Chapter 197: A Single Thought Raises a Lofty Tower (Part Two)

How to judge a person's character is a very interesting question.

Take Lu Bu for example. In another timeline, he first turned on his benefactor Ding Yuan and defected to Dong Zhuo, then killed his new benefactor Dong Zhuo to follow his fellow townsman Wang Yun, and then there were those divine maneuvers like debauching the wives and concubines of his subordinate officers... From these angles, Lu Bu's personal virtue is absolutely rotten to the core, nailed down and sealed tight.

Therefore, no one with normal reasoning ability should ever trust him... Have you not seen how Cao Mengde and Liu Xuande handled things at White Gate Tower? To be loathed that much by the two men most capable of tolerating and employing talent in the age shows just how thoroughly disgusted they were by that wretch.

However, what if these things have not yet happened?

From Gongsun Xun's perspective, he could of course judge some people's talent and character based on his mother's stories and make good use of them... But if he can freely appreciate, support, and draw close to a person who possesses good character in the stories, then wouldn't it be rather strange to presume guilt against someone who supposedly will do bad things in the future, before they have actually done anything bad?

Could he not see how solemn both Lu Fan and Lou Gui were? In their eyes, Lu Fengxian at this moment was a standard person of unblemished character. There was no reason to use extreme measures against him, and if he did, it would very likely deal a massive blow to Gongsun Xun's reputation.

Besides, this was Lu Bu after all — the peerless man before Hulao Pass in the stories, the Flying General who, once he emerged in the Central Plains, stripped Cao Cao of his entire foundation.

"My lord, let Bu command the infantry and Bu command the cavalry, and the realm will be insufficient to settle"... Were those empty words?

In truth, the very fact that Gongsun Xun had specially summoned his three most trusted men here to discuss this showed that he was hesitating... The times were different, his status was different, and naturally his thoughts and considerations were different. Back when Gongsun Xun first met Lu Bu, he only sought to survive the chaos and of course wanted to stay as far away from such a person as possible. But now, having finally persuaded his mother and extricated himself to come to Hebei in pursuit of great future undertakings, and having furthermore achieved a string of meritorious deeds with seemingly unstoppable momentum, how could he not be tempted by this fierce general of the age?

Only, the matter must still be put in perspective... That Lu Bu in the stories was indeed far too much of a pitfall! That was why Gongsun Xun wanted a method that would satisfy both sides.

……………………

"Lord Cai has come from afar; we should not have troubled you to bestir yourself." That evening, when the wine had reached its height, Wei Song, prompted by the hints of the surrounding Hebei luminaries and the local hereditary clans and magnates of Zhao, finally rose from his seat and bowed deeply before Cai Yong, Cai Bojie, who sat at the seat of honor. "But we scholars of Hebei have long known only your great name and have never had the chance to witness Lord Cai's divine skill and celestial music. Might we ask..."

The meaning was obvious: these people wanted to hear Cai Yong's music, famed throughout the realm, so they could go back and boast about it.

In fact, when the wine is warm and the ears are flushed, it is precisely the most fitting time to stir up music or dance.

And here, let it be said in passing: the very reason Cai Yong had fled in panic to Gongsun Xun's side was precisely because he had put on airs at an inopportune moment during a banquet!

The story goes that after this fellow was pardoned, the Grand Administrator of Wuyuan, Zhao Yan, held a farewell banquet for him. Midway through, Zhao "invited him to dance." But Cai Bojie, for whatever reason — who knows which nerve was struck — not only refused to take up his qin and sing a song, he would not even rise to sway a couple of steps with the host or say a few polite words over the wine. He simply rolled his eyes and pretended not to see the other man!

Zhao Yan was Zhao Zhong's own younger brother and naturally knew the man looked down on him. Coupled with his habitual arrogance, he immediately burst into furious curses, and the two parted on the spot in mutual displeasure!

But while putting on airs for a moment felt very satisfying, the consequences were severe. Zhao Yan was, after all, a full two-thousand-bushel official and the brother of a powerful eunuch. So as soon as he returned, he immediately submitted an open memorial stating that while Cai Yong was under supervision in Shuofang, he had often harbored resentment in his heart and slandered the court!

On the other side, one could guess he also secretly wrote to his elder brother Zhao Zhong, asking him to vent his anger on his behalf!

Cai Bojie was certainly no fool either. After returning and sleeping through the night, once the wine wore off, he knew he had once again caused a great disaster... Back then, he and his nephew, one ranked among the Nine Ministers and the other a Court Gentleman, had still ended up with their entire family exiled because they offended people. Now that both were commoners, how could they possibly contend with those people upon returning to Luoyang?

