Chapter 428: The Bond of Teacher and Student, Light on Ceremony (2-in-1 Small Debt Repayment)

In the warm spring of the third month, southwest of Zhuo Commandery, at the upper reaches of the Yi River, General of the Guards Gongsun Xun rode side by side with his eldest son Gongsun Ding. They had just crossed the small bridge over the Yi River and were now treading through mountain flowers blooming all over the hills, slowly making their way southward.

Among them, the former rode an exceptionally spirited white horse, while the latter rode a particularly vigorous half-grown young blue horse.

As it happens, the young blue horse was also, in a sense, a white horse. This is because, aside from albinism, the vast majority of conventionally white horses are actually young blue horses with both black and white hairs that transform as they mature... As they age, the black hairs of many blue horses gradually diminish while the white hairs increase. And it is precisely at this peak period, when the blue horse—or rather, the white horse—is paired with a skilled rider, that they form the famed White Horse Volunteers known throughout the land.

Conversely, the very rarity of white horses means that a formed unit of white horse cavalry itself represents a massive reserve of warhorses and cavalry strength, not merely a pleasing color.

These two "white" horses had both just been offered as tribute by the Murong tribe less than a month ago... Previously, after extricating himself from Jieqiao, Gongsun Xun had mainly been inspecting spring plowing and participating in spring community sacrifices in Zhao and Zhongshan—two places he had once personally governed—as well as offering condolences to local elders and former subordinates. By the second month, however, he turned north to Dai Commandery and Shanggu, where he encountered Mo Hukou and others who, having heard of the great victory in the south, had entered the passes from Gaoliu Fort and other places to pay homage and offer congratulations.

Perhaps because the Yuwen tribe had clearly been overtaking them of late, or because they had not had the chance to see Gongsun Xun since the Liaoxi campaign, or even more likely because with such a great victory ahead, Hebei was already settled for Gongsun Xun... In any case, after offering these spirited white horses as tribute and congratulations, Mo Hukou did not hurry back. Instead, he took the initiative to propose leading his own tribal cavalry south to serve as escort during the General of the Guards' inspection tour, as a gesture of loyalty.

Unexpectedly, Gongsun Xun not only agreed, but also had Mo Hukou summon a full three thousand cavalry from his own tribe beyond the frontier and from the various mixed Hu settlements that clung to the Great Wall. Only then did he turn east to inspect Changping and other places.

And after this general received and comforted the hardworking agricultural officials like Zao Zhi in Changping, and received a letter from his wife Zhao Yun—who had gone to Liaodong to urge troops into action—Gongsun Xun headed directly south to the banks of the Yi River... Only when he reached Fanyang and gathered two thousand men under Zhang Baiqi coming from the direction of Mount Taixing did he pause. Instead of hurrying south to the front lines at Hejian, he suddenly inquired about the whereabouts of his teacher, Lu Zhi.

The local officials dared not be negligent and directly pointed out where Lu Zhi was. It turned out that this former Minister of Personnel in the imperial court, a great Confucian scholar renowned throughout the land, and the shared teacher and benefactor of the three Gongsun brothers, had—after his several older sons died one after another for various reasons—abandoned his family wealth, residence, and land. Alone, he took his sole surviving young son and went into the wild valleys at the upper reaches of the Yi River, where he reclaimed farmland and lived by his own toil.

And Gongsun Xun was equally speechless... He actually led five thousand infantry and cavalry, two hundred Volunteers, and a son, leaving the main road south to Hejian, and came directly here to seek out his teacher.

"You must not always fixate on whether troops are strong or weak," Gongsun Xun said, riding on horseback and chatting cheerfully with his eldest son. "How can contending for the realm be judged by soldiers and horses alone? Moreover, the strength of troops, while useful, is always temporary. For instance, strong soldiers encountering plague or famine will collapse without a fight; cavalry encountering a great river or marsh will find it impossible to advance. Even at Jieqiao, if we had not personally gone to the palisade for the crouching-shield formation, and Xu You had rushed over, had the vanguard each grab a handful of dry grass and throw in a torch, how could we, father and son, be here jesting today?"

"Then, my lord... what should one judge when contending for the realm?" Spending several months alone with his father, Gongsun Ding could not help but grow bolder.

