I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 396 Five Pecks of Rice

Since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Taoism, which follows the Huang-Lao school of thought, has not fared well in this land.

The phrase "The Blue Heaven is dead, the Yellow Heaven shall rise" made everyone realize that Taoism is truly willing to take on any challenge!
Although the Taiping Daoism did not completely overthrow the Later Han Dynasty, it is a fact that the Later Han Dynasty perished because of the Taiping Daoism.

Zhang Lu was clearly unsure of Liu Miao, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, what his attitude was toward the Five Pecks of Rice sect, so his attitude had always been somewhat ambiguous, and he dared not express his opinion easily.

Yan Pu, considering that Liu Miao had indeed sent an envoy to Hanzhong, offered his conjecture: "The Emperor of Han should not oppose the Five Pecks of Rice Religion."

"Back then, Taiqing Xuanyuan also established a lineage in Longhu Mountain, but there was no record of the emperor expelling any of the cultivators there. Now he has invited Master Jun to attack Shu, so he should not have any malicious intent."

"Besides, Hanzhong is far too close to the Han Dynasty!"

Others may not know about the trade between Jingzhou and Xiangyang, Guanzhong and Liangzhou, but surely Zhang Lu, who was stationed in Hanzhong, knew about it?

With so many merchants traveling back and forth, it's inevitable that some would directly cross Hanzhong and traverse the Qishan and Qinling Mountains to travel between the two places. A simple inquiry would easily reveal the details.

They were unaware of the specific details.

But Zhang Lu and Yan Pu knew that the waters of Guanzhong were very deep, extremely deep! They knew that it was absolutely beyond their control!

Now that Hanzhong is surrounded by the Han Dynasty, does Zhang Lu have any other option but to make peace with the Han Dynasty?
Zhang Lu eventually agreed to the matter.

"Then Zhang Wei was dispatched to Chengdu to probe the attitude of the Han Emperor!"

……

Chengdu.

After the officials of Shu surrendered, they also handed over the registers and accounts of Shu.

Only by clarifying these things can one truly control the Shu region, understand its population, land area, and the amount of money and grain that can be collected.

In order to deal with these issues, a large number of outsiders to Sichuan, such as Fa Zheng, as well as poor and commoner families from Sichuan, were given important positions. A makeshift team was temporarily set up to organize and investigate the data of Sichuan so that Sichuan could be restored to peace as soon as possible!
Among them was Li Hui from Jianning.

Li Hui was a native of Yuyuan in Jianning. After being recommended, he worked diligently and conscientiously to complete his official duties.

What made Li Hui famous, however, was that a few days earlier, a powerful clan in Shu had secretly bribed him, hoping he would turn a blind eye and falsify the amount of land he owned. But Li Hui, being upright and incorruptible, reported the matter to Liu Miao.

Afterwards, Liu Miao naturally exterminated Li Hui's entire clan and promoted him to the position of magistrate of Chengdu, allowing Li Hui to rise to the top ranks of Shu almost instantly!

This makes the current makeshift team even more envious!

The deeds of Li Hui and the rewards and punishments given by Liu Miao almost seemed to be saying to those who came after: "Go and thoroughly investigate those powerful clans!"

"As long as we dig out those people, we'll surely be promoted and rise to the top in one fell swoop!"

As expected, those powerful clans who had planned to secretly hide their land suffered a backlash from the poorer clans they had previously suppressed in this "counting the wealth" operation, leaving them with no room for resistance.

Use Shu to control Shu.

Liu Miao did not allow the outsiders he brought to handle the affairs of Shu, so as to avoid deepening the resentment of the people of Shu against the Han Dynasty with which they had fought. Instead, he relinquished his authority and used it to complete the purge of the powerful clans of Shu at the lowest possible cost.

It was precisely for this reason that Li Hui ultimately held Liu Miao in more awe than anything else.

Now that Zhang Lu's younger brother Zhang Wei has come to Shu to visit Liu Miao as an envoy, Li Hui dared not delay for a moment and went to Liu Miao's residence to report the intelligence to Liu Miao.

"His Majesty, a man of such wisdom and skill, must be extremely busy right now, discussing many important national affairs that I cannot access?"

Li Hui stood nervously in front of Liu Miao's door, waiting for Chen Wu to go in and announce his arrival. At the same time, he began to organize his thoughts, trying not to make any mistakes...

"go in."

With permission granted, Li Hui followed Chen Wu step by step into the room.

really!

Before even entering the house, Li Hui heard Liu Miao having an unusually heated argument with someone!

Li Hui nodded secretly.

Your Majesty must be working very hard!

However, the fact that a subject dares to argue with Your Majesty shows Your Majesty's tolerance!

But as Li Hui drew closer, he suddenly felt as if he were wearing prosthetic ears, hearing things he shouldn't have heard at all—

"Why do women from Sichuan have such perky butts? It's because there are so many mountains here! Every time they climb a mountain, they have to bend over! Over time, they develop perky butts from all that exercise!"

"Your Majesty's words are absurd! It is clearly innate! It seems to be saying that the people of Shu have the blood of the Jiuli tribe, which is why their physique is different from that of the people of the Central Plains!"

"Bullshit! It's clearly something he developed through training!"

"Impossible! It must be natural! No normal woman could train herself to be that round!"

Zhou Tai, who was at odds with Liu Miao, clearly did not agree with Liu Miao's theory!

He gestured with his hands: "Your Majesty saw that maid's buttocks just now! So round! So round! How could it be achieved through training?"

Liu Miao, however, insisted on his theory of acquired physical development: "It's definitely from frequent mountain climbing and hill walking! Women from mountainous areas all have round buttocks!"

