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

Chapter 320 The Chaos in Hebei Begins

The seat of Taishan Prefecture was Fenggao County.

Kong Rong met Cao Cao in prison.

"Kong Wenju, the Kong family of Lu has been declared traitors. I have been ordered to punish them, but I do not wish to kill the innocent... If you have any pity for your family, you should report their illegal activities and confess your crimes to prevent the old and young from being wiped out..."

Cao Cao handed Kong Rong a pot of wine, seemingly intending to give the Kong family a chance.

"Exterminate the old and young? Cao Mengde, do you dare? Hmph... Liu Bei has a grudge against me and is just looking for trouble. He'll just die... You traitors who bring ruin to the country, do you dare to slaughter my entire clan?!"

Kong Rong took a few big gulps and then spoke, but he didn't give Cao Cao a friendly look.

He didn't really understand the power of the bidding order, after all, he had been detained in Mount Tai.

"Does the Confucius family of Lu really consider themselves descendants of Duke Xuan of Zhou?"

Cao Cao shook his head: "The family of Marquis Baocheng is the true descendant of Confucius. Your Kong family of Lu is merely relying on the name to pass on the lineage. What is there to be afraid of? How does your Kong family of Lu compare to the late Marquis of Boshan? If the Marquis of Boshan could have no heir, why can't your Kong family of Lu?!"

Cao Cao wasn't making things up; the official lineage of Confucius recognized by the Han Dynasty was indeed not from the Confucius family of Lu.

At the end of the Han Dynasty, Confucius was neither a king nor a sage. He was simply revered as a master of scholarship by local official schools and the Luoyang Imperial Academy—that was all; his status was far from reaching the level of later generations.

During the reign of Emperor Yuan of Han, the Han Dynasty truly embarked on the path of exclusively honoring Confucianism. The emperor's tutor, Kong Ba, was posthumously granted the title of Lord Baocheng. From then on, Kong Ba's direct descendants lived in the capital, Chang'an, which was officially recognized as the direct descendants of Confucius.

Other descendants of Confucius developed from the Kong family's fiefdom of Lu, Kongli.

In the first year of the Yuanshi era (1 AD), during Wang Mang's reign, Confucius was posthumously honored as "Duke of Baocheng Xuanni" and enfeoffed as Marquis of Baocheng with a fief of two thousand households.

Kong Jun was the eldest son and grandson of Kong Ba.

The posthumous conferment of the title of Confucius and the enfeoffment of the eldest son of Confucius as marquises were, of course, political maneuvering.

In return, the Kong family offered their full support to Wang Mang, who was regarded as a 'sage Confucian scholar'. The first person on the list of those who urged Wang Mang to take the throne was Kong Guang, who had served as Grand General and Chancellor.

—Kong Guang had just passed away, but his name still appeared first on the petition urging him to be posthumously honored. For the descendants of the Kong family, posthumously honoring Confucius was indeed a matter they had to repay…

Kong Guang was the fourth son of Kong Ba and was a leader among the literati at the time. He was granted the title of Marquis of Boshan.

When Wang Mang conferred the title of Marquis upon Kong Jun, it created two marquisate houses belonging to the Kong family.

One was Kong Guang's son, Kong Fang, who inherited the title of Marquis of Boshan. This branch of the family was extremely powerful, operating in places like Lu and Jinan, but it was a separate entity.

One was the Marquis of Baocheng, who lived in Luoyang. This was the main branch of the Kong family, the eldest son of the Kong family.

After Wang Mang became emperor, his policies were detrimental to powerful clans. Marquis Kong Jun of Baocheng resigned from his post and returned to his hometown, showing his unwillingness to cooperate with Wang Mang any longer. As a result, Wang Mang stripped him of his title.

What Kong Fang, who inherited the title of Marquis of Boshan, did is unknown...

However, since his father, Kong Guang, was listed first in the list of those urging Wang Mang to take the throne, it would be difficult for Kong Fang to change his mind.

Anyway, after Emperor Guangwu defeated Wang Mang and "restored order," Kong Fang's family was ultimately recorded as "childless," the Boshan Marquis's family was "extinct," and the Boshan Marquisate was abolished (Boshan belonged to Jinan Commandery).

The Kong family, including Kong Guang and Kong Fang, was practically the leading aristocratic family in the land at the time.

Kong Guangji held the positions of Grand General and Prime Minister, while Kong Fang had long served as Attendant Gentleman of the Yellow Gate and Attendant-in-Ordinary, making him a close advisor to the Emperor. How could he have fallen to the point of having no heir and being stripped of his state? Kong Fang couldn't even find a single relative.
I don't know. It's not recorded in historical books, not even in the position Kong Fang held after Wang Mang became emperor.

Anyway, Kong Fang's family line ended, so at least that term sounds more respectable.

