Chapter 51: Medicine Cannot Save Han

The next day.

——Hundreds of officials submitted memorials admitting fault, and Liu Zhi also released the scholars he had detained.

Yet the storm surrounding this matter could not subside.

Whether the officials Liu Zhi had dismissed or the scholars he had detained.

All of them gained extraordinary prestige.

Scholars across the land praised them as loyal and upright men, brave and resolute enough to confront the Emperor's mistakes.

They called this the proper path for all scholars to follow.

This was outright suicide.

Gu Xi even went personally to the Imperial Academy, barely holding back his curses.

This move did indeed suppress the public uproar.

But the hidden dangers remained unchanged.

Liu Zhi's determination to redistribute power was now unstoppable.

Not long after.

He issued the Three Mutuals Law, fully unleashing the campaign to overhaul the court.

The law explicitly required officials everywhere to avoid their native regions, avoid serving alongside families connected by marriage, and avoid serving in mutual jurisdictions.

——That is, officials must avoid serving in their native regions; avoid serving alongside families connected by marriage; avoid serving in jurisdictions where officials are mutually appointed;

In short, the governor of a province must not appoint anyone from that province;

The magistrate of a county must not appoint anyone from that county;

Officials from one commandery or prefecture must not serve in another with which they share mutual appointments.

This move struck directly at the scholar-officials.

Its purpose was clearly to prevent officials from colluding and shielding one another, thereby strengthening the central court's authority.

The court and realm were shaken!

The officials naturally refused to accept these rules.

The clan networks of Eastern Han had long formed absolute alliances; Liu Zhi's move was clearly an indirect attempt to weaken these alliances.

Many immediately submitted memorials.

Of course, this round of memorials was far more courteous than the previous ones.

Gu Xi's lingering authority remained; scholars across the land still sincerely respected Gu Xi.

But how could Liu Zhi possibly retreat?

This was something he had to do; the Emperor's authority had been threatened—how could he tolerate it?

Under these circumstances, the Three Mutuals Law was actually implemented.

Yet in this era, such a sweeping reform was bound to take time.

Hidden turmoil was certain to rise again because of this.

Liu Zhi appointed eunuchs, fully launching his suppression of the scholar-officials.

Unlike the scholar-officials.

As eunuchs, their entire power came from the Emperor.

They fawned over Liu Zhi in every way, making him feel a stark contrast.

Although due to Gu Xi's presence in Luoyang, these eunuchs had not yet reached the level of universal hatred seen in the original history.

But human nature is fickle, especially once one gains power.

Seeing that Gu Xi had said nothing from start to finish, the eunuchs' courage gradually grew.

They began meddling in official appointments.

Though in Luoyang, restrained by Gu Xi's presence, they dared not act recklessly.

Yet in the provinces, they displayed their greed without restraint.

And precisely because of this.

The Imperial Academy students seized the opportunity, shifting their target from the Emperor to the eunuchs.

But in truth, they were targeting Liu Zhi.

They were voicing discontent with the current court administration.

Some even approached Gu Xi, urging him to intervene and persuade Liu Zhi to dismiss the eunuchs.

But how could Gu Xi involve himself?

By now, if he still failed to see the contradiction at play, he would have wasted his decades of governance.

This was destined to be an irreconcilable struggle.

To urge Liu Zhi to abandon the eunuchs—what did that signify?

Did it mean the Gu clan stood united with the scholar-officials?

Would it drag the Gu clan fully into this struggle?

If so,

Perhaps while Gu Xi lived, no disaster would arise.

But the moment he died, the Gu clan would very likely fall into irrecoverable ruin.

Because of the Gu clan's prestige throughout the Han Empire,

If they entered the fray, they would inevitably become the first target.

Even if this move might earn the Gu clan some prestige among scholars across the land, did the Gu clan need this little prestige?

Gu Xi could never make such a choice.

And in his view, this matter was not necessarily all bad.

The rapid expansion of the scholar-official class.

It was bound to threaten imperial authority.

If another child Son of Heaven were to appear in the future, he might very well be sidelined by the entire scholar-official bloc.

The Gu clan's descendants had never been righteous gentlemen.

