Is “After Tao Qian's death, Liu Bei did not dare to take over Xuzhou because he feared Yuan Shu.” true?

attested in history

After Tao Qian's death, Liu Bei did not dare to take over Xuzhou because he feared Yuan Shu. Kong Rong persuaded Liu Bei, saying that Yuan Shu was a 'skeleton in a tomb.' This classic assessment is almost identical in wording in both the official history and the novel, and it is a direct quotation from the official history in the Romance.

孔
Kong Rong

After Tao Qian's death, Liu Bei did not dare to take over Xuzhou because he feared Yuan Shu.

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