Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 359 Guo Jia: I have a good plan to defeat Cao Cao!
In early March, on the outskirts of Luoyang in the capital, horse-drawn carriages and skinny donkeys were moving side by side, the sound of horses’ hooves grinding was heard constantly.

The re-discussion of the revision of the Han Records attracted many people to Luoyang.

In particular, the nobles and wealthy families from all over the country came as soon as they heard the call, because they got the news that the revised Hanji would not only compile and edit the events from Emperor Guangwu to Emperor Xiaoling, but also all the events from the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors to the present.

Liu Bei once said: "The Han Empire is vast and boundless, and the compilation of a book should be like this, it should be all-encompassing and include everything."

If you do not want to study it, then you can compile the Confucian classics, the works of various schools of thought, the events of the Xia, Shang, Zhou, Qin and Han dynasties, as well as poetry, elegant music, astronomy and calendar, star observation, mountains and rivers, local chronicles, agricultural sciences and craftsmen, and other classics, covering everything in the world, together with the records of various ethnic groups and countries, into a book.

It happened that the Han army was surveying farmland and eliminating local tyrants in various states, and many bamboo slips that had been collected in people's homes for hundreds of years, some dating back to the Zhou Dynasty, all fell into Liu Bei's hands, with more than 22,800 volumes of classics.

He lamented that so many books in the world were destroyed in wars and only copies were burned. He thought it would be better to take this opportunity to share his collection of books and the more than 4,000 volumes of Cai's books with the gentry and wealthy families in the world. As long as any clan could provide their classics for Luoyang to compile the book, they would have the opportunity to copy the entire volume after it was completed.

Of course, this is not without prerequisites. The classics in the home must be unique and solitary copies. If the books provided are available in Luoyang but some are not, then we can only copy selected volumes.

In short, the more supplementary recordings you provide, the more you can transcribe.

Those responsible for this matter included Lu Zhi, Zheng Xuan, Zhang Jian, Zhao Qi, Ying Shao, Xun Yue, and Cai Yan, the daughter of Cai Yong, who was appointed by the King of Han as the main editor, specifically to check whether any nobles and wealthy families used the newly compiled "classics" to cheat and pass the test.

This kind of falsification has been well known during the more than 100 years of disputes over ancient and modern classics.

Since Lu Zhi, the Grand Tutor and Prime Minister of Hejian, was still in Jizhou, the task of compiling the book was first given to Zheng Xuan and others to lead, which made Lu Zhi so angry in Hejian that he was secretly gritting his teeth.

If he had known that Xuande wanted to study all-encompassing and voluminous classics, he would never have gone to Hejian State to take up the post and would have stayed in Luoyang at all costs.

Now, his position as Grand Tutor was just an empty title, and the one who actually led the charge was Zheng Kangcheng.

Unlike Lu Zigan who was sulking in Hejian State, Zheng Xuan was busy receiving the nobles and wealthy families who came from various counties in Luoyang with a smile on his face. He also asked Zhang Jian, Zhao Qi, Ying Shao, Xun Yue, Cai Yan and others who were transferred to Luoyang to first integrate and compile the more than 20,000 volumes of the King of Han, and then negotiate with others about borrowing them.

This kind of work cannot be completed in a short period of time. It will take several years or even more than ten years to complete the compilation. But for Zheng Xuan, the King of Han took into consideration his advanced age and poor health, and feared that he did not have much time left, so he allowed him to start. This was already very good.

With Lu Zigan's physique, he could live at least a few years longer than him, but he still wanted to compete with him. He really didn't care about our friendship of many years.

Zheng Xuan shook his head, feeling dissatisfied in his heart.

"Lord Kang Cheng, I heard that the king wants to use Zuo Bo paper instead of bamboo slips and wooden tablets to edit books. Is this inappropriate?"

The Deng family of Nanyang also sent the most accomplished Confucian scholar to inquire about the matter of compiling the book.

Upon learning that such a huge book was written with paper instead of bamboo slips, the old scholar with gray hair could not help but be a little surprised. Although bamboo slips are heavy, they are not afraid of water like paper and will not break or be destroyed easily.

What's more, bamboo slips and wooden tablets have been used for more than 800 years since the Zhou Dynasty. Why should we abandon bamboo slips and choose paper that is easily wet?

