Cao Cao's coveting of Tao Qian's territory in Xuzhou is no longer a matter of one or two years, as early as the end of the Sour Jujube Alliance, the princes of the Kwantung region were actually divided into two camps, of which Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, and Liu Biao were on one side, and Yuan Shu, Tao Qian, and Gongsun Zan were on the other side.

With the passage of time, the power of Yuan Cao's side became stronger and stronger, but Gongsun Zhan was counterattacked by Liu Yu's father and son, and now only Yuan Shu and Tao Qian are left to reluctantly confront Yuan Cao Liu, but the situation is becoming more and more critical.

Why do you say that after Gongsun Zhan's power was eliminated by Liu He, Tao Qian's situation became more and more critical? Didn't Tao Qian send someone to hook up with Liu He in Youzhou? With the current strength of Liu Yu's father and son, compared to the original strength of Gongsun Zhan, Xuzhou should sit back and relax, right?

There are two main reasons, one is that Youzhou is too far away from Xuzhou, separated by Yuan Shao, and separated by Gongsun Du by sea, so it is impossible for Liu Yu and his son to provide too much shelter to Xuzhou; The second is that Tao Qian's other ally Yuan Shu is not a good bird, and Liu He is very disgusted, so as long as Tao Qian and Yuan Shu are still in an alliance, Youzhou will definitely not be involved, let alone invest a lot of money to help Tao Qian, at most it will sell some weapons and armor to Xuzhou.

In fact, if it were according to the development of the original historical trajectory, Lao Cao should have attacked Xuzhou two years ago, but because Liu He rose strongly in this time and space, completely disrupting the original pattern, not only Tao Qian lived for two more years, but Xuzhou also spent two years safely and smoothly.

Although two years is not a long time, Xuzhou can have hundreds of thousands of fewer deaths and more than 100,000 births.

The reason why Cao Cao has not made a move on Tao Qian for a long time is mainly due to two concerns. One of the concerns is that Yanzhou is not stable internally, and there are many wealthy families in various counties, so they cannot attack Xuzhou until effective control is achieved. The second concern is Cao Cao's father. That is, Cao Song fell into the hands of Tao Qian, if he dared to send troops to attack Xuzhou, Tao Qian would dare to take his father.

Speaking of Cao Song being controlled by Tao Qian, it is still an old case.

Cao Song's adoptive father Cao Teng, after Cao Shen, the prime minister of the Han Dynasty, served the four emperors of the Eastern Han Dynasty, namely Emperor Shun, Emperor Chong, Emperor Qin and Emperor Huan, and Emperor Huan's accession to the throne was thanks to the help of Cao Teng, who was named the Marquis of Fei Ting, and the official worshiped Da Changqiu. Yu Lu is only under the prime minister and the captain, and as a eunuch, he is considered a very human minister.

Cao Song relied on the relationship of his adoptive father Cao Teng, coupled with his decent treatment of others, in the last years of Emperor Huan, he paid homage to Sili Lieutenant, and when Emperor Ling ascended the throne, he was promoted to Dasi Nong and Da Honglu, and was successively in charge of the finance and etiquette of the Han Dynasty. Compared with his adoptive father Cao Teng. Cao Song is not so incorruptible, he has been in officialdom for many years, and because of his power, he has made the Cao family rich.

In the period of the Spirit Emperor. The imperial court began to sell official titles, and Cao Song was not satisfied with the position of Da Honglu, and actually spent 100 million yuan to donate the position of Taiwei for himself. The position of a lieutenant is second only to the general. Cao Song thus reached the pinnacle of his political career. It can also be seen from this that Cao Cao's ability to become the strongest overlord in the troubled times of the Three Kingdoms at the end of the Han Dynasty has a lot to do with his family background. And Liu Bei had to work a lot harder, and he spent most of his time under the fence, and he didn't live a few years of stretching.

