Chapter 451: Old Debts, Like Words, Are Hard to Reclaim (Continued)

In early autumn of the seventh month, one day after the audience at the Bronze Sparrow Terrace, Lu Su formally paid his respects to the General of the Guard, Gongsun Xun. After conveying the regards of his lord Liu Bei, he directly announced the established fact that his lord would take over administration of the three southern commanderies of Xuzhou, while Cao Cao would take over Pengcheng Principality and the part of Donghai Commandery north of the Yi River.

To this, Gongsun Xun and the key staff and ministers attending the envoy did not say much.

After all, first, the so-called facts were already accomplished, and many words would be of no benefit;

second, by this day, whether Gongsun Xun or people like Lu Fan, they had long ago received the message sent back by Guo Jia from Xi Zhong, and knew that the relationship between Tao Qian and Liu Bei was far closer than imagined. Otherwise, Tao Gongzu would not have secretly transferred command of the Xuzhou naval forces he had painstakingly built to Liu Bei in advance. If even the army had been handed over early, what more was there to say?

In fact, being able to incorporate Zang Ba, this semi-independent minor warlord, this time before Zhou Yu and the Guangling naval forces could move north to Langya and intimidate him was already largely a matter of luck.

Indeed!

Those forty seagoing ships and ten thousand naval troops were not Liu Bei's at all, and the numbers were not accurate either. According to Xi Zhong's earlier records, to be precise, it was thirty-seven large ships, plus sixty-eight smaller vessels for logistics support and auxiliary combat, totaling over eleven thousand naval troops, with three main garrison ports—one each in Langya, Donghai, and Guangling... Think about it: Liu Bei's territory doesn't even border the sea, so how could forty seagoing ships suddenly appear out of nowhere? That force was something Tao Gongzu, after seeing Yuan Shao's earlier defeat and understanding the importance of the maritime frontier, had immediately invested massive manpower and resources to carefully build for defending his own coast, while also relocating the commandery seat from Donghai to Xiapi.

Fortunately, Xuzhou bordered the sea extensively; Langya, Donghai, and Guangling all had large numbers of fishermen familiar with maritime weather, and civilian shipbuilding techniques were not lacking. More importantly, nearly the entire Xuzhou hierarchy supported this endeavor with full effort... Thus, this force was formed very quickly and had gained considerable renown over the years. Especially in the last half year, after the ships were launched en masse and the force was fully established, they had even confronted the Qingzhou naval forces on a large scale along the Donghai coastline, losing only three ships while the Qingzhou navy also lost two. After that, it was even more regarded as Xuzhou's very lifeblood.

And when Liu Bei momentarily lost his composure and let it slip back then, Guo Jia could not help but observe Tao Qian and his trusted confidant, the Grand Administrator of Guangling, Zhao Yu, and immediately understood that Tao Qian had long intended to entrust Xuzhou to Liu Bei. Otherwise, he would not have handed over command of Xuzhou's lifeblood—its elite naval forces—in advance.

But come to think of it, Tao Qian and Liu Bei were not merely related by kinship; more importantly, Tao Qian's hometown of Danyang was now also under Liu Bei's governance. And since Tao Gongzu had decided not to let his two sons get involved in politics and planned for the whole family to return home and enjoy peace and prosperity, from any angle, he had no reason not to leave Xuzhou to Liu Bei!

As for putting on such a pretense at the time, it was probably because he knew the undercurrents swirling in his domain, with everyone harboring their own agendas, and he wanted to first stabilize this bunch of characters.

The only thing he didn't expect was that two reckless fools would spread rumors!

Even Gongsun Xun, for his part, could not help but ponder further: in another timeline, although Tao Qian had indeed grown old and feeble early on, his sudden death was directly related to Cao Cao's invasion of Xuzhou and the ensuing mass slaughter. So, this time, his sudden grave illness just after the Son of Heaven's capping ceremony—was it truly a terminal disease? And did Hua Tuo's words perhaps carry the earnest entrustment of the patient himself?

