Chapter 212: Lord Guo's Wish

Guo Xun's visit was very strange.

The Inspector of You Province is the overseer of the eleven commanderies and princedoms of You Province, and his primary targets of oversight are precisely those eleven Grand Administrators... Although it is true that in these times there are many Inspectors who prefer to get along with everyone, the two sides must still observe certain proprieties — at the very least, under no circumstances should one come knocking on the door in the dead of night, right?

In truth, if a Provincial Inspector and a Commandery Grand Administrator held a private meeting at night, even if each merely let out a fart, word of it would spread as major news — so it's hardly surprising that Gongsun Xun showed him no pleasant face.

Moreover, with the Great Peace Dao rebellion imminent, his sole purpose in taking this post was to swiftly purge the commandery's personnel, then gather troops and supplies — he truly did not wish to stir up extra trouble.

Of course, that said... Guo Xun was of the Taiyuan Guo clan, born of a renowned lineage; his elder brother Guo Hong had served as Inspector of Liang Province, and his clan cousin Guo Yun had even had dealings with Gongsun Xun at Yanmen. Now that he had come through the night in his capacity as the chief authority of a province, could one really shut him outside the gate?!

And so, Guo Xun still barged his way into the relay station.

Under the bright lamplight, one could see that this man was already past forty, and with his imposing and dignified bearing, he was clearly a high-ranking provincial official of presence and experience. However, the moment he entered, his face fell, and when he faced Gongsun Xun he adopted a stern expression — plainly, some grave matter was at hand.

To be honest, had he not just come from Jizhou himself, Gongsun Xun would almost have thought the Great Peace Dao had already risen in revolt in the middle of the night! Otherwise, why would a man of such standing come in the pitch dark with a blackened face? Wouldn't it have been better to wait in Zhuoxian? And why deliberately put on that grim face only after tricking them into opening the main gate?

Something was amiss. At that thought, Gongsun Xun first turned back and exchanged a glance with Lu Fan, Shen Pei, and the others, then dismissed everyone and sent them back to bed, before finally inviting Inspector Guo into the main room of the relay station to speak alone.

"Lord Gongsun," Guo Xun, seeing the others dismissed, could not help but sigh, and only then offered an apology and took his seat. "This visit is presumptuous. But since matters have reached this point, I must ask you, my lord, to sit calmly with me... I did not rush here from Zhuoxian, but came from Fanyang."

Gongsun Xun nodded indifferently. In these times, Zhuo Commandery administered seven counties, of which two counties — or rather, two cities — stood out in particular... One was naturally Zhuoxian, from which the commandery took its name; the other was Fanyang.

Of the two, Zhuoxian lay to the north and Fanyang to the south — they could be called the two core cities of Zhuo Commandery. The Fanting relay station where Gongsun Xun was now resting was over a hundred li from Zhuoxian, but no more than thirty or forty li from Fanyang... This explained how the other man could appear here at this hour.

After all, Gongsun Xun had made this journey with such haste, without even sending word ahead, precisely because he feared unrest from the Yellow Turbans; the other man must likewise have received word at the last moment.

Yet, once he understood the reason the other man could appear here, Gongsun Xun suddenly felt something was off... Because the more he listened to the man's words, the more they sounded vaguely like house arrest.

What did he mean, "since matters have reached this point, sit calmly with me"?!

At this thought, Gongsun Xun was utterly speechless... Surely Guo Xun, a Provincial Inspector, could not have gone over to the Great Peace Dao, could he? Yet even if he had joined the Great Peace Dao and wanted to strike first, that still made no sense! Those few dozen men at the gate probably wouldn't even be enough for Guan Yunchang to cut down with his men, would they?! Even inside this very room, he himself was a strong young man in his twenties — dealing with a decrepit fellow past forty would be a sure thing, wouldn't it?

Could it be that he himself had broken some law?

"Why was the Inspector previously in Fanyang?" Gongsun Xun asked, speechless. "Did you come specially to receive me?"

"Why must Lord Gongsun jest?" Guo Xun, being somewhat advanced in years after all, showed some weariness in his speech. "Do you not know what I was doing in Fanyang? Had it not been for the invitation of the Fanyang Lu clan, would you have come with such speed?"

