Chapter 65: The Street Pavilion

  Thank you to the left and right for the reward, and thank you to all book friends for their support. "Hanwa" finally broke through the first hurdle of 300 collections after a month of silence today, and I added more updates as a thank you! Many book friends hope that Lao Feng can update with more strength, and it's not very satisfying to read two chapters every day. Lao Feng is very ashamed of this. However, as an amateur writer, Lao Feng needs to go out and earn money to support his family during the day, and only has a few hours of writing time at night. In order to meet the daily quota of 6,000 words, Lao Feng often stays up until one or two o'clock in the morning. Lao Feng is not a great god, nor does he have the incredible speed of the great gods. He can only apologize for not meeting everyone's expectations, but he will occasionally add more updates to thank everyone. A steady trickle can eventually fill an ocean, and I hope that everyone can continue to support Lao Feng as always. Thank you all!

  On this day, passing by a earth mountain, it was noon, the sun was shining brightly, Liu Ze ordered the troops to rest under the shade of trees and wait until the sun sets west before advancing. At that time, it was midsummer, the heat was unbearable, Liu Ze set out every day at four o'clock in the morning, rested at midnight, and rested in a cool place at noon.

  Liu Ze looked around at the terrain, this small mountain was not big, only a few miles in circumference, both the north and south sides were undulating high mountains, but this mountain was not connected to the surrounding mountain range, it was very peculiar. Liu Ze opened his mouth and asked: "What place is this?"

  Everyone was unaware, but Jia Xu alone was a native of Liangzhou. He slowly said: "This place is called Street Pavilion."

  Liu Ze was shocked, never expecting that this was the famous Street Pavilion where Zhuge Liang had been forced to drink his bitter defeat. Liu Ze stood up and surveyed the surrounding terrain, saying: "Mr. Wenhe, what do you think of this place?"

  Jia Xu had a military mind, how could he not know the military value of Street Pavilion? But he had long made up his mind to never make a plan for Liu Ze. Seeing Liu Ze's question, he replied vaguely: "This place is just a mound of earth, and there is no water source. It is easy to attack but difficult to defend. I don't see anything special about it. It seems that Boss Liu has some interest in it?"

  Liu Ze knew that Jia Xu was intentionally feigning ignorance. "This street pavilion controls the east of Guanzhong Plain and is connected to the west of Longshang County, it is the throat of Yongliang's strategic location. Once in control of the street pavilion, advancing east can take advantage of the momentum to capture Chang'an, while advancing west can capture Tianshui County, this military value is immeasurable."

  In the eyes of ordinary people, Street Pavilion is just an ordinary pass, but Liu Ze's view is surprisingly the same as Jia Xuan's. He was slightly surprised, but still said: "This place is a strategic location, but there is no danger to rely on, and it is not easy to defend."

  Liu Ze nodded and said, "That's right, this earth mountain is not a place of danger or strangeness, and there is no water source. If you want to defend it to the death, you will inevitably die of thirst on the mountain. The narrow pass is open and wide, and setting up camp on the road is also difficult to win. However, in the struggle between the two armies, geographical factors are not the only decisive factor. Whether we can hold onto Street Pavilion or not remains to be seen. Mr. Wenhe, would you like to follow me up the mountain?"

  Jia Xun nodded without saying yes or no.

  Fortunately, the earth mound was not too high, and Liu Ze and Jia Xuan soon climbed to the top. The cool breeze blew gently, dispelling all the summer heat, and in the distance, they saw the vast expanse of Guanzhong, stretching out as far as the eye could see like a flat plain.

  Liu Ze sighed and said: "As Confucius said, 'Climbing Mount Nan and looking down on Qi and Lu, climbing Mount Tai and looking down on the whole world.' These words are indeed true, not empty. Climbing the Street Pavilion can also make one look down on Guanzhong."

  Jia Yu didn't respond, he still hadn't figured out what Liu Ze's intention was in bringing him here, it couldn't be just for sightseeing.

  "Wenhe Lang had also been promoted as a filial and incorruptible official and served as a court official, why did he resign and return to his hometown?"

  One sentence touched Jia Yu's sore spot, and he sighed: "The eunuchs in the court are rampant, the officialdom is corrupt to the core, I have no money or power under me, and I am not willing to fawn on the eunuchs. If I can survive in the Luoyang official circle with my life intact, it's already not bad."

  Luoyang officialdom, how deep is the water? Jia Yu is very clear about it. As a small official from an outer state without background or backing, he wants to mix in like a fish in water, but that's harder than climbing to heaven. Seeing through the hypocrisy and coldness of the official world, Jia Yu chose to withdraw and rather live a poor and humble life as a translator at Yangguan Pass, eating plain food, than set foot in officialdom again.

