Chapter 70 Chapter Nine: The Aunt Lost Her Nephew (1)

While Cao Cao was battling between Yanzhou and Lubula, Liu Bei easily obtained the ruling power of Xuzhou that Cao Cao had dreamed of. As early as December of the first year of Xingping, Yanzhou Mu Taoqian, who barely escaped Cao Cao's conquest, fell ill.When he was dying, he said to his confidantes, Mi Zhu from a rich family in Donghai and Chen Deng from Xiapi: "After I die, Liu Bei will not be able to appease our state. You must take him in, don't forget My words..." Before he finished speaking, he swallowed his breath.But he has made it very clear about Xuzhou. When these heroes are waiting around, and Cao Cao is threatening the northwest, why does Tao Qian only ask Liu Bei to be his successor? It is because Tao Qian has a special affection for Liu Bei, who came to save him at any cost, and he has long felt that Xuzhou needs people like Liu Bei to govern it.

Mi Zhu and Chen Deng followed Tao Qian's order and went to Xiaopei to invite Liu Bei in person.When Liu Bei heard that Tao Qian was dead, he took Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun to Tancheng to mourn. After mourning, Liu Bei refused to accept the seal and ribbon of Xuzhou Zhoumu.He said that he was weak and did not dare to accept this important task, and advocated welcoming Yuan Shu, who was stationed in Shouchun, to Xuzhou. How can this be done? What's more, Tao Qian has no such entrustment.Therefore, Chen Deng, the agricultural officer, said to Liu Bei: "Yuan Shu is arrogant and extravagant, and he is not the master of chaos. What's more, Taozhou Mu has no such entrustment at the end of his life. Today, the Han Dynasty is weak and the world is restless. Today is the day when the big man makes contributions. Although Xuzhou was once small Even if it is destroyed, it is still a rich place. If the soldiers and horses are gathered together, there will be no less than one hundred thousand people. Moreover, Xuzhou has more than one million household registrations. According to this, the public is enough to help the people, and the private can protect the territory. ...how can we continue to support you if sir is afraid to accept this task?"

Kong Rong, Prime Minister of Beihai, also tried his best to persuade Liu Bei: "Yuan Shu is not a general who worries about the country and forgets his family. At present, he is exhausted, like a dead bone in a tomb, so what does he do? Now the world is in chaos, and the people are willing to follow the virtuous and A person who can. This is a great opportunity given to you by God, if you don’t accept it, you will regret it for the rest of your life.” Liu Bei took the risky and difficult position of Xuzhou Mu under the persuasion of Xuzhou county leaders and officials. Chen Deng and the others immediately sent envoys to Jizhou to report to Yuan Shao, the leader of the alliance, to the effect that: "Taozhou Mu has passed away, and there is no one to preside over the prefecture. They are afraid that the rebellious party will take the opportunity to attack and make the leader worry. The common people have a refuge. Whether it is appropriate or not, please bear with me, the leader."

Obviously, this is a "real idea, fake discussion," and it's the same thing if you agree or disagree.Yuan Shao understood it in his heart, and said: "Liu Xuande is a loyal elder, very loyal, and the officials and people of Xuzhou can love him, which is what everyone expects. I congratulate you for this." Cao Cao didn't know that Xuzhou had Yuan Shao's support.All he knew was that Liu Bei followed Tao Qian to sit in Xuzhou Mu, his face turned blue with anger, and said: "Tao Qian is my enemy, and he must take revenge even if he dies. Liu Bei sits in Xuzhou without laboring, how can it be so cheap in the world?" I’m going to kill Liu Bei first, and I’ll deal with Lu Bu later.”

The counselor Xun Yu quickly stopped Cao Cao and said: "In the past Han Gaozu guarded Guanzhong and Guangwu guarded Hanoi. After they had a solid place, they could advance and attack, retreat and defend, and manage the world. Although there were difficulties in the middle, they finally accomplished great things. The general first occupied Yanzhou, and Hanoi is an important place in the world. That is, your Guanzhong, General, Hanoi. Besides, we have killed Xue Lan and Li Feng, restored Juye, and the morale is booming. Now that the wheat is ripe, it is time to Let the sergeants go out to harvest and prepare the army rations. If the soldiers have sufficient food and supplies, they can defeat Lv Bu. After destroying Lv Bu, contact the people in Yangzhou to conquer Yuan Shu together. When the army reaches Huai and Si, we will not worry that Xuzhou will not be able to defeat it. What should we do about Yanzhou if we go to fight Xuzhou? If we lose Yanzhou and lose Xuzhou, wouldn’t we kill two birds with one stone?

After Xun Yu said this, Cao Cao held back his anger for the time being and did not attack Xuzhou.It wasn't until Lu Bu was defeated and Yanzhou was pacified that they talked about attacking Xuzhou again.What's more, the defeated soldier Lu Bu also defected to Liu Bei, and he just wiped him out in one go.But at this time, the political situation in Xuzhou has undergone major changes. When Lu Bu defected to Liu Bei, Liu Bei forced Cao Cao to retreat quickly because of Lu Bu's attack on Yanzhou last time, which was of great help to Xuzhou. When he heard that Lu Bu was coming, Liu Bei was ready to go out of the city to meet him.Mi Zhu stopped him and said, "Lü Bu is a wolf and cannot be kept."

Liu Bei persuaded Mizhu: "Don't say that. First, he restrained Cao Cao last time, which was helpful to us. Second, he came to consort with him when there was a disaster. How could he refuse?" Mi Zhu and the others had no choice but to go out of the city with Liu Bei to welcome Lu Bu in, and served Lu Bu wine to greet the wind. Little did he know that Lu Bu became proud when he saw that Liu Bei respected him very much.He said to Liu Bei: "When the Kwantung princes raised their troops, I was in Dong Zhuo's camp, so I became an enemy. Even if I killed Dong Zhuo and left the capital, the Kwantung generals would not let me go. Everyone wanted to put me to death. So I had no choice but to rely on your virtuous brother."

Liu Bei saw that he spoke arrogantly and still respected him on the outside, but he was very unhappy in his heart.But Liu Bei was generous in nature, pretended to be indifferent, and never complained.Although Liu Bei can tolerate it, Liu Bei's two brothers Guan Yu and Zhang Fei cannot tolerate it.The two of them stared at Lu Bu angrily, and they were on the verge of breaking out.If Liu Bei hadn't tried every means to dissuade the two behind their backs, they might have fought Lu Bu long ago.Therefore, the relationship between Liu Bei and Lu Bu is calm on the surface, but there is a dark tide in the heart...

In the first year of Jian'an, that is, in 196 AD, in June, Yuan Shu took advantage of the open and secret struggle between Liu Bei and Lu Bu and sent troops to attack Xuzhou. Liu Bei heard the news and immediately made active deployments.He sent Zhang Fei to guard Xiapi City, and personally led the army to fight against Yuan Shu in Xuyi and Huaiyin.Due to the timely deployment, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were two fierce generals, Yuan Shu was coming fiercely, and it was difficult to take Xuzhou for a while.The two sides fought many times, winning and losing each other, and had a stalemate for more than a month.