Lujiang Taishou, but our army has not yet confirmed whether the news is true or false, Chen Yuanlong and Cao Hong did not dare to ignore this important news, and also reported to me at the end of the letter - I suspect that this news is likely to be true. ”

"Ninety percent of the time it's true." Liu Ye, who is good at analyzing intelligence, also stood up and said: "The news that Huang Zu's eldest son, Huang Jie, suffered a big loss in the hands of our army, it is impossible to hide the details of Cao Thief's work in Huainan, and Cao Thief must have received this news, so he deliberately made Huang Zu the Taishou of Lujiang, the purpose of which was to make Huang Zu, a heavy general in Jingzhou who was in charge of Jiangxia, hostile to our army and provoke a war between our army and Huang Zu's army. And with Huang Zu's irascible and narrow-minded surname, after being given the title of Lujiang Taishou, he will inevitably regard our army as an enemy, and our army's Lujiang County will be difficult to live in peace in the future. ”

Deputy Director Tao was noncommittal, but the generals of Xuzhou on the side jumped up as if they had been beaten with chicken blood, and shouted in a hurry: "Don't worry, lord!" If Huang Zu doesn't come, if he dares to come, he will definitely let him come back! The last general will order the guards to find the sun and guard against Huang Zupifu for the lord! ”

"Lord, the last general Wei Yan is also willing to go to guard the sun! If Huang Zu comes with Jingzhou's fallen soldiers, please refuse it for the lord! If Huang Zu commands the troops of Jiangxia to come, please swallow it for the king! ”

"The lord, do not eliminate the passive guards, the last general Xu Chu asked to lead 20,000 elite soldiers to the west, and set to behead Huang Zupifu and dedicate it to the tent to vent the hatred of the lord!"

"The last general, Chen Zhi, is also willing to ask the army to march west!"

"Alright." Deputy Director Tao finally spoke, first stopped the enthusiastic invitation of a fierce general, and said with a smile: "Huang Zu Pifu is not worried, killing chickens with a knife, why do you need the generals to do it, a Xuzhou Ya general is enough to make Huang Zu Pifu dare not cross the thunder pond half a step." Don't worry, don't worry, come, let's continue to drink, continue to drink, today we say that we don't get drunk and don't return, these trivial things, let's change it and talk about it! Come, all sit down, drink! ”

Laughing, Deputy Director Tao of the alcohol test also took the lead in raising the wine glass, inviting the generals to drink together, hearing Deputy Director Tao's flattery, most of the generals in Xuzhou were smiling, and they all sat down and raised their glasses to drink with Deputy Director Tao, Jia Xu, Lu Su and Liu Ye and other strategists also understood, all shut up and did not mention these official matters, only Huainan celebrity Jiang Gan Jiang Ziyi was very uninteresting, shook his head and said: "Lord, Huang Zumangfu is indeed not worried, but the matter of Qingzhou has to be prevented, when Cao Mengde entered Xuzhou, The five counties of Xuzhou have been in an emergency, and the heroes of the world have stood by, but Qingzhou Tian Kaitong led Kong Rong and Liu Bei to reinforce Xuzhou, which won precious respite for the father of the lord, and had a high and high grace for Xuzhou. ”

Speaking of this, Mr. Jiang Gan, who was elegant and extraordinary, shook his head again, and then said: "Cao Mengde was also one of the parties involved in the incident back then, and he knew the relationship between the matter and the matter best, but now Cao Mengde just faked the edict of the Son of Heaven and ordered the lord to lead the army to attack Tian Kai. ”

Hearing Mr. Jiang Gan's words, not to mention that Lu Su, Liu Ye and others quietly rolled their eyes, even Yang Hong, who was famous for being in a high position and never doing business, was a little strange, and said that Tao Yingxiao thief had taken the wrong medicine, this guy seemed to be a little stupider than me? I can't even see that Tao Ying's little thief doesn't want to be too public, and he can't see it, how can Tao Ying's little thief still reuse such a person? But our Deputy Director Tao was silent, just raised his glass and smiled: "What Mr. Ziyi said is reasonable, but now is not the time to discuss this matter, drink, drink, and discuss this matter later." ”

Mr. Jiang Gan finally closed his damn crow's mouth, and the drinking party of the Xuzhou army was finally continued, and the rotation of wine and drinking until the second watch, Deputy Director Tao, who was not strong enough to drink, finally ordered the end of the banquet, and when the Xuzhou civil and military officers left one after another, Tao Ying commanded, Jia Xu, Lu Su, Liu Ye and Chen Ying and several other confidants and strategists themselves entered the back hall to wait.

