"Phew! Adou who can't help up! …… Oh no, phew! The mud can't hold up the wall! The fan of the three nine days, the oven of the dog days, did not use it to the extreme! ”

Hearing the news that Deputy Director Tao once again brushed a lot of experience points on Xiao Yuan Sangong, the good neighbors in the north of Deputy Director Tao, who had been waiting for a long time, were inevitably disappointed, and they all scolded Xiao Yuan Sangong's incompetence behind their backs, and then Boss Cao immediately withdrew the troops stationed in Lu, and Lu Wenhou transferred the southern army to the northern front, as for Uncle Liu Huang, who had already stationed the army in Hexiang County, Donghai County, Xuzhou, he quickly withdrew his claws that stretched into Xuzhou, and fled back to Lu County. Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zhan, who were far away from Xuzhou, also gave up their plans to take advantage of the fire to rob at a favorable time, and the crisis on the northern front of Xuzhou was resolved without a fight.

In early July of the second year of Xingping, Tao Ying left Qin Yi to guard Peiguo, led the army back to Pengcheng, Tao Shang, Chen Deng and Cao Bao led Xuzhou hundred officials out of the city ten miles to meet, spontaneously came to meet Tao Ying's army of Xuzhou people more, since a year ago Tao Ying's gentleman's army fledgling, Xuzhou army has never suffered a big defeat, and there is no enemy who dares to go deep into the hinterland of Xuzhou to burn and loot, Xuzhou's people's livelihood and economy recovered quickly, the speed is far better than Xuzhou's army strength recovery, plus Xuzhou's taxes are lighter than other princes, All this makes Tao Ying have an excellent reputation among the people, and now it is July with less farm work, so not only the residents of Xuzhou City came to greet Tao Ying, but also the rural people of ten miles and eight townships also came a lot, the official road on both sides of the crowd is bustling, the people are crowded to the water, there are countless people who burn incense and worship and carry the pulp in the pot, and the scene is lively, comparable to the actor coming to Xuzhou at the end of the Han Dynasty.

In the face of the love of the people under his rule, Deputy Director Tao, a highly talented student of the Performance Department of the Public Servant School, had to show a few stunts, or return the salute to the people on the horse, or dismount to help the white-haired old man kneeling on the side of the road, and then make some harmless jokes with a few naughty children, moved the people of Xuzhou who were very excited, and tearfully said that they were fortunate to live under the rule of such a good lord who loved the people and was close to the people, but completely forgot that the good lord's brocade clothes and jade food and horses and golden carts were all exploited from them, I also completely forgot that if I didn't work hard in the fields and pay taxes on time, this good lord should not say that he has the glory of today, and he should sing Amitabha Buddha if he can starve to death.

Finally, after the performance was completed in the singing and praise of the people of the people, and after arranging the stationing of the army, the high-spirited Deputy Director Tao led the civil and military officials back to the Xuzhou Thorn History Mansion, and held a banquet in the mansion, paying out of his own pocket to let the Xuzhou civil and military officials pick up the wind and wash the dust for themselves, and celebrate the victory of the southern line by the way, and there is a new net for himself' Talent' Lord Yang Hong introduced to the hundred officials in Xuzhou, and finally finished these unnutritious cutscenes, until the Xuzhou civil and military officials who were so dry that their mouths were almost finished, Tao Ying breathed a sigh of relief, and led Lu Su, Chen Deng, Zang Ba, Xu Chu, Chen Zhi and Cao Bao and other henchmen into the second hall to talk about the recent affairs in Xuzhou.

