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

Chapter 4 The Big-Eared Thief's Companions
The thirtieth day of the twelfth month of the sixth year of the Xiping era.

Zhuoxian County.

On the last day of the year, Liu Bei finally returned to his hometown.

Of course, as a modern person, he didn't consider Youzhou to be his hometown...

But in any case, I still feel safer in Zhuojun.

At least the enemies are relatively far apart.

If nothing unexpected happens, Cao Cao should be busy governing the devastated Dunqiu at this time, Yuan Shu should have just been recommended as a candidate for the civil service examination and was gaining experience in Henan, Yuan Shao should be raising a group of assassins in Luoyang to become a gang leader, and Gongsun Zan should be fighting with the Xianbei people in Liaodong.

Right now, the most dangerous person is Gongsun Zan.

It's not because they're all in Youzhou and so close to each other.

The main point is that if Gongsun Zan wasn't out of his mind, he would probably have figured out that Gongsun Yue's death was somewhat related to Liu Bei—even if he thought it wasn't related, he would still very likely have taken his anger out on Liu Bei.

After all, Gongsun Zan was a rather ruthless person who never reasoned when he was in power.

But Liu Bei still intended to reason with this guy.

In any case, as long as you have enough fists, reason will naturally come to you.

Therefore, we need manpower, especially capable fighters.

Upon arriving in Zhuo County, Liu Bei immediately went to find Zhang Fei.

But the result was disappointing—Zhang Fei was just a twelve-year-old kid, and hadn't even grown up yet...

Moreover, Liu Bei was expelled from Lu Zhi's school, and without the halo of being Lu Zhi's disciple, Zhang Fei probably wouldn't look down on Liu Bei for the time being.

As for Guan Yu, he should not be a wanted criminal yet. He is probably still making a living in Jie County and has not yet come to Zhuojun.

Right now, we can probably only use our financial resources and recruit some manpower.

Fortunately, Liu Bei still had some money on him.

This was thanks to the previous Lang Ge. Although he lost most of the copper coins he stole from Yuan's rice shop, he still had a small money bag with a few gold coins inside.

It must have been taken from Yuan Shu, because it bears the Yuan family's mark.

These gold coins would certainly be difficult to sell around Luoyang, but they would be easy to convert into cash in Youzhou.

It's worth about ten thousand coins in total.

Ten thousand coins is actually a considerable sum; if all of it were converted into five-zhu coins, it would weigh sixty or seventy jin.

Although a few months ago, 10,000 coins could only buy one bushel of rice in Luoyang, this was because of the severe drought and famine in the country, and the gentry in the Central Plains mostly hoarded grain and refused to sell it in order to make huge profits.

However, Youzhou was affected much less.

Although the Xianbei invaded the border and the drought in the Central Plains affected the market prices in Youzhou, 10,000 coins could still buy more than a dozen bushels of good rice in Zhuojun, enough to feed a family for two or three years—if they could buy it.

Even if rice is unavailable, livestock are cheap in Youzhou.

In any case, recruiting a few teenagers as helpers is enough.

And then there's this horse I smuggled from Cao Cao...

This is a fine horse carefully selected by Cao Cao. It is of excellent quality, gentle and obedient. If it were sold to scholars in the south, it could fetch an astronomical price.

But Liu Bei had no intention of selling the horse.

It wasn't that I developed an affection for the horse while riding it, but rather that horses didn't fetch a good price in Youzhou.

correct……

马！
Historically, when Liu Bei started his career, wasn't it with the financial support of two horse merchants?
But why would a merchant like Ma provide financial assistance to Liu Bei, who was just a commoner and a wandering knight at the time?

Liu Bei thought about the actions of Gongsun Zan and Lang Ge, and felt that his future seemed bright again.

Once he had an idea, he had to act on it immediately. Before even returning home, Liu Bei went straight to the tavern in the county to recruit two helpers.

Just as Liu Bei arrived at the entrance of the tavern, he was suddenly called to a stop.

"Is that Liu's eldest brother? When did he return?"

Liu Bei glanced over and saw a young man with his chest and back exposed, lying on a wine couch, holding a wine cup in one hand and supporting the back of his neck with the other, dangling his legs and shuffling his shoes.

Upon seeing Liu Bei, the young man kicked off his shoe and hopped over barefoot, pulling Liu Bei to the wine table: "I heard that you did something big in Luoyang, elder brother?" Liu Bei's mind raced for a while before he could recall any memory of the young man.

This is Geng Yong.

Also known as Jian Yong – people from Youzhou have a heavy accent, and they pronounce Geng as Jian.

