Jinting Han people

Chapter 216 The Last Summer Days (4k)

During the days when Qi Wannian launched his rebellion, Liu Xian tossed and turned in Xiayang.

Initially, he submitted a petition to Sun Xiu and Sima Yi regarding the southward migration of the Tiele people on the border, but both petitions fell on deaf ears, with no further action. Liu Xian had anticipated this; he was merely a county magistrate, and his superiors had no obligation to inform him of their decisions. He was mentally prepared. He was simply fulfilling his duty, though in some ways, it seemed like a fool's errand.

In the days that followed, he led the people in repairing the northern fort to prevent the emergence of large numbers of Tiele people as bandits. Unexpectedly, amidst this busy work, news arrived of a Tiele rebellion and the fall of Linjin. Sensing a grave threat, Liu Xian immediately organized a campaign to fortify the city walls and clear the countryside. He mobilized 5,000 men from the population to reinforce Xiayang's defenses and clear out the city, while simultaneously gathering information outside the city.

But even with all his preparations, the situation still deteriorated beyond Liu Xian's expectations. Within a month, the Tiele people had swept across Fengyi and even reached the gates of Xiayang. After witnessing the Tiele army firsthand, Liu Xian knew this war wouldn't be easily resolved.

But how bad would the situation get? Liu Xian eagerly watched the situation unfold.

In July, when news of the Battle of Panlong Bay reached Xiayang, Liu Xian was overcome with excitement. He immediately summoned Li Sheng, Xi An, and Zhang Gu to discuss the matter. "After this battle, the Tiele people are unstoppable. They are likely to follow the example of Tufa Shuji and cause years of chaos, or even worse. Is this a good opportunity for us?"

Although Liu Xian didn't say it explicitly, everyone knew what he meant. Since being demoted, Liu Xian had been waiting for the right opportunity, an opportunity to raise an army and restore his country.

Li Mi once asked Liu Xian to judge when the time would be right to restore the country. Although he did not say it explicitly, Liu Xian had already made a conclusion in his mind:

First, one must accumulate a certain amount of power and reputation. Without power, one cannot start an uprising; without reputation, one cannot attract talents, and thus cannot truly establish a country.

Second, the imperial court must be incapable of taking care of itself. After all, the Jin Dynasty has taken over the world and its power is extremely strong. A head-on confrontation would definitely be difficult to resist. At least a force would be needed to attract attention for itself.

Third, one must have a sense of righteousness. Liu Xian's education since childhood made him realize that righteousness is the foundation of the country. If he wants to create a home for everyone in the world, he must have a banner that everyone in the world can obey.

Liu Xian had already been in Xiayang for five years. During this time, he had governed Xiayang and benefited Hedong, making him a renowned and talented official in Guanzhong. After weighing the pros and cons, Liu Xian felt that the first condition had been met, but he was struggling with the second and third.

Although the imperial court is currently dominated by treacherous officials, it still has many capable ministers under its command. With the exception of Guanzhong, the rest of the country is relatively stable. Although 20,000 soldiers were killed, it is only a drop in the bucket. Although the Tiele people have temporarily gained power, it was merely a surprise attack. The imperial court will surely be able to mobilize a large number of troops to quell the rebellion, and they should be able to defeat it.

Jia Mi and his people are just bad, not stupid. They know when to compromise and when to delegate power.

As an official of the Jin Dynasty, would he be accused of harboring evil intentions and betraying his loyalty by taking advantage of the Hu people's rebellion and raising an army?

Liu Xian took these into consideration and repeatedly weighed and calculated in his mind, but it was difficult to give himself an accurate answer.

But even though it was difficult to judge, he still found it difficult to bear and couldn't wait.

But perhaps because those involved are often confused, bystanders can see things more clearly. Li Sheng's judgment was very direct. His first words were to pour cold water on Liu Xian: "My lord, I'm afraid the time is not yet ripe."

Hearing this, Liu Xian suddenly felt dissatisfied, but he valued Li Sheng's opinion the most, so he suppressed his impatience and asked Li Sheng, "What do you have to say, Bin Shuo?"

Li Sheng pointed at the map hanging in Liu Xian's study and said, "It's very simple. If my lord were to start a rebellion now, would he start it in Xiayang, Hedong, or in Shu?"

"According to reports, the Tiele people have now reached Beidi County. They will likely continue westward, targeting either Qinzhou or Liangzhou. If you start an uprising in Xiayang or Hedong, you'll be stuck between the Tiele people and Luoyang. Even if the imperial court wants to attack the Tiele people first, they'll target you, the obstacle."

"With your current savings, can you resist the imperial court's 100,000-strong army? Not to mention that the Tiele people will not tolerate you."

"If you lead your people directly into Shu, Xiayang and Shu are separated by mountains and rivers, a thousand miles away. How difficult would it be! How many people can you take with you, my lord?"

