Jinting Han people

In mid-April, Liu Xian ended his nearly six-month-long trip to various counties and returned to Xingyang.

Although Liu Xian's initial purpose in visiting the counties was not entirely pure—first, to escape the political vortex of Luoyang; second, to survey the terrain and topography that might require attention on the battlefield; and third, to lay the groundwork for an uprising in Hedong—the county visits were merely a convenient pretext, in reality just that.

But after his trip to Hedong, Liu Xian returned to Henan Commandery, and what he saw along the way was truly shocking. He had only been gone for a short six months, yet during that time, the official conduct in the capital region had deteriorated to an unbelievable degree.

For example, powerful families who do not pay taxes when they have markets at home are considered to be restrained; however, during last year's autumn harvest, the counties in Henan collected taxes using large measures and large measures to collect more; incidents of the Luoyang Imperial Guards bullying men and women in the surrounding villages and counties are commonplace; what Liu Xian finds most intolerable is that bandits have reappeared in the Mangshan and Chenggao areas, robbing passersby not only of their money, but also of their slaves and sexual predators.

This wouldn't have been unusual during the Taikang and Yuankang eras. But now, with the new policies in effect, things were being tested and implemented swiftly. Liu Xian had assumed these people would at least give Sima Jiong some face and restrain themselves. But to his utter surprise, they went even further.

The reasons for this are not hard to understand. On the one hand, the King of Qi's new policies focused on the imperial court, neglecting the grassroots. Now that even reforms at the court have stalled, it's natural that grassroots reforms are on the verge of spiraling out of control. On the other hand, the fierce battles in the capital region over the past year have caused significant losses to local powerful clans, who urgently need to recoup their losses in this way.

However, Liu Xian would not tolerate such behavior in the end. Therefore, upon returning this time, he did not intend to indulge in what he saw and heard, and immediately prepared to carry out a rectification.

Liu Xian knew that without addressing the systemic flaws, fundamentally changing this corrupt officialdom would be virtually impossible, and would only push him to the opposite side of most people. However, making an example of one or two high-ranking officials might still have a deterrent effect. Therefore, Liu Xian first informed Liu Kun, instructing him to investigate the background of these bandits.

As a result, Liu Kun quickly sent a message claiming that these bandits did indeed have powerful connections, and that the most active group was actually backed by Sima Yang, the Prince of Xiyang.

As mentioned earlier, Sima Yang was the youngest son of Sima Liang, the former Grand Chancellor and Prince of Runan. Because Sima Liang was unjustly executed, the court treated him with considerable leniency and compensation. Now, at only eighteen years old, he had already been granted the title of Prince of a Commandery, governing tens of thousands of households—a privilege second only to the sons of Emperor Wu. Therefore, his advisors were exceptionally emboldened, running rampant in the capital region, with no one daring to restrain them.

Liu Xian conducted an investigation and found witnesses almost everywhere. He immediately reported the matter to the court and, without waiting for a reply, dispatched two thousand soldiers from Henan Commandery to surround Sima Yang's villa in Yanshi. The private soldiers at the villa attempted to resist, but based on the identification of the local people, Liu Xian broke down the gate, captured more than seventy thieves, seized more than forty cartloads of stolen goods, and rescued hundreds of slaves.

Because he was caught red-handed and the facts were undeniable, even though Sima Yang was a member of the imperial family and had close ties with Sima Yi and Sima Jiong, it was too late for him to pull strings. At this point, he could only plead guilty and accept punishment, and was dismissed from his position as Infantry Commandant in the court.

This incident caused an unprecedented uproar in the capital region. Previously, he had only dealt with minor officials, and when he regulated grain prices, he had not clashed with the princes. People even thought he had changed his ways. But now he had taken action against Sima Yang to establish his authority, which was truly a major event unprecedented since the founding of the dynasty. Coupled with the fact that it was Liu Xian who had cracked the Sima Rui rebellion case, the gentry immediately recalled Liu Xian's past illustrious reputation and all fell silent, becoming subservient and humble.

Taking this opportunity, Liu Xian thoroughly inspected the counties of Henan. Without him saying much, corrupt officials would often resign before he even arrived. In just over a month, nearly a hundred officials were dismissed, leaving Henan Prefecture almost empty.

Officials in the capital region were filled with resentment, privately referring to Liu Xian as "Feng Gui," meaning a ghost sent from the underworld to claim lives. Sima Jiong, upon learning of this, also sent a letter urging Liu Xian to restrain himself. However, the common people greatly praised this action, spreading a folk song that went: "In the Jiazi calamity, wicked men held sway, the people were like sheep. Who was the savior? Anlezi, grandson of Zhaolie."

