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

Chapter 301 General Cao Mengde, the Rebel Slayer
Dunqiu Inn.

Upon seeing Cao Cao again, Liu Bei felt a pang of sadness.

Fortune's wheel keeps turning...

In another timeline, Cao Cao welcomed Liu Xie on his "eastern tour," while Liu Bei was Yuan Shao's subordinate...

Now it's the other way around.

This was a secret pleasure known only to Liu Bei, and unknown to everyone else.

"Your subject, Cao Cao, the Commandant of the Army, has come to apologize to Your Majesty. I was misled by treacherous people in the past, which led me astray... I beg Your Majesty to allow me to send my son, Ang, to serve Your Majesty and serve you with utmost loyalty, so as to atone for my past sins."

Cao Cao, being very perceptive, took the initiative to bow to Liu Xie.

Cao Mengde was certainly very clever. He didn't argue about joining the rebels or rescuing the emperor. Instead, he immediately proposed sending his eldest son, Cao Ang, to serve the emperor and hand over the hostage. This showed his sincerity.

This is actually the most powerful self-defense, and it's also a way of saying to Liu Bei, 'Could you give me a chance? I want to be a good person.'...

"His Majesty's carriage encountered bandits on the road... Commander Cao risked his life to fight off the rebels and retrieve His Majesty's imperial regalia..."

Jia Xu carefully considered his words and suggested to Liu Xie: "Although Commandant Cao was forced to join Yuan Shao's rebellion, he has now come to his senses and abandoned the darkness for the light, which can be considered as knowing his mistakes and correcting them... However, his previous crimes involved treason, so it is not easy to pardon him easily. It would be better to ask Commandant Cao to pursue and punish the traitors Yuan Shao, Zhang Miao and others, so as to make amends for his mistakes... Please make a decision, Your Majesty."

Jia Xu was offering advice to the emperor in his capacity as acting Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, but he was clearly asking Liu Bei about it.

Liu Xie, of course, did not make a decision on his own. He merely glanced at Cao Cao, then turned and whispered to Diao Chan, "Is this the man who bravely returned the ceremonial regalia? Mother, a righteous act... he should be rewarded, shouldn't he?"

Diao Chan crouched down, nodded, and whispered in her ear, "Yes, it deserves a reward."

Liu Xie then asked, "Then...those who join the rebellion...should be executed?"

Diao Chan nodded again: "He should be killed."

Liu Xie said no: "But... if someone betrays the country and rebels first, and then acts righteously and bravely, are we supposed to kill them first and then reward them?"

For an eight-year-old to have this level of comprehension is already quite good; at least their time logic is very clear...

Diao Chan covered her mouth and chuckled, shaking her head repeatedly: "Your Majesty, let's see how the Junior Tutor handles this. Only the Junior Tutor can teach Your Majesty about politics."

Zhao Yun looked at Diao Chan, who was smiling gently, from the other side. Her once resolute eyes now appeared gentle and calm, and it was unclear what she was thinking.

Liu Bei remained silent for a moment, then walked up to Cao Cao and said, "I committed a crime back then, and Brother Mengde spared me here. Please allow me to make amends for my past mistakes..."

Standing behind Cao Cao, Li Qian couldn't help but glance at Liu Bei's ear.

Liu Bei ignored him and continued, "Now that Brother Mengde has committed a crime... I should let Brother Mengde make amends for his mistakes, this is repaying kindness with kindness."

As he spoke, Liu Bei glanced at Cao Cao's waist and asked, "Brother Mengde, are you still using the Mingde Sword?"

When Cao Cao came to see the emperor, he did not bring a sword; his waist was empty.

But Cao Cao understood Liu Bei's meaning, clasped his hands in a salute, and bowed his head to reply: "I am using... Although it is a broken and reforged sword, it is still a weapon of virtue for a gentleman."

"Then I beg Brother Mengde to pursue and punish the traitors Yuan Shao and Zhang Miao, and make amends for his crimes with merit..."

Liu Bei turned to Liu Xie and said, “The Western Garden Army is no longer here, and the eight colonels should also be dismissed. Your subject Liu Bei hereby recommends Cao Mengde of Pei State as General Who Subdues Rebels, in recognition of his merit in reclaiming Your Majesty’s ceremonial regalia. Cao Mengde is well aware of the rebels’ background. Your subject requests Your Majesty to issue an edict ordering General Cao Cao to subdue the rebels and eliminate the traitors Yuan Shao, Zhang Miao and others.”

Liu Xie nodded: "Approved."

“Yuan Shao once privately appointed Mengde as General Who Conquers the West, which is against the law… But if Mengde can eliminate the traitors and pacify the world, Your Majesty should appoint him as General Who Conquers the West of the Great Han.”

Liu Bei turned to look at Cao Cao again: "I hope Brother Mengde will use his virtue to wipe out the bandits and rebels of the world."

Cao Cao looked at Liu Bei, their eyes met for a moment, then he bowed and cupped his hands: "Your subject Cao Cao... obeys the order!"

……

A few days later, Cao Ang was brought before Liu Bei.

Cao Ang was born when Cao Cao served as the Northern Commandant of Luoyang. He is thirteen years old this year (by the traditional Chinese age reckoning), which makes him a suitable companion for Liu Xie.

Li Qian also 'voluntarily' handed over a hostage, his son Li Zheng.