And going home would likely implicate the clan as well.

So Cai Yong decided to go all the way. Following the information Gongsun Xun had given him during their farewell, he first secretly sent someone to contact the Separate Division Major Cheng Pu at Yanmen to request an escort. Then, evading Zhao Yan's eyes and ears, he brought his family all the way from Wuyuan and fled to Handan! In his own words, from now on, he would drift on the rivers and lakes and ask no more of worldly affairs!

Of course, while Cai Bojie had put on airs and refused to give face to Zhao Yan, here he had to give face to the Hebei scholars. And even if he did not wish to give face to the Hebei scholars, he still had to give some face to Gongsun Xun and Wei Song.

Thereupon, he immediately called for his servant to bring out two of his beloved qins. He played one himself, and the other he had Lu Bu strum in accompaniment.

At this, the atmosphere in the hall immediately became lively and joyous... Those who understood were naturally enraptured, while those who did not understand were even more intoxicated than those who did. One could guess that when they went back to boast, they would do so with even greater gusto than the connoisseurs.

And sure enough, once the piece was finished, the hall was filled with cheers, and who knows how many people fell over themselves to flatter Cai Yong.

However, leaving aside that Gongsun Xun had probably been the only person in the hall utterly distracted before this, now he took advantage of the lively scene to secretly beckon Lu Bu, who was putting away his qin case, to come to his side, and began questioning him in detail. And Lu Bu, courteous and refined, displaying an air of cultured elegance, had also long been prepared. The two immediately began exchanging pleasantries and inquiries right there at the banquet.

It turned out that after making the three-year pact with Gongsun Xun that day, Lu Bu had continued to move about locally in Taiyuan, seeking an official start. However, which of those local Taiyuan officials truly regarded these border commandery migrants with any respect? It was nothing more than seeing that his family had some wealth and resources and wanting to take the chance to fleece them!

Thus, the outcome went without saying. After nearly a year of effort, not only did Lu Bu's appointment never materialize, but his family's finances dwindled day by day due to his activities. It was fortunate that at this time he married according to his betrothal agreement and received a large dowry from his wife, Lady Wei, which barely allowed him to recover.

But after this experience, this young man from the border commandery of Wuyuan also came to see certain things clearly and abandoned any thought of serving as a minor official in Taiyuan.

By the spring of the following year, the newly married Lu Bu rallied his spirits once more. Moreover, he learned that his two former companions, Cheng Lian and Wei Yue, had both already become Company Commanders and Platoon Leaders, infinitely better off than himself, a mere commoner. For the first time, he was moved to seek out Gongsun Xun and win an official start on the battlefield... In fact, when word spread that the court was launching a northern campaign against the Xianbei, he did indeed grit his teeth and go. Only after reaching Pingcheng in Yanmen did he suddenly discover that Gongsun Xun had already left that place for Gaoliu Fortress, and the man in charge locally had become the Colonel Who Leads the Southern Xiongnu, Zang Min. And Zang Min, lacking Han troops, happened to be recruiting soldiers at that very moment.

Going all the way — and perhaps also unwilling to be ranked behind Cheng Lian and Wei Yue, or perhaps thinking that Zang Min, a two-thousand-bushel official, was stronger than Gongsun Xun, a mere Army Major of equivalent-to-thousand-bushel rank... Gongsun Xun did not ask, and Lu Bu did not say... In any case, the latter took his wife's dowry, prepared some weapons and horses, recruited some fellow townsmen, and then joined this General Zang Min.

What happened later goes even more without saying... Zang Min's army may have had those two tigers, Sun Jian and Lu Bu, but what use was the valor of two men in a massive rout that collapsed from the very start? Of over ten thousand troops, seven or eight thousand were Xiongnu. Once the Xiongnu Chanyu was shot off his horse, the entire army immediately became meat in Tanshihuai's mouth!

Lu Bu, too, barely escaped back to Yanmen alone in panic with the main force!

And unlike Sun Jian, since he, Lu Fengxian, was no one's direct subordinate and had not achieved any notable merit in battle, Zang Min naturally did not even show his face before waving him off and dismissing him.

As the saying goes, misfortunes never come singly... Not only was the family's last valuable asset (Lady Wei's dowry) completely lost, but Lu Bu's own father, due to the family's declining fortunes and the rumors after the defeat, fell ill and never rose from his bed. Not long after Lu Bu returned home, his father breathed his last.

With his own father deceased, he naturally had to observe mourning. So even when Gongsun Xun subsequently returned to Yanmen, Lu Bu could only hole up at home, practicing martial arts while trying to pick up the qin skills of his youth. And by the time Gongsun Xun entered Luoyang as a Gentleman, this poor fellow had simply lost all news of Gongsun Xun. It was not until Cai Yong's entire family was exiled and passed through Taiyuan Commandery that some ripples arose once more in his life.