This was Liu Bei's true buddy, a friendship forged from childhood, where they grew up together, practically naked together.

"Doing big things? Who told you that?"

Liu Bei sighed inwardly; the "major event" Jian Yong spoke of was probably not a good thing.

It's like going back to your hometown for Chinese New Year and your friends there saying, "I heard you're a big boss in Beijing, Shanghai, or Guangzhou"...

Sure enough, Jian Yong's next sentence completely baffled Liu Bei: "Uncle Yuanqi came back and said that my elder brother spent ten thousand coins to select the most beautiful courtesan at the Luoyang Music Hall? He also said that my elder brother lived in the music hall for a whole year? Hehe... What did that courtesan look like?"

Liu Bei thought to himself, "This elder of the same clan really knows how to spread rumors..."

But then I thought—this doesn’t seem to be a rumor!

When my ex went to see Cao Cao, he actually booked a private room at Luoyang Music Hall, and he did live there for a year—he went to earn money to atone for his sins while in prison, and he wove straw sandals for the musicians every day. Liu's straw sandals have almost become a souvenir and local specialty of Luoyang Music Hall.

After much thought, Liu Yuanqi probably didn't want to upset Liu Bei's mother or damage the reputation of the Liu family in Zhuo County, so he didn't mention Liu Bei's robbery of merchants and imprisonment after returning. He only said that Liu Bei stayed at the music hall.

These days, travel is slow, and it's really not easy to find out what's happening in Luoyang from far away in Youzhou.

Those in government offices could get some information through official documents, but ordinary people were completely in the dark.

"There is no courtesan, that's a misunderstanding."

Liu Bei waved his hand and changed the subject: "If we're talking about serious matters, I did set fire to Luoyang and was even wanted for it, but that was to save tens of thousands of refugees..."

……

Just like bragging when you go back to your hometown for Chinese New Year, delivering food outside can be described as 'controlling the livelihoods of countless people';
Being a security guard can also be described as 'being in charge of the local gateway'.

And Liu Bei...

Robbing merchants was naturally an act of chivalry, burning down grain shops was naturally to save refugees, and plundering the Lihu gentry was to obtain grain for disaster relief.

Regardless of whether it was for these reasons beforehand, that's what came out of Liu Bei's mouth and into Jian Yong's ears.

Jian Yong was stunned by the sound of the flute, and exclaimed in admiration, "Brother, you have done such a chivalrous thing! I regret that I did not go with you!"

The only thing that was hard to boast about was being expelled from Lu Zhi's school. So Liu Bei sighed, "After all, I did something illegal. Master Lu is upright and will naturally not protect me... Alas, Master Lu is now a Minister. I am a criminal and can no longer call myself a disciple of Master Lu, lest I tarnish Master Lu's reputation."

"My elder brother is indeed a man of great virtue!"

Jian Yong handed over a cup of wine: "Speaking of which, I've done quite a few chivalrous deeds these past two years, but I lack your brother's benevolence and righteousness. Right now, I'm still troubled by a small matter..."

"There is no distinction between high and low in righteousness, nor between big and small matters. Tell me about it."

Liu Bei, whose mouth was dry from talking, picked up the wine and drank it all in one gulp.

In fact, compared to what Jian Yong has done in the past two years, he can be described as a chivalrous person.

He and some other teenagers from Zhuoxian County formed a gang of wandering knights, which was essentially a dynamic small social organization, or simply a gang.

On a regular basis, they help local merchants solve problems, such as driving away thieves, recovering stolen goods, and collecting bad debts.

However, they do not engage in bullying or monopolistic practices, nor do they commit any wrongdoings; their reputation is quite good.

At the beginning of the year, the Xianbei invaded Youzhou, and several Hu people entered Zhuojun. Jian Yong led his wandering knights to fight them.

Although they only managed to drive him away because of their numbers and didn't capture him, their actions were certainly those of a true hero, and they gained some fame in Zhuo County.

When the magistrate of Zhuo County heard that Jian Yong had fought bravely against the Xianbei, he originally intended to recruit Jian Yong as an official.

But last year, Jian Yong—then Geng Yong's father—passed away. The Geng family members were harsh, insulting his mother for being a jinx and seizing the land from the widow and orphan.

In a fit of anger, Jian Yong completely changed his surname to Jian and broke away from the Geng family to start his own family.

Leaving home, changing one's surname, and betraying one's ancestors is naturally considered a great act of filial impiety.

These days, you can't become an official if you have a reputation for being unfilial; you can't even be a minor clerk.

This was what troubled Jian Yong.

(End of this chapter)