Jinting Han people

Chapter 86: The Two Lus Enter the Capital (4k)

It was the spring of the tenth year of Taikang (289 AD). After the severe drought in the ninth year of Taikang, the harvest this year seemed to be better.

The winter started with several heavy snowfalls. At first, people swept the snowflakes off the eaves in front of their houses as usual, but before the snow could melt, another heavy snow fell, covering the sky and the ground with no sign of stopping. The sky and the ground were all white, even hiding the people.

The heavy snow continued until the Dingchou day of the first lunar month. Afterward, there were ten days of brilliant sunshine, but the snow still hadn't completely melted. People walking on the streets were soon shivering from the cold. The bustling streets of Luoyang quieted down somewhat, and even the wealthy families occasionally had their roofs collapsed by the heavy snow, not to mention the common people in the suburbs. While clearing the snow, people often found bodies frozen to death on the streets.

The bodies of the dead were stiff, as if they would shatter at the slightest touch. Yet, strange smiles clung to their faces, as if they were dreaming some inconceivably warm dream before their death. The living found it difficult to comprehend, yet they had no choice but to deal with it. To prevent a spring plague, Luoyang's governor, Man Fen, borrowed dozens of carts from the armory, loaded the bodies, and dug several large pits in the northern suburbs of Luoyang to bury them all.

Even Luoyang experienced such a large-scale scene of people freezing to death, not to mention other counties. The number of people reported to have frozen to death in Yanshi County alone was no less than 200. According to the estimate of Cao of the Ministry of Revenue of the Secretariat, the population loss caused by the winter snow this year may be tens of thousands.

However, the loss of tens of thousands of people is just a number. Dead is dead. Some people die, and some people live. The living can bury the dead and think that they have done their best.

And this winter, Liu Xian was also very busy.

As a Writer, Liu Xian's duties included managing archives and copying imperial edicts for archiving, as well as writing national history. According to Cao Wei custom, every Writer was required to write a history of at least one deceased figure during his term.

This wasn't a problem for Liu Xian, however. Driven by his interest in military history, he chose Yang Hu and Wang Jun. He had already encountered materials on both men while studying with Chen Shou, and with Chen Shou's guidance, he felt comfortable writing the history. He completed the assignment in about a month.

The real reason why he was so busy was mainly due to another thing, which was secretly trading grain with Zu Ti.

After anticipating the difficult living conditions in the ninth year of Taikang, Liu Xian found Zu Ti and planned to use the gold he had previously robbed from the Jingu Garden to transport grain for disaster relief.

Zu Ti was now a much more powerful figure than before. Although he hadn't participated in the Imperial Academy's archery competition, his reputation had already spread throughout Luoyang. Using the money from the Golden Valley Garden, he first bought a large compound in the western suburbs. Then, he extended his favors, recruited soldiers, and quickly expanded his small group of a dozen or so men into a force of knights with hundreds of followers, dominating an entire street in the western suburbs.

Moreover, Zu Ti was fair, tactful, and generous. He was able to maintain good relations with people like Man Fen, the prefect of Luoyang, and to restrain his subordinates from bullying the virtuous and promoting the wicked. Liu Kun, Liu Xian, and others further promoted him, and even Sima Wei learned of the heroic figure from Fanyang in the western suburbs, a man of both civil and military talents and a sense of loyalty and righteousness.

This time Liu Xian came to Zu Ti to discuss disaster relief, and Zu Ti readily agreed. During the disaster, he had originally planned to expand his manpower while taking advantage of the disaster, but his power had reached a bottleneck. If he wanted to provide disaster relief in Luoyang without attracting attention, he had to make arrangements, find connections, and preferably even put on an official cover.

So during this period, Liu Xian used his position to go back and forth to see if he could get Zu Ti and Liu Kun some official positions.

Coincidentally, the newly appointed Inspector General of the Imperial Capital, Shi Jian, had taken office. The saying "a new emperor, a new minister" certainly applies to prefectural politics. With a single stroke of his pen, Shi Jian planned to replace 80% of the old officials in the Imperial Capital with new ones. Coincidentally, Shi Jian himself was from Yanci, Hebei. Liu Xian, Liu Kun, and Zu Ti conspired, thinking that since both Zu Ti and Liu Kun were from Hebei, they might be able to use his connections based on their local connections. Sure enough, they succeeded, securing the positions of Chief Clerk of the Imperial Capital for both.

Zu Ti was in high spirits. On the one hand, he was recruiting people in private, and on the other hand, he frequently participated in various literary gatherings. He was busy all day long. His face, which originally looked a little frustrated, has become somewhat amiable recently.

When Liu Xian came to see Zu Ti, his men had just brought in thirty carts of grain from Yecheng. They were unloading the grain in the courtyard. Zu Ti sat by the brazier, poring over two scrolls of prose. Liu Xian looked over and almost laughed out loud. "Why is Shi Zhi reading Zhang Zai's 'Xu Xing Fu'? Don't you usually look down on people who wield pens and write?"

