Chapter 2: Lulongsai

In the winter of the third year of the Xiping era of Han, 174 AD, at Lulongsai, the strategic stronghold in northern Youzhou, the cold wind howled.

Outside the pass, a large encampment capable of holding several thousand Xianbei soldiers stood at a vital crossroads several li away, with a mountain extending from the Yanshan range on its left and the Luan River on its right. In the winter days, the mountain appeared especially dark, while the Luan River seemed especially pale; the two reflecting each other created an atmosphere of stark desolation.

And forming a sharp contrast with this encampment was naturally the towering and majestic Lulongsai to its south.

Lulongsai is what later became Xifengkou, a natural pass in the Yanshan mountain range. The terrain to its south is gentle, with an elevation of no more than two hundred meters, but to the north it abruptly rises to a height of one thousand meters. Only in the middle, where the Luan River has carved out a massive gorge, can carts and horses pass through unhindered, making it the primary route in and out of the North China Plain from beyond the pass since ancient times.

With such a location, the Great Han dynasty was certainly not blind to it, so the defensive line here was built to be utterly impregnable. In particular, Lulongsai, which directly faces the main road, was constructed entirely of stone blocks, with walls over five zhang high, and atop the walls, watchtowers three zhang high were further added.

This is the world-renowned Lulong Tower.

Standing beneath the tower, the phrases "towering and majestic," "imposing and powerful," and "one man guards the pass, ten thousand cannot break through" probably capture its essence.

At this moment, within this majestic Lulong Tower, in a clean, sun-facing room reserved for officers, a dozen or so large chests were piled up. A tall young man, around eighteen or nineteen years old, barely qualifying as a youth, sat upright alone at a desk by the doorway, staring blankly out the window in a daze.

"The Three Kingdoms, huh?" After an unknown length of time, the young man named Gongsun Xun finally sighed helplessly in his heart. "This realm will descend into chaos in just over ten years? This Han realm is clearly... in any case, it's truly inconceivable."

The thing was, several years earlier, in the face of a plague that swept through half of Youzhou, his mother, who had been terrified by a mere cold and cough at the time, finally couldn't help but tell him that she was some kind of "transmigrator," and that the Great Han would fall, dragons and serpents would rise together, and the chaotic Three Kingdoms era was about to arrive, and so on and so forth...

Then came stories about the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Guandu and Chibi, the four commanders of Eastern Wu, the Five Tiger Generals, the Five Elite Generals, and also the wife-coveting Cao Cao, the two Qiaos, and the like—she rambled on with a hodgepodge of tales for two months.

She even said that his clansman, named Gongsun Zan, would, in his thirties, become one of the notable warlords of the realm, and even a major figure in the early Three Kingdoms period. As a posthumous child, he naturally... well, naturally believed every word of it at the time.

The reason was simple: for a youth who had lost his father in infancy, who else could he trust if not his own mother?

In fact, although Gongsun Xun's mother was somewhat flighty at ordinary times, upon careful reflection, she was indeed very competent and formidable.

Though she was merely a widow with a child, and was initially shunned by the clan elders for having "brought death" to her husband, she withstood the pressure and single-handedly established a trading company, building up a considerable family fortune. Not only that, after making money, she also provided financial aid to clan members far and wide, was charitable and generous, and even sponsored many clansmen who entered officialdom to manage their careers... By now, she had long become a highly respected elder within the clan, known as Lady Gongsun.

Moreover, she herself was literate and educated, personally initiating Gongsun Xun's studies, ensuring he could read, write, and understand the classics and mathematics from a young age. She even encouraged him to ride horses, shoot arrows, and practice with spears and staves.

Tell me, when such a mother, facing a seasonal epidemic, spoke words that were practically a last will and testament, how could Gongsun Xun possibly not believe them?

However, later on, on one hand, Gongsun Xun's mother, the one known as Lady Gongsun, actually survived the plague that killed countless people and remained as lively as ever. On the other hand, as Gongsun Xun gradually grew up, he first leveraged his late father's connections to go to Yanglecheng, the seat of Liaoxi Commandery, where he served as a commandery clerk, gaining two years of experience navigating the official world. Then, relying on his family's influence, his mother's wealth, and his own skill with numbers, he gradually rose through the ranks. Now, at just eighteen or nineteen, he had already become the Deputy Chief of the Accounting Office, a position with a rank of two hundred dan.

And as Gongsun Xun's prospects grew ever brighter, he couldn't help but begin to question and evade his mother's claims... perhaps this was what she often called "adolescent rebellion."

But—and this is the crucial "but"—just a few months ago, Gongsun Xun's doubt and evasion suddenly vanished completely! Because he truly witnessed a miracle.

Specifically, this miracle was his clansman Gongsun Zan. The one with a very humble background, who often needed their family's support, who was handsome and had a loud voice, but also had quite a temper... uh, that "major warlord of Youzhou in the Three Kingdoms (Lady Gongsun's exact words)."

