Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

No matter how ridiculous Lu Ya found it, Liu Daoren eventually led more than 10,000 followers to Shanyin by boat, and it was almost his entire force.

It was already wrong of Liu Daoren and others not to respond to such people who came from afar to serve them, but the imperial court is the imperial court after all, and should be inclusive of all rivers. Are you suggesting that Liu Daoren and his group go back to the sea?
“Very well.” Lu Ya nodded, her face showing a hint of difficulty. “Lord Liu, I will give it a try. General Guanqiu is a commander-in-chief, while I am of lowly status. General Guanqiu may not listen to me.”

At this moment, Liu Daoren abandoned all pretense of being a high-ranking official and bowed to Lu Ya in a slightly flustered manner: "Thank you for your trouble, Lu Lang. I was ignorant before. I will definitely repay you in the future!"

His uncle was already the General Who Conquers the East of the Great Wei Dynasty, so how could Lu Ya possibly care about the backstory of a mere pirate?

Lu Ya did not answer, but instead bowed slightly and went straight inside. The guards did not stop her.

Guanqiu Jian had not yet learned of Lu Xun's enfeoffment as a king, but Lu Xun had carried him across the river and had repeatedly rendered meritorious service on the river. In addition, Lu Xun was highly regarded by the emperor, so Guanqiu Jian treated Lu Ya, who held a low position, with exceptional courtesy.

After listening to Lu Ya recount her experiences over the past few days—including how she received her orders, how she sailed the seas, and how she was detained by Liu Daoren—Guanqiu Jian slowly shook his head and commented:

"In the end, Liu Daoren also has a penchant for separatism. It's just that others establish their separatism based on strategic locations, while he does it based on the sea. Living at sea and ruling over thousands of people, he has absolute power and authority. Why would he want to be subordinate to anyone else? Even if Lu Zhengdong had offered him the title of general in the past, he might not have wanted to come to the mainland as a prefect. This is the biggest drawback of separatism: one must endure for as long as possible until the tide turns against them and they have no choice but to change course. Only when their heads are about to fall do they try to correct their course."

“Lu Ya,” Guanqiu Jian instructed, “As for what you just said about this Liu Daoren being the son of Liu Chong, the Prince of Chen during the Han Dynasty, and being afraid of the Great Wei and not daring to surrender, these are all excuses. Even the Duke of Shanyang died peacefully in Hanoi. What is there to fear about a distant descendant of a royal prince from the Han Dynasty? Besides, these things are impossible to verify. He claims to be a son of the Liu family, but Emperor Gaozu of Han was the son of the White Emperor!”

"General's decision is absolutely right." Lu Ya asked with great respect, bowing slightly, "I wonder how General intends to deal with this Taoist Liu? He brought over ten thousand able-bodied men with him, but there are still twenty thousand men in Wengzhou. They don't have enough ships to come all at once."

Guanqiu Jian said, "Let this Taoist Liu come here. I will personally explain things to him."

"I will obey your command." Lu Ya nodded.

After entering, Liu Daoren knelt and bowed, saying, "This humble commoner, Liu Chang, greets the General!"

Guanqiu Jian stared at the man for a few moments, sighed softly, and stepped forward to help him up: "You are the Liu Daojun that Lu Ya mentioned? Back when Dantu was besieged, Lu Zhengdong mentioned you to me."

"What? You refuse the position of General Pinghai and five other officials with salaries of two thousand shi (a unit of grain measure)?"

Liu Daoren pretended to kneel down again and kowtowed: "I am ignorant and foolish. The people at sea are unruly and difficult to control. I cannot manage them for the time being, so... so I disobeyed General Lu Zhengdong's orders. It is my fault!"

"I beg the general to punish me! I beg the general to punish me!"

Guanqiu Jian said, "I heard from Lu Ya that you are the son of Liu Chong, the King of Chen during the Han Dynasty?"

Liu Daoren replied in a low voice, "Yes. However, the Han dynasty's mandate of heaven has declined, and the Great Wei has abdicated in its place. Naturally, we common people must be loyal to the Great Wei!"

Guanqiu Jian then asked, "What about the fact that your followers worship the Yellow Turbans?"

