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

Chapter 185 Appointing a Thief as an Official
Everyone despises those treacherous and despicable people.

But everyone encounters such scoundrels.

Emperor Zhaolie of the Han Dynasty encountered this many times throughout history.

Cao Cao also encountered this many times.

Sun Quan... never mind, it doesn't matter whether he encounters him or not.

The higher one's status, the greater the probability of encountering scoundrels. For example, Emperor Liu Hong was basically used to it and didn't even complain about it.

Not long ago, Cao Cao was also betrayed.

Cao Cao quelled the licentious worship in Jinan, drove away many corrupt officials, and carried out a large-scale castration campaign, making all the villains fear him like a tiger.

Subsequently, Cao Cao appointed some upright scholars as officials, established military farms, provided disaster relief, and resettled displaced people, thus bringing peace and tranquility to Jinan.

But just last month, Cao Cao was jointly accused by the "upright and honest officials" he had appointed, who accused him of persecuting the gentry and instigating cruel prisons, leading to "people suffering and rebellions breaking out everywhere."

As a result, Cao Cao lost his official position, and everything he had painstakingly built up in Jinan vanished.

When Jinan was rife with corruption and chaos, the upright scholars appeared exceptionally "pure," easily gaining fame and making it easy for them to do things in secret.

When Jinan is prosperous and harmonious... too clear a water has no fish. Cao Cao made Jinan unproductive, so of course others could only target him.

If you block someone's way or become their obstacle, then you are bound to be their enemy, even if you have done them a favor.

It's not that you can "govern the people" just because you "love the people," and the "people" may not necessarily love you.

The same goes for Liu Bei.

All of Liu Bei's ideas and consciousness came from the relatively peaceful modern world. His thinking was still ingrained. Although his behavior had adapted to the times, he still viewed problems through the lens of modern thinking.

He would not discriminate between officials and thieves, or between commoners and bandits, nor would he deliberately weaken or divide his allies. He always hoped to achieve a win-win situation by adhering to the principle of mutual benefit.

This concept is mostly a good thing, which is why Liu Bei rose from a petty thief to his current status and future.

However, this concept has limitations in this era.

Because modern people do not actually possess a dominant mentality.

Many people think that ruling means having power, money, and military strength... This is actually just a transactional mentality. It's about converting paper power into monetary value for a transactional assessment, which is far from true rule.

Exercising a rule is not like solving a math problem; it requires both personally engaging in the process of establishing a government and spreading its teachings, and also stepping back to stand on high and guide people's hearts.

Liu Bei's benevolence and virtue were merely personal qualities and self-cultivation.

If one truly wishes to spread benevolence widely, it must be based on a foundation of governance.

Without a ruling mindset, one cannot be considered a benevolent ruler; at best, one can only be a kind and gentle person.

Liu Bei knew that whoever wins the hearts of the people wins the world, and he understood the hearts of some people, but before that, Liu Bei did not truly understand what it meant to 'win the hearts of the people'.

First of all, it has to be one's own people. Only one's own people can truly win someone's heart. How can one win the hearts of outsiders?
The best way to prevent allies from betraying you is to bring them completely under your control, rather than expecting them to keep their word.

The best way to get people to act morally is to make them all your followers, dependent on you for survival. Control their lives and deaths, regulate their behavior, and create an environment where morality is essential, rather than relying on cooperation or transactions to maintain balance.

Skilled traders may become wealthy merchants, but they cannot truly govern a country and bring peace to the people.

The current emperor, Liu Hong, maintains the empire through cooperation and trade, which makes him a frequent target of backstabbing, causing the empire to teeter on the brink of collapse.

The reason why Liu Bei is now being betrayed by the bandits of Taihang is precisely this.

Everyone has their own needs and selfish desires. Even the smallest person is still a person, and as a person, they have desires.

No one is omniscient or omnipotent; even the most obscure and cunning schemes can harm heroes of the world.

We cannot expect ordinary people to uphold morality.

What ordinary people lack is never intelligence... but rather the "way".

What is the "way" in the two words "morality"?

The Way is public-mindedness, while righteousness is private conduct; the Way is the principle, while righteousness is its implementation; the Way is the rule, while righteousness is the action.

There are many people who value loyalty, but few who value morality.

It is precisely because everyone has selfish desires that governing the world requires "educating and civilizing the people".

This education does not refer to teaching and nurturing people, but rather to enabling the people to establish a shared sense of public interest, beyond their selfish desires.

The saying "preserve heavenly principles and eliminate human desires" actually means using public-mindedness to restrain people's private desires; this is preaching.

This path doesn't have to be noble.