They possessed highly flexible moral boundaries; their current downfall clearly did not suit Gu Xi's character.

Under these circumstances, both sides were locked in fierce conflict.

And Liu Zhi sat back like a fisherman on his perch.

Gradually, he began to regain the power befitting an Emperor.

He was naturally fond of luxury, and perhaps out of spite, he spent extravagantly on repairing the entire imperial palace.

He also greatly expanded his harem.

In truth, the ministers' resentment over this matter was relatively mild.

After all, if Liu Zhi could father more sons, he might avoid the fate of previous Han Emperors.

But the problem was that Liu Zhi's harem was too large.

The number of palace maids alone had already reached several thousand, and was still increasing.

And he gradually abandoned state affairs.

He watched as eunuchs and scholar-officials fought to the death.

And under these circumstances, the hidden currents beneath the Han's golden age finally erupted.

——Yanxi Seventh Year.

Reports of displaced refugees rising up came from every region.

The struggle between eunuchs and scholar-officials had finally reached the common people of Han.

Eunuchs had caused problems in official administration.

Official administration had failed.

The Han's problem of land consolidation would directly strike the people.

And precisely because of this, the scholar-officials' criticisms of the eunuchs and the court grew louder.

Every word they spoke targeted the eunuchs.

But the core pointed directly at Liu Zhi, at the system of the court.

The flames of rebellion could no longer be stopped.

Gu Xi had never anticipated things would develop to this point.

He, too, had been bound by the limitations of his era, failing to perceive the hidden dangers beneath the Han system.

But no matter what, it was now too late.

This matter could not be resolved by any single man's efforts; Liu Zhi could not dismiss the eunuchs and bow to the scholar-officials.

And the scholar-officials were bound never to surrender their power willingly, never to return it all to the Emperor.

Gu Xi could not allow his family to become entangled.

But how could he simply sit and watch?

This was the golden age he had preserved at great cost and endless effort.

He went to see Liu Zhi once more.

Yet he said nothing about court affairs or the scholar-officials; he merely urged Liu Zhi to relieve the displaced refugees and prevent them from sparking greater unrest.

Liu Zhi's attitude toward Gu Xi had changed somewhat.

As time passed, and with the scholar-officials' hostility, how could his attitude not have shifted?

But this time, Liu Zhi still listened to Gu Xi.

He resolved to provide relief to the victims.

But if such relief could end the struggle, Gu Yi would not have taken it so seriously.

Not long after the relief measures were enacted,

scholar-officials across the regions successively submitted memorials accusing eunuchs of embezzling relief grain.

This instantly caused a massive uproar.

In court, ministers launched a barrage of accusations against the eunuchs.

The eunuchs cried foul and, leveraging Liu Zhi's inclinations, firmly suppressed the scholar-officials.

Both sides deployed every tactic available.

From the imperial court down to their local factions, all were targeting each other.

In less than two years, the entire Han Empire showed signs of great chaos.

At this point, Liu Zhi still retained some sense.

He made a decision that left everyone convinced: he appointed Gu Xi to oversee relief efforts.

Upon this announcement,

whether eunuchs or scholar-officials,

all were convinced.

Gu Xi had considerable experience in this area, and since these hidden currents had only just begun, they could not possibly have grown so large as to overwhelm him.

He did not even need to leave Luoyang—he resolved the matter directly.

For whether in the minds of officials or the hearts of the people,

as long as Gu Xi was present, disorder would not arise.

Most crucially, it was Gu Xi who acted.

That pair dared not fight each other over this matter.

Until the ninth year of Yanxi, the refugees across the lands grew somewhat calmer.

Liu Zhi was immensely pleased by this.

He decided to grant a general amnesty across the realm.

And immediately after this edict was issued, the conflict between eunuchs and scholars erupted once more.

"Your Majesty!"

Su Kang knelt before Liu Zhi, weeping with snot and tears: "The Inspector of Sili, Li Ying, disregards Your Majesty's decree of general amnesty."

"He has executed the condemned."

"I have also heard that Li Ying and others nurture wandering scholars of the Imperial Academy, consorting with students from various commanderies, racing after one another, forming cliques, slandering the court, and sowing confusion among customs."