Sitting on the main seat in the middle of the second hall, Tao Ying first breathed a long sigh of relief, and then lazily complained: "I'm tired to death, I must simplify these etiquette procedures in the future, and the people, don't let tens of thousands of people come to greet me every time, it's not a waste of my time, the people are also a waste of time." ”

Lu Suda, who also didn't like the vain text, nodded his head and thought so, Chen Deng smiled and apologized: "The lord asks for forgiveness, and I also know that the lord and the military adviser don't like these red tape, and they didn't organize the civil and military officials and the people in the city to go out of the city to greet them beforehand, but after the news of the lord's triumph was transmitted back to Xuzhou, all the officials in Xuzhou insisted on going out of the city to greet him, and the people also spontaneously sent out of the city to greet the lord's triumph, and they couldn't stop it, so they had to go with them." ”

"Lord, this is also the love of the officials and people of Xuzhou." Cao Bao flattered: "When the old lord was talking, there had never been such a lively scene, which shows that the people of Xuzhou love the lord far above the old lord." ”

"My father-in-law praised it falsely, they are all soldiers who use their lives, the Wen under my command is not greedy for money, Wu is not afraid of death, and the son-in-law is just following the light." Tao Ying said with a hypocritical humility, sat up straight and asked, "Yuanlong, father-in-law, have we been doing anything new in the past few days?" ”

"The news of the lord's victory has returned to Xuzhou, and everything that should be rolled out is about to be rolled." Cao Bao replied excitedly: "Carefully probe the report, Liu Bei annihilated the thief and returned to Lu County, the garrison in Hexiang was withdrawn cleanly, Lu Wenhou's main force went north again, and the soldiers sent to Dongjun looked like they wanted to open up contact with Shangdang Zhangyang, and Cao Ying's old thief was forced to fight, these news have been repeatedly confirmed." Judging by the appearance, we don't have to worry about the northern line in a short time. ”

Tao Ying nodded with satisfaction, and asked again: "Then Lu Wenhou, what letters or messengers have come over?" ”

"Absolutely." Chen Deng replied with a smile: "The news I received this morning, Wang Kai, the envoy of Lu Wenhou, arrived in Xiaopei yesterday evening, and it is estimated that he will arrive in Pengcheng tomorrow morning at the latest. ”

"Dreaming!" Tao Ying was a little annoyed, and said viciously: "Do you really treat Xuzhou as a free and free grain store?" Shandong's winter wheat has only been harvested for two or three months, and he is short of grain again? I'm not afraid to kill him! If you don't borrow it, you can't borrow it again this time. ”

"That's right, you can't borrow it anymore!" Cao Bao, who wished Tao Ying and Lu Wenhou to tear up the marriage contract and straighten his daughter, nodded, and hurriedly echoed: "The lord is right, Lu Wenhou is insatiable, and he has borrowed 100,000 Hu military rations from Xuzhou and is not satisfied, and he still wants to borrow grain, so he can't borrow anything anymore this time." ”

"My lord, please think twice, Lu Wenhou is of great use to us at the moment, so it is better to be cautious." Lu Su said in a deep voice: "One hundred thousand grains have been sent out, if you are stingy this time, all your previous efforts may be wasted." ”

"My lord, please be clear." Chen Deng also said: "As far as I know, Lu Wenhou is indeed short of grain now, before the winter wheat harvest, Dingtao, Shanyang and Rencheng are constantly fighting, destroying a large number of farmland, although Lu Wenhou stabilized the situation with the support of our army, but did not harvest much grain when harvesting winter wheat, the grain price of the people in Yanzhou is still as high as thousands of dollars, the ration of the sergeant of the Lu Wenhou army is always only half of our army, and the ration of the grain is only up to the standard of our army, if he really wants to recapture Dongjun and reopen the connection with the state, We have to rely on our army's food and grass supply. And even if Lü Wenhou does not launch the Dongjun War, before winter, Lü Wenhou's army will run out of food. ”

"Why do you have so much money and no food? Desperate for military force! Tao Yingyi complained dissatisfiedly, and blurted out what he had been thinking for a long time, "Just send me half of his fifty or sixty thousand troops, and I'll help him raise them, and the elite soldiers on his side will come over, and I promise to be treated better!" Give them the treatment of Danyang veterans! ”

Obedient and obedient, although Lu Su and Chen Deng who were present were not the deputy director of Tao and were cunning and vicious, they were also extremely smart characters, hearing Tao Ying's casual words, Lu Su and Chen Deng immediately understood what Tao Ying was thinking, and saw that Tao Ying's absolute henchmen were on the left and right, Chen Deng lowered his voice and asked: "Lord, you treat Lu Wenhou so well, knowing that you are seeking skin with the tiger and still still signing a marriage contract with Lu Wenhou, is it not to pave the way for the future annexation of Lu Wenhou's forces?" ”