It could be supporting a certain leader, upholding a certain ideology, believing in a certain religion, or even resorting to harsh laws and punishments, or tyranny and force, or even plunder and robbery...

These are all principles, and essentially they are all for the same thing—rule.

Teaching is the result of superiors influencing subordinates; transformation is the process of nurturing new life.

To govern by the principles of morality, so that people will follow suit and thus unite the people under one's rule, this is true education.

If one merely bestows favors and displays virtue, but fails to bring about a transformative change in the people under one's rule, then that is a rule without morality.

The people under his rule will respect this virtuous person, but they will not be loyal to him. As long as there is profit to be made, they will rebel again.

On the contrary, those like Zuo Zi of Taihang or Zhang Yan of Heishan, who ruled over hundreds of thousands of people as thieves, actually possessed a certain moral compass—robbing the rich to help the poor is also a moral compass.

Cao Cao was in Jinan, and Liu Bei was in Xihe; neither taught nor influenced either.

The people under their rule were unaware of the principles, and no change occurred. Although the two men did perform acts of charity, this could not be considered true rule.

Simply put, apart from those who had done him a great favor, those who were dependent on him, or those with whom he had a deep friendship and had shared life and death, he did not make anyone else a true member of his own group.

Since they're not one of our own, but just customers, it's normal for them to betray us; it would be abnormal if they didn't.

Of course, this is also a hurdle that heroes in chaotic times must overcome.

If you can get through it, you will obtain the Dragon Soul.

If you can't get past it, you're just a fish spirit.

Liu Bei has now figured it out. He is not the kind of person who can't let go. Gains and losses are commonplace, and he is not heartbroken over the loss of Xihe.

If a problem is identified, then the problem should be solved.

Life is a process of constantly solving problems.

However, Liu Bei only has a few hundred mobile troops at his disposal. It would be quite difficult to quell the 30,000 Taihang bandits and regain control of Xihe.

The Taihang bandits have not yet launched a large-scale looting campaign or sent troops elsewhere; they have only taken Liu Bei's stored grain and are currently cleaning up the battlefield in Xihe.

Zhang Chun's troops have indeed been mostly annihilated, and a few are fleeing, but it is unknown where they have fled to. The message that Zuo Zi sent earlier was false, and it was just to lure Liu Bei to take the abandoned road.

The Taihang bandits are still operating under the name of Zuo Zi, but Zuo Zi has not appeared in public.

Wang Zhen's troops stopped about ten miles west of Zhuoxian City—the former location of Shili Pavilion. Although there were no people there at this time, the horse farm and houses were still there.

If you calculate the time, the grain in Xihe will be ripe by the end of July, which is still a month away.

If the Taihang bandits were to seize all the grain from Xihe, they would be even more difficult to deal with.

Meanwhile, during this month, the Taihang bandits will inevitably send troops to try to take Zhuojun entirely, or to seize grain from various counties, just as they have done before.

However, after Liu Bei raised his banner in Zhuo County, the Taihang bandits were unlikely to launch a large-scale attack on Zhuo County.

Over the years, Liu Bei has treated the elderly, weak, women and children of Xihe quite well. Although these are not his true subjects, if the Taihang bandits were to openly kill Liu Bei, at least the residents of Xihe and many Taihang bandits would feel guilty.

Such a guilty conscience would make the leaders of Taihang Mountain hesitant and timid – whoever openly kills Liu Bei would be despised and unable to become a leader of Taihang Mountain.

The more immoral a person is, the more they will despise immoral acts; the more they lack something, the more they will shout about it.

Even the most notorious gangsters cannot be tainted by the concept of righteousness.

They entered the mountains to become bandits and plunder the villages. They had long lost all sense of loyalty, filial piety, and benevolence. The only thing they could leave behind was righteousness. If they were to give up even that, the 100,000 bandits of Taihang would feel that they were no longer human.

Whoever is currently in command of the Taihang bandits, at most they can only send trusted confidants to secretly kill Liu Bei; they cannot allow tens of thousands of Taihang bandits to launch a large-scale attack.

If one acts openly without justice, it will inevitably lead to internal strife.

This is also why they spread the news that Zhang Chun was fleeing south, which led Liu Bei to the Laishui Ancient Road, and why Wang Zhen stopped attacking the city.

This is one of the flaws of the 'path of thieves'—every path has flaws, and because the path of thieves is particularly immoral, it has many flaws.

But if one completely abandons morality, then that is 'immorality,' which is nothing more than a bandit that everyone hates.

However, Liu Bei could not directly attack the Taihang bandits. Not to mention whether he could win, the key point was that as soon as he attacked, the Taihang bandit leaders would no longer need to worry about morality.

