Chapter 277: A Single Cup to Drown Resentment

No one knew what parting words Liu Kuan left for Gongsun Xun, because that very evening, after reading the testament alone several times at the Mengjin ferry crossing, Gongsun Xun simply set the letter ablaze.

The next day, he still remained at Mengjin, but sent up a flurry of memorials without pause — first, to transmit Sima Zhi's testament on his behalf; second, to request posthumous honors for Guo Dian; third, to request an audience with the Son of Heaven.

When the memorials arrived, the Son of Heaven granted his requests and specially summoned him to enter Luoyang for an audience.

For this meeting, the Son of Heaven chose the Zhuo Long Garden — the very place known far and wide as the Western Garden.

Since it was not in the main hall, Gongsun Xun merely removed his saber and strode in with composed steps, and then met the Son of Heaven... Interestingly, the Son of Heaven, seated in the pavilion, wore informal clothes, and the only person of any name or standing beside him was the Junior Attendant of the Yellow Gates, Jian Shuo; the rest were merely ordinary eunuchs and palace maids.

Clearly, for the Son of Heaven, this meeting was undoubtedly a private audience arranged with deliberate care.

"Dispense with the formalities!" The Son of Heaven raised his hand from afar in a gesture. "This is merely a private conversation. I shall not refer to myself as 'Zhen,' and you, my minister, need not be constrained... Come, take a seat in the pavilion."

"Your servant thanks Your Majesty." Gongsun Xun, expressionless, made no show of refusal, but simply stepped forward, entered, and sat down opposite the Son of Heaven, then straightened up and raised his head to meet the other's gaze squarely.

This was the first time the two had been in such close contact; whether it would be the last, no one could say.

Gongsun Xun looked closely, and his first impression was that this Son of Heaven, slightly older than himself, had a rather gaunt countenance and an extremely poor complexion — clearly the result of years of indulgence in wine and women, leaving him somewhat hollowed out. Still, his features were above the common standard, with a touch of handsome refinement... And Gongsun Xun also knew that this Son of Heaven had been carefully tutored from childhood by men like Liu Kuan and Yang Ci; in classical scholarship alone, his foundation was deeper than Gongsun Xun's own half-baked learning, and he was also extremely skilled at composing fu poetry, having produced many works in his days at the Hongdu Gate Academy — a man of some talent.

Of course, as things now appeared, he was not only skilled at composing fu, but even more skilled at imposing additional levies.

The two regarded each other for a moment, and then the Son of Heaven spoke first: "You, my minister, specially sent up a memorial requesting to enter Luoyang on your own initiative — do you have some plan in mind?"

"Your servant requests leave to resign from the post of Governor of Henei," Gongsun Xun answered, raising his head. "With all matters in turmoil, I fear it will be difficult to hold substantive office in the near term."

"I understand." The Son of Heaven nodded slightly, as if he had long anticipated this. "Liu Song also sent up a memorial stating that the late Grand Commandant, before his passing, expressed the wish to entrust all his posthumous affairs entirely to you. And a commandery governor has the duty of guarding the territory and cannot lightly leave his jurisdiction — this is only right and proper... Granted. I shall not assign you a nominal post either. We will discuss rank and office for you after the mourning period."

"Your servant thanks Your Majesty." Gongsun Xun inclined his body slightly, offering no superfluous words.

With this single exchange of question and answer, the pavilion immediately fell into a strange silence.

After a long while, the Son of Heaven finally continued: "You, my minister, also submitted a previous memorial. Since Guo Dian has been confirmed to have died for the state, he must of course be granted posthumous honors. I have already instructed the Central Secretariat to handle it."

"Your Majesty's discernment is clear."

"To be mocked as one of the ilk of Duke Ai of Lu — born deep within the palace, raised in the hands of women, never having known grief, never having known worry, never having known toil, never having known fear, never having known danger... Can such a person truly be called discerning?" The Son of Heaven spoke with effortless fluency, clearly a man of broad learning.

Gongsun Xun knew what he was referring to. Previously, after the additional levies were imposed, Lu Kang, the Governor of Lujiang and the first to voice opposition, had directly compared the Son of Heaven before him to the historical Duke Ai of Lu in his memorial, and the Son of Heaven's own words were the classic appraisal of Duke Ai from history.

How to put it?

Gongsun Xun very much wanted to nod and say, "You are quite self-aware," but in the end, he simply remained silent... and that was already enough to convey his stance.

The Son of Heaven, seeing this, let out a cold laugh, yet surprisingly did not grow angry: "You, my minister, are truly a scion of a frontier military house."