"There is much to say on that, but in this season, the greatest reliance and foundation is, of course, grain." Gongsun Xun gripped the reins and answered with a slightly serious expression. "Since the Yellow Turban rebellion, agriculture under heaven has deteriorated day by day. Emperor Ling increased land taxes, powerful families annexed land, and officials plundered. Thus, the common people who earnestly farmed the land discovered that no matter how much they tilled, they would still starve to death. So they abandoned their fields and became bandits. And once they became bandits in the mountains, though they faced less oppression, how much grain could they produce in those ravines? So they would in turn go out and plunder, making it impossible for those around them who were still farming well to continue farming... The total population was so large, and the total amount of grain originally produced by everyone farming together was also so large. Then suddenly the grain decreased, but the people did not... What is to be done?"

Having grown up in Youzhou after all, Gongsun Ding blurted out: "They will starve to death!"

At these words, Zhang Cheng and Mo Hukou, who had deliberately lagged several horse-lengths behind, both changed color, yet could only exchange wordless glances.

"Correct!" Gongsun Xun nodded without the slightest hesitation. "They will starve to death... No one knows who, nor where, nor in what season, but someone will starve to death regardless. And to avoid starving, these people will go and seize others' grain, making it impossible for others to farm either. Thus grain becomes scarcer and scarcer, and the realm grows more and more chaotic. This is how the world decays... From the time of the Yellow Turban uprising—you were only three that year—the realm has worsened year by year. The million Mount Tai Yellow Turbans in the Central Plains, the million Mount Taixing bandits in Jizhou, the Bobo bandits in Hedong, the province-wide rebellions in Xiliang and Jiaozhou, the Xiongnu in Bingzhou, the Wuhuan in Youzhou—all rose in revolt. Why? Perhaps among the instigators there was indeed ambition, but since they could gather so many people, at root, from the perspective of all under heaven, there was no grain. If everyone followed the rules, they simply could not survive!"

"So that is why my lord would set aside the fighting ahead and return to urge on the spring plowing? Because having grain is the very foundation for my lord to defeat others?"

"Indeed!" Gongsun Xun glanced slightly at his son and could not help but laugh. "Having grain is the foundation for defeating others... Had we not stockpiled so much grain at Changping, let alone Yuan Benchu, even the earlier campaign against Dong Zhuo would have been a mere illusion in the mirror, flowers in the water. Reaching Taiyuan would already have been extraordinary—how could so many later events have occurred?"

"So contending for the realm is simply about stockpiling grain, and then nurturing a strong army?" Gongsun Ding finally arrived at a seemingly very logical conclusion.

"Reaching this layer of understanding is already quite good." Gongsun Xun smiled somewhat helplessly. "Among the lords of the realm, some are as foolish as Yuan Shu, some as bellicose as Sun Jian—they do not even know how to stockpile grain. One merely relies on plunder, the other on the supply of others and eating away at his reserves... You are already stronger than these two men, but you must not stop merely at this."

"I beg my lord to grant further instruction!" Having received praise, Gongsun Ding became all the more unwilling to end this exchange with his father.

"How can the realm be so simple?" Gongsun Xun sighed for a moment. "Contending for the realm is, in essence, contending for the hearts of the people, then rallying those hearts into weapons of war, and fighting to seize it... But this thing, the hearts of the people, is far too difficult. Now the realm has fallen into collapse, in its darkest hour, when people cannot even get a meal. So at this moment, whoever can produce grain can win the hearts of the people to the greatest extent. But what about when they are fed? They will always want to be warmly clothed, won't they?"

"So one must also have cloth?" A look of sudden understanding appeared on Gongsun Ding's face. "No wonder the teachers at the Changping academy all say that farming and weaving are the foundation of the state. Grandmother also once said that we must firmly grasp the channels for grain and cloth in the Liao region, so that the Liao region will not fall into disorder..."

"Your grandmother's meaning... is more or less that." Gongsun Xun, riding on horseback, looked slightly embarrassed, then hurriedly returned to the main topic. "But after being fed and warmly clothed, where do people's hearts turn then?"

"In..." Gongsun Ding tilted his head up in thought, but was at a loss for a moment. After all, he was still too young.

"When fed and warmly clothed, they naturally also hope to have a house to live in, furniture to use, and then to eat a bite of meat during the New Year, and enjoy a cup of wine at the spring sacrifice. Once all these can be enjoyed, they also hope not to encounter bandits when going out to visit relatives, and to have waystations and charity inns to rest at... This is clothing, food, shelter, and travel."

Gongsun Ding nodded hastily.

