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

Chapter 13 Bandits and Rumors
Gongsun Zan has not been in the county for some time, saying he was going hunting outside, but no one knows where he went.

Moreover, he didn't even visit the prominent families in the county as is customary.

In fact, several prominent families in Zhuo County had some connection with Gongsun Zan, but their relationship with him was somewhat awkward.

There are three prominent families in Zhuo County: the Zhang, the Lu, and the Liu.

The Zhang family does not refer to Zhang Fei's family, but rather to a branch of the Yuyang Zhang clan in Zhuo County.

Zhang Fei's family was not considered a wealthy household in Zhuo County; they were only moderately well-off. Moreover, they were not butchers, but rather merchants who ran restaurants and taverns.

The tavern that Liu Bei and Jian Yong frequented was owned by Zhang Fei's family.

Of course, Zhang Fei did often do butchering, but this was because running a tavern required a lot of meat, and he was helping out at home.

The Zhang family of Yuyang was a prominent family at this time, with great influence in Youzhou. Many members of the family served as high-ranking officials with salaries of two thousand shi (a unit of grain), such as Zhang Chun, the chancellor of Zhongshan State, and Zhang Ju, the prefect of Taishan.

The current military commander of the Liaodong vassal state is named Zhang Jian, who also comes from the Zhang family of Yuyang—the cavalry that Gongsun Zan built up in Liaodong is now under Zhang Jian's command...

Therefore, Gongsun Zan was naturally unwilling to deal with the Zhang family himself.

The Lu family refers to Lu Zhi's clan.

Lu Zhi was Gongsun Zan's teacher. Logically, when Gongsun Zan came to Zhuo County to take up his post, he should at least pay a visit to his teacher's family as soon as possible, but he has not done so yet.

Not long after Gongsun Zan became a student of Lu Zhi, when Lu Zhi resigned from his official post and requested to enter the Eastern Pavilion to compile books, he became a student of Liu Kuan, who was then the Grand Commandant.

Moreover, Gongsun Zan put on a show in order to become Liu Kuan's disciple.

At that time, Liu Ji, the governor of Liaoxi, was convicted and about to be exiled to Rinan. Gongsun Zan was an official in Liaoxi Commandery, that is, Liu Ji's subordinate.

He went to Mount Beiman to pay homage to his ancestors from afar, proclaiming that as a subject of the prefect, he should now follow the prefect to this land of malaria, for he might never return home. Torn between loyalty to the emperor and filial piety, he begged his ancestors and parents for their understanding…

At that time, Gongsun Zan was in tears, and everyone present praised him for his loyalty and righteousness.

But in fact, Beiman had nothing to do with Gongsun Zan's ancestors. He went to Beiman specifically to perform because it was the burial ground of the nobles of Luoyang, and Grand Commandant Liu Kuan was there to worship his ancestors.

Subsequently, Liu Kuan took Gongsun Zan under his wing and exonerated Liu Ji from his crimes.

Gongsun Zan was recommended by Liu Ji and became an official through the recommendation of filial piety and integrity.

This show is similar to the "rejoicing after being flogged" show that Liu Bei designed for Jian Yong; it was all about gaining fame.

Each county has only one quota for the "filial piety and incorruptibility" award per year, and it is not possible without sufficient reputation and strong background.

But this show was far too blatant. His own teacher had just resigned from his official post, and he immediately became the student of another high-ranking official, all in such a deliberate way of seeking fame…

When Liu Bei sought fame for Jian Yong, Yue Yin could tell it was a publicity stunt, so Lu Zhi could naturally see through Gongsun Zan's act as well.

Gongsun Zan was also aware that his desire to improve himself was too obvious at the time. Although it was normal to seek out more teachers, he was still somewhat embarrassed in front of the Lu family.

Another prominent family, the Liu family, was Liu Bei's clan. Liu Bei and his cousin Liu Deran were both from the same school as Gongsun Zan.

Facing the Liu family wouldn't be too awkward, but Gongsun Zan had instructed Liu Bei to commit plundering. Although Liu Bei hadn't told anyone about it, Gongsun Zan wasn't sure if the Liu family knew...

Therefore, Gongsun Zan was unwilling to associate with the Liu family.