Later, the Ten Standing Servants rebelled, and Cao Song decisively resigned and lived in Luoyang. Later, Dong Zhuo approached Luoyang, and Cao Song hurriedly took his family assets and family members to Langya County in Xuzhou to avoid trouble. By this time, the contradiction between Cao Cao and Tao Qian had not yet appeared, so Cao Song was relieved to spend his old age in Langya, where the situation was stable.

By the time all kinds of filthy things happened in the Jujube Alliance, and Cao Cao and Tao Qian didn't deal with each other, Tao Qian had already sent someone to target Cao Song's family, because he didn't really tear his face with Cao Cao, so he didn't make a fuss about Cao Cao's father Cao Song. However, although Tao Qian didn't say it, it didn't mean that when Cao Cao sent troops to attack Xuzhou, he didn't dare to tie Cao Song to the front of the battle and force Cao Cao to retreat. When it is a matter of life and death, no matter how lacking in virtue and the practice of indiscriminate use, it must be used.

Cao Cao's sore foot was caught in Tao Qian's hand, and he had to grit his back molars for the past two years, for fear that he would force Tao Qian urgently, and it would affect his father Cao Song and younger brother Cao De's family. In Cao Heizi's opinion, Tao Qian is already a person who buries his neck, let him endure him for a while, and when he closes his eyes and braids, the rest of the things will be much easier.

It's just that what Cao Cao didn't expect was that Tao Qian's tone was delayed, and when he was in the third year of Xingping, he was still on the sickbed to inquire about the affairs of the state, and it seemed that he would not let go of power until the day he kicked his legs!

Seeing that Liu Shiren in Youzhou was growing stronger day by day, seeing Yuan Shao stabilize and merge the state, seeing Yuan Shu occupy Yangzhou, and seeing Liu Biao controlling Jingzhou, Cao Cao was very anxious, so he quietly sent someone to infiltrate Langya, preparing to secretly transfer his father and brother to Yanzhou while Tao Qian was seriously ill.

In order to confuse Tao Qian, Cao Cao even deliberately sent Xiahoudun to Qingzhou, and at the same time sent Cao Ren to Yuzhou to attack the Yellow Turban Army He Yi and Liu Pi who were entrenched in Runan County and Yingchuan County, giving Tao Qian a false impression that he had no intention of attacking Xuzhou temporarily, hoping to reduce Tao Qian's vigilance.

However, a wise man will make a mistake if he thinks a thousand times. Cao Cao, who had endured it for several years, never dreamed that when the old father Cao Song took his second son Cao De and his wives and concubines to the vicinity of Keiwu Mountain, he still leaked his whereabouts, and was surrounded by Tao Qian's subordinate Zhang Min sent troops.

In a certain Luo's "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Zhang Min had the evil idea of killing people and stealing goods because he was jealous of the large amount of wealth that Cao Song carried when he moved, killed Cao Song's family, and then rolled up the gold and silver treasures and fled into the mountains to become a happy thief.

In fact, this is an extremely irresponsible framing by a certain Luo, and it was Tao Qian's subordinate Zhang Min who was framed! Although Zhang Min was born in the Yellow Turban Yu Party, he attacked Cao Song this time, completely at the behest of Tao Qian, as for why Tao Qian wanted to do such an amazing thing before he died, it may be related to the fact that he has been persecuted too much by Cao Cao in recent years.

Tao Qian felt that even if he was dying, he couldn't let Cao Cao be happy, and he had to stimulate Cao Cao fiercely before he died, as for who Xuzhou would fall into after his death, it didn't matter much. Anyway, Tao Qian had already sent his two sons Tao Shang and Tao Ying to the Mi family in Qu County, East China Sea half a year ago, once Xuzhou changed in the future, the Mi family would use a sea boat to send the Tao brothers to Jicheng in Youzhou, and from then on accept Liu He's protection, and there was no danger to his life.

Regarding the matter of taking in the pottery merchant and Tao Ying, as early as when Mi Fang went to Jicheng, Liu He nodded and agreed. Liu He is willing to take in the two Tao brothers, so he naturally has his long-term considerations and plans, but Liu He is not aware of the interception and killing of Cao Song's family, and it is impossible to send someone to secretly participate in it.