The sinister intentions were exposed by Chen Deng, and seeing that the left and right were reliable henchmen, Tao Yingsuo's surname no longer concealed it, and replied in a low voice: "Although it was not intentional, but the trapped camp and the Bingzhou Iron Cavalry under the command of Lu Wenhou, as well as the remnants of the Xiliang Iron Cavalry and the Flying Bear Army that he abducted from Dong Zhuo, and the princes who didn't want it?" Don't want to take it for yourself? ”

Chen Deng, who finally understood Tao's intentions, smiled, but Xu Chu next to him said unconvinced: "Lord, what are the trapped camps, the Bingzhou Iron Cavalry, the Xiliang Iron Cavalry and the Flying Bear Army?" Give the last general a little time to keep and train a stronger army. Chen Zhi, the training master next to him, also nodded again and again, very unconvinced by Tao Ying's praise of other teams, and also said that as long as he gave himself a little more time, he might not be able to train more elite soldiers than these hundred battle heroes.

"Zhongkang, Shuzhi, I'm afraid it's not that easy." Tao Ying shook his head and sighed again: "Let's not talk about the chaos now, there is not much time for you to train your troops, even if you have enough time, I am afraid that you will not be able to train a stronger army than these teams." ”

"Why does the lord think so?" Xu Chu asked even more unconvinced.

"Because of him!" Tao Ying suddenly pointed at Chen Deng, and said with a smile: "It's all because of Yuanlong, Cao Ying's old thief and Gongsun Zhan in order to solve the problem of military food, they only started to raise troops in Yanzhou and Yijing Tuntian this year, but Yuanlong's vision is too advanced, six years ago I have been in Xuzhou for my father Tuntian to raise troops, the result is good, now I don't have to worry too much about money and food, but I have to worry about the quality of Xuzhou's soldiers - the people under the rule of the five counties of Xuzhou all have food and drink, and there is no need to go to the battlefield to grab food and drink, How could the combat power catch up with the hungry and red-eyed jackals, tigers and leopards under the command of Cao Thief and Lu Wenhou? ”

Lu Su, Cao Bao and others immediately laughed, Chen Deng also laughed, and said humorously: "In this way, I really have to ask the lord for guilt, all because I have fed the people of the five counties of Xuzhou too much and dragged the lord back." ”

Tao Ying laughed, then suppressed his smile and said: "Jokes are jokes, facts are also facts, the five counties of Xuzhou are relatively rich, and the lives of the people are slightly guaranteed, and the soldiers recruited from the five counties of Xuzhou do lack the kind of ruthlessness to fight for their lives." You have also seen in this big battle with Yuan Shu, the combat effectiveness of Yuan Shu's army is so weak, and it still caused nearly one-third of the casualties to our army, which is enough to prove that the elite level of our army is far from enough. ”

Speaking of this, Tao Ying turned to Xu Chu and Chen Zhi and asked, "Zhongkang, Shuzhi, I don't know if you have noticed?" In this battle of Zhuyi, the Langya soldiers under Brother Xuangao fought more tough battles than you, but the casualties were not as large as your team, what is this for? ”

"The soldiers under General Zang's command are all veterans and have a lot of experience." Chen Zhi hurriedly replied: "The last general is different from General Xu Chu's team, there are a lot of recruits, and the battlefield experience is seriously insufficient, so the casualties are naturally large. ”

"Battlefield experience is only one factor, but another important factor." Tao replied: "Most of the troops under General Xuangao are soldiers from Taishan County, Taishan County is far poorer than the five counties of Xuzhou, and the people's livelihood economy has been hit hard in the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Therefore, those soldiers from Taishan County are naturally willing to work on the battlefield in order to survive and continue to serve as soldiers and eat food, because once they are expelled from the army, they are likely to be starved alive. The Xuzhou army is different again, even if the Xuzhou soldiers are driven out of the army, they can still farm and make a living when they return to their hometowns, and they are unlikely to starve to death, so they are afraid of death and are reluctant to work the battlefield, and their combat effectiveness is naturally greatly weakened. ”

