Chinese New Year

Chapter 554 Private Party
As the saying goes, "The seats are always full and the cups are never empty", banquets were one of the main means of socializing among scholars at that time.

Not to mention drinking and wasting food, the scholars don't care.

In the past, when Cao Cao issued a ban on alcohol, Kong Rong wrote "Question on Cao Gong's Ban on Alcohol" to express his opposition.

Poetry, wine and singing are one of the great pleasures in life. Aman, please don't spoil the fun.

When Liang Fen arrived, everyone was already about 70% drunk.

After being led into the yard by servants, he found Fu Chang and Fu Shidao vomiting.

After seeing Liang Fen, his face turned pale, he quickly wiped his mouth, washed his face, and said with a wry smile: "You guys are really enthusiastic, so I can't help but drink a few more cups."

Liang Fen didn't go in either, but started chatting with Fu Chang in the corridor.

"How many people did you bring back?" Liang Fen asked.

"Not many." Fu Chang sighed and said, "Only three or four thousand accounts."

"account?"

"In the north, people are now counted by tent," said Fu Chang. "For families with herdsmen and slaves, there are often more than a dozen slaves in one tent. For families without slaves, there are only two or three people in one tent. This time, we probably collected less than 20,000 people, including men, women, old and young."

"A little less." Liang Fen commented.

"Quite a lot." Fu Chang said helplessly: "The situation in the north is chaotic. Liu Can sent people to persuade them to surrender, and many local fortress owners and tribal chiefs surrendered. I don't know their attitude towards my Fu family now."

"Haven't you seen the elders?" Liang Fen asked.

"When I saw them, they told me to leave quickly, like they were chasing away the plague god." Fu Chang smiled bitterly, "I explained my purpose, and my family introduced me to seven or eight familiar chieftains. They had a grudge against the Xiongnu and didn't want to get involved with them, so they followed me. On the way, we encountered a large group of Xiongnu chasing us, and lost some people..."

Fu Chang recounted his trip to Guanzhong in detail, and in the end there was only one conclusion: Guanzhong was finished.

Many local nobles defected to the Huns.

Those who did not surrender were not willing to provide him with help, even though he brought out the name of the Fu family in the north and the official seal given by Mr. Chen.

In the end, only some people who were close to him provided supplies and gave advice, just like the elders at home: leave quickly. Perhaps they had already surrendered to the Xiongnu, or were about to surrender to the Xiongnu, but because of their past friendship, they were in a dilemma and had to let him leave.

"Aren't there still several brave generals in Guanzhong resisting?" Liang Fen frowned and asked.

"Not much left." Fu Chang said, "Fengyi and Jingzhao have been firmly controlled by the Xiongnu. Liu Can is planning a war against Beidi County. He has also sent people to pacify Fufeng and Shiping counties. Some people have already accepted official positions in the Xiongnu."

The so-called "pacification" does not simply involve giving them an official position.

Since ancient times, people have come up with many ways to strengthen the ties between the two sides, including but not limited to marriage, sending hostages, exchanging letters of allegiance, granting official positions, etc., as well as very important personal favors - caring about each other's well-being, being of the same mind, saving lives, providing timely assistance, etc.

Of course, these measures take time.

Shi Le lacked this time, so he was defeated miserably. But if Shi Le had been given a few more years, the situation would have been different.

The Hebei nobles do not necessarily have to be people of Jin. Not everyone of them upholds national justice.

When the interests are closely connected and the benefits are great enough, what is the difference between being an official of the Xiongnu and being an official of the Jin Dynasty? Sometimes, even if the Xiongnu give less and the Jin people give more, this powerful person is still a Jin person, and he may go all the way with the Xiongnu.

People are not machines, and they don’t always calculate everything based on their own interests. They have emotions, joys, sorrows, anger, and happiness, and different personalities. Naturally, they will make different choices. Everything depends on the means of the "pacification" person - so the talent team is very important. A local official with a wide range of friends, extensive connections, and high level can often achieve twice the result with half the effort and help you stabilize a place in an instant.

“I didn’t expect that in just three years, Guanzhong has undergone tremendous changes.” Liang Fen said with emotion.

"Mr. Liang, you should be an official." Fu Chang advised, "If you stay at home, you won't be able to get the latest news."

It is an iron rule in officialdom that people will forget about you when you leave.

Liang Fen is now free from official duties, and seems to be able to enjoy the mountains and rivers and not care about worldly affairs. But if this happens, then worldly affairs will not concern you...

Liang Fen certainly understood this principle, so when he was free from leisure, he would occasionally attend gatherings of scholars, which was an important channel for obtaining information from the outside world.

No one can truly be completely secluded.

Didn't Yu Gun, a famous scholar, have his sons and nephews serving as officials? Who can really live in a vacuum?

"Let's not talk about this anymore." Liang Fen shook her head, looking lonely.

Fu Chang was about to persuade him again, but he stopped talking when he saw several young scholars from Guanxi coming over.

The visitors included the Xi family of Anding, the Li family of Longxi, the Suo family of Dunhuang, and the Wei family of Jingzhao...

Liang Fen nodded to each of them and gave them a few words of encouragement - they were all fellow villagers with whom she had long-term dealings, in other words, they were "one of our own".

After the greetings, he sat down with everyone else for the banquet.