Jia Xu, Lu Su and others waited for a long time, Tao Yingcai finally finished saying goodbye to everyone, and returned to the back hall with a full body of wine and a drunken face, but after entering the room, the drunkenness on Deputy Director Tao's face was immediately swept away, first took out Chen Deng's letter and handed it to a few henchmen and lackeys to watch in turn, and then asked straight to the point: "According to the intention of everyone, Cao thief fake Tianzi edict ordered me to attack Qingzhou, what do you mean?" He knew that our army had a close relationship with Tian Kai, and it was impossible for him to really poison Tian Kai, so he was not afraid that I would disobey the order and not send troops? Or send troops without helping? ”

"Cao Mengde's move may also have consequences." Jia Xu analyzed: "Nowadays, the Han dynasty is declining, the majesty of the Son of Heaven is lost, and the binding force of the edict on the princes is pitiful....... ”

"World-famous wisdom?" Lu Su, Liu Ye and Chen Ying, who were present, all rolled their eyes quietly, and muttered in their hearts together, "Smart and wise? It seems that Mr. Wenhe's sycophant kung fu is not below Mr. Zhong Ming, our lord is the most famous in the world, it seems to be cunning and cunning, right? ”

"The wisdom and wisdom of the lord who is famous all over the world." Jia Lao Poison continued quietly: "Cao Mengde should know very well that the edict he promulgated in the name of the Son of Heaven cannot restrain the lord, let alone really provoke the Qingxu war, and with Cao Mengde's cunning and cunning, it is unlikely that he will do anything untargeted to provoke our army, so there must be a conspiracy behind this matter, and the lord needs to be very careful." ”

"I think so too." Tao Ying nodded and said: "Our army has taken the entire territory of Huainan, Cao Thief must be jealous, it is impossible for our army to gain a firm foothold in Huainan comfortably, and order me to attack Qingzhou with an edict of the Son of Heaven that looks like waste paper, it should be just the beginning of Cao Thief's tricks, but I don't know what Cao Thief will be next, I don't know what the princes have to think about this?" ”

"There is not enough information, and it cannot be analyzed for the time being." Liu Ye, who was good at analyzing intelligence news, shook his head, and the honest people over there, Lu Su and Chen Ying, shook their heads, and Jia Xu also shook his head, and after a little calculation, he added: "But this matter may be related to Yuan Shao?" ”

"Something to do with Yuan Shao?" Tao Ying looked a little nervous, and hurriedly asked, "How does Mr. Wenhe know?" ”

"It's very simple." Jia Xu replied: "If our army follows the edict and sends troops to attack Qingzhou, Cao Mengde can certainly sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight to obtain fishing profits, but the most direct beneficiary is Yuan Shao, and Yuan Shao cannot sit idly by and ignore this matter, and I hope that the lord will pay close attention to Yuan Shao's actions and be prepared in case of emergency." ”

Deputy Director Tao stopped talking, and after thinking for a long time, Deputy Director Tao ordered: "Three countermeasures, first, make public the edict of the Son of Heaven ordering me to attack Qingzhou, and make sure that the military and civilian people of the five counties of Xuzhou and the two counties of Huainan know that it was the Son of Heaven who forced me to take revenge." second, to Cao Hong, asking Cao Hong to strengthen the investigation and intelligence collection of Jizhou; Third, I wrote to Chen Deng, asking Chen Deng to bribe Yuan Shang and Xu You with my reputation, and persuade Xu You to stay in Xuzhou for a longer time, saying that when the situation is clear, Xu You may still have a role, and leaving Xu You in Xuzhou can also facilitate communication and bribery. ”