Subsequently, Li Qian was appointed as the Left Commandant under the General Who Subdues Rebels, and continued to follow Cao Cao.

However, Li Zheng could not serve the emperor because he was too old; he was already nineteen years old this year.

Therefore, Li Zheng joined Qian Zhao's troops, essentially serving as the emperor's imperial guard.

After recalling his entourage, Liu Bei continued eastward with the imperial entourage.

The newly appointed General Cao Cao, who was tasked with suppressing the rebellion, remained in Dunqiu County.

Cao Cao wanted to remain in Yanzhou to quell the rebellion—most of the twelve routes of the Guandong Coalition came from Yanzhou. Yuan Shao's whereabouts were currently unknown, and Zhang Miao had also retreated to southern Yanzhou. Naturally, Cao Cao's campaign against the rebels would begin with Yanzhou. Cheng Yu remained loyal to Cao Cao and became one of his subordinates.

Cao Cao originally intended to appoint Bi Chen as his chief secretary, but perhaps out of concern for his family, or perhaps after discussing something with Cheng Yu, Bi Chen bid farewell to Cao Cao and went south alone.

Liu Bei's journey proceeded smoothly without any major setbacks, as he had deployed troops along the way. Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Xu Rong were each stationed in a prefecture, and the number of troops increased as they traveled further east.

Upon entering Qingzhou, Jian Yong, along with Zhang He, Taishi Ci, and others, greeted the emperor along the way.

After arriving in Linzi, Liu Bei summoned all his troops and transformed the original Qingzhou Governor's Office into the Governor's Office, reappointing officials within its jurisdiction.

Jia Xu had already submitted a letter of recommendation to the court, recommending Zheng Xuan and other great Confucian scholars for the position of prefect, and the court had issued the appointment order, but Zheng Xuan did not accept it.

Hua Xin, Guan Ning, Bing Yuan, and others also did not accept the offer of service.

Because the imperial court was in a period of constant strife at that time.

Zheng Xuan preferred to serve as the head of the Jixia Academy, and other prominent figures from Qingzhou were also unwilling to take up official positions in the imperial court—not because of the Three Mutuals Law, but because no one was stupid; everyone knew that being a governor in Liu Bei's Qingzhou territory would be a tough job with no real benefits…

Moreover, Liu Hong was still alive at the time, and the prefect's palace maintenance fees were very high.

Of course, even if they had served as governors back then, Liu Bei would now reappoint and dismiss the officials of Qingzhou.

The positions of prefectural governor and prime minister will be temporarily vacant, reserved for future rewards based on merit.

However, each commandery had a member serving in the position—they were all his own brothers, and the appointments had already been made beforehand.

At the same time, county magistrates began to conduct performance evaluations.

The performance evaluation mainly focuses on only one type of matter: the stability of the county; war and disasters do not count.

If many people starve to death, whether due to natural disaster or man-made calamity, the county official must be dismissed.

If the number of households does not increase, the county magistrate will also have to resign.

Even if there is no war in the county, but the people are impoverished and the fields are barren, the county still has to be dismissed.

Those with outstanding performance will be promoted, and might even become governors.

This performance evaluation doesn't involve each county submitting its own reports, but rather conducting visits to other counties.

The commanders of each prefecture dispatched troops to patrol and visit the counties, especially those in neighboring prefectures, and submitted military reports; Zhuge Xuan and other officials in charge of agricultural settlements visited various places and submitted civil reports; Zhao Yun's censors conducted another round of secret investigations.

Jia Xu would also send his underworld soldiers to conduct secret investigations from time to time, and he began to select more underworld soldiers from Liu Bei's own veteran troops.

After numerous visits, the reports compiled from various counties were submitted to Jian Yong and Jia Xu for comprehensive performance evaluation.

This is not actually the best way, because it is very laborious; it is only a temporary military management measure.

But any rules are gradually established, and Liu Bei had great faith in Jia Wenhe's abilities.

Although Jia Xu himself looked bitter... he was a lazy person and really didn't want to do so much work...

Subsequently, Liu Bei issued an extremely important decree at the Jixia Academy.

—The Jixia Academy will begin to conduct policy examinations for candidates, holding one examination every three months.

This was not an imperial examination, but rather a test with questions on various specific matters. Each time, many types of questions would be presented, and scholars could choose a question to take a written exam, somewhat like an essay on a specific issue.

After passing the written exam, there will be an interview, in which candidates will discuss their views in detail and undergo other assessments.

The topics are not based on scriptures; all topics are practical work questions posed after encountering specific situations, such as agriculture, forestry, fisheries, animal husbandry, military affairs, law and decision-making, industrial technology, and so on.

If one passes both the written and oral exams, as long as one is not a family member of a rebel, one can directly become a Lang (a high-ranking official), and first work as a temporary worker under the relevant officials according to the subjects discussed.

If he doesn't make any mistakes while working as a temporary worker, he could be promoted to an official position at any time.

This is actually starting from the bottom, becoming an official through practical work.

Officials in various prefectures and counties could also be promoted to the rank of Gentleman of the Palace based on their essays.

Regardless of social status, family background, or even traditional classical studies, everyone is qualified to be a court official.

As long as you have a skill in some area, that's enough.

Of course, you must at least be able to write.

In fact, the scholars opposed Liu Bei's decree... including Zheng Xuan.

But there was nothing they could do; it was an imperial edict, and opposition was futile.

(End of this chapter)