L.F-Hist.Novelist Chapter 2 Requesting to Serve in Liaoxi
Chapter 2 Requesting to Serve in Liaoxi
Since the first year of Emperor Wu of Han's reign (Yuan Guang era), Dong Zhongshu suggested that the Han Dynasty had implemented the system of recommending filial and incorrupt officials for more than 300 years.
To this day, the recommendation system for officials based on filial piety and integrity remains the most mainstream method for obtaining official positions.
The so-called "recommendation of filial and incorruptible officials"!
That is: each prefecture and kingdom recommends one person each for "filial piety" and "integrity" to the imperial court every year, and prefectures with large populations can recommend up to two.
Among them, filial piety means being respectful to one's parents and elders. The saying "The Han Dynasty governed the world with filial piety" comes from this.
And, integrity means being honest and upright!
Those recommended were usually county officials or Confucian scholars who were appointed to official positions after passing the imperial examination.
However, as it has evolved, it has long since changed its original meaning.
For example, the Yuan family, with four generations of high-ranking officials, connected with various prominent families and commoners through the recommendation system for those who were filial and incorruptible. Their students and former officials were already spread throughout the country, forming a vast network of interests.
Is this to judge filial piety? Is this to judge integrity?
Everyone knows this!
In Liaoxi Prefecture, such quotas are extremely limited each year, and countless people fight tooth and nail for them.
Needless to say, other prefectures and counties in the Han Dynasty were also highly competitive, with many being controlled by powerful families. There were hardly any spots left for others to share.
Prefect Hou's words today are tantamount to placing a path to heaven before Liu Bei.
How much of the world can be achieved through hard work?
Liu Bei stood before the steps, gazing at the hazy sky in the distance. The weight that had been hanging over his heart for so long finally lifted.
What he had been striving for for so long finally came to fruition, proving once again that the path he had chosen was the right one.
These days, he has been unable to sleep soundly, and whenever he closes his eyes, he recalls the dream from that day.
The dream was fragmented and chaotic, yet strangely real.
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Two months ago.
Mount Goushi, a disciple of Lu Zhi.
Fifteen-year-old Liu Bei woke up from a dream on a straw mat, covered in cold sweat, and sat there in a daze for half the night.
In his dream, he experienced his entire life.
He started his rebellion in Zhuojun, forging a life-and-death bond with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. He fought against the Yellow Turbans, attacked Dong Zhuo, and brought peace to the common people. He traveled all over the country, enduring hardships and wandering from place to place.
He relied on Gongsun Zan, attached himself to Cao Cao, joined Yuan Shao, fled to Liu Biao, and allied with Sun Quan. His life was like a drifting duckweed, with not a single day of peace.
Having finally gained control of Xuzhou, it was soon seized by a man named Lü Bu.
After much difficulty, he managed to enlist the help of Zhuge Liang, gaining control of Jingzhou and Yizhou, and establishing the Shu Han state. However, he tragically lost his second and third brothers. He raised an army to seek revenge, but ultimately suffered a crushing defeat at Yiling and died entrusting his young son to Zhuge Liang at Baidi City...
Sixty-three years of ups and downs, sixty-three years of unfulfilled ambitions, every day and night, are etched deep into his mind.
For more than ten days in a row, he lost his appetite and could not sleep at night.
The various scenes from my dream kept replaying in my mind: the panic when Xuzhou fell, the despair before Changban Slope, the heartache over the deaths of my second and third brothers, and the unwillingness to accept my death at Baidi City...
He was just a fifteen-year-old boy, inexperienced in the ways of the world, untouched by war, ignorant of the intrigues of the court, and unaware of the wickedness of human nature.
Suddenly, I glimpsed such a magnificent yet turbulent life.
Some felt bewildered, others were completely lost!
The only thing he lacked was the shrewdness and decisiveness of Emperor Zhaolie later on.
He didn't know whether the dream was real or not, a phantom from a past life, or a delusion caused by mental exhaustion.
I have no idea where to go or what to do!
All he knew was that from then on, he could never be that carefree, playful boy again.
One day, classmates gathered for a casual chat. Someone mentioned the situation on the Liaoxi border, saying that the border of Youzhou was unstable and that the Xianbei were raiding.
Others who heard it simply took it as ordinary gossip.
