Taiheiki

Chapter 177: Take heart
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Yuan Shao came from one of the most illustrious families in the Han Dynasty. Even though he was already somewhat drunk, his demeanor remained elegant and impeccable.

"Would you like some more?" Wei Cong asked.

"Good!" Yuan Shao held out his tortoiseshell wine cup; his alcohol tolerance was quite good. "What kind of wine is this? It tastes really good! Wine?"

"A blend of several wines!" Wei Cong gestured, and a servant stepped forward to pour the wine. Only he and Yuan Shao were in the room; an oil lamp was lit on the table, making the surroundings dim. "Mulberry wine, plum wine, and bayberry wine, mixed with goat's milk in a specific ratio. Normally, ordinary wines aren't this rich and flavorful."

"Rich and mellow?" Yuan Shao took a large gulp, savoring it carefully. "Indeed, Brother Wei, you used that word perfectly. You really do have a servant who can mix drinks!"

"Oh, this is my own mixing!" Wei Cong took a small sip; he drank much slower than Yuan Shao.

"You arranged it yourself?" Yuan Shao was stunned. "You did this personally?"

“That’s right, you know your own taste best!” Wei Cong laughed.

"This is quite good!" Yuan Shao smiled, glancing at the dishes on the table: cucumber and oxtail soup, celery with walnuts, raisins, and crumbled goat cheese, steamed crab with glutinous rice, roasted oysters sprinkled with plenty of minced garlic, and stewed pheasant stuffed with lotus seeds and red dates, all accompanied by a uniquely flavorful wine. To be honest, this might not have been the most expensive meal Yuan Shao had ever eaten, but it was certainly the most delicious.

"Really?" Wei Cong put down his chopsticks. "The Yuan family of Runan has been a family with a salary of two thousand shi for generations. Their lifestyle must be quite comfortable, right? Can't the cook even make this?"

"How should I put it?" Yuan Shao rubbed his chin with his thumb. "My family is known for its exquisite and meticulous cuisine. It's not unusual for us to slaughter several sheep or eat a whole pig for a single meal. We spend a considerable amount on food. But these dishes are the first I've ever tasted here!"

"Oh!" Wei Cong nodded. To be honest, although there was a lot of variety in his dinner tonight, it didn't cost much. Longbian is not far from the sea, and seafood such as crabs and oysters are not worth much. They are also plentiful in the wild outside Shanji City. Although sheep cheese is a rare commodity, it is quite common in Panyu after the promotion of sheep farming in the mountains to the barbarians. The most expensive dish in the whole dinner was the oxtail soup. After all, in an agrarian society, oxen were a strategic resource, and the cost was incomparable to that of wealthy and powerful families like the Yuan family of Runan.

However, Wei Cong had one advantage that Yuan Shao couldn't match: he had tasted and seen far too many different kinds of dishes. Furthermore, after arriving in Panyu, he acquired a large quantity of spices through maritime trade. Although he still lacked many food varieties found only in the New World (such as potatoes, tomatoes, and pumpkins), and could only recreate a small portion of them, it was still far beyond the reach of a top nobleman like Yuan Shao from two thousand years ago. For example, cooking methods like steamed crab with glutinous rice, roasted oysters sprinkled with minced garlic, and salads with walnuts, raisins, crumbled goat cheese, and vegetables seasoned with salt, vinegar, and vegetable oil were things that Yuan Shao's cooks had never even considered, let alone been able to prepare.

"Then you can take a cook with you when you go back to Luoyang!" Wei Cong carefully scooped out the crab roe with a silver spoon, carried it with the glutinous rice, and put it in his mouth. "There are also some seasonings that are probably not easy to get in Luoyang, so you should take some back with you too!"

"You're quite generous!" Yuan Shao laughed. "Others probably wouldn't be so willing!"

“I trained him to cook!” Wei Cong replied nonchalantly. “I trained six people at the same time, so giving you one is no big deal! Aren’t you going to eat it? It won’t taste good if it gets cold!” Wei Cong pointed to the steamed crab and glutinous rice on the plate.

"Forget it!" Yuan Shao shook his head. It was the first time he had ever seen someone eat a crab. This strange animal with a hard shell and eight claws reminded him of a spider, and he immediately lost his appetite.

"Then I'll eat them!" Wei Cong reached out and grabbed two large, bright red claws. With a forceful squeeze of his silver tongs, the shells cracked open, revealing the snow-white crab meat inside. Wei Cong dipped it in vinegar and began to chew heartily. Seeing Wei Cong eating with such relish, Yuan Shao finally asked, "Brother Wei, aren't you afraid those people will take the risk?"

"Take a risk?" Wei Cong laughed. "They better not be that stupid. Wen Sheng is right behind us with six thousand men, about half a day's journey away!"