Gongsun Xun knew full well that his son was still young, and that by this point his attention was already beginning to wander, his thoughts struggling to keep up. Yet he still could not resist speaking a few more words: "And after clothing, food, shelter, and travel, it does not end there either. For those families with surplus means, they cannot help but always want to send their children and grandchildren to study, so that they may be more accomplished than themselves in the future. And those who have read books and become officials always want to study the subtle and profound meanings of the sages, discussing what constitutes the principles of governance. Even a youth from a great family like you—do you not always wish to wear fine silks and satins, adorn yourself with jade ornaments and gold carvings, and ride such a vigorous young horse?... Do not argue... This is simply human nature! In truth, never mind you—even the Mo Hu chieftain behind you who gifted you the horse, back when he first had a few hundred followers and still wore a filthy sheepskin coat, could not resist trading the best horse in his tribe for a step-shaking crown that could neither be eaten nor used... Why? Because it was beautiful! The young girl we met earlier at the fortified settlement village community—when she received a piece of torn gauze from her mother, she could not resist going into the wilds to find wildflowers to dye it into red cloth that would fade in two days, just to tie it on her head. Why? Also because it was beautiful! And this too is the human heart! Contending for the realm is contending for the human heart, yet the human heart is precisely the most complex thing under heaven. Exhausting an entire lifetime, one may not grasp even a tenth or a hundredth of it."

"But my lord does not need to win over every heart!" Although Mo Hukou could not stop calling out 'my lord, my lord' all along the way, every time he opened his mouth it still caused Zhang Cheng beside him to frown. "Compared to my lord, that Yuan Shao is weak in troops and powerless; that Sun Jian and Yuan Shu do not even know to stockpile grain... And my lord, having been in Youzhou for so many years, has gathered refugees and accumulated grain, opened mines and established workshops, possessing strong armor and weapons, and controls the channels for horses from nearly all under heaven. He has also built so many schools and opened so many trading companies... Compared to my lord, those southern lords are truly like children playing games with wooden swords! How could the realm not belong to my lord? In my view, those lords, though they may seem clamorous for a time with vast territories, when facing my lord, at most they will end up like Yuan Shao—unable to rise again after a single defeat!"

"Father... is this so?" Perhaps because his exclusive right to the address 'my lord' had been usurped, Gongsun Ding recovered some of his attention.

"Yes and no." Gongsun Xun did not even glance at Mo Hukou, merely sneering to himself. "The lords of the realm are not limited to men like Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, and Sun Jian. There are still heroes like Cao Mengde and Liu Xuande... Moreover, even men like Sun Jian are only momentarily confused due to their origins and experiences. If they have the will, given time, they will realize their own shortcomings and gradually correct them."

"But... wasn't that Yuan Shao exactly as Mo Hu chieftain described?" Gongsun Ding could not help scratching his head atop his young horse. "He seemed to have so many troops, yet could not withstand a single blow. And he did not know that Mother had gone to Liaodong, that Grandfather would send troops from Liaodong; he did not know that we had stockpiled so much grain at Changping, hiding so many soldiers who could be summoned at any time; he did not even know that Mr. Cheng had exchanged so many letters with Father..."

"Yuan Shao is a special case." Gongsun Xun could only say this. "It was precisely because I saw that inside this man he was arrogant, foolish, and insecure, yet on the surface pretended to be outstanding and easily deceived others, that I specifically chose him as my opponent... I prepared for five or six years, having your grandmother help build ships in Liaodong from that time on. But he, from the moment he seized his territory and resolved to wage war against me, had barely a year. How could such a man not lose? How could I not win?"

Gongsun Ding lowered his head-scratching hand, hesitating as if to speak.

"What do you wish to say?" Gongsun Xun was utterly unconcerned.

"I merely wish to ask my lord," Gongsun Ding could not help but earnestly inquire, "although this Yuan Shao is inwardly incompetent, yet according to Father's words, he is outwardly a man of prestige. And all along the way, people say he is the greatest lord under heaven. Now that even he has been defeated by Father and surrendered Hebei, who in the future would dare to be my lord's enemy? Could it be like in Dai Commandery, where a single letter sent causes those wavering tribal chieftains beyond the frontier to come and kneel before you?"

At these words, everyone around laughed. Gongsun Xun laughed out loud; Mo Hukou gave an embarrassed, sheepish laugh; and the tall, lean Zhang Cheng laughed uproariously as if recalling something. Even Zhang Ji, Yang Xiu, Fa Zheng, and the others were snickering.

