Jinting Han people

As the capital of Hedong Prefecture, Anyi was one of the largest counties in Guanzhong.

Although not comparable to a major metropolis like Chang'an with hundreds of thousands of inhabitants, Anyi was rich in salt and iron, and its flat terrain was suitable for farming, making it highly developed since the Three Dynasties period. Even the repeated wars at the end of the Han Dynasty did not affect its prosperity. By the time Liu Xian served as the magistrate of Xiayang, Anyi County had more than 8,000 households and over 40,000 people. Looking at the entire Guanzhong Plain, apart from Chang'an, only Pingyang, Mei County, Zheng County, and Linjin County could compare with it at that time.

After the Hao San Rebellion, Anyi's prosperity was somewhat affected, but that was ten years ago. Ten years later, Liu Xian arrived in Anyi. Along the way, he saw that the people hadn't been greatly affected by Zhang Fu's siege. Farmers were working in the fields, and mules and merchants roamed the official roads, all pointing and whispering about Liu Xian's army with great curiosity. Even some children dared to approach and shout at the army from the fields, "Who is Grand Commandant Liu?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Xian smiled and waved his hand, replying, "I am no longer the Grand Commandant, so please call me Duke Anle from now on."

Although he already held the titles of General of Chariots and Cavalry and Grand Commander of Qin and Liang, Liu Xian had no intention of publicizing them. He was deliberately downplaying his connection with the imperial court, but he couldn't sever it directly. Therefore, only mentioning his identity as the Duke of Anle was clearly the option that left room for maneuver.

Seeing Liu Xian's approachable demeanor, the other people put down their farm work and came to watch. They asked Liu Xian one after another, "Now that you have come here, will there be any more wars in the future?"

Liu Xian pointed to the eight-character peace and happiness flag above his head and said, "I dare not say absolutely, but I will do my best."

His words were sincere, his manner approachable, and he was not in military uniform at the time, but rather dressed in a light fur coat and loose belt, with a long sword at his waist and a bow and arrows on his horse. He rode at the head of the army, with the commander's flag fluttering behind him. A group of scholars, including Liu Kun, Lu Yun, Fu Chang, Li Sheng, and Huan Yi, as well as military generals such as He Pan, Gongsun Gong, Zhuge Yan, Mao Bao, Guo Mo, and Liu Yi, accompanied him, like stars surrounding the moon. He strolled leisurely, truly enjoying unparalleled prestige.

There weren't many Shu Han remnants in Anyi; most were indigenous people who had settled there during the Cao Wei period. Therefore, they didn't have much affection for Liu Xian or Shu Han, which gave Zhang Fu the opportunity to succeed. But now, having witnessed the power and prestige of Liu Xian's entourage, the farmers were all filled with goodwill, privately discussing, "The Duke of Anle truly lives up to his reputation as a descendant of Liu Bei; he's clearly a wise ruler. It's strange! How did the old Duke of Anle lose his kingdom?"

After passing through the crowded streets and arriving at the city of Anyi, many officials came out to greet him. They all bowed to Liu Xian, and Liu Xian, without putting on airs, dismounted and bowed to each of them. He recognized them, but to Liu Xian's slight disappointment, because Li Ju had led his army west to Fengyi, he did not encounter many familiar faces.

Zhang Jie, the magistrate of Anyi who was in charge, also noticed this. He said in a low voice, "Please come into the mansion first, sir. There are old friends waiting for you inside!"

An old friend? Could it be that someone didn't come out? Upon hearing this, Liu Xian handed over all his chores to Lu Yun and Fu Chang, instructed his subordinates not to cause trouble while they rested, and then, leading his wife's carriage, followed Zhang Jie into the prefectural government.

Arriving at a secluded courtyard, Liu Xian heard the melodious sound of a flute drifting from afar, and immediately knew who he was about to meet. After Zhang Jie tactfully took his leave, Liu Xian felt slightly nervous and even straightened his clothes before pulling A Luo and Ling You down to walk slowly into the courtyard.

As the courtyard gate opened, the flute music grew clearer. Liu Xian recognized it as Fu Xuan's composition, "The Distant Journey," the lyrics of which read:
"The carriages travel far and the horses gallop long, I think of you and cannot forget you."

As you travel west to Qin, I wish to be your shadow and follow you.

"When you are in the shadows, I cannot see your shadow; when you are in the light, that is my desire."

This was a tender and poignant love poem, but to Liu Xian at this moment, it made him quite uneasy, as if the other person was blaming him.

A few steps further, Liu Xian saw that the main hall's doors were open. In the distance, he saw a graceful figure sitting at the entrance, dressed in a wide-sleeved, long-sleeved, green-patterned gauze skirt, holding a jade flute, her hair tied in a deer-shaped bun, her figure elegant and graceful, her shoulders sharp and slender, leaning against the doorframe like a willow swaying in the breeze. The woman looked back with brimming eyes, a faint smile on her lips, as if she were telling a thousand words.

After she finished playing the tune, she gave a slight bow to Liu Xian and A Luo, and then said to the boy beside her, "Quickly, bow to your father!"