Liu Daoren gave a bitter smile, completely losing the air of a wise and enlightened master that Lu Ya had when she first met him. He shook his head and replied, "It is said that there are benefits to fish and salt at sea, but there are often storms at sea, and scorching sun and torrential rain often destroy houses. Furthermore, the sale of fish and salt is also subject to suppression by the Wu Kingdom. If it weren't for the fact that my people have such a hope for heaven in their hearts, I'm afraid they would have been unable to continue long ago."

"General, I can assure you, our people believe in the Yellow Heaven only to gather and rely on it, and it has nothing to do with the rebellion of the Great Teacher of the Past!" "Nothing to do with it?" Guanqiu Jian repeated these four words, smiled, and said, "Very well, then recite a passage from the Taiping Jing for me."

"This..." Liu Daoren panicked for a moment: "General, what does this mean?"

Guanqiu Jian narrowed his eyes slightly: "Aren't you the Yellow Turban Taoist? Can't you even recite the Taiping Jing? Recite a passage for me."

"I can recite it," Liu Daoren said with a troubled expression, but he still began to recite: "Close your eyes and look inward, communicate with the spirits; do not speak, be one with the Dao; Yin and Yang overlap, sealed by Heaven. The art of longevity can open the eyes; you should not have a strong intestine, but be harmonious and generous; Heaven and Earth receive harmony as if in darkness and deafness..."

As it is a Taoist scripture, it is recited with the unique tone and rhythm of the Taiping Dao. If you listen carefully, it is as if you can immerse yourself in it.

Liu Daoren was somewhat hesitant, but once he started speaking, he chanted as if he were preaching to believers in Wengzhou at sea, for about half an hour until Guanqiu Jian called him to stop.

"Good, good, good." Guanqiu Jian clapped his hands: "Listening to Daoist Master recite scriptures today has indeed brought peace to the mind and harmony to the inner self. It seems that the Way of Great Peace truly has some ability."

"General, you flatter me. The Way of Peace..." Liu Daoren was about to introduce the Way of Peace when Guanqiu Jian interrupted him again.

"Alright, alright," Guanqiu Jian said with a smile. "Since you understand the Way of Great Peace, there are not many people who understand this way nowadays. I will appoint you as a scholar of the Chongwen Temple with a salary of two thousand shi, and send you to Shouchun immediately."

"A...a scholar?" Liu Daoren was momentarily surprised.

"I heard from Lu Ya that you are skilled in classical studies and the Way of Great Peace, but your health is too weak to manage affairs..." Guanqiu Jian looked him up and down: "Taoist Liu, how are you feeling?"

Liu Daoren quickly lowered his head: "As the general said, I am indeed weak."

“It would be perfect for you to become a scholar,” Guanqiu Jian said slowly. “In recent years, Wang Shizhong in the cabinet has been working on organizing the doctrines of Confucianism, Buddhism and the Five Pecks of Rice sect in accordance with His Majesty’s orders. He is in dire need of someone to organize the Way of Peace to assist him. It would be excellent for you to do this.”

"Master Liu, I will speak frankly with you. Since you have misled General Lu, I cannot offer you such favorable terms. You shall go to Shouchun and then to Luoyang. All your leaders shall be escorted to Shouchun by my men, and your more than ten thousand troops shall be supervised to go to Jiangning. Once there, Governor Jiang of Yangzhou will send people to distribute land to your troops."

"That's all. Are you willing?"

"Of course I am willing! Thank you for your great kindness, General!" Liu Daoren kowtowed repeatedly.

Guanqiu Jian waved his hand, and Liu Daoren slowly retreated, while Lu Ya remained in the hall. The two chatted for a long time. Lu Ya was Lu Xun's nephew and had appeared before the Emperor, so Guanqiu Jian was eager to befriend her.

As they chatted, Lu Ya asked with some doubt, "The general just sent that Taoist Liu to assist Attendant Wang in studying the Taiping Jing. I really don't understand. Those Yellow Turbans are all rebels. What is there to read about the Taiping Jing?"

Guanqiu Jian smiled: "You are unaware of this. In the second year of the Taihe era, His Majesty witnessed Dong Zhuo's licentious worship in Guanzhong, and thus issued an edict ordering Attendant Wang to begin studying Confucian classics, Buddhism, and the Five Pecks of Rice sect. More than four hundred years have passed since the Qin and Han dynasties, and the Zhou rites have deviated too much from the present world. The people of the world need new doctrines to appease them..." (End of this chapter)