Xiaoqi

Thinking of this, Liu Biao looked up at Huang Zu who was sitting next to Cai Mao, and asked, "What do you think? How should the old man make a choice?"

Huang Zu was about forty years old, and had already entered middle age. He was tall and strong. He was dressed in black armor, sitting upright, with his waist straight and dignified.He was a general picked up by Liu Biao, and he has served as the prefect of Jiangxia for more than four years, which is about the same as Liu Biao's time as the shepherd of Jingzhou.Two years ago, he planned to ambush Sun Jian, and the fatal arrow was shot by him.Now he and Cai Mao are each in charge of half of the navy, and Liu Biao relies heavily on him, and he has always been loyal to Liu Biao, so whenever there are major issues, Liu Biao will call him back to discuss matters.

Hearing Liu Biao's question now, Huang Zu answered irrelevantly, saying, "The last general is about to report to the lord that the treasure there has been taken by the general."

"What?" Liu Biao was shocked when he heard the words, and immediately got up, showing his burly figure about eight feet five inches long.

Walking quickly to Huang Zu, Liu Biao asked urgently: "The general is far away in Xiliang, why did he appear in our Jingzhou territory, and how did he know such a top-secret matter?"

"This matter is absolutely true, the final general dare not hide it from the lord!" Huang Zu nodded solemnly, and said with certainty: "Half a month ago, Su Fei, the captain of the final general's account, came to join the army with more than ten Jinfan thieves. It was unintentionally revealed that the Jinfan bandits had led their people to the treasure-hiding place a month and a half ago, and after they had salvaged all the treasures, they led their people to Sili."

"What about the poisonous thing? How does the Jinfan water thief deal with the poisonous thing? If the poisonous thing cannot be removed, how does the thief go into the water to salvage the property?" Liu Biao asked in astonishment.

Huang Zu was dejected when he heard the words, and said in a low voice: "The poison was beheaded by the general himself. Most of the Jinfan thieves belonged to the general. The property was full of twelve large ships. They all entered the territory of Sili more than 20 days ago. I'm afraid they have been transported now." Enter Chang'an. In addition, the great general's feat of slaying the dragon, which is widely circulated today, came from this, so this matter is absolutely true and there is absolutely no falsehood."

"Oh? I see." Liu Biao murmured with a complex expression, then slowly walked up to the main seat, sat down slowly, and thought about it.

"What happened? Why is my lord so excited?" Kuai Liang asked Huang Zu softly when he saw Liu Biao sitting down in a daze.

Hearing the sound, Huang Zu raised his eyes to look at Kuai Liang, then turned his head to look at Liu Biao. After Liu Biao nodded slightly, he told the truth to everyone in the hall: "Everyone must know what my lord and I have said, or maybe there is something to it. I heard it. Poison Dragon Pond, you must be familiar with it, right?"

"Poisonous Dragon Pool!" Everyone in the hall changed countenance and exclaimed immediately.

Kuai Liang forcibly calmed down, and said, "Could it be the Poison Dragon Pond where the Lord was attacked by a dragon when he entered Jingzhou alone four years ago, and the boat capsized and fell into the water?"

"Exactly." Huang Zu nodded and said, "Four years ago, my lord traveled by water to Jingxiang. On the way, I encountered a poisonous dragon, and all the accompanying servants, belongings and boats sank. Afterwards, my lord escaped by chance and was rescued by the last general, and I escorted him." My lord came to the State Shepherd's Mansion to take office. Since then, I have been ordered to garrison Jiangxia, and I have been staring at the poisonous dragon pool all the year round. Exterminated by the poisonous dragon, once the big family was destroyed, there were very few survivors. The poisonous dragon has survived in the pool for hundreds of years, and it especially likes to collect hard and shiny property. Therefore, the cold pool where the poisonous dragon is treasury of wealth."

Speaking of this, Huang Zu sighed softly: "It's a pity that the poisonous dragon is huge, hard to hurt with a sword, and fierce and bloodthirsty. I have sent people to strangle it many times, but every time I lost my army and returned without success. Afterwards, this incident For some reason, it was known by the Jinfan bandits of Shu County. In the past two years, they often came along the river and sneaked into the poisonous dragon pool to steal property. One and a half months ago, the Jinfan bandits took the general and his party to the poisonous dragon pool. On top of Gan Ning, the head of the Jinfan thief. So Gan Ning wanted to use the power of the general to entangle the poisonous dragon so that they could sneak into the cold pool to get their property. The poisonous dragon was seriously injured, life and death were unknown, and hundreds of thieves were slaughtered by the poisonous dragon.

