Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 133 Heavenly Physician Zhang Bao
Once you enter Zhongshan, it's like entering two different worlds.

It was abrupt and very upsetting.

Because of the existence of the Xiheting Medical Clinic, people from the Taiping Dao did not appear in most places along the Juma River—perhaps there were some, but they never showed themselves.

After all, the clinic really heals, and it's very cheap. Without the environment for healing with talisman water, naturally no one would pay rice to join the Dao.

Even the Taoist priests in Shiliting have disappeared, and no large-scale activities of Taiping Dao believers have been seen around Zhuoxian County.

The situation is quite different within Zhongshan.

Contrary to expectations, there were very few migrants in Zhongshan; most households simply kept their doors and windows closed.

However, a small number of displaced people does not necessarily mean that the situation in this area is more stable...

The situation in Zhongshan is probably the exact opposite of that in Hejian.

Most of the officials have probably fled; the government offices are all closed, and there are no people to be seen in the mansions of the wealthy. They have probably all taken up residence in fortified villages.

Most places were closed off, as if everyone had suddenly vanished.

I didn't see any tragic scenes of armed taxation, nor did I witness any riots.

But there were frozen corpses lying everywhere by the roadside—the situation in this place was not optimistic either, except that those frozen corpses were not killed by humans, but died of hunger and cold due to illness and starvation.

Zhang He was very efficient; not long after Liu Bei entered Zhongshan, he received Zhang He's reward.

Zhang Baozheng, a renowned physician of the Taiping Dao, is gathering a large following in the Wuji and Xiaquyang areas, numbering in the tens of thousands.

The place where Liu Bei met Zuo Yuan by the Zi River was within the jurisdiction of Wuji County, which is the southernmost part of Zhongshan.

Xiaquyang belonged to Julu Commandery, located in the northernmost part of Julu, very close to Wuji County and also very close to Anping County.

Zhang He is a smart man; he's already wearing a yellow turban...

The Yellow Turbans were not depicted in later films, television dramas, or games; they didn't wear yellow jackets, had large yellow cloths wrapped around their heads, or yellow scarves around their necks.

The Yellow Turbans of the Way of Peace simply changed the headbands they wore to be yellow; that was all.

Apart from the yellow color of the headband, there is no difference in any other part.

This is not just for differentiation; it mainly means "the Yellow Heaven shall stand," and the symbolic significance of this position on the head is greater than the distinction between friend and foe.

In fact, this yellow headband looks very much like a yellow talisman—and if it's stained with blood, it looks even more like one.

Zhang He led Liu Bei all the way to the outskirts of Wuji County.

There are quite a few Yellow Turbans here, and they are using white lime to write the characters "甲子" (Jiazi) crookedly on the walls of some wealthy mansions.

The characters were written like talismans.

At the same time, these yellow turbans were also hanging yellow strips of cloth on some doors. The cloth strips were coarsely dyed and unevenly colored, and they looked just like talismans.

Upon seeing Liu Bei's troops, these Yellow Turbans neither fled nor approached, but merely watched from afar, just as the refugees had looked at Liu Bei and Gongsun Zan when they entered Zhongshan together.

Liu Bei had no intention of becoming enemies with the Yellow Turbans, or at least not now.

He had someone take a bolt of yellow cloth from the supply wagon, along with a small bag of millet, and had Zhang He deliver it to the Yellow Turban rebels.

That was the yellow cloth that the Taoist priest gave back when he gave Shili Pavilion to Taiping Dao.

Upon seeing Liu Bei's actions, the Yellow Turbans were somewhat taken aback. After hesitating for a long time, one of their leaders stepped forward to examine the yellow cloth, then accepted the millet and bowed to Liu Bei.

Liu Bei nodded to him: "Where is the Heavenly Physician? Take me to see him."

There are actually only two "Heavenly Physicians" in the Way of Peace: Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang.

They did indeed possess medical skills, but they were not doctors; rather, they were supreme missionaries, or 'archbishops'.

This is an organizational structure derived from the Taiping Jing (Scripture of Great Peace): the superior physician heals the nation, the middle physician heals people, and the inferior physician heals diseases.

The Heavenly Physician is one level higher than the Supreme Physician.

The Taoist priest in Zhuoxian County was just a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner who was in charge of spreading his teachings in the local area.