Gongsun Xun still said nothing.

"I have also read Sima Zhi's remonstrance, which you submitted on his behalf," the Son of Heaven continued. "Since the various regions all face difficulties, it is indeed not advisable to press too harshly... Hmm, I have already issued an edict temporarily suspending the urgent collection of the palace construction funds."

Gongsun Xun scrutinized this Son of Heaven seriously for the second time, and the surprise he had felt earlier at the man's magnanimity instantly vanished without a trace. To think that Sima Zhi's desperate, death-defying remonstrance had only achieved a temporary suspension of collection — one wonders, if that man who had swallowed poison were still here, would he be expected to kowtow in gratitude for this imperial grace?

Utterly absurd!

"I have already granted all three matters you memorialized about," the Son of Heaven said, stifling a yawn, then continued. "I also have a question, and I wish to hear your innermost thoughts on it."

"When Your Majesty deigns to inquire, a subject must naturally answer truthfully." Having received the other's assent, Gongsun Xun had by now already lost all interest in this Son of Heaven and merely wished to conclude this audience that required such forbearance as quickly as possible.

"As I understand it," the Son of Heaven said, rousing himself slightly and speaking with earnestness, "the great clans and powerful houses of the realm are not, in truth, short of money. Take your own family, for instance — in my youth, in Anping, I had already heard the great name of the Anli Trading House and even purchased goods from your family's business... So why is it that even you would delay the palace construction funds?"

Gongsun Xun finally could not suppress a laugh: "Your Majesty, if I were to use my private wealth to pay the Henei palace construction funds, I fear that if I paid today, tomorrow I would be impeached and dismissed by Regular Attendants like Zhang and Zhao on the charge of currying favor and buying popular support — and might even be thrown into prison. At that point, it would be hard to find anyone to cry out on my behalf."

"That is true enough," the Son of Heaven continued. "But even so, Henei is so prosperous, and this time there has been no great plague or rebellion — can it truly be impossible to produce fifty million in palace construction funds? What exactly were you thinking?"

Gongsun Xun did not reply directly, but instead looked at the tall figure standing behind the Son of Heaven, the Junior Attendant of the Yellow Gates, Jian Shuo, who stood gripping his saber.

Jian Shuo, bewildered by the stare, could only pretend not to notice.

"Your servant was, I suppose, worried that the money from the gentry and commoners of the commandery would all end up embezzled by the court eunuchs," Gongsun Xun finally gave an answer that was somewhat absurd, yet very much the mainstream response, just as the Son of Heaven was beginning to show a hint of impatience.

"Sima Zhi said in his memorial that the realm is in turmoil and that the various provinces and commanderies could not gather the palace construction funds — was it all for this reason?" The Son of Heaven also laughed despite himself. "Was it not because of plague, military disasters, and the season?"

"The inability to gather the palace construction funds may have its own difficulties in each place," Gongsun Xun turned back, his expression grave. "And the realm's turmoil may not be entirely without cause from the lawless excesses of powerful magnates and the corrupt profligacy of the great clans. But the greater part of it is because these eunuchs' sons, disciples, and protégés bring calamity upon every region!"

"Jian Shuo, did you hear that?" The Son of Heaven turned his head back, still smiling. "The scholars always say that the realm's troubles are your doing. Now even the General of the Guards, a man of frontier birth who established himself through martial merit, says it is your doing! Could it truly be your doing?"

Jian Shuo had no words to reply and could only kneel and kowtow.

Seeing this, the Son of Heaven laughed even more, while Gongsun Xun remained expressionless, pretending not to notice. Once again, the pavilion fell into mutual silence.

"I, as the Son of Heaven, cannot leave the palace on my own whim," the Son of Heaven said after a long pause, finally ceasing his laughter. "But neither am I, in the end, the kind of Son of Heaven raised deep in the palace in the hands of women... If the opportunity arises, once the bandit troubles in Hebei are pacified, I shall personally make a trip back to Anping, to see the situation in Hebei with my own eyes, to see what my old homeland truly looks like now, to see whether Julu is as desolate as Sima Zhi claimed, and to see whether Regular Attendant Zhao's mansion is as extravagantly lavish as the General of the Left, the Chariot and Cavalry Commander, memorialized..."

Gongsun Xun merely inclined his body slightly and made no reply.

The Son of Heaven immediately grew somewhat listless: "Enough. As for the present, you, my minister, may rest at ease and remain in Luoyang to handle the late Master Liu's posthumous affairs with full authority, and then we shall make further plans. As for Master Liu, he was advanced in years and had been gradually failing since last winter. One can only say that, given his character, his passing was natural and peaceful. I have already ordered the court to deliberate publicly on his posthumous name and honors. You need not grieve excessively. In the future, this realm will still rely on your talents to return to peace and stability!"