In the end, the general and Flying Tiger General Huan Fei joined forces to deal with the poisonous dragon.As a result, most of the Jinfan thieves belonged to the general and salvaged Hantan's belongings. Only a small number of water thieves who refused to leave their hometown were dismissed, and then defected to our Jiangxia navy, and informed me of the matter.

After learning about this, I led the troops to check it out in person, and everything was exactly as the water thief said.Now the poisonous mist over the poisonous dragon pool has dissipated, and there is nothing in the cold pool. Millions of gold, silver and jewels have all fallen into the general's bag, including the body of the poisonous dragon.In recent days, the Chang'an dragon slaying event that has been rumored in the streets and alleys came from this.The rumors are true, the poisonous dragon was indeed beheaded by the great general himself. The body of the dragon was more than eight feet long, with dragon horns on its head, scales all over its body, four claws on its belly, and a poisonous sac that sealed its throat with blood. appalling! "

"So the rumors are true!" Kuai Liang said to himself in a daze.Then he turned his head to look at Kuai Yue, and shook his head with complicated expressions, the two brothers looked at each other in blank dismay, and then looked preoccupied.

"Cough!" Seeing the horrified expressions of all the confidants in the hall, Liu Biao coughed lightly, and said in a deep voice, "The poisonous dragon story is not rumored. I have seen it with my own eyes. Since the general can get rid of such monsters, But it was beyond the old man's expectations. It can be seen from this that the general Wen Ke Anbang Wu can slay dragons, and now he is promoted to the position of Hussar General. Fortunately, this time the General invited No matter whether he is loyal to the emperor or not, it is extremely beneficial to the emperor to send out the emperor to sacrifice to the heaven. If he wins this battle, the prestige of the emperor will definitely be greatly increased, and our Liu family's royal family will be rejuvenated."

After a pause, Liu Biao stood up and gave an order to Kuai Liang: "Since the property has fallen into the hands of the General, it means that the General has no shortage of money and food. This emperor's edict is just an opportunity for the General to Test it on me to see if the old man is loyal to the Han family, and if there is any disagreement. If so, there is no need to discuss this matter again, and the old man is ordered!

Kuai Liang, there is no need to rush to reply to Yuan Shao for the time being, maybe it can be perfunctory.However, you must mobilize [-] shi of grain and grass to Sili as soon as possible, and must hand it over to Pingnan General Xu Rong within half a month, there must be no mistakes! "

After speaking, Liu Biao looked at everyone in the hall solemnly, then walked out of the hall slowly, and walked towards the back hall of the inner courtyard.

"No!" Although Liu Biao had already left the main hall, Kuai Liang still bowed to accept the order.Then he and Kuai Yue looked at each other, a trace of helplessness flashed in their eyes, and they nodded knowingly.

Obviously, the two brothers no longer insisted on their previous words, and could only follow Liu Biao's order to raise food and grass and send it to Sili.

Chapter 564 Tao Gongzu's swan song

The Governor's Mansion in Xuzhou is also the State Shepherd's Mansion.

The inner room of the back hall is filled with incense.

Lying on the couch, Tao Qian, who had been lying on the couch for several months, was now terminally ill, his face was sallow, his eye sockets were sunken, his temples were snow-white, and he was dying.

Before the sick bed, Tao Qian's eldest son Tao Shang and his second son Tao Ying stood by the bed, quietly waiting for his father's orders.It's just that the second son, Tao Ying, was a little absent-minded, as if he didn't care about his father Tao Qian's condition, or he knew that the discussion had nothing to do with him, so he couldn't be interested, and lowered his head not knowing what to think.

On the sickbed, Tao Qian leaned against the brocade quilt and read the letter word by word, then coughed for a long time, then leaned against the brocade quilt to pant heavily, narrowed his sunken eyes and began to think, casually Pass the letter to the eldest son, the potter.

After a long while, Tao Qian whispered feebly: "Shanger, what have the three brothers Liu Bei been up to lately?"

"Recruit young men and train soldiers." The pottery merchant responded casually, and after seeing his father's expression remained the same, he continued: "It is said that they have recruited tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in recent months, plus the four years that my father gave him at the beginning of the year. Thousands of Danyang soldiers, now there should be [-] troops under Liu Bei's account."

"Twenty thousand soldiers?" Tao Qian's face changed slightly, and he whispered softly: "The general said in his letter to his father that Liu Bei was ambitious and tenacious by nature, and he was a person who could accomplish great things; however, although Liu Bei had great ambitions, Advertise benevolence and righteousness in everything you do, but you can't entrust family affairs, otherwise you will entrust inhumane people."

