The Three Kingdoms: Zhaolie, the strategist, and the rise of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 15 The water in Xuzhou is too deep, it is difficult to grasp (please read it later!)

The carriage drove to the lobby.

Chen Dao helped Li Yi get off the car, and the two of them walked into the hall together.

Just as Chen Dao had said before, many people came today.

The literary ones include Sun Qian, Jian Yong, Chen Qun etc.; the military ones include Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Tian Yu etc.

Lao Liu’s core entrepreneurial team has basically arrived.

Liu Bei looked solemn and his brows were furrowed.

Seeing Li Yi arrive, he relaxed a little and said softly:
"Sir, you are here. Please take a seat."

Li Yi thanked him, lifted his clothes and took a seat.

cough cough...

Now that everyone has arrived, Liu Bei cleared his throat:
"Now that Cao's troops have retreated, Envoy Tao has asked me to station troops in Xiaopei to guard against Cao Cao's next attack."

"But last night we received news from Xuzhou, saying..."

There was a slight pause in his tone, and Liu Bei's expression became extremely serious.

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.

Zhang Fei was impatient and asked:
"Brother, what happened in Xuzhou?"

"Say it quickly."

Liu Bei sighed:

"It is said that Envoy Tao is seriously ill. I think he will die soon..."

hiss……

Everyone gasped, wondering why it was so sudden?

As Cao Cao retreated, Xuzhou was finally safe, but the old man's body couldn't hold on, which is really a pity.

But on the other hand, Tao Qian's critical illness was understandable.

After all, the old man is already 63 years old this year, which was considered a long life in ancient times.

After experiencing the double blow of Cao Cao's second expedition to Xuzhou, it was normal for his body to not be able to bear it.

Liu Bei deliberately paused for a moment to allow everyone to digest the news.

After a while, he continued:

"Envoy Tao is seriously ill and asked me to go to Xuzhou. I think Envoy Tao may have other intentions in doing this."

The implication, of course, is that Tao Qian might give Xuzhou to Liu Bei.

This is not because Liu Bei is conceited, but there were already signs of this.

Since Liu Bei entered Xuzhou, Tao Qian gave him Danyang soldiers and recommended him as the governor of Yuzhou.

When Tao Qian was seriously ill, he even said to those around him: "Only Liu Bei can stabilize this state."

Tao Qian believed that only Liu Bei could stabilize Xuzhou.

All of these actions indicate that Liu Bei will be chosen as the successor.

Especially since Liu Bei had just won a great victory and defeated the arrogant Cao army.

Even the Danyang faction had to shut up at this moment, as if it was a natural thing for Liu Bei to inherit Xuzhou.

But is this really the case?

Before inheriting Xuzhou, there was still a huge obstacle.

The obstruction did not come from others, but from Liu Bei himself.

Liu Bei had doubts about inheriting Xuzhou.

Although some people always say that Liu Bei's "three times giving up Xuzhou" was a manifestation of hypocrisy, he took Xuzhou because he was afraid of damaging his own reputation for benevolence and righteousness.

In fact, if you think about this logic carefully, you will know that it is wrong.

Because the Chinese land has advocated since ancient times that "the world belongs to those with virtue", as long as you have enough virtue, you can inherit Xuzhou.

It is estimated that Liu Bei in history never thought about this issue at all. His posthumous title was "Zhaolie" and he was a knight-errant with a very free and heroic personality.

How could I inherit the pretentiousness and affectation of a Xuzhou mother-in-law?

All I can say is that it is just as Mr. Lu Xun said, the novel wants to show Liu Bei's kindness but it seems fake.

In order to portray Liu Bei as a loyal and honest elder, Lao Luo made up a story about him giving up Xuzhou three times.

But in fact, Liu Bei only hesitated for a moment and then directly accepted Xuzhou.

It's not as pretentious as in the novels.

Maybe someone would say that Liu Bei simply didn't even bother to act, because he had been coveting Xuzhou for a long time, right?

