Liu Bian at the start, so you're called Dong Zhuo, right?

"Your Highness! An urgent report from the Bureau of Disorder: Jizhou... the Taiping Road has gained a new leader!"

After the announcement, the hall fell silent.

Even the candlelight seemed to have been covered by a hand, dimming the light by half.

Cao Cao's eyes darkened, and he subconsciously looked at Liu Bian.

But this time, it wasn't Liu Bian who spoke first.

It was Hua Tuo.

His eyes flickered slightly, and he spoke in a low voice:

"The Way of Peace?"

"Hua has traveled all over the country and has heard this more than once."

He looked up at Liu Bian, his gaze still as deep as a well, but a ripple stirred within it:

"The people say that it distributed medicinal porridge, cured epidemics, helped the people, and even helped the government settle refugees."

"The court mostly considers this kind of sect to be 'good deeds by Taoist priests,' so why is Your Highness monitoring it so closely?"

He paused, then continued:

"Is Your Highness afraid of it, or is it afraid of—the hearts of those behind it?"

That's a very direct question.

And the questions are accurate.

Liu Bian's heart skipped a beat, but he remained calm.

He couldn't say, "The Yellow Turban Rebellion will break out in three years."

Furthermore, one should not say, "What you see now is good, but it will turn into soldiers in the future."

He simply changed the answer to a logic that Hua Tuo could understand, and that everyone in the world could understand:

"I am not afraid of it doing good deeds."

What I fear is that there is too much disease and too little goodness in the world.

He pointed to the half-square sheet, his voice steady:

"It uses talismanic water to save people, and the people believe in it because the talismanic water is like medicine."

"But if there were a real medicine that could save more people, and save them more steadily and faster—"

Liu Bian looked at Hua Tuo, his gaze cool and indifferent:

"Then there's no need to rely on talismanic water to win people's hearts."

Hua Tuo stared at him and remained silent for a moment.

He suddenly understood—His Highness wasn't eyeing the "good" of the Way of Peace, but rather the "life-saving" power it held.

Liu Bian, however, dared not delay any longer.

time is limited.

He must complete the prescription in his memory as soon as possible so that Hua Tuo can make it.

He immediately turned his head, his voice not loud but undeniably authoritative:

"Wang Ming".

"exist."

"Get me paper and pen."

Wang Ming responded and left, but no one in the hall dared to move.

Even Xun Shuang stopped lecturing and just watched quietly.

Paper and pens were delivered quickly.

Liu Bian sat back down at his desk and picked up his pen.

The moment he put pen to paper, memories flooded his mind.

He added ingredients to the second half of the prescription one by one: pungent and cool herbs to release the exterior and promote lung function, clear heat and detoxify to reduce fire, and herbs to harmonize the middle and protect the stomach, so that the medicinal effect is neither too strong nor too stagnant.

At the end, he added a small note on "usage":

"Take it first for acute cases, and then take it for prolonged fever; add platycodon for sore throat; add apricot kernel for cough."

Mo Gan carefully folded the entire square and personally handed it to Hua Tuo.

"Yuanhua".

"I do not ask you to serve in the government, nor do I ask you to support the Crown Prince."

"I only ask that you—try it just once."

Hua Tuo took the paper, his fingertips visibly pausing for a moment.

He looked into Liu Bian's eyes, and his gaze was no longer one of doubt.

After a moment, he slowly nodded:

"try."

"If it works out, I, Hua, will accept this prescription."

"If it doesn't work—Your Highness, please stop using the words 'saving the world' to pressure the medical community."

Liu Bian replied with only one word:

"it is good."

-

The next day.

The sky outside Chengde Hall was still gray, but Hua Tuo had already returned.

His clothes remained simple, and although he hadn't slept all night, his eyes shone with the joy of success.

He didn't say much, but simply placed a small porcelain cup on the table. The soup in the cup was slightly clear, but the medicinal aroma was strong, and it felt cool and refreshing in the throat.

"Your Highness."

"It's done."

Liu Bian's brows and eyes finally relaxed a little.

He gently closed the lid of the cup, as if pressing a spark into his palm.

"That's good."

"Yuanhua, from this day forward, this method will no longer be just theory on paper."

He looked up at Wang Ming, his voice calm as if giving an order:

"The Tongsheng Association will provide the money, medicine, and shop space."

"First, open a clinic in Luoyang, named Tongsheng Medical Clinic."

