In the dark room, half a candle was burning.

There are only three Tao's father and son.

"Father, do you really want to give Xuzhou to Liu Bei?" Tao Ying, the second son of the Tao family, was slightly dissatisfied.

"Second brother, you are stupid, this Xuzhou is managed by my father's hard work, and it belongs to our Tao family, which round will get his surname Liu to sit. Our father, this is a test of him! ”

In comparison, the eldest son, the potter, seems to be a lot more shrewd.

"It's a temptation, but—seriously, too."

Tao Qian gave the answer and sighed leisurely. As long as the two sons can make some progress, he will not entrust Xuzhou to outsiders.

Knowing the son is more than the father.

The two sons are not good at martial arts, Tao Qian knows very well in his heart that he is not an official at all. If Xuzhou is passed on to his son, sooner or later it will be taken away by others, and the Tao family is likely to be destroyed.

This is not the result Tao Qian wants to see.

"Why, father, Xuzhou has been managed by your hard work, and now it is a pity to give it to others like this?" Tao Ying was very angry, he would rather his eldest brother potter sit in the position of state pastor than see Xuzhou fall into the hands of people with foreign surnames.

"I've taught you for decades, and in the end, you're still a little bit. If the father hands over Xuzhou to you, it will be a disaster to the people of Xuzhou and the entire Tao family. ”

Tao Qian swept the faces of his two sons, lamenting their misfortune and being angry.

Although the Tao brothers don't have much ability, they are obedient. Even in the face of his father's reprimand, he never dared to refute it, and listened honestly.

"Let me ask you, Liu Bei said that he wrote to Cao Cao to make peace, do you think Cao Cao will agree?" Tao Qian sorted out the ideas for his two sons.

The two brothers shook their heads at the same time, with Cao Cao's temper, definitely not.

"Since it won't, Cao Cao is bound to lead troops to commit it again. Let's ask, can Liu Bei's soldiers and horses alone stop Cao Cao's army? ”

The two brothers shook their heads again, presumably hanging.

"Cao Cao insisted that I killed his father, so the first thing he did after he entered the city must be to kill our father and son. At that time, what if people are swords and I am fish and meat? ”

The two brothers were dumbfounded, they hadn't thought about it at all before.

"So, as a father, I thought, it's better to throw this hot potato to Liu Bei. As long as he is willing to take over, he will return to his hometown for his father and return to Danyang to avoid trouble. ”

At the same time, this is also a good time to test Liu Bei.

If Liu Bei takes over Xuzhou as a deserved, it means that he is a jackal wrapped in human skin, and he will try to avoid it in the future.

Fortunately, Liu Bei did not take over, which means that this person at least knows etiquette, righteousness and shame, and even if he sits in the position of Xuzhou Mu in the future, he will not embarrass the Tao family.

Seeing Mi Zhu's attitude towards Liu Bei at the banquet, Tao Qian was even a little suspicious, and the two had hooked up in private.

It doesn't matter anymore, though.

"I'm old, and I probably only have a year or two to live. To put it mildly, what's the point of putting me in that position right now? ”

When he was in his prime, Tao Qian had ambitions. But now, he only thinks about how to protect the Tao family in this troubled era and not be drowned by the dust of history.

"You two brothers, don't think about any grand ambitions, you are not that material, and you can't play with others. Living to pass on the Tao family is more important than anything else. ”

After living for more than 60 years, Tao Qian can see that even if he escapes Cao Cao this time, there will be Lu Bu and Yuan Shao next time.

These careerists will not let Xuzhou stop.

The two brothers, Tao Shang and Tao Ying, were unwilling, but their father's order was difficult to disobey, so they had to nod their heads.

…………

Thirty miles away from Tan County, tens of thousands of military tents were erected.

Cao's soldiers and soldiers had all rested, and they were extremely tired from the attack for several days.

Only the big tent of the Chinese army is still lit with firelight, which is very bright.

In the big tent, the generals of the Cao army lowered their heads, and from time to time they peeked at Cao Cao who was sitting in the commander's seat, and they didn't dare to breathe.

Cao Cao was in a very low mood, and seeing that the city was about to be breached, he actually killed a brave cavalry halfway, ruining all his plans.

Not only that, the Qingyu Sword was captured, and more than 20 people were killed in battle.

It's really hateful!

Cao Cao gritted his teeth, and when his gaze swept over the dejected generals in the tent, he was stunned for a moment, then adjusted his mentality, waved his hand, and comforted them: "Today is my command mistake, and the fault is not waiting for you." You are also tired, so go down and rest. ”

At this time, if you punish them again, it will only demoralize the soldiers, and it is better to be lenient and increase their loyalty.

When the generals heard this, they felt like they had been pardoned, and they withdrew from the tent with their fists clenched.

The generals were almost gone, and Xiahoudun stepped forward to comfort Cao Cao: "Meng De, didn't you lose for a while?" Tomorrow we will be able to conquer the city! ”

This afternoon, he and Le Jin were led away by Kong Rong and Tian Kai's teams for dozens of miles, and by the time they rushed back, Cao's army had already retreated.

"I was too careless and underestimated the reinforcements."

Cao Cao shook his head slightly, after many days of attacking the fortifications, the soldiers were already tired, and they should be let slow down.

When you have recuperated, you will go back to the siege.

"Do you know the origin of that cavalry?" Cao Cao asked out loud, he had been fighting in Xuzhou for more than half a year, and he had never seen such a warlike army under Tao Qian.

Xiahoudun pondered for a while, and replied: "I also heard Zilian and them say this, if it is expected to be good, it should be Gongsun Zhan's white horse righteous servant." ”

"Gongsun Zhan? White Horse Righteous Servant? ”

Xiahoudun nodded, "That's right, it is said that this cavalry army is an elite cavalry created by Gongsun Zhan specifically to deal with the grassland Hu clan. Because Gongsun Chan loves white horses, these horsemen all ride white horses, and Gongsun Chan himself also calls himself a white horse general, and his combat effectiveness is very strong. ”

"Gongsun Chan and Tao Qian have never had any contact or friendship, how could they send troops to help him?" Cao Cao frowned, very puzzled.

He had a correspondence with Gongsun Zhan, and through the tone of the narrative between the lines, Cao Cao knew that Gongsun Zhan was ambitious, and he was indifferent to the world, and only talked about interests in everything, so it should be unlikely that he would send someone to help Tao Qian.

At noon the next day, the soldiers outside the tent came to report.

"My lord, Tao Qianjun's envoy has arrived."

The two sides do not fight each other, this is the rule.

Cao Cao summoned him into the tent, and the envoy presented the letter written by Liu Bei.

Unfolded it, I saw that the bamboo slip read:

"Prepare to worship the king's face from outside the gate, and the day after tomorrow will be on one side, and it will not be enough to serve. Xiang, respected his father Cao Hou, but because Zhang Min was unkind, he was killed, and it was not Tao Gongzu's crime. Now the yellow turban is left behind, disturbing the outside; Lu Bu coerced the Son of Heaven and entrenched himself. May the Duke of Ming be the first urgent need of the court, and then personal enmity; Withdraw the troops of Xuzhou to save the country: Xuzhou is very fortunate, and the world is very fortunate! ”

After Cao Cao finished reading it, he was furious, threw the bamboo slip to the ground, and scolded: "Liu Bei is just a mat weaver and a peddler, what kind of thing is he, and he dares to preach with me?" You go back and tell Liu Bei that if you know each other, you will present Tao Qian's head. Otherwise, I'll take his head off with me!"