Chapter 214: The Year Marked Jiazi

The Jiazi year arrived in the blink of an eye.

After the new year, Gongsun Xun, as a Commandery Governor, mainly undertook three trifling tasks.

First, he struck hard and forcefully suppressed a number of powerful families and aristocratic clans.

For a capable two-thousand-bushel official, doing such things was fairly routine, but this time Gongsun Xun was far too hasty and swift — almost immediately upon taking office, he directly employed the most brutal methods: the family used to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys was actually charged with plotting rebellion, and then their entire clan was executed!

Regarding this matter, it was not that no one felt concern — Shen Pei specifically remonstrated once... His meaning was clear: this is Youzhou; your family and you yourself have always held high prestige here, my lord. There was simply no need for such brutality; you could perfectly well combine authority with virtue and handle things beautifully.

To this, Gongsun Xun's reply was also quite interesting, something like: "Time, oh time, there will surely come a moment of change! I act with haste!"

These words were baffling, but as it happened, Shen Zhengnan was a clever man, and having followed Gongsun Xun for many years, there were some things he might not have been as clear about as Lu Fan or Lou Gui. Yet now, recalling certain past actions of the other party and this hurried assumption of office, he had something of an awakening, and immediately shut his mouth and said no more.

And when even Shen Pei, who had always advocated dealing with aristocratic clans and powerful families according to rules, fell silent, then the local powerful families of Zhuo Commandery were, for the moment, truly utterly helpless... Because, as Shen Pei had said, although Zhuo Commandery bordered Zhongshan, it was already part of Youzhou. The influence of the Gongsun clan here, combined with Gongsun Xun's own personal prestige in this place, was simply incomparable to anywhere else!

If on top of that was added the blessing of his status as the dignified Commandery Governor, akin to a sovereign of a realm, then while it might not mean he could do whatever he pleased, at the very least, before Gongsun Xun, these people were just like those commoners from the left side of the village gate before them... Why, as the saying goes, should the weak resist?

"The family truly has no surplus grain left" — what utter nonsense! Not content to be quiet, starving corpses, do you still wish to emulate the mantis that brandishes its arms defiantly?

And so, while the powerful families of Zhuo Commandery stared dumbfounded, they could only allow the government office to seize their household money, grain, cloth, livestock, and various supplies, sending them into the government storehouses by means akin to outright robbery.

Then they hid in their homes trembling with fear, not even daring to step onto the main streets.

The second matter was broadly recruiting wandering knights and reorganizing the commandery troops.

Reorganizing the commandery troops was easy to understand, and as for broadly recruiting wandering knights... Youzhou's wandering knights were famed throughout the land. Liu Bei, Jian Yong, and Zhang Fei were, in fact, all standard Youzhou wandering knights. Compared to wandering knights of the south, it was not that they were more fearless of death, but rather that they generally had one more horse than southern wandering knights, some also had an extra long weapon, and they universally held military merit in higher esteem.

And this time, Gongsun Xun did not apply a single standard across the board. On one hand, he dealt with and rounded up the "rogue wandering knights" within the city; on the other hand, he openly raised the banner of recruitment, gathering those wandering knight bands with better reputations from the countryside.

The former could not be left unrounded-up, because once chaos erupted, these city-dependent rogues would quickly become the source of unrest. As for gathering the latter... the purpose was self-evident.

It is worth mentioning that Gongsun Xun entrusted this matter to the newly appointed Bandit Bureau Chief, Liu Bei... One can only say that the latter, as a local power broker, was indeed the best candidate for this task.

The third matter was inspecting the spring plowing.

This year, the weather warmed up relatively quickly, so from mid-January onward, commoners had already begun trying to plow and test-till the land. As the newly appointed Governor, from mid-January to early February, Gongsun Xun spent almost the entire time inspecting spring plowing in the area from Liangxiang in the north of the commandery to Qiuguo in the west.