Liu Heke is a good son with integrity, and he really can't do this kind of thing of killing his parents and brothers.

When the bad news that the old father and mother were killed, and the brothers, wives and children were killed, reached Changyi, Yanzhou, Cao Cao's head hurt as if it had exploded, and he exclaimed: "Hurt me!" Then he fell headlong and fainted.

Cao Hong, who was guarding Cao Cao's side, hurriedly rushed forward to pick Cao Cao up, and then cried and said to Xiahou Yuan, Cao Zhen and others: "Tao Qian, old thief, don't die well!" After the lord woke up, we led our troops into Xuzhou and killed him without leaving a chicken or dog! ”

Xiahou Yuan, Cao Zhen and the others nodded one after another, all filled with righteous indignation, obviously completely angered by Tao Qian's move to find death.

On the second day, Changyi City conquered the east of the general's mansion inside and outside the house, and Cao Cao announced that he would crusade against Tao Qian and swear to break Xuzhou to avenge the killing of his father!

After the news broke, the states shook. First of all, Cao Cao's good buddy Yuan Shao expressed his deep condolences and full support, and was even willing to provide Cao Cao with 20,000 soldiers and horses to help him attack Xuzhou. Immediately afterwards, Liu Biao of Jingzhou, Zhong Xuan of Chang'an and others also accused Tao Qian, thinking that he was old and faint and had done something that was indignant to the public. Yangzhou Yuan Shu and Beihai Kong Rong did not dare to squeak, while Jizhou Lu Zhi and Youzhou Liu Yu clearly opposed the harm to innocent people.

Xiahoudun's troops, who were originally stationed in Lu County, immediately went to Fan County after receiving Cao Cao's order, and Cao Ren's troops, who had cleared the Yellow Turbans in Runan, also withdrew to Yanzhou and joined Xiahoudun's soldiers and horses. Cao Cao requisitioned another 20,000 soldiers and horses, led by him personally, and went straight to the direction of Fan County, and the troops to attack Xuzhou reached 50,000.

Cao Cao went out at the same time as the military advisers Xi Zhicai, Xun You and Liu Ye, and the generals Xiahou Yuan, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Cao Zhen, Xiahou Shang, Yu Ban, Li Dian and Lu Qian, etc., the lineup can be extremely strong.

When the news of Cao Cao's army's eastward expedition to Xuzhou reached Yinping, the three Taozi brothers lost their former arrogance, and Liu Bei hurriedly sent Jian Yong to Tancheng to ask Tao Qian to send reinforcements. It's a pity that before Jian Yong arrived in Tancheng, Tao Qian, who had run out of oil, finally swallowed his breath, and before Tao Qian swallowed his breath, he entrusted the affairs of Xuzhou to his subordinates to engage in Mizhu!

History has come to this point, and it is no longer like in another time and space, Tao Qian gave Xuzhou to the imperial uncle Liu Bei before he died, because the current big-eared Liu is not the imperial uncle at all, and the genuine imperial uncle Liu He is still busy directing drought relief in Youzhou......

Liu Bei secretly cheated Liu He several times, and this time he finally tasted the bitter fruits he planted. Don't look at Liu He, he has never intervened in and involved in Xuzhou's affairs, but he found a few key people at a critical time, so when Tao Qian died, Liu Bei saw what it means to lay out in advance.

The secret agreement reached by Liu He with the Mi family and Tao Qian in the East China Sea was that after Tao Qian's death, the descendants of the Tao family would be taken care of and sheltered by Youzhou, but Tao Qian must entrust Xuzhou to Mi Zhu, and the Mi family would marry Liu He to ensure that Xuzhou would not be ceded to others.

Historically, Liu Bei's fortune test was the great help of the Mi family in the East China Sea, but now Liu He intercepted Liu Bei's good deeds, and pulled the Mi family over before he came to Xuzhou, and even intended to support the Mi family to control Xuzhou, which is equivalent to cutting off Liu Bei a way out, and also erecting a strong enemy for Liu Bei, the power of this combination of punches is really awe-inspiring! (To be continued......)