The strategists agreed, and Chen Ying, who was the main secretary, also hurriedly drafted the order, preparing to send Tao Ying's order out overnight on a fast horse, so as to gain valuable time for the Xuzhou army. Taking advantage of the time when Chen Ying drafted the order, Deputy Director Tao turned to a few lackeys and accomplices and asked, "What do you think about the matter of the southern front?" Cao thief deliberately canonized Jiangxia Huangzu as the Taishou of Lujiang with the honor of the Son of Heaven, and deliberately canonized my brother pottery merchant as the assassin of Yangzhou, his evil intention is Sima Zhao's heart, and everyone knows it! If you want to keep the war raging on the southern front of our army and disperse our army, which is already slightly weaker than his, if you let Cao thief's trick succeed, I am afraid that we will have some trouble on the southern front, and the princes can have a plan to break it? ”

"Who is Sima Zhao? Why does the lord always say that his mind and thoughts are known to everyone? ”

Jia Xu, Lu Su and others were very strange about how Deputy Director Tao kept coming up with this allusion in his mouth, but now was not the time to study this matter in detail, Liu Ye, who was good at analyzing the situation, preemptively said: "The key to our army's southern front is Huang Zu!" Although the two armies of Yuan Shu and Liu Xuan hated our army the most, one of them was slightly weaker, and the other was seriously damaged, and the single army was unable to pose a threat to our army, and they did not share the sky with each other. ”

"Only Huang Zu, only Huang Zu is the biggest threat to the southern front of our army." Liu Ye continued: "Huang Zu sits in Jiangxia, close to our army, it is easy to create friction and intensify contradictions, and at the same time, Huang Zu only listens to Liu Biao's orders, and no one can stop and restrain him in Jiangxia, if Huang Zu wants to make it difficult with our army, even if it provokes a full-scale war in Jingxu and Xuzhou, it is not difficult." As soon as the Jingxu War began, not only did Cao Thief benefit the most, but Yuan Shu and Liu Xuan's second army was also bound to move, taking advantage of the fire to rob, further worsening the situation on our army's southern front, so for our army, the key to solving the trouble of Huang Zu on the southern front was to solve the trouble, and as long as the trouble of Huang Zu was solved, Yuan Shu and Liu Xuan's second army would not dare to make a slight move. ”

"In Mr. Ziyang's words, the key to our army's southern front is indeed Huang Zu alone." Deputy Director Tao nodded, frowned again and said, "But how to solve this trouble?" Because of the Huang Shot, Huang Zu hated our army to the core, and if he wanted to buy or ease relations with him, I am afraid it would not be so easy. ”

"Don't worry, my lord, this matter is as easy as a finger." Finally, it was the turn of Jia Lao, who was full of bad water, to show his skills, and said with a smile: "Liu Biao's name is a gentleman, but he is quite suspicious in his heart, and his cronies Cai Mao's brother is also a despicable villain who is jealous of his talents. The lord only needs to send someone to Xiangyang to spread rumors, saying that Huang Zu is angry that Liu Biao reused his wife's uncle Cai Mao and others, and put him at the border for a long time, secretly communicating with Cao Ying to rebel. ”

Then the lord excused himself to thank Liu Biao for his restraint, sent an envoy to Jingzhou, and took the opportunity to bribe the Cai Mao brothers to befriend him, lying that he heard the rumors that Huang Zu was angry with the Cai brothers and had resentment, and secretly colluded with Cao Ying to try to rebel. In this way, Cao Mengde showed that Huang Zu was conferred by the title of Lujiang Taishou for no reason, coupled with the slanderous instigation of the Cai brothers, it was difficult for Liu Biao not to be suspicious of Huang Zu, at that time, even if Liu Biao did not order the recall of Huang Zu, he would inevitably send important ministers and confidants to monitor Huang Zu, so that Huang Zu would not dare to act recklessly in Jiangxia. ”

"Wonderful!" Deputy Director Tao applauded with joy, and after a little calculation, Deputy Director Tao smiled and said: "Let Yang Zhongming do this matter, such as bribery and bribery, embarrassment, sowing discord, framing Zhongliang and other immoral things, in our army, there is no second person better than Mr. Zhongming!" ”

As soon as Deputy Director Tao's words fell, in the back hall, there was immediately a sound of evil laughter like a night owl, "The lord is good at knowing talents, and he is really good!" ”