Zu Ti looked up at Liu Xian, put away his scroll, and said with a smile, "Time has changed. A true man can bend and stretch. Now that I have chosen this path, if I still speak as I did before, wouldn't I be offending people for no reason?"

"Okay, so what do you see from this?"

Zu Ti stared, flicked the paper and said, "I was just about to ask you!"

After saying that, both of them burst into laughter.

Liu Xian finally got back to the point and asked Zu Ti, "How much grain did you receive today? How much did you spend?"

Zu Ti pulled out a list from his pocket and read: "I spent fifty gold coins to buy five hundred dan of wheat, two hundred dan of corn, and one hundred dan of rice."

"It didn't attract attention, did it?"

"They bought everything under the name of Shi Gong, so we can't be held responsible." Zu Ti took back the list and asked Liu Xian, "How much grain do you want this time?"

"I have about fifty more people in my family now. To survive until April this year, please give me fifty dan of corn and fifty dan of rice."

"Okay!" Zu Ti called over one of his men and gave him a few instructions before turning back and saying, "It's less than I thought. By the end of this winter, I've got around 300 men. According to the court's laws, we could form a unit. If I do this three or four more times, I estimate I'll be able to form almost a division!"

"A division is 2,500 people. Let's not talk about whether you can recruit 2,500 people. Even if you can recruit them, can you conquer the world with 2,500 people?"

"Everything depends on human effort. When Sun Ce marched south to Jiangdong, he only had 500 men!"

Liu Xian laughed again. In terms of arrogance, Zu Ti was arguably the most arrogant of all the people he had met. In private, he made no secret of his disdain for the current imperial court, then revealed his ambition to seize power and seize the Central Plains. But Liu Xian had to admit that in terms of talent, character, and ambition, Zu Ti was supreme in every way, destined to go down in history.

After pulling two carts of grain, Liu Xian was about to say goodbye to Zu Ti. At this moment, he took out Zhang Zai's "Xu Xing Fu" and asked as he read, "Have you heard of Huai Chong?"

"What did you hear?"

"The Jiangdong genius your teacher mentioned, Lu Ji, has already arrived in Beijing."

"Oh?" Liu Xian raised his eyebrows and asked, "Did he do anything?"

Zu Ti looked at the article and smiled without raising his head, "How would I know? I just received the news and told you by the way." This was the first time Liu Xian heard Lu Ji's name this year. Although he had heard his teacher mention Lu Ji a long time ago, he actually didn't take him seriously at all.

This was no surprise. After all, the rise of the Wujun Lu family was fueled by Lu Xun's decisive victory over his great-grandfather, Liu Bei, at the Battle of Yiling, which brought him widespread fame. This battle effectively broke the backbone of Shu Han and contributed to Liu Bei's illness and death at Baidi. Even seventy years later, Liu Xian couldn't help but harbor resentment. As Lu Ji was Lu Xun's grandson and Lu Kang's son, Liu Xian wondered why he should concern himself with the scion of a family with a long-standing feud.
But things went against his wishes. Two days later, Liu Xian heard Lu Ji's name again.

One day, Liu Xian was flipping through the original copy of the Jizhong Chronicles preserved in the Secretariat when he suddenly heard Zhou Xi reading a poem next to him. He read:
"The Way of Heaven is easy and simple, the Way of Man is treacherous and difficult. Good and bad fortunes multiply and collide, turning and changing like waves.

Illness and suffering are not far away, and suspicion is the real cause of trouble. Being near fire is indeed hot, and walking on ice is not necessarily cold.

Picking up bees destroys the Way of Heaven, picking up dust confuses Confucius and Yan Hui. Expelling ministers is nothing, but abandoning friends is also lamentable.

Fortune always has a sign, and misfortune is not without cause. It is not easy to say goodbye to loss from heaven, but we can still be happy when we gain.

The clear mirror is not far away, it is obtained from the tip of the crown. The recent situation is difficult to be self-confident, and the gentleman is on guard against it.

Liu Xian didn't care at first, but after listening for a while subconsciously, he thought it was a good poem.

This poem is obviously modeled after Li Yan's "Poem of Expressing Aspirations". However, compared to Li Yan's expression of his lofty ambitions, this poem focuses more on describing the difficulties of life. If one is not careful, people may go astray. It quotes from classics and sighs three times in one poem. The language and meaning are profound, which can be said to be no less than Cao Zhi's.

After Zhou Xi finished reading, Liu Xian asked, "Bo Ren, is this a poem you wrote? It's very well written!"

Zhou Xi smiled and shook his head upon hearing this. He said to Liu Xian, "Huai Chong thinks it's good too? How could I possibly write such a poem? This is 'The Gentleman's Way' written by Lu Shiheng!"

"Lu Shiheng?"

