The Most Romantic of the Three Kingdoms

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The cold wind blew the dead trees in the courtyard, and the dry branches swayed, making a squeaking sound, which was annoying. ¤,

Tao Qian stood up abruptly and said loudly to the attendant outside the door, "Close the door for me!"

The door didn't close, but with his sharp shout, two people came in.

One Cao Hong, one Cao Bao.

Seeing that two of his close associates came, Tao Qian slightly relaxed his tone, and his stern face also relaxed a little, and said, "You two are here."

Cao Hong and Cao Bao heard Tao Qian's loud shout, and came into the room at this time, and saw Tao Qian's expression not hesitating again, Cao Hong smiled and said, "Which one of them angered Duke Ming? Duke Ming told me, I'm going to ask him to come and plead guilty."

Tao Qian forced a smile, returned to the seat and sat down, asking him to take their seats too.

Cao Bao is a warrior, and his temperament is a little upright and impatient. He sat on the seat and said, "Who else could it be? In the five counties of Xuzhou, who dares to anger Duke Ming, besides the one from Guangling?"

Cao Hong asked, "Is Duke Ming angry because of this?"

Tao Qian sighed: "Qing and two are my confidants, how could the two of them not know my thoughts?"

Cao Bao said: "Duke Ming, Cao Jun and I are here for Xun Zhenzhi. Xun Zhenzhi was recruiting troops in Guangling. In recent days, his actions have become more and more frequent, and it is obvious that something will be different. Dare to ask Ming Gong, I don't know what is right. Is this a decision?"

After learning about Xunzhen's transfer of troops and levies, Tao Qian had a secret discussion with Cao Hong and Cao Bao. The state soldiers of Xuzhou were dispatched and stationed in the south of Donghai County.

Taishan troops entered Xiapi, of course, to strengthen the garrison of Xiapi. Xuzhou soldiers were stationed in the south of Donghai County in order to press Guangling. As mentioned above, the county land in Xiapi County between Donghai and Guangling is narrow from east to west, from the south of Donghai County to the north of Guangling County. The shortest straight-line distance is only eight/ninety miles. Xuzhou soldiers are stationed here, which is enough to threaten Xun Zhen.

Tao Qian, Cao Hong, and Cao Bao negotiated these two strategies, which can be said to be deliberate.

Neither the Taishan soldiers nor the Xuzhou soldiers were Tao Qian's direct descendants, so it would be best if they could intimidate Xun Zhen and make him dare not move rashly. The two forces exhausted Xun Zhen's strength, and then waited for the opportunity to send Danyang soldiers to attack. In this way, even if they couldn't win completely, they would definitely not lose, and there was another advantage. They could take the opportunity to weaken the Taishan soldiers who were already dying, and The more and more disobedient Xuzhou soldiers have achieved the prospect of Danyang soldiers being the only strong state in the state.

It's a pity that although their abacus is good, the Taishan soldiers and Xuzhou soldiers are not fools.

Xuzhou soldiers were nothing more than that, although some officers from the nobility of their native prefecture were half-hearted towards Tao Qian because of Xun Zhen's co-optation, but they, as Xuzhou's state soldiers, did not dare to refuse Tao Qian's mobilization. , they only scored five or six points out of ten force, which is the maximum of their "non-cooperation".

Zang Ba is not the case. He is a "guest army". Originally, the army relied on Tao Qian for salaries and supplies. Tao Qian's orders must be obeyed. The scholars and Guangling Xunzhen gave him all sorts of laissez-faire. Now, although he is not the county governor, he seems to have taken possession of a county in Langya, and he has enough confidence not to listen to Tao Qian's dispatch.

A few days ago, Tao Qian summoned Zang Ba to see him and told him to lead his troops to Xiapi. How did Zang Ba answer? I am crying for food and soldiers. —This is one of the things that upset Tao Qian, and it is the most important one.

If Taishan's troops can't be mobilized, what is the use of Xuzhou's troops even if they can be mobilized?

Xun Zhen's subordinates had main and second-line troops, and so did Tao Qian.

The first-class main force under Tao Qian's account is the Danyang Soldiers, who have the best armor, the most food and money, and the strongest combat power. After continuous expansion from last year to the present, the number of soldiers has also been greatly increased. There are nearly 20,000 people, and it can be said that people are strong and strong; the second is the Taishan soldiers. The soldiers are also sharp and the armor is complete. Although they live in Xuzhou and have been away from home for a long time, many soldiers have fled back to Taishan. However, Zang Ba has always been recruiting troops, and it is still around 10,000 people. As for Xuzhou soldiers, because of Tao Qian's consistent restraint, they can only be regarded as second- or even third-tier. The combat strength is not strong, the equipment is also poor, and the fighting spirit is lower, and because Tao Qian has reduced his salaries and abolished several times in order to strengthen the Danyang soldiers, the number of existing soldiers is not too many, only about five or six. Thousands of people, without the Taishan soldiers echoing in Xiapi, it is really difficult to rely on them alone, and they definitely cannot threaten Xun Zhen.