But no matter what, after the Son of Heaven's capping ceremony, all discerning people understood that the overall situation under Heaven was changing and the previous balance was destined to be broken. That Tao Gongzu could, with high rank and illustrious title, bring his whole family safely and prosperously back to his hometown to enjoy his remaining years in peace was, in its own way, a fine ending.

Only, recalling how he spent half his life glaring fiercely at the world, unyielding for decades, defying Heaven, defying Earth, defying the Three Excellencies, defying subordinates, defying famous scholars—yet in his twilight years could not escape the hero's failing spirit—it truly made one sigh with regret.

"Is there anything else?" Gongsun Xun, seated upright behind the desk in the hall, asked casually while his mind wandered in confusion.

"There are still a few minor matters for which I ask the General of the Guard to make a decision." As Lu Su spoke, under the watchful eyes of the assembled key ministers of Ye, he drew a small paper packet from his bosom and handed it to a nearby officer of the Volunteer Corps to present on his behalf.

Gongsun Xun took the paper packet from the officer, opened it, and found a stack of cloth tickets, grain tickets, goods tickets, silver notes, and the like issued by the Anli Firm. He could not help but laugh: "What does Zijing mean by this?"

"I ask the General of the Guard to halt the circulation of these items in the Central Plains," Lu Su said earnestly. "How can mere scraps of paper be exchanged for actual goods..."

"Has the Anli Firm ever refused to redeem them for actual goods?" Gongsun Xun interrupted him, questioning directly.

"That, it has not..." Lu Su replied helplessly.

"In that case, we must be reasonable, mustn't we?" Gongsun Xun countered with a smile. "On what grounds should I forbid the circulation of these items, and on what grounds should you forbid it? Because the Mi clan's trading house—the family of your Liu Yuzhou's concubine—cannot compete with the Anli Firm? Because their own house lacks credibility, they want to use your Liu Yuzhou's influence to carry out such a despicable act? Besides, as far as I know, the Mi clan has also imitated this and issued salt tickets and tea tickets. If you ban these, must those be banned as well?"

Lu Su fell silent for a moment.

It must be said that Lu Zijing was an acknowledged honest man. This did not mean he was incompetent or endlessly yielding; on the contrary, it was because he was a person of inner brilliance, who understood the big picture in his heart, distinguished the important from the trivial, and knew the root of things, and therefore was unwilling to argue over superficial matters or engage in pointless debates.

Just like this matter... Lu Su was very clear in his heart that the reason for this issue on this trip, from the big picture or on the surface, was the worry that once north and south went to war, the Central Plains would be taken advantage of by Hebei through the Anli Firm. From within Liu Bei's faction, it was exactly as Gongsun Xun had bluntly exposed: it was the demand of the Mi clan, that "counterfeit Anli Firm"依附于 Liu Bei. And from the perspective of Liu Bei and Lu Su, it was actually an attempt to use these small items to further probe Gongsun Xun's attitude toward war.

How to put it?

The Taishan region in eastern Yanzhou had been forcibly taken by Gongsun Xun back then, the vital Cangting area on the Yellow River route had been forcibly taken, and now Langya had also been taken by him. From the perspective of military strategy, Gongsun Xun had already gained a comprehensive positional advantage over the Central Plains region... At such a time, one had to seriously consider the topic of an all-out north-south war. Everything else was not worth mentioning.

"What the General of the Guard says is correct," Lu Zijing said frankly after a moment's thought. "The Anli Firm and the Mi clan's Donghai Firm are both ordinary trading houses under the governance of the Great Han. How can we, as men in government, act unjustly without legal basis? This matter was indeed somewhat abrupt. Allow me to return to Shouchun and discuss it carefully with my lord."

"Good." Gongsun Xun nodded slowly. "Is there anything else?"

