After confirming that Cao Ying had withdrawn from the land of Xuzhou, Kong Rong and Tian Kai withdrew their troops together, although these two big brothers in troubled times had poor skills, bad luck, and short lives, but they were not bad in terms of morality, and they took a large group of brothers to save their old friend Tao Qian's Xuzhou, and they didn't want any reward at the end, and listened to a few words of thanks from Tao Qian's father and son, and then took the brothers back to collect protection money without saying a word, and didn't even drink a few sips of tea.

So far, in this troubled era of the Three Kingdoms, Kong Rong and Tian Kai are indeed two rare good buddies, so Tao Ying not only remembered their kindness and benevolence, but also made up his mind to repay them when he had the opportunity - and then knock a stroke from them!

Zhao Yun also left, with Liu Bei borrowed a thousand cavalry from Gongsun Zhan, on the day of parting, Tao Ying took the pottery merchant and Tao Ji brothers to see off Zhao Yun, seeing Liu Bei holding Zhao Yun's hand and crying to death, Zhao Yun also choked up, Tao Ying understood that it was almost impossible for him to pull this super general, so Tao Ying was too lazy to show his superb acting skills that definitely surpassed Uncle Liu Huang, but solemnly thanked Zhao Yun, and told Zhao Yun that Zhao Yun could come to Xuzhou at any time as long as he wanted. The door of Xuzhou is always open to General Zilong. Zhao Yun politely thanked Tao Ying for his invitation, while Liu Bei secretly sneered on the side, sneering at Tao Ying's self-conscious move of digging the foot of the wall in front of him.

Immediately afterwards, Liu Bei also took Guan Yu and Zhang Fei away, and took his more than 2,000 plains team to Xiaopeicheng to station, and also took away 9,000 stone of grain and 300,000 yuan of military salaries supported by Tao Qian, in addition to a large number of weapons, war horses, forage, military tents, iron and various military supplies, which was definitely a lot of money.

Cao Bao and Cao Hong and other important ministers of Xuzhou did not agree to give so much, and the young and vigorous Tao Ji was even more resolute against it, feeling that Liu Bei only had more than 2,000 soldiers and horses, and it was a pure waste to give so much, which was even more difficult to bear for Xuzhou, which had just experienced Cao Ying's rebellion and was greatly injured.

Tao Qian did not accept the opposition of his nephew and confidants, and Tao Ying also resolutely stood on Tao Qian's side, and reluctantly suppressed the opposition of Tao Ji and Cao Bao and others under the pretext of knowing that he was grateful for the report, and handed over the promised military grain and grass to Liu Bei. Because Tao Ying calculated very clearly, even if the money and grain were kept in his hands, it would be difficult to build an army as strong as Liu Beijun in a short period of time, and at the same time, he would be infamous for being ungrateful and untrustworthy. Therefore, instead of being stingy, it is better to be generous and send Liu Bei, the watchdog, which can not only temporarily appease this white-eyed wolf and boss nemesis, but also gain the reputation of Entu Bao, which has infinite benefits for the Xuzhou army that is currently suffering from great vitality.

Although the abacus played beautifully, but the next two news, Tao Qian and Tao Ying, the loyal and honest father and son, said that they couldn't laugh at anything, the first news was that the richest man in Xuzhou, Mi Zhu and Mi Fang, who had tens of thousands of slaves, under the pretext of helping Liu Bei Tuntian, to reduce the burden on the people of Xuzhou, sent Liu Bei two thousand private troops and a batch of grain and grass military supplies, and raised Liu Bei, who was already very fat, to fatten him even more, and also directly put on a position of resolutely supporting Liu Bei.

The second news was even worse, the Xuzhou general stationed in Kaiyang City, Langya County, Zang Ba, on the pretext that he was injured in the battle with Cao's army, refused Tao Qian's invitation to Pengcheng to discuss the reconstruction of Xuzhou, and at the same time sent his deputy Sun Guan to Xiaopei to congratulate Liu Bei on moving to Xiaopei.

After the Yellow Turban Uprising was pacified, Zang Ba led the army to garrison Kaiyang, and gradually got rid of Tao Qian's control, which is equivalent to reading power, and now the five counties of Xuzhou have experienced the Cao Ying Rebellion, the main force of the Xuzhou army has been greatly injured, and the strength of the Zang Ba army with tens of thousands of soldiers and horses has actually exceeded the Xuzhou army. And Zang Ba refused Tao Qian's summons but took the initiative to move closer to Liu Bei, the taste of which was naturally extremely dangerous.

Tao Qian secretly gritted his teeth at Zang Ba, and the current strength of the Xuzhou army was not enough to teach Zang Ba a lesson, let alone offend Zang Ba, so Tao Qian could only swallow his anger and send a messenger to Kaiyang, send medicine and greetings to Zang Ba, try to maintain a weak connection with Zang Ba, ensure that the last layer of window paper that turned his face was not pierced, and at the same time speed up the work of reorganizing the Xuzhou army. And with this spring breeze, our deputy director Tao was finally appointed by Tao Qian as the Sima of Xuzhou's Dianjun, and started recruiting at the same time as Cao Bao, the chief general of Xuzhou.