Speaking of this, Tao Qian gasped for a few times, and after taking a breath, he said in a low voice: "Last year when Xuande led his troops to assist us in Xuzhou, there were only four thousand troops in the army, and most of them were young and strong recruited along the way. After repeated battles, he already has [-] soldiers under his tent. From this point of view, this man really has great ambitions, and he may be able to accomplish things in the future. Shang'er, what do you think about this? Is what the general said true? "

"This,,, I'm afraid I can't speak well, and my father will be angry." The potter said hesitantly.

Tao Qian opened his eyes slightly, shook his hand, and said, "You can say what you think in your heart. What do you want to hide in front of your father?"

"Yes." Tao Shang nodded after hearing the sound, and said softly: "Speaking of it in detail, the general has no close friendship with his father, and has nothing to do with him. Although my father once sponsored old general Zhu Jun to fight against Dong Zhuo in the early years, that was all in the past. It is precisely because of this that the general captured Zhu Jun alive and became famous all over the world. In recent years, Xuzhou and Xiliang are far away from each other. Only two times a year, we send food to the imperial court to Xiliang, and there is no other contact. The general treats his father with courtesy. Plus. Whatever my father asks, the general never rejects the memorial, and approves all of them, and even rewards some extra benefits. The current Zhonglang generals of the boy and his younger brother are all bestowed by the general. Therefore, the boy thinks that the general is not To slander Liu Bei for no reason must have something to say. Think for my father.

As for Liu Bei and his two brothers, Hai'er was not sure.Liu Bei treats people with humility and smiles, as if he has no temper.But the boy secretly watched him train the soldiers, which was completely opposite to what he usually saw, cold and severe.His two brothers, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, have high martial arts skills and perverse personalities. Guan Yu is stern and almost unreasonable, while Zhang Fei is heroic but often overpowers others.However, these two people respected Liu Bei quite a lot, and always followed Liu Bei's lead and obeyed his orders.Therefore, the boy didn't know whether Liu Bei was the kind of person the general said he was.The child is stupid, what he sees is limited to this, let his father down, please punish him! "

What the potter said was not an excuse, but he really felt that his answer could not satisfy his father, so he felt quite guilty, lest his father would get angry and hurt his body.

It can be seen from this that the pottery merchant may not have much talent, but he is a filial son, and his loyalty and filial piety are beyond doubt.

Staring at the potter with squinted eyes, Tao Qian was slightly disappointed, but not angry, but rather relieved.Although what the potter said was superficial, he didn't say the main point, and he saw the surface when he looked at things, but he didn't see the essence; but what he said just now was close to the truth, and there was only one opportunity missing.

From this, Tao Qian can see that the eldest son Tao Shang is not useless, but actually mediocre but not faint. Although he has no great talent, he is not a fool who will be fooled by others.This made Tao Qian feel relieved and felt a little at ease, otherwise he was really worried that after his death, it would be difficult for his two sons to survive in troubled times and would not be able to continue the Tao family's incense.

"Shang'er, Ying'er, in front of your father today, you two brothers must tell the truth, do you have the ambition to succeed to the state shepherd?" Tao Qian asked in a deep voice, staring at his two sons while thinking secretly.

"Ah! What,,,?" Tao Shang and Tao Ying were shocked when they heard the sound, they opened their mouths wide but didn't know how to reply.

Especially Tao Ying, who was absent-minded, his heart pounded when he heard the words, and he almost said affirmative answer casually.Fortunately, the moment he blurted out, he finally kept his eyes open. Seeing that his elder brother Tao Shang didn't say anything, he immediately stopped talking and swallowed the words that had reached his throat.

Before that, Tao Ying had no interest in the conversation between his father and his eldest brother, and was still thinking about Mi Huan, the pretty young lady of the Mi family.

That is really a beauty like a fairy, with a beautiful face, breasts as large as a mountain, waist as slim as a silver snake, graceful and charming, and a little savage, with a high self-esteem, and never takes Tao Ying seriously.It was such a beautiful woman with a small temper that made Tao Ying dizzy, addicted to it, unable to extricate herself, an unprecedented sense of conquest filled her heart, lingering and lingering.Today, he wanted to take advantage of his father's talk, wait for the opportunity to bring up this matter, and fantasized that while his father was still alive, he would propose marriage as soon as possible, and make rice as soon as possible.Otherwise, once his father died of illness, the Mi family would no longer regard him as the second son of state shepherd in their eyes, and Mi Huan would ignore him even more, and he might completely miss this kind of beauty in this life.