He wept with profound sorrow.

Hearing this, Liu Zhi's brow furrowed instantly, his face flooding with rage.

"Audacious!"

"Are they defying my imperial edict?"

Liu Zhi was utterly enraged.

This was openly defying his imperial command!

At once, he sent men to arrest Li Ying and all others involved, over two hundred people in total.

The moment this happened, the court and realm were shaken to their core.

Grand Commandant Chen Fan was the first to submit a memorial.

He declared Liu Zhi's actions improper; soon after, hundreds of officials submitted memorials, and students of the Imperial Academy voiced their protests in unison.

Overwhelming public pressure surged directly toward Liu Zhi.

But how could Liu Zhi possibly back down?

Had it not been for Gu Xi, he would have already moved against these people long ago.

In just a few days,

he directly imprisoned over a hundred leading scholars, and under the pretext that Chen Fan had recommended unfit candidates, he dismissed Chen Fan from his post as Grand Commandant.

He began offering gold rewards for the capture of those scholars who had most fiercely criticized the court over the years.

——The realm trembled!

The Han Empire had already teetered on the brink of collapse; only Gu Xi's presence had slowed this outcome.

But this time, no one could stop it.

Liu Zhi even refused to see Gu Xi, ordering guards to turn him away.

He made his stance utterly clear.

From this day forward, a shadow fell over the entire Han court.

A powerful emperor's wrath in this feudal age was like Lei Ting.

The Han's administration, already teetering on the edge of collapse,

began to crumble rapidly from this day.

The weakening of the scholar-officials inevitably meant the rise of the eunuchs.

Especially Liu Zhi's change in attitude toward Gu Xi only intensified this outcome.

The eunuchs ruthlessly suppressed the scholars' counterattacks.

Administration across the provinces rapidly decayed.

Refugees rose again.

And this time, compared to two years prior, it came with far greater ferocity.

This was the Han's fatal flaw.

As time passed, this problem would only deepen, never ease.

And most crucially, it was not merely internal troubles.

In recent years, the Western Xianbei, having risen in power, once again allied with the Southern Xiongnu, Wuhuan, and other tribes, dividing their forces into multiple routes to invade Yunzhong, Yanmen, Liaodong, and other commanderies.

The tide of crisis surged forward like a flood.

Human strength alone could not stop it!

But how could Gu Xi sit idly by?

The Northern Palace.

Now, Gu Xi's figure had grown slightly hunched.

At over seventy years old, his old age was plain to see.

Yet he still radiated an imposing aura.

"Grand Tutor, at your age, why involve yourself in such matters again?"

Liu Zhi looked at Gu Xi, his face clearly displeased.

He assumed Gu Xi had come again to plead for mercy.

But Gu Xi simply shook his head and said gravely: "I care nothing for court affairs."

"Nor will I obstruct Your Majesty."

"I have come today to request permission to wage war against the Western Xianbei."

Hearing this, Liu Zhi froze for a moment.

He stared intently at Gu Xi, and almost instantly shook his head: "Impossible!"

The Grand Tutor is already over seventy.

How can he command the army again?

He did not doubt Gu Xi's ability, but truly felt Gu Xi was too old.

Gu Xi let out a dry laugh, then softly sighed: "Your Majesty need not worry—this old minister will not delay any campaign."

As he spoke, his tone paused slightly, and his gaze suddenly grew desolate:

"If I truly die on the battlefield, perhaps it is fate."

Liu Zhi stared intently at Gu Xi, fell silent for a long while, then asked again: "Grand Tutor, is your resolve truly final?"

"This old minister's resolve is settled."

Gu Xi nodded, his eyes suddenly sharp: "As long as I live, I will never let barbarians invade Great Han!"

At these words, Liu Zhi fell silent.

He looked at Gu Xi, hesitated a moment, then gave a slight nod: "Very well."

He himself also hoped Gu Xi would leave the capital.

Because as long as Gu Xi was present, these scholar-officials always felt they had a way to restrain him.

He had not felt this before.

But as his time in power grew longer, this feeling became ever clearer.

Of course, he would not be unprepared.

