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

Chapter 303 Yuanzhi Has a Plan
Many things seem like unrelated, sudden events.

But in reality, if you look at it from an overall perspective, you'll find that every major event is interconnected.

Liu Bei's decision to appoint people based solely on their talents and to select them through examinations will inevitably face the fiercest backlash, and Liu Bei himself is mentally prepared for this.

It was no surprise that bandits were launching uprisings from three directions in Qingzhou at the same time.

Although we haven't received any concrete information yet and can't determine who's behind this, the fact that they all claim to be emperors suggests that they're most likely connected to powerful families in various regions.

—Liu Bei wanted to cut off the root of the monopoly of official positions by famous scholars, and the famous scholars would naturally try to cut off the root of Liu Bei's governance.

The emperor was the foundation of Liu Bei's rule.

The edicts issued by Emperor Liu Xie were the most orthodox legal principles, so the opposition would inevitably disrupt these principles.

Even if it's a rebellion, even if it means dragging the whole world down with it.

This is actually normal. When Liu Hong established the Hongdu Gate Academy, he summoned talented scholars from poor families to serve in the Hongdu Gate, attempting to select officials through the emperor's disciples. However, he still faced a fierce backlash—the Hongdu Gate Academy was destroyed in the Yongle Palace fire just three years after its establishment.

(Note: Hongdu Gate was the east gate of the North Palace, which is also the east gate of Yongle Palace. The Luoyang fire of 182 AD destroyed the Yongle Palace, causing a food shortage in Luoyang, blocking roads throughout the country, and halting grain transport to the capital—all historical facts. Before this fire, Cai Yong and others had repeatedly submitted memorials criticizing the Hongdu Gate Academy. After the fire, the Hongdu Gate Academy ceased to exist, and there are no further records of official appointments being granted based on its affiliation.)
The establishment of the Hongdu Gate Academy did not actually eradicate the roots of famous scholars; it merely added another channel for the emperor to select officials. Liu Hong was still the emperor with real power at the time, but the incident of burning down the North Palace and using grain to coerce the emperor still occurred.

Liu Hong kept dogs in the West Garden and hung a sign for the Three Dukes' Mansion over the dog kennels. This was certainly not intended to insult the officials...

To be honest, the fact that Liu Hong was able to restrain himself and not go on a killing spree out of resentment back then already showed a lot of self-control.

Liu Xie, now in power, has inherited an empire in chaos, and his political prestige is certainly no match for that of Liu Hong at the time.

Moreover, the consequences of the Jixia Academy were even more serious, with three groups of traitors claiming to be the emperor emerging, which Liu Bei did not find surprising.

Jia Xu also appeared very calm.

After all, Liu Bei is not Liu Hong—Liu Bei can now mobilize far more troops than Liu Hong did back then.

Along the way from Luoyang, Liu Bei absorbed many remnants of the Guandong army in Chenliu and other places, and his troops and generals were quite sufficient.

Liu Bei's main force currently has six thousand soldiers.

These six thousand men can all be considered Liu Bei's personal troops. They are well-equipped and can be deployed at will, since they are all Liu Bei's private soldiers.

Among them, Zhao Yun's "Xuanjia Cavalry" had expanded to eight hundred, which was the most elite part of Liu Bei's private army and also his personal guard.

Zhang Fei's "Wufeng Camp" has also expanded to 1,200 men.

Guan Yu did not establish a separate camp because he led Liu Bei's central army.

Bian Bing led 500 men in the rear army and also managed the affairs of the auxiliary soldiers' garrison farming. The auxiliary soldiers were not employed and belonged to the militia. They were numerous and this was a necessary path for new recruits who had not passed the military selection. They were not counted among the combat soldiers.

In addition, several hundred people were assigned to Zuo Yuan, Bian Ji, and others as guards, with Zuo Yuan himself being the actual commander.

Zhang Baiqi replenished the number of his men in the underworld army to one hundred, still known as "one hundred riders," who usually followed Jia Xu.

In addition to the main force, there were also subordinate troops, totaling more than 5,000.

Qian Zhao, Zhang He, Bai Yao, Zhang Rao, Taishi Ci, and others each led their own troops.

These were not private soldiers, but rather troops from the Right General's mansion.

These 11,000 men were directly under Liu Bei's command. When they actually went into battle, additional auxiliary soldiers and laborers would be dispatched depending on the distance of the expedition.

If he mobilized his full strength, Liu Bei could muster 30,000 troops.

