Chapter 578

"This is also the reason why I have been retreating steadily under Lu Bu, and even Xiapi has become precarious!"

"It is precisely because I lack fierce generals like the two Generals Guan and Zhang to sit in command!"

"Now that you have come, I feel much more at ease!"

"Although Lu Bu is indeed invincible in the world in field battles, if it is only about defending the city, I wonder if Lord Xuande and the two generals have the confidence to help me hold this Xiapi City?"

"As long as you can do it, even if I have to hand over this Xuzhou and my position as the Prince of Qi to Lord Xuande, I am willing!"

He truly thought this way!

Because he had been repeatedly humiliated by Lu Bu during this time, and his health was failing day by day, seeing that he did not have many days left to live, and his two sons were too incompetent and mediocre, if he really let one of his two sons inherit his throne and control Xuzhou, their Tao family would definitely not have a good outcome.

Rather than continuing to hold onto Xuzhou and the Prince of Qi title, only to be liquidated in the end and have his family wiped out, Tao Qian felt it would be better to hand over Xuzhou and the throne first.

Let someone capable and reliable in character take over.

In this way, his Tao family would no longer be a princely house, nor would they be warlords. Even if Liu Bei were to be defeated in the future and other warlords occupied Xuzhou, their Tao family would not be liquidated and exterminated, right?

There are thousand-year-old noble clans, but no thousand-year-old dynasties.

That is the logic.

The supreme position, the throne, is not easy to sit on.

Originally, if Liu Bei had not appeared now, Tao Qian had already prepared to contact the King of Qian, Su Xuan, wanting to hand Xuzhou over to Su Xuan.

But now that Liu Bei was here, handing it to Liu Bei might be even more appropriate.

For one thing, he had some understanding of Liu Bei; this person's reputation for benevolence was quite loud, and he was someone who cared about his face and reputation.

Regardless of whether he was truly benevolent, since Liu Bei had chosen to establish this persona, in order for his persona not to collapse and to achieve something in the future, Liu Bei could not do things on the surface that violated his persona.

This was enough for Tao Qian.

Of course, choosing Liu Bei over Su Xuan was also because he was not certain whether Su Xuan would accept Xuzhou.

Other warlords could see it, and naturally, he could see quite a bit as well.

Su Xuan was currently lacking talent for his new policies and was not prepared to expand his territory extensively for the time being; otherwise, Yuan Shu's Yuzhou would not have been occupied by Cao Cao, but would have belonged to Su Xuan.

Rather than gambling on the uncertainty of Su Xuan's side, it was better to choose Liu Bei.

Although Su Xuan's credibility was higher.

Liu Bei did not know Tao Qian's true thoughts at this moment. Suddenly hearing Tao Qian say such things, Liu Bei was directly shocked, and his internal vigilance was raised to the highest level.

For such a pie falling from the sky, his first reaction was not happiness, but suspicion that there was a great conspiracy involved.

Naturally, he did not dare and could not possibly agree. He hurriedly waved his hands modestly and said: "Lord Tao, you speak too much! Liu Bei came here truly just to assist! I absolutely have no covetous heart for Xuzhou or the Prince of Qi title! I beg Lord Tao not to shame me!"

He admitted that he was very tempted, but without knowing the true situation, it was impossible for him to agree.

He didn't want to be tricked to death without even knowing it.

Tao Qian saw Liu Bei's vigilance and concerns, smiled, and shook his head: "I know that what I said was very abrupt, and Lord Xuande, you are unwilling to believe it, but I truly have this thought in my heart!"

"Because I feel that my days are numbered! And my two sons do not have the talent for this!"

"Forget it! Let's not talk about this for now! I am already very happy that Lord Xuande could come to assist me! Let's talk about the abdication later!"

"Let's go! I will host a banquet to welcome Lord Xuande!"

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