Chapter 7

After the battlefield cleanup was finished, the sky had already gone completely dark; Guan Yu soon brought Cao Bao to the Cao army's main camp. Seeing the Cao camp in utter disarray, and then looking at Liu Bei's force of no more than five thousand, Cao Bao was greatly startled.

I never expected Liu Bei's troops to be so elite; five thousand men could defeat over twenty thousand of Cao's soldiers.

Because Liu Bei never had a stable base to supply his troops, his forces could only stay around five thousand; but having followed him on campaigns east and west, these troops were certainly not lacking in quality.

Cao Bao sent someone to report to Tao Qian, while on the other side he stepped forward to thank and pay respects to Liu Bei.

Liu Bei's modest and courteous demeanor further won Cao Bao's favor; after exchanging pleasantries, Liu Bei set fire to the main camp that Yu Jin had spent considerable time setting up, then led his troops and Cao Bao away in a carefree manner.

After receiving Cao Bao's report, Tao Qian felt much emotion; he therefore arranged a banquet overnight and ordered his subordinates to open the city gate, leading Xuzhou's civil and military officials in a night-long welcome.

Liu Bei and Cao Bao combined their forces, with over ten thousand troops marching in a long column to the outskirts of Xuzhou.

Before the city gate, Tao Qian had his troops lined up to welcome Liu Bei; seeing from horseback the stooped, white-bearded old man, Liu Bei hastily dismounted to go meet him.

Seeing Liu Bei's force of only a few thousand, and then the banner reading "Pingyuan Liu Xuan De", Tao Qian's heart filled with emotion, and a thought slowly arose in him.

Supported by his attendants, Tao Qian walked forward, took Liu Bei's hands, but then suddenly straightened his robes and performed a bow to Liu Bei.

Liu Bei hastily held up Tao Qian's arms.

"Tao Qian, you are an elder; I, Liu Bei, cannot accept such a great ceremony."

Tao Qian sighed.

"Xuan De, this ceremony is for the millions of people of Xu Province; you do not fear Cao Cao's great power and still dare to send troops to rescue us, thus you are worthy of this rites."

After exchanging courtesies, Tao Qian took Liu Bei's arm and they walked together into the city, heading toward the government office.

Tao Qian had long prepared the banquet; during the feast he continually chatted with Liu Bei, seeing Liu Bei's dignified appearance and graceful, appropriate speech, his favor grew even more. Looking at this, if not for Tao Qian's daughter already being married off, everyone would suspect Tao Qian intended to take Liu Bei as his son-in-law.

At the banquet, Liu Bei took the opportunity of each person's toast to begin attribute checks on Xu Province's civil and military officials.

"Tao Qian: martial 8, intelligence 81, governance 90, leadership 20, health 54"

Liu Bei felt gloomy; it seemed this old Tao Qian wouldn't last much longer.

"Mi Zhu: martial 30, intelligence 85, governance 93, leadership 40, health 98"

"This must be my future brother-in-law; his governance and intelligence also look quite high."

"Chen Deng: martial 21, intelligence 90, governance 92, leadership 79, health 99"

"Cao Bao: martial 82, intelligence 50, governance 52, leadership 61, health 97"

……

After Liu Bei's round of checks, he found that among the civil and military officials present in Xu Province, aside from health, their other important attributes were not particularly high.

From this, Cao Bao is the highest in martial ability among Xu Province's generals; with such a group under him, it's no wonder Tao Qian is no match for Cao Cao, though Chen Deng and my future brother-in-law have decent attributes.

"Ding"

After a notification tone, the system's sluggish voice sounded again.

"Detected that the host has entered Xu Province; the system now dispenses rewards: the host receives a complete set of modern smelting technology and a detailed map of Xu Province."

"The system will begin assisting the host in accomplishing the 'Unify the World' mode. The resource module is activated; after earning war merit points, the host can enter the resource shop to exchange for desired items independently."

"Shop? That's good! Could you get me some submachine guns… not many needed, since we're going to fight Cao Cao, a few hundred would suffice."

