Tao Ying got off the boat, put his hands on his hips, raised his chest, and let out a long sigh.

"It's finally here."

Gan Mei, who was standing at the dock, quickly greeted her and bowed to her. "Brother, I worked hard all the way."

"My heart is bitter, my heart is bitter." Tao Ying pointed to his heart. "My sister is right, it's all bitter here."

Gan Mei smiled and said, "Don't worry, just say slowly, when you get here, you will stay for a few more days just like when you get home. If you want, bring your aunt here and celebrate the New Year."

Tao Ying looked at Gan Mei and smiled. "Looking at my sister's tone, you shouldn't hate me, Ah Weng, then I'll be relieved. To be honest, before getting off the boat, I was still thinking about whether to put on golden silk armor."

Gan Mei couldn't help laughing and glared at Tao Ying. "You make fun of me again. When I see my aunt next time, I will have to sue you. They are all prefects in the county, and they are not in the right way yet."

A trace of loss flashed across Tao Ying's face, and then a concealed smile appeared. "Although he is the prefect of a county, I am a poor prefect. When my sister gets married, I can't even bring out the gifts. I'll piece it together. Maybe I have to borrow money from my sister when I return."

"Guangling is so difficult?"

"It's not just Guangling, but the entire Xuzhou is in difficulty." Tao Ying sighed.

Gan Mei did not respond and accompanied Tao Ying into the central army camp. At the door of the tent, Zhu Ran was waiting at the door and told Gan Mei that Yuan Quan had just sent someone to inform her that Gan Mei would go to her residence to meet. Gan Mei stopped and asked Tao Ying to go in by herself, so she turned around and left.

Tao Ying looked at the quiet big tent, and a hint of unhappiness flashed in his eyes, but he still tidied up his clothes and was about to sign up for him. Zhu Ran stopped him and reached out to signal. "General is not in the tent, please follow me in the Ming Mansion."

Tao Yingran was relieved and followed Zhu Ran out of the central army and came to the baggage camp beside him. As soon as he entered the camp gate, he heard a few horses neighing. Tao Ying blurted out. "Good horse!"

Zhu Ran was a little surprised. "Mingfu is good at horse racing?"

Tao Ying was in a good mood and laughed. "I dare not speak kindly, but I know a little bit. My ancestor was the governor of Youzhou, and he followed Huangfu chariots and cavalry. Zhang Taiwei fought with the Qiang people in the west. He knew some of his horses. He said that looking at the horses is like looking at the persons. When he heard the sound and looked at his movements, he could tell that the horses were loud and had a metal sound, which showed that they were strong and strong." He listened carefully again and said with confidence: "This is the Wuhuan horse, not the Liangzhou horse."

Zhu Ran showed surprise, but said nothing. Turning a corner, Tao Ying saw Sun Ce. Sun Ce and a group of people stood together, surrounding dozens of horses. A young man rode on a saddle-free horse. The horse stood up and then stumbled violently. The hooves of the bowl were as big as a bowl scattered the soil on the ground, trying to lift the boy on his back. However, the young man sat steadily on the horse's back, without changing his face.

Tao Ying walked closer and recognized the boy as Sun Ce's younger brother Sun Yi, and was shocked.

Guo Jia, who was beside Sun Ce, reminded Sun Ce. Sun Ce turned around and saw that it was Tao Ying, and his smile on his face became even brighter. "Zhongyun, it's coming so fast!"

Tao Ying was a little embarrassed and hurriedly stepped forward to salute. He should have expressed his surrender after Sun Ce won the Battle of Guandu, but he was afraid that Sun Ce would turn against him and deprive their brothers of control over Xuzhou, so he delayed again and again until Gan Mei gave him news that Sun Ce had taken her as a concubine and had no intention of turning against him, so he came to pay a visit. Sun Ce said that he came quickly, so he naturally wanted to tease him.

"Guangling, Xia Pi's harvest is not good, and the plan has not been over for a long time. It has been delayed. I would like to ask the general to forgive me."

“It’s not a good time to live?”

“It’s not easy.”

Sun Ce patted Tao Ying's shoulder with understanding. "I'll talk about this later. How do you think of these horses?"

Zhu Ran smiled and said, "General, Tao Mansion Lord can match the horses. When he entered the camp just now, he heard the horse neighing, and he said it was a good horse."

Sun Ce was very surprised. "I didn't expect you to have this ability. That's great. Please help me with your palms and I'll give you a few thank you."

Tao Ying was overjoyed. Although his horse-like skills were superficial, it was also obvious that these horses were not ordinary horses. Sun Ce lacked horses, and he also lacked horses, especially such good horses that were rich might not be able to buy. Sun Ce could give him a few horses, which could not only benefit, but also show others how Sun Ce treated him with preferential treatment, killing two birds with one stone.

"Thank you, General."

Tao Ying looked carefully and noticed that there were a few people next to him, including the Xianbei people with yellow beards. He had seen similar people in Liu Bei's mixed Hu cavalry. He looked at him and was very tired. He knew he had come from afar at first sight. Tao Ying was very concerned. These people were probably from Jizhou or Youzhou. Could it be that Sun Ce was going to use troops to Youzhou?

Tao Ying took his mind and carefully looked at these horses and confirmed that they were all good horses. He didn't dare to say that they were picking one in a thousand and picking one in a hundred is fine. However, there were a few more strong-willed horses, and most people might not be able to subdue them. Tao Ying looked at the Hu people, snorted, and the Hu people looked at each other, avoiding Tao Ying's eyes.

"General, it seems that your reputation has been spread to the grassland. Some people don't believe it and want to try your skills." Tao Ying said with a smile.

