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

Chapter 161 What is a Prestigious Family?
In late June, Liu Bei returned to Ji Province, traveling towards Anping, and stopped by Guanjin County to visit Qian Zhao.

Qian Zhao's father passed away, and according to the rites, Qian Zhao must observe a three-year mourning period.

But now the world is in chaos, and Anping is neither at peace nor at ease, so it is clear that he cannot stay here to observe mourning.

Before his death, Qian Zhao told his father not to stay at the grave, but to go to Xihe to follow Yue Yin and continue his studies.

The best way to observe mourning is indeed to follow one's teacher and pursue studies. Every parent hopes their child will study diligently. There are many things that cannot be done during mourning, which is also the perfect time to concentrate on studying.

Qian Zhao also took the opportunity to bring Zou Jing's troops to Youzhou, so that Zou Jing would have someone to use.

After those sergeants left with Qian Zhao, they did quite a bit of work in Anping.

They no longer hold public office and cannot govern other places, but they have completely quelled the rebellion in the eastern part of Anping Kingdom—not the Yellow Turbans, but the bandits who took advantage of the chaos.

The real Yellow Turbans did not actually gather in Anping, especially in the area of ​​Guanjin County, the hometown of Le Yin and Qian Zhao, where there were almost no signs of unrest.

The entire Le Yin family had been taken to Xihe, and no one was home. When Liu Bei passed by his teacher's house, he saw several bags of millet placed in front of the door, the bags covered with grass and dust.

You should know that this year, Jizhou is practically abandoned, and everyone is starving. In many places, even the grass roots and tree bark have been stripped bare, but no one has taken the rice left in front of Le Yin's house.

The Way of Peace truly respected a great Confucian scholar like Yue Yin.

The local people know very well who is fair and who is unfair, who is truly virtuous and who is deceiving the world for fame.

“A few days ago, Gong Jing, the Prefect of Bohai, and Jiao He, the Governor of Qingzhou, sent people one after another to try to recruit me as an official. I refused on the grounds of filial piety… Both of them are from Runan, and they also left a letter from Minister Yuan, who wanted to recruit my teacher as his assistant.”

Qian Zhao took out a silk scroll and said to Liu Bei, "My master went to Xihe, but they couldn't find the person, so they asked me to pass it on... Should we tell my master about this?"

"Master will not accept Yuan Kui's summons. It is alright to inform Master."

Liu Bei shook his head: "My master is not the kind of person who is easily deceived."

"But what if Master wants to use this to ease the tension between my elder brother and the Yuan family?"

Qian Zhao sighed, "Elder brother, you may not know, but Master has always been very worried about you. He says you often put yourself in danger and have grudges against powerful families, so he's afraid something might happen to you. I'm worried that Master will answer the call to intercede for you..."

"...Then, Zijing, please tell your master that you should focus on teaching and educating people in Xihe. As long as you are not coerced by prestigious families, I will be fine. Your master will understand."

After thinking for a moment, Liu Bei sent Qian Zhao to deliver a letter back to Yue Yin, so that Yue Yin would not worry.

The methods of powerful families are not limited to intrigue; they also employ overt strategies, and these overt strategies are very troublesome—if Yue Yin is taken hostage, Liu Bei will be in real trouble.

The most troublesome thing is that Le Yin's disciples will probably all encounter this situation, while others may not be able to remain as composed as Qian Zhao.

"Zijing went to Xihe and also inquired about which people in Zhuojun had been recruited by Yuan Wei. If I am not mistaken, I fear that all the families of the Liu clan have already been recruited by him... Zijing, you should discuss the matter with Xianhe and Zuo Yuan. If necessary, you can disregard reason with people, as long as you can ensure the peace of Xihe."

Liu Bei gave instructions.

Qian Zhao led his men back to Xihe, while Liu Bei headed south to Ganling to meet up with Liu Yu.

Ganling and Guangzong County are very close, separated only by the Qinghe River. The original name of Ganling Kingdom was Qinghe Kingdom. Empress Xiaode, the birth mother of Emperor An of Han, was buried in Qinghecuo County. Afterwards, Cuo County was renamed Ganling County, and Qinghe Kingdom was also renamed Ganling Kingdom.