Tao Ying has analyzed it to this point, Chen Zhi and Xu Chu have nothing to say, Zang Ba smiled proudly, and took the initiative to say: "Lord, do you want the last general to go back to Langya and Taishan, and recruit a group of Taishan soldiers for you?" ”

"That's what I mean, so let's discuss it carefully." Tao Ying nodded in agreement, and said: "But it's still the same sentence, even if Brother Xuan recruits another batch of Taishan soldiers for us, due to the influence of training and experience, he will not be able to completely reverse the situation that the Xuzhou army is only a second-rate army in a short period of time, and our Xuzhou army is still not the opponent of Lu Bu's army and Cao Ying's army in a hundred battles on the frontal battlefield." ”

Everyone nodded silently, admiring Tao Ying's cool-headedness and not being carried away by the previous victory, but also admitting that what Tao Ying said was true, the current Xuzhou army was still not the opponent of Lu Bu and Cao Ying. At this time, Chen Zhi suddenly said what Deputy Director Tao really thought, "It would be good if Lu Wenhou died of an accident or died in battle unexpectedly now, Lu Wenhou has no son, only one daughter has already been married to the lord, if Lu Wenhou dies suddenly, it will be too easy for the lord to swallow his forces again." ”

Everyone laughed again, Chen Deng and Lu Su were still smiling in their hearts and said I'm afraid this is also our lord's greatest wish now, but our Deputy Director Tao shook his head again and again, and said with a serious attitude: "Uncle Zhi can't say anything, Wen Hou and General Cao are my fathers-in-law, as sons-in-law, I hope they are both healthy and live a long life." ”

"I'm afraid I hope that Lu Wenhou will pay for his life, right?" Chen Deng and Lu Su, who were familiar with Deputy Director Tao's surname, both muttered in their hearts, and Cao Bao over there had nothing to worry about and covet his son-in-law, so even if he understood that his son-in-law was at a disagreement, he was not angry.

After gossiping for a long time, seeing that it was getting late, Tao Ying let everyone disperse to rest, and he was ready to go back to Cao Ling to report, lest this jealous little girl be furious again, suspecting that she had gone to find another woman, the generals in Xuzhou agreed, and left one after another, only Chen Deng and Lu Su did not leave immediately, Tao Ying knew that they must have something to say, so they also stayed and waited. Sure enough, when only Tao Ying, Lu Su and Chen Deng were left in the back hall, Chen Deng immediately gave up his hand and said: "Lord, there are two more things, one is Mi Zhu's side, more than ten days ago, Mi Zhu took the initiative to send a letter from Liu Bei messenger and Liu Bei to persuade him to avenge Mi Fang, and handed Liu Bei messenger to General Cao Hong for detention and interrogation. ”

"Well, I already know that." Tao Ying nodded, in fact, Tao Ying had already obtained a secret report from Cao Hong, the head of the Xuzhou spies, and Uncle Liu, who tried to take advantage of the fire to rob, sent an envoy to contact Mi Zhu, instigating Mi Zhu to avenge Mi Fang and settle accounts with himself, and asked Mi Zhu to use his family power to help Uncle Liu take Donghai County, one of the five counties of Xuzhou, to gain a foothold, and Mi Zhu not only did not agree to Uncle Liu's request, but also asked the family soldiers to take down Liu Bei's messenger and send it to Chen Deng together with the letter to show his repentance. At the same time, Tao Ying also knew that Cao Hong had tortured the truth from the mouth of the messenger of Liu Bei, and that messenger was indeed the person sent by Uncle Liu Huang to incite Mi Zhu to rebel, and after presenting the letter to Mi Zhu, he was immediately taken down by Mi Zhu and handed over to the Xuzhou government.

