Han officials

Chapter 315 The Invisible Battlefield [4K]

Although Liu Zhang was persuaded by the pro-Wei faction within Yizhou to send Zhang Song to Yecheng to form an alliance, realizing this idea was not so simple.

As the saying goes: "Don't go to Sichuan when you're young, and don't leave Sichuan when you're old."

While Yizhou was prosperous and peaceful, it was also known for its rugged terrain.

Currently, people within Yizhou who want to leave Sichuan basically only have two routes to take.

One option is to head east along the Yangtze River, passing through the Three Gorges to Jingzhou.

This route may seem easy, but it carries considerable risks.

It should be noted that the Wuling Mountains on both sides of the Three Gorges have complex terrain, making land routes almost impossible, thus making waterways the only option.

However, the water flow in the Three Gorges section is very rapid and there are many reefs, so navigation is only possible during the high water season.

The historically renowned "pillar of strength" is located here.

Since Qin conquered Ba and Shu and incorporated Yizhou into the territory of the Central Plains, countless ancestors have perished here, their ships destroyed and people lost their lives.

The second route out of Sichuan goes north, through Hanzhong.

After traversing the Jinniu Road or Micang Road, one can then take the Ziwu Road or Baoxie Road to cross the Qinling Mountains and reach Guanzhong.

This is also the shortest route between Chengdu and Chang'an and Luoyang.

However, this route is not much safer than the Three Gorges waterway.

In addition to the natural barriers, one must also traverse the Qinling and Daba Mountains, crossing a series of suspended walkways.

Anyone who has walked the northern boardwalk once probably wouldn't want to walk it a second time.

However, on the other hand, the northern route out of Sichuan was not always this difficult.

During the pre-Qin period, it was possible to travel directly from Hanzhong to Guanzhong by water, and there were two routes available.

One route leads directly to Chencang County in Youfufeng Prefecture via the Gudao River;
The other route is along the Han River directly to Tianshui Commandery (Hanyang Commandery).

At the end of the Qin Dynasty, Han Xin ostensibly sent Zhou Bo to repair the Baoxie Road, but secretly dispatched Fan Kuai to extend the Han River out of Tianshui County and reach Longxi. He also ordered Cao Can to go through the Ziwu Valley directly to Chang'an as a diversionary force, while Han Xin himself led the main force through the old river to attack Chencang and seize Guanzhong in one fell swoop.

Therefore, the Han people are not only the Han people of the Han Dynasty, but also the Han people of Hanzhong and the Han River.

It's a pity that fate plays tricks on people.

The Book of Han records:
In the first month of the second year of Empress Lü's reign (186 BC), Wudu Mountain collapsed, killing 760 people.

The landslides themselves weren't the biggest problem; the major issue with this massive earthquake was that numerous landslides blocked the Han River, creating a large number of barrier lakes. Later, the barrier lakes breached in the southwest direction, allowing the Han River to flow southwest into the Jialing River.

Some tributaries that originally belonged to the upper reaches of the Han River were thus forced into the Jialing River.

This is the historical event known as "The Capture of Han at Jialing".

From then on, the Han River west of Ningqiang was called the West Han River, becoming the largest tributary of the Jialing River.

The section of the Han River east of the landslide dam is now just a dry riverbed, with no waterway for boats to navigate. Meanwhile, the nearby Jialing River is also impassable due to its high mountains, deep valleys, and swift currents.

The convenient waterway from Hanzhong to Guanzhong was cut off, forcing Prime Minister Zhuge Liang to launch six expeditions to Qishan.

Ultimately, this led Prime Minister Zhuge Liang to leave behind the words "Oh, heavens!" at Wuzhang Plains, filled with resentment.

It's likely that Zhuge Liang, on his deathbed, was still troubled by the great earthquake that struck at the beginning of the Han Dynasty!
As for the "Longnan Mountain Road" used by Deng Ai to launch a surprise attack on Shu in later generations, it was actually a beast path and not a path for humans at all.

Honestly, it's a miracle that the old man Deng Ai was able to survive the entire Longnan Mountain Road.