He would still appoint an experienced commander as deputy general, to prevent any mistake by Gu Xi from causing the Great Han army to collapse.

Gu Xi spoke at length with Liu Zhi about relief for displaced civilians and the power of eunuchs.

In truth, he was treating this as his final testament.

At his age, returning to the battlefield—how could he possibly return alive?

Liu Zhi clearly understood this.

This time, he listened with great attention.

"Your Majesty, today our Great Han is plagued by displaced masses and surrounded by foreign threats."

"To enforce the Party Censure now is a sign of national ruin."

"At this moment, Your Majesty must stabilize the people's hearts and never let the hearts of the common folk throughout the realm scatter."

Gu Xi spoke calmly.

Looking at Gu Xi's snow-white hair and wrinkled face,

Liu Zhi's expression grew more complex.

He recalled many things—how Gu Xi had once stood by his side, helping him secure his foundation.

In an instant, Liu Zhi felt his resentment within soften slightly.

He looked at Gu Xi, fell silent for a long while, then could not help speaking again to urge him: "Grand Tutor, why not—"

Before he could finish,

Gu Xi waved his hand dismissively and said calmly: "Your Majesty need not worry for this old minister."

"If peace can be brought to the realm, then this old minister has honored the ancestral emperors of Great Han."

"Even if I die on the battlefield,"

"what of it?"

Gu Xi's expression showed not a trace of fear.

By now, he truly feared death not at all.

Today he came,

simply to urge Liu Zhi in this way.

The Gu clan could never intervene directly.

But if Liu Zhi was to cease his actions and prevent Great Han's continued decline, this was the only way.

—When a man is near death, his words are good.

Only thus could Liu Zhi awaken and discern priorities.

Having finished, Gu Xi bowed again to Liu Zhi, then turned and walked toward the palace gates.

Liu Zhi stared blankly at Gu Xi's hunched figure, a flicker of sorrow crossing his face.

When this news spread, the court and realm were stunned!

Gu Xi is taking command again?

No one doubted Gu Xi's talent—only his age was feared.

Of course, many scholar-officials did not wish Gu Xi to leave Luoyang.

Because as long as Gu Xi was present,

they felt emboldened, and rushed to Hou Fu to dissuade him.

But Gu Xi refused to see even one of them.

He met only with a few court ministers.

Among them, some understood Gu Xi's heartfelt intent; each face bore deep sorrow when they came to pay their respects.

How could they not see it?

When had Gu Xi ever feared death?

He quelled natural disasters; he went to disaster zones; he stood alone against the Eunuch Faction.

All these deeds stand before them—how could they not see Gu Xi's heartfelt intent?

Indeed, just two days later.

Liu Zhi truly released those scholars; although he still kept them confined, his attitude had clearly improved.

It was precisely because of this that more and more people came to see Gu Xi's painstaking efforts.

It was on the day Gu Xi set out.

Tens of thousands gathered.

Whether common folk or scholars of the Imperial Academy, all came to see him off.

Looking at Gu Xi's slightly stooped frame and his head full of white hair, mournful cries rang out across the entire land.

Liu Zhi also came in person.

He seemed to want to see Gu Xi off.

Yet he did not show himself, merely standing atop the city wall, watching Gu Xi's carriage grow farther and farther away. He was silent for a long while, and finally only sighed deeply:

"Grand Tutor, truly a loyal minister unseen for ten thousand ages!"

Gu Yi had been watching all of this, and his own feelings were equally complicated.

It had to be said, Gu Xi had already done more than enough.

He truly had poured out his heart's blood for the entire Gu clan and the great Han, doing everything he possibly could.

But would the wheel of history pause because of this?

Clearly not.

Although Gu Xi's present move had indeed caused Liu Zhi to set aside some of his anger toward the scholars,

how long could that last?

And most critically, Gu Yi did not think Gu Xi would die in this campaign against the Western Xianbei.

The principle that "a man's words grow kind when death approaches, a bird's cries grow mournful when death approaches" did not yet apply to Gu Xi.

Setting aside how much longer Liu Zhi could actually live,

judging by the current course of development—

if Liu Zhi died before Gu Xi, would he still entrust his orphan to Gu Xi?