However, Liu Kun also wrote a letter to advise Liu Xian: "As the saying goes, things will turn into their opposites when they reach their extremes, and going too far is as bad as not going far enough. The world's customs cannot be changed in a day, and the official sentiments cannot be subdued overnight. Your power has become too great! The way of being an official is to unite the masses. Now that you have eliminated evil, you should also promote the virtuous. If you become a lone minister in the court, with no support from either side, I fear it will be difficult for you to stand firm."

The implication was that Liu Xian should know when to stop. Since he couldn't eradicate the power of these local tyrants, these actions were merely treating the symptoms, not the root cause. In the end, they would only make enemies for him. If he continued, he would probably cross the line in officialdom and be difficult to tolerate by the court and the public.

Liu Xian knew that this was all he could do for now. He wouldn't have let things escalate to this point if the local officials hadn't gone too far. Seeing that the official atmosphere had temporarily improved, he finally ended his tour of the counties and returned to Xingyang.

At this time, the first section of the Bianwei Canal had been repaired, and Lu Yun was speeding up the construction to excavate the second section, the Weiying Canal. Because the second section of the canal had to pass through part of the Songshan Mountains, and unlike the first section, there was no Honggou ruins to utilize, the excavation was much more difficult.

Fortunately, all of this was as expected. The labor system that had been implemented earlier was still functioning well, and the 30,000 laborers were still working hard under the management of the Sili Prefecture. Although it was hard work, as long as it could be steadily promoted, completing the project on schedule was not a pipe dream.

Liu Xian inspected the front line of the construction site and saw Lu Yun building a weir at the foot of Da Gui Mountain. The construction site was bustling with activity, with piles of stones and timber for building the embankment everywhere. A river channel about ten feet deep and three feet wide was already taking shape. The smells of flying mud, wood chips, and sweat mingled together, making one feel restless and ashamed of doing nothing.

Lu Yun was delighted to see Liu Xian return, so he led the group around the construction site, inspecting the digging efficiency in various places while proudly explaining his canal design ideas to Liu Xian.

Because of the significant difference in elevation between the Ying River and the Wei River, especially at Dagui Mountain, directly dredging a canal would likely result in too rapid a current for cargo ships to pass through. Therefore, Lu Yun modified the canal into a serpentine shape, meandering back and forth to reduce the flow rate, thus greatly simplifying navigation. Furthermore, considering the potential for deformation due to prolonged river erosion, Lu Yun incorporated stone embankments to prevent this, a feature not found in ordinary canals.

But what truly embodies Lu Yun's wisdom in water management lies in the diversion channels and two sluice gates he excavated.

Considering the abundant rainfall in the south and the scarcity in the north, and to mitigate the problem of water shortages during the autumn flood season, Lu Yun specifically rerouted the canal to the vicinity of two small lakes, connecting the lakes to the canal via branch canals. This way, during the autumn flood season, the canal could store water in the lakes, and during the dry season, the lakes could flow back into the canal. However, as a precaution, Lu Yun also constructed two sluice gates at the northern and southern sections, and created two more artificial lakes, using stone sluice gates for water storage and release. In this way, four lakes were used to manage the canal's water level, ensuring uninterrupted water transport throughout the year.

All of this was thanks to the Lu family of Wu Commandery's years of experience in water management in Jiangdong. Now, applying this experience to the construction of the canal, Lu Yun was like a fish in water, able to fully display his talents. The only problem was that the construction process of this section of the canal was too complex, exceeding the original calculations. The prepared grain, fodder, and funds might not be enough, requiring an additional 100,000 bolts of silk to cover all the expenses of building the canal. Liu Xian didn't care about this. Looking at the thriving construction site, he said to Lu Yun, "As long as it truly benefits the people, and we leave a legacy for future generations, why should we begrudge these 100,000 bolts of silk?"

As he said this, Liu Xian had already made a plan in his mind. He could first ask the Prince of Qi for an advance. If the Prince of Qi refused, he would use Liu Kun's connections to find a few wealthy merchants to pay the money. In exchange, he would give them the privilege of priority access to this section of the canal for grain transport.

After making this round, Liu Xian was quite satisfied with Lu Yun's performance. It was already very difficult for an ordinary person to manage 30,000 laborers without causing chaos, let alone build such a massive canal.

Liu Xian then inspected the camps where the laborers were stationed. Because the area was near mountains, there were no houses to stay in. Therefore, the camps were quite rudimentary. The tents where the laborers rested were mostly borrowed from the armory by Liu Xian; about seven or eight people were crammed into one tent, making the space extremely cramped. This was manageable in spring, but with midsummer approaching, the tents would likely become too stuffy and hot, easily leading to illness.

Liu Xian instructed Fu Chang, who was following him, "Go to the armory and bring over another batch of military tents. I remember that when the Northern Expeditionary Army returned to Ye City, there were quite a few left in Luoyang. They're just sitting there anyway, so using them here will be a good thing."