From the perspective of his several trusted confidants, they thought their lord was outwardly relaxed but inwardly tense, deliberately lulling the increasingly dense eyes and ears of the Taiping Dao. However, what they never imagined, and what Gongsun Xun himself did not say, was that the latter was genuinely and earnestly supervising the spring plowing!

It must be said, it was only after arriving in Zhuo Commandery that Gongsun Xun suddenly realized something: the local Taiping Dao influence in Youzhou was far weaker than in Jizhou... This could be glimpsed from the two characters "Jiazi" on the gates of various local government offices!

For instance, here in Zhuo Commandery, Gongsun Xun personally saw these two characters written on the main gate of the government office in Fanyang City to the south, yet on the various government office gates in Zhuoxian City, these two characters were nowhere to be seen! Then, reports from dispatched men indicated that Fangcheng, southeast of Zhuoxian, supposedly had them, but Liangxiang to the north did not.

Consequently, Gongsun Xun swiftly sent men to inspect neighboring commanderies, only to find a similar pattern — in the neighboring Guangyang Commandery, Anci to the south and Jixian (the later imperial capital) in the middle prominently bore these two characters, but Changping City to the north did not; further east in Yuyang Commandery, Quanzhou and Yongnu to the southeast had them, but Hunu and Anle to the northwest, as well as Yuyang City where Gongsun Zan served, did not!

Subsequently, Lou Gui's covert investigation of the local Taiping Dao forces also corroborated this observation. According to what was now known, a province as large as Youzhou astonishingly had only one Greater Fang and one Lesser Fang of the Taiping Dao, and both were concentrated in the southeastern corner of Youzhou, with no significant strength in the north at all.

This was, of course, understandable, because out of the eleven commanderies and princedoms of Youzhou, ten were border commanderies! In the border commanderies, one had to guard against the Xianbei, guard against the Wuhuan, guard against the miscellaneous Hu tribes... The local powerful families and aristocratic clans were generally willing to concede some benefits in exchange for unity among the lower classes.

In other words, for most of Youzhou, the local ethnic conflicts and border threats had actually effectively alleviated class conflict!

In fact, very early on, when traveling back and forth between Youzhou and Jizhou, Gongsun Xun had already noticed and recognized this... He just hadn't thought of it from the angle of the Taiping Dao.

Of course, regardless, this was a good thing!

So from this perspective, Gongsun Xun's current act of painstakingly supervising spring plowing in the north of the commandery became easier to understand — the realm was about to descend into chaos, but if the enemy could be held south of Zhuoxian, then every seed planted by the common folk in the north might save an extra human life in the future... perhaps!

Time swiftly reached mid-February. Gongsun Xun no longer hesitated and immediately began mobilizing the military forces within the commandery.

First, apart from Han Dang, who remained as Gongsun Xun's personal guard, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Qian Zhao, Wei Yue, Yang Kai, and others each separately entered and encamped at military barracks.

Second, Shen Pei was even given sole command of a battalion of troops to garrison Beixincheng, located west of Fanyang City. The orders he received were to recruit and train soldiers on the spot, repair the city walls, strictly guard against bandits, and form a mutual pincer-support posture with Fanyang City!

With this, the slight misgivings Shen Zhengnan had harbored earlier due to learning the information relatively late completely vanished... Ultimately, when the moment of action arrived, being entrusted with independent command to aid and protect the Provincial Governor was more effective than any words of trust and confidence! Thus, this famed scholar of Hebei immediately pledged to Gongsun Xun that as long as he was there, he would never allow the city to fall! Then, he departed generously for his post.

By this point, how could things possibly still be kept secret?

So on the fourteenth day of the second month, Guo Xun, the Inspector of Youzhou stationed at Fanyang, dispatched his trusted aide, Wei You — a local Youzhou notable whom he had promoted from Youbeiping — to come directly to Zhuoxian!

"Who?" In the afternoon, Gongsun Xun was chatting idly with his recently arrived clansman, Gongsun Yue. He had naturally anticipated Guo Xun sending someone to inquire, but the visitor's name sounded somewhat familiar, which momentarily caught him off guard.

