He brought four to five thousand soldiers and horses. These two to three hundred people could not be enemies, let alone bandits who came to block the road and rob.
Most likely, he came to seek refuge with himself.
Liu Bei thought so, but he was not sure.
The soldier looked at Zhou Ping beside Liu Bei and replied: "They didn't say who they were. They only said that they were friends of Zhou Wen'an, and they asked Zhou Wen'an to meet them."
When Zhou Ping just heard the report from his soldiers that there were two to three hundred people blocking the road, and they were all armed with weapons, he thought that it was most likely Xu Chu and the others.
Now I heard that they were good friends with me, which confirmed my guess, and immediately asked: "Is the leader as strong as an ox?"
"That's right." The soldier replied hurriedly.
Zhou Ping was overjoyed: "Hahaha... Lord, these people are Xu Chu and Xu Zhongkang from Qiao County. They are followed by a group of knight-errant swordsmen, who are my good friends. I went to persuade them to join my lord before, but they left home at that time. I have not yet
I was able to meet him, but I just left a message asking them to surrender. I didn't expect them to actually come today. I'm afraid this man's courage is not weaker than General Yide! My lord, please go to meet him as soon as possible."
Liu Bei was also overjoyed: "I have heard about Xu Chu's name. I heard that he was as strong as a tiger and could walk a hundred steps backwards by dragging an ox's tail. It turns out that he is a good friend of Mr. Xu, hahaha..."
Zhang Fei had a sullen face behind him, feeling very depressed. Why is it that no one is weaker than me now? Are they stronger or am I getting weaker?
"I want to fight him for three hundred rounds."
"Don't mess around."
When Liu Bei heard Zhang Fei's muttering, he immediately turned around and scolded him.
Everyone clapped their horses forward and came to the front of the army. They saw that the man blocking the way was more than eight feet tall, with a waist ten girths (I don't know how big ten girth is, but he must be very strong anyway), with a majestic appearance.
He held a large knife in his hand.
Liu Bei was secretly happy in his heart. You could tell he was brave just by looking at his appearance. Such a brave person was really rare. There were also those people behind him. You could tell at a glance that they were all extraordinary.
Unexpectedly, Zhou Wen'an is so resourceful but seems to have no physical strength. It's amazing that he can make such a knight-errant swordsman his friend!
Zhang Fei, who had been clamoring for a 300-round fight just now, couldn't help but feel secretly frightened when he saw it now, feeling that he might not be able to win even after 300 rounds.
Even Guan Yu opened his eyes wide and looked at the man carefully without squinting for a long time.
Among the astonishment, only Zhou Ping looked at Xu Chu with a smile, and then quickly dismounted.
"Brother Zhongkang, brother Bojian, hahaha, I've been waiting day and night, and finally you are here." Zhou Ping walked towards them with a smile.
Xu Chu strode towards him: "Wen An, when I got home, I heard from my brother that you had been here and asked us to come and join the army. Originally, we brothers did not want to be bound to the army, but I heard that Liu Shijun was very interested.
Renyi, it was you Wen An who invited us again, and we believed in you, so we brothers came."
Xu Ding also came to greet him: "We just arrived in Xiaopei today. I heard that Liu Shijun was leaving Xiaopei for Xuzhou today. I thought it was too late to enter the city now, so I had to block the way here."
At this time, Liu Bei dismounted and came over. Zhou Ping quickly introduced: "This is Ambassador Liu."
The two brothers Xu Ding, Xu Chu and all the knights quickly saluted Liu Bei: "Greetings to Mr. Liu!"
Liu Bei returned the gift with his hand in hand: "Hahaha... you are all unparalleled warriors in this world!"
"Your Majesty, we are willing to work with you to quell the chaos, calm the people, and make achievements!" Xu Chu said to Liu Bei again.
Liu Bei was greatly surprised and smiled. Before he could answer, Zhou Ping preempted him: "Zhongkang, you can do the same as me and call the envoy your lord."
"Greetings, my lord!"
Xu Chu and others saluted Liu Bei again, which was tantamount to recognizing their master and willing to be Liu Bei's subordinates.
"Please get up quickly!" Liu Bei stepped forward to help Brother Xu Chu up.
Liu Bei looked at the people behind Xu Chu. Although they all exuded a reckless and arrogant air, they all showed bravery.
Judging from the current situation, these people are unruly and difficult to discipline, and only Xu Chu can lead them. Liu Bei appointed Xu Chu as the Marquis of Qujun on the spot. He commanded these errant swordsmen, and then continued to march to Xuzhou.
The people of Xiaopei followed Liu Bei's troops to send them off. Liu Bei sent people several times to dissuade them, but to no avail. They sent them ten miles away before stopping.