"Um… host, the system can only provide weapon blueprints from the cold-weapon era, plus high-quality ancient weapon techniques; these all require merit points to exchange."

"Then explain in detail how the exchange works!"

"Host, you just fought a battle; in this engagement your troops defeated Yu Jin, earning 1,000 merit points; plus killing or capturing 7,452 enemy soldiers and capturing the fierce general Dian Wei, worth 5,000 merit points, so you now have a total of 13,452 merit points."

"The system will subsequently issue missions; please be ready to receive them."

Liu Bei was about to continue speaking when he saw an aged face approach; he was instantly startled.

"Tao Qian, you old fool! Why aren't you eating, drinking, and watching dances at your desk, but instead come running over to my face—what are you doing?"

"\"Xuan De, when you're young you must not become overly indulged in wine and women. \""

Tao Qian laughed heartily as he spoke to Liu Bei, mistakenly thinking Liu Bei was so entranced by the captivating dances in the hall's center.

"\"I will keep Tao Qian's teachings in mind. \""

Liu Bei then simply admitted it, and offered another cup of wine to Tao Qian.

Tao Qian, old and frail, after drinking a few cups of fine wine with Liu Bei, waved to Mi Zhu, who carried the seal of Xu Prefecture and walked to the two of them.

Liu Bei already knew what would happen next; he just wondered whether he should decline.

Just as he was pondering, the system's voice sounded again in Liu Bei's mind.

"\"The system's main quest is now officially open; detected that the host faces a choice, with two options. \""

"\"One, those who follow the tide of the world prosper; take this little Xu Province, and the host can obtain Xu Province's smelting rights, while the system additionally grants a detailed map of the entirety of Yan Province. \""

"\"Two, how could a modest gentleman be ignorant of propriety? If the host proactively proposes to withdraw, he can receive the system's reward of ten thousand tons of high-quality steel, along with a mysterious grand gift package. \""

This… it seems the second option yields more; Xu Province… there will still be opportunities later. Besides, there's that mysterious grand gift package!

Then, I certainly choose option two!

Tao Qian, with both hands, picked up the seal of Xu Province and handed it over to Liu Bei.

Liu Bei feigned incomprehension.

"\"Tao Qian, what does this mean? \""

Tao Qian sighed.

"\"Now the world is in great chaos, the Han dynasty is weak and feeble; Xuan De, as a descendant of the Han house, ought to strive to support the state. I am old and useless, so I will yield Xu Province to Xuan De, to serve as the starting point of your foundation. Please do not decline, Xuan De; I will soon submit a memorial to the imperial court and the Son of Heaven regarding this. \""

Not far off, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and the others, upon hearing this, all showed delighted faces; after all, having a base of foundation would speed up future development greatly.

Hearing Tao Qian's sincere words, Liu Bei felt deep respect for this elder Han minister; he rose from his seat and bowed to Tao Qian.

"\"I, Liu Bei, though a descendant of the Han house, have had no achievements to speak of; today I come to assist Tao Qian for the sake of righteousness. Are your words, Tao Qian, suspecting that I, Liu Bei, harbor designs of annexation? \""

Tao Qian placed the great seal aside and helped Liu Bei to his feet.

"\"Xuan De, this is all my sincere intention; please rise quickly! \""

Mi Zhu, standing nearby, saw Liu Bei's decisive refusal, his gaze a deep gloom; Mi Zhu couldn't help but admire Liu Bei even more, and stepped forward to advise.

Right now Cao Cao is invading; we might as well first discuss how to repel the enemy. As for the matter of Xuzhou, we can discuss it later; it's not too late.

Liu Bei pondered for a moment, knowing that Lü Bu was about to betray Cao Mengde; never mind, it seems Heaven wants me, Liu Xuan De, to show off ah!

Liu Bei said to Tao Qian and the others

"I and Cao Cao got along fairly well when the feudal lords formed an alliance; let me write him a letter explaining the hidden reasons and benefits. If Cao Mengde sees my letter and still does not withdraw his troops, then we can resort to arms later; it's not too late."

"Then let's listen to Xuan De."