"It is Wei You." After three years of idle residence, Gongsun Yue remained as honest and sincere as ever. "Master Wei is a notable of Youbeiping, one can consider him a fellow townsman of ours. Moreover, he has always been on good terms with our Gongsun clan and is somewhat senior in age. Elder brother, do not slight him..."

"So that's how it is."

It must be said, Gongsun Xun had originally thought this person was yet another "Hero of the Three Kingdoms." Who would have guessed he was a notable from his own hometown? Then presumably, this sense of familiarity stemmed from having heard of him in his own youth. But regardless, since Guo Xun had sent such a figure, it indeed showed considerable sincerity. Thus, Gongsun Xun agreed while leading his clansman out personally to welcome him.

Wei You did not appear to be even forty this year, yet his expression was thoroughly marked by fatigue, clearly the result of a frail constitution unsuited to travel.

But fortunately, Gongsun Xun respected him as an elder from his hometown and put on no airs whatsoever. Instead, he entertained the guest in the inner residence with the demeanor of a junior, which caused this notable of Beiping to sigh with emotion repeatedly.

"The several outstanding talents of your Gongsun clan — such as Bogui (Gongsun Zan's courtesy name), who previously served as the County Magistrate of this very Zhuoxian; such as Wendian (Gongsun Fan's courtesy name), who was recommended as an Abundant Talent and now serves as a Gentleman in the Imperial Secretariat; and such as Wenchao (Gongsun Yue's courtesy name) here, who previously observed filial mourning at home with strict integrity — I have met all of them many times before... It is only you, Wenqi, whom I meet for the first time today, yet I never expected you to be so magnanimous and courteous." After taking his seat and being served hot ginger soup with egg, Wei You, having caught his breath, unexpectedly did not directly discuss official business. Instead, just as when local notables met, he began commenting on the four Gongsun brothers from the stance of an elder.

Seated in the host's position, Gongsun Xun couldn't help but laugh: "Master Wei's words are rather interesting. How could I not be magnanimous and courteous? And from the sound of it, Master Wei, is it not just me, but that several of my clansmen brothers all somehow lack magnanimity?"

Wei You also shook his head with a soft laugh: "Perhaps it is merely my presumptuous speculation. But from what I know, the sons of your Gongsun clan mostly share certain similarities, which is why I peer at the leopard through a tube and judge the whole from one part... Would Wenqi like to hear?"

"Master Wei, please speak frankly." Since the other party was not discussing serious matters, Gongsun Xun was even more at ease.

"First, the sons of your noble house are mostly born with imposing and dignified bearing, tall in stature, and excel in martial skills."

"That is true..."

"This is naturally a matter of course. Your esteemed house is a renowned border commandery family, hereditary two-thousand-bushel officials, and many have held military posts." Wei You analyzed in a self-questioning manner. "Over several generations, such a family tradition naturally formed."

"Master Wei speaks rightly." Gongsun Xun could only nod in agreement.

"Second, the sons of your noble house, especially the younger ones in recent years, place great importance on merchants and wealth." Wei You continued, and then again actively analyzed. "This is also reasonable. When a great clan lives together, disparities in wealth inevitably arise. Yet it so happens that your noble clan produced the Anli Trading Company, which dominates beyond the frontier and the Bohai Sea... The profits of money, goods, and trade — you younger sons have been immersed in this since childhood, so naturally you develop certain priorities."

"There is indeed no refuting that." Gongsun Xun exchanged a glance with Gongsun Yue and frankly admitted it.

"Third, the sons of your noble house are mostly proud and arrogant. When their official rank and status are insufficient, they can still conceal it somewhat, but once they ascend to high positions, they can no longer hide their arrogance. Moreover, they particularly look down upon pure and upright scholars like myself!" As he spoke, Wei You calmly set down his soup bowl, yet unknowingly shifted his form of address. "I wonder if my lord thinks I am correct?"

Gongsun Xun laughed in spite of himself but did not answer.