"There is one more matter." Lu Su seemed slightly hesitant. "The University of Yecheng has many renowned Confucian scholars and great masters, and its teaching is outstanding. In Huainan these years, although there is also the University of Shouchun, it is merely a place for debating the classics. The so-called examination system only uses tests to determine assignments after recruitment, and is basically nominal... It is only in the last two years, after the Central Plains were completely stabilized, that some young capped scholars from Huainan and Wu have come seeking education, beginning to form a modest scale."

Gongsun Xun frowned slightly.

"To be frank with the General of the Guard, my lord Liu Yuzhou wishes to ask the General of the Guard to permit us to invite some renowned Confucian scholars and great masters from the University of Yecheng to come south and provide some instruction," Lu Su said directly, seeing the other's expression.

"That can be done." Unexpectedly, Gongsun Xun agreed at once. "But there are a few conditions... First, the invited lecturers must not exceed one-tenth of the lecturers at the University of Ye; no more is permitted. Second, you must guarantee their board, lodging, safety, and treatment, and they must be free to come and go—absolutely do not let them go and never return... Finally, do not say that only the north can go south. In my view, scholarship should know no north, south, east, or west. Talented individuals from Huainan and Wu can also come north."

Lu Su forced out a trace of a smile.

"Zijing, do not play dumb." Gongsun Xun sneered at the sight. "I still remember now that you have someone in Huainan called Jiang Gan, Jiang Ziyi, and two young men from Nanyang and Yingchuan, one called Meng Jian and the other Shi Tao. Back when the university was first established, the three of them traveled north together, and all three entered with results in the top ten. A year later, they again graduated together with top-ten results in the subject-specific examination, and have now all gone out to serve as county magistrates for a year and returned. Thus, in the academy they are jointly called the Three Southern Talents of the First Cohort... At the time of their enrollment, I was very pleased and even said that with Jiang Gan's arrival, Ye would surely become a gathering place for brilliant talents in the future. And what was the result? Except for that first year, the number of young talents coming north to Ye to study, take exams, and enter official service has grown fewer and fewer. Upon inquiring, I learned that Liu Xuande and Cao Mengde, those two shameless wretches, had actually set up checkpoints at key communication points in their respective domains to block them. Is this something a human being would do? I repeatedly wrote letters cursing their shamelessness, and both of them played dumb just like you... And today you actually have the face to come borrow lecturers, and I actually agreed on the spot... Ha!"

"The General of the Guard embraces all under Heaven in his heart!" Lu Su bowed his head earnestly and said, still playing dumb as before. "But if I may say so, the talents in Ye are already more than enough. Moreover, General Cao Fenwu and my lord Liu Yuzhou were not acting purely out of selfish motives... Many scholars from humble families are either too poor or have family concerns that prevent them from traveling far from home."

"As you will!" Gongsun Xun said with a faint, ambiguous smile. "Let us see how much longer they can hold out! Is there anything else?"

Lu Su's heart gave a violent leap, but he immediately raised his head and resumed his composure: "There are two more private matters. One is to deliver a gift on behalf of my lord Liu Yuzhou to the Elder Lady Gongsun, to express his filial regard. The other is that my lord Liu Yuzhou has asked me to travel north to Zhuo Commandery to offer sacrifices at his ancestors' graves on his behalf."

"Matters within reason." Gongsun Xun glanced at Lu Su and said indifferently, "Do as you please... And one should not trouble two masters for one task. Whether you wander about Yecheng or travel north to Zhuo Commandery, you need not report to me again on any matter. Just go directly to Fengxiao later. I have one more matter to attend to, and then I too must take my leave."

"Where is the General of the Guard going?" Lu Su was momentarily taken aback.

"The Son of Heaven has been capped; a thousand threads, ten thousand strands!" Gongsun Xun said as he rose and walked past Lu Su and Chen Deng toward the outside, several key ministers who had remained silent all along following suit. "As one of the regent ministers and the man who oversees the military and civil affairs of the nine provinces, I must make a trip to Chang'an... Otherwise, would I not be cursed as a Han minister in name but a Han traitor in truth?"