Clearly not!

The scholars' conduct over the years had already affected how Liu Zhi viewed Gu Xi.

How could he possibly entrust his orphan to Gu Xi again?

And most critically, the fundamental problem of the great Han today was not here.

Severe land annexation would only cause the number of displaced folk in all directions to keep growing.

The day the Han court abandoned them—or the day they became so numerous the court could no longer control them—the madness of these people would destroy everything!

Things did not exceed Gu Yi's expectations either.

Gu Xi marched out and swiftly crushed the allied forces of the Western Xianbei and Southern Xiongnu.

There was no helping it, because whether Western Xianbei or Southern Xiongnu, legends of Gu Xi now circulated among them all.

These barbarians were even more superstitious than the common folk of the great Han.

When they heard that after so many years it was still Gu Xi leading the troops, their morale was already weakened by a third.

And Gu Xi made use of exactly this.

When confronting the allied forces,

he said directly in front of the entire army to the Southern Xiongnu Chanyu: "Back in the day, your grandfather surrendered to me after I beat him so badly he lost his hat."

This move utterly shattered the Southern Xiongnu army's morale.

Afterwards he lured them with a few small profits, causing the Southern Xiongnu and Wuhuan to withdraw.

Finally came the direct, full-scale battle against the Western Xianbei.

He used the same tactics as Gu Sheng in years past—employing cavalry guerrilla warfare to intercept the Western Xianbei army, and moreover protected the common folk, making it impossible for the Western Xianbei to carry out any plundering.

Using this method of fighting,

in less than half a year, the Western Xianbei army actually withdrew.

In a single campaign, the foreign enemies were truly swept clean.

Yet this time, Gu Xi did not let his guard down as he had last time.

He sensed the rise of the Western Xianbei and deliberately reorganized the northern defenses.

—It was not until the twelfth year of Yanxi that he once again returned to Luoyang.

No one had expected Gu Xi to come back alive.

Having served as regent for many years,

and then traveling to disaster-stricken lands one after another, rushing about in all directions,

he was now already seventy-four years old.

And he had once again come back alive from the battlefield?

This exceeded everyone's imagination.

The entire court was shaken!

For the great Han of today, this was nothing less than a dose of potent medicine.

It could calm the hearts of displaced folk throughout the realm somewhat.

At the very least, they still had something to hope for.

Just as Gu Yi had anticipated, the great Han's displaced-folk problem over these past two years had not been alleviated at all.

Although Gu Xi's move before his departure back then had indeed sobered Liu Zhi for a time,

striving to balance the conflicts between eunuchs and scholars,

he then began to relieve the displaced folk.

But then he gradually became aware of a problem: there were simply too many refugees to relief.

In truth, the Han's national strength was actually enough to support his disaster relief.

But the fundamental issue was that the Han's official administration had long since changed markedly from when Gu Xi had carried out disaster relief back then.

Gu Xi's influence could make Liu Zhi give up the Partisan Prohibitions and choose to balance both sides.

But it would never make him retreat to where he had started.

When he felt the pressure on the national treasury and granaries, Liu Zhi, just as in the original history, began selling offices.

This was indeed a good method.

It brought him quite a bit of income.

But with officialdom unclean, disaster relief was ultimately in vain.

Under such circumstances, Liu Zhi grew increasingly uninterested in the matter and began to enjoy the privileges of being the Emperor.

In just two short years, his harem had already reached a scale of ten thousand.

And he had launched several massive construction projects.

Although the scholars' voices of opposition never ceased.

But with Gu Xi away from court and under Liu Zhi's favoritism, the eunuchs' boldness had grown completely, and they suppressed all these voices.

Under such circumstances, the failure of this disaster relief was a foregone conclusion.

Gu Xi's journey back this time could be said to have let him see all of this with perfect clarity.

Although he had long heard of it.

He had not at all expected things would reach such a state.

At the victory banquet.

Gu Xi even directly raised the matter, wanting to take over the disaster relief again.

But this time, Liu Zhi refused on the grounds that Gu Xi was too advanced in age.

He had Gu Xi remain in Luoyang.

To enjoy the blessings of family life.