Hearing these words, Gongsun Xun immediately rose, stepped back, bowed, and performed the ritual of gratitude. Once the other had nodded slightly, he strode proudly out of the palace, never once acknowledging Jian Shuo on the ground throughout the entire process.

The Western Garden lay at the extreme western side of the Northern Palace; once outside, it opened onto the main avenue along the palace wall. Under the watchful eyes of the Tiger Guard Army before the palace gate, Gongsun Xun easily met up with the few trusted confidants waiting there. Yet, though they were called confidants, because his journey had been so hastily undertaken, Han Dang, Wei Yue, Yang Kai, and those volunteer followers were all up north at Zhaoge in Henei, while Lu Fan and the others had to remain in Henei to handle commandery affairs. Thus, those who had hurriedly accompanied him here were only Lou Gui, Wang Xiu, and Xi Zhong — these three. The rest, like Wang Xiang, had not even been allowed to cross the river.

Even Gongsun Yue and Gongsun Fan were at Liu Kuan's residence at this moment, handling matters, and were not here.

"My lord! Did you gain anything from this audience with His Majesty?"

"My lord, what exactly was said? Have you decided how to go into seclusion? Was there any resolution this time?"

The three hurried forward to inquire, with Lou Gui asking the fastest. There was no helping it; these past two days, as trusted confidants, they had been in a state of anxious uncertainty, at a complete loss. For after reading Liu Kuan's letter, Gongsun Xun had clearly been deep in thought and had reached some resolution, yet they knew nothing of it. Not to mention that this audience with the Son of Heaven was a matter of immense importance.

"My lord," Xi Zhong also wanted to step forward and ask about the outcome of Gongsun Xun's requested audience, but when the words reached his lips, he suddenly changed the question. "May I be so bold as to ask: what manner of man is the Son of Heaven?"

At these words, Lou Gui and Wang Xiu immediately fell silent, and they too could not help but look toward Gongsun Xun.

"A good question," Gongsun Xun said, unconcerned, as he walked along with his hand resting on his saber. "Only today did I realize that this Son of Heaven of ours is a truly clever man. He knows the hardships of the common people, understands the nature of the eunuchs, and is even more aware of the hypocrisy of the great clans and the excesses of the powerful magnates..."

The three, following behind him, could not help but look at one another in bewilderment.

"Put that way, isn't he a rare sage ruler?" Lou Gui truly could not hold back.

"Not at all," Gongsun Xun suddenly halted, turned his head, and said with a low, cold sneer. "The only thing is, this man's selfishness is far too deep. He thinks only of himself and cares not whether others live or die... All that cleverness is poured into personal pleasure and reckless self-indulgence. This man may not bear the title of a sovereign who doomed his kingdom, but he has the reality of one!"

Lou Gui and Xi Zhong sneered in unison, while Wang Xiu let out a sigh, and there was nothing more to be said.

"Let's go!" Gongsun Xun waved his hand again and said. "Sima Zhi's death has bought a temporary suspension of the urgent collection of the palace construction funds. I have also resigned from the post of Governor of Henei. Zibo, go to Henei and summon Ziheng, Yigong, and the others to await us in Luoyang. Zhicai and Shuzhi, come with me to Master Liu's residence to manage the funeral. As his disciple, I must wear the hempen mourning garb and not betray the trust my benefactor placed in me before his passing!"

The three men all straightened their expressions and saluted solemnly.

Leaving aside what Gongsun Xun did, that very evening, within the somewhat oppressive atmosphere of the Northern Palace, the powerful eunuch Zhang Rang suddenly summoned the Grand Prolonger of Autumn, Zhao Zhong, once more, claiming he had matters to discuss.

"What do you mean?" Inside the private chamber, the very place where they had bared arms and sworn an oath in the second month, Zhao Zhong was momentarily bewildered. "Why should we go and curry favor with those people? Given the current situation, how could you and I possibly reconcile with them?"

"We must at least try..." Zhang Rang said helplessly, but then he recounted in detail the daytime audience where the Son of Heaven summoned Gongsun Xun. "From what the young eunuchs described, I fear that in the Son of Heaven's mind, these border generals cannot be touched, and that nephew-in-law of yours carries some weight after all."