It's estimated that the current leaders of the Taihang bandits are waiting for Liu Bei to recall Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's troops to attack them; Liu Bei certainly doesn't want to be besieged by 30,000 men.

At the same time, if Liu Bei leaves Zhuo County, he must take Jian Yong, Zuo Yuan, and even Yue Yin with him, otherwise the Taihang bandits will definitely try to kidnap Zuo Yuan and others to force Liu Bei—this is the best solution for the Taihang bandits at this moment.

To get out of this predicament, we must start with people's hearts and minds.

Didn't Wang Zhen want to enter Zhuo County...?

Liu Bei then allowed him to enter Zhuo County.

……

At dusk, Liu Bei led his armored cavalry out of the city in a grand procession to retrieve the body of the armored cavalryman who had died in battle earlier.

They then collected the corpses of the Taihang bandits below the city and brought them to Shili Pavilion, where they summoned Wang Zhen to meet them.

Wang Zhen saw Liu Bei's banner inside the camp, hesitated for a moment, and then came out.

"Wang Zhen, I have come to return the remains of your brothers... Now that we have defeated Zhang Chun, this great victory deserves a celebration banquet. I would like to invite the heroes of Taihang to a feast. Would you be willing to send someone to distribute invitations to the various leaders?"

Liu Bei did not mention the previous battle with Wang Zhen, but only asked Wang Zhen to help deliver the invitation, which was no different from Zuo Yuan's usual tone when he asked Wang Zhen to deliver intelligence.

"...Commander Liu is kind and benevolent...I wonder where the Commander-in-Chief intends to hold the banquet?"

Wang Zhen hesitated for a long time, without mentioning the previous battle, but instead beckoned his men forward and accepted a pile of invitations.

“I am in Zhuoxian, so of course I will hold the banquet there. It would be a waste of your time and effort to set up camp here, so you might as well rest in Zhuoxian.”

Liu Bei beckoned to Wang Zhen and took a few steps forward, reaching Wang Zhen's camp with a smile on his face. Wang Zhen hesitated for a moment upon seeing Liu Bei's beckoning, then stepped forward and asked, "Commander Liu, are you saying... I can enter the city?"

Clearly, he was a little incredulous.

"Of course!"

Liu Bei laughed and said, "Does my brother dare not?"

"Why not..."

Wang Zhen grinned, forcing an ugly smile: "But my brothers..."

"There are barracks inside the city. You can bring all your brothers into the city... Don't worry, I have no intention of harming you."

Liu Bei spoke with great magnanimity, as if the incident of killing nearly three hundred of Wang Zhen's men had never happened.

Wang Zhen hesitated. If Jian Yong or Zuo Yuan had said this before, he would have immediately entered the city to carry out the kidnapping.

But now, facing Liu Bei, he felt somewhat guilty.

He still has more than two thousand men under his command.

Liu Bei only had three hundred armored cavalrymen under his command, plus Jian Yong and Zuo Yuan's guards, totaling only five hundred men.

Once inside the city, the armored cavalry will definitely not be able to unleash their full potential.

If judged solely by the data, it is highly likely that Wang Zhen's army could have wiped out Liu Bei's forces upon entering the city.

But Wang Zhen still felt uneasy.

Because this matter really can't be calculated that way...

How many bandits from Taihang would be willing to attack Liu Bei and Zuo Yuan?

How many people will be dissatisfied after taking the action?
How many more people will disobey orders?

Will this cause internal strife and desertion among the subordinates?
Even if Liu Bei could be killed, how would the people of Xihe react?

Could they use this as an excuse to eliminate him and annex his own troops?
What will happen in the future if we suffer too great a loss?
...Wang Zhen had many issues to consider, and it was impossible to calculate them all in a short time.

Seeing this, Liu Bei understood – if Wang Zhen, whom he had just killed hundreds of people, didn't dare to openly kill him, then the other bandits of Taihang would naturally not dare either.

Selfishness can sometimes become a common trait...

Everyone is afraid of being despised, and everyone wants to order others to do the dirty work, then no one will do the dirty work.

……

That evening, Wang Zhen sent men back to Xihe to deliver an invitation and brought his troops into the county, where they were stationed at the South Gate military post.

Although it was already night, Liu Bei still invited Wang Zhen to have a drink.

The wine was naturally drunk at Zhang Fei's tavern, where there was no one else besides the tavern's maids, and both of their guards were outside the door.

"Brother Wang, did Zhang Chunzhen escape?"

By candlelight, Liu Bei raised his cup and asked a question.

"He did escape, heading north, but Wang did not participate in the pursuit..."