Then, regardless of Gu Xi's reaction, he left directly.

Now, as time passed, he had officially stepped into the category of a foolish ruler.

Power has always been something that changes a person.

Let alone that Liu Zhi was never someone of firm will to begin with.

But how could Gu Xi possibly give up?

He did not meddle in factional struggles.

Because he did not want to drag his clan into danger.

But how could he simply watch the Han utterly decline while he was still alive?

Gu Xi first went to visit Liu Zhi several times, but Liu Zhi did not see Gu Xi.

Even when they met once later.

Liu Zhi still used the excuse of old age to send Gu Xi back, merely promising that he would surely relief the suffering people across the land.

Clearly, Liu Zhi was very satisfied with the current political situation.

He would not let Gu Xi return to court.

Because once Gu Xi returned to court and rectified court discipline as before, it would inevitably affect the balance he had established.

How could he not know the eunuchs' actions?

In fact, Liu Zhi had already suppressed several eunuchs, precisely because these eunuchs' hands had reached too far.

But even so, he still disliked the scholars.

This was the fundamental conflict between imperial power and the scholars.

The eunuchs' power came from the Emperor.

They were easy for the Emperor to control.

The scholars were different — this was the fundamental reason Liu Zhi was unwilling to let Gu Xi engage in political affairs again.

Although his rewards to Gu Xi had not lessened, and his attitude remained as before.

But what good was that?

Gu Xi was no longer the regent, and the court ministers, compared to before, had already been replaced batch after batch.

How could he possibly act by going around the Son of Heaven now?

If he did so, that would be rebellion.

Once he died, the Gu clan would inevitably face a fatal reckoning.

Even if he enthroned another Emperor.

Such an impact would inevitably cause the Gu clan to fall from the clouds.

And under such circumstances, the news that the Emperor would not use Gu Xi gradually spread.

For a moment, the whole world was shaken!

Julu.

"Mr. Zhang, what exactly is the matter that you must leave in such haste?"

Gu Lin asked, his face full of puzzlement, sincerely persuading, "Your medical skill is superb. If you stay with my Gu clan, you will surely be able to save more common folk."

"In the future, I will certainly recommend you to my father. With that, it would not be difficult for Mr. Zhang to enter court as an official."

Gu Lin was truly somewhat reluctant to part with Zhang Jiao.

Although his own talents were ordinary, as Gu Xi's eldest son, the experiences of these years had still given him a certain ability to judge people.

Gu Lin could sense that the Zhang Jiao before him was no ordinary man.

His character was extremely decisive and resolute.

He gave off the feeling of strong leadership; in just a few short years, quite a few physicians had willingly followed him to do his work.

Moreover, his talent in the medical Dao was also astonishing.

Such a person suddenly wanting to leave now — how could Gu Lin not be astonished?

"Patriarch…" Zhang Jiao sighed softly, a deep disappointment surfacing in his eyes. "Jiao has heard that the Son of Heaven has slighted Lord Gu, and feels deeply disappointed."

"Today, displaced people are rising up across the realm."

"Even our Julu Commandery can no longer keep the peace."

"In Jiao's view, studying medicine today can no longer save the Great Han, let alone save the people of the realm."

"Jiao wishes to take my two younger brothers and travel across the realm."

"To seek a way to save the people of the realm."

At the very end of his words, a sudden flash of resolve appeared in Zhang Jiao's eyes.

Gu Lin was stunned for a moment, not having expected Zhang Jiao to say such things.

In truth, his own heart was also somewhat melancholy.

The matter of the Emperor slighting Gu Xi had an enormous impact — after all, Gu Xi's reputation was right there for all to see.

Everyone in the realm was deeply disappointed, let alone him, Gu Xi's eldest son.

But such matters were simply not something he could meddle in.

Gu Lin was silent for a moment, then finally sighed softly and waved his hand: "Enough, enough. Since you have already made this resolve,

"I shall say no more."

"If in the future you wish to return to Julu, you may come back to my Gu clan."

Zhang Jiao nodded slightly, then bowed deeply toward Gu Lin, his expression solemn and grave:

"Jiao thanks the Patriarch!"

(End of chapter)