Tao Shang told Yuan Tan that he had something to do, so he left first.
As a prisoner, Yuan Tan naturally didn't ask any questions and just let the pottery merchant do what he wanted.
The pottery merchant then changed his clothes and received the envoy from Yecheng in the meeting hall.
Xu You was one of the eight most important conspirators under Yuan Shao. Before Yuan Tan was captured alive, he had been appointed by Yuan Shao to take full responsibility for communicating with the pottery merchants and responsible for the redemption of Yuan Tan.
It's a pity that Yuan Shao was a bit too trustworthy this time.
Xu You has been inactive for more than three months, and the reason is very despicable.
The pottery merchant passed the Mi family and kept sending money to Xu You during this period.
Xu You was hesitant at first, but the magic and temptation of money were too great for him. After several mental shocks, he finally took the Xuzhou people's money.
Because when he thought about it, the people of Xuzhou would not dare to kill Yuan Tan. After all, although the pottery merchants occupied half of the southeastern part of the country, Yuan Shao's overall strength was still several times stronger than his, especially since the northern soldiers were tall and strong, brave and good at fighting, and had many war horses.
Yuan Shao was angered and sent his troops from Hebei to the south. How could the pottery merchant withstand this thunderous blow?
Based on this, Xu You secretly collected the money and secretly postponed the time.
But today, it's the end of the year, and Xu You really can't delay it any longer.
He has been telling Yuan Shao that rescuing the eldest son is an important matter and must not be taken lightly. If you act in a hurry, you will lose more than you gain, so you must be fully prepared.
This reason has persisted until now, but it can no longer be used.
No matter how thorough your preparations are, can you still be ready to go next year?
At this time of year, Xu You could only go out in person and come to see the pottery merchant after a long journey.
In the hall, apart from the pottery merchant and Xu You, Pei Qian was the only one accompanying the pottery merchant.
The pottery merchant smiled tacitly at Xu You and said directly: "Some time ago, the Mi family business prepared a year-end gift to send to Yecheng, Mr. Xu. Now that Mr. Xu has come in person,
Well, it’s just a good idea to take them back together and save our Xuzhou people from having to work hard.”
It was Mi Zhu's company that always gave Xu You gifts, but Xu You naturally knew who the real mastermind behind the scenes was.
However, Xu You was not afraid at all. He was not afraid that the pottery merchant would try to harm him if he turned around.
Xu You kept the matter of accepting gifts from Tao extremely secretive, and even those who secretly took care of it for him have been dealt with by him recently.
Moreover, a large amount of money has been transferred by him without anyone noticing and without any evidence.
"The master is joking. If you carry something back like this, how can the general tolerate it? The master doesn't want to give me a gift on purpose."
The two looked at each other for a while, and suddenly laughed in unison.
After the laughter, Tao Shang asked Xu You: "I wonder if Mr. Ziyuan is sincere to your general?"
Xu You's back straightened, his face straightened, and he said: "Of course he is loyal. You are loyal to the general, and heaven and earth can learn from it. I will be a minister of the Yuan family in this life, and a ghost of the Yuan family when I die."
Tao Shang suddenly said "Oh" and said: "Since Mr. Ziyuan is so kind and righteous to the general, why do you want to accept Tao's money? Is it possible that he is not afraid of delaying the general's important event?"
Xu Youran smiled and said: "Money is earned, but loyalty is also due! A certain master did not dare to kill the eldest son... After all, given the situation in Xuzhou, he is unwilling to offend the general, lest he
It will lead to overthrow, Tutor, am I right?"
The potter's eyes narrowed slightly.
Xu You, this old boy, does have some skills, quick reactions, scheming, and clear thinking. Just from the few words he just said, Tao Shang knew that his skills should not be lower than Chen Deng, at least not much lower.
The potter's mind was racing rapidly, and he guessed that Xu You was here to ask for someone.
But on the one hand, he had to come up with the most beneficial strategy for himself, and on the other hand, he also had to find a way to get to know Yuan Shao through Xu You.
Seeing the pottery merchant frowning and lowering his head without saying anything, Xu You showed a proud smile and said, "Master, what Xu said is right, right?"
Tao Shang let out a long sigh and said helplessly: "Brother Xu guessed wrong... I'm a little sorry for you. When I was drinking with Yuan Tan last night, that bastard quarreled with Tao. Tao got drunk and acted like a fool.
The drunkard ordered Yuan Tan to be beheaded, and now he is thinking about how to deal with this matter."
Xu You's face suddenly turned pale.
"Master, please don't make fun of me!"
The pottery merchant cupped his hands at Xu You and said, "Mr. Xu, I'm sorry for you... Come here, bring me Yuan Tan's head..."
Pei Qian had been with the pottery merchant for a long time and was very thoughtful. He knew that the pottery merchant was deceiving people, but he still pretended to make arrangements.
Then Xu You stumbled and collapsed on the spot, almost falling to his knees in front of the pottery merchant.
"Xu Gong, what's wrong with you?" Tao Shang asked curiously.
Xu You pointed at the pottery merchant tremblingly, his eyes were blood red, and he gritted his teeth and said: "You, you tiger! Mr. Xiansi is the eldest son of the general. Although he is not related to him, he is still flesh and blood. You kill him."
, are you not afraid that the general will raze your Xuzhou to the ground in the coming spring and leave no chickens or dogs behind?"
The potter casually shrugged his shoulders and said, "Didn't I tell you that I killed him while drunk? I didn't mean it either."
