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

Chapter 237 Sea Pirates
Upon seeing Kong Zan commit suicide, Liu Bei frowned.

He never expected that Kong Zan would commit suicide.

This guy doesn't look like the kind of fearless tough guy, yet he acted so impulsively...

If both of them are dead, then things will be much more difficult.

If Kong Zan is afraid of death and is arrested and imprisoned, Liu Bei can hold a grand public trial and expose more of the Kong family's underhanded dealings, thus bringing the Kong family of Lu down from their pedestal.

While it's impossible to bring down the Kong family, at least it can dispel the mystique surrounding the Kong family and make people view the Kong clan of Lu as just an ordinary wealthy family whose ancestor was a sage.

Confucius was a sage, but the descendants of sages are not necessarily sages. In that case, they are not much different from other aristocratic families and powerful clans. At most, they are just famous for their ancestors.

If this could force the Confucius family to split into separate branches, that would be even better.

The Kong family wields too much influence in the three prefectures of Qing, Yan, and Xu. If the people of the world cannot dispel their mystique about them, it will be a huge problem.

Similarly, if Qin Zhou had killed Kong Zan, Liu Bei would still have held a public trial. This would have demystified those famous figures who debuted with a combination of numbers, and the effect would have been even better—it would have been Confucius's descendant who was killed.

However, Kong Zan's suicide would not have the effect of ruining his reputation, and it would be difficult to pin other crimes on him. It can only be regarded as Kong Zan committing suicide out of fear of punishment after killing someone.

Moreover, according to the moral standards of this day, murder is merely a crime, not considered a heinous crime. Many people would even view Kong Zan's suicide as a display of courage and responsibility, after all, he had atoned for his sins with his death.

This will not have any impact on the Confucius family.

Kong Zan killed Qin Zhou. Qin Zhou's relatives and friends would naturally hate the Kong family, but the world would only think that this was the Kong family tradition. After all, Confucius had also killed the famous scholar Shao Zhengmao, and it could even be said that he was emulating the filial piety of his ancestors.

There was no way around it; the descendants of the Confucius family in Lu were indeed exceptional. After all, they were true direct descendants of Confucius, and they had the courage to die to preserve their family name, which was far better than those nominal Dukes of Yansheng who served foreign tribes in later generations.

Meanwhile, Kong Zan committed suicide, leaving Liu Bei to deal with the Yellow Turbans in Donglai alone.

……

As for fighting, Liu Bei wasn't worried at all; he was already a skilled fighter by now.

Although Huang County's military preparedness was in disarray and there was almost no usable military equipment or supplies in the county treasury, there was still a considerable amount of money and grain in the reserves, and the prefect's mansion also had a lot of gold and silver. Kong Zan was clearly not an honest official.

When the city's defenses and weaponry are insufficient, the prefect's office naturally has to be dismantled and put to use. Liu Bei and Zuo Yuan both follow this approach; when faced with a city defense, they dismantle the government office first... They are indeed one family.

After all, the pillars of the government office were very suitable as logs, and the standard square bricks were also very suitable as boulders; their size and shape were quite handy.

Merchants in Huang County were also mobilized and began to boil the broth.

While the powerful clans and wealthy families were indeed difficult to command, the merchants and commoners were all willing to cooperate. After all, if Huang County were to be captured by the Yellow Turbans, the merchants and ordinary people would be the first to suffer.

At the same time, Liu Bei also ordered the prisoners in the prison to be released first, intending to reorganize the execution squad.

There were many prisoners in the prison, and one of them was an acquaintance.

Taishi Ci was squatting in the prison cell.

Why is Ziyi here?

Liu Bei ordered Taishi Ci to be released from prison and asked him with some surprise.

Logically speaking, a master like Taishi Ci shouldn't be so easily imprisoned...

"I destroyed the memorial in Luoyang, and Lord Kong will naturally question me about my crime... I originally planned to take Guan's ship to Liaodong to avoid disaster, but I didn't expect that the ship, which had already set sail, would return..."

Taishi Ci said with a wry smile, "Only now do I realize that the Guan family has connections with Lord Kong."

"Are the Guan family pirates here?"

Liu Bei felt that Taishi Ci was also an unlucky fellow, running into guns while trying to escape.

“From Donglai to Liaodong, and the Bohai Bay in Jizhou, the Guan family is the largest merchant family in this sea area... and also a pirate family.” Taishi Ci nodded: “In recent years, many scholars from Qingzhou have used the Guan family’s ships to escape disaster in Liaodong.”

"The Yellow Turbans came from Penglai, so... those so-called Yellow Turbans outside must be the Guan family pirates? Are there really tens of thousands of pirates?"