Gongsun Xun grew more and more baffled. Only after a long while did he ask: "Could it be that someone in the Fanyang Lu household has broken some law?"

Guo Xun was momentarily exasperated: "My clan cousin once said that Lord Gongsun is a rare forthright man — why must you repeatedly ask questions you already know the answer to?"

Gongsun Xun was dumbstruck, but also had a flash of understanding: "Then the Fanyang Lu clan truly has broken the law, and you, Lord Guo, deliberately chose the gap before I took office to go to Fanyang and handle this matter, and further assumed that I rushed to take office precisely to rescue the Lu clan — so you left men in Fanyang to continue dealing with it while coming in person to block me?! Forgive my presumption, but what exactly did Teacher Lu's sons do?"

Guo Xun shot him a glance but answered not a single word — clearly his prejudice ran deep.

Seeing this, Gongsun Xun could not help but laugh. That he himself should become an "obstacle" to another man's impartial enforcement of the law — how amusing.

However, for one thing, face still had to be given to Teacher Lu; if Teacher Lu's sons truly died right before his eyes, people everywhere would point fingers at his back. For another, he, Gongsun Xun, was by no means a man to be easily bullied — he would not bear a single ounce of undeserved infamy! Not to mention that with great events looming, if he lost standing now, could he still swiftly bring Zhuo Commandery under his control?!

In other words, no matter what, the initiative in this matter had to remain in his own hands!

At this thought, the newly appointed Grand Administrator of Zhuo Commandery, Marquis of Wulü Precinct, Gongsun Xun, abruptly rose and strode toward the door.

"Lord Gongsun!" Guo Xun, furious and flustered, hurried to block him. "For the sake of your unsullied reputation, I beg you, do not make a laughingstock of yourself!"

"Lord Guo has sullied my good name, yet asks me to consider my unsullied reputation... Surely that is the act that makes a laughingstock?" So saying, Gongsun Xun gave the other man a light shove onto the "Grand Commandant's chair" and walked straight out the door.

Guo Xun, being older after all, and even less expecting that a high official of the two-thousand-dan rank would lay hands on someone so readily, stumbled and collapsed into the chair. By the time he rose again and prepared to rush out, the two doors had been shut directly. He pounded on them repeatedly from inside, but there was no response from without — instead, a clamor of disturbance arose for a time.

After roughly a full half-quarter-hour, the main doors were finally opened. By lamplight, Inspector Guo saw only a refined, clear-featured scholar standing before the door with a faint, sardonic smile, who then bowed with neither servility nor arrogance.

Guo Xun's heart burned with urgency. Without pausing to speak to this man, he hurried further out, only to see his own subordinates, every face flushed red — they had been disarmed one after another, and were now surrounded in the courtyard by more men led by a hawk-eyed, slender-bearded warrior.

Without even waiting for Inspector Guo to speak, this warrior took the initiative to disperse his men, and even returned the weapons, allowing those provincial clerks and soldiers to rush out of the encirclement and cluster around their Inspector.

Several clerks were just about to open their mouths and complain, but Guo Xun, without pausing his steps, strode out of the relay station, then halted helplessly before the gate... Sure enough, every single horse was gone!

How hateful that he had not heeded his clan cousin's words and had underestimated this blade, whose sharpness was the keenest under heaven!

When a man like this turned forceful, how could political convention restrain him? He might as well have stayed in Fanyang from the start, interrogated those merchants, corrupt clerks, and powerful families through the night, and settled the charges early!

"Inspector!" The clear-featured scholar from before came up to him with a smile and bowed. "My lord has left me behind to attend to you, Inspector... At your age, and after a night of jolting travel, why not retire early? The rooms have already been cleared."

Guo Xun turned back, looked at this scholar roughly Gongsun Xun's age, and could not help but ask with a cold face: "I have heard that Lord Gongsun has two Henan scholars at his side, both trusted confidants. One skilled in strategy, called Lou Zibo; one skilled in judgment, called Lu Ziheng... Judging by your accent, you must be one of them?"

"I never imagined my meager name could reach the Inspector's ears." The scholar's smile remained as before. "I am precisely Lu Fan of Runan. As for Zibo, he has already gone with my lord to Fanyang."