"My lord, these words of mine are not spoken without cause." Wei You stared intently at this nobleman, who was young to an absurd degree, and spoke seriously, the strands of egg on his beard bobbing up and down with his words. "Back when your elder clansman, Gongsun Bogui, went to take up his post in the Liaodong Dependent State, he passed through Youbeiping and made a special visit to me. At that time, he was humble and courteous, just as you two were when you came out to welcome me a moment ago. But after he achieved merit beyond the frontier and came to this Zhuoxian as a thousand-bushel County Magistrate, when he met me again, he could faintly no longer conceal his arrogance. Moreover, in his daily dealings at the government office, he associated solely with merchants and alchemists, treating scholars and the sons of commandery aristocratic clans with cold indifference..."

Gongsun Yue could not help but interject: "Master Wei thinks too much. My eldest brother indeed has some... some arrogance, but my elder brother here before you is mostly able to treat the worthy with courtesy..."

"A-Yue has fallen for Master Wei's rhetorical trap." Before Wei You could speak, Gongsun Xun abruptly interjected. "He precisely wanted you to defend me, and then to ask me in return: if I observe propriety, then why have I been discourteous to the Provincial Governor and engaged in deception... Master Wei, am I correct?"

Gongsun Yue immediately shut his mouth, and Wei You was also momentarily caught off guard.

"Master Wei." Gongsun Xun looked at the other man and continued to smile. "We are fellow townsmen, and you are an elder. What words cannot be spoken directly? Resorting to such rhetorical tricks only creates distance."

"That is precisely my intention." Wei You appeared quite embarrassed, but ultimately rose and bowed formally with a serious expression. "I must ask my lord to give me a formal reply: why is the commandery amassing troops, grain, fodder, and supplies on a large scale, and why have you had my Provincial Governor repair Fanyang... Could it be that you intend to go to war?"

"Merely speculation for the moment!" Seated in the host's position with a composed expression, Gongsun Xun proceeded to recount his "speculations" about the Taiping Dao one by one.

…………

“That is how it is.” After a long conversation, Gongsun Xun spoke candidly. “When I was serving in the State of Zhao, I reached a consensus with the then Inspector of Jizhou, now the Grand Administrator of Nanyang… well, perhaps he no longer holds that post… in any case, with Liu Gong at the time — the Way of Great Peace would inevitably rebel! However, from three years ago until now, though I have repeatedly reported this matter to many important ministers at court, I have never received an imperial directive, so I could only prepare in secret…”

Wei You’s face had long since turned deathly pale.

“Lord Wei.” Gongsun Xun also engaged in some self-reflection. “After you return, on one hand you must urge the Regional Governor to hold Fanyang securely and respond with caution; on the other hand, you must convey my regards and express my apologies… It is not that I, Gongsun Xun, am arrogant and unrestrained, nor that I deliberately placed him in danger… Once war begins, where is truly safe? It is that I had long been on guard against the Way of Great Peace, and over the years in Zhongshan I had made many arrangements. Being suddenly transferred to Zhuo Commandery, my foundations are all lost, and facing such a great event, my heart cannot help but be in turmoil! Perhaps I am uneasy, perhaps I seek to achieve merit and establish a career, with some self-satisfaction and some regret, at times forcing calm, at times acting too rashly… So…”

“I understand!” Wei You quickly rose to console him. “In truth, when great events loom, for a lord of your age to perform to this degree is already remarkable! When I return to Fanyang, I will also explain matters to my Regional Governor. And now that things have come to this, I have only one question to ask… When does my lord think they will rise up?”

“I would guess perhaps within the next ten days or so?” Gongsun Xun was also very uncertain. “Recently, a ballad has been spreading through the countryside: ‘The Azure Heaven is dead, the Yellow Heaven shall be established; the year is Jiazi, great fortune under Heaven.’ And it also says, ‘On the fifth day of the third month, Great Peace shall arrive.’… Perhaps it will be the fifth of the third month! However, with such rumors spreading across the realm, the court may well have taken notice — it is hard to say!”

Wei You felt dazed and lost!