However, Zhang Song certainly wouldn't dare to take that route now.

As for Zhang Song on the northern route, he dared not go any further.

With Hanzhong currently occupied by Zhang Lu, it is now an enemy territory, and Zhang Song dares not gamble on Zhang Lu's benevolence.

In contrast, the Three Gorges waterway on the eastern route, though dangerous, is at least a passageway.

……

On the Jia Chen day of the eighth month of the second year of Xingping.

After the ships sailed out of the Xiling Gorge, the Yangtze River channel suddenly turned into a wide and gentle channel.

"Departing from Baidi City amidst colorful clouds at dawn, I returned to Jiangling, a thousand miles away, in a single day"—this is the scene described.

In just one day and night, the boat Zhang Song was on sailed downstream from the eastern entrance of the Three Gorges all the way to the city of Jiangling.

As evening fell and Zhang Song stepped onto the dock outside Jiangling City, he couldn't help but stroke his beard and laugh:
"Natural barriers are no match for the dangers posed by human actions!"

With that, he waved his hand dismissively: "Let's go into town."

"Here!"

The servants quickly unloaded boxes of Shu brocade from the ship and drove to Jiangling City.

Because the relationship between Yizhou and Jingzhou was not good, although it was not as tense as in Hanzhong, they could not be considered friends. Therefore, Zhang Song did not reveal his identity this time, but changed his clothes and went into hiding, pretending to be a merchant caravan from Shu.

In this way, Shu brocade, a signature product of Yizhou, would naturally be indispensable.

It is no exaggeration to say that outside of Yizhou, Shu brocade is almost always in a state of "high price but no market".

Merchant caravans like Zhang Song's were highly favored by the powerful families and wealthy merchants of Jingzhou.

It can be said that "Sichuan brocade paves the way, and nothing is ever successful."

Indeed, Zhang Song's actions in Jingzhou were not hindered in any way.

The only obstacle, if any, is that the powerful clans and wealthy merchants of Jingzhou always want to sign follow-up deals with him.

If we could obtain a certain share of Shu brocade every year, that would be ideal.

Therefore, Zhang Song had to devote his energy to dealing with these people in order to escape and head north.

After leaving Sichuan, Zhang Song's route became much simpler.

From Jiangling to Xiangyang, and then from Xiangyang northward through Nanyang County, one can reach Kunyang County of Yingchuan County.

Traveling lightly and with minimal entourage, Zhang Song will soon arrive in Ye City.

However, as Zhang Song ventured deeper into Jingzhou, he gradually discovered that Jingzhou was also embroiled in a heated debate over the "traditional Chinese learning" of Yecheng.

……

In fact, Liu Biao had already done this long before Wei Zhe established the "Zhixing Academy" in Ye City.

However, he did not do it openly, but instead established an academy to seek out Confucian scholars.

Subsequently, he appointed Song Zhongwei, a great Confucian scholar from Jingzhou, as "Five Industries Attendant" to organize a group of great Confucian scholars to compile "The Final Commentary on the Five Classics." His purpose was to emulate Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu and establish a new official school. Therefore, although Liu Biao did not use the imperial carriage like Liu Yan had before, the clever people of Jingzhou had already guessed his intentions. Otherwise, they would not have gone along with it and advised him to ascend to the title of "King of Chu."

Before Wei Zhe lectured at Zhixing Academy, the official schools in Jingzhou mainly focused on criticizing Zheng Xuan's philosophy.

Especially after Yuan Jun took office as the governor of Xuzhou and launched the massive "Long Corridor Debate," the mainstream opinion in Jingzhou was basically to support "Chen" and criticize "Zheng," at least that was Liu Biao's attitude.

However, once Yecheng's "traditional Chinese studies" emerged, the official academic viewpoints of Jingzhou immediately shifted their focus.

Song Zhong, Qi Wukai, and other prominent Confucian scholars cited classical texts to launch a scathing critique of Wei Zhe and the study of traditional Chinese learning.

More than a thousand Confucian scholars from Xiangyang Academy were not to be outdone and became the main force opposing the students of Zhixing Academy.