"The second thing is about Lu Wenhou." Chen Deng said: "I think that Lu Wenhou's main force was stationed on the southern line before, and he did have an attempt to fish in troubled waters and annex the five counties of Xuzhou. Later, after receiving the news of our army's victory, Lü Wenhou transferred the main force to the northern front to compete with Cao's army for Dongjun, and it is very likely that he was temporarily dead set on the annexation of Xuzhou, and planned to recapture Dongjun with our army's support for him first, open up contact with reliable ally Zhang Yang, and first establish himself in an invincible position and then plan for the future. ”

"If Lu Bu's move is successful, it will inevitably shake Cao Ying's foundation, and Cao Thief will inevitably resist with all his strength in order to protect himself. Therefore, I think that the lord must not be stingy with money and food, and there is no need to be angry about Lu Wenhou's inch, and he should vigorously support Lu Bu to seize Dongjun, and the more seriously the Cao and Lu families weaken each other, the safer our army's northern front will be. ”

"My lord, Mr. Yuanlong is right." Lu Su interjected and said: "The reason why I stayed in Xia is to persuade the lord to be patient, and you must not refuse Lu Wenhou's request to borrow grain again, which ruins the plan of borrowing Lu to resist Cao." Moreover, our army has already inflicted heavy losses on Yuan Shu, and the main force has already freed up its hands, even if Lu Wenhou is capricious, there is no need to worry about him taking advantage of the situation. ”

"Of course." Tao Ying replied with a smile: "Actually, I have already thought about it just now, and I am ready to lend Lu Bu another 50,000 Hu military rations, as long as he honestly goes to fight Cao Ying, it is not without discussion to borrow grain in the future, and with some food, you can borrow Lu Bu's hand to resist Cao Ying, which is far better than our Xuzhou army directly confronting Cao Ying." ”

"The lord is wise." Chen Deng arched his hand and said with a smile: "In addition, I feel that the lord can also take the opportunity to make a request to Lu Wenhou and borrow generals from Lu Wenhou for training." ”

"Borrowing generals to train troops?" Tao Ying was a little confused, and asked suspiciously, "Is it necessary to be so troublesome?" Chen Zhi and Xu Chu can both train troops, so can they borrow training officers from Lu Bu? ”

"The purpose is twofold." Chen Deng replied unabashedly: "First, Xu Chu and Chen Zhi are indeed able to train soldiers, and their own talents are not bad, but their battlefield experience is still too little after all, and they are not as good as those veterans of a hundred battles under Lu Bu. Second, the generals under the command of Lu Wenhou followed him to the south and the north to fight, experienced many hardships and bumps, and rarely idle and wealthy, after his generals came to Xuzhou, if the lord let them enjoy the Guangsha Huatang, beautiful gold silk, and afraid that they would not care about the benefits of the lord and not give birth to the heart of relying on the lord? ”

Tao Ying smiled, slapped his head continuously, regretted that he was smart all his life, and he was so confused that he forgot the best skill he learned in the public servant school, and he was so confused that he was damned. After laughing, Tao Ying immediately clapped his hand and said: "Yuanlong's plan is wonderful, tomorrow I will send Yang Hong to see Lu Bu, and ask him to borrow Gao Shun and Zhang Liao to help me train my troops, as well as Hao Meng, Cao surname, Cheng Lian, Wei Xu, Song Xian and Hou Cheng, and they will also take turns to borrow Xuzhou for a period of time!" ”

"The lord is good to remember, even those fierce generals under the command of Lu Wenhou remember it clearly, it seems that the lord is not worried about Wenhou's team for a day or two." Chen Deng also laughed.

Lu Su didn't laugh, but just bowed his hand to Tao Ying and said, "Lord, about the matter of the elite soldiers and strong generals under the command of Wen Hou, there is also something to be done below." In Su's view, if the lord intends to annex the military power of Wen Hou, the best way is to inherit what General Chen Zhi said, Wen Hou only has one daughter, which has been promised to the lord, if Wen Hou dies suddenly, the loyal and brave men under his command will inevitably try to ensure that his wife and daughter go south to vote for the lord, and the lord can not only recruit them effortlessly, but also use them more at ease, far better than directly buying and soliciting, or taking it by force. ”

"Of course I know this, but my father-in-law is brave and in the prime of life, so it is really unlikely that he will suddenly kick his legs." Tao Ying said distressedly.