The thing was, half a year ago, Gongsun Zan, concerned for his future prospects, finally swallowed his pride and went to the commandery seat, becoming a minor clerk just like him... It was the custom of the time: when a Grand Administrator recruited clerks, he invariably chose from the local great families. And the Gongsun clan was the greatest family in Liaoxi; basically, the city of Lingzhi among the five cities of Liaoxi was run by the Gongsun family. So, once a son of the Gongsun clan came of age, if he wished to enter officialdom, the door was always open—it was just that the starting point differed based on the status of one's birth.

And his clansman Gongsun Zan, Gongsun Bogui, had a starting point identical to his own two years prior: a lowly minor clerk, the kind responsible for standing at the doorway and relaying messages. In other words, he was worlds apart from Gongsun Xun's current position as Chief Accountant, who held the power of auditing.

Yet, precisely because he was handsome and had a loud voice, this very clansman of his, who had previously been lodging in their family shop and sleeping across the hall from him, was directly favored by the newly arrived Grand Administrator Hou and taken as a son-in-law!

On what grounds?!

He had served as a clerk in this commandery for two years, held a higher office, was younger, and was also tall and handsome, wasn't he? In his own mother's words, he had "the arms of an ape and the waist of a wasp, a dignified and imposing bearing," and was destined to be a fierce general and renowned minister! Why couldn't the Grand Administrator have favored him?

And speaking of hard conditions like matching social status, his surname was also Gongsun, wasn't it? His family was even countless times wealthier than Gongsun Zan's. If the Grand Administrator had betrothed his daughter to him, he could have easily produced a colossal sum of money as a betrothal gift!

Truly colossal, a fortune of ten thousand strings of cash, no exaggeration, no boasting!

You see, the Anli Trading Company, founded single-handedly by his mother, had been operating for nearly twenty years. And Lingzhi City, where the Liaoxi Gongsun clan resided, guarded Lulongsai, the strategic pass connecting Hebei and the Northeast. Combined, the Anli Trading Company essentially monopolized most of the business in Liaodong, with branches stretching all the way from Lelang to Yecheng!

Korean ginseng, Liaodong horses, maidservants from the Three Han, Wuhuan horse slaves, chestnuts from Youbeiping, grain and silk from Hebei, ironware from Qingzhou—in his own mother's words, doing business in the Han dynasty with the status of a great aristocratic family was practically like picking up money!

Tell me, how could a hundred million cash possibly be unaffordable?!

In fact, after serving as a clerk for two years, how could Gongsun Xun not know that this was the fundamental reason for his family's increasingly important status within the clan—the Goddess of Wealth of the entire Gongsun clan was right here!

Of course, what Gongsun Xun didn't know was that initially, the clan had indeed considered seizing the business and running it themselves. But after trying this and that, they discovered that when it came to doing business, this widow known as Lady Gongsun was still the supreme expert. Even when the entire clan pooled their efforts, they earned less than what Lady Gongsun shared with them as profit distributions.

Thus, about twelve or thirteen years ago, when Gongsun Xun was still a child with his hair in tufts, the Liaoxi main branch, along with the Liaodong branch and the Donglai branch of the Gongsun clan, reached an agreement to formally entrust the business to his mother's unified management, with the clan sharing dividends proportionally. From then on, his family's status within the clan became prominent.

But... and this is the "but," returning to the matter at hand, Grand Administrator Hou simply did not favor him, the fabulously wealthy Gongsun Xun, and instead favored his loud-voiced clansman Gongsun Zan. This was exactly as his mother had described during that cold years ago!

And what was even more shocking was yet to come. About ten days ago, his clansman Gongsun Bogui, who had just married with his mother's financial support and been given his courtesy name by the clan elders, was suddenly granted leave by his father-in-law, Grand Administrator Hou—who also wrote a personal letter, sending him to Goushi Mountain in Luoyang to study the classics under Lu Zhi, the great Confucian scholar and renowned minister of Youzhou!

This was still exactly the same as what his own mother had said back then, leaving Gongsun Xun no choice but to feel a chill run through his body, not daring to disbelieve those ghost stories!

In fact, Gongsun Xun could still recall the words his mother had spoken to his face a few days ago, after summoning him back from the commandery seat to Lingzhi:

"You already knew some things during the great plague years ago, and I can't be bothered to hide them from you. Now do you understand why I wouldn't let you go to Qingzhou to study the classics under Zheng Xuan back then?"

"Of course you must study the classics. I've figured it out—this stuff is the academic credential of this Great Han dynasty. Without studying it, you can't become a high official. There's no avoiding it."

"Zheng Xuan is very formidable, I know that. He was a fellow student of Lu Zhi, and his reputation in classical studies is even higher."

"I'm not boasting, but with your mother's management skills, as early as three years ago when you just came of age, I could have found dozens of great families in Qingzhou with direct connections to Zheng Xuan to recommend you as an inner disciple. Why did I delay and not let you study?"

