On the first day of the first month of April, before the beginning of summer, Tao Qian was recuperating in the backyard of the Xuzhou Mansion, Donghai State, Tao Qian was recuperating in the backyard, his health was not very good recently, and he had never left home, but he was widely scattered and wanted to know Cao Cao's movements.

As a result, two days ago, when he learned that Cao Jun had slaughtered and tens of thousands of people had died, Tao Qian vomited blood and fainted at that time, and finally woke up.

"Are you saying that an eight-year-old boy warned the villagers that triggered the escape?"

Tao Qian was surprised.

Cao Hong replied: "Exactly, I have sent someone to summon the young child, and Ming Gong can inquire about it." ”

"Call him."

Tao Qian summoned Shen Chen in the middle hall.

Shen Chen has been in charge of clan affairs with the clan elders for the past few days.

Escaping is not simply a matter of running away aimlessly, but with a plan and direction.

No matter how big or small, what you need to bring and what you don't need to bring are listed clearly, making it easy to choose.

I also had to go to Niqiu Mountain to find out the situation and find a suitable place to live temporarily.

After all, it was a great exodus of thousands of people, and the people were not as commanded and disciplined as the army, and every household had its own problems.

Therefore, it took several days of delay before the first group of migratory teams organized by Deng Hong officially set off for the north.

Shen Chen was originally in the second batch of teams, but he didn't expect Tao Qian to suddenly send someone to investigate the situation, and Cao Hong ordered him to go to Yancheng to explain to Tao Qian, so he had to come over.

Entering the middle hall, Shen Chen saw Tao Qian, who was sitting on the main seat, with white hair and drooping old age, so he looked good, entered the door generously, bowed down and saluted: "Meet Tao Gong in the morning." ”

"You are Shen Chen?"

Tao Qian stared at Shen Chen, he was an eight-year-old child, only half a person tall, his face was immature, but his eyes were extremely energetic and quite spiritual.

Shen Chen was neither humble nor arrogant: "Back to Tao Gong, the kid is Shen Chen." ”

"Sit."

"Xie Taogong."

"I heard that you tricked the villagers into leaving the country? Is there such a thing? ”

Waiting for Shen Chen to sit down, Tao Qian suddenly asked.

Shen Chen said: "Cao thief is tyrannical, for the sake of Xuzhou, he must first slaughter Xuzhou, for the sake of the neighbors, I have to persuade the people to flee elsewhere." ”

Tao Qian was surprised: "How did you know that Cao Cao would inevitably slaughter Xuzhou?" ”

Shen Chen said: "Xuzhou is rich, it must be coveted by Yuan Shu, Cao Cao's strength is not strong now, and he can't directly compete with Yuan Shu, so in order to prevent Yuan Shu from getting Xuzhou, Xuzhou must be dilapidated." ”

This idea is novel and unexpected.

Tao Qian was very surprised.

Because Cao Cao's name has always been to avenge his father, so these days when he learned that the people of Xuzhou were slaughtered, Tao Qian felt tormented, thinking that it was because of him that Xuzhou suffered.

As a result, Shen Chen told him that the real reason for Cao Cao's massacre of Xuzhou was to prevent Xuzhou from being obtained by Yuan Shu, which he really did not expect.

After thinking for a moment, Tao Qian asked tentatively: "Is there a way to relieve the crisis in Xuzhou?" ”

Shen Chen shook his head and said, "If it was two months ago, there was a way, but now I can only hold on alone and wait for the opportunity." ”

"Why is there a way in two months?"

Tao Qian was puzzled.

Shen Chen said: "Before Yuan Shu was eyeing Xuzhou, Cao Cao attacked, Tao Gong can send Yuan Shu, willing to cede the land of Xiapi, Pengcheng, and Guangling, and lead Cao Yuan to fight, this is called to drive the wolf and the tiger!" But now that Xuzhou is in ruins, Yuan Shu may not make any more efforts to occupy Xuzhou, so I said that it was okay two months ago, and now I can only hold on. ”

"Huangkou child, nonsense."

Cao Hong, who was on the side, couldn't listen to it anymore, and refuted: "That Yuan Shu is also a jackal, and he often wants to go north to harass Xuzhou and lure him to come, which is no less than luring a wolf into the room!" Ming Gong, I think this kid is just a false appearance, and he is arrogant. ”

"The words of a childish child are indeed too naïve."