When Xu You heard this, he almost spat out a mouthful of blood on the ground.
"You are a great master! Why are you so willful? Why are you drinking so much if you have nothing to do! You can't go back to bed early!"
Tao Shang smiled helplessly and said: "I'll just kill him. I can't help regretting it. Anyway, Yuan Shao and Yuan Shao will have to send troops to Xuzhou in the future. Whether I kill Yuan Tan or not will not change the outcome of Xuzhou at all... Yuan Shao will always attack."
I, I will die together this time."
Xu You stared angrily: "You are quite reasonable! But what about me? Xu is responsible for discussing exchange matters with the Taifu. If you act like this, aren't you using me as a backstop?!"
The pottery merchant smiled slightly: "I don't care if you die."
Xu You wanted to cry but had no tears.
Tao Shang was happy when he saw the anger radiating from Xu You's wide eyes and the sorrowful expression of being distracted.
"I'm just teasing you."
Xu You: "..."
"Young Master Yuan is still drinking in my residence, safe and sound. We just had a drink. I just saw how confident you were in trying to figure me out, and I just wanted to scare you on purpose. Please don't blame me, Mr. Ziyuan."
Xu You's face suddenly turned red.
He had just proudly said that the pottery merchant did not dare to kill Yuan Tan, but in the end, he just acted out a play and scared the shit out of him.
This boy is indeed a monster as the general said.
"As an important official of the imperial court, Taifu would talk nonsense so casually. Don't you think it's unbecoming of a person?"
Tao Shang laughed, not paying attention to Xu You's accusation, and suddenly said: "Mr. Ziyuan, I just said that I killed Yuan Tan, and you said to me in anger, 'Aren't you afraid that General Yuan will attack me next spring?
'...It seems that Yuan Shao has already arranged the date and itinerary for his trip south. Tao, I really have to thank you for this important information."
Xu You really wanted to vomit blood now.
"I, I didn't say it! I didn't say it!" Xu You denied it with a furious face.
The pottery merchant didn't care at all and said to Xu You: "Sir, you are here to redeem the hostages on Yuan Shao's order... Well, you go back and tell Yuan Shao that I will return the hostages. As for the ransom? I only need one hundred catties of lin."
A thousand stones of gold and grain and grass are enough."
"ah?"
Before Xu You came, he had already made preparations for bargaining with the pottery merchants. Xu You had fully prepared everything including tens of thousands of stones of grain and grass, countless gold foils, cities, population, and the geographical division of Xuzhou and Qingzhou.
To be prepared, just wait for the potter lion to open his mouth.
But who would have thought that the pottery merchant would ask for something like this?
To put it bluntly, these things are not as many as what Mi Zhu has given to Xu You in the past few months.
"Do you really mean what the Master said?" Xu You looked at the pottery merchant doubtfully and asked inquiringly.
"Tao is a well-known sincere gentleman in the world. He always sticks to his word. Naturally, he will not lie to you." Mr. Tao said, patting his chest.
After hearing this, Xu You wanted to spit thick phlegm in his face.
I don’t know which bastard just lied to me and killed Yuan Tan.
"In that case, may I ask when Mr. Tao plans to return the eldest son?"
"New Year's Eve." The pottery merchant said slowly.
Xu You frowned and said, "Why do you have to wait so long?"
Tao Shang's expression was very dull: "For whatever reason, if Mr. Xu is not willing, I'm afraid I won't let Yuan Tan go until General Yuan sends troops to attack me."
Xu You frowned and said, "Master, if you act like this, I'm afraid it will be difficult for Xu to deal with the general when he returns to Yecheng."
The potter pretended to think for a moment, and then he said, "Well, I promise you that when you go back this time, you can take Pang Ji back first. How about that? With him as your witness, I believe you won't be too embarrassed in front of the general."
Too embarrassing.”
Xu You frowned and lowered his head in thought.
With his keen mind, he concluded that there must be something wrong with the potter's arrangement... there must be some trick.
However, after careful consideration, Xu You could not find any factors that could threaten him.
Forget it, take Pang Ji first and then take Pang Ji first when you go back.
I wonder what other earth-shattering tricks his surname Tao can pull off?
He bowed deeply to the pottery merchant and said, "In that case, it would be disrespectful for me to refuse. One hundred catties of gold and one thousand stones of grain and grass will arrive in the near future."
The pottery merchant chuckled and said, "The New Year's gift that I entrusted Mi Zhu to give to you will arrive in the near future. I will have to trouble you to send someone to sign for it."
Xu You couldn't help but blush when he heard this, and secretly said he was ashamed.
But driven by his greedy nature, he still refused.
"Taifu." Xu You thought for a long time, and finally said something from the bottom of his heart: "Thanks to Taifu for his kindness, Xu is very grateful. I would also like to advise Taifu... Xuzhou and Yangzhou, no matter in terms of military strength,
You are far from the general's opponent in terms of power or power. Standing stubbornly and resisting will only increase the loss of lives. It's better for Tai Tu to surrender as early as possible. The general admired you very much back then and he has a broad mind. Xu You will definitely understand.
I will speak good words for you in front of the general, and I will never let the Taifu suffer any injustice under the general's command. Maybe he will be favored and continue to govern Xuzhou, what do you think?"
Tao Shang said with a smile: "Thank you Mr. Ziyuan for your kindness. I will discuss your opinion with my generals before making a decision. If Tao really has this intention in the future, I will send someone to inform you. When the time comes,