Wang Zhen was in a state of unease, but he still had to drink the wine Liu Bei offered, and he answered readily.

"Why not pursue Zhang Chun, but instead seize Zhuo County? Brother Wang, do you have some old grudge against me?"

Liu Bei asked quite directly at this moment, and since there were no outsiders around, he didn't need to worry too much.

"...I can't catch up with him..."

Wang Zhen probably didn't expect Liu Bei to be so direct, and hesitated, unable to speak.

"Is it that you can't catch up, or that you don't plan to? Wang Zhen... what is your relationship with Wang Yue? The crossbowman Zhang Chun sent to assassinate me before, wasn't he one of your men?"

Liu Bei looked at Wang Zhen and decided to go even further and guess even more blatantly: "Because your men assassinated me before, that's why you're so eager to control my family... Am I right?"

"...Why does Commander Liu need to be so explicit?"

Wang Zhen frowned, stood up, and sighed softly, "Since the governor says so, then there's no way for us to settle this peacefully. Did the governor invite me into the city to kill me?"

"Can't this be resolved peacefully? Just because your men assassinated me? Ha... I, Liu Bei, can still distinguish between the mastermind and the one who is just following orders."

Liu Bei smiled again: "You probably don't know, but I have already submitted a memorial to exonerate Wang Yue... He was not taken to Luoyang for execution. He will become a Tiger-like General again, and may even become the teacher of Marquis Shi and a minister in the Prince's residence again."

"As for you, my brother... If you kill me, I fear some of your subordinates will object, and the Taihang brothers will not tolerate you; but if you don't kill me, I fear I will hold a grudge and seek revenge. So you are in a state of unease, aren't you?"

Wang Zhen's expression changed drastically again: "Then there's nothing more to say..."

"Looks like I guessed right. Are you planning to kill me now and escape with Zhang Chun?"

Liu Bei's smile widened: "No wonder you said you couldn't catch up with Zhang Chun... Wait... You were originally Zhang Chun's subordinate... You must be Wang Zheng, right? Wang Yue was also tricked into going to Xihe by you? Do you have a grudge against me?"

“I, Wang, have no prior grudge against Governor Liu. Governor Liu is both a thief and an official, and I, Wang, am merely following his example… If the Governor is now willing to fight to the death, I, Wang, am ready to risk everything…”

Wang Zhen simply admitted it, and it seemed that he really had murderous intent, as his hand was already on the hilt of his sword.

This Wang Zhen... or rather Wang Zheng, was indeed a leader of a faction in the northern Taihang Mountains, capable of leading a force of three thousand men, which made him quite powerful.

It's quite normal for him to become Zhang Chun's retainer. Before the Zhang family lost most of its slaves, their strength in Youzhou was indeed unmatched, and Zhang Chun also held the position of "Protector of the Xianbei".

However, Wang Zheng knew that Xihe was a trap, yet he still let Zhang Chun enter, which clearly shows that he was not very loyal to Zhang Chun...

Or rather, he would never be loyal to anyone.

After all, it was an imitation of Liu Bei, who was both a thief and an official—Liu Bei actually understood this mentality best.

No one would do this unless they were forced to. Being able to operate in both the legal and illegal worlds can be advantageous in certain situations, but it's difficult to be a double agent and impossible to be truly loyal to anyone.

The bandits of Taihang Mountain cannot tolerate traitors; he had to keep it a secret from the people of Taihang Mountain.

It was Wang Zheng who had previously tricked Wang Yue into assassinating Liu Bei, and at that time it was likely indeed on Zhang Chun's orders. Wang Zheng wouldn't have intentionally provoked anyone. Because by then there was no need to provoke anyone; regardless of whether the assassination attempt actually occurred, Zhang Chun and Liu Bei were already enemies.

After the assassination, Liu Bei wanted to eliminate Zhang Chun so that the Taihang bandits could launch a large-scale invasion of Xihe, leaving Wang Zheng in a difficult situation of fighting with his own hands.

In order to avoid being killed as a traitor, Wang Zheng had no choice but to join other Taihang bandits in killing Zhang Chun. However, he did not pursue Zhang Chun, which meant that Zhang Chun had no idea that Wang Zheng was a Taihang bandit. If Zhang Chun had known, Wang Zheng would have definitely pursued him to the end to silence him.

After Zhang Chun fled in defeat, Wang Zheng wanted to take Zhuo County by deception, which was actually for his own safety.

Wang Yue was captured alive by Liu Bei, so Liu Bei likely knew Wang Zheng's identity, or at least could easily guess it, just like he does now.

He feared Liu Bei's retaliation, so naturally he wanted to kill Liu Bei.

