My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 23 The Mess in Xuzhou
It seems that Liu Bei also wanted to establish military farms.

This makes sense.

Liu Bei took over Xuzhou, which was left by Tao Qian, quite different from the account in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

In the novel, Liu Bei received Xuzhou, a province with full granaries and abundant treasuries, but weak generals and demoralized soldiers who only knew how to farm and not how to fight.

In reality, Tao Qian's Danyang soldiers were incredibly fierce.

In official history, only the soldiers of Danyang achieved the "Three Kingdoms Kill" achievement, hunting down and killing all three founding monarchs of the Three Kingdoms.

When Cao Cao first attacked Dong Zhuo, he was utterly defeated by Xu Rong and his entire army was wiped out. He only managed to escape with his life thanks to Cao Hong's selfless rescue. After this painful experience, he went to Danyang to recruit soldiers.

After successfully recruiting 4,000 soldiers in Danyang, Cao Cao led this army back north. However, when they reached Longkang, the Danyang soldiers rebelled and almost killed Cao Cao.

Sun Ce's rise to power was similar. At that time, Sun Ce's uncle Wu Jing was appointed as the governor of Danyang by Yuan Shu, so he excitedly went to Danyang to recruit soldiers and gathered several hundred soldiers.

As a result, Sun Ce didn't even get to know the heads of these few people before he was caught and attacked by Zu Lang, a powerful figure from Danyang, and his entire army was wiped out.

Sun Ce himself barely escaped with his life before finally returning to Yuan Shu's side.

Finally, there's Big Ears. Because the Danyang soldiers lost their base in Xuzhou, he was trapped in Guangling at his worst, and his subordinates even resorted to cannibalism. He barely escaped death.

It can only be said that the Danyang soldiers lived up to their reputation as the strongest army in the world, and almost directly strangled the Three Kingdoms.

In fact, many people have been misled by the novel, believing that Cao Cao took the initiative to attack Xuzhou.

In reality, it was Tao Qian, the "good guy" who commanded tens of thousands of elite troops in Danyang, who took the initiative to attack Cao Cao, and even joined forces with a large group of people to gang up on Cao Cao.

At one point, Cao Cao was forced to fight back from all sides, losing not only Taishan County but also almost losing Rencheng County.

It should be noted that although Rencheng County was not a large place, as a county-level state, it only had three counties.

However, its geographical location is indeed very important, making it a vital transportation hub in Yanzhou Prefecture.

Rencheng borders Langya State to the east, Jiyin Commandery to the west, Lu and Pei States to the south, and Taishan Commandery to the north.

If this place is lost, the strategic initiative will completely fall into Tao Qian's hands, and he can easily defeat the various counties of Yanzhou one by one.

Tao Qian's strategy was perfectly correct, but unfortunately, he encountered Cao Cao.

Cao Cao was indeed exceptionally talented, with an extraordinary aptitude for military studies. He managed to turn the tide of the battle.

To make matters worse for Tao Qian, his side unexpectedly suffered a major setback at this critical moment.

Tao Qian never imagined that at this crucial moment, he would be stabbed almost fatally by his own confidant, Zuo Rong, a giant in the Danyang Sect who was on par with Cao Hong and Cao Bao.

Zuo Rong was Tao Qian's confidant, and Tao Qian trusted him immensely. Even though Zhao Yu, Chen Deng, Mi Zhu and others repeatedly advised him, it was to no avail.

The reason is that Zuo Rong was not only a fellow townsman from Danyang, but also brought several hundred people to join him. Finally, this person was good at making money.

A military group cannot survive or grow without funding.

Of all Tao Qian's men, only Zuo Rong could bring him a large amount of funds.

He was both a fellow townsman from Danyang and one of Tao Qian's original major shareholders in the early days of his business.