Gongsun Ding was laughed at until his face reddened.

"A-Ding!" Gongsun Xun reined in his horse and laughed. Only after a long while did he turn his head and ask with a serious expression: "Have you ever seen a man who does not fear death?"

"This boy has seen many..." Gongsun Ding pondered briefly before answering earnestly. "To say nothing else, that day by Jieqiao, so many men crouched behind their shields—every single one of them did not fear death!"

"Indeed!" Gongsun Xun gazed at the picturesque mountain wilds and let out a long sigh. "There are far too many people under heaven who do not fear death. It is not only that Gao Shun trains his troops exceptionally well, so that his soldiers are willing to die. Are there not also wandering knights who would stake their lives for a single promise? Our Yan region has especially many!"

"This boy has heard of such deeds!" Gongsun Ding's eyes could not help but brighten.

"And not only wandering knights—common folk also do not fear death... I have seen tens of thousands of commoners commit suicide together rather than surrender!" Gongsun Xun's voice grew increasingly resonant, and behind him, the many accompanying cavalry and infantry soldiers also began to halt one after another, waiting, while the Volunteers pricked up their ears to listen. "Not only common folk—I have also seen officials who do not fear death, Confucian scholars who do not fear death, and even bandit chieftains and evildoers who do not fear death... Then I ask you, if these people do not even fear death, why would they fear me? Because I control half the realm?! Even if I controlled the realm, could I kill them twice?!"

After this rhetorical question, Gongsun Xun could not help but spur his horse slightly faster forward, for he had already spotted in his field of vision a place with faint signs of human habitation beside the valley ahead—extremely small in scale, merely a few households... Presumably, this was where Lu Zhi lived in seclusion.

"But my lord, why do they all not fear death?" Gongsun Ding hastily urged his young horse forward, trying to catch up. At the same time, the Volunteers behind, who had not yet fully halted, also started moving again, while the accompanying five thousand infantry and cavalry, at Zhang Ji's signal, halted there and prepared to set up camp.

"Did I not say?" Gongsun Xun, hearing the persistent questioning from behind as he rode ahead, could not help but laugh. "Because of the human heart! Because their hearts do not belong to me! And if the hearts of the people do not belong to you, do not speak of merely holding Hebei in hand. Believe it or not, even if someone held nine and a half of the thirteen ancient provinces of the realm, while his opponent had only a single commandery, that opponent would still draw his blade and resist to the death!"

"Would that not be certain defeat?"

"Who can know? Perhaps by some chance he might succeed?"

"But where is there such a formidable figure?"

"Your own lord and father, me!" Gongsun Xun raised his voice and laughed. "Believe it or not, if back then I had retreated slightly and returned to Liaodong, and it was actually someone like Yuan Shao—whom I look down upon the most—who gained the entire realm, then even with only the strength of a single commandery, your lord and father would still have drawn his blade and risen, contending with him to the end, either bleeding out on the battlefield, or truly seizing a sliver of a chance at victory!"

Gongsun Ding was finally stunned into silence.

And so, father and son ceased their idle chatter, riding one after the other at a light trot toward the wild village in the valley ahead. Zhang Cheng and Mo Hukou, along with the two hundred Volunteers, trailed a hundred paces behind... As for the remaining five thousand infantry and cavalry, they were ordered by Zhang Ji to set up camp on the spot, so as not to cause disturbance.

In but a moment, after rounding a bend in the path, Gongsun Xun had already spotted that familiar figure, extraordinarily tall and lean. The latter wore a very worn scholar's cap, his face weathered by wind and frost, and was pushing a millstone to grind flour in the open space before the few scattered households. A child even younger than Gongsun Ding, yet even thinner and frailer, was struggling to help beside him, holding a sack and a broom.

"Though I guessed it was you when I saw the troops, how is it that you have come here at this time?" Lu Zhi stopped his mill-pushing motion, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and could not help but frown at the visitor. "When the village chief came during the spring plowing earlier, he mentioned something—were you not still fighting a war?"

"In reply to my teacher," Gongsun Xun hurriedly dismounted and stepped forward, facing him with a solemn expression from a distance, "it was just in the first month that victory was achieved at the front. Your student has, with difficulty, managed to secure the lands north of the Great River. I can now slowly implement governance and establish new systems, so I have lost interest in participating in the subsequent pursuit and conquest of territory... It is also a gesture of yielding the credit to my subordinates."

