Unlike what Sun Ce knew, Tao Qian gave 4,000 Danyang soldiers to Liu Bei, not because he wanted to win him over.

Among the Qingxu counties, Pingyuan County is the westernmost county, directly bordering Jizhou, and even the county capital is located north of the Yellow River. If you defend Pingyuan County, you will defend Qingzhou. If you defend Qingzhou, you will defend Xuzhou. Liu Bei's role is extraordinary.

But Liu Bei had no soldiers at that time. Although he was a junior brother of Gongsun Zan, he was said to have a good relationship - at least Liu Bei said so, Gongsun Zan not only did not let Liu Bei be the governor of Qingzhou, but also did not give him many soldiers. In addition to the county soldiers of Pingyuan County, Liu Bei had only less than 2,000 infantry and cavalry under his command at that time. The powerful people of Pingyuan County looked down on Liu Bei, and some even wanted to assassinate Liu Bei. Not to mention defending Pingyuan County, Liu Bei was even in danger of his life. In this case, Liu Bei of course wanted to ask Tian Kai for people, but Tian Kai had no one, so the two of them had a very pleasant quarrel. Later, Tao Qian took the initiative to provide 4,000 Danyang soldiers to Liu Bei, and the matter was solved.

The purpose of providing these 4,000 soldiers was to allow Liu Bei to have the ability to defend Pingyuan County. It was naturally the first step to let these people listen to Liu Bei's words. In order to allow Liu Bei to subdue those soldiers, Tao Qian not only sent the families of these 4,000 soldiers to the plain, but also cut off their money and grain supply. In fact, these things were provided by Tao Qian, and they were just handed over by Liu Bei to let Liu Bei do favors.

The soldiers recruited were money and food, and whoever gave them food and paid them the salary would be with them. With Tao Qian's active cooperation, Liu Bei won the hearts of the people in just a few months.

Unexpectedly, Liu Bei accepted Yuan Shao's appointment and betrayed the alliance, and the middleman was Chen Deng.

Sun Ce was skeptical. This was different from the history he knew. In his opinion, Tao Qian still had the possibility of digging Gongsun Zan's corner, but it was not on the surface. After all, Liu Bei was still in Pingyuan County and had not arrived in Xuzhou. Otherwise, Tian Kai would not have been so easy to talk to and would have turned against him long ago.

But this is no longer important. The families of the 4,000 soldiers are controlled by Liu Bei, so it is not that easy to get the person back.

Sun Ce did not pay attention to these details anymore. His main purpose was to repel Liu Bei and regain Xiao County. Xiao County is the gateway of Xuzhou. Regaining Xiao County means defending the western gate of Xuzhou. If he could step closer and seize Pei County northward, Xuzhou would be completely safe. Pei County was originally a county of Pei State, and he was already very restrained from attacking Yanzhou. How could Liu Bei invade Yuzhou? It was necessary to drive Liu Bei away from others and others.

The interests are consistent, and Sun Ce and Tao Ying hit it off.

The negotiations went smoothly, and Mi Zhu was also very satisfied. If the two sides had an unpleasant negotiation, it would be difficult for him, as a middleman, especially when he wanted his younger brother Mi Zhu to follow Sun Ce to conquer.

But not all issues were discussed smoothly, and how to deal with the Yellow Turban Army was a problem. Tao Qian and Tian Kai had been fighting with the Yellow Turban Army for a long time, and the hatred between the two sides was very deep. It was not that easy to make them laugh and eliminate their grudges.

Seeing that Tao Ying was embarrassed, he refused to agree. Sun Ce wanted to persuade him again. Guo Jia shook his head calmly. Although Sun Ce didn't know what Guo Jia wanted to say, he believed Guo Jia and did not say anything. Tao Ying was afraid that Sun Ce would mention the Yellow Turban again, so he agreed to send troops and left in a hurry and didn't even eat.

After sending Tao Ying away, Sun Ce returned to the tent, and Guo Jia said, "General, some stupid people cannot be saved. Tao Qian and his son, and Tian Kai are all of this. No matter how much you say, they will not listen. We will contact us and will accept Qingxu Erzhou at that time."

"How do you say this?"