There is a bridge over the Qinghe River that connects Guangzong and Ganling. This bridge is called the "Boundary Bridge," which marks the boundary between Julu County and Ganling State.

Liu Bei did not allow his troops to enter the city, but instead built a camp on the east side of the boundary bridge.

Across the river, west of the boundary bridge, lies Zhang Liang's camp.

Liu Yu arrived a day earlier than Liu Bei and had already tried to send an envoy across the river yesterday, but Zhang Liang refused to communicate and sent the envoy back.

"Xuande, the Emperor has decreed that you and I must redeem the Prince of Ganling, but how shall we do so?"

When Liu Bei's troops were setting up camp, Liu Yu and Liu Bei discussed their strategy on the riverbank.

"The only way is through prisoner exchange... This is different from the case of Prince Anping before. Before, the Yellow Turbans had not yet formed a large army, and Prince Anping was a hostage. Guo Dian exchanged himself for the hostage. But now the Yellow Turbans have formed a large army, and Prince Ganling is no longer a hostage, but a prisoner."

Liu Bei explained to Liu Yu, "Captives must be exchanged for captives."

“But the exchange of prisoners must be equal… Who can be equal to royalty?”

Liu Yu frowned, looking somewhat worried.

"Anyone can be on par with royalty."

Liu Bei looked at Liu Yu and said seriously, "Negotiations with the Way of Peace are simple. We only need to respect their doctrine of universal harmony and equality. I will lead my troops to capture a prisoner..."

"If we only capture a few Yellow Turban soldiers, can we still exchange them?"

Liu Yu did not quite understand the logic of the Way of Peace.

"Of course, to us they are just lowly Yellow Turban soldiers. But to the Yellow Turbans, they are sworn brothers. What difference is there between brothers in terms of rank or status?"

Liu Bei nodded to Liu Yu: "Perhaps this sounds hard to accept, but that's how it is. Redeeming the Prince of Ganling is simple... but fulfilling the Emperor's wishes is very difficult."

"What does Xuande think the Emperor intends?"

Liu Yu asked, "I only know that the emperor wanted to appease the people, and the imperial edict at this time still stated that everyone except Zhang Jiao could be pardoned... but now it is no longer possible to appease them."

"The Emperor simply wanted more people to know that the royal family was willing to let the common people live in peace, but some were unwilling... The Emperor knew he couldn't grant them amnesty; he just wanted more people to know about this, such as other bandits who had become thieves, or other poor scholars, commoners, and refugees..."

Liu Bei pointed in the direction of Ganling County: "You and I are both descendants of the Liu family, and we can represent the will of the royal family. This Ganling Kingdom is a place for the royal family to pacify the people. It does not necessarily have to be to pacify the Yellow Turbans. As long as people know the goodwill of the royal family, that will be enough."

"Xuande, are you saying... that the emperor desires a good reputation?"

Liu Yu roughly understood.

"It is not that the emperor seeks fame; the emperor simply wants to stop powerful and influential families from deceiving the world and stealing fame, and to stop the famous families in the country from using their reputation to control the world."

Liu Bei sighed: "Lord Bo'an is also a renowned scholar, he should know how difficult this matter is."

Liu Yu also sighed: "To confront a prestigious family with a name... but the Yuan family has almost seized control of the world. How can we stop them now?"

Liu Yu was indeed adept at cultivating a reputation. Before becoming enemies with the Yuan family, Liu Yu had used the Yuan family's influence to promote his benevolence, even fabricating stories about locusts not entering the country.

However, Liu Yu was a kind and benevolent man. He did invite Liu Yu to share the fame, but he did not say one thing and do another. At most, it was just empty praise.

It was precisely because Liu Yu was skilled in this art, and because he understood the Yuan family, that he understood how difficult it was.

In fact, Liu Bei only recently realized that the powerful families of this time had a way of thinking that is difficult for modern people to understand.

—To hold the world hostage and command the emperor.

Yes, that's right. It's either using the emperor to command the world or using the world to command the emperor.

This is the mindset of top-tier wealthy families. A top-tier wealthy family like the Yuan family can command the world through various means such as political parties, teacher-student relationships, etiquette, wealth, and prestige; they don't need to hold the emperor hostage at all.

