Jinting Han people

The story of restoring the kingdom and entering Sichuan is actually a very distant one.

From the first day of the twelfth lunar month in the eighth year of the Tai Shi era (272 AD) to the end of the twelfth lunar month in the third year of the Tai An era (304 AD), Liu Xian had lived for thirty-three years. And within these thirty-three years, the stories of the previous generation were actually quite brief.

Liu Xian was born without ever meeting his grandfather, Liu Shan, and his parents were mostly silent about their family history. It wasn't until he studied with Chen Shou that he began to learn more. Because Chen Shou was very conservative and restrained, hoping that Liu Xian would integrate into contemporary life, his family history remained just that—history—and had little connection to him. It wasn't until Li Mi entered his life that the idea of ​​restoring his kingdom quietly took root in his mind.

But in the blink of an eye, almost twenty years have passed.

When Li Mi first visited Liu Xian, Liu Xian was just fourteen. At that time, he was still a child observing mourning for his mother, a naive young man whom Li Mi assigned to farm the land, who would complain and sigh endlessly. He knew neither how to be persistent nor how to endure, and he didn't know how to listen to the feelings of others. Now, Liu Xian is thirty-four. Although he can't be called old, he has seen too many people and things, persistence and giving up, stubbornness and open-mindedness, loyalty and betrayal, prosperity and decline, rise and fall.

Some of this is related to his ancestors, but most of it is unrelated. Because ultimately, this is Liu Xian's own life story.

Twenty years is a long time. Even with Liu Xian's amazing memory, when these past events are arranged to form a picture in his mind, many things that seemed important at the time now seem emotionally distant. Because human emotions are finite, as memories accumulate, the love and hate of the past seem to be washed away by ice water, gradually fading with the passing of those involved.

But Liu Xian would always remember that morning. The solemn and sacred look on his teacher Li Mi's face as he talked about the past.

He was clearly sitting on his sickbed, talking to himself, yet his eyes seemed to be looking at more than just himself. It was as if his soul had left his body and was speaking to someone he couldn't see. At the time, Liu Xian thought perhaps he was talking to his former comrades-in-arms, but now Liu Xian thought perhaps he was talking to himself decades later, so much so that even today, his teacher's gaze seemed to follow him, lingering for a long time.

Liu Xian had pondered whether this was a form of emotional support. It didn't seem so, because his teacher's eyes held not only pleading and care, but also the sternness and reproach of an elder. After all, this was someone who, in order to toughen Liu Xian up, had made him farm for no apparent reason. Whenever Liu Xian recalled his teacher's gaze, he felt a sense of urgency, as if his teacher were still alive, watching him every moment, checking if he had wasted his time or failed to live up to expectations.

Based on the available information, Liu Xian can conclude that his teacher was connected to the army left behind by General Jiang Wei at the time of the fall of the kingdom, though the details and connections are unknown. However, there should be a map in the interlayer of the last volume of the *Collected Works of Zhuge Liang*. This map should mark the location of this army in Shu. If one possesses the twin swords left by his great-grandfather as a token, they could be mobilized as a surprise force.

However, even though Liu Xun, Liu Xian's father, gave him the token and told him where the map was, Liu Xian still hadn't been able to open it. The reason was simply that too much time had passed.

Having come this far, Liu Xian already knew that it was best not to rely on others to move forward. Especially since this was something his teacher had told him twenty years ago, even though his teacher had said it would be useful. But Liu Xian knew all too well the harshness of reality; how could one afford to waste so much time?
A cold wind in winter, a clap of thunder before a downpour, a tiger in the dense forest, or even a stumble on a hillside—any of these could be fatal. And who in their life can be so lucky as to persevere for twenty years without illness or disaster? Oh, not just twenty years, but perhaps forty.

Liu Xian's luck was mostly bad, and he often encountered inexplicable setbacks. Therefore, his life motto was always to do his best first and then leave the rest to fate, rather than hoping for help from predecessors or others before even making an effort.

Therefore, Liu Xian viewed the legacy left by his teachers and predecessors primarily as encouragement during difficult times. As long as he hadn't broken it up, he always had a backup plan, which reduced internal friction and gave him more confidence when making decisions. Liu Xian's original plan was to wait until he entered Chengdu, restored his ancestors' dynasty through his own efforts, and could openly and honestly reassure his forefathers before breaking it up to bring his elders out. At that point, whatever the outcome, good or bad, he could face it.