Meanwhile, the Kong clan members of Lu State and Jinan were also "displaced in all directions due to war," but the reason for their displacement due to the large-scale battle is unknown and not recorded in historical records.

After all, the phrase "displaced by war" sounds more respectable.

Only Kong Jun was found by Emperor Guangwu and invited back to Luoyang. He was reinstated as the Marquis of Baocheng, and his eldest son was still appointed as the Imperial Academy's sacrificial priest, but his fief was reduced to one hundred households.

In fact, the family of Marquis Kong Fang of Boshan was equivalent to the Kong family of the State of Lu today. They were a powerful clan, but they were not officially recognized as direct descendants of Confucius.

The direct descendants of Marquis Baocheng are the true inheritors of Confucius's teachings.

—If the Boshan Marquis's family could die out back then, then the Kong family of Lu can certainly die out now...

The current direct descendant of the Marquis of Baocheng is still in Luoyang. The current Marquis of Baocheng is named Kong Wan. This is the 'cultural relic protected by the state'. He and the Kong family of Lu, to which Kong Rong belonged, have been separated for more than three generations.

It's like the relationship between Liu Bei and Liu Xie... Liu Xie is a cultural relic that needs protection, but Liu Bei is not...

The bidding order designated the Kong family of Lu as the target, and had nothing to do with the lineage of Marquis Baocheng.

Cao Cao accepted the command of the army, knowing that it would offend many scholars, since the surname Kong could indeed earn him some respect from scholars across the land.

But if the Kong family doesn't give Cao Cao face, Cao Cao isn't afraid to kill all the Kong family members in Lu, as long as Kong Wan is alive...

Anyway... the lineage has ended, who knows why... maybe it's because of the Taishan bandits causing trouble.

"If you truly intend to exterminate my entire clan, then the Liu clan can also be exterminated!"

Although Kong Rong was trembling slightly, he still spoke defiantly: "If the families of sages and worthies can be exterminated, who in the world cannot be exterminated? How can the Liu family and princes be exempted? If Liu Bei were to slaughter my clan, he too would find it difficult to survive! Cao Cao, if you were to commit such an evil deed, how could the world tolerate you?"

"I asked you to report illegal activities within the clan, but you insist on bringing up these useless things... Kong Rong, I'm just asking you, did you fund the Taishan bandits' rebellion?"

Cao Cao frowned: "When your father, Kong Zhou, was serving as the Commandant of Mount Tai, the Mount Tai bandits were causing chaos everywhere and no one could control them. Did your father instigate the Mount Tai bandits? Did your family profit from the Mount Tai bandits?"

"Yes, my father is lawless, and I hate him too!"

Kong Rong's face turned ashen, yet he surprisingly admitted: "If you want to punish me for my crimes, I have nothing to say, but not everyone in my clan is guilty... The guilty one is my father, and the guilt lies with me! It has nothing to do with others!"

"Has Kong Wenju not concealed his father's faults and failed to uphold filial piety?"

Cao Cao glanced at Kong Rong with great interest. In those days, people were careful to avoid mentioning their fathers' faults. Even if a father had made a mistake, it was usually not allowed to be spoken of.

"Filial piety? What kind of affection should there be between a father and son? In essence, it is merely the expression of lust. And what about the relationship between a son and his mother? It is like an object placed in a jar; once it is taken out, it is gone!"

Kong Rong seemed to have drunk too much earlier, and he blurted out his innermost thoughts: "My father has implicated my clan, and once he has done so, countless times have followed... It is indeed wrong, so why hide it? But there should be limits to punishment! If a few people are guilty, should even the infants in the clan be executed?!"

"...That makes sense."

Cao Cao tilted his head and looked at Kong Rong: "How about this, you take me to the State of Lu, where I will exterminate all the guilty members of your clan, and then make the innocent change their surnames. This will be considered a cleansing of the clan... at least it will save the lives of your people, how about it?"

"Change your last name?"

Kong Rong was stunned for a moment, then flew into a rage: "Hmph... How is this any different from wiping out an entire family?!"

"You don't know what's good for you... You've disgraced our ancestors and can't accomplish anything. We gave you a chance to save your clansmen's lives, but you can't bear to give up the blessings of our ancestors?"

Cao Cao spat: "Then I can't be bothered with you..."

……

……

a few days later.

Liu Bei returned to Linzi.

The matter of inviting the underworld bosses to an audience with the emperor went smoothly; all those who came were military leaders. Apart from Liu Bei himself bringing back his main force, the other men's troops were all within the territory of Mount Tai.

They are about to send troops to Lu, so there is no need for their retainers to come to Linzi with them.

Perhaps the nobles were afraid of the underworld, because Princess Liu Hua didn't come out to make a fuss.

Liu Xie was not afraid of strangers. He not only bestowed official titles upon everyone, but also specially granted noble titles to Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei.