"So you had a backup plan?" Yuan Shao laughed. "You kept it a secret!"

"Warfare is based on deception! The capable feign incapacity!" Wei Cong laughed. "It's not that I'm deliberately trying to hide it from you alone!"

"It's alright!" Yuan Shao clapped his hands. "You've brought so many troops; when do you plan to quell the rebellion?"

"I plan to conquer Linyi first!"

"Conquer Linyi? Mengde, you haven't quelled your internal strife yet, and you're making an enemy outside? Isn't that a bit much?" Yuan Shao frowned. He hadn't been idle during his time in Panyu and knew a lot about the situation in Jiaozhou. He knew that Linyi was a newly emerging barbarian country south of Rinan, and that it had been invading the two counties of Rinan and Jiuzhen in Jiaozhou in recent years. This was related to the current unrest, but they hadn't completely broken off relations yet. Jiaozhou was currently beset by internal and external troubles, and Wei Cong was eager to create a new enemy as soon as he took office. It didn't seem like a wise move at all.

“Brother Benchu, when troubles occur in border prefectures like Jiaozhou, there are generally only two reasons: one is that the officials in charge are greedy and tyrannical, do not care about the people's strength, and exploit and extort too much, so that the people cannot bear it and therefore rise up in rebellion; the other is that there are foreign enemies causing trouble, allowing their troops to plunder people and property, and burn down fields and houses.”

To deal with the first cause, corrupt and tyrannical officials should be punished and replaced with honest officials. Only the ringleaders should be executed, and the people who followed the rebels should be pardoned and allowed to return to their hometowns to farm and support themselves. They will then become good citizens, and the rebellion will naturally subside. As for the second situation, the villages should be ordered to defend themselves with fortified villages to prevent them from looting. Then, elite troops should be sent to attack them, destroy their strongholds, and behead their leaders. A mound of statues should be erected to deter the disloyal, demonstrating the might of the Han Dynasty, which is present wherever the sun and moon shine.

The current turmoil in Jiaozhou is a combination of both. As the newly appointed governor, my authority is not yet established, and the people have not yet received my benevolence. If I rashly punish corrupt and tyrannical officials, their cronies will surely distort the truth and spread rumors, causing unrest among the people. If a foreign enemy invades further, with internal and external forces colluding, even if Han Xin and Bai Qi were resurrected, they would find it difficult to prevail. On the other hand, Lin-yi has plagued Jiaozhi for decades; even young children despise them. If I conquer their kingdom, the people will surely be grateful to me. After conquering Lin-yi, I can return and deal with the internal strife—wouldn't that be twice as effective with half the effort?

"What you say makes sense, but Linyi has been a kingdom for decades, and the generals and officials of Jiaozhou have repeatedly attacked it without success. They must have something to rely on. If the stalemate continues, it will be troublesome!"

“I have already questioned the local veterans, and it is nothing more than the fact that their city is located in a strategic location. Every time the troops advance, they either defend the strategic location or flee into the mountains and forests. As the war drags on, they fall ill!” Wei Cong smiled.

"I've heard they are also skilled at using elephants, which are ten feet tall and impervious to arrows. We must be prepared!"

Wei Cong laughed and said, "Benchu, please rest assured, if the thieves don't use this elephant, fine, but if they do, we will surely defeat them completely!"

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Wei Cong sat alone at the table, sipping the remaining wine. Servants came and went, clearing away the dishes and plates. Yuan Shao had already gone to rest. When everything was almost tidied up, Meng Gaogong entered from the outer room with his soldiers. He was dressed in hemp clothing, his bare back covered with thorns. He knelt on the ground and kowtowed, saying, "This sinful soldier pays his respects to the governor and begs for punishment!"

"It's you?" Wei Cong looked at Shi Wu and rubbed his temples. "Your arm injury has healed?" "It's healed long ago. Thank you for your concern, Governor!" Shi Wu knelt on the ground, his face pressed against the ground.

"Where is your brother? Why hasn't he come?"

"Brother—" Shi Wu's words caught in his throat. He didn't know what to say for a moment. Wei Cong stood up, looked at the young man kneeling on the ground, took the thorny branch off the other's back, played with it in his hand for a while, and suddenly lashed it hard. Shi Wu groaned, and a light red mark appeared on his back, which then swelled up.

"Get up!" Wei Cong casually tossed the thorny branch aside. "I won't feel at ease if I don't hit you!"

"Thank you for your magnanimity, Governor!" Shi Wu kowtowed twice in gratitude before standing up. Wei Cong's meaning was clear: the blow he had just received was considered a reprieve for his previous offenses. He knew that the other party was doing it out of respect for Kong Gui, and he secretly resolved to thank his teacher properly when he returned.

