Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 22 Chen Lin: When you ask about the virtuous, you don’t ask about the minister’s fellow villagers!

He has the same plans as Emperor Xiaowen and is as hegemonic as Emperor Shizong. Such an evaluation is not low for a prince.

But for the scholars, such an emperor was also the one they feared the most.

Emperor Xiaowen seems to be a benevolent emperor in history books. He imposed light taxes and levies, and was a model of a wise and benevolent ruler. However, it is not difficult to see from the fragments in the history books that this benevolent Emperor Xiaowen was also a scheming and cunning man.

How did the four sons of the Queen of Dai, who were of Lu family descent, die when Emperor Xiaowen, still the King of Dai, had just entered Chang'an and had not yet ascended the throne?

What was the reason for the death of Emperor Hui Liu Ying's sons, King Huaiyang Liu Wu, King Changshan Liu Buyi, and later Emperor Shao Liu Hong?
Isn’t the death of Liu Chang, King of Huainan, also an alternative example of “Duke Zheng defeats Duke Duan in Yan”?

As for the hegemonic Sejong, Sejong refers to Emperor Xiaowu. Since he came to power, he has been acting arbitrarily and autocratically. All civil and military officials have become his lackeys and minions, and those who do not obey him will be killed. How could he sit idly by and watch the nobles rebel against the emperor and seize power?
Yang Ci felt that this was a very serious problem. If there came another emperor as autocratic as Emperor Xiaowu, what would be the situation of these scholars?
But immediately, Yang Ci, sitting in the carriage returning home, couldn't help but smile bitterly and shook his head.

Is it possible to depose the crown prince?

Not to mention that the prince is now in power and has more than 10,000 soldiers under his command. Even if the prince is incompetent and powerless, who would dare to mention deposing him?

Although it has not been made public yet, the death of "Dong Hou" has begun to spread in a small range with Liu Bian's tacit consent.

The Han Dynasty probably has never had such an orthodox crown prince. He is a prince who combines the identities of legitimate son, eldest son and only son. I am afraid that such an orthodox crown prince will never be found in the future.

Liu Bian naturally had no idea what Yang Ci was thinking. He had too many things to do now, but too few people at his disposal.

The nobles... the nobles...

Liu Bian sighed silently in his heart that in this era when cultural heritage was monopolized, it was almost impossible to bypass the gentry if you wanted talents.

"I'm still short of manpower. Could you please help me out?"

Looking at the officials from the Prince's Mansion around him, Liu Bian finally gave up thinking alone and asked his retainers for advice.

Upon hearing this, all the officials in the Prince's Mansion trembled and sat up straight.

This was the first time that the prince asked for advice from everyone. If anyone's advice was accepted by the prince, he would definitely use it. Even Jia Xu stopped stroking his long beard.

However, everyone has seen the prince's attitude towards those aristocratic families since he accepted the call, so no one has any good ideas for the time being.

Seeing that no one had any good ideas, Liu Bian could only use this unsound method to make a transition.

"If you have any acquaintances of talented scholars, you can recommend one or two to me, just like Xuande recommended Xianhe. As long as they have talent, I will definitely use them."

However, Liu Bian's words fell on deaf ears. To put it bluntly, most of them were scholars whose network of connections was not that extensive, which was why they were either commoners or minor officials at this age.

It’s not that everyone doesn’t have a few talented people to recommend, but they are all worried about being suspected of forming a clique.

"Your Highness, Lin is willing to recommend talented people for the Crown Prince!"

Just when everyone was silent, Chen Lin, the prince's groom, stood up.

"Oh? Kong Zhang is a well-educated scholar. I'm curious about who the 'virtuous' person Kong Zhang is referring to is." "One is Zhang Zhao, courtesy name Zibu, from Pengcheng, Xuzhou. He was studious since childhood and skilled in official script. He studied the Zuo Zhuan under Bai Hou Zi'an. The other is Zhang Hong, courtesy name Zigang, from the same hometown as Lin. He once studied under Doctor Han Zong at the Imperial Academy, where he studied the Jingshi Yi and Ouyang Shangshu. He also studied the Han Shi, the Book of Rites, and the Zuo Zhuan from Puyang Kai in Waihuang. He is well-read."