Upon hearing this, Liu Bei's heart stirred.
In his early years, when he was in dire straits, he sought refuge with his classmate Gongsun Zan, which provided him with a place to stay.
Gongsun Zan controlled Youzhou, possessing a strong and well-equipped army, and his White Horse Cavalry was renowned throughout the northern frontier.
Although he was later defeated by Yuan Shao, his steady start and solid foundation far surpassed those of ordinary warlords, and were incomparable to his turbulent life.
At that moment, a clear thought suddenly arose in his mind.
In his dream, he was Liu Bei, who had spent half his life living under the roof of others, with no place to stand.
However, the path of a stable start and building one's power in a border region was not one that only Gongsun Zan could take.
If Gongsun Zan could do it, why can't I, Liu Bei, do it?
Upon realizing this, the confusion and bewilderment of the past few days seemed to be torn open, allowing a glimmer of light to shine through.
He no longer wanted to walk the old path of wandering in his dreams.
I no longer want to rely on others to achieve anything, nor do I want to spend half my life without support.
Besides, he's only fifteen years old now; how could he possibly wait thirty years?
If there were another possibility in life, he would have to forge his own path from the very beginning.
What is your Achilles' heel in your dream?
Without a foundation, without a proper path, and without the support of a powerful family, one spends one's entire life making a living on someone else's turf. Even if one eventually manages to divide the world into three, all efforts will ultimately be in vain.
The Central Plains had long been dominated by powerful families, leaving no place for him to stand.
But the border regions are different.
The border region of western Liaoning was a harsh and dangerous place, but it was also a good place for military men to start their careers and establish themselves through merit.
If Gongsun Zan could distinguish himself there, gain the appreciation of the prefect, be recommended as a filial and incorruptible official, and enter officialdom, then Liu Bei might very well be able to as well.
No, it definitely can!
Therefore, when their mentor Lu Zhi was summoned by the imperial court to go south to quell the rebellion, his fellow students were scrambling to get into the prosperous counties of the Central Plains.
Liu Bei did the opposite, bowing respectfully to Lu Zhi and volunteering to go to Liaoxi to serve as a minor official in the prefecture.
Lu Zhi was initially surprised, but seeing his firm resolve and his earnest words about defending the border and serving the country, as well as his desire to temper himself, and considering their shared hometown, he finally relented.
Immediately afterwards, he wrote a letter of recommendation to the Marquis of Liaoxi, paving the way for him to take this crucial first step.
Isn't this also why Prefect Hou was willing to consider recommending him as a filial and incorrupt official?
Do you really think that any minor official with a bit of talent can gain the favor of the prefect, be recommended for the civil service, and rise to the ranks of generals and prime ministers?
Liu Bei was not so naive, therefore he was grateful to Lu Zhi.
He also decided that he must change the outcome of being falsely accused by the eunuch.
As for that strange dream, he did not mention it to anyone, only citing his duty to defend the border and serve the country, and his pragmatic approach to life.
Some things are so absurd that saying them out loud only invites contempt.
Since arriving in Liaoxi, the prefect has had no time to meet with him, a minor official, and has only assigned him clerical work.
And this work lasted for more than a month.
Today, I finally met the prefect and saw the hope of being recommended as a filial and incorruptible official.
At this thought, two figures involuntarily appeared in his mind.
—Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.
In his dream, he had a life of hardship, but the two of them remained inseparable. They burned incense and swore brotherhood in the Peach Garden of Zhuojun, vowing to live and die together, to follow each other through thick and thin, and to fight on all sides.
That kind of brotherhood, bound by blood and inseparable in life and death, always warmed his heart whenever he thought of it.
But then he changed his mind and gently suppressed that flutter of excitement.
At this moment, he was just a fifteen-year-old boy who came to western Liaoning alone. He had no foothold, no military power, no territory, and was still exploring his own future.
The two brothers in his dream were younger than him and were still in the countryside of Zhuojun, inexperienced in the ways of the world and unfamiliar with warfare.
Summoning each other at this time is meaningless and will only mislead both parties.
If he can't even secure a foothold in the world, how can he protect his brothers?
And why should he allow the two of them to waste their lives with him in the wind and sand of the borderlands?
Liu Bei took a deep breath, suppressing the surging longing in his heart.
Not urgent.
Wait a few more years.