"That is good then." Lu Zhi nodded slowly, his face expressionless. "Warfare and chaos, though now unavoidable, remain the greatest evil under heaven... Fighting swiftly is also a good thing."

"My benefactor and teacher speaks truly." Gongsun Xun walked up to him, bowed deeply, and this form of address and action immediately startled Gongsun Ding, who was standing to the side. The latter hastily abandoned his scrutiny of the child opposite him and also bowed deeply, addressing him as 'my lord.'

"I have been here reclaiming and farming since last year, and have already harvested one season," Lu Zhi said, glancing at Gongsun Ding and then at the many white-horsed cavalrymen behind the father and son before continuing. "But the land is poor, and my household can barely make ends meet. However, since you, father and son, have come, there will always be a mouthful of food for you. As for the others, I cannot afford to host them, nor should they be allowed to disturb the neighbors. There are only a few households here, all impoverished and weak folk who came to reclaim the land with me... Let the children go play. You, come help me push the mill."

With these words, he turned back on his own, taking the sack and the broom made of sorghum heads from his young son's hands.

Gongsun Xun nodded slightly, then directly removed his outer robe and unbuckled his inner armor. He then stepped forward to push the mill... without uttering a single word throughout.

Behind him, Zhang Ji, Zhang Cheng, Mo Hukou, and the others watched without understanding what was going on. Yang Xiu, Fa Zheng, Liu Zhang, and several other Volunteer officers who had originally been extremely agitated could barely restrain themselves… but only barely. Within the ranks of the army, no one dared to speak out of turn; they could only retreat one after another, setting up a small camp outside the settlement on one hand, then hurrying back again on the other, stopping to watch.

Yet Gongsun Xun and Lu Zhi truly seemed to have little to say to each other. The two first pushed a millstone to grind flour, then one lit the stove fire while the other kneaded dough and pulled noodles… and finally, they truly sat down with their respective sons at a stone table before the door and ate noodles!

But even as they ate, the two only idly chatted about seasonal changes, farming seasons, and agricultural matters — not a single word related to politics, military strategy, or scholarship.

When they finished eating that day, the sky had darkened. Gongsun Xun again brought his son to lodge in Lu Zhi’s dwelling, sleeping on the ground.

Early the next morning, as usual, after breakfast, Lu Zigan was about to take his son out to the fields to hoe weeds, and Gongsun Xun still accompanied him… Nearby, officers like Mo Hukou and Zhang Cheng, plus the two hundred Volunteers, and farther away, five thousand foot and cavalry troops — hearing now that Gongsun Xun was personally going to the fields to hoe weeds, they were astonished beyond measure and came out of camp one after another to watch.

The Volunteers nearby were all at a loss. The five thousand foot and cavalry farther away dared not approach, but watched curiously from a distance, their astonishment indescribable.

No midday meal, and not a single superfluous word. Gongsun Xun and his son again accompanied Lu Zhi and his son in silently hoeing weeds for the greater part of the day… By the afternoon, when the hoeing was done, the white silk inner garment Gongsun Xun wore was already covered in dust and stained with grass juice — filthy beyond measure. Yet the man then turned toward an open patch of ground before the field ridge and, following Lu Zhi’s instructions, began to dig a pit… a shallow pit one zhang long, half a zhang wide, and three chi deep.

It took no great effort and was quickly finished.

Once the shallow pit was done, just as they were about to return to the settlement, Lu Zhi finally stopped on the field ridge and spoke: “My household has little grain, and you father and son eat too much — I truly cannot keep you. Leave today!”

“Yes.” Gongsun Xun answered with his mouth, but did not move a muscle.

“The several households in this settlement all followed me here because they heard of my reputation; nearly all are poor and weak. After I die, you must have the local Village Chief relocate them properly into regular villages…” Lu Zhi paused, then spoke again.

“Yes!” Gongsun Xun still did not move.

“After Dong Zhuo’s rebellion, as I traveled north along the way, I was trapped for a time and saw warfare raging everywhere, the people plunged into misery, to the point that white bones lay exposed in the wilds and for a hundred li no cock crowed… This was caused by my failure as a minister to stabilize the situation. Therefore, after I die, do not erect a stele to record my merits!”

“Yes!”

