Jinting Han people

Chapter 145: Sparrow (4k)

At the same time, in the fortress of the Shangzhuang Dong family, Dong Chong also received the report from his eldest son Dong Heng.

"Are you saying that our new county lord is the son of Anle Gong, the great-grandson of Liu Xuande? Or is he a distinguished second-rank official who appears only once every few years in the imperial court?"

He was quite puzzled. He stood up and walked around a few times before asking, "Really? Aren't they the two Wangs and three Kes? They are worshipped in Luoyang, so why did they come to us?"

Dong Heng was also quite uneasy. Even though he had been walking for a long time, he was still shocked by the news. He replied, "Your Excellency, Wang Duyou did say so."

In the eyes of the people of Luoyang, as one of the Two Kings and Three Ke, the Anle Mansion was little more than a slick facade, a mascot. While it symbolized the great achievements of the empire and the inheritance of the orthodox doctrine and legal system, it ultimately held no power and, therefore, no one respected it.

After all, there are so many glamorous things in Luoyang that people have lost their sensitivity to glamour, their awe of history, and even their yearning for legends.

What's more, it is a mess as to which of the two kings and three Ke truly represented the Han Dynasty, the Anle Duke's Mansion after Liu Bei or the Shanyang Duke's Mansion after Liu Xie. No one will respect the Anle Duke.

But that was only in Luoyang, the seat of imperial power at its most powerful. The Two Kings and Three Ke were so called because, outside of Luoyang, in the minds of most people, these names became synonymous with legend and deity. Everyone grew up hearing about the history of this land. Even if you had no blood connection to these names, seeing their descendants in person always felt a strange feeling, as if dreams had become reality, legends had become reality.

Dong Chong now had this feeling, and he asked Dong Heng, "Did Wang Duyou explain clearly why the court sent him here?"

Dong Heng replied cautiously, "Inspector Wang isn't very clear either. The county government only said that he was demoted here because he was involved in the recent factional strife and offended the Empress."

"Offended the Empress?" Dong Chong was horrified. Over the past year, the court had been plagued by intense political strife, a fact widely known even in the borderlands. But as long as it didn't affect one's own lives, it was merely a distant story. Dong Chong, however, never imagined that such a distant turmoil would reach Xiayang. This filled him with unease, and he became even more hesitant to underestimate Liu Xian.

Faced with such a person, Dong Chong felt a headache and asked, "Does the Inspector have any instructions?"

"Instructions?"

"Since the new county lord is such a person, how can we, the people below him, act on our own? A drop of water from above, when it falls to the local level, will cause a thunderstorm. Did the Inspector reveal the truth? What is the attitude of the county government? What is the attitude of the Western Expedition Army?"

"Ah, Wang Duyou said that the court's factional strife has just ended, and many personnel changes are still unstable. It is said that our county governor will also be replaced, and he is unsure about the decision, so he asked us to wait and see for a while and make a decision next year."

"So..." Dong Chong was speechless for a long time after hearing this. After his eldest son left, he lit the brazier and then sat in front of it to meditate.

Wang Duyou's suggestion was perfectly reasonable. As a local county leader, he was essentially a small fish that could be manipulated at will. When unsure of the central government's direction, lying low and waiting was the best option. Acting rashly or testing the waters could only lead to catastrophic consequences.

This is a wisdom that has been repeatedly verified by the Chinese for thousands of years: survival is everything, and everything is for the sake of survival. Think of the reforms of Wu Qi and Shang Yang, which were nothing short of thunder and rain, transforming the world. But as soon as they died, there was an immediate reckoning and counterattack. If Fusu had accepted death with equanimity, wouldn't the Qin Dynasty have collapsed in an instant?

Liu Xian's current actions in the county were radical, but to put it bluntly, they merely meant dismissing several of his family members from official positions and reducing their income from the county. While this did cause losses, it wasn't unacceptable.

However, Liu Xian's next plan was something Dong Chong could not accept. Liu Xian claimed to wipe out all the horse bandits in the county, but Dong Chong had a relationship with Hu Yanchang in the south.

Fourteen years earlier, when Dong Chong was still under thirty, he was serving as the county magistrate's chief clerk and was traveling to Hedong to buy paper when he ran into Hu Yanchang, a man in distress from Pingyang. Hu Yanchang, then a small-time bandit with a team of a dozen men, had his eye on the money Dong Chong was carrying and intended to kill him.

At this critical moment, Dong Chong had an idea and displayed the greatest talent of his life, which was to persuade Hu Yanchang to cooperate with him.