On the second day of March in the first year of Xingping (A.D. 194), Tao Ying received the seal of the military Sima on the lobby of the Xuzhou Thorn History Mansion, and officially assumed the post of the military Sima, on the day of his appointment, the first order issued by Tao Ying was to post the list text, tell the people of Xuzhou, and call on the people of Xuzhou to join the army, receive military training, and jointly defend the land of Xuzhou.

By the way, Tao Ying actually thought about going back to his hometown Danyang to recruit troops, but unfortunately Danyang's current Taishou and Sun Ce's maternal uncle Wu Jing and Tao Ying's cheap father Tao Qian are rivals, and they are under the control of Liu Xuan, the assassin of Yangzhou. But fortunately, Tao Ying's concept of army building has long been freed from the shackles of this era, and the regional requirements for military sources are not high, and the impact is not very great.

Tao Ying's recruitment point is set up in the small school field outside the east gate of Xuzhou, in the first three days of March, Tao Ying, who is full of armor, came to the school field in high spirits, ready to personally select qualified soldiers, but when he arrived at the scene, Tao Ying was dumbfounded, it turned out that there was no crowd of people in Tao Ying's imagination on the small school field, and there were not even a few people, in front of the Xuzhou officials who were responsible for registering the names of the recruits, there were only a dozen or so people in Xuzhou who were yellow and thin, and there were only a dozen or so people in Xuzhou who were yellow and thin.

"Why are there so many people?" Tao Qian was shocked and asked Tao Ji, the cousin of Tao Qian's deputy, "Is it that the list was torn up by someone, and the people of Xuzhou didn't see it?" ”

Tao Ji is Tao Qian's deputy who has been assigned to Tao Ying, Tao Ji, who has more than half a year of military experience, originally planned to make a big show under Cao Bao, and he didn't want to be a helper for the nerd second brother who had no military experience at all, but he didn't dare to disobey his uncle, who had a nurturing grace for him, so he reluctantly obeyed his fate and served as a tooth keeper under Tao Ying - but his heart was naturally full of unhappiness. So when Tao Ying asked, Tao Ji immediately replied angrily: "The list is posted next to the city gate, and there are gatekeepers watching, who dares to hiss?" ”

"Then why didn't anyone come to join the army?" Tao Ying asked: "Xuzhou has just experienced a great turmoil, and there are countless displaced people, so there should be many people who are willing to serve as soldiers and eat food?" ”

"Second brother, do you understand the military?" Tao Ji said even more angrily: "It's March, the busy farming season, Cao Bing has retreated again, can the people of Xuzhou not rush home to plant some crops, and how many can stay in the city and wait to starve to death?" Also, General Cao had already started recruiting troops ten days ago, and those people who wanted to be soldiers had already gone to General Cao to join the army, and they were still waiting for you? ”

Tao Ying patted his forehead and complained, secretly scolding his cheap father Tao Qian for procrastinating and affecting himself, how could he let Cao Bao recruit troops first and then recruit himself, so that he could calmly select qualified soldiers?

"Second brother, don't you forget it?" Tao Ji took the opportunity to instigate: "Report the situation to your uncle, please uncle don't let you form a new army alone, both of our brothers will serve under General Cao Bao, please General Cao Bao divide an army to give us command." ”

"At the end of the day, you kid still don't want to follow me, do you?" Tao Ying glared at Tao Ji, and snorted arrogantly and coldly: "If you definitely want to go back to General Cao's command, I won't force you, but don't blame the second brother for not telling you in advance, don't regret it in the future!" The gang of soldiers under Cao Bao's hands is not enough to see at all! ”

Tao Ji twisted his face away and sneered at the arrogant words of the nerd second brother, but he didn't snort for the sake of the brothers, but a loud sharp sneer came from behind Tao Ying and the Tao Ji brothers, "The soldiers under General Cao's command are not enough to see?" So what kind of soldier can enter the eyes of the second son? Cao thief's tiger and leopard ride? Gongsun Zhan's white horse righteous servant? Or is it Lu Wenhou's trap camp? ”

"Here comes a knowledgeable one!" Tao Ying was overjoyed, and said in his heart that the people who could know these three elite soldiers in the world would definitely not be there! Under the surprise, Tao Ying hurriedly turned around, but saw a man standing five or six steps behind him, wearing a hakama passed down from the nomads, with a scarf wrapped around his head, and a sword hanging from his waist, his appearance was extremely handsome, his skin was also very white and tender, and he was holding a rare beautiful man.

