After listening to Xu Rong's words, the pottery merchant thought for a moment.
Documents recorded in history have very little mention of Xu Rong, a general who came from the Liaodong border... But at least Tao Shang knew that after Wang Yun, Lu Bu and others in history killed Dong Zhuo, Xu Rong was not the same as Li Jue.
He rebelled against the imperial court and used his position as Zhonglang General to strictly fulfill Wang Yun's orders and fight against Li Jue and Guo Si's Xiliang army...
Unfortunately, Li Jue and others controlled the main force of the Xiliang Army at that time, and Xu Rong's comrade-in-arms Hu Zhen surrendered to the enemy before the battle. Xu Rong was fighting three of the enemy's troops with one army, and his troops and combat power were far inferior to Li's.
Jue and others thus died in the Battle of Xinfeng, which was also the only defeat recorded about him.
But since Xu Rong could surrender to Wang Yun after Dong Zhuo's death, Tao Shang believed that he should not be one of Dong Zhuo's idiot fans.
After hearing Xu Rong's words, the pottery merchant smiled: "Who is your master? Dong Zhuo?"
Xu Rong snorted and said, "That's natural."
The pottery merchant said unhurriedly: "Suppose that one day, Dong Zhuo was killed by a righteous man in the court, and after his death he was nominally classified as a traitor and traitor of the Han Dynasty? Will you still bury him?"
Xu Rong's face turned a little dark.
Let's not talk about whether the "what if" example of the pottery merchant is appropriate... What is the use of the word "sacrificial burial"?
The pottery merchant came to his senses: "Burial... this word is not nice to use... I mean, will you die for him?"
Xu Rong: “…………”
"This word is not quite appropriate...I mean, you will die for him..."
"Stop talking, I understand what you mean." Xu Rong's eyes hurt even more because of Tao Shang's anger, and he quickly interrupted Tao Shang's words.
After a while...
But Xu Rong sighed, closed one eye, and remained silent.
Seeing this, Tao Shang continued: "I heard that General Xu was born in Liaodong and was not a local general in Liangzhou. The reason why he was loyal to Dong Zhuo must have been appreciated by Dong Zhuo, and he wanted to form a ring to repay each other's kindness. This
It's human nature, and Tao can understand it... But the crimes committed by Dong Zhuo are really too great, especially the burning of Luoyang, which has caused anger and resentment. Although he has a high position and power, he is now the leader of the world.
It’s really hard to predict the future outcome of the land of arrows, and Dong Zhuo is not young anymore. The last time I saw him on the battlefield, he looked like a man in his fifties... If he can really bring peace to the world in his lifetime...
Reluctantly, if not, the general knows better than me what will happen to the descendants of his family... But does the general think it is possible for Dong Zhuo to conquer the world?"
The potter's words touched a subtle nerve in Xu Rong. Although Dong Zhuo was considered a hero, he was indeed cruel and cruel. He was too unpopular with the people and unpopular with the scholars. His achievements today were all due to the deterrence of bloody force...
…
It's not impossible to do this, but the problem is that he is indeed very old and has only a few days to live. After his death, will his descendants be able to continue to deter the world with bloody suppression like him? The generals of the Xiliang Army each
They are all rebellious people. Can they still work together without Dong Zhuo?
There are too many uncertain factors.
Thinking of this, Xu Rong sighed and shook his head, still closing his eyes and saying nothing.
The pottery merchant handed the porridge spoon to Xu Rong's lips again, and said: "Burn Luoyang and relocate the people, causing corpses everywhere. In the battle of Luoyang migration, you blinded one eye and ruined half of your face to help Dong Zhuo cut off his queen."
, in my opinion, it can be regarded as repaying Dong Zhuo's kindness... General Xu, Tao thinks you should think about your destiny now. A true man, since the kindness that should be repaid has been repaid, is there anything wrong with giving yourself a way to survive?...
…General, you are very capable and in your prime, are you going to ruin your future like this?”
Xu Rong's remaining eye was a little red, and his lips were trembling slightly.
The potter added another fire: "Confucius said: The more difficult it is, the farther forward, why fear the open spear and the hidden arrow. The harder it is, the farther forward. Victory is my destination."
Xu Rong sniffed and said: "Confucius never said these words."
The pottery merchant blinked and said, "Really? Oh, it doesn't matter, it just makes sense... Come, eat."
Xu Rong lowered his head and looked at the spoon filled with rice porridge. He was silent for a long time and then slowly spoke.
