Chapter 22: The Country is Without a General

  Sun Qian, also known as Sun Gongyou, was one of Liu Bei's important advisors in his early days. However, his biography in the "Records of the Three Kingdoms" is extremely brief, and it seems that apart from being sent to contact Yuan Shao and Liu Biao, he didn't accomplish much else. It can be inferred that this person was just a nominal "scholar", relying on his reputation to help others make connections. Perhaps because of this, despite not being very useful, Liu Bei still held him in high regard.

  From then on, Xun followed Sun Qian to study. Sun Qian's reputation was not undeserved, and he could answer all the questions about the classics that Xun asked - as for whether his answers were reliable or not, that's another story. Because Xun discovered that these ancient scholars had two major flaws in their research on the classics. One is the lack of logic, and it seems that Confucius' theory, except for using abstract concepts such as "ren", "zhongshu" to connect some parts, the rest are all scattered and do not touch each other, and often contradict each other. The Han Confucians didn't care about this at all, they only focused on the words and sentences, never thinking about whether there were deeper connections between the sentences.

  This problem is actually left over by Confucius: "Three hundred poems, summed up in one phrase..." - Screw that!

  Two is to first have a theory, then research, first confirm that the master is definitely right, and then prove it from his words, without considering the impact of era limitations and social environment. As for this, Xunzi was a person with relatively unique ideas two thousand years later, but he didn't dare say - unless he became a great Confucian scholar, otherwise no one would listen even if someone heard him, they would only scold him as a heretic and throw stones at him.

  Fortunately, Xun doesn't care about it. His studies are just a stepping stone for him to climb up. He doesn't want to be Zheng Xuan or Sun Qian. In chaotic times, being a scholar is just finding trouble for oneself. At least he should be a refined guest of a noble family!

  Unfortunately, it's really impossible to have any high hopes for this old heaven. It's only been three months since spring arrived and summer began, and Sun Gongyu is already going to leave the Northern Sea Country.

  It was after Xun and his men came down from Mount Fusu, returned to Yingling and reported their miserable encounter that Kong Rong, Shi Yi, Wang Xiao, Wang Xi and others redeployed the national defense forces on one hand, and hastily dispatched people to scout around. For some reason, although they had obtained intelligence about Beihai from Wang Zhong's mouth, the Yellow Turbans did not show any signs of launching a large-scale invasion, but instead turned from Langya to Mount Tai, Jinan, Pingyuan, and headed straight for Bohai County in Hebei Province.

  It was only later that more accurate intelligence was obtained, and it turned out that at the same time, the remnants of the Yellow Turbans in Heishan, led by Huangfu Gui and Bai Shao, also marched east out of the Taihang Mountains - presumably with the intention of joining forces within the borders of Ji Province. Wang Xu anxiously said: "The bandits of Qingzhou are 300,000 strong, and those of Heishan over 100,000; if they were to join forces, the eastern provinces would never know peace again!"

  However, Kong Rong remained calm and composed, and even consoled him by saying: "Yuan Benchu has just taken over Hebei Province. As a member of the imperial family with three generations of high-ranking officials, is he still afraid of the Yellow Turbans? With him in charge, you gentlemen need not worry."

  Later, Xun heard this and curled his lips - what does it have to do with whether the fourth generation of aristocrats can fight or not, and being afraid of the Yellow Turbans? Unexpectedly, Kong Rong is still a reactionary who advocates "bloodline theory"!

  However, the subsequent development was completely beyond Kong Rong's expectations. Moreover, after the Black Mountain bandits left Taihang Mountain, they did not penetrate deeply into Jizhou - because Yuan Shao had troops stationed on the border, and the defense was extremely tight - but instead went south to kill their way into Wei Commandery, which had weak defenses, then crossed the Yellow River and entered Dong Commandery in Yanzhou. The governor of Dong Commandery, Wang Hui, was unable to resist, so through Yuan Shao's introduction, he summoned a guest army - Cao Cao, who was acting as General Who Displays Martial Prowess. As a result, Cao Cao defeated the Black Mountain bandits at Puyang and drove them back to Hebei, and soon afterwards usurped Wang Hui's position as governor of Dong Commandery.

