The Three Kingdoms: Rise to Power Starting with Intercepting Liu Bei

At the banquet, Tao Qian expressed his gratitude to Liu Bei for leading his army to rescue Xuzhou.

When this happened, he sent requests for help to all the major warlords in the land, but no one paid any attention to him. Now, only Liu Bei has led his army to come. It can be said that true friendship is revealed in times of trouble.

Faced with Tao Qian's gratitude, Liu Bei simply smiled and let it pass. He also had his own ulterior motives, which was to seize more territory from the other party. After all, Xiaopei was a small place with a weak population, and it was simply not enough to expand his army.

Only by taking advantage of this rescue opportunity could Liu Bei get Tao Qian to give him some more territory. With this in mind, Liu Bei began to reveal his wishful thinking:

"Lord Tao, you know the strength of my two brothers. Back when the warlords were fighting against Dong Zhuo, my two brothers killed Hua Xiong and fought Lü Bu, becoming famous throughout the land. Now, we have answered your call and led troops to rescue Xuzhou. We have suffered heavy losses!"

"What do you think?"

As soon as Liu Bei said this, Qin Xuan and the other two at the table immediately looked at him, while Tao Qian's face was full of bitterness. After all, he had been sidelined by Qin Xuan and could not make any decisions at all.

At the same time, they also had a different opinion of Liu Bei, not expecting that Liu Bei was also an ambitious guy.

Faced with Liu Bei's shameless request, Tao Qian could only cast an inquiring glance at Qin Xuan, who was now in charge of everything in Xuzhou.

"Master Tao, what do you mean by this? Do you need to consult this young upstart Qin Xuan?"

Tao Qian's actions did not escape the notice of Liu Bei and the others. Zhang Fei, emboldened by alcohol, spoke loudly.

Zhang Fei's words made Tao Qian break out in a cold sweat. He kept wiping his forehead, unsure of how to respond. If he didn't answer well, he would offend both of them.

Sensing the tense atmosphere, Liu Bowen, who was at the table, had a sudden inspiration and spoke up:

"Haha, General Zhang, what are you saying? Xuzhou is naturally under the governor's control, but isn't the situation quite extraordinary right now?"

"With Cao Cao's army looming large outside and the people constantly rioting inside, in order to ensure that we can overcome this difficulty, Governor Tao specially entrusted all affairs of Xuzhou to General Qin. Everything will be done according to General Qin's orders until Cao Cao's army is defeated, the lost territory of Xuzhou is recovered, and the people can rebuild their homes."

"That's why Tao Gong cast an inquiring glance at General Qin!"

"Yes, this is exactly the order I gave. Special times call for special measures. Yi Chen is exceptionally intelligent and brave. If it weren't for his proper command and desperate resistance, Xuzhou would have been captured by Cao Cao long ago."

After Liu Bowen finished explaining, Tao Qian hurriedly added that Qin Xuan's warning was still ringing in his ears, and he had no choice but to endure it in order to survive.

"I see!" Liu Bei and the others nodded as if they suddenly understood. However, they did not agree with this explanation. Who was Tao Qian? It was impossible for him to have made this decision voluntarily.

With Qin Xuan and the others present, Liu Bei couldn't ask Tao Qian for more details about the matter. He could only nod slightly and didn't mention asking for any more benefits.

After this brief interlude, the banquet quickly came to an end, and Qin Xuan arranged for Liu Bei's dozens of men to be housed in a military camp.

As for Liu Bei and his three companions, they were placed in an inn, and the Great Wall Legion was secretly dispatched to monitor their every move.

After arranging everything, Qin Xuan summoned Xue Rengui and Liu Bowen to discuss how to deal with Liu Bei. Since Liu Bei had brazenly asked for benefits in public, Qin Xuan could not refuse him directly, but he did not want Liu Bei to grow stronger.

Back at his residence, Qin Xuan went straight to the point and asked:

"Tell me, how should we treat Liu Bei and his two brothers? They made it clear at the banquet that they wanted benefits, and we can't just refuse them. Our foundation is not yet stable, and we must not make any more enemies."