Lu Su stood stunned on the spot.

Only after a long while did he and Chen Deng come back to their senses, and then they followed the waiting Volunteer Corps officer outside to find Guo Jia.

Once out the door, Lu Su hastily bowed and greeted this unfamiliar officer: "I have troubled you, sir. May I ask your name?"

The young officer, already beginning to grow a beard, slightly cupped his hands in return salute with a composed bearing that revealed a distinguished family manner: "I am merely Yang Xiu, Yang Dezu, of Huayin in Hongnong. I dare not trouble the envoy to inquire..."

Lu Su and Chen Deng were stunned once again.

After a long moment, it was Chen Deng who hastily cupped his hands: "So it is the descendant of a family friend! I am Chen Deng, Chen Yuanlong, of Xiapi. Greetings to Dezu!"

"Greetings, Brother Yuanlong. We are indeed family friends." Yang Xiu smiled and returned the salute, then gestured for the two to follow him deeper into the residence to find Guo Jia.

The three walked along, one after the other, and it was still Chen Deng who could not help but continue the conversation: "What post does Dezu currently hold, and why was Dezu not seen on the Bronze Sparrow Terrace the night before last?"

"Brother Yuanlong's two questions happen to lead to the same answer." Yang Xiu, hand on his sword, answered as he walked alongside. "I underwent the capping ceremony this year and have just left my post in the Volunteer Corps. I am about to proceed to Pingguo in Liaodong to assume the post of Magistrate of Pingguo. The day before yesterday, I happened to be on leave to bid private farewells to friends in Ye, and so I just missed my general's declaration that 'every man bears responsibility for the rise and fall of all under Heaven.' A pity! A pity! And you do not know, but once those words were spoken, another debate will erupt in the university, and Cai Bojie will be strung up for criticism again... In any case, I will also miss another fine show then..."

Chen Deng had a bellyful of questions he wanted to ask, but did not know where to begin, nor even whether he should ask.

"Does Brother Yuanlong wish to ask why I, as a son of the Yang clan, do not go to Chang'an at this critical juncture to repay the old debt of gratitude to the Han house? Or does he wish to ask whether the General of the Guard is sending me to Liaodong at this time out of wariness and suspicion?" Yang Xiu seemed to read his thoughts, and so spoke startling words.

Chen Deng was instantly speechless.

"Yuanlong need not mind." Yang Dezu still smiled, clearly unbothered. "Such topics are taboo for others, but for us sons of ducal houses, they are unavoidable. Why cover them up? And when it comes to me, it is even more a case of 'many debts make one worry-free'..."

"That is true. Then..."

"Counting from my great-great-grandfather down to my father, my family has held the Three Ducal Offices for four generations. One could say we have received the Han's grace to the utmost," Yang Xiu slowly sighed and remarked. "Yet my great-great-grandfather died remonstrating for the Han house, perishing from poisoned wine. My grandfather served as imperial tutor but could not stop Emperor Ling from ruining the state... Everyone under Heaven knows that he, like Lord Liu and Lord Qiao who passed away in succession at the same time, rather intentionally went with the current, using his life to repay the Han house's grace, and also somewhat could not bear to face the people of the world, suspected of being driven to death by Emperor Ling's reckless outrages. Brother Yuanlong, tell me yourself: four generations of the Three Ducal Offices—is there only grace, and no resentment?"

"I naturally know of such matters," Chen Deng replied earnestly. "Though my family cannot compare to your esteemed family in such intensity, we too have, on one hand, received grace over several generations, and on the other, felt deeply the tyranny of that autocrat Emperor Ling. But..."

"But grace and resentment are entangled thus, inherently possessing a sense of being two yet also one, utterly inseparable, is that not so?"

"That is precisely my meaning."

