Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 58 Either he comes, or I go alone!
In the Changsha County Government Office, Liu Bian, who had just been excited and thought he had found an opportunity to fight, had his passion extinguished by Huangfu Song's few words.

Huangfu Song was still worried that this was a trap, and even if it was not a trap, Huangfu Song's next deployment would be to dig deep trenches and high fortifications to encircle the enemy.

From Liu Bian's perspective, this style of using troops is too cautious.

Although it is always better to be cautious, as a young person, who doesn’t like to win by surprise?

Young kings always have disagreements with older and more experienced generals, but this is human nature, just like the First Emperor and Wang Jian.

However, Liu Bian did not intend to choose a "Li Xin", but instead entrusted the war entirely to his "Wang Jian", and asked Sun Jian and Cao Cao to follow Huangfu Song to learn the overall view, while he himself returned to the study to deal with memorials.

In fact, those memorials from Luoyang did not need to be sent to the crown prince who was on a military expedition. They could be handed over to the Shangshu Ling Liu Tao and the Shangshu of each Cao and the Three Dukes for discussion and disposal. If there was no major event, there was no need to submit them to the crown prince.

However, Liu Bian did not have any confidants in the Secretariat for the time being, and he really did not trust those ambitious politicians.

These scholars of the Later Han Dynasty always wanted to turn the monarch in power into a puppet who could only reproduce offspring.

"The holy emperor governs the country with ease, and the court is filled with wise and upright people." This is the ideal court for the scholars of the Later Han Dynasty and many dynasties in later generations, and it is the model for a holy monarch and wise ministers to rule the country.

Therefore, Liu Bian had to review the results of the Shangshutai's handling of government affairs before he could feel at ease, so as to avoid spending so much effort to seize power but having it stolen by this group of politicians.

Just as Liu Bian was concentrating on reviewing a memorial sent by Luoyang Magistrate Zhong Yao, Xun Yu happened to come in and report to him.

Liu Bian's originally calm face suddenly darkened, his eyes narrowed, and a hint of coldness flashed across them: "Chen Yuanfang still doesn't want to come and see me?"

Xun Yu leaned forward slightly. Even though he knew the Crown Prince was furious, he still defended Chen Ji, saying, "Your Highness, observing mourning is a natural behavior for a son. I know that Your Highness respects the virtuous and values ​​talent, but forcing Lord Yuan Fang to come to see you would be detrimental to Your Highness's reputation."

Chen Yuanfang is Chen Ji, the current head of the Yingchuan Chen family. His father is Chen Shi, the Chen Taiqiu who was called "non-human" by his friends.

Speaking of Chen Taiqiu, there is another story about him that has been passed down through the ages.

When Zhang Rang's father died, he was buried in Yingchuan. No famous Yingchuan scholar came to pay his respects, except Chen Shi, who came in person to offer his condolences. Therefore, Zhang Rang did not make things difficult for Chen Shi during the second Factional Persecution Dispute. Was that a political surrender, or what people call "foresight"?

Perhaps it was because of a guilty conscience, but Chen Shi, who should have lived for a few more years, died of illness four years ago.

Chen Shi's funeral was also very grand, with more than 30,000 people attending the funeral and thousands of carriages!

Thousands of famous scholars such as Xun Shuang and Han Rong came out to wear mourning clothes and pay homage to him as descendants. He Jin personally delivered a eulogy, "Mr. Chen, the general, was famous for his conduct in the past and his reputation in the future. His writings were a model of virtue and his example was a role model for scholars. It is very appropriate that he should be honored in both his life and his death." Such a funeral is rare in ancient and modern times.

His son Chen Ji used the excuse of mourning for his father as an excuse and has been doing so for four years, earning praise from people all over the world.

If Chen Ji was really a filial son, it would be understandable that he was unwilling to pay a visit to this "powerful man" while mourning for his father. But was Chen Ji really in mourning out of "filial piety"?

"Oh, mourning?" Liu Bian slammed the table so hard that the writing brushes and ink on it trembled. His face was as dark as ink. "Wen Ruo, tell me, which family's etiquette requires a son to mourn his father for four years?"

"He claimed to observe six years of mourning for his father, yet he met guests wearing a brocade quilt. Confucius said, 'Wearing brocade and eating rice, what good does it do you?' Can such a person be called a filial son?"

"This..." Xun Yu opened his mouth and wanted to make some excuses, but found that his throat seemed to be blocked. He was speechless for a moment and lowered his head helplessly, not daring to look directly into Liu Bian's eyes.

