Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

In Xia Pi City.

Compared with two months ago, Tao Qian seemed to have aged more than 20 years and looked a bit frail.

All the civil and military officials in the governor's mansion were also dejected.

Tao Qian looked at the silent civil and military officials below with his cloudy eyes, and his mind unconsciously became a little dazed.

Tao Qian didn't even understand how the rich and powerful Xuzhou lost more than half of its territory to Cao Cao in just two months.

Losing battle after battle...

The loss of soldiers and generals was so great that even Tao Qian was at a loss after the defeat.

It is obvious that Tao Qian believed that he had adopted a very safe and cautious policy from the beginning. Facing Cao Cao's army, he chose to defend step by step, intending to delay Cao's army until its food supplies ran out and they retreated.

The situation...why did it develop into this state?
At the beginning, facing Cao's army marching south, Tao Qian's plan was to force Cao's army back with minimal losses while not giving Yuan Shu and Liu Bei the opportunity to covet Xuzhou.

In the current situation, Tao Qian has learned that there have been unusual movements of Yuan Shu's army stationed in Pei State. Although the exact number of troops is unknown, it seems that they are about to advance on Pengcheng.

In the southern part of Xia Pi State, Liu Bei entered Xuzhou without permission in the name of providing assistance. He marched so fast that he unknowingly arrived at Xia Qiu County, which was more than 200 miles away from Xia Pi State.

Military reports one after another were delivered to Tao Qian, making him feel that except for the other side of the sea, there was no enemy and Xuzhou had been surrounded and divided from the south, north and west.

At this point, Tao Qian no longer cared about who was right or wrong in causing the situation to develop to this point. Exhausted, he asked again in a low and hoarse voice.

"Tell me, do you have any good ideas to solve the crisis in Xuzhou?"

Chen Gui, Chen Deng, Cao Hong and other scholars all lowered their heads and remained silent, as if they had not heard Tao Qian's questions.

In the view of Cao Hong and other members of the Xuzhou aristocratic families, Tao Qian's current situation was no different from waiting to die, so they should think about how to protect their own interests in the upcoming changes.

Chen Gui and his son might have some ideas, but they also understood that the current danger to Xuzhou did not lie in external enemies, but in Tao Qian himself. It was useless to say anything, so it was better not to say anything.

An embarrassing and even desperate silence remained in the meeting room.

Tao Qian's face became increasingly gloomy, and he felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

Faced with numerous external threats and internal disunity, the morale of his remaining troops was low, and everyone was afraid of Cao's army like a tiger. Tao Qian had no idea what to do.

"Lord!"

At this moment, Cao Bao, who could no longer bear the silence, spoke up, stood up and saluted.

"The last general..."

Without waiting for Cao Bao to finish speaking, Tao Qian raised his hand to signal Cao Bao that he could sit down.

There is a good saying: you will know whether it is a donkey or a horse by taking it out for a walk.

Xuzhou is the place where Emperor Gaozu started his army. Famous ministers and generals such as Xiao He, Cao Shen, and Fan Kuai all came from Xuzhou.

This made Tao Qian have very high expectations for Cao Bao, the general of Xuzhou.

At least among the generals in Xuzhou, Cao Bao's bravery was second to none, and Tao Qian also recognized Cao Bao's loyalty.

Because of this, when facing Cao's army marching south, Tao Qian handed the army over to Cao Bao for command, thinking that with General Cao Bao's help, he would be able to teach Cao Cao a lesson and make him understand that Xuzhou should not be bullied.

But what Tao Qian never expected was that Cao Bao was really a complete idiot.

In the first battle of Kaiyang, 40,000 troops were wiped out in one day. Tao Qian comforted himself that Cao Bao might have been careless and fell into a trap, so he still tried his best to send Cao Bao to Jiqiu to replenish his troops.

However, Cao Bao failed to defend Jiqiu, where he had deployed a large number of troops, and fled back to Tan County in disgrace.

When Tao Qian was faced with Cao Cao's massacre of the city and had to lead his troops to fight Cao Cao in the field, Tao Qian finally discovered Cao Bao's greatest strength, bravery, and he could only escape when facing Cao's generals.

At that moment, Tao Qian deeply regretted his failure in judging people. He thought that even if Cao Bao did not have the wisdom of Li Ji or the courage of Lu Bu, he should still be a general. However, he did not expect that he was such a fool.

Therefore, Tao Qian, who had fallen into such a state, might not have the energy to care about Cao Bao's crimes, but he also really didn't want to hear Cao Bao's advice anymore.

"If you continue to trust Cao Bao, I might end up hanging my head on the gate of Xia Pi tomorrow." Tao Qian sighed repeatedly, looking at the civil and military officials in the room with a gloomy look in his eyes.

Those who spoke were incompetent, while those who were knowledgeable kept silent.

"That's all."

Tao Qian stood up and walked towards the back hall with a hunched back. He no longer wanted to stay here.

Tao Qian, who was at his wit's end, returned to the back hall and sat quietly for a while, then returned to his mansion with a heavy heart.

When he reached the gate of the mansion, he happened to see his two sons Tao Ying and Tao Shang, one bent over and the other leaning back, walking out with the gait of a turtle and with a swagger.

This made Tao Qian frown and scold.

"Didn't your father tell you to stay in the mansion?"

All of a sudden, Tao Ying and Tao Shang's originally strange postures changed instantly. They stood at attention on the spot and saluted nervously.

"Father...Father..."

Tao Qian asked angrily and wearily, "Where are you going after leaving the mansion?"

"Go to the west of the city to taste tea."

"Let's go to the east of the city to drink."

The two pointed in different directions and answered in unison.

This made Tao Qian's face darken and he shouted.

"Speak, if you dare to say something untrue again, I will break both of your legs today!"

Faced with Tao Qian's threat, Tao Ying and Tao Shang were so scared that their faces turned pale, they were sweating profusely, and they answered with trembling voices.

"I heard that there is a beautiful woman in the north of the city, whose husband was a lieutenant in the army and died in Kaiyang City, so... I thought of going to express my condolences..."

"Yes, yes, yes, I definitely don't want to invite that beautiful woman back to the mansion for fun."

"Even if you're having fun, you should give your respect to your father first."

……

Seeing that Tao Ying and Tao Shang were making things worse, it was like a heavy hammer hitting Tao Qian's heart, and his consciousness was buzzing.

Even if they are given a chance to explain themselves, they can still get the truth out of them.

"Why does this old man have such a foolish son?"

Tao Qian barely suppressed the sweetness that was rising in his throat, but he staggered back a few steps.

The father and his two sons are about to die, but the second son is still looking for beautiful women in the city for fun...

"Ugh……"

Tao Qian sighed deeply, and walked into the mansion with his last breath, without even looking at Tao Ying and Tao Shang.

Tao Ying and Tao Shang, who had been cowering and waiting to be scolded by Tao Qian, subconsciously showed a look of delight on their faces when they saw Tao Qian ignoring them and walking into the mansion.

"It seems that father is in a good mood today..."

"Let's go!"

Tao Ying and Tao Shang said this with joy on their faces.

Soon, Tao Ying and Tao Shang, escorted by a team of personal guards, one of them bent his back again, the other continued to lean forward, and walked towards the north of the city with a cuckold step. (End of this chapter)