"Why have you come, kind sir?" The Yellow Turban leader was not old, but he carried a gourd and a bamboo staff and wore a Taoist robe. He was probably a local traditional Chinese medicine doctor and was likely educated.

The Taiping Dao people refer to their believers as 'good people'.

"We have come for the great good of the world."

Liu Bei answered expressionlessly.

“Brother, come with me.”

Upon hearing that the world was in great fortune, the leader changed his address and led him toward Anxi.

Liu Bei sighed – the people of Taiping Dao are really careless. I brought so many troops, and although they weren't wearing armor while marching, just looking at these warhorses should have told me they were elite troops of the imperial court.

But with just Zhang He's yellow headscarf, a piece of yellow cloth, and a few words that conformed to the Taiping Jing, he was able to take a stranger leading an army to meet the organization's second-in-command...

The bandits in the Taihang Mountains were much more vigilant than them.

The minor leader did indeed take Liu Bei to see Zhang Bao, right north of Xiaquyang City, by the Zishui River.

A large number of people have gathered here, too many to count, but not many of them are armed.

There were many bonfires on the riverbank, and many disciples wearing yellow turbans were giving hot soup to some newly arrived migrants to keep them alive.

Liu Bei didn't see any talisman water; he only saw hot soup with a strong medicinal smell.

Zhang Bao was not as careless as the leader, and he had many guards around him, many of whom were wearing armor.

Moreover, when he met Liu Bei, he immediately recognized that Liu Bei was an official.

But perhaps the gathering of tens of thousands of people gave Zhang Bao too much confidence. When he saw Liu Bei leading his troops, Zhang Bao still took the initiative to go forward, as if he had not seen the elite troops behind Liu Bei at all.

This is a very elegant person. He wears a hairpin in his hair, with hair hanging down at his temples. He looks to be only in his thirties, but his temples are all white.

If you ignore the scales on Zhang Bao's body and only look at his face, he does have a somewhat ethereal air and is very approachable.

"Brother, do you wish to join the path?"

Zhang Bao asked with a slight smile.

When he got close, Liu Bei could see the bloodshot in his eyes.

"No, I have come to seek medical help from the Heavenly Physician."

Liu Bei looked at Zhang Bao and sighed: "Brother Chonghuan, do you not know about the events in Hejian and Anping? Why did you not take precautions when you saw the army?"

Liu Bei knew that Zhang Bao's courtesy name was Chonghuan, but he addressed him as "brother" directly to avoid unnecessary words and long-winded preamble.

"Whether he is an enemy or a friend, Huang Tian can guide me to discern it. I know that Chief Secretary Liu is a good man."

Zhang Bao still smiled and said, "Xuande lives in Xihe, and his virtue is no different from that of our sect. We should be brothers."

Liu Bei was somewhat surprised: "You recognize me?!"

"If you recognize me, why can't I recognize you?"

Zhang Bao burst into laughter: "You think there are no brothers of our sect in Taihang Mountain and Xihe Pavilion? If it weren't for the injustice of the imperial court, I originally planned to visit Xuande in Xihe... Xuande may not know, but a few years ago I also thought about opening a large medical clinic like the one in Xihe..."

"Yes, the imperial court is unjust... I wonder what the Great Teacher thinks?"

Liu Bei pointed to the endless crowd behind Zhang Bao: "Medicine alone cannot save them; it can only offer some comfort. Moreover, with so many people gathered together, not to mention the epidemic... even I can easily see you, so the imperial army can naturally do the same."

“I am not a great and wise teacher, and I do not know the will of Heaven. I will only do what I should do. It is already difficult for them to live one more day. Let us comfort them one day at a time.”

Zhang Bao gently shook his head: "If an army comes, then so be it... The world is suffering now, don't the soldiers suffer too?"

"Brother Chonghuan, haven't you thought carefully about the matters in Hejian, Anping, and other places?"

Liu Bei returned to the original question: "Someone is trying to frame the Taiping Dao (Way of Peace) as an unjust cause. I'm afraid that in less than half a month, you will see a mob bringing the King of Hejian, the King of Anping, and the King of Ganling here... If the Taiping Dao becomes a bandit group, and if the bandits become the Taiping Dao, what will you do then? What will the Great Teacher of Wisdom do then?"

(End of this chapter)