For Gongsun Zan, Zhuojun was really not a good place.

So he handed over the county affairs to Zou Dan and went out.

In reality, Zou Dan could only leave the problems to Jian Yong to handle.

Because Zou Dan was indeed unfamiliar with Zhuoxian County.

Of course, there were other clerks in the county, but Zou Dan was even less familiar with them... Only Jian Yong had traveled all the way to Liaoxi to deliver horses to Gongsun Zan, and had even escorted Gongsun Zan all the way to Zhuo County, traveling a thousand miles with Zou Dan. It was still very important to become familiar with them beforehand.

Zou Dan has been having a headache these past few days.

Because the county receives news of thieves committing crimes every day.

The county's dozen or so stations take turns reporting, with different alarms every day.

The wealthy families, including Liu, Lu, and Zhang, took turns visiting, all saying that thieves were robbing caravans, stealing horses, and committing other crimes.

Zou Dan was a little confused for a moment.

Is the banditry in Zhuo County really that serious?

Is there a thief every day?

Since Gongsun Zan was not present and there were gentry members coming to see him and report crimes every day, Zou Dan had no choice but to ask Jian Yong to suppress the bandits.

Jian Yong led a team out for a search and returned to report that they had investigated and that there were likely quite a few thieves. However, with various aristocratic families suffering misfortunes one after another, the thieves were probably large groups of horse bandits who came and went like the wind, and were beyond the capabilities of the county magistrates and constables to suppress.

We need to seek help from the county troops, or ask Liu Bei, the exiled military officer, to suppress them.

Zou Dan thought about it and agreed, so he approached Liu Bei.

Liu Bei, as a convict in charge of exiles, was in principle under the jurisdiction of the commandery commandant, not the county. However, Liu Bei did not refuse, but simply stated that he had no money or provisions, and was currently having his exiled soldiers clear wasteland and cultivate the land. How could he send troops without provisions?

They even took Zou Dan to the wasteland in Shili Pavilion and made him watch the "executioners" who were farming.

In fact, those who were clearing land and planting crops were members of the Way of Peace, while the executioners were committing crimes everywhere.

But Zou Dan couldn't tell these people apart. He thought Liu Bei was right. They couldn't force the executioners to chase after bandits on an empty stomach, otherwise all these criminals would probably turn to banditry.

Of course, taxes must be levied if there is no money or food, but it is the beginning of the year, and it is not yet time to levy taxes.

Therefore, Zou Dan had no choice but to issue a notice in the county, asking each large household to contribute some money and grain, which would allow them to double the amount of grain tax they were entitled to this year.

This is actually a good policy, and it's quite reasonable to release it at this time.

But the problem is...

The wandering knights have been bragging in the county again these past few days.

There are new rumors circulating in the county now.

It is said that the newly appointed Magistrate Gongsun probably, perhaps, most likely, spent six million coins to buy this position. Having spent such a large sum, he must have scraped together more than six million coins, otherwise how could he make up for the cost?
Therefore, this county will definitely be subject to heavy taxes this year, and it is estimated that the land will be thoroughly taxed.

They said that Zhuoxian used to be very peaceful, but now that the new magistrate has just taken office, bandits have started to appear in the county. So, whose bandits are they?
These rumors are well-founded, because many people in the county know that the former magistrate, Yue Yin, resigned and returned to his hometown because he could not afford to pay the money to buy his official position.

In fact, Gongsun Zan did not spend money to become the county magistrate; he was promoted based on his military achievements.

But the people of Zhuo County didn't care about any of that. They only knew that the emperor was selling official positions, and you couldn't become an official without paying money. And when Le Yin was alive, there were very few bandits.

Zou Dan had heard the rumors, but there was nothing she could do about it.

With this rumor circulating, the wealthy households in the county completely ignored Zou Dan's announcement that his advance payments would be doubled to offset grain taxes, and even those who reported it to the police stopped doing so.

In the following days, the rumors intensified, even including claims such as "Gongsun County Magistrate is not in the county, but out robbing people" and "Gongsun County Magistrate likes women and forcibly abducts them every day."

As the story spread, even children on the street began to boast about the "deeds between the magistrate and the commoner girl."

(End of this chapter)