Dong Chong advised Hu Yanchang to take a long-term view and come to Xiayang to be a horse thief. Dong Chong secretly revealed the news, provided financial support, and divided the proceeds into 50-50.

This was a brilliant move. Hu Yanchang had been desperate and had planned to take a detour to join the Tiele tribe. However, after Dong Chongde's persuasion, he arrived in Xiayang, where he was able to plunder at will. He then made friends among the Xiongnu in Pingyang and quickly grew in strength.

After learning the news, the county government sent over a thousand soldiers to suppress the rebellion. However, due to the Dong family's internal support, the county government's repeated suppression efforts were in vain. Not only were there no gains, but even Hu Yanchang was hard to find. Only when Dong Chong led the way himself did he occasionally achieve some success.

Under these circumstances, not only did Hu Yanchang's army expand to nearly 200 men, but the Dong family's status in Xiayang also soared, rising from being ranked alongside the Feng and Tong families to becoming the most prominent of the three clans. Dong Chong himself ascended to the position of county lieutenant and earned a reputation as a skilled military advisor. Every subsequent Xiayang governor, in order to maintain their position, relied on Dong Chong's assistance.

Of course, not everything went smoothly. Every gain has its share of losses. After several setbacks, the county government almost gave up on governing Xiayang. The people of Xiayang gradually became destitute, and bandits from all sides began to pour in, putting the situation beyond Dong Chong's control.

As Hu Yanchang became more successful, he became increasingly arrogant towards Dong Chong. He no longer treated him as an equal, but instead used Dong Chong's weakness to gain leverage over him, often making unreasonable demands. For example, he forcibly married one of Dong Chong's nieces and changed the originally agreed 50-50 split of the profits to a 30-70 split, leaving Dong Chong helpless.

But no matter what, the Dong family and Hu Yanchang have already had a relationship of coexistence and prosperity, and it is impossible for Dong Chong to go back.

At this time, Liu Xian not only dismissed Dong Chong from his post as county lieutenant, but also claimed that he would wipe out the horse bandits, which was almost like slashing Dong's neck.

"This is not easy..." he muttered to himself.

Dong Chong's original plan was to investigate Liu Xian while simultaneously sending people to investigate his habits and preferences, preparing for both scenarios. If Liu Xian was approachable, he would cater to his interests, curry favor with him, and then help him achieve some achievements. If Liu Xian was not approachable and difficult to provoke, he would secretly mobilize his connections to make him unable to accomplish anything. If Liu Xian's background was merely average, simply having him die in Xiayang would not be impossible.

But now Dong Chong was in an awkward position. Liu Xian had been training his troops at Gaomenyuan for a while, not even in the county government, let alone gathering information. Whether it was flattery or framing him, he had no chance. He had originally thought that Liu Xian's elimination of the horse bandits was just a joke. But now, seeing the movement at Gaomenyuan, it seemed that he was sincere. This made Dong Chong uneasy. His only consolation was that such hasty training would probably yield no results in the short term, and it was unlikely that he would be able to defeat Hu Yanchang, who had been wreaking havoc for over a decade.

But after hearing the news that Liu Xian was Liu Bei's successor, Dong Chong's confidence was shaken like never before, and then a question occupied his mind: Can he really not do it?

Maybe he has a brilliant plan, maybe he has the help of a noble person, maybe he is destined to be with him... No matter what the method is, he is still a descendant of Liu Bei. If he really does it, wouldn't he be finished?
This thought made Dong Chong unable to calm down. Even with the charcoal fire in front of him, his face turned as cold and pale as a ghost. He could almost see Liu Xian clearing out the horse bandits within three months, and then he would be implicated and dragged to the execution ground.

He couldn't wait any longer! He should immediately think of a way to meet with the Prince of Anle. If reconciliation was possible, then reconcile. If not, then kill him!
But just after making up his mind, Dong Chong felt frustrated again: this new county lord was unyielding and almost isolated himself from the world. How could he approach him?

While he was pondering over the charcoal fire, a servant came in to report that Hu Wan, the military clerk from the county government, was here to visit.

Dong Chong was shocked when he heard the voice. He immediately cheered up, got up and went out to greet him, then took Hu Wan's hand and walked into the house, chatting and chatting as they walked, which made Hu Wan flattered.

After they sat down together, Dong Chong poured Hu Wan another cup of milk and said with a smile, "Bo Quan, you are a rare guest! I thought that after the county lord dismissed me, no one would come to visit anymore."