"Therefore, my father speaks for the Son of Heaven in Chang'an, while the General of the Guard specifically sends me to Pingguo as a seventh-rank county lord." Yang Xiu finally stopped and turned around. "Yuanlong thinks my journey to distant Pingguo is tantamount to banishment... That is the honest truth. But conversely, why could it not be that my general, knowing my difficulty, is specifically protecting me? Such matters are fundamentally like the relationship between our two families and the Han house—how can they be clearly explained by what is grace, what is resentment, what is right, what is wrong? The grace and virtue of the Han house seem majestically righteous, but does my general's discourse on the realm and the state lack reason? Each simply follows his own heart, that is all!"

"The key is, what does Dezu think?" Chen Deng grew increasingly urgent. "What is your true intent?"

Yang Xiu glanced at Chen Deng as if looking at a fool, cut off all further exchange, and continued leading the way. Chen Deng, under the sidelong gaze of Lu Su beside him, suddenly understood with a start — he really had been a fool. Was there even any need to ask?!

Yet, realization aside, Chen Deng felt his heart grow more and more disordered... Pitiable indeed — a hero of lakes and seas, full of bold spirit within the three acres of Xuzhou, now outside his home ground was like a country bumpkin entering a city for the first time, unable even to find his bearings.

Setting aside Lu Su's visit to Guo Jia, and whether the trip to Zhuo Commandery was to honor Liu Bei's ancestors or to covertly probe military readiness — the last major matter Gongsun Xun handled before his departure was, in fact, a large-scale reorganization of his Volunteer Followers... This was something long prepared; otherwise, young grassroots officials like Wang Ling and Jiang Gan, who had excelled in their assessments, along with certain outstanding students from the Yexia Academy, would not have appeared atop the Bronze Sparrow Terrace that day.

In truth, according to Gongsun Xun's vision, the ideal career path for the finest talents should be: binding up one's hair and entering the Academy, passing the Shece imperial examination upon coming of age, then going out to serve two or three years as a low-level official close to the people. Those who performed exceptionally would then enter the Volunteer Followers as close attendants, so that by the age of twenty-five or twenty-six, they could be confidently released into the bureaucratic system and left to grow freely.

However, pressing circumstances demand expedient measures. The Academy and the Volunteer Followers system were still imperfect, and after all, the realm was still a fractured world in chaos. One must not assume that two years of peace in Hebei meant all under heaven was utterly tranquil — in the regions, on the borders, and everywhere else, turmoil still churned as ever. Under such conditions, hoping to fully institutionalize talent development was clearly unrealistic...

Take the cohort of Jiang Gan, Meng Jian, and Shi Tao, for example. When the Academy was first established, the ages of those who came varied enormously — one could even say they were generally older. Men like Jiang Gan and the other two, who had just undergone the capping ceremony, were already considered young among them. Moreover, they had largely already achieved success in their family studies and came solely to become officials. Thus, they were trained for only one year before being permitted to take the examinations and enter service, in order to settle people's minds.

Correspondingly, in the second year, the situation reversed. Zhuge Liang, Liu Zhen, Guo Huai, and others arrived in succession, and their academic performance was excellent. But they were generally not yet of the hair-binding age, and no matter what, they could not realistically be made to immediately sit for the graduation examinations and receive official appointments.

Conversely, the group of Jia Kui, Yang Xiu, Fa Zheng, Meng Da, and Liu Zhang had been Volunteer Followers from the start. They had participated in many battles within the Volunteer Followers and generally possessed deep family learning. It would also have been inappropriate to send them back to study.

Beyond these, there were also men like Wang Ling. He had originally been among the same cohort as Yang Xiu and the others — a court gentleman in the Weiyang Palace of Chang'an. But because of his uncle, after the court gentlemen were absorbed by Gongsun Xun, he found an excuse to return to his ancestral home in Taiyuan. Later, he followed the typical old path, starting as a commandery clerk, and upon coming of age was recommended by the Grand Administrator of Taiyuan, Chang Lin, to serve as the County Magistrate of Faqian. And now, this man had seen the error of his ways and repented... Could you drive away such a talent simply because he was neither a Volunteer Follower nor a Yexia Academy student?