Guo Xun sized the man up once more, then clasped his hands behind his back and asked sternly: "You seem a man of talent and refinement... Let me ask you: your lord, at such a young age, has already reached such a high rank, yet he would ruin his unsullied reputation for the sake of a pack of merchants and a wastrel. As his retainer, why do you not remonstrate with him, but instead aid him in this absurd affair?"

Lu Fan remained unhurried and unruffled: "The Inspector is perhaps mistaken. Though I do not know exactly what has transpired in Fanyang, I do know that my lord has nothing to do with this matter!"

"If he has nothing to do with it, why did he come with such speed?" Guo Xun laughed in extreme anger. "I seized with great difficulty the rare window when two successive Grand Administrators were both absent from Zhuo Commandery, and prepared to purge and rectify Fanyang — yet your lord arrived here a mere three days after the outgoing Grand Administrator Liu Wei left Zhuo Commandery..."

"Inspector!" Lu Fan laughed again. "My lord is fierce and decisive by nature, and has always taken up his posts with the utmost haste... He truly knew nothing of the Fanyang affair!"

Guo Xun fell silent for a moment.

"To be frank with the Inspector," Lu Ziheng stepped forward, still impeccably courteous, "within this very relay station at this moment are my lord's principal wife, as well as three other ladies, and two young young masters; not only that, but my own wife and children, and the families of the other subordinates, are all here as well... May I ask the Inspector, if my lord had received someone's letter and come to rescue some lawbreakers, how could he possibly have brought his family?"

Guo Xun suddenly saw the light, and hurriedly looked toward the road outside the gate, but then turned back again: "If that is so, why did your lord not speak plainly with me, and instead go straight to Fanyang?"

Lu Fan smiled but said nothing.

Guo Xun immediately understood as well, and was not only filled with regret: "My momentary oversight led Lord Gongsun to think I intended a power struggle between province and commandery. However, it is not that I distrusted your lord — it is simply that this Fanyang affair not only implicates the Fanyang Lu clan, but also has ties to your lord's own household..."

Only then did Lu Fan grow curious. He first invited the other man back inside to escape the wind, had Han Dang make a token apology, and then could not resist earnestly inquiring into the matter.

As it turned out, the affair had to be traced back to the commercial struggles of the past few years between the Anli Trading Company and the great clans of Jizhou.

It must be said that the Anli Trading Company, led by the Gongsun clan, had by now virtually seized complete control of all trade in You Province, yet had always left some face to the great clans of Zhongshan and Anping in Jizhou. This made Zhuo Commandery a tacitly understood buffer zone between the two commercial powers, and Fanyang, being the gateway to You Province, had by virtue of its geographic advantage naturally become the most crucial commercial intersection point among them.

Flourishing trade might be a good thing, but in the feudal era, in the eyes of some rulers deeply influenced by Confucian thought, it was more likely a bad thing... A great number of middlemen used Fanyang as a transit hub, coming and going between You and Ji provinces, colluding with local powerful families to share profits on one hand, while on the other supporting large numbers of wandering swordsmen who lived off the profits of trade — to the point that the local scene was a murky mix of all sorts, rife with lawless acts.

Guo Xun, as Inspector, was deeply disapproving of this and had several times wanted to step in and rectify the situation.

However, the previous Grand Administrator of Zhuo Commandery, Liu Wei — perhaps to avoid offending the local notable clans deeply entangled in this matter, or perhaps because the commandery itself derived some financial benefit — had in any case never restrained it, and had even offered some protection. On top of that, Gongsun Zan of the Gongsun clan had also come to serve in Zhuoxian for a time, which made it utterly impossible for Guo Xun to act.

And now, with Liu Wei and Gongsun Zan both leaving their posts, and with Gongsun Xun — a man clearly even more deeply entangled in this matter than the previous two, and very likely the ultimate backer of these merchants and the Lu clan — about to take office, Guo Xun was driven to take a desperate risk!

This Inspector of You Province, who hated evil as his foe, planned to exploit the power vacuum during the transition between two Grand Administrators to strike hard and thoroughly deal with the itinerant merchants of Fanyang, as well as the local powerbrokers deeply implicated in this affair — the Fanyang Lu clan.