Sun Ce smiled without saying a word, but just looked at the Hu people meaningfully. As soon as he saw the horses, he saw the clues. The requirements for war horses in the army were very high, gentle, and waiting for dispatch were basic requirements. These horses were obviously too active and suitable for masters to ride, but not for ordinary people. However, he could not use this reason to make trouble. This kind of incident in school exams is common, and turning against others is equivalent to admitting defeat. He originally wanted Pang De to show his riding skills, but Sun Yi volunteered and easily rode the one with the strongest temperament, which saved him trouble.

Sun Ce asked Tao Ying to pick a few horses himself. Tao Ying was not polite and picked two horses. Sun Ce calmly took Tao Ying back to the tent and spoke, asking Guo Yuan and Xie Guanglong to "enter" these Hu servants. Regardless of whether this matter was arranged by Zhang Hong, it would be impolite to come but not to let them suffer a little, and they could not swallow their anger.

"Who is this?" Tao Ying asked curiously.

"I don't have to pay attention to a few Xianbei grooms. My people are sensible. At most, they will break their arms and legs and will not die." Sun Ce held Tao Ying's shoulder affectionately. Although Tao Ying was not used to it, he did not dare to push Sun Ce away. "Tell me, what's going on in Xuzhou? I'll wait for news from Qingzhou and Xuzhou now."

Tao Ying sighed and felt bitter. After the Battle of Guandu, he followed Sun Ce's order to clear out the Runan family that was seeking refuge. He first communicated with Xia Pi and Guangling families, asking them to recognize the reality and not to shelter the Runan family. After being blocked for two years, Xia Pi and Guangling families had already admitted their conscience. No one had ever covered up the Runan family anymore, but the news was leaked. One Runan family escaped early, some entered the mountains, and some entered the marsh and resisted stubbornly. Tao Ying organized people to chase and suppress the troops until after the autumn, and retired veterans were in place one after another, and the pursuit work was smooth and basically stabilized the situation. The hard work of the past six months was still a trivial matter, the consumption of money and grain was too high, and the autumn harvest was seriously affected, and the deficit was serious.

Sun Ce held back his laughter. The situation in Xuzhou was as expected, and it could even be said that he did it on purpose. Without making any trouble and not making the Tao brothers anxious, they would have too high expectations, and it would be difficult for him to install people. If Xuzhou is heavily in debt and retired veterans have already occupied relevant positions, regardless of Tao merchants, Tao Ying-will be willing to let go, and Xuzhou is no longer surnamed Tao.

"Borrowing a debt?"

"It's not okay if you don't borrow it. If you don't have enough money and food, you won't be willing to work hard, whether it's county soldiers or Danyang soldiers."

“How much do you owe?”

"Uh... the tax was almost three years old." Tao Ying was embarrassed and quickly explained: "The main reason was that the early expenses were high, and the county soldiers were half-hearted and refused to work. Although the Danyang soldiers recruited were willing to work, they were not familiar with the terrain, and it took a lot of trouble. Later, the retired veterans took office one after another, and the war went smoother."

"You have only owed three years of taxes, what's there to worry about? I have been owing more than ten years of debt."

"I don't dare to compare with the general. You owe much, but you have a big deal."

Sun Ce laughed loudly, returned to the tent and ordered someone to serve tea. After asking about the situation in Xia Pi and Guangling, he asked about the situation in Langya and Donghai. The pottery merchant did not come, but the result of the plan he asked Tao Ying to bring was slightly better, but it was not much better. Sun Ce finished reading it one by one and placed the plan report on the case.

"Zhongyun, what do you think of Liu Bei?"

Tao Ying slapped the table and cursed. "That's a shameless person, he is in a state of turmoil and has no moral integrity. General, I think you should have killed him at the beginning."

Sun Ce smiled. "Are you interested in playing against him?"

Tao Ying suddenly lost all his heroic spirit. Although he was not ashamed of Liu Bei's character, he still knew Liu Bei's strength, especially Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who were all powerful generals from thousands of places. Now that Liu Bei has returned to Youzhou, his strength is stronger than when he was in the Central Plains. Even Sun Ce may not be sure of winning, so he won't talk about it. He was a little confident before. After the hard experience of suppressing bandits in the past six months, he already knew that he was unlikely to become a famous general, and it would be better to be a stable person.

"General...will conquer Youzhou?"

"Sooner or later, prepare in advance. If you are interested, I will be the only one of you. If you don't want to suffer from the snow and ice, you can stay in Xuzhou. But there is one thing I want to remind you in advance that marching and fighting is not as good as usual. The combat supplies are related to the lives of countless soldiers. No grain or silk can make mistakes, otherwise this military law is not just a matter of talking about it."

Tao Ying's face changed, and the smile on his face was a little unnatural. Sun Ce knew very well that he could rely on the mountains to eat the mountains and water to eat water. Tao Ying was in Xia Pi and Guangling could not be greedy for the bandits. It was just a matter of how much. Xuzhou has not yet fully started, so he could not pursue it. In the future, Qing Xu was a logistics supply base. He could not let the Tao brothers take charge and let the food and grass for the army become their mouths. The amount was too large.

Tao Ying was hesitant. Sun Ce was not in a hurry and turned the topic apart. The battle in Youzhou cannot be done in a short period of time. He had enough time for the Tao brothers to weigh the pros and cons and let them give up Xuzhou as much as possible to avoid losing their words. If they were really dissatisfied, don't blame him for being rude. Digging a hole to let them jump in was just a matter of raising their hands.

At this time, Xie Guanglong and Guo Yuan came back and reported to Sun Ce lightly that those Xianbei people were strong and fucked on the outside, one had broken his legs and the other had broken his hands, and no one dared to get on.

Sun Ce waved his hand and signaled them to retreat. Tao Ying was frightened and his face changed continuously.

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Chapter completed!