Jinting Han people

September arrived in the blink of an eye, and Liu Xian had been back in Luoyang for more than half a year.

During this period, the focus of the court and the public remained on the power struggle between the Crown Prince's faction and the Empress's faction. According to the Crown Prince's strategy, his current focus was not on attacking the Empress's faction, but on building momentum and attracting talent. Therefore, the officials of the Eastern Palace began to show their talents in court, expressing their various opinions on the government. On the one hand, they attacked the Empress's inappropriate governance, and on the other hand, they described the Crown Prince's various plans after taking power, thereby demonstrating the Crown Prince's great talent and ambition.

First, Jiang Tong submitted a memorial entitled "On Moving the Rong People".

Jiang Tong's concerns were long-standing. He had always believed that the excessive number of Rong and Di tribes in Guanzhong, Bingzhou, and Hebei would bring great harm to the country. The recent rebellion of Qi Wannian further confirmed his view. Therefore, he submitted a memorial to discuss the country's current ethnic policies, arguing that the previous unrest among the Qiang and Di tribes in Guanzhong and Longxi had only been temporarily quelled. To truly achieve long-term stability in Guanzhong, it was necessary to find ways to relocate the Rong and Di tribes.

He offered three targeted solutions:

First, the state should send people to Guanzhong and Bingzhou to populate the border areas with Han Chinese and suppress the barbarian tribes.

Secondly, the country exhausted its resources, using grain as an incentive and reward, and war as a threat to force the relocation of the Hu and Yi peoples in Hongnong, Hedong, Pingyang, and Jingzhao to their ancestral homeland, namely the Qin and Liang Longyou region.

Thirdly, after the migration, strict orders were issued for the Hu and Han people to live separately, with a clear distinction between them. Subordinate states were established specifically for the Hu people. The army was ordered to maintain a strong defense around these subordinate states, so that any unforeseen events could be contained and prevented from causing further damage.

These three strategies complemented each other. Although they would require a great deal of national resources and were extremely difficult to implement, they at least proposed a possible solution to the problem of the nomadic tribes on the border. The officials in the court greatly praised Jiang Tong, commending him for his talent in governing the country.

However, given the current turbulent state of the court, it is certainly impossible to implement this plan. Everyone says that the Crown Prince is talented, and it wouldn't be too late to implement it after he ascends the throne.

Immediately afterwards, Liu Song, the Minister of the Three Dukes, submitted a memorial ordering the officials in the court to discuss and decide on the laws.

During the reign of Emperor Sima Yan, he ordered Jia Chong, Yang Hu, Du Yu and others to compile the Jin Code by referring to the Han and Wei codes. Because it was done during the Tai Shi era, it was called the Tai Shi Code.

The *Tai Shi Law* had many advantages. It simplified a large portion of the *Han Law*, reducing it to less than one-tenth of its length. Its chapter structure was more logical, and the legal provisions were concise and appropriate. However, it also had significant drawbacks. With its reduced length, many penalties lacked clear definitions, leaving the power of conviction largely to the presiding official. This official could punish someone to death for a minor offense, or let off lightly due to personal connections, even for crimes committed by sons of officials.

As a former Minister of Justice, Liu Song abhorred this practice. He argued that tailoring decisions to individual circumstances was essentially paving the way for the trampling of the law. Therefore, he proposed revising the law, listing all the articles of conviction and penalties, so that officials in charge of judging cases would have a legal basis. If something was not written in the law, it was a problem of the court and the law, not the fault of the people, and therefore they could not be convicted.

Liu Song was the tutor of the King of Chu and had also served as the Chancellor of the King of Huainan, thus he was considered part of the Crown Prince's faction. His attack on the law could clearly be seen as an attack on the Empress Dowager's faction as well. After all, the Empress Dowager's faction routinely controlled the court, promoting and suppressing newcomers, and this was indeed their rhetoric. Ostensibly, this was a correction of the law, but in reality, it was more like an attack on the Empress Dowager's faction for abusing their power and influence.

Therefore, after the petition was submitted, there was no response.

Although there was no news, there was no punishment. As a result, the pent-up resentment in the court was released, and officials from all walks of life submitted memorials advocating reforms, which quickly piled up in the Ministry of Personnel.

Some proposed reforming the official personnel system and revitalizing the Jiawu system, requiring all central officials to have experience in local governance; others proposed abolishing the Nine-Rank System and returning to the recommendation system of the Han Dynasty; still others directly proposed re-enfeoffing princes and completely relinquishing the power of appointing local officials to local dukes and marquises.