One south and one north, one ancient and one modern.

Scholars from both places began to hurl insults and engage in a war without the smoke of gunpowder.

Upon realizing this situation, Zhang Song was astonished and couldn't help but stop in Xiangyang.

However, Song Zhong and others were so focused on criticizing Wei Zhe that they overlooked one thing.

That means you must understand something before you criticize it; otherwise, how can you be targeted and effective?

As a result, Wei Zhe's "traditional Chinese learning" entered the Xiangyang Academy openly and spread to the surrounding areas of Xiangyang on a large scale, and began to be sought after by a group of Confucian scholars who studied ancient texts.

Sima Hui, a renowned scholar from Yingchuan who was residing in Xiangyang, criticized Song Zhong and others for their empty talk and lack of understanding of current affairs.

Although Sima Hui was a renowned scholar, he was different from the great Confucian scholars of his time.

When Pang Tong was young, he heard that Sima Hui was in Yingchuan, so he traveled a long distance to visit him. However, when he arrived, he found Sima Hui picking mulberry leaves.

At the time, Pang Tong was still a boy, and he couldn't help but complain in disappointment:

"I have heard that a man should be adorned with gold and purple in his robes, how can he be expected to do the things of a woman?"

However, Sima Hui did not seem to care at all upon hearing this, and instead calmly replied:

“In the past, Bo Cheng farmed with his wife, not coveting the glory of being a feudal lord; Yuan Xian built a mulberry tree, not easily accepting an official residence.”

"Why should one consider it extraordinary to sit in a magnificent house, ride on a fat horse, and be accompanied by dozens of maids? This is why Xu Fu was so generous, and why Yi and Qi sighed so deeply. Even if one possessed the title of a usurper of Qin and the wealth of a thousand chariots, it would not be worth treasuring!"

Sima Hui's words were a mockery of Pang Tong, who was born into wealth and privilege but was unaware of the hardships of life.

Pang Tong was so impressed that he often went to consult Sima Hui after Sima Hui moved to Xiangyang.

Therefore, Sima Hui particularly admired the "traditional Chinese learning" approach of being dedicated to practical work and applying knowledge effectively.

He even rarely left his secluded place, and publicly praised Wei Zhe's learning as "practical learning for governing the world" at a gathering of scholars in Xiangyang, calling it a good prescription for saving the world!

Influenced by him, his disciples Liu Yi from Nanyang and Xiang Lang from Xiangyang became believers in "traditional Chinese studies".

In addition, Pang Degong, the head of the Pang family in Xiangyang, also greatly admired Wei Zhe.

However, due to the burden of his family, Pang Degong could not openly support Wei Zhe, so he turned to criticizing Song Zhong's commentary on the Tai Xuan Jing, saying it was full of empty talk and misleading people.

Therefore, before Song Zhong and others could denounce and criticize the "national studies" of Ye City as false, the scholars of Jingzhou split up.

The Confucian scholars of Sima Hui and Pang Degong's school quickly broke with the Xiangyang Academy and began to verbally and in writing attack it.

Some of the gentry in Jingzhou, wary of Liu Biao's attitude, dared not openly side with Wei Zhe, and instead turned their attention to Song Zhong.

In this academic struggle, the most eye-catching figures were undoubtedly Pang Tong and Wang Can.

Pang Tong is relatively easy to talk about. As the eldest son of the Pang family of Xiangyang, he was already a prominent figure among the younger generation in Jingzhou.

It was only right that he took the lead in battle for Pang Degong after this incident.

But Wang Can was different; he was not simply the leader of the "Seven Scholars of Jian'an" as later generations described him.

Wang Can came from a prominent family in Yanzhou, the Wang clan of Shanyang. He was the great-grandson of Grand Commandant Wang Gong and the grandson of Minister of Works Wang Chang. After fleeing to Jingzhou to avoid disaster, he became known for his extensive learning. His poems and essays, lamenting the times and the chaos, were profound and sincere, but their tone was desolate and sorrowful rather than heroic. He was admired by the scholars of Jingzhou.