It was Green Pearl and Liu Lang, mother and son.

Liu Lang first kowtowed three times on the ground, then stood up and looked at Liu Xian curiously. His clumsy and hesitant appearance immediately made Liu Xian laugh. He strode forward and first called his son by his childhood name, saying, "Fengyao, you've grown up! Let me see you!" He looked him over carefully, then took Green Pearl's cold hand and whispered, "Take care of yourself, you've lost weight again."

Over the years, Liu Xian owed his wife and children the most. In the midst of various political struggles, his enemies were always unscrupulous, attempting to threaten him with his family. Although Liu Xian made some arrangements, his family members were always in various dangers. A'Luo and her daughter had to live a secluded life, and Lü Zhu and her son had to live in anonymity, all because of Liu Xian's influence.

But all that was in the past. After more than a decade of separation, his little family was finally reunited. This had been a long-standing worry for him, and now it was finally over. That evening, the family gathered together for dinner, and Liu Xian took the initiative to ask for some wine. He solemnly promised his wife and children, "From today onwards, I will never put you in danger again."

A'Luo and Lü Zhu were both well-educated and reasonable people, so they naturally wouldn't be harsh on Liu Xian. Ling You was too young, barely old enough to remember things, so he wouldn't complain either. Liu Xian's biggest worry was Liu Lang, his only son, his only heir. He had spent too little time with him and felt he hadn't been a good father. What would he do if the child resented him?

Fortunately, this did not happen. After hearing Liu Xian's words, the child actually stood up, gripped his sword like a swordsman, and said in a deep voice, "Please rest assured, sir, you don't need to worry. As long as I am at home, I will not let any thieves in!"

Seeing how skillfully he held the sword, Liu Xian was stunned, then burst into laughter. A'Luo also adored the child, pointing at Liu Lang and saying, "Biji, you look just like you when you were little!"

Only then did Liu Xian realize that Li Ju had also taught his son swordsmanship over the years. Now, Liu Lang had demonstrated his skills in front of him, and they were quite impressive, at least better than Liu Xian's own level after a year of practice. Then Liu Xian tested Liu Lang's knowledge of literature and history; the boy could already recite the Classic of Filial Piety and the Great Learning, and had read the Spring and Autumn Annals thoroughly.

Seeing that his child was already showing promise, Liu Xian thought with satisfaction: It seems that the path of both literature and martial arts has a successor.

As night deepened and the children went to rest, Liu Xian stayed in Lü Zhu's room to talk to her, mainly inquiring about the recent situation of his friends over the years: "How have A Tian (Zhang Gu) and Zhi Nu (Xi An) been these past few years?" Lü Zhu smiled and said, "They are all doing well. In the years since you left, they have all married and settled down in Guanzhong, and now they all have children."

"What about Quyang?" Liu Xian hadn't forgotten his Di junior brother, Lü Quyang.

"Qu Yang is doing well too. It seems that because of the great turmoil in Liangzhou, many Hu people have come down from Longxi to seek refuge with him. There seem to be about a thousand of them."

"Liangzhou in chaos?" Upon hearing this news, Liu Xian immediately became alert. He straightened up and asked, "When did this happen? What kind of chaos has occurred?"

Green Pearl was meticulous and serious, and good at unraveling complexities. After recalling for a while, she quickly replied, "It was at the end of last year, right? Liangzhou has been in turmoil for years. It was Shiyan Gong (Zhang Gui) who sent an envoy to persuade Ruoluoba Neng, the Xianbei chieftain of Liangzhou. With his support, we were able to behead 10,000 people and quell the unrest in Liangzhou within two years."

“I have seen the military report that Shiyan Gong gave to the court, and it is true.” Liu Xian nodded and then asked, “Wasn’t the rebellion quelled? How did this go wrong again?”

Green Pearl continued, "It seems that after the rebellion was quelled, Shi Yan Gong and Ruo Luo Ba Neng became at odds. It is said that Ruo Luo Ba Neng was arrogant and had more than 200,000 men under his command. After helping Shi Yan Gong quell the rebellion, he thought he had done a great service and said that he wanted Shi Yan Gong to cede Xihai County to him. Of course, Shi Yan Gong refused, so he harbored resentment, but he kept it hidden."

"Last year, Shiyan sent reinforcements to help the court. Ruo Luobeng brought up the old matter again and asked Shiyan for land. Shiyan still refused. Ruo Luobeng was so angry that he simply started a rebellion. As a result, it got out of control and the war spread to the whole prefecture. The Hu people in Xialong all said that both sides were sparing no effort and it would probably take a long time to determine the winner."

The entire Liangzhou region is in chaos? Upon hearing this news, Liu Xian's heart skipped a beat, thinking to himself: This is terrible. Doesn't this mean that I can't count on Zhang Gui's help for the time being?