However, being in the mountains, the laborers' camps were far from monotonous. With so many people gathered there, it was as if a town had sprung up out of nowhere. Families of displaced people also followed nearby, waiting for their husbands' daily relief, which was equivalent to a large town appearing out of thin air. Consequently, some small merchants from Xingyang County gathered in the surrounding area, selling fruits, wine, and other groceries. Some prostitutes opened simple brothels nearby. Even gambling dens, such as those for cockfighting and dogfighting, were readily available.

There was even a bathhouse where laborers, weary from a long day's work, could happily spend five zhu (a unit of currency) to take a hot bath. It was run by the wives of several local refugee leaders, and business was booming.

Liu Xian asked Lu Yun, "Is there any security here?"

Lu Yun said, "These were all built spontaneously by the people. As you know, we haven't deployed many troops here, so naturally we are powerless to control them."

Liu Xian said, "I don't care about anything else, but we still need to manage prostitutes. We should find a time to register them to prevent people from contracting venereal diseases."

"Your Excellency is truly incredibly considerate," Lu Yun exclaimed sincerely.

"Ha, it sounds like you're laughing at me for meddling." A smile flashed across Liu Xian's face. He said, "Shilong, you've done a great job. But when I think about what I have to do, I always feel that I lack talent under my command, and that's why I can't help but want to do more myself."

"You flatter me, sir." Although Liu Xian hadn't yet shared his ambitions with Lu Yunming, over the years, through Lu Ji, Lu Yunming had come to know him quite well. He could vaguely guess what Liu Xian wanted to do, and thus, when he agreed to serve Liu Xian, he was prepared to risk his life for Liu Xian's cause. Hearing that Liu Xian intended to recruit talent, he immediately asked, "I do have some connections. I wonder what kind of talent you're looking for, sir?"

"Oh?" Upon hearing Lu Yun's words, Liu Xian immediately realized that although Lu Yun's influence in Luoyang was only average, his family was the most prominent clan in Jiangdong and a leader among the scholars of Yangzhou. Logically speaking, he should indeed know many talented people and could help Liu Xian make introductions.

After a moment's thought, Liu Xian said, "Shilong, I need some extraordinary warriors right now. Do you have any suitable candidates in Jiangdong?"

Liu Xian's current advisory group is a veritable constellation of strategists, each with a distinct specialty: Liu Kun is adept at interpersonal relationships, Lu Yun excels in civil administration, Li Sheng is cautious and meticulous, capable of devising detailed plans… The others, such as Xi Jian, Huan Yi, and Fu Chang, also possess their own talents, but overall, they are primarily scholars skilled in literature and art. Even those who are proficient in both civil and military affairs are mostly strategists who oversee operations.

In terms of civil administration, it would be difficult to find a more complete staff than the Sili Prefecture. Or rather, Liu Xian himself would not have done a bad job in charge. Perhaps the only deficiency would be the lack of a chief strategist like Lu Zhi or Zhang Bin, who could carry out strategic planning, but even without one, it would be manageable.

In comparison, the martial artists under Liu Xian's command were far inferior.

In Liu Xian's more than ten years of military service, it is embarrassing to say, but he himself was often the one charging at the forefront. Was it because Liu Xian wanted to? Of course not, it was because he had no generals under his command who could surpass him, so he had to rely on himself to take up arms and go into battle.

While his subordinates, such as Zhang Gu, Zhuge Yan, Sun Xi, Xue Xing, and Meng Tao, certainly possessed some martial skills and were willing to fight alongside Liu Xian, their strength in terms of combat was limited. Once the opposing army had monsters like Zhang Fang, Ping Xian, or Bei Gong Chun, they couldn't rely on them much further.

Among Liu Xian's close associates, there were indeed a few people like Li Ju, Zu Ti, and Zhang Guang, whose martial arts skills were outstanding. However, firstly, Liu Xian had not yet recruited Zhang Guang and Zu Ti, and secondly, given Li Ju's current status, it was impossible for him to become Liu Xian's dueling partner.

This leads to a problem: when facing the Western Expeditionary Army on the battlefield, Liu Xian has no capable warriors to match Zhang Fang's strength. Even with the Shanggu Camp, an invincible cavalry force, this remains a problem. After all, the Shanggu Camp's strength lies in its iron discipline; individual warriors are not quite at the level of being the bravest in the army.

Therefore, since returning from Hedong, Liu Xian had been pondering how to recruit brave warriors who dared to draw their swords on the battlefield and were fearless in killing the enemy. However, the martial spirit in Henan was not strong, so how could he recruit such warriors? It was only when he heard Lu Yun recommend himself that he remembered that perhaps he could recruit some talents from Jiangdong.

Faced with Liu Xian's question, Lu Yun smiled slightly and immediately replied, "Please rest assured, my lord, this is by no means a difficult matter." (End of this chapter)