"Not to mention that the Jin army in Shu has learned of the civil unrest in Guanzhong and will step up their defenses. If they lock up Jiange and Yang'an Pass, how will you enter Shu?"

"From all these circumstances, it seems that the time is not right yet."

After hearing what Li Sheng said, Liu Xian's expression calmed down a little. In fact, Liu Xian had considered these things before. However, people always have some luck and reluctance. He is in this state now, so he asked again:
"Didn't the teacher say that he had accumulated power for me in Shu? And that it couldn't be mobilized?"

What Liu Xian was unsure about was the arrangement Li Mi claimed to have made for him in Shu. He didn't know what it was. He had to take it into account to fully determine when the time was right.

Li Sheng lowered his finger and sighed, "My lord, my master did have some arrangements, but he didn't tell me in detail. He just told me before he passed away that if you want to enter Shu, you must first go to the old master and get a token that can prove your identity. Without this, you can't start."

"A token? What token?" Liu Xian was puzzled upon hearing this, but after a moment's reflection, a sudden realization struck him: Throughout history, events as significant as rebellion were never easily decided. If there were still those in Shu who yearned to restore their country, they must be incredibly conservative, too staid to believe anything.

Because language can deceive people, only real and accurate existence is convincing.

For someone like Liu Xian, who had never set foot in Shu for a single day, to reach an agreement with these old-fashioned people, he really needed an irrefutable token, a token that could prove at a glance that he was a descendant of Liu Bei.

If you think about it carefully, the only thing that can prove this now is probably the seal of Duke Anle that is worn around my father's waist.

Liu Xian pondered for a moment, thinking that this was probably what the teacher meant. If he didn't return to Luoyang, he might never have the chance to enter Shu. Alas, why didn't the teacher tell him this beforehand?

Li Sheng replied, "This matter was originally a top secret. My Lord, I was allowed to inform the Lord only after you had made the arrangements. However, I did not expect that the Lord would be banished from Luoyang, so I came to meet you."

Liu Xian also smiled bitterly. It turned out that Li Mi had not expected the dramatic changes in Luoyang afterwards.

But since he realized that the timing was not right, Liu Xian finally suppressed his restlessness. He changed the subject and asked everyone, "So how long do you think this Tiefu people's unrest will last?"

Everyone had a common answer to this question. Zhang Gu, standing nearby, elaborated, "Judging from the Battle of Panlong Bay, the Tiele people are skilled fighters, outnumbering the Xiongnu many times over. General Jie suffered a defeat at Panlong Bay. Forcing another battle without first stabilizing his troops is undoubtedly unwise. He'll likely suffer another defeat. If that happens, the Tiele people will likely be unstoppable before reinforcements arrive from the imperial court." Liu Xian nodded slightly, praisingly saying, "A Tian is quite knowledgeable about military affairs. So, in your opinion, what should I do?"

Zhang Gu thought for a moment and said, "Now that most of the counties in Guanzhong have fallen, being able to hold out and wait for reinforcements is a great achievement. As for Bi Ji, I don't think there's any need to take any risks."

Xi An retorted, "That won't do. If Bi Ji does only 60% of his work, the court will just let it go and pretend nothing happened. We really need to do something, otherwise how can we make further progress?"

But Xi An couldn't say what to do.

The merits that Liu Xian was now being deducted from would have been enough for someone else to become a provincial governor. The question of what kind of merits Liu Xian needed to achieve in order to be promoted is one of the six unsolved mysteries of the Jin Dynasty officialdom.

(On par with this are the number of historical books compiled by Duke Lu while serving as the Secretary General, the number of land purchase certificates sold by Sun Xiu while serving as the Commander-in-Chief of the Western Expedition, the number of beauties buried by Shi Chong in the Jingu Garden, the number of robberies committed by Zu Ti before his rise to fame, and the number of people Wang Yan invited to take the Five-Stone Powder during his discussions on the mysteries of the past.)
Li Sheng was indeed very clever. He suddenly covered his hands with his hands and laughed, saying to Liu Xian, "My lord, I have an idea."

"Oh? What's your idea?"

"Isn't Sun Xiu in trouble now? He has already handed over the command of the Western Expedition Army!"

"Indeed."

"Although he has handed over command, he should still hold some personnel authority. Didn't Lord Ouyang flee back to Luoyang? My lord, why don't you take this opportunity to ask him for the post of Governor of Fengyi?"

"This..." Liu Xian began to think about the feasibility of this plan.