This is not true, because Liu Bei had been struggling for a long time on whether to take Xuzhou. Otherwise, he would not have summoned civil and military officials to discuss the matter.

on the other hand,

Tao Qian had a son, but he did not give the huge Xuzhou to his son, but instead gave it to Liu Bei, a foreigner from the north.

Is it really because Tao Qian is a loyal and honest elder?

Judging from Tao Qian's behavior of instigating Que Xuan to attack Cao Cao and then attacking and killing Cao Song, this old man is really not honest at all.

So there is only one reason.

That is, Xuzhou is a powder keg, and Tao Qianchun has bad intentions and doesn't want his son to be involved.

Just pass this hot potato to Liu Bei. It's Liu Bei's fault for being so "honest". Honest people deserve to be pointed at with guns.

Xuzhou is prosperous and its salt and iron industries are well developed.

On the surface, it does look like a place of great power.

But is the Xuzhou that Liu Bei is about to take over now really the Xuzhou with a population of one million?

Cao Cao attacked Xuzhou for the second time, and the Si River stopped flowing. Xuzhou's productivity was greatly damaged.

The fields were barren and the crops failed.

The wealth accumulated a few years ago was completely wiped out.

This is not the end. In his later years, Tao Qian gave up and allowed the aristocratic families to grow wildly.

This led to the proliferation of aristocratic families in Xuzhou, with most of the power and wealth being in the hands of Xuzhou's aristocratic families.

If you want to rule Xuzhou, you have to use their hands.

Do you think that's the end?
In addition, there are five counties in Xuzhou, namely Langya, Pengcheng, Donghai, Guangling, and Xiapi.

Among them, only Pengcheng and Xia Pi were controlled by Tao Qian.

In other words, although Liu Bei nominally inherited Xuzhou, he could actually only control the two counties of Pengcheng and Xia Pi.

Langya was Zang Ba's sphere of influence, Guangling directly sided with Yuan Shu, and Donghai was divided between Chang Xi and the Mi family.

This is the Xuzhou that Liu Bei was going to take over.

A place surrounded by four warring states: Kong Rong and Yuan Shao in the north, Cao Cao in the west, and Yuan Shu in the south.

There are many aristocratic families in Xuzhou, making it difficult to implement government orders. The real power is in the hands of the powerful families, and the various factions are hostile to each other.

In this way, we can understand why Liu Bei hesitated about taking over Xuzhou.

People are not fools. Tao Qian wanted to pass the hot potato to Liu Bei. How could Liu Bei not see it?

Not only that, the prominent families in Yuzhou, led by Chen Qun, strongly advised Liu Bei not to take over Xuzhou.

Because the waters in Xuzhou were too deep and others had no control over it, they advised Liu Bei to stay in Yuzhou to develop.

But Liu Bei finally accepted it.

Because opportunities are rare, only entrepreneurs understand the bitterness involved.

……

Now Liu Bei has once again come to a crossroads in his life and he must make a choice.

"What do you think?"

Seeing that everyone remained silent, Liu Bei took the initiative to ask.

This matter is of great importance and involves many interests, so it is understandable that everyone is speaking cautiously.

Li Yi didn't have much background, so he didn't have too many concerns, so he spoke first:

"Envoy, since Envoy Tao is seriously ill, we must go to Xuzhou to visit him."

"As for other matters, we can discuss them later."

Upon hearing this, Sun Qian nodded in agreement:

"Mr. Li is right. The most urgent thing right now is to visit Lord Tao. Other matters can be discussed later."

This suggestion is quite pertinent and serves as a reminder to everyone.

Right now the matter of Xuzhou has not even been decided yet. If that old man Tao Qian is not dead, and everyone starts arguing about it, wouldn't that be a laughing stock?

Liu Bei nodded:

"Okay, let's set off for Xuzhou first!"

……

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(End of this chapter)