Jinting Han people

Chapter 161 Shibakawa Bunkai (4k)

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, the snow of the second year of Yuankang came, the plum blossoms bloomed, and the spring breeze of the third year of Yuankang (293 AD) also came.

Then the plum blossoms fade, winter turns to spring, the rivers thaw, grass grows, and birds fly. Soon, the mountains are covered with a riot of color again, and peach and plum blossoms bloom in profusion. In this silent blooming and withering, the Qingming Festival arrives.

This is Liu Xian's second year in Xiayang.

Xiayang at this time was completely different from the dilapidated and poor county in the first year of Yuankang.

After more than a year of publicity, most of Xiayang's population, which had been lost over the past decade, has returned. Longmen Ferry, once deserted, has become quite prosperous. The ferry is now home to dozens of simple rafts and small boats, as well as several large ships capable of transporting cattle, horses, and other goods. The ferry can now accommodate hundreds of people simultaneously, a feat that was almost unimaginable in the past.

The increasingly crowded trade routes also made Xiayang's market more prosperous. In addition to the existing county market, two new markets were established at the ferry and the iron official. This brought a bustling flow of people and cheerful smiles to Xiayang, and the sounds of shouting and singing were everywhere.

Furthermore, after Sun Xiu encountered resistance in Xiayang, although he could no longer embarrass Liu Xian, he still implemented the new weights and measures in other counties. Although the other county officials knew that Sun Xiu was unjust, most of them did not dare to resist and could only swallow their anger.

As a result, Xiayang's tax burden was nearly 30% lower than that of other counties in Guanzhong. Upon hearing the news, the remaining civilians in Fengyi moved to Xiayang. By February of the first year of the Yuankang reign, Xiayang's population had surpassed 5,000, with the number of households exceeding 1,000, a rare achievement. While still not considered a wealthy county within Guanzhong, it was certainly a significant improvement.

However, compared to another major event in the county, this was nothing to boast about. The population growth was a natural process, but the completion of the Taishigong Temple was something that would be passed down through the ages.

Speaking of the construction of the Sima Qian Temple, Liu Xian has been planning it since Sun Xiu tried it out last year.

After all, for Liu Xian, under the current conditions, if he only made Xiayang prosperous, although it would be of great benefit to the people, it would not help him return to Luoyang.

Liu Xian, after all, had offended the Hou Party, unlike the other bureaucrats. As long as he followed the normal procedures, even if he ranked first in performance every year, as soon as his list of proposals reached the Shangshu Province, it would be rejected by Jia Mi in the blink of an eye. Even if he had a lifetime of experience, he would have no hope of promotion.

So he had to find another way, and the solution Liu Xian came up with was to cultivate his hopes.

In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Emperor Ling of Han adopted a policy of confinement and permanent refusals to employ scholars who disobeyed him. To oppose the emperor, these exiled scholars communicated with one another, criticizing government policies and accumulating reputations, expressing their discontent and building popular opinion to pressure the court. Ultimately, the Yellow Turban Rebellion erupted, forcing Emperor Ling of Han to compromise and abolish the ban on partisans, allowing them to return to power.

The party members' situation at the time was similar to that of Liu Xian. And the party's current practice of excluding dissidents is similar to that of Emperor Ling of Han. Although there is no political crisis similar to the Yellow Turban Rebellion at the moment, given the reckless behavior of Sima Lun and Sun Xiu, it is likely that this will happen sooner or later.

Therefore, Liu Xian planned to take advantage of the opportunity of building the Sima Qian Temple to widely contact the poor scholars, hermits, and even the frustrated people in Guanzhong, and use literary gatherings to imitate the Qingyi. With time, he would surely be able to form a force that could not be underestimated.

However, the construction of the Taishigong Temple was not entirely smooth sailing. Sima Qian's tomb was located on a high hill in Zhichuan, and building the temple and the road would have been extremely expensive.

Liu Xian first took out a sum of money from the county government, then went to the local Feng and Tong families to raise funds, and borrowed money from merchants in Xiayang, but it was still not enough, so he could only raise funds while repairing the city.

It was only after the newly appointed Fengyi prefect, Ouyang Jian, received the news that he allocated funds from the county government. Finally, by mid-February of this year, the Taishigong Temple was completed. It consisted of three halls, two stele tablets, and 100 stone steps, costing a total of over 8 million yuan.

Before and after the completion of the ancestral hall, Liu Xian promoted it widely in Fengyi and Hedong, invited famous scholars, and made an appointment with Fengyi prefect Ouyang Jian to hold a literary gathering after the Qingming Festival.

After the news spread, everyone in Xiayang was proud of it.