Liu Bei was promoted to Marquis of Duxiang for his military achievements, which refers to Duxiang in Zhuo County.

Guan Yu was enfeoffed as Marquis of Jieting, and Zhang Fei was enfeoffed as Marquis of Dongting for quelling the rebellion in Linzi. The official titles remained unchanged; Liu Xie did not arbitrarily adjust the list of official titles provided by Liu Bei, but simply read them aloud.

Zang Ba was appointed Chancellor of Pengcheng, and Cao Bao was appointed Commandant of Pengcheng.

Lü Qian was appointed Prefect of Mount Tai, and Sun Guan was appointed Commandant of Mount Tai.

Xu Qiu was the Chancellor of the Eastern Sea, and Tao Qian's military headquarters was also located in the Eastern Sea.

Zhang Chao remained the Prefect of Guangling, while Mi Fang became the Commandant of Guangling.

Chen Deng was the Prefect of Xiapi, and Zuo Rong, a subordinate of Tao Qian, was the Commandant of Xiapi.

Xu Rong was appointed General of the Central Army to oversee Langya, and Xu Sheng was appointed Magistrate of Kaiyang.

This is a situation where all parties are mutually restraining each other, and none of the prefectural officials are under Liu Bei's command.

But only in this way could Liu Bei truly control Xuzhou.

All parties were temporarily satisfied, and it was inconvenient for them to make any underhanded moves, which forced everyone to cling to Liu Bei's coattails.

After handling the enfeoffment matters, the gangsters followed Cao Cao back to the State of Lu.

Liu Bei had Zhao Yun follow Cao Cao under his own banner to oversee the battle, and put Guo Yuan and Zhuge Xuan in charge of logistics, while Tian Yu was responsible for transporting grain to the State of Lu.

Liu Bei himself did not go to the State of Lu because he had many things to do in Linzi.

Jia Xu has already sent back military reports from the plains.

The one who declared himself emperor and rebelled north of the Yellow River was Liu Zhong, the Prince of Ganling.

This Liu Zhong was the Prince of Ganling who was captured and taken to Zhang Jiao during the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

The supporters behind him, Jia Xu, have also been investigated. Among them are the elders of the Cui family who were forced to leave by Liu Bei and Cui Yan, as well as Feng Xun, the former Chancellor of Ganling who mysteriously disappeared during the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

Liu Zhong, the Prince of Ganling, may have been destined for rebellion.

During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Liu Zhong, the Prince of Ganling, was captured and taken to Zhang Jiao. Liu Jiao used the prisoners to exchange for Liu Zhong and had Liu Yu send him to Luoyang.

Liu Xu, the Prince of Anping, who shared the same fate as Liu Zhong, the Prince of Ganling, was the one who was exchanged back by Guo Dian. After the main force of the Yellow Turban Rebellion was quelled, he was poisoned by Liu Hong.

Liu Zhong was not killed, but was placed under house arrest in Luoyang.

Now, whether Liu Zhong genuinely wanted to become emperor or was forced into it to save his life, Liu Bei neither knew nor cared.

Liu Bei was more interested in Feng Xun, the former Chancellor of Ganling, because Feng Xun's resume was typical of a member of Yuan Shikai's faction, which was very similar to that of Guo Dian.

Twenty years ago, Feng Xun served as the Chancellor of Changshan State. At that time, he was purging Dou Wu's remaining followers. Feng Xun was someone promoted by Dou Wu, and he was purged and sentenced to death.

But Feng Xun did not die in prison; he was most likely rescued by the Yuan family—at that time, the Yuan family rescued many party members.

Ten years ago, Yuan Wei took office as Minister of Works, and Feng Xun was reinstated as Chief Secretary of Minister of Works. Later, he was reinstated as Chancellor of Changshan State, and during his tenure, he worshipped various gods everywhere and built altars and erected steles on famous mountains.

This includes Mount Damao, Mount Baishi, Mount Sangong, etc. in the Taihang Mountains (Note: Feng Xun established the title of Emperor on various famous mountains, and many of the stone tablets are still preserved today).

Most of those stone tablets highlight Feng Xun's "virtuous rule," and they all describe him as acting on behalf of Heaven to bestow titles upon the dragon and establish the Lingshan Lord—that is, the "Fengshan Mountain God."

Later, Feng Xun was transferred to the position of Chancellor of Ganling State, and disappeared along with Liu Zhong's son during the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

After Yuan Shao fled to Ji Province, he entered the Taihang Mountains. Feng Xun served as the Chancellor of Changshan State twice and bestowed titles of Dragon Lord and Spirit Mountain Lord everywhere, so he must have been extremely familiar with the Taihang Mountains.

The situation in Hebei gradually became clear to Liu Bei.