Why is His Majesty so stubborn?

Zhou Tai frantically ran around on the ground, while Liu Miao happened to see Li Hui at that moment and quickly waved to him: "De'ang! Come here!"

"Jianning should have pure Southern Barbarians! You should argue with Youping! Are the buttocks of Southern Barbarian women round or not?"

"Hmm..." Li Hui frowned and adjusted his breathing.

Clearly, today's scene was too abrupt, leaving Li Hui feeling lost and disoriented.

How could I possibly be discussing whether a woman's buttocks are round or not with the mighty Emperor of the Han Dynasty?
Faced with Liu Miao's question, Li Hui was speechless.

How to answer this?

Whether it's considered "round" or "not round," doesn't it all mean admitting that you've seen those barely clothed women from the south?
If this gets out, where will his reputation be?

After a moment's thought, Li Hui decided to be pragmatic—

"I have only ever seen one female barbarian from the south, and her buttocks... were not round!"

"Oh hoo!"

Liu Miao suddenly shouted "Long live the Emperor!"

The buttocks of the female barbarians are not round! This proves that they have absolutely no relation to the Jiuli bloodline!
Before Liu Miao could be happy for long, Li Hui added another sentence.

"But that woman from the southern barbarians was quite old, she seemed to be over sixty..."

Upon hearing this, Li Hui could clearly sense that the way people around him were looking at him had become somewhat strange.

Liu Miao was speechless and said, "De'ang, isn't your taste a bit too heavy?"

Li Hui: "..."

On the one hand, he wanted to explain that he was just a child back then and only glanced at it unconsciously, which left a huge psychological shadow, and that he did not intend to look at it.

On the other hand, Li Hui was somewhat conflicted. Why was he even explaining this nonsensical thing?
As Liu Miao and Zhou Tai argued to a standstill, Liu Miao suddenly remembered that he had important business to attend to.

"De'ang said that Zhang Lu's younger brother, Zhang Wei, has arrived?"

"Exactly."

Liu Miao reclined on the couch: "What do you think Zhang Lu is doing sending his brother?"

We've finally gotten to the main topic!
Li Hui took a deep breath: "I believe that Zhang Lu has come here to seek peace."

"I have heard that General Huang Zhong has led his troops north to take over Zitong and Baishui Pass. In this way, the might of our Han army can easily threaten Hanzhong. Zhang Lu must be terrified because of this, which is why he sent his brother to pay homage to His Majesty!"

With Chengdu's surrender, there was essentially no need for resistance in other areas.

Apart from Yuexi and Zangke counties in southern Yizhou, most of the counties in the north had already surrendered at the first sign of trouble. That's why Liu Miao sent Huang Zhong north to persuade and appease the Shu soldiers in Zitong and Baxi.

It's only a matter of time before these places are digested.

As Li Hui said, by then, the Han Dynasty would be bordering Hanzhong, so it was only natural that Zhang Lu was terrified.

However, Liu Miao then asked Li Hui, "De'ang, if you were in charge of this matter, do you think we should accept Zhang Lu?"

Li Hui suddenly felt a chill run down his spine!

He knew this was his second major opportunity!
If Li Hui can satisfy Liu Miao, he could very well rise through the ranks and become a truly powerful figure in Shu!

But if he couldn't find the right answer on such a crucial issue, then Li Hui probably considered the Chengdu proclamation his peak!

This is because the issue is not about "concealing land ownership," which tests an official's character or integrity.

This is a true strategic issue! A single move can have far-reaching consequences!

Li Hui originally intended to answer the question according to Liu Miao's preferences.

But based on the "buttocks" topic just now, Li Hui was quite certain that he had no idea what Liu Miao liked or disliked...

Since we can't control it, we might as well not try! Just focus on ourselves!
"His Majesty."

Li Hui calmed himself, put aside distractions, and answered seriously.

"If Zhang Lu was merely the Prefect of Hanzhong, then he was actually insignificant."

"But he was not only the governor of Hanzhong, but also the master of the Five Pecks of Rice sect!"

When Li Hui spoke of Zhang Lu, his expression became solemn.

During the Yonghe era, Zhang Lu's grandfather, Zhang Daoling, wrote twenty-four Daoist books and called himself "Taiqing Xuanyuan". He accepted disciples and set up altars. Those who followed his Dao had to pay five dou of rice, and it was then called "the Dao of Five Dou of Rice".

In the first year of the Han'an era, Zhang Daoling claimed that Laozi himself had descended to bestow upon him the "Three Heavens Orthodox Dharma" and appointed him as the "Celestial Master." In the same year, he was also bestowed with the "Essential Teachings of the Orthodox Unity" and the "Wonderful Scripture of the Orthodox Unity Covenant," and appointed as the "Three Heavens Dharma Master, Orthodox Unity True Man!"

"The most crucial thing is not these, but that Zhang Daoling also established twenty-four administrative regions in Shu, each headed by a chief administrator who was in charge of a household, much like a governor!"

"Now the Five Pecks of Rice sect is not only rampant in Hanzhong, but also deeply rooted in Sichuan!"

"Back then, Liu Yan, the governor of Yizhou, heavily relied on Zhang Lu, probably not only because of his mother, but also because he wanted to use the Five Pecks of Rice sect behind Zhang Lu to ensure the stability of Shu!"

Li Hui expressed his thoughts—

"It is easy to destroy powerful clans and wealthy families, but difficult to destroy the Five Pecks of Rice Religion."

"Your Majesty should now strive to stabilize Shu so that you can return to the Central Plains to deal with Yuan Shao!"

"Therefore, I propose that we accept Zhang Lu and also the Five Pecks of Rice sect!"

(End of this chapter)