But just as Guo Xun had cautiously seen off Liu Wei and Gongsun Zan, spread rumors to lure a large number of itinerant merchants to gather in Fanyang, and was preparing to conclude the matter with the force of a thunderbolt, Gongsun Xun suddenly arrived... In his shock, Inspector Guo left instructions for Fanyang to prepare to act ahead of schedule by the next morning, while he himself went in person through the night to Fanting, prepared to block Gongsun Xun.

"Ziheng." Guo Xun lifted the hot broth and took a light sip, then continued, still filled with righteous indignation. "I am not an unreasonable man. If the realm were at peace and the common people well-fed and well-clothed, then perhaps vigorously promoting trade at such a time might be a good thing. But what of now? Now, though Tanshihuai is dead, the Xianbei instead plunder without restraint; the common folk of Shanggu and Dai commanderies are frequently carried off; the countryside of great commanderies like Zhuo, Guangyang, and Yuyang has also begun to grow impoverished. At a time like this, is vigorously promoting trade truly a good thing? As the 'Eight Policies of the Hongfan' says, the first is food, the second is goods — one must first have food before one can promote goods, surely?!"

Lu Fan naturally nodded repeatedly without pause, yet could not help feeling some concern... To be honest, when it came to matters of merchants and the Anli Trading Company, Lou Zibo was certainly more thoroughly informed; as for the Fanyang Lu clan's entanglements in this, Shen Pei was surely more perceptive!

Yet both of those men had followed Gongsun Xun through the night to Fanyang, and he himself could only sit here listening in a daze.

"Uh… Fangbo!" Lu Fan listened a little longer, then could only ask helplessly, "According to the law, exactly how many crimes have those people committed?"

"Those wandering knight bands from Yan, fighting over trade routes, have repeatedly engaged in armed brawls — how many among them have no blood on their hands?" Guo Xun set down his soup bowl with a sigh. "Those itinerant merchants, spending all day peddling luxury goods, constantly vying in extravagance and novelty — how many among them are free of bribery and instigation? As for the great households in the city, especially the Lu clan of Fanyang, they are the very ones who shelter and hide them day in and day out… These people, bound together by profit, commit countless unlawful acts — pull one hair and the whole body moves. They are truly the great scourge of Fanyang!"

Lu Fan was speechless for a moment.

"As things stand now, I no longer hope to bring the Lu clan to justice." Guo Xun grew more despondent as he spoke. "I only beg that your lord and marquis will enforce the law with some impartiality, and leave behind at least a few serious offenders — do not let me return to find that all of them have vanished without a trace!"

"Lord Guo thinks too much!" Lu Fan found himself increasingly at a loss for words, and could only curl his lip inwardly.

————I am the dividing line of thinking too much————

"The Lu clan of Zhuo Commandery, a powerful family of Fanyang, had long been lawless. There was Guo Xun, Inspector of You Province, who had long wished to punish their crimes, but was always obstructed by the commandery. In the Guanghe era, the Grand Ancestor was transferred to be Grand Administrator of Zhuo Commandery. The Lu clan was the sect of Lu Zhi, the Grand Ancestor's teacher, and Xun grew even more troubled. Taking advantage of the departure of the previous administrator, Liu Wei, and before the Grand Ancestor had arrived, he hastened to Fanyang to make arrests… Just as it was about to succeed, he heard the Grand Ancestor had reached Fanyu Pavilion. He then ordered the provincial clerks to urgently continue the search without pause, and personally traveled by night to Fanyu, stopping the Grand Ancestor on the left side of the road. The Grand Ancestor sighed at his virtue and firmly stopped him." — New Book of Yan, Volume 1, Annals of the Martial Emperor, Grand Ancestor

PS: Book recommendation: "Reborn at the End of Yuan to Become Emperor."

This book begins with the death of Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty. The protagonist then takes over Zhu Yuanzhang's great cause of resisting the Yuan, while also forging a brilliant path of his own. Thus, many changes occur in that period of history, equally filled with excitement, passion, and cruelty. It tells of brotherhood and loyalty, the good and evil of human nature, love, hate, blood feuds… Moreover, this book has a fast pace, a tight plot, and is basically free of filler!

(End of Chapter)