Although the King of Han had ordered all states and counties to "use paper instead of bamboo slips", it was too risky to compile a classic with so many words without using the mature bamboo slips and instead using the newly produced Zuo Bo paper.

After hearing this, Zheng Xuan smiled and pointed to the paper in his hand and explained, "Paper is light and easy to carry. It is the same weight as bamboo slips, but can hold more words. It can be preserved longer if it is properly cared for. Moreover, people who love books will respect paper. Although this paper has some flaws, its merits outweigh its flaws. Why can't we use it?"

The old scholar thought for a long time, finally smiled bitterly, bowed his head and kowtowed.

After he left, Zheng Xuan stroked his beard. He had guessed the King of Han's intention, that he wanted to persuade these conservative people. Lu Zhi was a straight-forward person, and he was afraid that he would conflict with others and cause trouble. He could not help but sigh and said, "Zi Gan, I still envy you for accepting a good disciple."

In the final analysis, there is a slight difference between collecting first and collecting later.

……

Even though the nobles and gentry from various counties rushed to Luoyang to revise the book, Liu Bei did not ask about the matter any more. He transferred Zhao Yun, the prefect of Shanyang County, to Hanzhong, and changed Henei County back to its original name.

He also told Zhao Yun that his main task in Hanzhong, in addition to governing the people, was to put pressure on Liu Zhang of Yizhou, so as to plunge Xichuan into internal strife and consume its strength.

After learning that Zhang Xian of Jingnan had raised an army to rebel against Liu Biao, Liu Bei could not help but clap his hands and laugh, saying to Xun You and Guo Jia: "Liu Jingsheng has been refusing to surrender all day long, but the people's hearts are scattered, and the land of Jingxiang is no longer safe."

"I want Yide to reorganize his troops and immediately lead them south to Xiangyang. If the city wall is difficult to attack, he can go to Jiangxia County."

"Order Wen Qian to lead his troops from Runan to capture the counties of Jiangxia, avoid the sharp navy of Jingzhou, and strike Huang Zu fiercely, so that Liu Jingsheng will be trapped and attacked from both sides!"

"Zhang Wenyuan, Guan Hai, and Chen Yuanlong stationed troops for training to deter Cao Mengde of Jiangdong from interfering in the affairs of Jingzhou."

"If we can truly defeat Liu Biao in a few months, then Jiangdong will be within our reach."

Liu Bei's brows were filled with surprise. He didn't expect that Zhang Xian, the prefect of Changsha, would give him such a big gift.

He directly summoned soldiers from Changsha, Lingling and Guiyang counties, and attacked Jiangling in the southern county along the Yangtze River, dealing a severe blow to Liu Jingsheng.

The Jingzhou navy in Wuling and Nanjun were all transferred to deal with Zhang Xian. How could Huang Zu alone possibly withstand the pincer attack from Zhang Fei and Le Jin?

After Jiangxia was captured, even if Liu Biao was still resisting, they could march straight into the heart of Nanjun.

The moment Changsha Prefect Zhang Xian raised his army, Liu Jingsheng was doomed to never have the chance to defend Jingzhou and lost his room for maneuver.

Either you are smart and surrender as soon as possible, or you will retreat to Shouchun like Yuan Shu and die in the city.

When Guo Jia and Xun You heard what the King of Han said, they looked at each other. Guo Jia took the initiative to cup his hands and offered a suggestion with a smile: "Your Majesty, the people of Jingzhou are unstable, and the same will be true in Jiangdong. The officials and nobles of Wujun, Danyang, Kuaiji, and Yuzhang counties see that the Han Dynasty is about to be revived. How dare they have the heart to rebel against the Han Dynasty? They may be afraid of the land measurement, but they must be afraid and shaken in their hearts."

"In this case, why don't you send an envoy across the river to persuade Cao Mengde to surrender? Even if he returns without success, it can shake the courage of the people in Jiangdong."

"Jia Yuan would like to recommend two people to go as envoys to Jiangdong. Even if Cao Mengde does not surrender, he will be worried and will not dare to interfere in the affairs of Jingzhou again."

After listening to this, Liu Bei couldn't help being curious, so he chuckled and asked, "Who does Fengxiao want to send to Jiangdong as an envoy?"

"Your Majesty, if you ask Bao Yuncheng and Cao Zihuan to serve as Han envoys, it will be enough to break Cao's heart."

Guo Jia bowed to the King of Han, and then couldn't help laughing.

(End of this chapter)