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

Chapter 313 Convention
These days, victory celebrations actually have a second half.

However, the second half of the event usually doesn't involve going to a club or foot massage parlor... but rather the guests chatting privately with each other.

Liu Bei sought out Tao Qian for a private drink: "Why did Que Xuan manage to assemble such a large army in such a short period of time?"

Tao Qian seemed to realize that Liu Bei would ask, so he started talking about what had happened some time ago.

"Last year, I appointed him as the acting agricultural commander of Xiapi, to eliminate the rebel clans and establish military farms to prepare for famine."

"At that time, Que Xuan was quite diligent. Although his subordinates often committed robbery and other evil deeds, overall he did indeed bring peace to the region and made considerable contributions."

"Last September, there was a bumper harvest, and bandits from Mount Tai came south to plunder the grain. Que declared that instead of guarding against bandits for a thousand days, it would be better to destroy the bandits' base in one fell swoop. He said that he would take advantage of the bandits' southward march from Mount Tai to take Fei County and Hua County of Mount Tai and cut off the bandits' retreat."

"I thought this made sense, so I listened to the plan and went to Feixian County, Taishan, together with Que Xuan."

"After capturing Fei County and Hua County, I saw Zhang Chao, the Prefect of Guangling, passing through Mount Tai. Only then did I hear about the major events in the court and realize that news from Qing and Xu had been deliberately cut off for the past few months."

"Upon learning that the various families in Guandong were opposing the Right General, I ordered Que Xuan to intercept Zhang Chao. However, Que Xuan said he couldn't stop him and then led his troops to retreat. When my troops pursued, they could no longer catch up. After that, my troops were isolated in Mount Tai and were besieged by the Tai Mountain bandits, so we had no choice but to withdraw and return."

"After that, the Taishan bandits were still raiding Langya, Donghai and other places. Zang Xuangao was reluctant to deal with the Taishan bandits because of his hometown feelings. I was busy driving out the Taishan bandits and had no time to look south, so Que Xuan took Xiapi."

"At the beginning of this year, Que Xuan actually raised an army in rebellion and proclaimed himself emperor. When I led the army to suppress the rebellion, I discovered that most of the Taishan bandits who had raided Xuzhou and looted grain last year had become Que Xuan's soldiers!"

"After Que Xuan raised his army, he plundered the area around Xiapi. Xiapi was a prosperous place, and he obtained a great deal of money, grain, and military supplies, which led to his current power..."

Tao Qian explained it in great detail, and most of what he said should indeed be true.

However, Liu Bei sensed something amiss from this.

What everyone says may not be entirely true, but it cannot usually be considered a lie.

However, if you don't think about it carefully, you can easily be misled.

Que Xuan's ability to organize a large-scale armed force in just a few months must have been due to the support he received from various parties.

However, according to Tao Qian, Que Xuan received help from the Taishan bandits.

But that's unreasonable.

If Que Xuan was in cahoots with the Taishan bandits from the beginning, then Tao Qian would probably have had a hard time leaving Feixian County in Taishan alive. Since Que Xuan and the Taishan bandits planned to rebel together, why didn't they just kill Tao Qian?
In fact, Tao Qian's own troops also frequently engaged in plundering—whether they were soldiers from Danyang or local troops from Xuzhou, they always had the ingrained mindset of making extra money.

This isn't prejudice; it's just how people think these days. Many people join the military and fight wars just to legally rob, only the intensity and targets of the robberies differ.

Even Xu Rong and Zhang Liao's troops would rob along the way when they were short of food and pay, but they would usually prioritize robbing county treasuries—of course, this was also called 'demanding military supplies'.

Liu Bei's main army was consistently disciplined from beginning to end, with ample provisions and good food, making them a rare exception. However, this was also due to the strict military discipline enforced by Guan Yu and Zhao Yun. If Zhang Fei had been the commander of the central army... he would most likely have taken advantage of the opportunity to commit a heist.

In Liu Bei's view, Tao Qian's talk of "eliminating the traitors" and "attacking Fei County and Hua County" was most likely a joint robbery with Que Xuan.

There were originally bandits in Mount Tai, so the robbery of the county seat of Mount Tai can be entirely attributed to them.