"Now you can tell me where your brother went, right?" Wei Cong asked. "Don't worry, I promise you, as long as he doesn't continue to oppose me, I won't kill him!"

“This—” Shiwu gritted his teeth and said in a low voice, “My elder brother has already left Longbian!”

"Then where did he go? He couldn't possibly have fled into the mountains to become a thief, could he?" Wei Cong laughed.

"No, my brother is going to Luoyang!"

"Going to Luoyang?" Wei Cong's smile vanished instantly, replaced by a serious expression. "Is he going there for me?"

"Yes!" Shi Wu nodded with difficulty. He knew that this was tantamount to betrayal, but if he, and even the Shi family, wanted to continue to establish themselves in Jiaozhou, he had to give this nod and sever ties with his brother. Otherwise, no matter how magnanimous Wei Cong was, he would never allow the enemy's family to continue to live in Jiaozhou.

"So that's how it is!" Wei Cong nodded. At this moment, his face showed no emotion, giving people a sense of unfathomable depth. Shi Wu gritted his teeth and knelt down: "Governor, I know which road my brother took. Please give me twenty men, and I will definitely bring him back!"

"You're going to get your brother?" Wei Cong frowned slightly. "If I remember correctly, you two brothers have a very good relationship, right?"

"That's all in the past!" Shiwu puffed out his chest. "I understand the difference between public and private matters!"

"Enough!" Wei Cong waved his hand. "You don't need to arrest your brother. It's pointless for him to do so. He doesn't understand the general trend of the world. What he's pursuing is nothing but a mirage, a dream. Even if he exhausts his efforts, it will be for nothing. Shiwu!"

"Your Excellency is here!" Shiwu hurriedly replied.

"The Shi family of Guangxin is a prominent clan in Lingnan, with deep prestige. Since I, Wei Cong, intend to establish myself in Jiaozhou, the Shi family must be loyal to me. Otherwise, no matter how unwilling I am, I will have no choice but to eliminate them. Do you understand what I mean?"

Although he already understood in his heart, hearing it from Wei Cong's own ears was a different matter. Shi Wu quickly nodded: "I understand, Your Excellency. Please rest assured, the Shi family of Guangxin will definitely be loyal to you!"

"No! You're not qualified to say that yet!" Wei Cong looked at Shi Wu and laughed, "I can return your family's mansion in Guangxin to you, but the Shi family of Guangxin must appoint you as the family head, or at least your heir! Do you understand what I mean?"

"what!"

“I know Shi Xie is the rightful heir of your Shi family in this generation, but that’s impossible now. I only trust you!” Wei Cong looked into Shi Wu’s eyes: “Now tell me, can I trust you?”

Shi Wu gritted his teeth and nodded forcefully: "Prefect, please rest assured, I will definitely convey your message to the rest of my family!"

“Simply relaying the message isn’t enough!” Wei Cong shook his head. “As my messenger, I’ll give you a hundred cavalrymen. If anyone dares to disobey, then there’s no need for them to continue living in this world!”

"Here!"

"As for your family's land and property, since it has already been confiscated by the government, it cannot be returned. However, if you achieve new merits, I will certainly reward you with other favors!"

"I understand!" Shi Wu was mentally prepared for this. What's said is said, and given what he and his brother had done in the past, it was already magnanimous of Wei Cong not to exterminate the Shi family. Not to mention that the confiscated land had already been distributed to meritorious soldiers, so it couldn't be returned to the Shi family. If they wanted to rebuild their family fortune, they would have to lead their clansmen and risk their lives: "When I return, I will certainly gather my clansmen and serve the governor!"

"Very good! You will serve as the Registrar of Households in my household!" Wei Cong nodded in satisfaction. This Shi Wu hadn't wasted his time studying the classics under Kong Gui; once he made up his mind to pledge allegiance, he knew his place. Since he intended to establish himself in Jiaozhou, he couldn't afford to become sworn enemies with the local gentry. Ultimately, he needed to win over a portion of them and use them for his own purposes. Shi Wu was a good example. If he was willing to bring dozens or even hundreds of his clansmen to serve him, it would set a good example for the entire Jiaozhou gentry. He certainly wouldn't be stingy with such a person.

"Thank you, Governor!" Shi Wu hurriedly knelt down to express his gratitude. With this bow, Wei Cong became Shi Wu's master, and Shi Wu became Wei Cong's subordinate. The master-servant relationship between the two was now established, and their relationship was quite different.

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Rinan County, Xijuan County.

In the morning light, the distant mountains resembled a giant emerald, almost merging with the sea. The bushes along the riverbank were laden with red berries, and Yu Wen saw a plump hare nimbly munching away, occasionally raising its head, its long ears perked up, warily surveying its surroundings. Above, an eagle lazily spread its wings, circling and gliding.

(End of this chapter)