If Tao Qian doesn't give important positions to these people, who else can he give important positions to?
Even though Zuo Rong had plundered the entire Xuzhou region to the point of devastation, and everyone in Xuzhou, from scholars to powerful figures to commoners, wished they could tear Zuo Rong apart, Tao Qian resolutely protected him and even promoted Zuo Rong.

Zuo Rong, a mere local strongman from Danyang who couldn't even fit into the scholar-official circles, was suddenly promoted by Tao Qian to the position of Chancellor of Xiapi, a high-ranking official at the level of a prefect with a salary of two thousand shi (a unit of grain). In addition, Tao Qian also entrusted Zuo Rong with the entire tax collection and transportation work of the three prefectures of Xiapi, Pengcheng, and Guangling.

Zuo Rong was now like a cat in a fishpond or a mouse in a rice jar, completely free to do as he pleased.

While Tao Qian and Boss Cao were fighting, he was making money off the sidelines.

When Tao Qian had the upper hand, he became more restrained.

But when Cao Cao turned the tide and won, Ze Rong went completely mad. He swept away all the tax revenue and treasury of the three commanderies and fled south with tens of thousands of his troops and more than three thousand horses.

He then committed many heinous crimes in the south until he was defeated by Sun Ce and died at the hands of the mountain people.

Yet, this great villain was praised and whitewashed by Buddhism in later generations simply because he believed in Buddhism, which shows how absurd history can be.

Zuo Rong's absconding with the funds was one of the direct reasons why Tao Qian's army collapsed and was thoroughly defeated by Cao Cao.

Xuzhou only has five commanderies and kingdoms in total, and Langya Commandery was originally owned by Zang Ba.

Zuo Rong absconded with three-quarters of the money and grain, leaving only Donghai Commandery. How could that possibly sustain the war on the front lines?

Cut off from supplies and unable to even get food, the morale of the Danyang soldiers plummeted to zero, and Cao Cao chased them all the way back to Xuzhou.

This shows how empty the treasury of Xuzhou was. Without the strong support of Chen Deng and Mi Zhu, Liu Bei wouldn't even be able to support his own 6,000 loyal followers.

Mi Zhu, as the deputy governor, didn't really manage anything and had more of a mascot-like feel to him.

However, he wielded considerable real power and had a very clear understanding of state affairs.

Many people understand the position of "Biejia" to mean a high-ranking official.

This is because when the governor or prefect is absent, administrative affairs are usually handled by the deputy governor.

However, this perception is actually wrong. The position of Biejia is not a deputy position; he is more like the first person under the governor.

The very origin of the name "Biejia" (别驾) speaks volumes about the prestige of this position.

The term "Biejia" means that he, like the governor and the prefect, had his own personal carriage. When they went out, his carriage was second only to the governor and the prefect.

For this reason, the candidates for the position of Prefectural Governor in various regions were often people who owned a lot of land and money in the area, and were also highly respected and famous figures.

When such a person becomes powerful, it's only a matter of minutes before they sideline the governor of a prefecture.

Logically speaking, Mi Zhu was not qualified to be a deputy governor.

Although the Mi family was wealthy, they were not from the aristocratic circle; their family background was that of merchants.

Even though the Mi family was generous and had good relations with the aristocratic circles, it didn't mean that the aristocratic circles would tolerate Mi Zhu being appointed as the Prefect.

But who can blame Tao Qian for being a rule-breaker?

Compared to Tao Qian's promotion of Cao Hong to Chief Clerk, Cao Bao and Xu Dan to General of the Central Army, and Zuo Rong to Chancellor of Pi State, who was responsible for the transportation of taxes and grain from Xiapi, Guangling, and Pengcheng, Tao Qian's promotion of Cao Hong to Chief Clerk of the Central Army was a different story.

Mi Zhu becoming a separate official was hardly a big deal; even the local scholars of Xuzhou didn't bother to object.

After all, they were too busy criticizing Cao Hong and Zuo Rong to even think about Mi Zhu, who could at least be considered one of their own.

(End of this chapter)