Especially after the persecution of the Party, a large number of scholars were implicated and punished, making it easier for the Yuan family to acquire henchmen.

For example, Guo Dian, and Dong Zhuo.

Guo Dian and Dong Zhuo were both dismissed from their posts during the Party Prohibitions in the year the emperor ascended the throne. In recent years, anyone who has been referred to as "dismissed from office for committing an offense" has been implicated in the Party Prohibitions.

Dong Zhuo was initially recommended by Duan Jiong to be a Yulin Lang (a military officer), but he never served under Duan Jiong. Instead, he followed Zhang Huan as a military officer and later rose through the ranks to become the Western Regions Commandant due to his outstanding military achievements.

Guo Dian was also a member of the Imperial Guards and had served as Zhang Huan's military advisor. He was also a colleague of Dong Zhuo.

Afterwards, Zhang Huan offended Wang Yu, the Commandant of the Capital Region, and was accused of "forming cliques for personal gain." Guo Dian, Dong Zhuo, and other former associates were all implicated and dismissed.

At that time, Yuan Wei had just taken office as Minister of Works, and he immediately recruited a large number of officials, including Dong Zhuo and Guo Dian, who had been implicated and dismissed, as his assistants.

With Yuan Wei as their backer, Guo Dian and Dong Zhuo had a smooth and successful career.

After that, Guo Dian served successively as the Assistant Minister of Works, the Governor of Qingzhou, and the Prefect of Julu, rising rapidly through the ranks.

Dong Zhuo served successively as the Assistant Minister of Works, Governor of Bing Province, and Prefect of Hedong, his career trajectory completely mirroring that of Guo Dian.

In fact, all the top fighters recruited by Yuan Wei were promoted in this way, reaching the rank of 2,000 shi in just a few years.

With such rapid promotions, which official wouldn't want to serve under Yuan Wei?

Moreover, the Yuan family was not afraid of or restricted by the Party Prohibitions. Yuan She, the Palace Attendant, held a very high seniority in the palace, and Yuan She and Yuan Kui were cousins. Only the Yuan family could recruit and dismiss officials on a large scale during the height of the Party Prohibitions.

If it's inconvenient to be an official, one can become a subordinate clerk. If even that's inconvenient, one can become a retainer. In any case, Yuan She could ensure that the retainers of the Yuan family wouldn't be easily punished. Yuan Shao had done the same job before.

To put it bluntly, many of the people recruited and appointed by the Yuan family were former officials who had been disgraced by the emperor and were capable.

The Yuan family's power was not due to their four generations of high-ranking officials, but rather because they had always been in control.

With eunuchs cooperating in the palace, high-ranking officials protecting them in the court, officials dissatisfied with the emperor serving as henchmen under their patronage, and partisans spreading their righteous opinions and gaining fame outside the court, the direct descendants of the clan all held positions worth two thousand shi (a unit of grain), while the collateral branches of the clan constantly kept assassins...

Regardless of how the various forces fight, and regardless of who wins or loses, it will all be an opportunity for the Yuan family to profit.

This ability to be successful in all aspects is the foundation for the generational succession of wealthy families.

Those who were dissatisfied with the emperor, the eunuchs, or the maternal relatives, whether scholars, local tyrants, or border generals from humble backgrounds, would all flock to the only safe place under the Yuan family.

It was because the Yuan family had been doing this for generations, profiting from all sides and remaining steadfast in the struggles that they became the leaders of the aristocratic families and achieved the status of four generations of high-ranking officials.

The answer lies in reversing cause and effect.

These aristocratic leaders, from prestigious families, were naturally capable of commanding the world.

The only person they could not directly command was the emperor.

Therefore, they would use the power of the people to command the emperor—by intercepting grain transport, cutting off roads, controlling grain, taking control of prefectures and counties, and winning over generals… all of these were done in this way.

And what about so-called prestigious families...

The process involves first finding a noble title, fabricating a grand story, packaging it with various rituals, and then widely spreading it to give a family extremely high prestige.