“Fanyang is a great city!” Gongsun Xun rose, seized the other man’s arm, and reminded him. “With provisions and able-bodied men fully prepared, Lord Wei must urge the Regional Governor to hold the city securely and not rashly dispatch troops to meet the enemy. Wait until I have defeated the rebels here, then strike from the rear — coordinating from within and without, we can naturally destroy the rebels in one stroke!”

Wei You agreed wholeheartedly, and disregarding the fatigue of travel, hurried out to call for the provincial clerks to escort him back to Fanyang.

Gongsun Xun saw him out, then stood before the hall, hands clasped behind his back, watching the other depart, lost in thought for a moment.

“Elder brother, is this the reason you summoned me here?” Gongsun Yue, who had walked out of the hall from behind, had no such inhibitions.

“Indeed.” Gongsun Xun nodded at once. “I want you to enter the army as Army Major, to keep watch for me… over Liu Bei and the other commanders.”

Gongsun Yue did not take it amiss: “I came on this journey precisely to serve my elder brother.”

Gongsun Xun nodded again, then continued to gaze out blankly at the empty space before the hall.

Gongsun Yue was momentarily puzzled: “Lord Wei has left — what is elder brother looking at?”

“Nothing at all.” Gongsun Xun let out a long breath. “Do you think those words of self-reflection I spoke to Lord Wei just now were false? I prepared in Zhongshan for three years, yet when the moment came I was suddenly driven out to Zhuo Commandery… All my previous posturing was merely forcing calm before my subordinates! A-Yue… Wenchao… With great events looming, my heart has long been tangled like hemp; I cannot even distinguish my own thoughts, let alone respond properly?”

“Elder brother, why disparage your own prestige?” Gongsun Yue actually laughed, which was rare. “No matter how flustered you may be, you are still far better than our eldest brother’s attitude of bullying others when he gains power, are you not? To even show such a face to an elder of the village like Lord Wei — that takes some doing!”

Gongsun Xun fell silent for a moment, still gazing out blankly at the empty space ahead.

Following the line of Gongsun Xun’s gaze, thousands of li away, at that very same moment in the Han capital Luoyang, Cao Mengde, who had held the idle post of Court Gentleman for three full years, happened to emerge from the very courtyard where Gongsun Fan resided, a jar of fine Liaoxi wine that he had casually taken tucked in his arms.

“Mengde.” A man, tall and lean with piercing eyes, caught up from behind. “Gongsun Wendian has the day off today, but he has gone to the house of He Jin, Intendant of Henan. Yuan Benchu’s gathering is set for this evening — where shall we go now?”

“Let’s go…” Cao Cao climbed into the carriage hugging the wine jar, then narrowed his eyes and thought for a moment. “Let’s go find Yuan Benchu after all!”

“Mengde.” The man caught up to the carriage, took hold of the reins, and spoke helplessly. “You know as well as I do — Yuan Benchu observed mourning for six full years and was acclaimed as a paragon of the realm. Now he is living in seclusion in Luoyang…”

“Living in seclusion in Luoyang!” Cao Cao burst out laughing. “Yuanrang, tell me, why doesn’t he go live in seclusion in the Northern Palace? Does he really think I don’t know what scheme Yuan Benchu is playing at?”

“Mengde.” The man with piercing eyes — none other than Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuanrang — upon hearing this, once again tried helplessly to dissuade him. “It is precisely because you know that perhaps we should keep some distance? There is no need to get this close, is there?”

“Keep distance from what?” Cao Cao’s expression suddenly turned solemn. “In the past, when Cao Jie held power, he was at least an old hand who had governed for over ten years and could still strive with the likes of Liu Gong and Yang Gong to barely maintain the situation. But since Cao Jie’s death, Zhang Rang has been insatiably greedy and corrupt, Zhao Zhong acts with reckless impunity, the court administration is neglected, and the scholars and commoners grow resentful… If they are not dealt with, this realm will sooner or later fall into chaos! Yuan Benchu may be utterly worthless in ten thousand ways, but on this one matter he has stumbled upon the righteous cause! Yuanrang, in your youth you were fierce and unyielding; now, after years as a fugitive, how have you become so timid instead?”