Otherwise, why didn't Tao Qian seek Zang Ba's help in the battle?
Because Zang Ba was from Huaxian County in Taishan, he certainly wouldn't ask others to join him in robbing someone else's hometown...

If nothing unexpected happens, last year Que Xuan acted as Tao Qian's henchman, eliminating those clans that opposed Tao Qian in the Xiapi area, and incidentally plundering money and grain to free up land.

—The matter of military farming should be true. This was originally a method discussed by Liu Bei and Tao Qian. It's just that Tao Qian has been continuously purging people, and he's been quite ruthless, without even finding a reason.

The result of this continuous purge is that Que Xuan will inevitably grow stronger, and more and more people in the state will rebel against Tao Qian.

After the autumn harvest, Tao Qian and Que Xuan went to raid Taishan County, but by this time Que Xuan had other ideas—Tao Qian had raised a hunting dog that bit people everywhere, but the dog was too strong and the iron chain could not be kept.

Afterwards, Que Xuan used the excuse that he "couldn't stop Zhang Chao" to break free of his chains, escape Tao Qian's sight, and retreat back to Xiapi to begin his resistance against Tao Qian.

The fact that Tao Qian robbed Mount Tai must have been revealed by Que Xuan, so the Mount Tai bandits who had previously entered Xuzhou all joined Que Xuan's troops.

Zang Ba, Sun Guan, and others probably learned about Tao Qian's robbery of Hua County because of this. However, they did not openly attack Tao Qian, but they would probably secretly provide support to their fellow villagers from Taishan.

Without the support of Zang Ba and Que Xuan, Tao Qian was bound to be overwhelmed by the massive attack from the Taishan bandits.

At the beginning of this year, Que Xuan received 'submission' or funding from some people, and his power expanded. He then proclaimed himself emperor and officially launched a rebellion.

Zang Ba, who was recommended by Liu Bei as a cavalry commandant, did not take the initiative to inform Liu Bei of this matter, nor was he very enthusiastic about the campaign against Que Xuan, which confirms Liu Bei's thoughts.

From Zang Ba's perspective, he had previously observed that Liu Bei and Tao Qian had always cooperated closely, and Zang Ba was unsure of Liu Bei's reaction, so not informing him was the normal course of action.

In other words, Que Xuan was nurtured by Tao Qian, Zang Ba, the Taishan bandits, and the investors behind Que Xuan.

The Taishan bandit Chang Xi, who is currently invading Pengcheng, is probably in a similar situation.

Now, two questions are facing Liu Bei.

First: Who exactly is behind Que Xuan?
Second: Zang Ba is dissatisfied with Tao Qian, Mi Zhu is at odds with Zhang Chao and Xu Qiu, and Chen Deng is at odds with Wang Lang. Now, Xuzhou has become a situation where each faction is independent and hostile to the others. Liu Bei's concern is not how to resolve their conflicts, but rather… how to utilize this situation?
……

After keeping its promise and paying according to the contract, the tender order was issued again.

This time, the tender notice for Changxi was simultaneously sent to Yanzhou and eastern Yuzhou, as well as Huainan and other places, greatly expanding the scope.

Similarly, all participants are in a bidding relationship and do not need to join Liu Bei. Even if they become enemies with Liu Bei in the future, it doesn't matter. They can just kill Chang Xi and be exempt from their previous crimes.

And it was still Liu Bei's troops who were the main force.

Liu Bei intended to make this a 'routine'.

Whoever dares to rebel must become the target.

Moreover, if it becomes a precedent for Liu Bei to lead the campaign against rebel leaders, then other precedents will emerge...

Given that Que Xuan's strength exceeded expectations, and assuming that Chang Xi was also stronger, Liu Bei increased the reward for eliminating Chang Xi by one level.

The person who makes the greatest contribution to pacifying Mount Tai will be appointed as the General Who Conquers the East and enfeoffed as a Marquis of a County.

The title of General Who Conquers the East was not considered a high-ranking general in the Han Dynasty, but it was a permanent general position, second only to Liu Bei's Right General, and much more valuable than miscellaneous generals such as General Who Subdues Rebels and General Who Destroys the Enemy.

