On May 12, Liu Bei defeated Cao Ren and pursued him all the way to Lanling County.
Cao Ren lost a lot of troops, but fortunately the front army and half of the central army were not damaged, so he evacuated to Lanling County and fought another decisive battle with Liu Bei.
The two sides engaged in a small-scale battle with about four to five thousand people outside the city. Originally, Liu Bei had a chance to completely defeat Cao Ren.
But Xu Dan stood still and sat idly by, causing this opportunity to fail, which is regrettable.
Later, when the sky was getting dark, Cao Ren took advantage of the situation to launch an attack and defeated Liu Bei. Liu Bei withdrew his troops for more than ten miles, gathered up his defeated troops, and fled to the southeast of Xiangben County.
On May 13th, Liu Bei returned to Shan County. Tao Qian heard that Shen Chen had returned to his hometown and immediately summoned him to ask for his opinion.
At the governor's residence, Tao Qian was discussing with everyone. In addition to Kong Rong, he was surrounded by close confidants Cao Hong, Cao Bao, Chen Deng, Mi Zhu, and Xu Dan who did not go to support Liu Bei yesterday but withdrew his troops back to Shan County.
Because Shen Chen's prediction was correct, he was also summoned.
Xu Dan, an evil person on the scene, complained first, saying that Liu Bei underestimated the enemy and rushed forward because it was already dark and he did not know the enemy's situation, so he could only retreat first and come back first.
While he was talking, Liu Bei had already returned.
He asked Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun to appease the soldiers first, and went to the Prefecture Mufu alone.
While still outside the door, he heard Xu Dan shirk his responsibility, and angrily broke in, glared at Xu Dan and said: "General Xu, I asked you for help, where have you been?"
"Hmph, I see you underestimate the enemy and advance rashly. It's dark. How can you pursue the enemy? So why don't you stop and come back?"
Xu Dan was a little surprised to see Liu Bei still alive, but he quickly found an excuse to shirk responsibility.
On the side, Shen Chen was sizing up Liu Bei and saw that his face was resolute and majestic. Although he was embarrassed, he was graceful. From the appearance alone, he felt very well-groomed.
"Underestimating the enemy and rushing in?"
Liu Bei became even more angry and yelled: "Obviously you said that since I came to Xuzhou to help Duke Tao, I shouldn't be timid. After I went to war and defeated the enemy, you just stood still. What's the point?"
Xu Dan said with a surprised look on his face: "When did I tell you such a thing? I was just following you according to Ming Gong's wishes, but you ended up rushing in and ambush yourself. What does it have to do with me?"
"You villain!"
Liu Bei drew his sword angrily. He had never seen such a shameless person.
Seeing that things were about to get serious, Kong Rong quickly stood up and stopped Liu Bei and said: "Xuande, Xuande, don't do anything."
Tao Qian felt wronged at this time, because he was the one who sent Xu Dan to help. Regardless of whether Liu Bei underestimated the enemy and rushed forward, Xu Dan did not help, which naturally made him feel shameless.
So he coughed twice and yelled: "Xu Dan, get down!"
"Ming Gong!"
Xu Dan quickly wanted to continue to shirk responsibility, but he didn't know that his little cleverness had backfired on him.
Tao Qian's voice became louder and he shouted: "Go down!"
"yes."
Xu Dan had no choice but to leave.
Liu Bei was dissuaded by Kong Rong and sat on the table next to him. He kept breathing angrily, obviously feeling resentful in his heart.
Seeing his anger rising, Tao Qian said apologetically, "Xuande, it's my fault for not being strict in my discipline."
Liu Bei stood up angrily and said to Tao Qian: "Mr. Tao, I came here out of loyalty. This time I was chasing the enemy. I saw the enemy setting up an ambush on the road, so I wanted to wait and see. It was those words of encouragement that made me continue to lead the troops." We attacked, but luckily defeated the enemy, and chased them all the way to Lanling, but he hid behind and refused to send troops to help, resulting in a failure. If Tao Gong doesn't believe me, then prepare to go back to the plains."
After saying that, he turned around and prepared to leave.
Retreat to advance?
For some reason, Shen Chen thought of this idiom while watching this scene.
But after a moment he dismissed the thought.
Because if Liu Bei was really smart enough to retreat in order to advance, he wouldn't have been provoked by Xu Dan's inferior provocation and pursued a powerful enemy, almost putting himself in danger.
So from the current observation, Shen Chen only saw a stupid young man with no sense of authority.
This made him a little disappointed.
This is because the future Emperor Zhaolie of the Shu Han Dynasty has not been severely beaten by reality at least yet. He is young and full of enthusiasm and is far from the magnanimity he should have after middle age.
However, if you think about it carefully, maybe this is reasonable.
Who are Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, and Cao Cao?
The top second generation official of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
For many people, their starting point is likely to be the end of their lives.
What about Liu Bei?
He was born as a commoner at the bottom of the society and had a clan aura on his head. In fact, he was not included in the royal family tree. He only had the blood of the Liu family but no due political status.
The political education the two parties received and the environment in which they grew up are not at the same level at all.
Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Yuan Shu and others grew up in top-notch families. Affected by political struggles and bureaucratic struggles, their city and character naturally deepened.
Even the worst Yuan Shu once dominated Huainan and almost took the entire Henan and other places into his pocket.
Liu Bei is still far from reaching their level.
Perhaps in the future, he will have to wait until he becomes Xuzhou Mu, and has the experience of being displaced between Yuan Shu, Lu Bu, and later Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, so that he can grow up quickly.
Therefore, the anxious, immature, and unscheming character he displays now is his most authentic character now.