Therefore, if Zang Ba is unwilling to move, Tao Qian, Cao Hong, and Cao Bao's "smart strategies" cannot be implemented.

Hearing Cao Bao asking himself if he had any countermeasures, Tao Qian's worries immediately came back to him.

He said to himself: "In those days when I was in danger, my horse entered Xu, and in a few months, I swept the five counties, wiped out a hundred thousand yellow scarves with a snap of my fingers, tied my hands in one state, all the famous people lay down, people praised me, and everyone passed on beauty, what a joy! How did you get into today's predicament?"

In fact, Tao Qian was not in trouble at all.

Compare that to Xun Zhen.

There was only one county in Xunzhen and three in Taoqian.

After the abolition of the trilogy, Xun Zhen only kept more than 10,000 soldiers and horses, while Tao Qian only had nearly 20,000 soldiers in his direct line of Danyang.

No matter how you look at it, the winning faces are all on Tao Qian's side.

Tao Qian's only problem is that he is getting older and has more territory, so it is inevitable that he will look forward to the future, and he will not have the decisive courage he used to be.

If Tao Qian can still have the same spirit as when the Yellow Turbans were pacified back then, it doesn't matter if the soldiers of Mount Tai are not moving or those of Xuzhou are not, so he simply leads nearly 20,000 elites from Danyang, marches into the army, and fights Xun Zhen to the death. As long as there is a slight chance of winning, the Taishan soldiers and Xuzhou soldiers will not dare to be half-hearted. At that time, they will swarm up and the three armies will move together. There is only one Guangling County, and Xunzhen, who lacks enough depth, and also lacks enough soldiers and logistical supplies, how can he win?

However, Tao Qian did not have the courage he had in the past. Facing the enterprising Xun Zhen, he would feel that he was in a predicament.

Tao Qian twitched his beard for a while, but didn't say a word.

Cao Hongjin said: "Hong has a strategy, which may solve the trouble of Zangba's inability to mobilize."

"Oh? What's the best way to do it, please tell me quickly."

Cao Hong first scolded Zang Ba a few words, and said: "Zang Ba received the great kindness of Duke Ming, but he flirted with Xun Guangling. I don't have time to settle accounts with him now, so I can only let him go for a while."

Tao Qian didn't have time to listen to him scold Zang Ba, so he chased after him "a plan to solve Zang Ba's inability to mobilize" and asked, "Why is the good plan, please tell me quickly."

"Zang Ba doesn't follow orders, and Duke Ming can replace him with Pengcheng."

"Replace with Pengcheng?"

"Pengcheng produces iron, and weapons are fine, so Duke Ming can send a person to envoy, persuade Xue Li, and ask him to send troops to Xia Pi to help him defend the land. Threat Guangling."

"This strategy is good, but I have a gap with Xue Li, he may not be willing to listen to my transfer."

"Guangling is like raising an army, and it must be the first to take down Xiapi. Once Xiapi is captured by Guangling, Guangling will be at the gate of Pengcheng. At that time, Duke Ming will be in the east, Guangling in the south, Sun Jian in the west, and the small country of Pengcheng will be located in the third place. In a big country, it's hard to protect yourself! I think Xue Li definitely doesn't want Guangling to have Xiapi. How can the small gap in the past be compared with the life of the present? Duke Ming allows him to marry and marry. With the covenant, he is expected to obey."

"Qing's words are reasonable, ... but, allow him to get married? My two sons are both married, and I have never heard of Xue Li having a daughter."

"Xue Li has no daughter, so he can choose one from his clan; both sons of Duke Ming are married, and he can marry a small wife."

At the moment, there is no strict etiquette in later generations. Marriage between men and women is sometimes not a big wife or a small wife. It is not uncommon for a daughter of a noble family to marry someone else as a small wife. Taking a step back, even if Xue Li was concerned about this, he didn't have a daughter. He just chose a woman from his clan to marry the son of "Tao Qian, a prince of the same place" as his little wife. It was not unacceptable.

Tao Qian pondered for a while, and said: "It's very true, Xue Li is really not willing to go to Guangling's army to the border of the county, ... OK! According to Qing's plan, I will send an envoy to Pengcheng today to make an appointment with Xue Li to marry. Let his soldiers help Pi."

"Other than that, Duke Ming can send an envoy to Luyang to ask Yuan Gonggong to borrow troops."

Ten days ago, Tao Qian had sent an envoy to Luyang to see Yuan Shu, but so far there has been no reply. Tao Qian nodded and replied, "According to Qing's words, I will send someone to Luyang to see General Yuan."