(Note: Among the generals, only the titles of Grand General, General of the Cavalry, General of Chariots and Cavalry, General of the Guard, General of the Vanguard, General of the Left, General of the Right, and General of the Rear were important general titles in the Han Dynasty. The Western Han Dynasty valued the right general, while the Eastern Han Dynasty valued the left general. In addition, the titles of Four Generals of Expedition, General of the Vanguard, and General of the Vanguard were all permanent general titles. Guan Yu's title of General of the Vanguard was indeed very valuable. After Cao Wei, the Four Generals of Expedition were also made important general titles, and four additional titles of General of the Garrison, General of the Pacification, and General of the Pacification were added, resulting in inflation of general titles...)
The titles of Grand General and General of Chariots and Cavalry were traditionally reserved for relatives of the emperor. Han Xin was the only exception in the hundreds of years of the Han Dynasty, after all, he was the first commander-in-chief of the three armies to be appointed as a general.

The rank of General of Chariots and Cavalry is the highest military rank a normal minister can achieve, but in reality it has become an honorary title and is currently vacant.

The position of General of the Guards is also vacant, which is an even more special honorary title, because the General of the Guards is actually the 'General Supervisor of the Army,' a title that has not been given to anyone for decades since Liang Ji.

The General of the Vanguard was Dong Zhuo, the General of the Left was Huangfu Song, the General of the Right was Liu Bei, and the position of General of the Rear was vacant after Yuan Wei's death. Yuan Shao's self-proclaimed title was not valid.

Apart from these, the General Who Conquers the East is the highest military rank.

The title of Prefect of Mount Tai was also used as a benchmark for reward; the same principle applied: the one who made the greatest contribution to logistics was appointed Prefect, and the one who made the greatest contribution to combat was appointed General.

At the same time, Xu Shu also presented the tender documents for the Xuzhou State School.

The state school was considered a branch of the Jixia Academy, and it could hold state examinations every year, but the questions had to be set by the Jixia Academy in Linzi.

In order to avoid making things too complicated and to get things moving quickly, those who passed the state examination were considered trainee officials, but if they did not go to Linzi to participate in the policy examination, they could only serve as assistant officials in other states.

This means they cannot return to their home state to serve as officials, nor can they hold a senior official position.

If you want to become a proper official, you still need to go to Linzi to participate in the policy examination and interview at the Jixia Academy.

Xu Shu did this on purpose, deliberately giving the state a way to open back doors and engage in favoritism and corruption, while only the officials in charge were strictly constrained in their practical abilities.

However, the position of the chief scholar of the state school was subject to the constraints of the examination results.

If no one in the state school passes the policy exam within a year, or if the number of people passing the policy exam in each state is the lowest in the future, then the head of the state school must resign and a new tender must be issued.

Three bidders were selected, and the state school would be jointly managed by three headmasters—just like the Jixia Academy today, with primary education, classical studies, and practical studies each in charge. However, the core significance of the headmasters was that they were the chief examiners of the state school.

The bidding method is also very simple: bid openly, and bidders must provide money, food, and manpower.

Running a school is very expensive, and building a school requires people to do the work. Moreover, Liu Bei and Xu Shu didn't want these funds—this money was used to run the school, which also allowed the powerful families to buy their own reputation.

The subsequent state school bidding process was quite interesting.

Indeed, most of the powerful families in Xuzhou participated in the bidding, since everyone knew what it meant to control the channels for selecting officials and recruiting scholars in their own prefecture.

The three companies that won the bids were Tao Qian, Mi Zhu, and Zang Ba.

Because they are indeed the richest.

It looks like Tao Qian snatched quite a lot earlier...

Zang Ba didn't exert much effort when attacking Que Xuan, saving a lot of money and grain. Now he's benefiting from this, and it's clear that he and Sun Guan have a history of robbing people.

An outsider official, a local businessman, a former thief and military leader... now they've become an academic tyrant.

Local families with a long tradition of classical studies, such as the Xu and Chen families, didn't get a single spot.

Add to that the conflicts between the various factions... Xuzhou is definitely going to be a lively place.

However, they don't have a chance to fight now, because Liu Bei immediately sent troops to attack Chang Xi after seeing the results of the state education campaign.

(End of this chapter)