"That's Lu Ji! He and his brother Lu Yun went to Lord Mao's residence the other day to ask him to appreciate this painting. Lord Mao praised it highly, saying, 'The campaign against Wu has benefited us by obtaining two talented men.' Others have said, 'Two Lus come to the capital, and the price of three paintings has dropped!'"

The Three Zhangs are the brothers Zhang Zai, Zhang Xie and Zhang Kang. In the past two years, they have become famous in the Luoyang literary world and were called the new generation of leaders. Unexpectedly, they were replaced by newcomers before they could firmly establish their positions.

Liu Xian hadn't expected to hear Lu Ji's name here. His face froze, and he forced a smile, "It's indeed a good poem, but I'm afraid it's inappropriate to belittle the three of them like this, isn't it?"

Zhou Xi didn't hear the disparagement of Lu Ji in Liu Xian's words. He just flipped through the next volume of Lu Ji's poetry and said, "Who knows? After all, he is a descendant of Lu Xun and Lu Kang. Even if his writings are as great as the nine provinces, it's not surprising."

Liu Xianming said nothing, but inwardly he scoffed: "A literary masterpiece that covers the entire country?" Even if it were true, what good would it do? Could this kind of writing, meant only for fame, truly rival the illustrious martial arts of his father and grandfather?

But this time, he became interested. Liu Xian really wanted to see how big a fuss this grandson of Lu Xun could cause in Luoyang.

However, even though Liu Xian had made sufficient preparations, Lu Ji's influence was still far beyond his imagination.

Lu Ji came to Beijing in the first month of the tenth year of Taikang's reign. By the beginning of February, just one month later, it seemed that the entire literary world in the capital was talking about Lu Ji.

At first, everyone was talking about Lu Ji's poetry, believing that his Yuefu was simple and refreshing, without the euphemisms of erotic songs or the uniqueness of lament poems, and had the righteous resonance of heaven and earth, comparable to Zijian (Cao Zhi).
Then everyone discussed Lu Ji's fu, believing it to be magnificent, profound, and full of erudition, of the highest order, and of the lowest order, of pure elegance and ingenuity, and exceedingly elaborate, even surpassing Cheng Gongsui.

Later, people began to pay attention to Lu Ji's own literary style. He imitated Yang Xiong's Lianzhu style and wrote fifty poems called "Yan Lianzhu". His style is elegant and concise. He does not use literal references to discuss things, but uses short metaphors to express the main idea. Only those who are well versed in literary allusions can understand his ideas.
In the end, Lu Ji's calligraphy, painting, literature and history can all be said to be the best in the world. He can almost be said to be proficient in all of them.

The entire Luoyang city has recognized that after Cao Zijian, the literary world of the Western Jin Dynasty finally welcomed a well-deserved leader of literature, who will surely go down in history and be admired by generations to come.

Liu Xian also went from not being able to get any information without asking for it to now being able to do almost nothing, and all kinds of news about Lu Ji came to him one after another:

Some say Lu Ji was seven feet tall and had a voice like a bell; some say Lu Ji raised a magical dog named Huang Er that could find its way; some say Lu Ji encountered robbers while crossing the Yangtze River and converted them with just a few words...

One day, when Liu Xian was copying his own book, "The Biography of Wang Jun," at home, Ah Luo suddenly said, "Husband, have you heard of the story of Zhou Chu eliminating the three evils?"

Zhou Chu was a rare and highly valued official from Jiangdong in recent years. Liu Xian certainly knew this. He said, "How could I not know? When Zhou Chu was young, he was a disaster for his hometown. He was listed as one of the three evils by the villagers, along with tigers and dragons. Later, Zhou Chu followed people's advice and killed the tiger first and then the dragon. He then turned over a new leaf and was praised as a hero by the villagers. As the saying goes, it's never too late to mend. Zhou Chu was able to reform himself and benefit the people. This is truly worthy of admiration!"

"But I recently heard that the reason Zhou Chu changed his ways was all because of Brother Lu Ji's advice!"

It's Lu Ji again! Liu Xian almost threw his pen away!

This was the first time that Liu Xian was so annoyed by a name. He had never met this person before, but he seemed to have won everyone's love.

Liu Xian was furious. He admitted that Lu Ji was talented, but he himself had never received such widely-desired acclaim, so how could Lu Ji possibly deserve it? On the surface, Liu Xian appeared to be a magnanimous gentleman, but inwardly, he was even more arrogant and conceited than Zu Ti.

During this period of time, Liu Xian had been holding a grudge in his heart, and at this moment, this grudge finally turned into an idea, driving Liu Xian to take action, allowing him to meet with Lu Xun's grandson, and the two of them to compare their strengths in a dignified manner, just like their ancestors did in the past.

The opportunity came soon. One day, Liu Xian had just returned home from the palace when he received an invitation to the Jingu Garden Literary Meeting.

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(End of this chapter)