Liu Bei looked at Taishi Ci: "Ziyi should know the person in charge of the Guan family, right?"

"The Yellow Turbans have invaded?"

Taishi Ci had been sitting in prison for the past two days and was unaware that the Yellow Turbans had arrived. However, upon hearing about Penglai, he nodded: "There is indeed a Guan family dock on the Penglai Islands. Pirates often gather in Penglai. If they came from Penglai, then they must be related to the Guan family. But the Guan family pirates should only number a few thousand."

The Penglai Islands mentioned here are the Miaodao Islands. Although many legends about seeking immortality describe those islands as the abode of immortals, the place has actually always been a gathering place for pirates.

The Donglai pirates were actually maritime merchants who conducted legitimate business in various coastal counties, mainly trading with the Liaodong vassal states across the Bohai Sea.

However, once they reach a place at sea where there is no one to supervise them, the merchants will immediately become pirates. They often go to places like the Three Hans (southern part of the Korean Peninsula), and some even go as far as the Japanese islands (the name for Kyushu).

As long as they were not within the territory of the Han Dynasty, they basically did not engage in normal trade. They mostly relied on the advantage of weapons such as Han crossbows to openly plunder, and they also frequently captured Japanese slaves to sell as human beings.

Of course, the slave trade did not develop into a particularly large-scale industry because the profits were not high. Wealthy people in the Han Dynasty were unlikely to be interested in those dark-skinned, thin, and short slaves, making them difficult to sell.

……

As evening approached, the main force of the Yellow Turbans had reached outside the city, but instead of attacking, they set up camp about a mile outside the city.

"They do seem to be from the Guan family, but I have no feelings for them anymore..."

Taishi Ci and Liu Bei stood together on the city wall, looking at the camp outside and talking.

The Yellow Turban camp was only two hundred feet away from the city, which was obviously too close. It seemed that the Yellow Turban leaders were not good at attacking cities.

Taishi Ci did know people from the Guan family, but they weren't really friends. After all, the Guan family pirates were disloyal; they took Taishi Ci's money for smuggling people and then sold him to Kong Zan.

"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter if there's no affection, as long as we can make conversation... Ziyi, go and sound out their intentions, temporarily take over as the Northern Navy Commander, and use this as a pretext to negotiate with the bandits."

Upon learning that the Yellow Turbans were connected to pirates, Liu Bei had other ideas and casually gave Taishi Ci a mid-level position.

"This... Your Excellency values ​​him so highly? But the Guan family is unethical; how will Your Excellency deal with them?"

Taishi Ci hadn't expected Liu Bei to give him such a high-ranking position as Military Commander right away. Although it was only a temporary appointment and didn't follow the proper procedures, it was clear that if he could handle the Donglai pirates, then it definitely wouldn't be a temporary appointment.

“Only those who lack morality need negotiation; those who do, I'll just recruit as officials… They've just arrived in Huang County, and they probably don't know yet that Kong Zan and Qin Zhou are both dead. Ziyi can claim that he was rescued by Qin Zhou, the Chancellor of Beihai, and say that the two prefectures of Qin Zhou and Kong Zan are currently fighting, asking them whose side they want to take…”

As Liu Bei gave instructions, he recounted how Kong Zan killed Qin Zhou: "If we can split them into two factions, or even lead one of them into the city, then we will have succeeded."

There are nearly 10,000 Yellow Turbans here, and they certainly can't all be pirates. Qin Zhou must have people among them, otherwise he wouldn't have stayed in Donglai for so long.

Taishi Ci offended Kong Zan and wanted to go to Liaodong to avoid trouble, but he was captured by Kong Zan. The pirates knew about this.

If it is said that Qin and Zhou valued talent, rescued Taishi Ci, and gave him a military position, that would be quite normal—this is how people usually do favors to those in dire straits and recruit subordinates.

This led to a situation where Kong Zan and Qin Zhou disagreed. If they could fabricate other stories about their disagreement, such as Qin Zhou planning to help Liu Bei kill Kong Zan, it would be quite normal to say that Qin Zhou and Kong Zan had a major conflict, a life-or-death struggle.

Whether you believe it or not, you can follow Taishi Ci into the city to see for yourself... Even if you don't enter the city, you still have to choose a side first.

Regardless of how the Yellow Turbans outside the city react—whether they split into two factions, Taishi Ci leads one of them into the city, or they retreat or defend against each other—it will all serve to disperse the enemy's fighting force.

If Taishi Ci had performed better on the spot, he might have even caused the enemy to turn against each other.

As for the specific explanation, Taishi Ci could make up his own version depending on the situation.

(End of this chapter)