"Change a bowl for Xu. You just licked this spoon."
Potter: "………………"
……………………
……………………
Xu Rong woke up and was willing to eat. All that was left was to rest slowly. Tao Shang temporarily let go of his concerns and began to launch a strategy to defeat the Baibo Army.
Tao Shang knew very well that he had no way to achieve the difficulties Huangfu Song raised for him. There was only one person who could help him solve these difficulties... and that person was Yuan Shao.
So the pottery merchant went to Luoyang City again the next day to pay a special visit to Yuan Shao.
Because the pottery merchant took the initiative to express his sincerity as a vassal to Yuan Shao, Yuan Shao is now very polite to him... Xuzhou has three counties and three kingdoms under its jurisdiction, and the Tao family can be regarded as a strong support! In Yuan Shao's heart, since the pottery merchant has expressed his allegiance to him
wish, the Xuzhou Tao family is now naturally the one he wants to sincerely win over...at least he cannot let Yuan Shu deceive him.
"Mr. Tao is here today to say goodbye?" Yuan Shao laughed and asked Tao Shang to ask questions: "Meng De also just said goodbye to Yuan, and plans to go to Yangzhou to recruit troops."
The pottery merchant looked at Yuan Shao holding his hand, and felt goosebumps in his heart... Even though they were all handsome guys, the pottery merchant didn't really like such a little gesture.
Withdrawing his hand without leaving a trace, the pottery merchant bowed his hand to Yuan Shao.
"Mr. Yuan can see clearly that with the current situation of the princes, it is useless for Tao to stay here. It is better to leave and do something useful."
Yuan Shao smiled warmly and looked at Tao Shang with concern, saying, "Does Mr. Tao plan to return to Xuzhou?"
The pottery merchant shook his head and said, "Otherwise, I would like to borrow Mr. Yuan's words and borrow another way to go north."
"Going north?" Yuan Shao didn't understand the potter's intention. His smile gradually disappeared, and he stroked his beard and said slowly: "Master Tao, what do you want to do when you go north?"
The pottery merchant cupped his hands and said: "To be honest with Mr. Yuan, Tao went north this time to relieve the country's worries and to conquer the Baibo Yellow Turban Army in the Baibo Valley of the Xihe River."
Yuan Shao couldn't help being speechless after hearing this, and looked at the pottery merchant blankly. He couldn't figure out what this kid's intention was for a while.
At present, all the princes are anxious to return to their territories, recruit troops and horses, and seek territory to expand their power... If this guy doesn't hurry back to Xuzhou to help his father do something useful, why is he rushing to attack the Baibo Army?... Could it be that
What the hell?
Yuan Shao coughed slightly and advised: "Mr. Tao, it's not that Yuan told you that you'd better do less things that are not beneficial... The Baibo Army is not weak, and its leader Guo Da has more than 100,000 followers.
, even if there are weak troops who cannot go into battle, a conservative estimate is that 40% of them are good at fighting. The young master only has 10,000 troops under his command... so why bother asking for trouble."
Tao Shang said calmly: "What Mr. Yuan said is wrong. Tao led his troops to attack the Yellow Turbans and quell the chaos for the country. It is a business matter. How can it be related to interests? The country is in trouble, and Tao should face the difficulties.
Even if I die, I won’t give up.”
Yuan Shao laughed loudly when he heard this...he secretly said two words in his heart: Fart!
Since the last time he had a heart-to-heart contact with the pottery merchant, Yuan Shao could see that this kid was not an easy man. At least among his peers, he was already a leader.
If he had just met him for the first time, Yuan Shao might still feel that his words were touching and sincere... But now that we have talked about it heart-to-heart, what else do you say in front of Yuan, "The country is in trouble?"
I will never give up even if I die... Yuan is not just good-looking, okay? Between you and me, who doesn’t know who the other is?
Seeing Yuan Shao stroking his beard and saying nothing, Tao Shang sighed secretly,
Now that I'm in Yuan Shao's place, it seems that I can't pretend to be the same as before... If I don't get something honest, I'm afraid Yuan Shao won't pay attention to me.
"Mr. Yuan, the Baibo Army is currently stationed in Xihe, which is located in Bingzhou. Now I heard that the Black Mountain Army is recruiting surrender and rebels everywhere. Both armies are yellow scarf bandits. If they merge into one in the future... Tao Moujue, for Mr. Yuan
If we dominate Hebei in the future, it will probably be extremely disadvantageous."