"It's simple. Going to university isn't just about the faculty; it's also about your classmates. Do you know what kind of connections having Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei as classmates represents? There aren't many top-tier potential stocks in the Three Kingdoms, and Youzhou has just two—one for the early period and one for the late. Your mother has already prepared them for you!"

And then, his mother had indeed prepared several cartloads of goods for him, including high-end items like Shu brocade and pearls, and instructed him to personally escort them with several dozen retainers to the commandery seat, to bribe Grand Administrator Hou, so that he could also follow his already-prepared clansman Gongsun Zan in "on-the-job training" to study the classics under the great Confucian Lu Zhi at Goushi Mountain in Luoyang.

And then?

And then he got trapped here in Lulongsai!

Those heaven-cursed Xianbei dogs—they didn't come early, didn't come late, but chose this exact moment to raid the border! He needed to deliver gifts and bribes before the new year! He was going to Luoyang to study the classics! And he was going to meet that legendary Big-Eared Liu!

Moreover, his mother had this time poured her heart out designing his future path for him: after finishing his classical studies, he could plan for a position as an Accounting Clerk, then use the triennial accounting system to go to Luoyang and secure a post as a Gentleman of the Three Bureaus. If he could become a Gentleman of the Three Bureaus, he would emerge as a court-appointed official of six hundred dan, and then by accumulating political achievements, he could charge straight towards the two-thousand-dan rank!

Setting aside for now how to survive the later Three Kingdoms chaos, these things—Accounting Clerk, Gentleman of the Three Bureaus, six hundred dan, two thousand dan—he, who had already tasted the flavor of power, very much wanted to try for them.

A true man, born into this world, if he does not become a two-thousand-dan official, the master of a commandery, has he not lived in vain?!

Yet, at this critical moment, he was blocked in Lulongsai by these Xianbei dogs, unable to move for six full days! What if this dragged on past the new year, and he couldn't catch this ride with his clansman Gongsun Zan? Money and silk, though very useful, might not truly buy the favor of two two-thousand-dan grand officials... What if he missed the timing, and Grand Administrator Hou was no longer willing to write a letter of introduction specifically for him? Or what if he wrote it, but by the time Gongsun Xun rushed over, Lu Zhi simply waved his hand and said that this cohort's enrollment was full and he wasn't accepting any more?

So, those heaven-cursed Xianbei dogs! They were going to ruin his future?!

"Elder brother?" Just as Gongsun Xun was letting his thoughts run wild, blaming heaven and earth, the door was suddenly pulled open, and a youth with thick eyebrows and large eyes swept into the room, bringing a gust of cold wind with him.

"A'yue." Gongsun Xun finally came back to his senses. "Weren't you up on the gate tower with our clan uncle observing the enemy camp? Why have you come over at this time?"

"There's a person." Gongsun Yue, with his thick eyebrows and large eyes, sat down with a hint of excitement. "The person you asked me to look for earlier, brother—I happened to spot him just now."

"Which person?" The statement came out of nowhere, leaving Gongsun Xun naturally confused.

"Han Dang, Han Yigong!" Gongsun Yue quickly replied. "The one I told you about last year, that Han Yigong from our Lingzhi City, the best at archery and horsemanship, whose physical strength is widely recognized as the best in the region. When I mentioned him, you immediately told me to help you keep an eye on him. This time when you came back, I was thinking of bringing him to see you, but I couldn't find him anywhere... I never expected to run into him here in Lulongsai. Turns out he became a squad leader of cavalry."

"Han Dang, Han Yigong." Gongsun Xun mused thoughtfully, then suddenly stood up. "Han Dang, Han Yigong?!"

"Yes." Gongsun Yue nodded. "He is indeed the person you were looking for, brother, isn't he?"

"Wait a moment." Gongsun Xun paced around, shaking his head repeatedly. "Han Dang... Han Yigong! Both the given name and the courtesy name match. It seems it might indeed be this person. But shouldn't this man be from Jiangdong? He should be a claw and fang of the Fierce Tiger of Jiangdong. How could he be from our Liaoxi, and from what you say, a fellow townsman of ours?!"

"Yes," Gongsun Yue nodded frankly. "He's from our Lingzhi, so what's this about Jiangdong? And what 'Tiger of Jiangdong' — is my elder brother dreaming?"

Gongsun Xun was stunned speechless — did this man's appearance prove his mother's prediction right or wrong? Or was it pure coincidence?

Strive to make a name among the feudal lords, hoping to barely survive the chaos of the age... The wheels of history truly come rolling on without delay!

"When Emperor Ling ascended the throne, the border commanderies of You, Bing, and Liang provinces suffered raids by the Xianbei every year without fail, with slaughter and plunder beyond counting." — Book of the Later Han, Volume 90, Biographies of the Wuhuan and Xianbei, Section 80

New book uploaded, seeking bookmarks and recommendations.

(End of chapter)