The Duke of Shu Han began guarding Jingzhou in place of Guan Yu.

Chapter 193 Encouraging Learning and Descending the Mountain

"Master Hu, I'm going down the mountain now."

Sun Lang arrived at the door of a house and, imitating the mannerisms of the scholars he had seen, bowed deeply.

But the man was dressed in short clothes and big trousers, and when he bent over, his dark back was revealed.

Respectable scholars mostly wore "shenyi," which is a long robe consisting of one garment for the upper and lower body.

That way, there won't be this awkward situation.

Fortunately, Sun Lang was not a true scholar to begin with, so it was no big deal that he revealed it.

He made a gesture, then turned and left.

"Hold on, brave warrior!"

An aged voice came from inside the door.

Sun Lang turned around and saw an old man with white hair, supported by a servant boy, walking shakily out of the house.

It was Hu Zhao, who was over sixty years old.

Out of instinctive reverence for the "wise elder," Sun Lang immediately stepped forward with small, quick steps and bowed again.

"Your manners are so rude, you might as well skip it."

Hu Zhao blew on his beard and knelt down on the grass in front of the door.

Sun Lang chuckled, then sat cross-legged to the side.

However, under Hu Zhao's intense gaze, she managed to cover her legs with the front of her short jacket, barely maintaining a semblance of "propriety."

Hu Zhao then slowly began to speak:
“Logically speaking, I am a commoner and you are a thief, so I should not have any dealings with you.”

“But if it weren’t for your help during these three or four years, I’m afraid my family would have been ruined.”

"Kindness should be repaid."

Sun Lang immediately straightened up and pretended to listen.

Hu Zhao pointed to a tattered cloth bag tucked into his waistband:

"Is this an official seal that Guan Yu forged?"

Sun Lang opened his mouth, but ultimately nodded silently.

Hu Zhao burst out laughing:

"It seems you also know that Liu Bei and Guan Yu's followers hold illegitimate positions and are bandits!"

Sun Lang pursed his lips.

Hu Zhao then said:

"Joining the bandits is never a good way out."

"Why not join the army and work for the government, and seek a proper future?"

Upon hearing this, Sun Lang finally couldn't help but speak up:
"I am but a wild man from the mountains; whether my name and position are legitimate or illegitimate is of no concern to me."

"It's just that the local county officials won't let me live a good life, so I have to find another way to make a living."

“Back then, when Prime Minister Cao was going to Xuzhou to attack Lü Bu, we went with him to Xiapi. In the end, five out of ten families never came back.”

"Later, when we went to Ji Province to fight Yuan Shao, seven out of ten families of ours did not return."

"After finally pacifying Hebei, we thought we could finally settle down, but then Jingzhou, Guanzhong, and Hanzhong came one after another. Every year we were conscripted, every month we had to join the army. If one out of ten families survived, we were considered lucky... The layman asked me why I didn't join the army under the government? It's precisely because I despise this Cao family's government that I don't join!"

Hu Zhao was speechless for a moment.

Sun Lang, realizing his lapse in composure, quickly apologized.

"I know you have your difficulties."

Hu Zhao sighed softly.

"But have you ever considered that your predicament is actually three parts due to the imperial court and seven parts due to the chaotic world?"

"Although the late emperor waged war year after year, wasn't that all due to the chaos of the times?"

"If it weren't for the mismanagement of the Han court and the suffering of the people during the reigns of Emperors Huan and Ling, how could we have witnessed the rise of numerous heroes?"

"In this respect, although the late emperor's actions were too hasty, they were ultimately the right remedy."

Sun Lang did not refute, but simply sighed and said:
“I have little learning, unlike the lay Buddhist who can see through the general trend of the world.”

"I only knew that if I went to General Guan, I would be able to live a more comfortable life than I am now, so I went."

Hu Zhao paused slightly, then nodded:

"That's true."

“Someone like you, if you were to join the government, you'd only ever be destined for a salary of one or two hundred bushels of grain.”

"If they went to serve under Guan Yu, their descendants might have the opportunity to study poetry and books."

Upon hearing this, Sun Lang couldn't help but grin:
"You flatter me, layman. How could I dare to hope for such things!"

Hu Zhao: "People still need to think ahead."

"After you join Guan Yu's cause, don't just focus on making a living and accumulating wealth. Take every opportunity to learn from others."