  Yuan Shao continued to see off the defeated remnants of Hei Shan's army as they retreated back to the Taihang Mountains. However, this poor "Fourth Generation Third Public" descendant, Yuan Da Gongzi, was like a mouse in a bellows, being squeezed from both sides, with all his troops used to defend against Hei Shan, and as a result, Zhang Jue and Guan Hai led the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans to directly attack his old nest, Bohai, almost taking over his base - Nanpi County.

  Yuan Shao had no choice but to use Cao Cao, who had finished using the proxy General Who Smashes the Wu, and then use the authentic General Who Smashes the Wu, Gongsun Zan. He sent someone to seek help from You Beiping. As a result, Gongsun Zan led his troops into Bohai, killed Zhang Rao in Dongguang, drove away Guan Yu, and even pursued and killed all the way to the border of Pingyuan, leaving behind Liu Bei as the magistrate of Pingyuan County, inserting a wedge into Qingzhou.

  Qingzhou Yellow Turbans were almost crippled, and had to flee back and forth along the border between Pingyuan and Dongjun, only to be pursued and attacked by Cao Cao and Liu Bei. When Kong Rong and others heard this news, they celebrated with joy, thinking that it wouldn't take long for Guan Hai to surrender and Qingzhou to be at peace.

  For some reason, when I heard the news, the image of Guan Jia's little loli face with her high-pitched red lips suddenly appeared in front of me - if Huang Jin is finished, I reckon Guan Jia and his daughter will not be able to escape either. As a leader of their level, every county and prefecture will definitely go all out to pursue them.

  Qingzhou Huangjin completely left Langya State, and soon after being defeated, Sun Gan bid farewell to Zixu, saying: "Kong Beihai has long wanted to invite Master Kang Cheng back to his hometown. Fortunately, the Yellow Turbans have dispersed, and the southern route is clear, so I was ordered to go to Langya to urge him to return. Moreover, after welcoming Master Kang Cheng back, Gan will definitely take you as a disciple under Master's guidance."

  Xun Lian's voice was filled with gratitude. Being a disciple of Sun Gan and being a disciple of Zheng Xuan are two completely different things, the former is like an ordinary university lecturer, while the latter is a giant in the academic world... or rather, he is currently the largest academic tyrant, his reputation precedes him, I estimate that he will soon have the possibility of becoming an official.

  At that time, there were mainly three ways to become an official: First was Yin Ji, and officials above the rank of two thousand stones could recommend their own sons to enter the court as Lang officials. Even if they didn't reach the level of two thousand stones, but still had four living sons at home, it would take a long time for this nephew to get his turn. Moreover, entering the court at that time... from Dong Zhuo, Lü Bu, Wang Yun, and later Li Jue, Guo Si, it seemed like no one was easy to get along with, and you never knew when your head might be chopped off on some unknown day.

  The second path is to be selected as a filial and incorruptible official, and then enter the capital by public carriage. On one hand, as mentioned earlier, it's not safe to go to the city now, the officials are all murderous tyrants, so it's better not to go; on the other hand, selecting filial and incorruptible officials is the responsibility of local officials, so you have to flatter Kong Rong first. The third path is similar to the previous one, responding to the summons of the county government, prefecture, governor's office, or provincial government, going to serve as a subordinate official, and after the superior official is promoted, there will be an opportunity to be recommended as a regular local official - also, you have to first get on Kong Rong's good side.

  So after suspending his studies, Shi Yun found all sorts of excuses not to return to Yingling and instead stayed in Ju County with Shi Yi, helping him with some daily tasks, so as to find an opportunity to get close to Kong Rong again. These days, Shi Yi was busy from dawn till dusk, and had a clever nephew, not that useless son Shi Jun, to help him out, which was just what he needed. At this time, Shi Yun could barely handle some official correspondence, and compared to most officials of that era, his arithmetic skills were relatively strong, ordinary calculations, accounting and the like, none of which were difficult for him.