Feng Xun was mostly one of Yuan Shao's men. Because he was extremely familiar with the geography of the Taihang Mountains and Ji Province, he helped Yuan Shao escape Zhang Yan's pursuit and then established an "anti-Liu Bei alliance" in Hebei.

The Cui family was severely wronged by Liu Bei. Cui Yan and Cui Lin have now replaced the main branch of the Cui family, and Cui Lie of Anping has lost his so-called 'good reputation'. The Cui family has now split into three, and the original main branch of the Ganling Cui family was originally going to oppose Liu Bei.

At the same time, many powerful clans in Ji Province would also oppose Liu Bei.

When Liu Bei was in Ganling, he cooperated with Zhang Yan to collect protection money, which must have made everyone in Ji Province dissatisfied with him.

Furthermore, although Sui Gu's attack on Liu Xie's carriage failed, he himself did not die. After escaping back to Hebei, he would most likely join the anti-Liu Bei alliance, otherwise he would have nowhere to go.

If nothing unexpected happens, Yuan Shao is probably currently courting powerful clans in Ji Province, and it's very likely that he'll be in Bohai.

Because Yuan Shao's father-in-law's family lived in Bohai.

Yuan Shao's current wife, Lady Liu, comes from a family in Nanpi, Bohai. Lady Liu's cousin is the late Liu Zheng, the governor of Youbeiping.

Of course, the Bohai Liu clan was not a royal family, but a collateral branch of the imperial clan, similar to the Zhuojun Liu clan.

Liu Zhong, the Prince of Ganling, also declared himself emperor in Nanpi, Bohai.

The counties of Nanpi, Raoan, and Leling in Bohai Bay, as well as Banxian and Xipingchang in the northern part of the plain, all responded to Liu Zhong's call to become emperor, and then each conquered the surrounding counties.

(Note: At this time, Leling was not a separate kingdom or prefecture, but rather part of the former Bohai Kingdom. The Bohai Kingdom had been abolished, and Bohai Prefecture had become the largest prefecture in Ji Province. Leling was separated and established as a separate prefecture and kingdom after the Cao Wei period. Its relationship with Langya Prefecture and Chengyang was similar.)
Currently, the southern part of the Bohai Sea and the northern part of the plains have become areas controlled by rebels.

Moreover, an old acquaintance appeared in the rebel camp.

Yan Liang.

Jia Xu also mentioned several people who were not well-known at the moment, but whom Liu Bei knew.

Wen Chou, Gao Huan, and Jiang Yiqu.

Gao Huan is Gao Lan, from the Gao clan of Bohai. The pirates in Bohai Bay were from their family. Guan Hai was quite familiar with the Gao family—the Gao clan of Bohai was the biggest competitor of the Guan clan's pirates, and the two families were enemies.

Neither Yan Liang nor Wen Chou came from wealthy families; they were local military leaders.

Yan Liang became famous early on and was known as a chivalrous hero in Anping. He followed Huangfu Song in suppressing the Yellow Turban Rebellion and later served as the magistrate of Nanpi.

Wen Chou held no official position, much like Li Qian before him. He was a local tyrant in Jizhou—it's uncertain whether he was actually named Wen Chou; it's possible that, like Gao Huan, it was an alias… Jiang Yiqu was also an alias.

It was precisely because of these people's presence in the rebel camp that Zhang He and Bai Yao were unable to make any progress in Ban County.

In order to minimize losses, Jia Xu had gradually evacuated the people to Pingyuan County.

At present, Zhang He is guarding Longcou Ferry, Jia Xu is personally guarding Pingyuan, Taishi Ci has gone around to the northern part of Bohai Sea by sea to harass the enemy behind enemy lines, and Guan Hai is ensuring the safety of the sea route.

It could be considered a stalemate between the two sides, with the rebels holding a slight advantage.

Jia Xu managed to uphold Liu Bei's bottom line by keeping the rebels north of the Yellow River, and most of the population in northern Pingyuan County was relocated to Pingyuan County and Gaotang.

But winning won't be easy.

Yuan Shao was still Yuan Shao after all. Even though he became the most wanted criminal in the Han Dynasty and lost the prestige of being from a family that had held high office for four generations, he was still not to be underestimated.

After all, making friends with heroes everywhere and helping those who had been convicted of crimes were also part of Yuan's legacy.

Upon learning the names of Yan Liang and Wen Chou, Liu Bei immediately set aside other matters and led his entire main force to Pingyuan—if he didn't kill Yuan Shao as soon as possible, who knew how much trouble would follow.

But, but.

Just as Liu Bei led his troops to Longcou Ferry, Jia Xu suddenly sent back a message saying that the enemy army had suddenly retreated to the north and left completely.

At the same time, news came from Linzi from Zuo Yuan that another group of bandits had appeared in Linzi and attacked Princess Liu Hua!

Liu Hua is dead!

(End of this chapter)