Liu Xian naturally joined in the fun. Based on his experience in suppressing the rebellion in Guanzhong, he summarized the various problems of the local governor's offices. He believed that the military command system was too complicated, with the prince's retainers and military officers checking and balancing each other, resulting in multiple orders being issued from different sources. The middle-level officers were confused and easily fell into unnecessary internal strife due to the struggles at the top.

Therefore, Liu Xian submitted a "Discourse on Military Security," advocating for streamlining the military structure. He suggested either having the military commanders take charge of the major affairs of the governor's office, or having the princes' offices reorganize the military commanders, in order to eliminate redundant personnel.

However, like other memorials, once submitted, they disappeared without a trace. Liu Xian was prepared for this and didn't care much. What bothered him now was how to maintain peace in ordinary days.

Sima Yu's task for Liu Xian sounded simple: to attract the attention of others in the public eye. However, the pressure was immense. Liu Xian knew that at least a dozen pairs of eyes were watching him every day. As someone who wanted to restore his kingdom and had plotted an assassination against the Empress Dowager's faction, he had to wait and stall for time without making a sound. Once he revealed any weakness that could be used against him, it would cause endless trouble.

But this is precisely contrary to Liu Xian's nature.

As a veteran who had experienced the baptism of war, Liu Xian regarded one sentence as his guiding principle: to be controlled by others, not to be controlled by others. In fact, this was closer to his instinct. Many years ago, when he was threatened by Jia Mi, he became agitated and directly dislocated the other man's arm.

But now, it's really too difficult for him to pretend to be nonchalant when he knows that there are undercurrents and fire is imminent.

But that's reality. After so many years of experience, Liu Xian has come to accept a truth: life rarely goes as planned; being forced into situations beyond one's control is the norm. Even King Zhuang of Chu, despite his high position, had to feign submission and bide his time.
Therefore, to survive this predicament, one must be as cunning as a python; one must learn to hide oneself.

Liu Bei, the great-grandfather, finally realized this. A fierce man who once whipped the inspector, he became calm and collected in Xuchang, known for his taciturn and unsmiling nature. He eventually survived the most difficult period, deceived Cao Cao, and regained his freedom.

Liu Xian thought that his current period was probably similar to that of his great-grandfather. It was like the darkness before dawn; once he got through this hurdle, everything would be bright and clear.

So, during this time, he began to emulate his great-grandfather, cultivating a tranquil mind and inner peace. Since there was nothing particularly important to do, he focused on building connections in Luoyang, attending various literary gatherings in the capital, and when feeling down, practicing swordplay and reading alone. Gradually, he discovered it wasn't as difficult as he had imagined, because he had already accomplished these things before. In his early years studying with Chen Shou in his thatched hut in Beiman, during his solitary mourning at his mother's grave, and when he rode to Guanzhong, his heart was always incredibly peaceful, as vast and expansive as the starry night sky over Mangshan. As long as one can maintain this state of mind even amidst crowds, likes and dislikes become insignificant.

After realizing this, Liu Xian thought that this was probably the last peaceful period before he started his rebellion, and perhaps he should cherish it even more.

That day, Liu Xian had some free time and stayed home to take care of Chen Shou.

Teacher Chen Shou's condition remained extremely poor. His wind-related ailments prevented him from speaking and moving normally, while his qi stagnation frequently worsened his condition. Despite several near-death experiences, Chen Shou miraculously survived, far exceeding the doctors' expectations. They dared not predict when Chen Shou would die, but privately they wondered how this old man had managed to pull through.

Liu Xian actually thought the same thing.

He was happy that his teacher had triumphed over death, but looking at Chen Shou's gaunt face, he also felt a pang of sadness. He knew that although Chen Shou appeared gentle, he was a strong-willed person at heart. Yet, tormented by illness, clinging to life with medication, needing help even to turn over and relieve himself, this was a life he absolutely disliked. What was his teacher continuing to fight for?
Chen Shou was still unable to speak, and Liu Xian naturally received no answers. All he could do was stay by his teacher's side as much as possible to alleviate his inner pain.

As usual, he prepared medicine for Chen Shou that day. However, because the medicine contained Coptis chinensis and snake gall, the smell was too strong. He had to put the medicine stove in the open courtyard, fanning the fire while stirring the dark medicine in the stove. The bitter and fishy smell could be smelled from hundreds of steps away.

Just as the medicine was poured into the bowl, Laifu limped over to announce that some friends had come to visit him. Upon asking their names, it turned out they weren't alone; it was Liu Cong, Lu Ji, and some of their friends, who said they had come to invite Liu Xian to go hunting together.