"What are you looking at?" The beautiful man's temper didn't seem to be very good, and when he saw that Tao Ying couldn't help but look at himself, he suddenly became a little angry, and snorted: "What I said just now is what I said, why are you dissatisfied?" ”

Tao Ying glanced at the beautiful man a few more times, a mysterious smile appeared on his face, and he smiled at the beautiful man and said: "This strong man, Tao Ying is not dissatisfied, Tao Ying just thinks that the strong man's words are extraordinary, so he looks at it a few more times, and hopes that the strong man will forgive his sins." Dare to ask the strong man's surname, where does he live? ”

"Lin Qing is a native of Xuzhou." The beautiful man Lin Qing replied very concisely, and hummed: "Lin Qing heard that Tao Yuanjun's second son recruited troops, and admired the second son's feat of sacrificing his life to save Xuzhou. ”

After that, Lin Qing really turned around and left, Tao Ying hesitated for a moment, and hurriedly shouted: "Lin Zhuangshi, please stay, Tao Ying is not arrogant, he is just a joke with the third brother." ”

"Isn't it arrogant?" Lin Qing turned his head again and said with a contemptuous snort: "A rich boy who has never been on the battlefield dares to be rude to General Cao Bao, who has experienced a hundred battles, is not only arrogant, but also arrogant and ignorant!" ”

"The lesson of the strong man is that Tao Ying has indeed not been on the battlefield, so he should not be rude to General Cao Bao, Tao Ying is guilty." Tao Ying apologized, and said with a smile: "As for whether Tao Ying is arrogant, arrogant and ignorant, and the strong man has never seen the elite soldiers and strong generals trained by Tao Ying, how can the strong man make such a determination?" ”

"So, you're confident in training?" Lin Qing seemed to be interested, and asked with a sneer: "Then how does the second son plan to train the army?" Can you teach? ”

"If the law is not passed on to the six ears, how can Tao Ying's method of training soldiers be publicized in public?" Tao Ying smiled and said: "Besides, the method of military training is not clear in a few words, if Lin Zhuang is interested, he can join our army, and witness and experience Tao Ying's military training method, I don't know if the strong man is interested?" ”

"Second brother, are you crazy?" Tao Ji muttered to Tao Ying dissatisfiedly: "Look at his arms, they are as thin as hemp rods, and his voice is not male or female, like a second son, what's the use of pulling him into the team?" ”

"Not interested." Lin Qing also refused, and said with a sneer: "If Lin Qing wants to join the army, General Cao Bao of the North Gate University is still recruiting, Lin Qing can go there to join the army, as for the second son, you here, I will forgive Lin Qing for not accompanying him." ”

"Huh." Tao Ying suddenly laughed, and said very contemptuously: "After doing it for a long time, he is also an arrogant person who can only pay lip service, and he doesn't have the courage to go into battle to kill the enemy and make meritorious contributions." ”

"Who do you say can only pay lip service and don't have the guts to go into battle to kill the enemy?" Lin Qing's handsome face turned a little blue, and he said angrily: "This ......, when I was slashing people with a knife, it seems that your second son Tao was still reading some of the Four Books and Five Classics, right?" ”

Tao Ying rolled his eyes, revealing two white eyes, and snorted: "Lin Zhuangshi doesn't dare to join the army, why should Tao Ying talk to you?" Lin Zhuangshi can be invited, although Tao Ying is not talented, he also does not welcome timid and useless people. ”

After speaking, Tao Ying turned around and left, and Lin Qing's face turned even bluer, and suddenly gritted his teeth and strode forward, rushed to the Xuzhou official who recruited troops for Tao Ying, pushed away the half-grown children who were signing up, and said loudly: "I joined the army, Xuzhou Lin Qing, seventeen years old!" The Xuzhou officials who recruited troops for Tao Ying did not dare to make decisions on their own, and turned their heads to look at Tao Ying, until Tao Ying smiled and nodded, and the Xuzhou officials put Lin Qing's name on the bamboo slips.

After registering his name and place of origin, Lin Qing didn't go to get weapons and military uniforms, but just strode up to Tao Ying, gritted his teeth and said: "Second son, I, Lin Qing, want to see with my own eyes, how you have trained an elite soldier that surpasses General Cao's team!" ”

"Please wait and see." Tao Ying replied with a smile, and said: "Lin Zhuangshi joined the army in a hurry, I think he didn't inform his family, I will give you a day off, Lin Zhuangshi can go home first to arrange the affairs of the family, and then report to the army tomorrow, Tao Ying will leave you a place for your own soldiers." ”

"Who gave you a personal soldier?" Lin Qing blushed a little and said angrily: "I joined the army to become a general!" ”

"Yes, but you have to start with the soldiers." Tao Ying smiled and said: "Wait for Tao Ying to observe the performance of the strong man, and then decide whether to appoint the strong man as a general!" ”

"Wait and see!" Lin Qing threw down a cruel word, and then shook his hand and walked away.

"It's not bad to find a way to get around you to be a pro-soldier, and it's not bad to have fun at ordinary times." Tao Ying looked at Lin Qing's back and smiled slightly, and when he looked back at the bleak scene at the recruitment point, Tao Ying said that he couldn't laugh anymore, and lamented in his heart: "It's troublesome, and he said that he only plans to recruit 800 people, and it should be full in one morning. It is said that everything is difficult at the beginning, but I am too difficult, right? ”