Tao Qian died of illness, and his eldest son was in Jingzhou, so he ordered his second son to inherit the business. This was indeed expected by Liu Qi. After all, this was Tao Qian's only choice... However, Gongsun Zan went south to attack Xuzhou, which Liu Qi did not expect.

"On his deathbed, did Tao Qian explicitly ask Tao Ying to inherit his legacy?"

Xu Shu's expression was slightly sarcastic: "So what if it is stated clearly, so what if it is not stated clearly. Even if he suddenly became ill and did not make a will, if Tao Ying wanted to compile a clear text afterwards, he would be able to do it."

"That's true." Liu Qi deeply agreed with Xu Shu's point of view.

He turned his head and looked out the window of the carriage, and fell into deep thought for a while.

After thinking for a while, Liu Qi turned around and asked Xu Shu: "Yuanzhi, in your opinion, what is the reason why Gongsun Zan led his troops to invade Xuzhou? He has not even consolidated the foundation of Qingzhou yet."

"According to the opinion of the officials, Gongsun Zan is looking for a way out for himself." Xu Shu said unhurriedly: "I think the incident of Grand Sima abandoning Youzhou and returning to Luoyang had a great impact on Gongsun Zan."

"What does this mean?" Liu Qi asked humbly.

Xu Shu rubbed his hands and thought as he said: "The Gongsun family is a large family in western Liaoning, with its roots in the border counties. It was also in the border counties that he made his achievements. Although the territory of the Central Plains was rich, it was not suitable for him. He initially settled in the border counties.

Qingzhou also wants to temporarily use it as a foundation, and then cooperate with Liu Yuli to break through Yuan Shao's defense line, and then return to Liaoxi County."

"If this is true, he should not have agreed with Liu Bei to attack Yanzhou together, resulting in the loss of troops and generals." Liu Qi shook his head.

Xu Shu sighed: "After all, Gongsun Zan has been in battle for a long time, and he still has strategic vision... His purpose in attacking Yanzhou is not to occupy the land, but to force Yuan Shao to shift his strategic focus after destroying Cao Cao. Cao Cao is Yuan Shao's staunch supporter.

Allies, this matter is known all over the world. With Cao Cao acting as a defense line for Yuan Shao in Yanzhou, Yuan Shao can conquer the northern counties without any distractions. In fact, Yuan Shao has developed so rapidly in Hebei over the years, which is largely due to Cao Cao.

, If there were no Cao Cao, not to mention all the pastoral guards in the Central Plains, Yuan Shu alone would be enough to leave Yuan Shao with no time to look around."

Liu Qi suddenly said: "It turns out that this is what Gongsun Zan had in mind."

Xu Shu shook his head and sighed: "It's a pity that Cao Cao's ability exceeded Gongsun Zan's imagination. At the most critical moment, he finally used tricks to defeat the coalition forces of Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei, killed Zhang Miao, and defeated the enemy in one fell swoop.

Gongsun Zan's strategy of destroying Cao Cao and dividing Yuan Shao's forces was a complete failure... Now that Da Sima has returned to Luoyang, there is no doubt that Youzhou will be taken over by Yuan Shao within a month, and Yuan Shao will occupy Ji

, You, and the three states, the next target must be Qingzhou, and Gongsun Zan may never have the opportunity to return to western Liaoning in this life... He must make plans for his future. "

"What you mean is that after Yuan Shao conquers Youzhou, if he moves to the Qingzhou battlefield, Gongsun Zan will be invincible. He must choose a place for him to settle down... and Xuzhou is the best choice."

Xu Shu added slowly: "It is also the only choice."

Liu Qi let out a long sigh: "It's a pity that the famous generals in the North now have to develop in the Central Plains... So how should we deal with the problem in Xuzhou? Should we just sit back and watch?"

Xu Shu remonstrated: "Reporting to the emperor, our territory is too far away from Xuzhou, and there are Yuan Shu, Sun Jian and other forces in the middle, so I'm afraid it will be difficult to use it."

Hearing this, Liu Qi narrowed his eyes and began to think carefully.

"What's going on with Cao Cao and Yuan Shao now?"

Xu Shu said: "Yuan Shao is currently waiting to take over Youzhou, and he will not take any action against the south for the time being... After Cao Cao's great victory in Yanzhou, he wiped out all the rebels in Yanzhou and no longer trusted Chen Liu and the mainland of Dongjun.