"Tactics and stratagems are not in the specialty, but can only ask the lord to decide for himself." Lu Su first shirked his responsibility, and then warned: "I just want to remind the lord of one thing, there is no impermeable wall in the world, so the lord must not use assassination or poisoning and other means, otherwise once the news leaks, the future troubles will be endless." The best way is to act by the hands of others, with the shrewdness of the lord, I believe that as long as there is an opportunity, this matter will not be difficult for the lord. ”

"Borrowing someone else's hand?" Lu Su's words woke up Tao Ying, and Tao Ying thought secretly in his heart: "Yes, since my father-in-law refuses to die, why don't I want to help him die?" Not to mention that he has two rivals, Boss Cao and Da Yuan Sangong, and his team is not monolithic, he was hanged to death by Boss Cao in Baimen Tower, as if he was also betrayed by his subordinates. ”

After all, time was in a hurry, no matter how insidious and vicious Deputy Director Tao was, he couldn't think of any good way to kill his father-in-law in a short time, so Tao Ying could only thank Lu Su and Chen Deng for their guidance, and then for Lu Su and Chen Deng had nothing else to do, so he dragged his tired body back to the bedroom to visit Cao Ling, who was pregnant-Deputy Director Tao's marksmanship was very accurate, and he hit the target on the first night, seeing that Cao Ling was so happy that he couldn't even eat, and Cao Bao's wife, who was originally resolutely opposed to Cao Ling marrying as a concubine, had no choice, had to cry and agree that his daughter entered Tao's house through the side door to be wronged, Tao Ying also felt a little guilty in his heart, and gave Cao Ling the title of a second wife who did not conform to the law of etiquette - of course, in fact, she was still a concubine.

As for Cao Bao, Cao Bao, who dared to marry his daughter to Lu Wenhou, didn't care much about what his daughter's status was, plus Cao Bao was indeed loyal to the old Tao family, knowing that Tao Ying would never take the initiative to ruin the marriage with Lu Bu for the benefit of Xuzhou, so not only did he not object to his daughter being a concubine, but he also persuaded his wife to accept her fate, blaming her daughter for being wrong, playing with a temper that shouldn't be played, and giving away the title of the main wife that should have been in hand a long time ago to others-or of course, this is exactly the case.

Wandering around to the door of Cao Ling's room, pushing open the door and going straight to the bedroom lit with candles, Deputy Director Tao just tried to pretend to be a smile on his face, but suddenly a person came out of Cao Ling's bedroom, Tao Ying walked too fast and did not stop his steps, and collided with the person, a smell of fat powder also came to his nose, Tao Ying thought it was the maid in Cao Ling's room at first, but when he looked down carefully, Tao Ying suddenly froze, and blurted out: "Mi Zhen, why are you?" ”

The person who came out of Cao Lingfang was Mi Zhen, wearing a dark red koji deep coat made of satin, but with a white belt tied around his waist, and a black silk on his head holding a fallen horse bun, his beautiful face was obviously thinner again, and he was hit by Tao Ying and frowned, but after looking up and seeing that it was Tao Ying, Mi Zhen's long eyelashes trembled, and there was no expression on her pretty face. Come and take care of and accompany her. ”

"Oh, I see." It took Tao Ying a long time to react, and he bowed his hand to Mi Zhen and said: "Thank you Miss Mi, the girl took care of the grace of her son, and Tao Ying said that he should repay it." ”

"The Lord has said that this is what the women of the people should do." Mi Zhen returned the salute, and said even more coldly: "Since the envoy has returned, it is time for the people's daughter to leave." ”

After that, Mi Zhen didn't wait for Tao Ying to answer, she walked around Tao Ying sideways with a straight face, but Cao Ling, who was already a little bulging in her lower abdomen, came out of the room, and she didn't look at Tao Ying, who she hadn't seen for more than a month, just grabbed Mi Zhen's sleeve and said, "Sister Zhen'er, don't go, it's already dark, what are you going back to do?" You'd better stay and stay with me for another night. ”

(To be continued)