"Who is the Yellow Turban? A farmer who has lost his land and has no foothold. Who are Tao Qian and Tian Kai? They were originally poor families and even common people, but by chance, they became officials. Can they be recognized by the aristocratic families after becoming officials? Chen Deng did not support Tao Qian and accepted Yuan Shao's appointment openly. The people of Qingzhou did not support Tian Kai, so he could only trap the lonely city and watch Qingxu Yellow Turban pass Qingzhou and enter Bohai County. If it weren't for Gongsun Zan's bravery, the situation would be unimaginable. Now Gongsun Zan has reduced tens of thousands of Yellow Turbans and its strength has increased greatly. They also regard the Yellow Turbans as enemies. I don't know what it is to recruit the Yellow Turbans to strengthen themselves. What is it that is not a fool? This is a gift from God to the general, so the general must not refuse."

Sun Ce patted the back of his head and laughed silently. He was only concerned about dealing with Liu Bei and Yuan Shao, and was determined to strengthen Tian Kai and Tao Qian's strength, but forgot that these two people did not have such knowledge. Why did Gongsun Zan have the courage to compete with Yuan Shao? Because he defeated the Qingxu Yellow Turbans in the north and surrendered more than 10,000 people. Why could Cao Cao rise up quickly and occupy Yanzhou? Because he surrendered 300,000 Qingzhou Yellow Turbans and formed Qingzhou soldiers. The Yellow Turban Army is the labor force, the source of troops. Those who get it win, and those who lose it lose. Tian Kai and Tao Qian did not see this. He was really stupid to be an enemy of the Yellow Turbans.

It is right that they have the responsibility to defend their territory, but the powerful families are unwilling to pay attention to them, and they still have the best place to protect them.

God will not take it, it will be ominous. You don’t want it, I want it.

"The problem now is how to place these Yellow Turban troops." Guo Jia patted his thighs and said slowly: "Qingxu and Xuzhou were originally rich places. Not only did they have enough self-sufficiency, but they also had to subsidize Youzhou every year. However, in recent years, it has suffered disasters, especially the most populous plain county, which has suffered heavy losses due to the Yellow River diverted. Qingxu and Xuzhou has the largest number of Yellow Turbans, which is due to this. If you don't find a way to resettle these populations, it is empty talk to recruit surrender."

Sun Ce nodded repeatedly. But he didn't think this could not be solved. It was just a few million people. There were many places that could be reclaimed in Jiangnan, not to mention millions. As long as it was arranged properly and enough resettlement funds and grain was raised, it would be fine for ten million people.

Guo Jia pulled the map and clicked on it. "Taihang is in the west and Mount Tai is in the east. Controlling these two mountains is equivalent to closing the gate to Hebei to the south. Even if Yuan Shao sent troops to Yanzhou, he would not dare to go deeper. The general had another chance to fight for the Central Plains."

Sun Ce's heart moved, and a plan came to his mind. "Fengxiao, do you say that we are joining forces with Gongsun Zan and we will get rid of Yuan Shao first, is it possible?"

Guo Jia shook his head. "Impossible."

"Why?"

"General, Gongsun Zan is just the courage of an ordinary man. He doesn't know how to use people and is good at killing himself. He is only suitable for being a general. Too many troops is not a good thing for him, but a disaster. If he has the knowledge and mind of a general, he is not in a hurry to fight against Yuan Shao, but to select elite troops and take advantage of the general, he may have some chance. But he wants to take revenge in one fell swoop."

Sun Ce looked at Guo Jia, laughing without saying a word, but his heart was filled with joy.

What is talent? This is talent! Before the incident happened, he had guessed the result. It was not a calculation, but an accurate analysis of various factors between the two parties. He knew that the result was a plug-in, but was not clear about the reasons. When the historical trajectory changed, he was not sure, and he was not as sure as Guo Jia. He did not need any plug-in and came to a conclusion based on his real skills.

At this time, someone came to report that someone outside the camp claimed that his surname was Jiao and his name was Zhongqing. He was a clerk in Lujiang County. He asked for an urgent matter.

Sun Ce clapped his hands. "It's broken, something happened in Lujiang."
Chapter completed!