The story of Chen Ji being wrapped in brocade was spread abroad, claiming his mother, seeing Chen Ji emaciated by his father's death, had wrapped him in a quilt, unintentionally using a brocade quilt. The scholars generously forgave Chen Ji's mistake; they couldn't possibly hold it against him at Chen Shi's funeral, could they?
Furthermore, being one thing in public and another behind the scenes is a basic practice of scholars. Which scholar would really wear mourning clothes honestly during the mourning period?
Forget being embroidered, even wearing embroidered clothes in the mansion would be no problem. Eating meat in private and having sex were not a problem, as long as they were not publicly listening to music or watching dances, and did not give birth to an heir during the mourning period. This is why the scholars of the Later Han Dynasty often had children later in life.

As for why they had to continue mourning beyond the three-year period, that was already an open secret in the Han scholar circle. Just like refusing to be recruited and refusing to meet with the powerful, it was just a means of maintaining popularity.

The "filial piety" of observing mourning is nothing more than a high-level method of maintaining hope by sacrificing several years of youth and crying in front of the living.

For example, Yuan Shao mourned for his mother for three years after her death. He claimed that he was "grateful that he was an orphan who lost his father when he was born" (Yuan Shao was adopted by Yuan Cheng when he was born, and Yuan Cheng died of illness in the year Yuan Shao was born), so he decided to mourn for another three years for his father whom he had never met. His "filial piety" was praised by scholars all over the world.

Even if one of the parents died, scholars could call themselves "filial" and mourn for ten or eight years, thereby spreading the reputation of "filial piety", exchanging ten or eight years of youth for a career that could save twenty years of detours, or earn a good story for the family that could be sung by scholars for a hundred years.

As a member of the Yingchuan Xun family, Xun Yu naturally couldn't be unaware of these routines. The fact that Chen Ji was robbed of Jin was irrefutable. With the embroidered uniform envoys around, it would not be difficult to investigate the matter.

Therefore, even if he wanted to make some excuses for this famous scholar named "Chen Zi", he was speechless.

Seeing Xun Yu hesitating and no longer speaking, Liu Bian snorted.

It's not that he doesn't know the methods used by the Han scholars to maintain their prestige, nor is it that he cannot understand them. At least for now, he has no intention of completely abolishing them, but he will never accept himself as the "nutrient" used by these scholars to maintain their prestige.

"Well, since all the scholars say I respect and love the virtuous, and Chen Yuanfang won't come, I'll go visit him myself and see if he'll even turn me away!" Liu Bian sneered, a hint of mockery on his lips. Then, with a flick of his sleeves, he strode out of the study, shouting, "Dian Wei, prepare the horses!"

Seeing that the prince was so "wise", Xun Yu couldn't help but feel a little worried.

It's not that he respects this "Mr. Chen" that much, he just doesn't want the prince to confront this famous scholar head-on.

No matter what the result is, the prince's reputation will be damaged. In his opinion, it is not worth it to damage his reputation of respecting virtuous people and loving scholars because of a little personal dispute.

Alas, Lord Yuan Fang, oh Lord Yuan Fang, why do you have to make the prince unhappy?
Soon, the Tunqi and the Yulin Left and Right Cavalry were fully assembled. Liu Bian, who was furious, did not lie. He jumped on his horse and galloped towards Xu County.

It was only a journey of twenty-five miles, and the prince arrived at the foot of Xu County in just over half an hour on horseback.

Listening to the rumbling sound of horse hooves, the Tunqi and Yulin cavalry were galloping towards them like a landslide, which was very frightening.

Having weathered the bloody battles, the current Tunqi Xiaowei Division and the Yulin Left and Right Cavalry have been completely transformed. If the former Tunqi and Yulin Left and Right Cavalry were merely a well-trained elite force, the current Tunqi and Yulin Left and Right Cavalry are a murderous force that no one dares to stop.

Magistrate Xu, upon seeing the murderous cavalry beneath the city walls, turned pale with fear, his legs trembling slightly. He repeatedly verified the prince's token before confirming it was the prince himself. Hastily tidying his clothes, he stumbled down the city walls to meet him.

"Your Highness, County Magistrate Xu, pays homage to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

Seeing that the city gate was wide open, Liu Bian did not want to argue with County Magistrate Xu. He frowned slightly, a look of impatience on his face, and found a minor official as a guide. He ordered the cavalry to station at the city gate, and led more than a hundred cavalrymen into the city.

The hooves of the war horses made crisp sounds on the road. Many people looked over and saw a cavalry unit coming straight to the outside of the Chen family mansion in Yingchuan. They couldn't help but wonder which powerful person had mobilized such a large army to pay a visit to Lord Yuan Fang.

Looking at the mansion plaque wrapped in white cloth on all sides and the tightly closed door, Liu Bian dismounted and shouted, "I, the Crown Prince of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bian, come to pay my respects to Lord Yuan Fang!"

　I'm sorry, my great-grandmother passed away, and I'm not in a good mood. I've been busy all day today and have to keep vigil tonight. The original version of the second update was very poorly written, but it has been revised now. I'd like to say sorry to everyone.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)