Tao Kan, zi Shixing, was originally from Poyang County. After the State of Wu was pacified by the Western Jin Dynasty, the Tao Kan family moved to Xunyang County, Lujiang County. Tao Kan's father died when he was very young, and his family was relatively poor, and he served as an official in Xunyang County when he was young. Once Xiaolian Fan Kui of Poyang County visited Tao Kan, there was nothing to entertain in a hurry, Tao Kan's mother actually cut off her hair to make two wig rolls, Tao Kan exchanged her mother's hair for wine, drank and drank with great interest, even Fan Kui's servants felt that it exceeded expectations. When Fan Kui was on the road, Tao Kan chased more than a hundred miles. Fan Kui asked, "Do you want to be an official in the county?" Tao Kan said, "I think, I just don't have a way out." Fan Kui visited Lujiang Taishou Zhang Kui and praised Tao Kan in front of Taishou, and Zhang Kui summoned Tao Kan to be the governor of Zongyang County. Once Zhang Kui's wife was ill and needed to go hundreds of miles away to pick up a doctor. It was a cold winter snow, and all the subordinate officials were embarrassed by this, only Tao Kan said: "We should treat serving the county sheriff as serving our father." The wife of the sheriff is like a mother, whose parents are sick and whose children are not satisfied! So he asked to go. Everyone admired his righteousness.
Promoted to General of Long Jun and Taishou of Wuchang. At that time, there was a famine in the world, and many boats in Shanyi County were blocked by robbers and robbed. Tao Kan ordered the generals to pretend to be merchant ships to lure the robbers. The robbers did indeed come forward and were captured alive by several people, all of whom were (interrogated) as retinues of Sima Xi, the king of Xiyang. Tao Kan dispatched an army to force Sima Xian and ordered him to hand over those who had been robbed in the past, and Tao Kan reorganized the army at Diaoyutai as a follow-up support. Sima Xian bundled up twenty of his subordinates and sent them to Tao Kan, who beheaded them.
Since then, all the land and water robberies have been cleared, and the exiles have returned to their hometowns, filling the roads, and Tao Kan has tried his best to organize money to help them. He also set up a market in Shanyi County in the eastern part of the county, and the county also reaped many benefits from it. At that time, Zhou Yan served as the assassin of Jingzhou, and at first the town guarded Xunshui City, and the robbers plundered many of his people. Tao Kan's envoys rescued Zhu Shou, and the robbers retreated to Baolingkou. Tao Kan said to the generals: "These bandits will definitely change their route and run to Wuchang, and we should return to Wuchang City, which can be reached in three days and nights." Who among you can endure hunger to fight? General Wu Jiying said, "I plan to endure ten days of starvation, kill the enemy during the day, and fish at night, so that I can completely relieve myself." Tao Kan said, "You are a strong general." The enemy did increase his troops to attack, and Tao Kan sent Zhu Shu and others to counterattack head-on, defeating the enemy badly, capturing their weapons and equipment, and killing and wounding many enemies.
When Tao Kan had no political affairs in the state capital, he always moved a hundred bricks outside the study in the morning and transported them to the study in the evening. When asked why, he replied, "I am working hard to recover the Central Plains, and I am afraid that I will not be able to bear the big things." "He sharpens his ambitions and works diligently, all like this.
Tao Kan is intelligent and agile, diligent and earnest, respectful and courteous, respectful and loving of the young. He sat solemnly all day, and there were many things in the military government, and there was no omission. Letters from people near and far, he personally replied, the writing is fluent, not a little obscure. Hospitality or send-off is timely and orderly, there are no people staying or waiting in front of the door. He often said to people: "Dayu is a saint, and he still cherishes time, as for ordinary people, he should cherish every minute and second of time, how can he enjoy indulgence?" When you are alive, it is not beneficial to people, and when you die, you will not be remembered by future generations, this is your own destruction! Sometimes when his subordinates were debauched for chatting and playing, he had people take away the wine and gambling utensils and throw them all into the river; they punished the petty officials and military generals with whipping, saying: "Gambling is just a pig-herding play!" The flashiness of "Lao" and "Zhuang" is unrealistic, and it is not feasible to oppose the argument that the previous kings conform to the etiquette law. A gentleman should dress properly and maintain his solemn appearance and demeanor, how can he have a cloak and deliberately contrived to gain fame and think that he is broad and well-informed! "Someone sent a gift, and he asked all about where the items came from.
If it is obtained by one's own efforts, even the slightest must be happy, and the comfort reward is multiplied; if it is not reasonably obtained, it is very severely reprimanded and humiliated, and his gift is returned. He had traveled and saw a man holding an immature handful of rice, and Tao Kan asked, "What are you doing with this?" The man said, "I walked to see the rice and pulled it out." Tao Kan said angrily, "You don't farm, but you destroy other people's rice to play!" "Let the man catch him and whip him. Therefore, the people are diligent in farming and breeding, so that the family can give people enough. At that time, he let people put away the shipbuilding, wood chips and bamboo heads, and people did not understand the reason. Later, on New Year's Day, the emperor met with his courtiers, and it snowed for a long time, and the snow in front of the hall was still very wet, so he sprinkled wood chips on the ground. When Huan Wen attacked Shu, he used the bamboo head stored by Tao Kan to make bamboo nails to assemble the ship. He's meticulous and meticulous, all of them.