Tao Qian also said with some disappointment: "Although Yuan Shu was defeated by Cao Cao before, it was because he worked an expedition and lacked grain and grass, and now he is recruiting troops in Huainan, with more than 100,000 soldiers and horses, and the grain and grass are abundant, if he comes to Xuzhou, how can Cao Cao compete with him?" At that time, Xuzhou will fall into the hands of Yuan Shu. ”

"The ancients Xiang Lu was a Confucius teacher at the age of seven, and Gan Luo was a Qin Xiang at the age of twelve.

Shen Chen said in a deep voice: "Tao Gong only saw that Yuan Shu was strong, but he couldn't see the predicament faced by Cao Cao, Runan, Chen State, Peiguo and other places were all occupied by Yuan Shu, Cao Cao was surrounded by enemies, if Xuzhou was also taken away by Yuan Shu, he would be besieged, so he would never be able to give up Xuzhou!" ”

Although Yuan Shu was called the dry bones in the mound by later generations, thinking that his strength was very poor, he was actually very strong.

Even more than Yuan Shu, Tao Qian was also very strong before.

Cao Cao was able to seize the land of Henan in the chaotic war in the Central Plains, not because the king hung the bronze, but because the gods fought and killed the blood in a group of kings.

At its peak, Yuan Shu occupied the most fertile land in the entire Henan Yuzhou and Yangzhou Huainan regions, with as many as 170,000 troops, and was almost the strongest overlord in the south.

It's just that his strategic intentions are so bad that there is almost no strategic policy to speak of, and he will fight whoever he wants, like a headless fly.

He once attacked Liu Biao and was defeated, attacked Cao Cao and was defeated, and later won and lost with Liu Bei and Lu Bu in Xuzhou, and then claimed to be the emperor and lost his reputation, and finally died in the great drought and famine, ending his absurd life.

But that was a few years later, at least now Yuan Shu only lost the battle when he took the initiative to attack Jingzhou and Yanzhou, and the main forces and soldiers and horses still existed.

Even his sphere of influence included part of the land of Chenliu County in Yanzhou, which was very close to Cao Cao's territory.

Of course, because Yuzhou is now very desolate, Yuan Shu only sent people to accept these places, and there were not too many troops stationed there.

For example, Chen Guoxiang Yuan Si, Pei Xiang Shu Shao, etc. were all assigned by him, and as for governing the place and sending troops to defend it, there were almost none.

Therefore, two years later, Cao Cao's power grew, and he quickly drove away the Yuan Shu forces in Chen Liu, Chen Guo, Runan and other places, and occupied these places himself, preparing for the coercion of the Son of Heaven to order the princes.

At present, the main force of Yuan Shu is still in the Huainan region.

And the reason why he is not entrenched in Henan but in Huainan is for two reasons.

First, Henan, like Xuzhou, has a flat terrain and is located in the land of four wars, and there is almost no danger to defend.

The second is that Henan has been abolished during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the population is withered, the land is barren, and it is not as rich as Huainan to support his army.

Therefore, although Yuan Shu's sphere of influence is large, in fact, the radiation range is basically only Jiangdong and Xuzhou.

Jiangdong was not developed in the Han Dynasty, and it was not until the five Hu Chaohua clothes crossed to the south that the Jiangdong region gradually developed, so Yuan Shu was not interested in Jiangdong.

Then the only point he can attack is naturally only Xuzhou.

If you look at it from Cao Cao's perspective, you will find that Huainan occupied by Yuan Shu is now very rich, and Xuzhou is Huaibei, which is connected to Huainan and is surrounded by water.

If Huaibei and Huainan were occupied by Yuan Shu at the same time, and the two rich places allowed him to develop, the situation would be very difficult for Cao Cao.

Because at that time, Cao Cao's territory was in Yanzhou's East County, Jiyin County, Shanyang County, Jibei Kingdom, Rencheng Kingdom, and Dongping Kingdom, that is, the area from Jining City to Heze City in Shandong Province in later generations.

Runan was dilapidated, and Yuan Shu only controlled but did not operate, so he could not threaten Cao Cao's rear.

Xuzhou is rich, if Yuan Shu gets it, he will be like a tiger with wings, not to mention that his strength has reached a higher level, and he is also a stone's throw away from Cao Cao's base camp, and he can attack at any time.

Therefore, considering the problem from Tao Qian's standpoint, he felt that letting Yuan Shu in was tantamount to luring a wolf into the room.

But if you think about it from Cao Cao's standpoint, it is also to lure the wolf into the room, and it is impossible for Yuan Shu to win Xuzhou.