Those with him at the time laughed at him but Tao Bao raised his voice at them, "You sons of rats, how could you possibly comprehend the aspirations of a lordly man who transforms like a leopard?”[1] Like all those who joined Shi Le in 304, he became one of his Eighteen Riders and roamed the land as a bandit.
When Shi Le occupied Julu and Changshan, Tao Bao became one of his "talon and teeth" (爪牙) together with Zhi Xiong, Kong Chang, Kui An and Lu Ming (逯明).
Tao Bao guarded the city while Shi Hu relocated Chen Chuan and his followers to Xiangguo (襄國, in modern Xingtai, Hebei).
[4] Going into the following year, Zu Ti's general Han Qian (韓潛) occupied the eastern half of the city while Tao Bao held the western one.
Tao Bao was made General Who Traverses The Sea and ordered to attack from Piaoyu Crossing (漂渝津, around present-day Cangzhou, Hebei).