Chen Lin introduced the two of them in a very proud manner. As she spoke, her eyes lit up and her tone became more excited. She even seemed complacent when she saw the surprise on Liu Bian's face, which inevitably made Liu Bian look at Chen Lin more strangely.

As for Er Zhang, he also knew these two people, but he had been in this world for many years and didn't remember them for a while.

But what made him like this was not the identities of the two people, but that he felt Chen Lin's attitude was a little weird.

It feels like a fan introducing their idol, and when others say that their idol is awesome, they'll show a happy expression as if they're proud of it.

Chen Lin's character has always been simple and honest, a true and honest man. Suddenly seeing Chen Lin like this, Liu Bian felt a little playful. He pointed at Chen Lin and said seriously: "Are you recommending a fellow townsman to form a clique?"

Unexpectedly, Chen Lin also sat upright, even a little angry at the Crown Prince's suspicion of his intentions. He bowed to Liu Bian and said in a loud voice: "Your Majesty is asking about the virtuous, not the people of my hometown!"

Liu Bian was startled. Seeing Chen Lin's serious expression, as if he had seen through his joke, he couldn't help but stand up and return the greeting to Chen Lin. Then he walked forward, shook Chen Lin's hand tightly, and said with a smile: "Your words are exactly what I think. I was just joking."

"Wenhe, give Kong Zhang twenty pieces of Xiangyi brocade."

Liu Bian was very happy. Not to mention that Chen Lin recommended Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong, just this loyalty made him happy.

If Jia Xu or Dong Zhao had said this, he would not be so happy, but an honest man like Chen Lin would not act out such a drama.

When the twenty pieces of Xiangyi brocade were mentioned, everyone in the hall was moved.

In this era, what is Shu brocade compared to Xiangyi brocade?
From the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period to the Han and Three Kingdoms Period, Xiangyi brocade was the top-grade brocade collectively recognized by aristocratic families.

The powerful and wealthy were all proud to wear Xiangyi brocade. The Han court even set up "clothing officials" in Xiangyi to be responsible for weaving court costumes, using Xiangyi brocade as the raw material for the royal family's harem costumes and the court costumes of the ministers and officials.

If it were not for the Little Ice Age during the late Han Dynasty and the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and the frequent wars that destroyed the production system of Xiangyi brocade, the stable Shuzhong and the military supplies provided by Shu brocade to the separatist warlords in Shu would have led to the official support of Shu brocade's production, which eventually allowed Shu brocade to emerge as a new force. However, its status is far inferior to that of Xiangyi brocade.

It was not until the Five Barbarians Invaded China that Xiangyi brocade was completely submerged in the tide of history under the iron hoofs of foreign races.

Nowadays, the price of Xiangyi brocade is 5,000 coins per piece for low-quality brocade, 10,000 coins per piece for medium-quality brocade, and 20,000 coins per piece for high-quality brocade. These are just the market prices.

The workmanship of the Xiangyi brocade presented as tribute to the royal family was one grade higher than the publicly available top-grade brocade, but the grade was not the key point. The key point was that you simply had no channel to purchase it.

Even the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers had no place to buy it and could only obtain it through rewards from the emperor.

It is priceless in market, which is why being awarded Xiangyi brocade is such a great honor.

Chen Lin, who received the reward from the prince, had not yet recovered from the prince's questioning. It was only after Cheng Yu, the prince's chief night watchman, reminded him that he hurriedly bowed and expressed his gratitude.

Seeing Chen Lin still looking somewhat dazed, Liu Bian pointed at Chen Lin and said to everyone with a smile, "This is my Qi Huangyang!"

(End of this chapter)