  He also met Kong Rong a few times, and he revised several incomplete poems of Tao Qian that he had racked his brains to recall, and presented them to Kong Rong, who applauded and praised them as usual. It seemed that the emotional distance between the two was narrowed again. Is Xun sometimes regretful? If you like Tao Yuanming's poetry, why didn't you memorize a few more poems at the beginning? Why did you only find various selections to appreciate, but never thought of getting a complete collection to read?

  Kong Rong was still busy recruiting soldiers and storing food, because no one knew whether the Yellow Turbans of Qingzhou would return to their hometown after being defeated. After all, this was their home turf, with familiar terrain and a good foundation among the people. However, Kong Rong's forte was promoting education and running schools, as well as performing plays that won over the people. Recruiting and training soldiers were not his strong suits, nor did they agree with his temperament, so he shifted all these heavy responsibilities onto Ji Yi's shoulders.

  However, it's not easy for him to do so. After spending nearly half a year, he has only recruited 4,000 to 5,000 people, and they are all short of armor and equipment. It's hard to make bricks without straw, and the country's financial resources are limited, which can't be blamed entirely on him. But I have seen those guys who were recruited by my uncle a few times, and most of them were hunchbacked, limping, with their mouths crooked and eyes darting about. Without asking, they were all local rascals and hoodlums. What can you expect from such people when it comes to fighting battles?

  Moreover, Yi was not good at training at all. Although he went to the barracks almost every day to watch the soldiers train, he didn't understand whether they were doing well or not. Moreover, six out of ten days, the soldiers would find various excuses to skip training - it's too sunny, it's raining, it's an unlucky day, we didn't sleep well last night because the camp was bombed...

  I went... is a rumor after hearing that almost didn't give a sudden attack——this native land, just on the outskirts of the capital you can still have a midnight raid? That only needs to be pulled out three to five miles away, no need to see the yellow scarf will definitely run away completely!

  One major reason is that there are no great generals in the Northern Sea, as the saying goes "A country without a great general is like a ritual vessel practicing military tactics". The dozen or so mid-to-low level officers are all old veterans who have been stationed locally for years and rarely see action. They would deceive their superiors and fool around with Ji Ling, how could the army possibly have any fighting power? Xun Yu couldn't bear to watch this, so he went to discuss with Kong Rong, saying that Taishi Ci is exceptionally brave and you also owe him a favor, why not write a letter inviting him to come and assist?

  Kong Rong replied with a serious face: "My recommendation of Zishi is because he was once the governor of Dai Commandery and has a reputation for being a filial son. However, can kindness be repaid? He is after all from Donglai and has served as an official in the commandery before, so it's not suitable to invite him hastily, lest it affect Governor Cai's dignity. Besides, strategy is more important than bravery, and although Zishi has a reputation for being brave, he may not be a great general."

  Xun heard this and was so angry that he almost vomited blood. Indeed, it is said that a good general excels in strategy rather than bravery, but on the one hand, based on his own observations, Taishi Ci was not just a brave warrior, he also had brains. On the other hand... what nonsense was he spouting about strategists? Nowadays, even a decent brave warrior can't be found! But from Kong Rong's face, he read the expression: "Ginger is still spicy when it's old, young people lack experience, you'd better learn more from me." He could only harbor resentment and had no way to continue advising.

  So, I stayed in the capital for another month or so. The more I thought about it, the more unreliable it seemed, and the more I thought about it, the more afraid I became. Kong Rong had once been surrounded by the Yellow Turbans, but was lucky to have borrowed troops from Liu Bei through Taishi Ci. Who knows if history will follow this trend again? If I continue to stay with Kong Rong, who knows when I'll end up in a besieged city? Ah, yes, the great Kong Guo Xiang didn't die in a besieged city, but what about a small, insignificant person like me without any official position or title? Heaven only knows if I have that kind of luck!

  Don't have any illusions or extravagant hopes about the existence of God - I'm outta here.

  Then he made another excuse, bid farewell to Kong Rong and Shi Yi, and hurried back to his residence in Yingling. As soon as he entered the house, he heard that his eldest brother was arguing with his fourth brother, one saying: "You sister!" The other emphasized the first word: "Your ~ sister!"

  Xiang thought his head was a bit dizzy.