Hu Wan quickly flattered him, "Mr. Dong, what are you talking about? I'm an official in the county government entirely because of your support. And it's not just me. There are so many county officials in the county government who don't admire Mr. Dong. It's just that I've been busy with work lately, so I can't come."

What busy affairs? That was a complete lie. Dong Chong knew the operation of the county government very well. Liu Xian went to Gaomenyuan to train troops, taking half of the county officials with him. The other half had nothing to do.

But he didn't expose her. Instead, he feigned ignorance and changed the subject, "Oh? Is that so? Then why did the new county lord come and dismiss me from office, and none of you spoke up for me?"

Hu Wan replied calmly, "That's not even worth mentioning, Lord Dong. You don't know what Xinxianjun is thinking. He never discusses his thoughts with anyone."

"At that time, someone spoke up for you, saying that you were a great talent who inherited the art of war from your family in the county, and that you were indispensable if we wanted to govern Xiayang well."

"But the county lord was determined to dismiss him, saying that if he were truly talented, there wouldn't be so many bandits. We couldn't convince him otherwise, so we had no choice but to do as he said."

Dong Chong's heart was filled with rage. What kind of protection was this? If he had delayed a little, notified him to come to the county government to mediate, he wouldn't have been in such a passive position. This was nothing more than a group of humble county officials taking advantage of the situation, trying to curry favor with their superiors and seize the opportunity to rise to power.

"So that's how it is..." On the surface, Dong Chong still showed a regretful expression and sighed, "Alas, I heard that the county lord wants to wipe out the horse bandits. This has always been my long-cherished wish. Unfortunately, I want to offer advice to the county lord, but I have never had the chance to do so. What a pity..."

Dong Chong's original intention was to use the topic of clearing out the horse bandits as a starting point to send out a friendly signal, and then find a way to bring up the topic of meeting Liu Xian.

Unexpectedly, when Hu Wan heard this, he laughed and said, "Then I'm really lucky to have come here. Lord Dong, I'm here this time on the orders of the county lord, to invite you to the county government."

Dong Chong was overjoyed when he heard this, but he forced himself to remain calm and asked calmly, "Hmm? What's the matter?"

"It's all about the suppression of the horse bandits!" Hu Wan said with a smile. "The county lord came back to the county government early this morning and said he's almost done with the suppression, except for some money and food. So he wanted to invite you, Mr. Feng, and Mr. Tong to come over to discuss this matter tonight..."

Liu Xian's actions were so fast? He'd only been here about half a month! Dong Chong was shocked again. This time, he finally couldn't maintain his dignity and repeatedly asked Hu Wan, "Bo Quan, this is a big deal. What has he prepared? Is he kidding?"

"That's what the county lord said, but I have no idea what they've prepared specifically. It would be better if I could ask Mr. Dong to come to the banquet and then discuss it with the county lord in detail..."

After saying this, Hu Wan did not wait for Dong Chong to agree, and hurriedly said goodbye on the pretext of having official business, leaving Dong Chong alone in the room to ponder.

"It's a sure thing... What's the plan? Is he using lies to defraud me of money, or does he really have another plan..." Dong Chong's face was gloomy and uncertain. He pondered for a while, but still couldn't come up with any conclusion. He felt that this new county lord was as unpredictable as a cloud of mist, but it was impossible to ignore him.

This feeling was truly unbearable. He hadn't even met him yet, yet behind this cloud of mist, it felt like a pair of eyes, watching him and tempting him forward. Dong Chong had no choice but to follow his lead, step by step.

Could there be some conspiracy here?

After sitting there for a long time, Dong Chong let out a long sigh. He had always wanted to meet Liu Xian, and now that the opportunity was right in front of him, there was no way he would refuse.

Dong Chong immediately called a servant, asked him to change into a fairly decent purple cloth robe and a bearskin waistcoat, and then asked someone to bring a box of precious Codonopsis pilosula as a gift to the new county lord.

Before leaving, he instructed his eldest son Dong Heng: "During this period of time, you must have all the clan members stay at home and not go anywhere. Wait patiently for news from me."

"Don't cause trouble. Send someone to watch the night."

"If I don't come back overnight, send someone to the county government to look for me..."

After this explanation, Dong Chong's eyes gradually hardened. He wanted to see how many brains this Prince of Anle, a descendant of Liu Bei, a political loser, had and what extraordinary ideas he had.

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(End of this chapter)