…………
More than ten days later, Liu Bei led his troops to Tan County, Xuzhou, and was taken into the city by Chen Deng, Mi Zhu and others.
Chen Deng and Mi Zhu had arranged everything for them. At this time, Tao Qian's two sons, Tao Shang and Tao Ying, had returned to their hometown in Danyang with their father's coffin. The Prefectural Mufu Mansion was now vacant, and Liu Bei could move in immediately.
Zhou Ping, Jian Yongtian Yu and other guests were arranged by Liu Bei to live in the Prefectural Mufu, so that they could consult at any time.
At the end of December of the first year of Xingping, Liu Bei had basically settled in Tan County, but he suddenly felt at a loss about future development and didn't know where to start.
Now Xuzhou's soldiers and horses are divided into Xuzhou soldiers and Danyang soldiers.
The Xuzhou soldiers originally numbered nearly 40,000. When Cao Cao first attacked Xuzhou, Tao Qian fought with Cao Cao in Pengcheng. In that battle, he lost nearly 20,000 Xuzhou soldiers, and now there are only 18,000 soldiers left.
These 18,000 Xuzhou soldiers are currently stationed in Tan County. After Liu Bei arrived, he divided the troops and horses under the command of Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and General Lu You.
What troubled Liu Bei the most were those Danyang soldiers.
Tao Qian had previously recruited 30,000 Danyang soldiers in Xuzhou, and lost nearly 10,000 in the battle with Cao Cao. Later, when Liu Bei came to help, he gave him 4,000. After Tao Qian's death, they scattered some more, and now there are 15,000 left.
people.
When Tao Qian was around, Danyang soldiers obeyed Tao Qian's orders. Now that he is gone, Danyang soldiers obey Cao Bao's orders.
Cao Bao was appointed Prime Minister of Xiapi. As soon as Tao Qian died, he transferred all Danyang soldiers to Xiapi, as if he wanted to take over the county and gain independence.
Xuzhou was hit by two new wars, with heavy losses in troops and horses, and a great loss in the population. These fifteen thousand Danyang soldiers are a considerable force. If used well, they can defeat the enemy, but if used improperly, they will hurt themselves.
As for whether Cao Bao would listen to Liu Bei's orders...Liu Bei shook his head and sighed when he thought of this.
He once blocked Cao Cao with Cao Bao and had some understanding of this man.
This man had no strategy, no ambition, but it didn't seem that easy for Liu Bei to make him obey orders.
He holds these 15,000 Danyang soldiers in his hand and relies on them to support himself. It is not easy to take them away from him!
For this reason, Liu Bei asked his servants to call Zhou Ping. Now it seems that only Zhou Wen'an can relieve his worries.
Zhou Ping brought Zhang Wu to the living room. Chen Dao stood outside the door holding a halberd, while Liu Bei paced back and forth in the hall with his head lowered, looking very anxious.
"Lord."
Zhou Ping called out after entering the hall and saw Liu Bei with a green ribbon around his waist and a silver seal in his hand.
Dukes and generals wear purple ribbons with gold seals, green ribbons with silver seals above 2,000 shi, black ribbons with bronze seals above 400 shi, and yellow ribbons with copper seals below 400 shi.
You can probably tell what level of official position a person holds by looking at the color of the ribbon around his waist.
Seals and ribbons are only for officials, but not for officials, such as Biejiazhizhong and Gongcao.
Officials are appointed by the imperial court, while officials are appointed by the government offices themselves.
Liu Bei's green ribbon is seven feet long, wrapped around his waist. This is a serious sealing ribbon.
Hearing the call, Liu Bei raised his head and looked at Zhou Ping: "Sir, here you go, sit down quickly."
"I heard from Guorang that sir, you are currently studying military literature?" Liu Bei asked again after Zhou Ping sat down.
"Exactly." Zhou Ping replied.
"Alas..." Liu Bei tied the silver seal around his waist and sighed deeply after sitting down.
Zhou Ping took off the wine gourd from his waist, took a sip, and then asked with a smile: "Why are you sighing, my lord?"
"Sir, you once had a strategy to establish Xu, seize Yang, and conquer the world, but how should you implement this strategy to stabilize Xuzhou? Cao Bao has commanded 15,000 Danyang soldiers to garrison in Xiapi. It may be difficult to mobilize them, and I feel uneasy!"
"Haha, this is what my lord is worried about. It's easy to do!" Zhou Ping laughed again.
When Liu Bei heard this, his face was surprised and happy. Zhou Wen'an said it was such an understatement to solve something that he couldn't think of a way to solve. He said anxiously: "Sir, please tell me!"