"At that time, I was living idly at home," Lu Bu said with a bitter smile. "I had truly lost all news of you, my lord, and was repeatedly bullied by local officials and prominent households. It was then that the Wang clan of Taiyuan suddenly sent someone to recruit me as a swordsman... For the sake of livelihood, I steeled my heart and went to answer the call. Only when I arrived did I learn that it was because my honored teacher had been exiled and was passing through Taiyuan on his way to Wuyuan. The Wang clan of Taiyuan feared that my teacher's enemies at court might send assassins, and having heard that my martial skill was outstanding and that I happened to be a man of Wuyuan, they wanted me to escort him along the way."

"So that is how it was." Gongsun Xun's face showed sudden understanding. "Then it was at that time, Fengxian, that you formed this teacher-student bond? I recall that I once mentioned Lord Cai's name to you. You must have spoken my name on the road?"

Lu Bu slowly shook his head: "I will not hide it from you, my lord. At that time, my honored teacher thought my qin skill was poor. Even when your name was mentioned, he did not accept me..."

Gongsun Xun could not help but laugh at this: "At that time, Lord Cai was somewhat vexed with me. I fear that after hearing you speak my name, he instead felt displeased and deliberately gave you a hard look... Come to think of it, it was I who implicated you!"

"Even so, it is now by your grace, my lord, that I was finally able to be accepted as a disciple under my teacher." Lu Bu also answered earnestly upon hearing this.

"What do you mean by that?" Gongsun Xun was momentarily curious.

"Does my lord know how I was reunited with my honored teacher?" Lu Bu said with a light laugh. "It was recently, when my teacher was rescued by Major Cheng, and someone needed to be sent to escort him to Handan. But it was inconvenient for the army to send men beyond the border. Cheng Lian happened to recall past events and wrote to me in advance, and thus we were able to reunite after so long. And my teacher, just on the road, after hearing me recount the matter of the three-year pact once more, finally accepted me as a nominal disciple."

"It was also because Fengxian's qin skill was outstanding and moved Lord Cai's heart." Gongsun Xun cursed Cheng Lian inwardly for meddling, but his expression remained casual, only he suddenly set down the wine cup in his hand. "Fengxian..."

Lu Bu, hearing this, also hurriedly set down his cup, straightened his posture, and saluted solemnly: "My lord!"

"The three-year pact was spoken by you and me personally that day," Gongsun Xun said with a serious expression. "So I will not speak empty words to you. Since you have come to Jizhou to seek me out, I, Gongsun Xun, will certainly provide you with an official start. Only, I do not know where Fengxian's aspirations truly lie..."

Lu Bu was overjoyed upon hearing this and immediately rose from his seat at the banquet to bow deeply in a grand salute: "My lord above, after three years of experience, Bu has endured countless hardships. How could I not understand the difficulties of human affairs? That my lord is willing to take me in, Bu is already endlessly grateful. As for the post, regardless of rank, I ask my lord to assign it as you see fit!"

"Then..."

"Wenqi, Fengxian, what are you two doing?" Just at that moment, Cai Yong, long constrained and now thoroughly unrestrained, suddenly called out loudly, interrupting their exchange. "Why are you even bowing... Never mind that. Wenqi, what do you think of what Lord Wei said earlier?"

"What did Lord Wei say earlier?" Gongsun Xun, bewildered, also felt a surge of frustration pent up in his stomach.

"You, you..."

"Ahem, my lord." Wei Song, hearing this, rose with a chuckle, cupping his hands in salute. "We..."

"Lord Wei, please sit." In front of so many Hebei luminaries, Gongsun Xun naturally had to play the good man. "At a wine banquet, everyone should be unrestrained. Please speak freely."

"Oh." After Wei Song sat back down, he said with a smile, "We were just discussing with Lord Cai the matter of the Handan Public Academy. Everyone unanimously urged him to remain here as the Academy's Chancellor, but Lord Cai said that he is a man who has suffered the punishment of shaving, unworthy to serve as Chancellor, and only wishes to enter the library and serve as its Curator..."

"What reasoning is this, Lord Cai?" Gongsun Xun also laughed upon hearing this. "When you could clearly emulate Confucius and be a model teacher for all ages, why do you only wish to emulate the former sage Laozi and hide yourself away in the archive chamber? Could it be that after staying too long in Shuofang, you have abandoned Confucianism for Daoism?"