  But Liu Ze understood that Jia Xu was not a transcendent hermit like Guan Ning, and would still take office if given the opportunity, because he had a belly full of talent and a chest full of ambition, and could not bear to end his days on the ancient roads of the desert. And indeed, in history, when Dong Zhuo's group rose rapidly in Liangzhou, Jia Xu joined them decisively, and at the crucial moment of the Battle of Guandu between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, he wisely persuaded Zhang Yang to surrender to Cao Cao, his insight into human nature being unparalleled in the world.

  "What does Mr. Wen think about the overall situation in the world?"

  Liu Ze immediately brought up the topic, but whenever a superior talent speaks, they inevitably use grand and bold language to express their feelings. As for the overall trend of the world, it is naturally that benevolent people see benevolence and wise people see wisdom.

  Ji Zhongyu was indeed taken aback by the words, and for a moment his eyes gleamed with intensity, but soon returned to their usual calm. He smiled wryly and said, "The great trends of the world are for high officials and nobles to worry about. We common people speak without intention, why bother to disturb others unnecessarily."

  "It's just casual talk after dinner, how can people be deprived of the right to comment on world affairs?"

  Jia Xian shook his head and sighed, saying: "Now the imperial court is already corrupt and decadent, eunuchs are in power, loyal officials are framed, people are displaced and homeless, and the commoners are struggling to survive. How many bandits and thieves have emerged in this land of Hexi? It's not like they appeared out of thin air. The government has forced the people into rebellion. I'm afraid it won't take a few years for the world to fall into great chaos."

  Liu Ze continued: "In Mr. Wen's opinion, how many more years can this Han court hold on?"

  "This is probably hard to say... Does Liu Zhuangzhu seem to know some inside information?" Jia Yu hesitated for a moment.

  Liu Ze didn't need to be modest and said directly: "Within two years, the world will surely be in great chaos!"

  Jia Yan's eyes narrowed, and he could see that there were not a few people who could sense the chaos in the world, but as for Liu Ze, who was so accurate in predicting the specific time, there might be only a handful of such people in the entire world. He was somewhat skeptical and asked, "Liu Zhangguan, when did you become so certain?"

  "Has Mr. Wen ever heard of the saying 'The blue sky has died, and the yellow sky is about to rise; in the year of Jiazi, there will be great auspiciousness throughout the land'?"

  "Also heard some rumors below, just some folk nursery rhymes, really related to the rise and fall of the world?"

  "This is not a nursery rhyme, but the words of Zhang Jiao of the Taiping Dao. I once met him briefly, and he was benevolent in appearance but poisonous at heart, using his sorcery to deceive the masses. Now he has gathered millions of followers, and by the year of the cyclical calendar, he will surely stir up a great storm on the Central Plains."

  "How did Liu know the secrets of the rebel party so clearly, was it just a coincidence? Jia Yu was shocked, how could Liu Ze be so familiar with such a big event, wasn't he involved with the rebel party?"

  Liu Ze's knowledge of all things related to the Yellow Turbans naturally came from later generations, but this couldn't be said to Jia Xu.

  "Zhang Jiao had indeed intended to recruit me, but I flatly refused. As a member of the imperial clan of Han, how could I join forces with rebels and traitors?"

  Liu Ze only knew his true identity as the descendant of Zhongshan Jing Wang not long ago, and this time he asked Jia Xu without surprise, "Since Liu is a member of the imperial family of Han, shouldn't he contribute to the court? Why didn't he report such important information to the court? If Zhang Jiao becomes powerful, won't it be chaotic?"

  Liu Ze let out a bitter laugh and said, "Although I am a member of the imperial clan, my family has declined and I have little influence. Even if I were to report this to the imperial court, how many people would believe me? To be honest, the eunuch Feng Xu is actually Zhang Jue's inside man in the imperial court. With people like him around, do you think it's possible to make a successful accusation? Besides, Zhang Jue has been developing his Taiping Dao for over ten years and has followers all over the country. If the imperial court really wants to take action against him, I'm afraid they'll only end up pushing him into rebelling prematurely, and the ones who will suffer in the end are the common people."

  Historically, as Liu Ze said, Tang Zhou's betrayal indeed led to the execution of Ma Yuan in Luoyang a month earlier, which forced Zhang Jiao to rebel prematurely.

  Jia Xu also fell into deep thought, and the fact was indeed as Liu Ze had said. In a court dominated by eunuchs, whether it was reporting something to the emperor or submitting a memorial, everything had to go through the hands of the ten attendants. Now if he went to report Zhang Jue, who knows, he might be framed for a crime and lose his head without knowing what was happening.