"Sun Xiu has suffered a series of defeats, and this time, Lord Jie has publicly denounced him, clearly threatening to dismiss him from office. If Sun Xiu wishes to save himself, he must not only secretly curry favor with Empress Jia and the Crown Prince, but also maintain a respectable record. If the Lord promises him now to recapture Fengyi County under the title of temporary prefect, Sun Xiu will be able to report to the court, and the Lord's appointment as prefect will become a fait accompli, requiring only posthumous recognition by the court. This offers the best of both worlds, and Sun Xiu cannot refuse."

After hearing Li Sheng's analysis, Liu Xian couldn't help but applaud and exclaimed, "Good idea! Binshuo, let's do it!"

Liu Xian immediately wrote a letter, in which he laid out the pros and cons and requested the post of Fengyi governor from Sun Xiu. In his excitement, the letter was lavishly written, with rare flattery of Sun Xiu, describing him as "magnanimous and capable of appointing people" and "a man who values the country and upholds righteousness." Even after finishing the letter, Liu Xian couldn't help but laugh, wondering if he had written it himself.

But he still gave the letter to Li Sheng and asked him to hand it over to Sun Xiu personally, which shows how much importance Liu Xian attached to this matter.

After Li Sheng left, Liu Xian began to feel anxious again. He wondered, now that the cities along the way were occupied by the Tiele people, could Binshuo successfully reach Chang'an after a 300-li journey? Would Sun Xiu really agree to his request? If so, how would he recapture Fengyi County?

He knew now was not the time to dwell on these things, so he tried to clear his mind and began directing the county's citizens to carry out the autumn harvest. If Li Sheng could truly succeed, this would likely be his last time in charge of Xiayang's government affairs. He had to do everything well during his tenure and not burden the people of Xiayang.

In a blink of an eye, more than ten days passed, and the autumn harvest was over. The tense atmosphere in Xiayang eased slightly. At least compared to other counties in Guanzhong, the people of Xiayang had not lost much of their harvest due to the war, and there was still hope for next year.

After this, Liu Xian had no other government affairs to attend to for a while, so he stayed at home playing with his children.

At this time, the eldest son, Liu Lang, was already two years old. A two-year-old child is as delicate as a piece of jade, the cutest time of his life. Although he still cries, he is not restless. After a period of babbling, he can already speak some vague words and call his parents "father" and "mother".

Liu Xian doted on the child. Looking at his bright black eyes and innocent smile, he immediately recalled his own childhood. This made him secretly determined to seize this rare opportunity to become the county magistrate, so that the child could hold his head high and at least no longer be called "the Duke of Lost Country" by his peers.

But even when I make up my mind, I still feel hesitant occasionally.

"How far have I come on this long journey?" One day he suddenly asked Lu Zhu without any context.

"Everyone is looking at you, young master, and knows that you have come a long way." Lu Zhu replied while hugging Liu Lang.

But this answer could not satisfy Liu Xian. What he wanted to know was how far he had to go.

By the Mid-Autumn Festival in August, the grass and trees in Xiayang had turned yellow. Amid the fragrance of yellow flowers, Li Sheng finally returned from Chang'an.

He brought Liu Xian a bad news and a good news.

The bad news was that Sun Xiu rejected Liu Xian's request and would not allow Liu Xian to temporarily take over the position of Fengyi prefect.

The reason was simple. Although Ouyang Jian, the former governor of Fengyi, had fled back to Luoyang from Linjin, the court had not dismissed him from his post. Ouyang Jian was also Shi Chong's nephew and had corresponded with Jia Mi. If Sun Xiu did so, it would undoubtedly be a blatant betrayal of Jia Mi and an offense to Shi Chong. He would never do such a losing deal.

But then again, Sun Xiu was indeed moved by Liu Xian's proposal. Although he did not dare to act on his own and hand over Fengyi County to Liu Xian, there was a ready-made vacancy in Yongzhou now, that is, the prefect of Beidi.

At the Battle of Panlong Bay, Zhang Sun, the prefect of Beidi, was killed, Beidi County was occupied by the Tiele people, and the whereabouts of Zhang Guang, the commander of Beidi, were unknown. Granting such a place to Liu Xian was obviously unobjectionable, but compared to Fengyi County, Beidi County only governed Fuping and Niyang counties, and the total population of Jin people was probably less than 10,000, far less than that of Xiayang today.

Sun Xiu's intention was to allow Liu Xian to temporarily assume the post of Governor of Beidi. To compensate Liu Xian, he could allow him to choose the next Xiayang Magistrate. If Liu Xian was unwilling to accept the post, Sun Xiu wouldn't force him. After all, anyone with a discerning eye could see that the current situation in Guanzhong was extremely devastating, and Sun Xiu bore the brunt of the responsibility. He had essentially lost his voice in politics.

This is the good news that Li Sheng brought back.

Another choice is placed before Liu Xian. What should he choose next?
Of course there is only one answer.

　Please vote! Please subscribe! Please support me! Your support is my motivation to update!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)