After all, over the years, Xiayang's population has declined and its culture has also withered. Although its ancestors had a glorious history, it is now recognized as a barbaric and stupid place.

In an era that prided itself on the gentry and literature, such an evaluation was disheartening. Liu Xian's reconstruction of the ancestral hall and convening of a literary gathering here undoubtedly signaled that Xiayang was undergoing a cultural revival, a fact that made the local county residents happy and proud.

Although Xue Xing was not from Xiayang, he was also excited.

After all, he had been promoted to the court official of Xiayang County, and he knew the guest list of this literary gathering very well: in addition to the Fengyi prefect Ouyang Jian who was coming to visit, Liu Xian also invited Longmen hermit Bu Wei, Hedong hermit Guo Yun, Taiyuan hermit Guo Qi, Xiongnu celebrity Chen Yuanda, Beidi celebrity Fu Xi and others, and they all responded.

These people were all extremely famous scholars of the time, and their willingness to come was a rare event in Guanzhong. Xue Xing had grown up in Hedong and had been ostracized by the local scholars. He couldn't even participate in ordinary literary gatherings, let alone gather with these famous scholars.

While he was happy, he did not forget his relatives and friends, and invited his fourth brother Xue Yun, childhood friends Zhuge Yu and Ma Su to attend the literary gathering together.

The day soon arrived. On the day of the literary gathering, Liu Xian gave the officials of the county government a holiday, and Xue Xing waited for his friend at Longmen Ferry early in the morning.

The spring water gurgles, white clouds drift by, and although the river's water is turbid, the sound of it is just as pleasant, always making people think of their mothers in a quiet way. Under the bright sunlight, the water surface even has a golden color, which makes people feel even more excited.

Xue Xing waited for about quarter of an hour, and then he saw a figure waving at him on the raft on the river. He immediately became happy and waved from a distance.

Although it was difficult to see clearly against the sunlight, he knew at a glance that it was his brother and friend who came.

After not seeing each other for a few months, Xue Yun had grown taller. Although he was still not as tall as Xue Xing, and even less so than Xue Yong, he still looked quite handsome. Zhuge Yu and Ma Su were still the same, refined and elegant, probably because their family traditions were all about poetry and literature.

The four of them greeted each other. Xue Xingxian smiled at Zhuge Yu and said, "Yuanlu, did you bring me any gifts?"

Zhuge Yu, courtesy name Yuanlü, was the second son of Zhuge Jing, the prefect of Nan'an, and a childhood friend of Xue Xing. Upon hearing this, he laughed and scolded, "You've lost your mind! I'm a guest from afar. How can a guest give a gift to the host?"

Ma Su, courtesy name Jiying, who was standing nearby, was the great-grandson of Ma Liang, the former Minister of State of Shu Han, and the son of Ma Hun, the current Magistrate of Jiuyuan. He joined in the commotion, saying, "I heard you got a promotion, so you should be treating us now. Why are you trying to blackmail us?"

Xue Yun said, "You can't say that. Third Brother, even after his promotion, you're still willing to come out to greet him. That's already a great honor. If he advances further in the future, and you want to give him a gift? You won't even be able to see him!" With that, the four of them all burst into laughter. Then, they rented a few horses and, chatting and laughing, headed towards the Xiayang market. It was just past noon, and the literary gathering was in the afternoon, so Xue Xing took his friends for a stroll. They ate some hot tofu pudding together, then each bought a newly forged sword from the Xiayang Iron and Steel Company. That would be Xue Xing's gift.

Xue Yun touched his sword and sighed, "Our young lord is truly powerful. In less than two years, this place has been transformed into something brand new."

Zhuge Yu also laughed and said, "Yes, his reputation spread to Hedong. All us uncles were asking about him every day, clamoring about having a successor, but they didn't dare come to see him. I almost thought he was going to eat people!"

Ma Su frowned and said, "Be careful with your words. Our identities are sensitive. Don't say such things carelessly. If others hear it and report it, it will be a big deal."

The other three people immediately fell silent, but their expressions showed disapproval.

Speaking of which, Zhuge Yu and the other two did not tell their families when they came here.

They knew that as descendants of the old Shu Han, they shouldn't have met Liu Xian. But they couldn't help their curiosity, and at Xue Xing's invitation, they decided to observe him from a distance, without revealing their identities.

After all, many of the people attending this conference were not alone, but had brought friends and relatives with them. It was not surprising that they were mixed in.

Now that the Sima family had seen four emperors and unified the country, it was clearly absurd to arrest them simply because of a past ancestor three generations prior. Young people also believed that if there were no concrete political interactions, this was simply a way for their parents to avoid suspicion.