It is precisely because of this that he would save Beihai and Xuzhou with just one word.
Just seeing Liu Bei now, Shen Chen also firmly decided to go to Jingzhou with his family to avoid disaster.
After all, Xuzhou is already very dilapidated. Liu Bei's current character is flawed and he is definitely not someone who can be helped.
There are only two people worthy of assistance in the entire Three Kingdoms, one is Liu Bei and the other is Cao Cao.
But Shen Chen didn't want to defect to Cao Cao.
Cao Cao was a moody man. History records record that he was strict in nature and often took responsibility for his actions. When following him, you not only had to be on tenterhooks, but you also had to worry about the danger of being killed if you were not careful.
Moreover, his massacre and cannibalism made Shen Chen extremely unhappy, so after traveling to the Three Kingdoms, he never thought of defecting to him.
As for establishing himself as king.
I have also considered it, but unfortunately his background determines the difficulty of this road.
Among the princes of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei had the worst background.
Even Gongsun Zan had a prefect father-in-law and a prefect teacher. He was also very brave and was appreciated by his superiors and was promoted very quickly.
If you don't have anyone at the top, you want territory but can't get it. Without connections, resources, and status, talents won't come to you, people won't trust you, and soldiers won't fight to the death for you.
Therefore, Shen Chen thought about it for a long time before finally making a decision.
Unfortunately, now is not the right time.
"Xuande, don't think too much."
Seeing that Liu Bei was really about to leave, Tao Qian, regardless of his old body, stood up quickly and said to stay: "This is a subordinate who has made the decision without authorization. I have no intention of doing so."
"Yes, Xuande. Mr. Tao has always been loyal, so how could he not trust Xuande?"
Kong Rong also pulled him to persuade him.
"Don't get angry, Mr. Xuande. The top priority is still to deal with state and county affairs."
"Liu Shijun, please don't trap Tao Gong in injustice just because of this matter."
Mi Zhu and Chen Deng next to them also urged Liu Bei to stay, and he sat down glumly.
Tao Qian came over tremblingly, bowed sincerely and apologized to Liu Bei: "Xuande, this is all because I am old and unable to discipline the people. I ask Xuande for your forgiveness."
Liu Bei was startled, and hurriedly stepped forward to help him and said, "As for Mr. Tao, I am still angry at Na Xu for delaying the opportunity, but I have no intention of blaming Mr. Tao."
"well."
Tao Qian let out a long sigh, then waved to Mi Zhu and said, "Zizhong, go and get my Xuzhou seal."
"Forehead"
Liu Bei didn't know what he meant for a moment. He looked around and looked at Kong Rong and Chen Deng with confusion in his eyes.
After a while, Mi Zhu brought Xuzhou Mu's seal.
Tao Qian took it, held Liu Bei's hand and said bitterly: "Xuande, there is a big chaos today, Wang Gang is weak, I am a member of the Han Dynasty, and it is time to support the country. I am old and incompetent, and I am willing to give way to Xuzhou."
"Tao Gong!"
Liu Bei was so shocked that he hurriedly knelt down on one knee, straightened his back, cupped his hands and said solemnly: "Tao Gong's words make Liu Bei ashamed. Although Bei is a descendant of the Han Dynasty, his merits are so small that the current Prime Minister of Pingyuan is still afraid of not being qualified for his position."
.I have come to help you out of great righteousness. Now that I have said this, do you suspect that I have the intention to annex Xuzhou? If I have such intention, God will not bless me!"
"Oh, I definitely didn't mean that." Tao Qian quickly clarified: "I really want to give Xuzhou to you. I should write my own statement and report it to the court. Please don't refuse!"
"Tao Gong."
Liu Bei shook his head and said: "Currently we don't know what the direction of Cao's army is, and I have just been defeated. They are very likely to come to Xuzhou again. The most urgent thing now is to retreat from Cao's army first."
"Ming Gong, what Liu Shijun said is absolutely true. It is indeed important to retreat Cao's army first."
Chen Deng also stood up and persuaded.
Tao Qian hesitated for a moment, then finally sighed, nodded and said, "Okay, let's discuss the matter of retreating from Cao first."
In fact, Tao Qian really wanted to give Xuzhou to Liu Bei at this time.
the reason is simple.
First, his body knows it. These days, Tao Qian has been vomiting blood because of Cao Cao's massacre of Xuzhou. He knows that his life is not long and his two sons are in trouble. He must find someone who can guard Xuzhou.
Second, when he learned what Xu Dan had done, Tao Qian felt even more sad, because it meant that his control over Xuzhou was already very weak, and even the Danyang soldiers did not obey his orders.
You must know that Tao Qian's decree at this time could not leave the Donghai Kingdom at all, Zuo Rong occupied Guangling, Pengcheng and Xiapi were massacred by Cao Cao, and Langya was occupied by Zang Ba and Xiao Jian respectively. Both of them were almost independent of each other.
Therefore, Shen Chen also analyzed it for him at the beginning. If he wanted to save Xuzhou, he must first bring the Langya Kingdom in the rear back into his own hands. In this way, it would be connected with Kong Rong's Beihai and take care of each other.
However, Tao Qian felt his body weakening more and more. He seemed to have aged ten years in just one month. Now even his close followers had begun to resist his orders. How could such a sick body be able to rule the roost?
Therefore, Tao Qian had to start planning for his own death.
After thinking about it, Liu Bei was the only one who could hold Xuzhou, so he decided to give Xuzhou to the other side. However, he did not expect that Liu Bei would not accept the offer due to moral reasons, leaving him helpless.