But when Liu Bei raised his banner, he was unwilling to attack Liu Bei in front of his own Taihang bandits, and as a result, he has been hesitant until now.

“Wang Zheng, if you were truly willing to risk everything, you would have already made your move… Right now, we are in Zhuo County. If I die here, you will have nowhere to go. Not only will the people of Zhuo County kill you, but the Taihang Mountains will also not tolerate you…”

Liu Bei glanced at Wang Zheng's hand gripping the sword hilt, but instead of getting up, gestured for Wang Zheng to sit down: "Please sit down, don't get so agitated... You were the one who first suggested that the various families of Taihang kill me, weren't you?"

"...It wasn't me..."

Wang Zheng stared at Liu Bei for a while, then knelt back down at the table: "It's Zuo Zi."

"Then do you think... Zuo Zi could still kill me now?"

Liu Bei was still smiling: "I know your men tried to assassinate me, and you tricked Wang Yue into going to Xihe, so you can't rest easy... But if I die now, you will become an unjust person with nowhere to go..."

"Wang Zheng, what if I recommend you to the Emperor for an official position and make your troops the Emperor's personal guard? If you become an official of the Emperor, and you are recommended by me... would you still be afraid that I would hold a grudge against you?"

"You've recommended me for office? I've only ever heard of recommending virtuous people without avoiding relatives, but I've never heard of recommending virtuous people without avoiding enemies..."

Wang Zheng was genuinely surprised; his first reaction was disbelief.

To promote one's enemy to an official position?
And he recommended his enemy to the emperor?
To outsiders, Liu Bei was merely Liu Yu's subordinate at the moment. Although he held a rank of two thousand shi (a unit of grain), he was not considered a high-ranking official.

Wang Zheng had nearly three thousand men. If he were to accept the imperial pardon, he would likely be worth more than two thousand shi (a unit of grain), not much less than Liu Bei. Moreover, he was the emperor's army, so he was not afraid of Liu Bei bringing up past grievances.

Moreover, Wang Zheng is not like Wang Yue. Wang Zheng has even been a double agent, so he knows how to be an official.

"I will not only recommend you for an official position, but also recommend the leaders of the thirteen families in the Northern Taihang Mountains... Except for Zuo Zi, all of you can become officials! Suppressing Zhang Chun's rebellion and beheading four thousand cavalrymen, even just considering the merits alone, is enough to make you all officials! If you can take Zhang Chun's head, you might even be ennobled!"

Liu Bei continued, "Do you know why I'm holding this victory banquet? It's to recommend you all for official positions. I've even prepared the memorial... You should be literate, right? Would you like to take a look?"

Not only were they literate, but all the leaders of the thirteen families in Taihang were cultured people. No one who is illiterate can be the leader of thousands of people anywhere.

Liu Bei took out a silk scroll from his bosom and handed it over—Liu Bei was indeed telling the truth; he truly intended to appoint the bandits of Taihang as officials.

Holding the imperial insignia to supervise the army is the most convenient way to recommend candidates for military positions, just like Zou Jing directly recommended the commanders of the various cavalry units to the court. However, this matter requires the help of eunuchs, otherwise the report may not reach the emperor.

Turning thieves into officials and bandits into civilians would actually make things easier for Liu Bei.

Could the bandits of Taihang resist the temptation of becoming officials?
Liu Bei knew that most of the Taihang leaders were willing to become officials, but they were all wanted criminals, and the only way for them to become officials was to accept amnesty.

Especially for Wang Zheng... this is almost Wang Zheng's only way out.

The emperor would certainly be happy to grant official titles—as long as a few military officer positions are given, tens of thousands of troops can be obtained... Even if it is only in name and they are not necessarily completely obedient, it is better to have something than nothing.

Liu Bei never mentioned that the Taihang bandits wanted to kill him, and he always claimed that Zhang Chun wanted to kill him.

But Wang Zheng still didn't quite believe it and kept shaking his head.

"It's alright, you don't have to believe it, but you have to let the brothers in Taihang Mountain know about this. We'll see how it goes at the victory celebration banquet in ten days... I'll invite Zhang Yan from Black Mountain to come and witness this together."

After Liu Bei finished speaking, he turned and left.

As night fell, Wang Zheng remained staring blankly at the silk scroll. After much deliberation, he finally took Liu Bei's invitation and went to Xihe that very night.

In the middle of the night, the group left Zhuo County and rode their horses southward.

……

A few days later, at Mount Dapi.

Liu Bei brought up the question he had asked Zhang Yan before: "Brother Fei Yan, do you now have any intention of taking up an official post?"

(End of this chapter)