“It is not that I am timid.” Xiahou Dun spoke with a serious expression. “It is just that, as I see it, Yuan Benchu’s side has only gained the moral high ground because of the eunuchs’ perverse and tyrannical conduct, but they do not yet have the momentum, nor the right timing…”

“You are mistaken.” Cao Cao narrowed his eyes slightly. “The eldest imperial son has now grown to maturity and shows no sign of dying young. He Jin and He Miao will sooner or later divide control of the court. And given He Suigao’s usual inclination toward the scholars, I fear this ‘momentum’ is also only a matter of time!”

Xiahou Dun pondered this carefully, then nodded at once, but asked again: “And what of the ‘timing’?”

“Have you gone daft?!” Cao Cao was utterly exasperated. “Isn’t ‘timing’ also just a matter of time?”

Xiahou Dun suddenly saw the light, and promptly took up the reins himself, driving the carriage toward Yuan Benchu’s residence.

The streets of Luoyang in the afternoon were bustling with traffic, and the two men did not notice at all that they passed another carriage driven by a man drenched in sweat. The latter raced all the way to the area south of Bronze Camel Avenue before stopping his carriage and standing still.

Here were the Office of Public Carriages, the Three Excellencies’ mansions, the official temples of the Nine Ministers… In short, apart from the Son of Heaven in the Northern Palace and the Central Terrace and Censorate in the Southern Palace, this was probably the highest seat of power an ordinary person could reach.

Yet from afternoon until dusk — by which time Cao Mengde was probably already drinking with the likes of Xu You — this man simply sat motionless in his carriage, both hands gripping the reins as if ready to flee at any moment!

No one knew what this man had come here to do.

And while this man still hesitated, a local clerk who had been waiting outside the Office of Public Carriages for a long time noticed him… Perhaps out of curiosity, or perhaps out of boredom from the long wait, this clerk actually walked straight over toward the man.

At this, the man in the carriage could bear it no longer. He immediately climbed down from the carriage, then knelt on Bronze Camel Avenue holding up a letter, and cried out in a stern voice:

“I, Tang Zhou of Jinan, come forth to denounce Zhang Jiao of the Way of Great Peace for plotting rebellion! The Regular Palace Attendants Feng Xu and Xu Feng have conspired with him as internal agents, agreeing together on the fifth day of the third month to attack Luoyang! The rebel army is already concealed in Henei!”

The clerk, who hailed from a commandery in Yizhou, was stunned and for a long moment could not even understand the man’s Qi-Lu dialect, while all around the bustle of traffic continued unabated.

That very evening, the hungover Cao Mengde was forcibly dragged from his bed by Lady Ding.

—————— I am the idle dividing line ——————

“Zhang Jiao then established thirty-six Divisions, a Division being equivalent to a General. Large Divisions had over ten thousand men, small ones six to seven thousand, each with its own appointed leader. The false rumor said: ‘The Azure Heaven is dead, the Yellow Heaven shall be established; the year is Jiazi, great fortune under Heaven.’ With white clay they wrote on the gates of the capital offices and the provincial and commandery government halls, all bearing the characters ‘Jiazi.’ The Grand Division leader Ma Yuanyi and others first gathered tens of thousands of men from Jing and Yang provinces, planning to rendezvous and launch the rising at Ye. Yuanyi traveled to and from the capital many times, using the Regular Palace Attendants Feng Xu, Xu Feng, and others as internal agents, agreeing to rise together, inside and out, on the fifth day of the third month. Before the date arrived, in the spring, Jiao’s disciple Tang Zhou of Jinan submitted a letter denouncing them.” — The Canon of Records, Yan, annotated by Pei Songzhi

PS: There are still 14k this month… Also, please do not have any expectations for the eleven-burst update event… I myself have already despaired… For monthly tickets, just grab red packets as you will… Don’t mind me.

New book group 684558115, everyone can join.

(End of Chapter)