Even if he was Wang Yun's own nephew!

Moreover, there were special cases within this, such as Ma Chao... Ma Chao had been sent as a hostage. At the time, he was somewhat young, so he was sent to Changping together with Wang Can, forming a kind of foster relationship. Later, Wang Can, like Zhuge Liang, Sima Yi, Wen Hui, and others, took the entrance examination, successfully entered the Academy, obtained the status of an Academy student, and consistently achieved excellent grades.

But what about Ma Chao?

Ma Chao never attended school at all. He drifted around Changping for two years, then came to drift around Yecheng. The Yexia Academy actually had a typical policy of lenient entry and strict exit, and if one truly lacked the foundation to pass the entrance exam, there was no need to fear, because theoretically, anyone was allowed to audit for free. Those who were not Academy students or who could not pass the exam could all follow the lessons and then take the exam later... But Ma Chao simply could not bring himself to study, no matter what, nor was he willing to take the exam. Instead, he secretly called in a favor from Pang De and entered the Volunteer Followers. And perhaps because this fellow grew up on the frontier and was accustomed to life and death from a young age, by the time he reached adolescence, the ferocity within him burst forth!

He was involved in every single incident, and at the slightest provocation, he would draw his blade... Had it not been for Pang De and Zhang Ji, his two fellow townsmen, protecting him, he would not have survived within the Volunteer Followers.

But neither could this fellow simply be cast aside and ignored, could he? No matter what, he was Ma Teng's eldest son. This was Ma Chao, after all!

And so this fellow continued to drift along in the Volunteer Followers. This year, at the age of nineteen, he forcibly underwent the capping ceremony, with Gongsun Xun personally bestowing upon him the courtesy name Mengqi. He successfully transitioned to a formal career alongside the cohort of Jia Kui, Yang Xiu, Fa Zheng, Meng Da, and Liu Zhang... Among them, Jia Kui, Yang Xiu, and Liu Zhang became local officials; Fa Zheng and Meng Da went into the military; and Ma Chao was dispatched by Gongsun Xun to serve as a Platoon Commander under the Cavalry Commandant Zhao Yun... to keep him out of sight.

In summary, Gongsun Xun indeed needed to replenish the Volunteer Followers with fresh blood. The final selection comprised a large group, numbering as many as six hundred, in order to maintain the current White Horse Volunteer Followers' scale of three thousand — ranging from outstanding Yexia Academy graduates to the scions of high officials and meritorious nobles from the nine provinces of Hebei; from hostages from Liangzhou, Yizhou, and Jiaozhou to self-recommended sons of good families skilled in both archery and horsemanship; from the brothers, sons, and nephews of fallen officers and soldiers to outstanding young bureaucrats already serving in various posts — the variety was endless.

As for the few most outstanding and well-known among them, they were Jiang Gan, Meng Jian, Wen Hui, Wang Ling, Xu Gan, Xu Miao, and Shi Kuang... Wang Can truly lacked the strength to truss a chicken; Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang were still somewhat young; and crucially, Gongsun Xun had even protectively placed Yang Xiu in far-off Pingguo. These two clever youths — it was better not to bring them to Chang'an, lest they see through something and have their entire worldview thrown into chaos.

Only in the case of Wang Ling did Gongsun Xun deliberate at length, and in the end, he handled matters according to the rules, so as not to chill the hearts of others.