They then used their reputation to bewitch their followers, controlled public opinion to curry favor with each other and thus control people's futures, lured people to spread their word in the name of integrity and righteousness, made it impossible for people to turn away in the name of loyalty and filial piety, and manipulated people's lives, deaths, and behavior in the name of etiquette and rites—until they controlled all the prefectures and counties, until no one dared to oppose them in name.

Look at the Five Pecks of Rice sect... They use rice to recruit followers, rice to spread the word, rice to coerce people into not leaving, and rice to control the life, death, and actions of their followers. Those who disobey will not get rice, and those who oppose them will be the common enemy of all followers, and their property will be seized by the masses—this is the Rice Sect.

If you replace "rice" with "name," then it becomes what's known as the doctrine of names...

The Five Pecks of Rice sect has never represented Taoism. Taoism follows the natural way, but the Five Pecks of Rice sect has never followed the natural way; it is the way of ghosts.

The doctrine of Confucianism has never been the same as Confucianism. It is merely using the name of Confucianism to bewitch people and control public opinion. It is another kind of evil doctrine formed after the castration and alteration of Confucianism.

After all, the gentry were never good at governing the country, but rather at manipulating public opinion.

The pen is in their hands, and the power of interpretation lies in their mouths.

They praised each other as upright and distinguished scholars—even though each of them had thousands of servants, a large number of slaves, more private soldiers than county troops, and more armor than the imperial guards, they were still considered "upright and distinguished scholars."

The words of the upright officials were naturally more credible to most people than those of eunuchs or commoners, since eunuchs were born with a bad reputation, while commoners had no right to speak at all.

Therefore, the literati all said that the calamities of the Han Dynasty were due to the emperor's incompetence, the eunuchs' abuse of power, and the interference of the empress's relatives in politics...

It's not a problem with prestigious families anyway.

During the period of the Partisan Prohibitions, many scholars were unable to obtain official positions, which fueled their resentment. They incited 30,000 students from the Imperial Academy to launch a massive campaign in Luoyang to slander the court and defame the emperor. At that time, everyone from high-ranking officials down was afraid of the negative opinions and public opinion from the Imperial Academy, to the point that the court was unable to govern effectively, and no official or general dared to step forward.

Consider the current cyberbullying, and you'll understand the devastating effect of powerful families controlling their 'fame' through trolls.

Anyone who is not tolerated by the gentry will be denounced as a traitor who brings chaos to the world.

If someone is branded as a scourge to the country and its people, their descendants will never be able to recover... This is far more damaging than cyberbullying.

Who is not afraid?
Even the emperor is afraid.

Many of the ritual systems that seem incomprehensible to modern people were actually invented by these prestigious families to restrain and control the feudal lords.

Wealthy families gain power and profit from their reputation, hence the name "prestigious families".

After Emperor Guangwu, true aristocratic families became accustomed to using their reputation to oppose the emperor, and their thinking was completely different from that of people in later centralized periods.

In the eyes of true elite families, imperial power is not supreme; their set of rules is supreme.

Their way of thinking was to control the world with their reputation and use it to command the emperor.

However, this logic also has weaknesses.

“I once heard someone talk about military strategy, saying that the enemy’s greatest strength is the enemy’s weakest point… We should drive out the weak enemy to subdue the strong enemy.”

Liu Bei put on his helmet, mounted his horse, and said to Liu Yu, "The opportunity to defeat the enemy lies in the moment when the powerful Ming Clan holds the feudal lords hostage and commands the emperor. I will go and exchange prisoners with the Yellow Turbans... Lord Bo'an, you should first pacify the people and appease the rebels, and let more people spread the word about the extraordinary phenomena of the Ming Clan. Don't think about how to stop the Ming Clan; you should help them 'make a name for themselves' first."

"Raise their reputation, then wait for them to fall..."

Liu Yu understood: "Then, how about passing on some wise sayings? Has Xuande heard of 'The one who will replace Han is Dangtu Gao'?"

“I have also heard that there are exotic flowers and plants in Runan that are shaped like dragons, elephants and flying clouds... and that a woman gave birth to a child with two heads and one body in one birth. These are all true. Lord Bo’an, please spread the word. My people are already spreading it now.”

Liu Bei nodded and led Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to the other side of the river.

(End of this chapter)