Liu Xian glanced at the medicine in the bowl and said to Lai Fu, "Go find Seventh Brother (Liu Xuan) first and entertain them. I'll give the medicine to the teacher before I go see them."

So he went inside to check on Chen Shou, warmed the medicine by blowing on it, helped Chen Shou sit up, and fed his teacher spoonful by spoonful. Then he wiped away the unfinished medicine, changed his clothes, and then went out to see his friend.

Liu Cong and his men were dressed in white or blue military uniforms, carrying bows on their backs and wearing sleek deerskin boots, looking quite neat. However, there were quite a few of them, about twenty, and they looked rather crowded standing in the front hall of the Duke of Anle's mansion.

Liu Xian glanced at the people they brought and found that many of them were faces he had just met.

Some were acquaintances of Liu Cong, including Sun Xun from the Sun family of Taiyuan, Wang Yu from the Wang family of Taiyuan, and Wen Xian from the Wen family of Taiyuan. In short, they were mostly scholars from prominent families in Taiyuan.

Others were scholars from Jiangdong, all descendants of Lu Ji. Lu Yun was naturally present, along with Ji Zhan from Danyang, Gu Rong from Wujun, He Xun from Kuaiji, and Xue Jian from Peijun. They were all talented individuals from the Wu kingdom in their youth, but lost their way after its fall. Now that Lu Ji had made a name for himself in Luoyang, they followed suit, coming to Luoyang to serve in government, hoping to revitalize their families.

Liu Xian was quite surprised to see so many people arrive at once. Liu Cong then told him, "We didn't come specifically to see you. The Prince of Yuzhang and the Prince of Wu are going out of the city for a hunting trip and want to invite some scholars to accompany them. We're just here to make an appearance. His Highness the Prince of Yuzhang has heard of your name and wants to invite you to come along."

"So that's what happened," Liu Xian said. "I'll go over after I've packed up."

Lu Ji laughed and said, "What's there to pack? Just take your bow and arrows and go. When the royal family goes on an outing, they bring all sorts of things, like meat cleavers, wine vessels, grilling equipment, and seasonings. All you need to do is go with them."

So Liu Xian called his wife over and told A'Luo that he would be away for a few days, asking her to take good care of their teacher. He then changed into military attire, took out his bow and a quiver of sixty arrows, removed the saddle from the stable railing, and fitted it onto his horse, Fan Yu. He then mounted the horse and rode out of the city with Liu Cong, Lu Ji, and other cavalry, heading straight for the east of the city.

Sima Chi, the Prince of Yuzhang, and Sima Yan, the Prince of Wu, were waiting at Baishe. Their entourage was quite large, with each prince having about a hundred people. Including the entourage of these scholars, the group numbered nearly three hundred.

This was Liu Xian's first time meeting the Prince of Wu and the Prince of Yuzhang. They were Emperor Wu's two youngest sons, ranking twenty-third and twenty-fifth respectively among their peers. At this time, the Prince of Wu was only eighteen years old, and the Prince of Yuzhang was even only sixteen. Whether it was because they were too young or because their rank was too low, at least these two young men did not have an arrogant demeanor; on the contrary, they appeared somewhat frail.

In particular, Sima Yan, the King of Wu, suffered from a stroke in his childhood, which affected his eyesight. Therefore, when he talked to people, he always had to beckon them very close to him in order to see their faces clearly.

Sima Chi, the Prince of Yuzhang, was very shy and didn't like to talk to people. However, he had a white face and a languid and leisurely demeanor, which made him quite likable.

After meeting Liu Xian, Sima Chi asked him, "I heard that Lord Chengzu is at your residence. How is his health?"

Liu Xian felt a little strange. This young prince shouldn't know his teacher, but he still replied, "My teacher's health isn't very good. He's been unable to speak normally since he contracted a stroke."

Sima Yan, the Prince of Wu, showed sympathy, while Sima Chi expressed regret, saying, "Is that so? I'll have my household send some ginseng and lingzhi over another day. Lord Chengzu is a historian, and a treasure of the nation!"

It turned out that Sima Chi was a great lover of reading, especially history books. He had long admired Chen Shou, a leading historian of his time, and had always wanted to learn from him. When he heard that Chen Shou was seriously ill, he felt very sorry for him and asked Liu Xian to lend him the original copy of the Records of the Three Kingdoms. Liu Xian saw that he seemed genuine and readily agreed.

After getting acquainted, the group headed south to begin their hunting trip in Wan'an Mountain. (End of Chapter)