"Wenqi, do not talk nonsense!" Cai Yong, his face blooming with smiles, waved his hands repeatedly. "How could I compare to those two sages? I am merely a man drifting through the rivers and lakes, truly unwilling to engage in these matters of vying for precedence any longer."

"It is not a matter of vying for precedence, nor is it that I insist on favoring one over the other," Wei Song, having confirmed Gongsun Xun's attitude, simply rose and said. "But when it comes to talent and learning, Lord Cai among us is like a crane standing among chickens, a tiger roaring among beasts... Lord Cai, if you do not take this leading role, who would dare?"

"Lord Wei speaks truly," said a luminary who had just arrived in Handan that day — none other than Qiao Zhao's old teacher, Yue Yin of Anguo. Now he rose tall, hand on the sword at his waist... With this style, no wonder he had taught someone like Qiao Zhao. "Had Lord Cai not come to this place, I, Yue Yin, probably would not submit to anyone else. But since Lord Cai has just now plainly stated he will remain here, if he does not serve as this Chancellor, I, Yue Yin, will probably still not submit!"

A momentary silence fell over the banquet, and everyone turned their gaze toward Cai Bojie, who sat at the seat of honor.

Cai Yong gave a bitter laugh, then had no choice but to stroke his beard and rise: "I, Cai Yong, appreciate all of your kind intentions, but…"

"Lord Cai!" At that moment, Gongsun Xun, who had roughly understood what was going on, sat unmoving. While lowering his head to pour wine, he suddenly raised his voice and declared, "I know you have misgivings. But as long as I am here, who can do anything to you? Please do not betray the fullness of your classical learning or the sincere goodwill of everyone here. Stay here at ease, and under the title of Libationer, teach and nurture students — that will suffice!"

As he spoke, Gongsun Xun turned to face the other man, raised his cup in both hands, and stood up with head held high.

Seeing this, Wei Song and Yue Yin hurriedly poured wine for themselves as well. In an instant, everyone at the table raised their cups and rose to their feet — even Lu Bu, caught in the corner of Gongsun Xun's eye, did the same.

Cai Yong was momentarily flustered. After his gaze met the faintly teasing look in Gongsun Xun's eyes, he dared not say another word. He simply raised his cup and drained it in one gulp, thereby agreeing to the matter.

Amid the general jubilation, Gongsun Xun sat back down with a slight curl at the corner of his mouth. The truth was, how could he not know that Cai Bojie, that office-seeker, even reduced to such straits, could never forget the feeling of being the center of attention? This refusal was nothing but posturing! Otherwise, why had he specifically called out to him just now, if not to seek his approval?

With this thought, Gongsun Xun turned his head again to look at the person beside him: "Fengxian, I've kept you waiting a long time."

"My lord is too courteous!" Lu Bu hastily demurred. "My honored teacher's business here was the proper priority. I could wait as long as needed without complaint!"

"Then wait three more days," Gongsun Xun said, the corner of his mouth still faintly curled. "Three days from now, Fengxian will naturally know where he is to be sent!"

Lu Bu could not help but lower his head slightly.

——————— I am the dividing line between accepting a toast and being forced to drink a forfeit ———————

"When Cai Yong was exiled and then recalled, as he was about to set out on his return journey, he incurred the enmity of Zhao Yan, the Grand Administrator of Wuyuan. Zhao Yan was the younger brother of the Regular Palace Attendant Zhao Zhong, and had always been haughty and arrogant. He secretly reported that Cai Yong harbored resentment over his imprisonment and exile, and was slandering the imperial court. The favored eunuchs detested him for this. Cai Yong, fearing he would not escape with his life, heard that the Grand Ancestor was serving as Prefect at Handan. He therefore fled into the rivers and lakes, traveling far to seek refuge. Upon arriving, he happened upon the Grand Ancestor establishing the Handan Public Academy, and was appointed as Libationer. When the scholars of Hebei heard of this, many revered his reputation and learning and hastened to join him. Cai Yong and the assembled scholars taught and debated by day, and by night they sang, composed poetry, and feasted. After several days, they were all joyous and free of care. The Grand Ancestor saw this and teased him: 'I have heard that while you are here, every day you long for your old residence in Luoyang and yearn for your former rank, and that you often weep in sorrow, telling everyone around you of the splendors of Wan and Luo. Is there truth to this?' Cai Yong's expression changed abruptly: 'Who has spread such slander? Here there is joy — I do not think of Luo!' The Grand Ancestor teased him further: 'Can a man be so heartless?' Cai Yong was left speechless, and all those around him laughed." — A New Account of the Tales of the World, Chapter on Speech

It's hopeless, I can't adjust my sleep schedule… I strongly suggest everyone read this during the day… otherwise my conscience won't rest easy… truly.

(End of Chapter)