"Increasing knowledge enhances wisdom. This is the fundamental difference between humans and animals."

Sun Lang responded gratefully, then suddenly said:
"If a person does not learn, even if he has no worries, what is he like as a bird?"

Hu Zhao subconsciously replied:
"Scholars strive to become gentlemen." "There are those who seek but cannot obtain, but there has never been one who obtains without seeking."

After saying this, he clicked his tongue in amazement:

"You've actually read Yang Xiong's *Fayan*?"

Sun Lang scratched his head: "Who is Yang Zi?"

Hu Zhao was even more surprised:
"Who told you that?"

Sun Lang grinned and said:

"I overheard this during a casual conversation when General Guan sent a messenger into the mountains earlier."

Hu Zhao: "What is the name of that military officer? What family does he come from?"

Sun Lang shook his head:

"I thought he was just an ordinary soldier, and even if he came from a respectable family, he was of low birth, so I never paid any attention to him."

Upon hearing this, Hu Zhao's calm expression finally showed a slight ripple.

"Could there be a scholar among Guan Yu's brave warriors? That shouldn't be the case..."

Based on Hu Zhao's more than 60 years of life experience, this matter is highly unusual.

After all, the threshold for education is too high these days.

First, it's difficult to find books.

Secondly, it is difficult to understand.

Thirdly, even if one finds and understands the text, gaining the approval of other scholars presents another challenge.

Ultimately, this all comes down to the first point.

Because access to knowledge is extremely scarce, it is easily controlled by a small number of people.

So Hu Zhao thought about it and felt that this should be an isolated case, so he put it out of his mind.

Continued:
"If you want to join Guan Yu, I have nothing to say except to encourage you to study."

“Counting from my childhood, the world has been in chaos for sixty years. Of the many powerful families that once stood together, only three or four remain, and the Han and Wei dynasties are stronger than the others.”

"The future ruler of the world will either be surnamed Cao or Liu."

"Perhaps you will live to see the unified land of the Nine Provinces again... By then, the world will ultimately belong to the scholars."

Upon hearing this, Sun Lang had nothing more to say.

However, recalling Mr. Hu's frequent mentions of reading and learning, I suddenly had an epiphany:
"The lay Buddhist has been studying and farming in the mountains for many years, yet he remains well-versed in the affairs of the world. Surely he also wishes to descend the mountain?"

Upon hearing this, Hu Zhao's eyes showed a moment of panic.

But old eyesight is dull, and it was easily concealed.

He raised his hand and said:
"Though we are separated by life today, it is as if we are separated by death."

"There's no need to mention what will happen after this."

"Go."

……

The following day, Sun Lang gathered his able-bodied followers, numbering over a thousand, and officially descended the mountain.

Although Luhun is a mountain city, it is located on the banks of the Yi River.

The Yi River flows into the Luo River downstream, and Yique Pass, one of the eight passes of Luoyang, is located here.

Sun Lang naturally couldn't go to Luoyang, so he chose to go upstream.

We continued upstream along the Yi River Valley to the depths of the Funiu Mountains.

Further south, after crossing the watershed, you reach the upper reaches of the Yu River.

If you go downstream from here, you can enter the Nanyang Basin.

As agreed by Guan Yu's envoy and the mountain leaders, all forces would gather near Zhi County and attempt to capture the county seat.

Then, using Zhixian as a base, they continued to sail south along the Yu River to harass and plunder counties such as Bowang and Xi'e in the upper reaches of the Yu River.

This made it difficult for Cao Cao's army in Wancheng to receive supplies from Luoyang and Yingzhou.

Guan Yu has already promised that if they can capture the entire territory of Nanyang in this battle, they will be allowed to live off this prosperous land and will be granted official positions and their sons will be granted privileges.

After all, since the Battle of Xiangfan, Nanyang County had suffered a large loss of population and was not short of unclaimed land.

Thus, a group of mountain wanderers, or rather, mountain bandits, harbored dreams of wealth and power.

They then crossed mountains and valleys, marching in a mighty force down the mountain.

Several days later, Sun Lang's troops arrived at the northern border of Zhi County.

This place was indeed teeming with a large number of people.

however.

They were not the "righteous soldiers" in the mountains that he had envisioned.

Instead, it was a large group of Wei knights chasing and killing the "righteous soldiers"!

(End of this chapter)