After a moment's thought, Liu Bowen immediately analyzed the situation:

"My lord is considering that our current enemy is Cao Cao, while Liu Bei is an ally we need to unite with for the time being. Looking around Liu Bei, all he has are military generals, and he doesn't have a single strategist who can offer advice. Therefore, the threat posed by Liu Bei can be minimized."

"The situation in the city is unstable right now. Those powerful nobles and Tao Qian are all making trouble. We absolutely cannot let Liu Bei get involved anymore; we must get rid of him as soon as possible!"

At this point, Liu Bowen paused for a moment, asked someone for a map of Xuzhou, pointed to Xiapi, and continued:

"This is the place I chose for him. Xiaopei is a very important location, the western gateway to Xuzhou. It must not be allowed to be occupied by him again. Transfer Liu Bei to Xiapi to guard against Yuan Shu."

"Yuan Shu has always looked down on Liu Bei. Placing Liu Bei here will allow him to restrain Yuan Shu for us, enabling us to concentrate our efforts on dealing with Cao Cao and even plotting to seize Qingzhou!"

Liu Bowen's plan caught Qin Xuan's eye. Transferring Liu Bei to Xiapi would help the enemy, and regardless of whether Yuan Shu or Liu Bei gained the upper hand in the future, Qin Xuan would be the beneficiary behind the scenes.

If Liu Bei wins, he can get rid of this shameless guy; if Liu Bei loses, he will have one less major threat. And if Liu Bei is still alive, he can shamelessly come to him for help, giving him an excuse to send troops to attack Yuan Shu.

"Alright, Bowen, we'll do as you say!" Qin Xuan finally decided to adopt Liu Bowen's method and have Liu Bei guard against Yuan Shu.

Then he looked at Xue Rengui: "Rengui, select two thousand veterans, the old, the weak, the sick and disabled from the existing Xuzhou army, and give them ten days' worth of rations to Liu Bei, so that he can go to Xiapi in two days."

"You led the Great Snow Dragon Riders to clear a safe passage for them, so they could...!"

"Report! Report!"

Before Qin Xuan could finish speaking, a Great Snow Dragon Rider rushed in from outside, knelt down, and panted as he said:

"My lord, there seems to be a major commotion from Cao Cao's army outside the city. They appear to be packing up their camp in preparation for retreat. Should we attack? Please make the decision!"

"What? There are signs of retreating?" Qin Xuan asked excitedly.

"That's right, we discovered this ourselves!"

The Great Snow Dragon Knight answered decisively.

The retreat of Cao Cao's army must have been caused by Li Jing and his men making a big commotion behind Cao Cao's lines, forcing Cao Cao to return to Yanzhou and abandon the siege of Tancheng. Having figured this out, Qin Xuan turned to Xue Rengui and issued the military order:

"Alright, Xue Rengui, obey my command!"

"Your subordinate is here!"

"We must lead a large army out to attack; we absolutely cannot allow Cao Cao's army to return to Yanzhou so easily!"

"Rest assured, my lord, I will certainly carry out your orders!"

After making a solemn promise, Xue Rengui left Qin Xuan's residence without stopping and headed straight for the military camp.

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On the other side, as soon as Liu Bei arrived at the inn, he summoned Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun to gather in one room.

"Yide, Yunchang, Zilong, the situation is extremely bad for us right now. This Qin Xuan, Qin Yichen, we don't know where he came from, but he has actually become the de facto ruler of Xuzhou!"

"All our initial plans have fallen through. What should we do next?"

Upon entering the room, Liu Bei couldn't wait to speak. Since he didn't have a suitable strategist by his side, and Jian Yong was currently stationed in Xiaopei and unable to leave, he could only consult the three of them for a solution.

However, his main focus was on Zhao Yun, since Zhao Yun had a better strategic vision than his two sworn brothers.

"Lord Xuande, in my opinion, our situation isn't that bad. General Qin is a very nice person. It's just that you were a bit abrupt today. I don't want to get involved in such complicated matters. Farewell!"

Sensing Liu Bei's questioning gaze, Zhao Yun shared his opinion.

Since he was still under Gongsun Zan's command and not under Liu Bei's command, and because he had a strange fondness for Xue Rengui when they first met, he did not give a detailed answer to Liu Bei's question.

After saying that, he got up and left Liu Bei's room, leaving the three of them looking at each other, at a loss for what to do!