"This medicine should also be famous."

Liu Bian paused, as if spitting out a name from between his teeth:

"Let's call it—Ding'an Powder."

To calm the hearts of the people and secure the fate of the world.

Then, he bowed to Hua Tuo again:

"Yuanhua, we still need you to oversee the clinic. I will send people to distribute this medicine."

Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, Liu Bian asked again:

Do you have students elsewhere?

Although Hua Tuo had doubts about Liu Bian's question, he still nodded.

Liu Bian's eyes lit up: "That makes things easier."

Several months later, free clinics were set up in Xuzhou, Jingzhou, Yuzhou and other places, and the prescriptions used in these free clinics were particularly miraculous—

Sterilization powder.

People no longer queue up for talismanic water.

Someone took a packet of "Ding An San" (a traditional Chinese medicine), and after three doses, the long-standing fever subsided and the sore throat disappeared. The word spread among the neighbors, which was more effective than a thousand words.

A saying is quietly circulating in the martial arts world—

"Praying to the gods with talismanic water, may peace and salvation be assured."

For the first time, those hands that should have been firmly bound by the talisman water began to loosen.

But Liu Bian knew that this was only suppressing his anger.

The real wind is still on its way.

He looked at the newly delivered files from the Reorganization Office, his fingertip lingering on the words "new leader," his gaze gradually darkening—

Zhang Jiao hasn't raised his flag yet, but he's already established a foothold.

Liu Bian knew that relying solely on "Ding An San" was not enough.

Medicine can cure an acute illness, but it cannot cure the long-standing chill in people's hearts.

He wanted to ensure that even in the most difficult times, the people could still have a bite of "government grain".

Otherwise, even if the talisman water is weak, it won't be able to stop the hunger.

Liu Bian went through the Tongsheng Society's account books three times, and after calculating to the end, he picked up his pen and wrote down a sentence:

"The public granary is not in the government granary, but in the village granary."

He dared not directly touch the national tax revenue, nor dared he touch the personal enrichment of the eunuchs.

Then we'll go around it.

Using the Chamber of Commerce's money to set up "community granaries," under the guise of Tong Sheng Medical Clinic and Tong Sheng Association, ostensibly to "help the sick and poor," but in reality, to control the grain on a "controllable path."

He had Cao Cao negotiate contracts with several major grain merchants and mills.

The contract was written very steadily:

"In years of famine, food shall be sold at a fixed price; in years of plague, porridge shall be distributed to each household. Hoarding and speculation are strictly prohibited. Violators shall be blacklisted in the merchant register and shall never be allowed to trade with the Tong Sheng Association again."

It doesn't involve government intervention, yet it's more severe than official law—

The real problem is that once the trade routes of the Tong Sheng Association are cut off, there will be no goods left.

Soap, paper, rock candy.

Throughout the entire Han Dynasty, only the Tongsheng Society continued to sell them.

After the news spread, some people in Luoyang criticized the Tongsheng Society for "pretending to be benevolent," while others began to fear that the Tongsheng Society had "cut off their path."

Liu Bian pretended not to hear these words.

He never wanted fame.

What he wanted was that when famine and plague struck Ji and Yu provinces, the first thing the people thought of was not talisman water, but "medical clinics" and "charitable granaries".

Even after doing all this, Liu Bian still dared not relax.

He knew that what he was doing was "cutting off the momentum".

The momentum of cutting off Zhang Jiao.

The power of the water used to cut the talisman.

Cut off the momentum of the phrase "The Yellow Heaven shall stand".

Even if the flame is shrunk thin, it still remains.

He suddenly asked Wang Ming:

"What's the name of that new leader in Jizhou?"

Wang Ming flipped through the scroll and answered in a low voice:

His name is—Ma Yuanyi.

Liu Bian's eye twitched.

Ma Yuanyi.

He is not particularly prominent in historical records.

There wasn't even a "destiny" or symbol like Zhang Jiao's.

But Liu Bian remembered him.

Because before the Yellow Turban Rebellion truly ignited, it was never the flags that were set ablaze, but the people.

Ma Yuanyi was the first spark to be sent into Luoyang.

He is not a preacher.

It's not for treating illnesses either.

He neither throws talismans into the countryside nor erects statues of gods in the city.

He did something more insidious, more deliberate, and more deadly—

Bring the chaos into the capital.