But after the trip to Jian Ge, Liu Xian had a vague premonition that perhaps it was time to reveal the truth.

Liu Xian had been pondering this matter recently. Based on the experiences of Geng Hui and others, the last known trace of this army was in Qiuchi, Wudu. However, according to his teacher Li Mi, they ultimately hid in Shu. According to the information Liu Xian had gathered, although there had been several rebellions in Shu, the region was generally peaceful. These people hadn't passed through Yangping Pass or Jiange Pass. So how did they mysteriously disappear from Wudu and return to Bashu? And where did they hide?

Judging from these questions, regardless of the current state of this army, they at least possess a secret route from Wudu into Shu, which is exactly what Liu Xian needs most right now.

After returning to Hanzhong from Jiange, Liu Xian kept this matter on his mind. He went back to his residence, took a quick bath, changed his clothes, and then went to search through his books. Since Liu Lang was currently studying history, Liu Xian had set up his study in the small courtyard where Green Pearl lived, so that Liu Lang could browse at will, including the book box that Li Mi had left for him. However, strangely, after searching for a while, Liu Xian couldn't find it.

Green Pearl came over when she heard the noise. She saw him rummaging through the study, looking disheveled and dirty. She immediately guessed what her husband was looking for and said with a smile, "What you're looking for isn't here."

It turned out that she had known all along how important the book box was to Liu Xian, so she had deliberately hidden it under her dressing table. This way, she could retrieve it whenever Liu Xian wanted it, and also ensure the book box wouldn't be damaged.

When the book box was returned to Liu Xian, it was wrapped in satin. But upon unwrapping the satin, its sheen only served to accentuate the box's age. This book box had been with Liu Xian for a long time. He remembered when he was demoted from Luoyang to Xiayang, he hadn't taken much with him—just a sword, a bow, a horse, a few sets of clothes, and this book box. It had accompanied him through the hardships of Tongguan and Changshan; the lacquer on several corners had worn away, and there were numerous scratches revealing its yellowish-brown wood. Liu Xian opened the wooden lid again, revealing three layers inside, neatly stacked with dozens of scrolls. These contained not only Li Mi's copy of *The Collected Works of Zhuge Liang*, but also traces of his other teachers. The first layer contains some insights on judging cases that Liu Song gave to Liu Xian; the second layer contains Chen Shou's unfinished "Continuation of the Book of Han", as well as Ruan Ji's "Classic of Music" and "Commentary on the Tao Te Ching"; the third layer contains "Collected Works of Zhuge Liang", which consists of ten volumes, and at the very bottom is a letter, a blood letter left by Li Mi to Liu Xian before his death.

Liu Xian took out the last volume of "Jiang Yuan" and slowly laid it flat on the table. This last volume was bound with a layer of silk brocade, making it thicker than the others. Liu Xian used a short knife to cut open the silk brocade binding. Sure enough, between the silk brocade and the text, there was a piece of white silk, which should be the map his father had mentioned.

After such a long time, the white silk had turned yellowish, giving Liu Xian the illusion that it would break if he applied too much force, as if it had been there for far more than twenty years. When unfolded, the writing on the silk was even a little faded, but fortunately the strokes were still clear. Liu Xian recognized it at first glance as a map of Yizhou.

However, unlike the Bashu map that Liu Xian obtained from the Secretariat, this map, though small, was extremely detailed. Liu Xian took out his existing Yizhou map from his study and compared it with the map, quickly discovering some differences.

He was overjoyed upon seeing this, and immediately took the map to the main room, where he summoned Zhuge Yan, Li Sheng, and others to study it carefully together.

This map is indeed old; it's clearly a map of the entire Shu Han's defenses from back then. The Hanzhong and Wudu areas are densely covered with military fortifications and strongholds, quite different from what Liu Xian knows today. The names of the cities in the other prefectures are also different from what we know now. However, it's also clear that the geographical features and terrain depicted are much more detailed than on Liu Xian's previous maps.

This section highlights three routes between Sichuan and Hanzhong: the Jinniu Road, the Yinping Road, and the Micang Road. Each of these routes differs slightly from its depiction on a standard map.