"The Son of Heaven is an intelligent man by nature; he naturally knows to placate the border generals," Zhao Zhong said dismissively. "As for today's audience being out of the ordinary, in my view, it is rather because of Liu Wenrao's death. The Son of Heaven also feels considerable grief, and his emotions carried him into the scene... After all, both the Son of Heaven and that boy of the Gongsun clan are Liu Wenrao's proper students, and Liu Wenrao is nothing like that wretch Yang Ci — the Son of Heaven would never harbor ill feelings toward this man."

"Perhaps!" Zhang Rang said helplessly. "But with Sima Zhi dying from his remonstrance, Guo Dian dying in battle, and Liu Kuan suddenly passing away, the Son of Heaven may well have been stirred. Otherwise, he would not have thought of receiving Gongsun Xun in this manner, nor of touring Hebei... We must always guard against it somewhat. After all, the Grand General is already gradually building his wings in Luoyang, and Yuan Shao is keeping death-sworn retainers with malicious intent. If yet another one arises, would that not be a source of endless vexation?"

Zhao Zhong fell silent for a moment, then could not help shaking his head: "To seek reconciliation at this moment, no matter how I think of it, would only be inviting humiliation! However, I can try having my clansman Zhao Yan visit my younger cousin Zhao Bao to hint at things slightly, but Regular Attendant Zhang should not hold too much hope."

"That is already enough; if it fails, we can speak of it then," Zhang Rang nodded. "The key is still to make the Son of Heaven unable to leave us, to find ways to let the Son of Heaven indulge in pleasure."

"Arrangements must also be made in Jizhou," Zhao Zhong continued gravely. "If His Majesty truly goes to Jizhou and sees those things belonging to my family, what then?"

"What do you propose?" Zhang Rang asked indifferently.

"I intend to push the boat with the current and transfer Huangfu Yizhen away from Jizhou... With him gone, the bandit troubles will resurge. Then you and I can exaggerate the bandit troubles in Jizhou, and the Son of Heaven will naturally not dare to go," Zhao Zhong said calmly. "What does Regular Attendant Zhang think?"

"Bandit troubles..." Zhang Rang mused thoughtfully. "Was it not bandits who wiped out that branch of your clan in Julu before? Why would you still allow bandit troubles to run unchecked?"

"Merely a clan nephew, not my main branch in Yecheng, nor close kin in Luoyang," Zhao Zhong said dismissively. "Could a gang of bandits possibly breach Yecheng, or breach Luoyang? My clan is vast, spread across Jizhou; I am not lacking this one branch."

"You are the Grand Prolonger of Autumn; matters of the outer court, you may handle them yourself," Zhang Rang said, equally indifferent. "Just do not forget my commission."

The night passed without further words.

The next day, the greatest event in Luoyang was the formal establishment of the late Grand Commandant Liu Kuan's mourning hall, which was opened to receive public condolences.

And what was interesting was that the General of the Guards, Gongsun Xun, who was in charge of the funeral arrangements, publicly declared: Master Liu loved wine all his life and must not be treated with vulgar rites. All who come to pay respects, if they are able to drink, should drink one goblet of wine to quench the discontent in their hearts and the intent of their grief, before proceeding with the mourning rites.

For a time, Luoyang was filled with sighs of emotion; mourners bustled about, and drinkers gathered like clouds.

—————I am the dividing line of handling it oneself—————

"When the late Grand Commandant Liu Kuan, teacher of the Grand Ancestor, passed away, the Grand Ancestor, citing his teacher's last words, declined the post of Administrator of Henei to manage the funeral. Upon entering Luoyang, the Later Han Emperor Ling summoned him in the West Garden Pavilion and asked: 'Why does the realm suffer such turmoil?' The Grand Ancestor replied: 'The sons and younger kin of favored ministers disturb it.' At that time, the eunuch Jian Shuo stood outside the pavilion. The Emperor turned to question Shuo, who was terrified and knew not how to answer. The Emperor then spoke of Sima Zhi's affair, saying to the Grand Ancestor: 'Your family's wealth amounts to billions; do you also lack official funds?' The Grand Ancestor replied: 'My family's wealth amounts to billions, yet not a single coin has gone to line the pockets of eunuchs.' The Emperor fell silent and dismissed him.

After leaving, Lou Gui, Wang Xiu, and Xi Zhong were waiting outside the palace. The Grand Ancestor said indignantly to Gui and the others: 'Only today do I realize that His Majesty is exceedingly intelligent, fully aware of the true state of the realm, yet he is greedy and base beyond measure, knowing full well yet refusing to act. Truly, there is no remedy.' The histories say: The Grand Ancestor's ambition arose from this." — Excerpts from the Canon, Yan, annotated by Pei Songzhi

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(End of Chapter)