“Not only no stele…” Lu Zhi leaned on his hoe and continued. “Having seen so many dead, I now know that so-called rites and posthumous honors are all vanity. In chaotic times, grain, implements — everything is precious. When a man dies, it is like a lamp going out; the dead must no longer enjoy the things of the living. So after I die, use no inner or outer coffin. Send word, and when the local Village Chief comes to take the local residents, have him bury me in this pit as a matter of convenience! And you, by digging this pit for me today, have already fulfilled the utmost filial devotion of a student — do nothing more!”

“Yes!” Gongsun Xun exhaled lightly, but still did not move, as if he had long anticipated this.

“And there is A-Yu… he is too young; in the end, I cannot bear to have him suffer further with me. Besides, my days are few — it makes no difference whether it is half a year or a full year more. When you leave today, take him with you, and raise him well for me!”

“Is there any message you wish me to convey to him in the future?” Gongsun Xun glanced toward the open ground before the settlement. Having finished the farm work, his mentor’s young son was already playing merrily with his own eldest son, with whom he had grown familiar. And truly, as Lu Zhi had said, this child was far too young.

“Borrow an old saying of your mother’s… ‘Do no evil because it is small; do no good because it is small.’ If he can live by this in the future, I will truly have no further cares!”

“Yes… Does Teacher have any further words?” Gongsun Xun clearly wished to speak but held back.

“In personal matters, there is truly nothing more. I am but a decrepit relic of a bygone age, a candle guttering in the wind.” Lu Zhi looked at his student and answered with effort. “However, though I do not wish to bring up political affairs, there is one matter that moves me deeply. Having seen it, if I do not speak, it would not be right…”

“I beg Teacher to instruct me.”

“Military agricultural colonies and civilian agricultural colonies, though effective, are neither of them lasting methods… The common people are confined to one place, forced to labor, and made to hand over too much of the harvest. When famine had not yet ceased and warfare had not yet subsided, there was reason for it. But now that you have already brought the lands north of the Great River to order, you might as well lift the restrictions and convert the colonies into regular households!”

“What Teacher says is absolutely right.” Gongsun Xun quickly nodded. “I have long had a plan in mind for this. Here in Changping, after this season, it is precisely time to convert the colonies into households, taking the opportunity to divide the land equally according to able-bodied individuals, and at the same time reward the soldiers… While in the newly acquired lands to the south, we must use the warfare to consolidate land holdings, then under the name of civilian and military colonies, gather the common people anew. Only after two or three years will it be proper to follow this place’s example and carry out redistribution.”

“Not bad. Military and civilian colonies are also good means to seize the lands of powerful families and redistribute them in chaotic times. Since your mind is clear on this, I will say no more.” Lu Zhi was slightly taken aback, then immediately nodded.

“Then does Teacher have any other words?” Gongsun Xun continued to press without pause.

“None,” Lu Zhi’s expression remained unchanged. “Give me the hoe. Go.”

Gongsun Xun slowly nodded, handed over the hoe in his hands, then turned and walked toward where the two hundred Volunteers had long been waiting silently behind him. But after taking several steps, he suddenly came to a realization and turned back around. Facing Lu Zhi, who still stood watching him without moving, he raised his hands level with his forehead, prostrated himself on the ground and bowed, rose and bowed again, rose and bowed a third time — three rises and three bows.

Lu Zhi was at first somewhat stunned and meant to step forward and raise him up, but then suddenly understood. In the end, he simply stood on the field ridge leaning on the two hoes and accepted the full ceremony… He knew that after this, this student of his would have neither the standing nor the opportunity to bow to him again.

Teacher and student for a time — the resentments all perished with the decline and fall of the Han, but the bond of grace and duty could not be severed even in death.

That being the case, even if this man should one day ascend to the most exalted position, what harm would there be in accepting one bow from him?

—————— I am the dividing line of the final bow ——————

“At the end of Han, Empress Zhao followed the court envoy back to Liaodong to persuade her father Bao to send troops across the sea and cut off Shao’s rear. Not long after, the Grand Ancestor achieved great success on his own and brought his son north on a spring tour. In the second month, he reached Changping, just when a letter from the Empress arrived inquiring about the military affairs and asking whether she might return. The Grand Ancestor then wrote in reply: ‘Upon the paths, the flowers have bloomed; the old road through Liaoxi is at its most splendid. You may slowly, slowly return.’” — A New Account of the Tales of the World, Chapter on Favor and Rites

PS: Has the chapter discussion section come back yet? Truly… I’m about to die of stifled frustration.

(End of Chapter)