(Note: If the expedition is to a distant location, deploying 5,000 combat soldiers would require tens of thousands of auxiliary troops and laborers, totaling 15,000 men. The number of combat soldiers does not represent the total military strength, but combat effectiveness largely depends on them.)
Meanwhile, Xu Rong had 1,500 elite soldiers—Xu Rong had been promoted to General of the Rear Guard due to his military achievements, making him a general of the emperor, and his troops belonged to the central imperial guard. Colonel Xu Huang led 1,800 White Wave Army soldiers—now also part of the central army.

Zhang Liao still had 500 men, who had also pledged allegiance to the emperor.

— He has no shortage of soldiers and generals. Although he only occupies the territory of Qingzhou, Liu Bei is no longer the insignificant figure he once was.

In order to deal with the enemy coming from three sides, Liu Bei ordered Xu Rong to lead an army to Pingyuan to quell the rebellion, while Bai Yao and Zhang He each led their own troops to march into Ji Province with Xu Rong.

Taishi Ci then boarded Guan Hai's fleet and headed north to search for a landing point in the Bohai Bay, so that he could launch a pincer attack at any time.

In Xuzhou, an imperial edict ordered Tao Qian to quell the rebellion of Que Xuan in Xiapi and sent Zang Ba, who was stationed in Langya, south to provide support.

On the Taishan side, Xu Huang was appointed as the general, with Zhang Rao providing support.

At the same time, Liu Bei had Qian Zhao hand over the position of official in charge of the imperial seal to Jian Yong, and appointed Qian Zhao as the Protector of the Wuhuan and General of the Central Army to go to Youzhou to manage military affairs, so as to prevent chaos in Youzhou from giving foreign tribes an opportunity to take advantage.

Liu Bei's main force did not send troops, but Zhang Fei was stationed at Licheng, a key location in western Jinan, and Guan Yu led 2,000 troops to be stationed at Banyang, south of Linzi.

Linzi left behind 3,000 elite troops, including Zhao Yun, as a mobile force.

Despite a series of military mobilizations, Liu Bei remained calm and conducted the strategy test.

The first round of the exam didn't have too many participants; about 600 people took the exam, but only about 30 made it to the interview stage.

Because most students are not yet used to this method of testing practical skills while ignoring the classics.

Even so, Liu Bei still managed to discover talented individuals among the interviewees.

The topic this person referenced was military strategy, and the strategy was quite professional, but there was nothing written in the details of his family.

"Xu Shu of Yingchuan...Xu Yuanzhi."

Liu Bei looked at the still somewhat green young man before him: "This isn't your real name, is it...? Why didn't you write down your family background?"

The reason for asking this question is that Liu Bei knew in his previous life that Xu Shu was not his real name—it was the name Xu Shu changed after he committed murder and fled.

"...My real name is Xu Fu. I once killed someone to avenge a friend...After being rescued by my friend, I realized that my martial arts skills were not as good as my strategic skills. Hearing that the Jixia Academy had been rebuilt, I came to Qingzhou to study."

Xu Shu was quite honest: "I have heard that you, General, have also avenged your friend. I suppose you would not hold me guilty... but I would not dare to associate my mother's name with me, a sinner. Please forgive me, General."

"I've read your strategy essay... but I'd like to ask something unrelated to it."

Liu Bei nodded and didn't press further, after all, this was an interview: "Today I am holding a policy test to select officials, my intention is to promote those with talent. You have risen to power because of this policy test, so you should know the benefits of this matter. However, this matter will inevitably provoke opposition from powerful clans, and even lead to bandits usurping power and rebelling on three sides of Qingzhou... I'm sure you understand why."

"If this policy is implemented in Qingzhou alone, I fear that if it were extended to the whole country, the entire country would rebel. Yuanzhi, do you have a strategy to implement this meritocratic policy throughout the country?"

Even Jia Xu couldn't answer this question... Of course, Liu Bei wouldn't ask such a difficult question to anyone else.

But who told Xu Shu to come and take the civil service exam?

Xu Shu pondered for a long time, his brows furrowing into a deep frown.

"General, the practice of promoting officials based solely on merit has encroached upon the interests of powerful families who recommend them for official positions. This is a matter of life and death, and I, Xu, am incompetent and lack any strategy to prevent the powerful families of the world from rebelling."

After much deliberation, Xu Shu finally answered: "But if you only ask how to implement this throughout the world, I do have a plan... General, powerful clans also have their own selfish motives. Perhaps we could bestow the name of the Jixia Academy upon the powerful clans in each state to establish new official schools, but each state can only have one official school... Let the powerful clans compete for the right to establish official schools in each state, or we could use examinations to make them compete against each other."

(End of this chapter)