First, there was the Yinping Trail, a path that Deng Ai had risked his life to clear, traversing over 700 li of mountains. Because of Deng Ai's unjust death and the desolate terrain, it was quickly lost. Although the court nominally drew up such a road, it was riddled with errors and was merely a makeshift route; Liu Xian dared not travel it. But this current map meticulously depicted the winding mountains and rivers between Yinping Bridge and Jiangyou, giving Liu Xian a clear understanding of the terrain.

Looking at the Jinniu Road, this map contains a relatively complete map of the Jiange defenses. It shows that south of Jiameng Pass along the Xihan River, there is a mountain pass called Laisu, from which a winding road extends all the way to the south of Jiange. Between Hanzhong and Jiameng, there is also an unnamed mountain path that surprisingly leads south to the Han River, winding around seven mountain passes, and finally miraculously bypassing Baishui Pass and Yangping Pass, thus connecting the two places closely.

Finally, there was the Micang Road. The imperial maps no longer marked this route because, due to Zhang He's relocation of people in Bazhou, all the Han and Di people along the Micang Road were relocated. Furthermore, because the road traversed the Daba Mountains, with its treacherous terrain, it became completely deserted, even more desolate than Yinping. No people meant no supplies, and no supplies made passage difficult. Yet, Liu Xian clearly saw that on the map left by his teacher, not only was this mountain road carefully marked, but a bright red circle was also drawn in the middle of the more than six hundred li of mountain road between Hanchang and Nanzheng.

This is undoubtedly a map that Liu Xian desperately needs. The markings on these three roads are of great help to Liu Xian.

The two additional trails marked on the Jinniu Road are undoubtedly the most crucial to solving Liu Xian's immediate crisis. If these trails are genuine, it means Liu Xian can evade the Chengdu army scouts and secretly march from Hanzhong to launch a surprise attack on Jiameng Pass. Once Jiameng Pass is captured, Liu Xian can either take advantage of the situation to march south and seize Langzhong, or he can cut off Jiange's supply lines, launching a pincer attack on Jiange from the north and south. How will the enemy defend it?

If this tactical objective is achieved, he can then use Jiange as a base to launch a frontal attack on Zitong. If Li Xiong abandons Zitong, that's fine, but if he sends a large army to meet him, Liu Xian can use the Yinping Trail to outflank Li Xiong's rear. Simply put, with this map, the geographical advantage of Bashu is no longer with Li Xiong, but with Liu Xian. In this way, the natural defenses relied upon by the Chengdu army will no longer be natural defenses, but rather traps that lull people into a false sense of security.

The least effective option is likely the Micang Road, which doesn't lead to the heart of Sichuan but rather to Bazhou County. Liu Xian's forces are currently limited; attacking Bazhou County would undoubtedly disperse his troops and might also provoke Luo Shang's forces, which border Bazhou County—making it largely unnecessary.

But the red circle on the map undoubtedly caught Liu Xian's attention. It was the only unusual mark on the map, and Liu Xian easily guessed that this was where the Han army had taken refuge back then.

Liu Xian shared this conjecture with Zhuge Yan and the others, and Li Sheng clapped his hands in agreement, saying, "It's probably true. I heard when I was young that the area around Baling was sparsely populated and full of poisonous insects. Decades ago, apart from the Di people, no one lived there at all. If there is another place in Bashu where people can hide and have been undisturbed for decades, it is probably only here."

Upon hearing that the army his father had been searching for for decades was located here, Zhuge Yan became very interested. He volunteered to Liu Xian, saying, "The journey is long and arduous, and only those skilled in climbing can do it! Your Highness may lead your troops to attack Jiameng first, and I will report back to Your Highness after I have scouted the route."

Everyone had been traveling for several days and looked tired, but seeing this map invigorated them.

Liu Xian was naturally overjoyed, but he refused Zhuge Yan's request to go alone, saying, "If that is the case, I must go in person; it is an inescapable responsibility for my family."

For Liu Xian, this was a promise to be fulfilled, even though twenty years had passed. He also knew that for the other parties involved, if any of them were still alive and waiting for him, then this was a promise that had been awaited for forty years. (End of Chapter)