With all matters properly settled, in the first ten days of the seventh month, General of the Guards Gongsun Xun, leaving behind Chief Clerk Lu Fan, Advisers Shen Pei, Lou Gui, and Major Han Dang as his留守, took only a portion of his staff. Then, as before, with Han Hao as Central Protector of the Army, Zhang Ji and Pang De as the civil and military Protectors of the White Horse Volunteer Followers, and with Lieutenant General Zhang Liao and Cavalry Commandant Zhao Yun as附属, each leading three thousand cavalry, plus the honor guard and various subordinate officials, totaling nearly ten thousand horsemen, they followed the Yellow River as their main route and set forth in a grand, sweeping procession toward Chang'an.

However, just as the honor guard passed through Henei and was preparing to cross the river at Mengjin to proceed westward along the river through Henan, before the very eyes of the Governor of Sizhou and General Who Guards the South, Cheng Pu, and the Grand Administrator of Henei, Qian Zhao, someone suddenly blocked the road at the ferry crossing to cry out for justice... Encountering such a matter, the two men, being in a position of suspicion themselves, how could they dare to obstruct him? They allowed this elderly man, who wore a Jinxian cap and could not truss a chicken, to pass all the way unimpeded until he stood before Gongsun Xun.

Yet, when the elder came before Gongsun Xun, he bowed low, but instead of raising any grievance, he publicly urged the General of the Guards, Gongsun Xun, to return supreme governance to the Son of Heaven.

According to his meaning, only thus could the General of the Guards achieve the virtue of the Duke of Zhou, and could the Blazing Han restore its glorious golden age. Otherwise, the house of Han would not survive, and the General of the Guards would also face great calamity.

Gongsun Xun could not be bothered to engage with him. Without even asking the man's name, he directly ordered that this person be properly escorted home and handed over to his son for proper care and support.

—————I am the dividing line of Could Not Be Bothered—————

"In the fifth year of Jian'an, the Grand Ancestor of this dynasty passed through Henan. A recluse of Henei blocked his path and addressed him: 'Since the Exalted Ancestor slew the white serpent, four hundred years have passed. Though the realm has been riven by strife and the altars of state have faced peril, yet the four quarters still look up to the virtue of the house of Han — truly, it is the Mandate of Heaven that rests upon it! And the General of the Guards, having punished Dong Zhuo and swept clean Hebei, though his troops are elite and his provisions ample, the hearts of the people still do not submit to him. Therefore, it is said: if the General of the Guards can return supreme governance to the Son of Heaven, then he may achieve the virtue of the Duke of Zhou and simultaneously restore the glory of the Blazing Han. Men like Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Liu Yan, and Liu Biao, moved by the General's virtue, will surely lay down their armor and come to surrender one after another. At that time, the state will be secure and the people joyful — would that not be splendid?' The Grand Ancestor laughed and replied: 'In the time of Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling, the Han mandate declined. Eunuchs brewed calamity; the state was in chaos, the years凶暴, and the four quarters were in turmoil. It was said: within the halls of the temple, rotten wood served as officials; between the palace steps, beasts and birds fed on official emoluments. Thus, men with the hearts of wolves and the conduct of dogs surged mightily through the court, and servile, obsequious wretches grasped the reins of governance one after another. As a result, the altars of state were reduced to mounds of ruins, and the common people suffered the agony of trampling mud and coals! The Yellow Turbans first threw thirty-two commanderies into chaos. Afterward, Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, and others rose in succession, ravaging the house of Han, carving up territories, plundering without restraint, and brutalizing the living. Is this not so?' The recluse replied: 'These are indeed true words. The evils of Huan and Ling, the tyranny of Dong and Yuan — all men know them. Yet the Son of Heaven today has just bound up his hair. He has occupied the great throne for many years, has committed no acts of moral failing, and is intelligent and fond of learning.' The Grand Ancestor laughed again: 'That is not my meaning. Seeing you, sir, speak so eloquently, and of such advanced age, I wished to ask you: in those times of Huan, Ling, Dong, and Yuan, where were you, sir?' The recluse departed in great shame." — Miscellaneous Records of the Scholarly Grove. Yan. Recorded by an Anonymous Author

(End of Chapter)