When they arrived in Xiayang, they found it as unremarkable as they had imagined. The people of Xiayang were mostly focused on the established scholars, paying no attention to these young people. After Xue Xing took them on a tour, they rode back to the Sima Qian ancestral hall at Zhichuan Pavilion, awaiting the start of the literary gathering.

The Sima Qian Temple supervised by Liu Xian is not gorgeous. To put it simply, it is actually walking up from the bottom of the mountain. There is a large hall at the bottom of the mountain, and then from bottom to top, there are four high platforms connected by a hundred stone steps.

The first two platforms are two small halls, the second two platforms are two stone tablets, and the last one is the tomb of Sima Qian. The surrounding area is full of tall cypress and pine trees, and in front of Sima Qian's tomb is an ancient cypress tree that is three meters high and eight feet wide.

It is said that this was planted when Sima Qian died, and it has a history of more than four hundred years.

When Xue Xing and the others arrived, Liu Xian was already at the ancestral hall welcoming guests, surrounded by a crowd of people, young and old, but without a doubt, they all centered around him. No matter who he spoke to, he was neither humble nor overbearing, always graceful and unrestrained.

When Liu Xian saw Xue Xing coming over, his eyes lit up and he smiled and waved, saying, "Ah, isn't this Ji Da? Come here."

He then introduced himself to the people around him, saying, "This is Xue Xing, the Tingzhu from my county. He can be said to be my right-hand man."

After that, he introduced Xue Xing one by one. Now most of the guests had arrived. In addition to the scholars on the list, there were also people like Deng You from Xiangling, Guo Pu from Wenxi, and Pei Yi from Wenxi, all of whom were famous rising stars in Hedong.

These people exchanged a few pleasantries with Xue Xing, showing no interest in getting to know him better, which disappointed him somewhat. However, Zhuge Yu and the others were very excited, as it was the first time they had been among so many famous people.

Liu Xian pointed at them and asked Xue Xing, "Are these your friends?"

Xue Xing was a little nervous and nodded: "Yes, and my brothers."

Liu Xian's expression changed slightly, and he said to Zhuge Yu and the others, "Since you are Ji Da's relatives and friends, you are also my relatives and friends. Today is just a literary gathering. There is no distinction between high and low, so don't be restrained."

After saying that, he asked someone to arrange a few seats near the front for them.

After the group sat down, Xue Yun looked at the people coming and going and said with emotion, "I never thought that today I would not only meet Chen Yuanda, but also Deng Bodao (Deng You)."

"I heard he lost his father at the age of nine, then his mother and grandmother in quick succession. He's been in mourning for eight years now, and it's not over yet. He's truly the most filial son in the world. I didn't expect to see him here today."

Zhuge Yu said, "However, in my opinion, Guo Gongwei (Guo Qi) possesses a noble character. When Emperor Wu promoted him, he served him wholeheartedly. After Emperor Wu's death, he resigned from office and lived in seclusion. He not only repaid the emperor's kindness but also remained unconcerned with fame and gain. This is something no other scholar can match."

As soon as the two men sat down, they began to criticize the scholars. This was the most popular practice since the Qingyi period of the late Han Dynasty. They compared their moral character, evaluated their talents, and then ranked them. Soon Ma Su joined in, recounting some recent stories about famous people in the prefectures and counties. The three of them talked and enjoyed themselves.

If it were in the past, Xue Xing would have joined in, but now, Xue Xing remained silent.

Because he suddenly realized that after spending some time in Xia Yang, he was no longer an admirer like before, only judging the status of those celebrities. He wanted to put his name in the list. This was an idea he had always had, but in the past he could ignore it and laugh at it as a fantasy. But now, he was angry at being ignored by others.

While his friends and relatives were discussing this, Xue Xing was thinking, why did he become like this?
Perhaps he was no longer the same person he once was. When he was the Prison Minister, he was just a lowly county official with a bleak future. But now, after two years of following the county lord, he began to frequently imagine a brighter future. Just like a seed, after encountering sunlight and rain, it naturally grows upward.

There are always some people in the world who want to do extraordinary things, so why can't it be me?

While he was lost in thought, he heard a sudden commotion behind him. Xue Xing and his friends turned around and saw dozens of carriages and horses approaching from a distance, accompanied by the sounds of horns, flutes, and drums.

There were infantrymen leading the way in front and cavalry officers guarding behind. This was the standard procession for a prefect to travel. It seemed that Fengyi Prefect Ouyang Jian had arrived.

This means that the Shibakawa Literary Society has officially begun.

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(End of this chapter)