Instead, the gentry took advantage of the opportunity of harvesting grain to go south to encroach on Yuzhou territory, and enlisted many famous people in Yuzhou territory to help."

Liu Qi took a deep breath and said: "Send people from the Guards Department to pay close attention to the movements of Cao Cao and Yuan Shao. At this critical moment, Gongsun Zan is using troops against Xuzhou. I don't believe they will just sit back and ignore this matter."

"Don't worry, lord, I've been sending people to keep an eye on you."

"What else is going on?"

Xu Shu said: "There are no major matters concerning the world, but there is a small matter that needs to be reported to the king."

"What's the matter?"

"Didn't the prince report to the court that Taishi Ci was the governor of Yuzhang County?"

Liu Qi raised his eyebrows and said: "This is what happened. I want Taishi Ci to go to Chaisang to garrison to ward off Sun Jian, so I asked the imperial court to report it, hoping that the imperial court can give him a legitimate position."

Xu Shu cupped his hands and said, "Luoyang's guards reported that Yuan Shu was targeting the position of Yuzhang County Governor, and he also sent someone to report."

"he?"

Liu Qi smiled when he heard this.

If I remember correctly, Yuan Shu seems to have robbed me of this kind of thing not once or twice.

"Who does our general recommend as the governor of Yuzhou?" Liu Qi said with a smile.

"It is said to be Zhuge Xuan."

"who?"

"Zhuge Xuan."

Liu Qi was silent for a moment when he heard this, and suddenly slapped his forehead: "How could I forget such an important person!"

Xu Shu was startled when he saw this, and looked at Liu Qi with confusion: "Zhuge Xuan...is he so important? I heard that he used to be a subordinate of Liu Jingzhou, but he resigned and returned home not long after staying in Jingzhou.

, if he is so important, why didn’t the king keep him in the first place?”

"Zhuge Xuan served as an official under my father? Why didn't I know?"

Xu Shu was embarrassed and fell silent.

In fact, it is true to say that Liu Biao had hundreds of subordinates at his peak, and they changed every year. Liu Qi was fighting abroad all year round, so how could he pay too much attention to who Liu Biao's subordinates were?

Woolen cloth?

After a moment of silence, Liu Qi heard Liu Qi say: "I sent the envoy to the imperial court to report that Taishi Ci was the governor of Yuzhang County. You quickly sent guards to recover it for me, and asked Yi Ji to draft a memorial for me.

Zhuge Xuan is the governor of Yuzhou, so he must be fast."

"Ah"? Xu Shu was stunned for a moment. He really couldn't understand what Liu Qi was doing.

Yuan Shu is Liu Qi's enemy, so the person he recommended must have leaned towards Yuan Shu politically. Now Liu Qi does not declare himself as the county governor, but instead supports Yuan Shu's recommendation for two thousand shi?

what the hell is this?

"Your Majesty, think twice..."

"Don't think twice, it's decided!" Liu Qi said with certainty.

Xu Shu saw that Liu Qi's expression didn't seem to be fake, but she didn't know what he meant, so she could only nod helplessly in agreement.

Liu Qi seemed to remember something again: "I remember this wedding, the pottery merchant should have arrived in Chengdu, right?"

"yes."

Among the many guests at Liu Qi's wedding, there were naturally many of his relatives, and Liu Ya and Liu Ling also came to Chengdu. Tao Shang and Liu Ya had already had feelings for each other, so they came together in the name of protecting flowers.

.

"Send someone later to ask the pottery dealer to come see me."

"only."

…

Not long after, the pottery merchant came to Liu Qi's pastoral office. Liu Qi briefly told the pottery merchant about Tao Qian's death and his brother Tao Ying's inheritance of Tao Qian's business.

When the pottery merchant heard this, he was stunned and shed tears on the spot.

Liu Qi comforted him and said: "I originally wanted you to return to Xuzhou to mourn for your father, but the journey is far away, and Gongsun Zan is currently attacking Xuzhou, and your brother has become the lord of Xuzhou. If I let you go back at this time, I'm afraid that

I wasted your life..."

Tao Shang wiped his tears and bowed: "Thank you for your concern, sir. However, after the death of Lord Yan, I have to return. Please be kind to me and allow me to go back to pay homage to my late father, in order to fulfill the love between father and son."
Chapter completed!