Furthermore, the issue of Ruoluoba's rebellion reminded him of other outstanding figures of non-Han ethnicity, such as Liu Yuan, Shi Le, Pu Hong, Yao Yizhong, Li Xiong, Yang Maosou, Tuoba Yilu, and Yuwen Xunniyan. In the Guanzhong Plain, the number of these non-Han peoples almost completely overwhelmed the Han Chinese who had settled there. Following his friend Jiang Tong's words, "Those who are not of our race will surely have different hearts," how should he deal with these people?
Liu Xian had already considered this issue before. His original plan was to primarily cooperate with the Hu people, with caution as a secondary consideration. However, after hearing about Zhang Gui's ordeal, he had to be even more cautious. After all, his current strength was weaker than Zhang Gui's, and he probably couldn't even withstand a single betrayal.

At this moment, Green Pearl told him another piece of news: "I also heard from merchants in Chang'an that there is a Xiongnu man named Liu Cong in Chang'an who serves as the Red Sand General in the Western Expeditionary Army. He said that you have a close relationship with him. Is that true?"

Liu Xuanming is here too? Liu Xian was surprised to hear this, and then remembered that the last time he met Liu Cong was four years ago.

That was on the eve of Sun Xiu's coup. Liu Cong had already sensed the political unrest. To avoid disaster, he chose to seek refuge with Guo Yi, the governor of Xinxing, and returned to Bingzhou. Before parting, he even had a hunting contest with Guo Yi. Lu Shiheng was still alive at the time, and the scene of their parting was still vivid in his mind. Who would have thought that, after all these years, the Prince of Hejian would actually recruit him to Chang'an, and that he would have already become a General of the Household?
Time flies. Liu Xian felt a profound sense of loss, a feeling of emptiness and unreality washing over him. It took him a while to realize that if Liu Cong were in Chang'an, he would be his rival. Come to think of it, he had never fought him before. Could this entry into the pass be their first encounter? Did this also indicate that the five Xiongnu tribes in Bingzhou had secretly sided with the King of Hejian?

Liu Xian sighed for a long time. Regardless of how fate had arranged things, the current situation in Guanzhong was far more complex than he had imagined. Fortunately, he had left himself some room for maneuver and hadn't rashly chosen a strategy beforehand; otherwise, constantly changing his mind would have been extremely embarrassing.

In the following days, Liu Xian pondered a new strategy while inviting many of the surviving people from Hedong to meet him. This was the original plan; to formulate a suitable plan, he also needed to understand the true extent of his own strength.

About three days later, Xue Xing led a group of fellow townsmen to meet him. These included Zhuge Yu, Pang Xiang, Ma Ke, Ma Ming, Liu Hun, Dong Hao, Chen Yu, and Wang Zhen, most of whom were his peers and had met Liu Xian during the Hao San Rebellion. However, on that occasion, they couldn't address each other as ruler and subject; this time, they made no attempt to conceal their relationship. They performed the proper courtesies before Liu Xian and said, "My lord, please give your orders, and we will obey."

Then they presented Liu Xian with a list of supplies that the remaining people had painstakingly accumulated in Hedong over the ten years following the Hao San Rebellion, all of which were now available for Liu Xian's use. Among them were:

Two hundred thousand bushels of millet, two hundred thousand bushels of rice, one hundred and fifty thousand bushels of wheat, one hundred and fifty thousand bushels of beans, and eighty thousand bushels of sorghum, totaling nearly eight hundred thousand bushels of grains;

More than 10,000 swords, 20,000 bows, 400,000 arrows, and more than 8,000 sets of leather armor;
More than 2,000 warhorses and more than 3,000 pack horses, cattle and donkeys of various kinds;

In addition, there were approximately 180,000 bolts of various silk fabrics, 200,000 catties of cotton, and a total of 40 million coins in gold and silver.

The most important thing is not on the list, but outside of it. Xue Xing whispered to Liu Xian, "My lord, of the 340,000 people in Hedong, 130,000 are our people, and they are all devoted to you. If you give the order, it would be no difficult task to draw 30,000 to 40,000 people from them."

Liu Xian was deeply moved upon hearing this. He knew all too well how difficult it was to survive in those chaotic times, and these supplies were clearly the result of everyone emptying their pockets and scraping together everything they had, equivalent to paying four or five years' worth of taxes for nothing. If he couldn't accomplish this, wouldn't he be wasting everyone's hard work?

He immediately promised everyone, "Please rest assured, Liu Xian will not waste a single penny of this place, but will use it for good. And if I ever achieve my goal, I will never forget your hard work and toil."

But then he thought of Xue Yi again and privately asked Xue Xing, "How is Uncle Xue? Is he in good health?"

Hearing this, Xue Xing sighed and replied, "I don't know why, but my husband has developed a back problem and his health is deteriorating. He can hardly ride a horse anymore. The doctors we've consulted all say that he probably won't live much longer, maybe within the next two or three years."

Time flies! Liu Xian felt more and more that time waits for no one. He had originally planned to recuperate a little longer, waiting for Li Ju to return with his troops and for the farmers to finish spring planting before making any major moves. But now it seemed he had to hurry and find a way out as soon as possible.

Therefore, Liu Xian issued an order to the entire Hedong Commandery, commanding all officials above the rank of county magistrate to come to Anyi, thus convening the first major military council since entering Guanzhong. (End of this chapter)