Reborn in the Three Kingdoms, I stole Liu Bei's uncle

The situation in Xuzhou was much worse than Liu Yu had imagined. Not to mention the threat from Cao Cao in Yanzhou, the internal situation in Xuzhou was already riddled with holes and in chaos.

Tao Qian acted recklessly and the nobles became alienated, resulting in refugees and bandits everywhere. The stable Xuzhou gradually showed signs of unrest.

Liu Yu keenly observed that behind the social unrest lay the shadow of the aristocratic families.

Tao Qian's distant attitude made the aristocratic families very angry, and these unrests were a sign of their silent resistance.

Liu Yu, who had just taken over Xuzhou, naturally did not want to repeat Tao Qian's mistakes. He wanted to tie the aristocratic families to his chariot again.

Liu Yu thought of the most direct solution, which was to let them serve in Xuzhou.

The last time he asked Chen Deng to submit the list was for this purpose.

Only by attracting their outstanding children to their side will they unconsciously safeguard the interests of Xuzhou.

These interests belong not only to Xuzhou, but also to them as well.

Although he had thought of ways to appease the aristocratic families, Liu Yu was not happy at all. There was a more troublesome thing before him: military strength.

If Cao Cao pacifies Yanzhou and then attacks Xuzhou, Liu Yu will need enough troops to have a chance of winning.

Liu Yu calculated the military strength in Xuzhou and discovered a very troublesome reality.

There is a shortage of troops, or more accurately, there is a shortage of troops that can be mobilized.

Without sufficient troops, it would be impossible to stop Cao Cao's attack.

When Chen Deng brought Sun Qian to his house, Liu Yu was frowning and thinking about this problem.

When Sun Qian saw Liu Yu sitting in the hall, he walked up to him and bowed slowly.

"Sun Qian pays respect to Uncle Liu."

"Gongyou, there's no need to be polite. Sit down and talk."

After Sun Qian saluted, he and Chen Deng sat on either side of Liu Yu.

Liu Yu had wine and food brought in, and he and Sun Qian began to flatter each other about business.

The content of the mutual flattery is old-fashioned and fixed.

Liu Yu praised Sun Qian for his talent and fame, saying he was a rare talent in Xuzhou.

Sun Qian praised Liu Yu for his unparalleled benevolence and righteousness, saying he was one of the rare benevolent rulers in the Han Dynasty.

From Sun Qian's conversation, Liu Yu clearly felt that this person was quite graceful, his words were clear, his tone was neither humble nor arrogant, and his manners were natural.

It turns out that those who can leave their names in history are not ordinary people. Just this demeanor alone makes people secretly admire them.

After the two of them flattered each other for a while, Liu Yu began to get to the point.

"Gongyou, Xuzhou has bandits inside and powerful enemies outside. It has come to a critical moment of life and death. Gongyou, are you willing to condescend to come to Xuzhou to do something?"

"Uncle Liu has the ambition to revive the Han Dynasty and spread his benevolence and justice throughout the world. Such a wise leader is exactly what I hope for. How dare I not obey the call of uncle Liu? I am willing to serve him until death."

After saying this, he stood up from his seat and bowed down.

Liu Yu hurried over, pulled Sun Qian up and said with a smile: "Gongyou, don't worry about these empty formalities, take a seat quickly, you came just in time, I have something important to discuss with you and Yuanlong."

After Sun Qian bowed, he turned around and took his seat, and Liu Yu began to describe the problems he saw in Xuzhou.

"Except for the 10,000 elite soldiers I brought back from Yuzhou, there are only 5,000 people in Xia Pi City. I calculated that the troops that can be mobilized from various places can only be 10,000 at most. It is not easy to use these people to quell the bandits in Xu territory, let alone to deal with Cao Cao."

"My lord, what you said is correct." Chen Deng said, "When Cao Cao attacked Xuzhou last time, Tao Gongzu had mobilized 30,000 elite soldiers from all over the country, hoping to use them to resist Cao's attack. Who knew that Cao's army was so brave and most of these people died on the battlefield. If my lord hadn't come to rescue in time, Xuzhou would have fallen into Cao Cao's hands by now."

Chen Deng pondered for a moment and said slowly: "My lord, there is actually another group of troops in Xuzhou. They occupy the Kaiyang area. If we mobilize their troops, we can greatly increase our strength."

Liu Yu was a little confused. He went over the Xuzhou military register compiled by Chen Deng in his mind again, but did not find this information.

"Yuanlong, where are these troops in Xuzhou? Why are they not recorded in the military register?"

"My lord, the reasons are very complicated. Allow me to explain in detail.

My Lord, do you remember that day when Tao Gongzu mentioned who he appointed as the general when he first arrived in Xuzhou? He quickly quelled the chaos in Xuzhou. "

Liu Yu pondered for a moment and blurted out.

"Zang Ba, Sun Guan."

"Yes, it is these two people. After Emperor Tao Gongzu put down the rebellion in Xuzhou, he did not let them serve in Xiapi, but sent them to garrison Kaiyang.

Perhaps the two felt Tao Gongzu's neglect, and shortly after arriving in Kaiyang, they could barely obey Tao Gongzu's orders. However, as time went on, their power continued to grow, and they began to ignore Tao Gongzu's orders.

Although they were nominally Tao Gongzu's subordinates, they had actually long since escaped from Tao Gongzu's control.

When Cao Cao captured Xuzhou, Tao Gongzu ordered the two of them to send troops to attack Cao Cao, but the two chose to conserve their strength and did not send out a single soldier.

Now they occupy the Kaiyang area, with Zang Ba as their leader, and claim to have a force of 100,000."

One hundred thousand? Although Liu Yu knew that the claim of one hundred thousand was a bit exaggerated, generally the claim included the elderly and the sick who cooked, and the old and weak who were disabled, and the number was multiplied by a multiple. But twenty thousand elite soldiers should not be a problem.

Twenty thousand people were enough to make Liu Yu's eyes sparkle.

Since Zang Ba was able to help Tao Qian quickly put down the rebellion in Xuzhou, it shows that he definitely had the ability to lead troops.

Otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to grow stronger step by step under Tao Qian's nose.

"Yuanlong, this information is very timely. If we can recruit Zang Ba back and organize these soldiers, we will be able to fight Cao Cao."

"My lord, Zang Ba is quite powerful. To subdue him, we can only use our wits, not our strength. It would be best to send someone to persuade Zang Ba to surrender voluntarily." After listening for a long time, Sun Qian understood the general intention and said.

"Gongyou is right. Yuanlong, are there any talents in this field in Xuzhou City now?"

In the midst of thousands of troops, he could talk to the enemy fluently and was not afraid of swords and axes. This required not only eloquence but also courage.

Chen Deng thought for a long time, looking embarrassed. He really didn't know anyone like this.

"My lord, there is none at the moment. I will find such a talent in the shortest possible time and ensure that it will not delay your plan to resist Cao Cao."

"Hahaha." Sun Qian's laughter rang out in the hall. After the laughter gradually died down, he slowly said, "Yuanlong, why bother to go far away? I have just joined the lord's army and have not made any achievements. It's a good opportunity for me to persuade Zang Ba."

"Zang Ba is brutal and murderous, and many people in Xuzhou are hostile to him. Does Gongyou have confidence in him?"

"What's there to be afraid of, Zang Ba? Does Yuan Long not believe me?"