In the past, the scholars of Jingzhou only knew that Wang Can was good at poetry and prose and was the most outstanding scholar in Jingzhou, but they did not expect that Wang Can's knowledge of classical studies was also very profound.

In some ways, he was practically the representative of the Jingzhou branch of Zhixing Academy.

Why do you say that?
This was all because Wang Can was influenced by his father and grandfather, and knew that governing the world was not something that could be achieved by mere empty talk. Therefore, he upheld the idea of ​​"cultivating oneself, regulating one's family, governing the state, and bringing peace to the world" from a young age.

Before learning about the classical learning in Ye City, Wang Can had already begun to intentionally integrate Confucian rites and music with Legalist penal thought, trying to find a way to apply it to practical affairs.

From this perspective, Wang Can's academic attitude was actually more radical than Wei Zhe's.

It was precisely because of this that Wang Can, who had come to know traditional Chinese learning, regarded "Zhi Xing Lu" as a priceless treasure and studied it diligently day and night.

If he previously thought Wei Zhe was a hero of a chaotic era, then after reading "The Record of Knowledge and Action," Wang Can almost regarded Wei Zhe as a sage king of the three ancient dynasties, and was completely convinced.

There was no other way; Wei Zhe's theories were simply too aligned with Wang Can's ideas.

Thus, after this ideological war broke out, Wang Can's performance was practically that of the "Lu Bu" of the academic world.

In response to the Xiangyang Academy's advocacy of "purely relying on moral education" and "abolishing punishments when the world is at peace," Wang Can directly wrote "On Peace" to criticize it, clearly stating that in times of chaos, punishments are even more necessary to deter wrongdoing, and the rule of law is a necessary means to correct the ills of the time.

When Song Zhong expressed that once the country was governed by pure Confucian scholars and virtuous officials were in court, the world would naturally be at peace, Wang Can wrote a lengthy essay of several thousand words, "On Confucian Officials," criticizing the pedantry and greed of contemporary vulgar Confucian scholars.

Wang Can even openly advocated the "merger of Confucianism and Legalism" in his "Discourse on Confucian Officials," suggesting that Song Zhong read more Legalist texts and learn specific ways of governing the country to avoid uttering ignorant words and becoming a laughing stock among learned people.

In a short time, the vast Xiangyang Academy, with its more than a thousand scholars, was suppressed by Wang Can alone.

There's nothing they can do; they simply can't compare to the other person in terms of either the meaning of the classics or their literary talent!

It should be noted that Wang Can's works, such as "On Peace" and "On Confucian Officials," even impressed the scholars of the New Text School of Confucianism in Jingzhou. They even began to admire them when reading them in conjunction with "Record of Knowledge and Action," and gradually began to show signs of defection.

Upon realizing this, Wang Can stopped relentlessly attacking the fallen dog. Instead, he turned to writing "On Fundamentals" based on his own painstaking study of "The Record of Knowledge and Action," popularizing the many concepts of Wei's school of thought among the Confucian scholars of Jingzhou.

For example, after his work "On Fundamentals," he sharply refuted the apocryphal and prophetic theories, advocating a return to the original meaning of the classics.

Furthermore, in his "On Fundamentals," he passionately declared: "Of the eight policies concerning the people, food is the most important!"

Most importantly, Wang Can also advocated that agriculture should be regarded as the foundation of the country. In response to the problem of abandoned fields caused by war, the government should "look to the stars to determine the time" to guide the people to cultivate the land according to the farming season, and establish a strict reward and punishment mechanism, in which farmers would be rewarded or punished accordingly based on the quality of their harvest.

It can be said that Wang Can's political ideas were highly consistent with Wei Zhe's in every aspect.

If other scholars in Jingzhou merely endorsed "traditional Chinese learning," then Wang Can became a staunch and loyal follower of Wei Zhe.

For a time, the Xiangyang Academy, represented by Song Zhong, was extremely angry.

After all, literary talent is eloquence, and they simply couldn't win an argument with Wang Can.

Left with no other choice, Song Zhong and the others had to find another way.

(End of this chapter)