Coincidentally, when Tao Ying was dreaming, he happened to hear his father Tao Qian asking him and his elder brother Tao Shang who wanted to succeed the state shepherd.This sentence really touched Tao Ying's heart, his expression was shocked, his heart beat faster, and his breathing became heavy and rapid in an instant.Fortunately, he was not completely lost, and he was still sober, knowing that his elder brother, Tao Shang, was the first in line of succession, and he could only be behind his elder brother.If the eldest brother doesn't want to be promoted to the position of state shepherd, then naturally he, Tao Ying, will take over Xuzhou. There is no other candidate, because his father, Tao Qian, has only two sons.

In addition, it's not that Tao Ying never thought about dealing with his eldest brother, Tao Shang. However, although his father dotes on his youngest son, he relies heavily on his eldest son Tao Shang in everything.As a result, Tao Ying naturally did not dare to act rashly, not to mention that his elder brother Tao Shang loved him a lot and never let him be wronged.Since then, the two brothers have lived in peace and harmony, and have not developed to the point where brothers can kill each other.At the same time, even if the eldest brother Tao Shang succeeds to the state shepherd, Tao Ying is sure that the eldest brother will help him accomplish this matter, so that he can embrace the beauty.

Therefore, right now, Tao Ying has no intention of competing with his eldest brother, the potter, otherwise it will not only make his father unhappy, but also destroy the brotherhood, which is not worth the loss.Tao Ying would not do this kind of stupid thing, because he was not so stupid as to be incurable, and he was somewhat self-aware, and he knew very well that his martial arts and martial arts were not as good as his brother Tao Shang.

Besides, Tao Yingzhi is not here, and he has no interest in governing the state and county. The reason why he thinks about the position of state shepherd is entirely because of Mi Huan, the young lady of the Mi family.Because Mi Huan's two elder brothers are greedy for power and vanity, the Mi family was originally a family of merchants, but now the two brothers Mi Zhu and Mi Fang are struggling to climb up, with a strong desire for power.

Relatively speaking, Tao Ying can be said to be a person who really has no ambitions.His most beloved life is rich clothes and fine food, surrounded by majestic people in front and behind, lingering in the singing and dancing of birds and swallows all day long, lying drunk on the lap of beauties, carefree and carefree.This is the day he has been longing for. Unfortunately, his father Tao Qian is so strict that he can only take advantage of his father's illness and sneak out for a while. He usually stays in the mansion for his father to call at any time.

"Father, the elder brother should be the governor of the state. In the future, I will do my best to help my elder brother and not let my father down!" After making up her mind, Tao Ying immediately spoke to Tao Qian respectfully without waiting for the pottery merchant to speak.

"Oh? Ying'er has finally grown up and understands the truth. I'm very pleased for my father." Tao Qian looked at Tao Ying in a little surprise, with a loving smile on his face, and nodded slightly with a smile.

Immediately, he shifted his gaze to Tao Shang, and asked softly, "Shang'er, your younger brother supports your succession as state shepherd, what do you think?"

"This,,, I'm afraid, I'm afraid that I won't be able to do enough, and I'll disappoint my father's high expectations!" The potter's cheeks were flushed, and his breathing was a little difficult. After a little hesitation, he said respectfully.

However, his tone of voice was full of unspeakable excitement, coupled with the clear look of excitement on his face, all these showed that he intended to take the position of Xuzhou Mu, and his son inherited his father's career.

"Shanger, if you succeed to the state shepherd, how will you deal with the attack of Cao Cao's army, and how will you keep Xuzhou in troubled times, so that the Tao family will not be wiped out by other princes?" Tao Qian looked at the eldest son Tao Shang calmly, and slowly asked aloud.

The pottery merchant was surprised when he heard the words. While paying attention to his father's expression, he thought about it and said: "The child will follow the father's method of defending against the enemy, treat the people with kindness, train the sergeant, and be on guard against Cao's bandits leading the army to invade the country at any time. In addition, try to keep Liu Beisan The brothers stay in Xuzhou and try to take it for their own use, so that Xuzhou will be safe. After Xuzhou is out of trouble, the child will follow his father's strategy, make friends from far and close, make friends with the general and Jingzhou Mu Liu Biao, and always be on guard against Cao Cao in Yanzhou and Yuan Shu in Yangzhou , repairing government affairs internally, defending powerful enemies externally."

After he finished speaking, the potter saw that his father's face was not showing any joy, so he immediately bowed and said, "My son listens to my father's instruction!"