"In times of crisis, there must be a wise ruler who will bravely clear up the world and wipe out the evil spirits." Huangfu Chang, who came from a stable family, held up his wine glass and said loudly: "Chen Gong's capital is Xuchang, which covers several states. It is a major town in the country. The people and the clan are all dependent on it. Now his reputation is growing day by day, and his prestige is becoming more and more famous. He will be invaluable in the future. We, the scholars of Xizhou, must make plans early."

Huangfu Chang was the magistrate of Wan County.

Because the emperor was going to hold a grand court meeting in the first month of the year, all the counties and states had to send envoys to pay homage and present gifts. Huangfu Chang brought Xiangrui (a pair of white rabbits) to the capital and lived in Luoyang - he didn't need to come in person, but he had nothing to do anyway, so he came early and met his old friend.

"What's happening in Hebei? Is Shi Le still alive?" someone asked after Huangfu Chang finished speaking.

"Liu Yao has withdrawn his troops, but Shi Le is still alive." someone replied.

"Can Shi Le still fight?"

"After the defeat of Yecheng and Xiangguo, there are only a few soldiers left. I think it will not be difficult to eliminate them." "I heard that Liu Cong told Mr. Chen that he wanted to have two emperors, the Eastern and Western, to coexist. Is that feasible?"

"Didn't Lord Chen come back? In the autumn of the struggle for supremacy, we must eradicate all evil. What kind of second emperor is this? Who would be so stupid as to agree to this?"

"I read Mr. Chen's manifesto, it's very bold and courageous."

"What did you say? Lord Chen agreed to be crowned emperor?"

"Mr. Chen didn't agree, but he said a lot more. Those who understand will understand. Those who are still undecided can go home and farm as soon as possible."

"Mr. Chen will never be Cao Cao. He is younger than Cao Mengde, and there are things he may have to do while he is still alive."

"No one wants to be Cao Cao now, and no one can continue to be one. To be disrespectful, today is different from the past, and people's hearts are different. At the end of the Han Dynasty, people's hearts were simple, and the Han Dynasty had a foundation of hundreds of years, and the pressure was as strong as a mountain. What is the situation now?"

"Yes, people's hearts are no longer the same as they used to be."

Liang Fen ate the food and wine in silence, feeling a little surprised.

Although it was a private gathering and all the people who came were from the same hometown with whom they had good relations, everyone was becoming bolder and bolder and dared to say anything. Was it because they had been drinking?
He suddenly found it difficult to understand the world. Was it because he had left the officialdom and could no longer keenly understand the situation in the world?

At the same time, I also agree with what these people said, the young are really to be feared!
The Han Dynasty, which lasted for hundreds of years, was the first unified dynasty after the Qin Dynasty. People had respect, nostalgia, and fear for it.

But nothing in the world is eternal, people’s hearts are changeable, and people today are different from people in the past.

If you put a person from the Qin Dynasty into the present day, he would definitely feel out of place and be at a loss.

If you put a modern person in the Han Dynasty, he would also find it difficult to adapt.

The people are still the same, but their ways of dealing with things are different, and the social atmosphere is also different.

Mr. Chen is actually right.

After the fall of the Later Han dynasty, the wars of Zhanwu and Mi ended, and nothing was settled.

The Cao Wei dynasty lasted for 46 years, and the Guo Dynasty lasted for 49 years. Can they be considered orthodox dynasties?

Liang Fen didn't know.

Compared with Cao Wei, the Guo Dynasty was actually in a worse situation, because the ills since the Later Han Dynasty had never been seriously cleaned up. At the time of the founding of the country, there was no such thing as going into battle lightly, but rather moving forward with a heavy burden. Now, it finally couldn't hold on and was about to collapse.

The Great Jin Dynasty can no longer hold on.

So, if Lord Chen established a new dynasty, would he inherit the ills of the Later Han Dynasty, just like Cao Wei and Sima Jin?

If this is the case, how can the country last long?

Liang Fen looked up again at those young scholars who thought they were discussing the world situation "in a low voice".

They had a vision of the future on their faces, and felt that everything would be fine as long as there was a change of dynasty. Then they would continue to ride horses, play music, eat drugs, drink, and enjoy the "prosperous age" of drunkenness and dreams.

Liang Fen sighed.

Sometimes thinking too much can be really cruel.

However, he also had some expectations for the new dynasty because he found that Mr. Chen was doing something different.

At least, he had four counties and kingdoms in Henan, namely Xiangcheng, Chen, Nandun and Xincai, which did not have much powerful aristocratic families. Liang, Runan, Dongping, Gaoping and Puyang were slightly inferior.

He was a wise man and the first person since the end of the Han Dynasty who was truly willing to take steps to eliminate the ills.

Cao Mengde may have tried, but he failed due to his poor luck.

As for Sima Jin, he may have thought about it, but he finally let it go. He is like a scholar who takes drugs. He knows that it is not right, but he has no choice. He has seen others take drugs since he was a child, and he also takes drugs. In such an environment, he can't struggle.

Born in injustice, die in shame.

"Alas!" Liang Fen picked up the wine bowl listlessly and drank it all in one gulp.

"The imperial system has been lost for a long time, and the people have suffered for many years." Someone who was drunk shouted: "In the past ten years, there have been fewer and fewer farmhouses and farmhands, and life has become more and more difficult. Whoever can restore the old country can become emperor."

"Be careful with your words, be careful with your words."

"Look at you, haha. If the Sima family can replace Wei, why can't others?"

"Actually, I'm a little worried that the world will be different after the Jin Dynasty..."

"Why is it so? Lord Chen has always been kind to scholars. Isn't Madam Yu from a noble family? Which of the ladies in his house is not a noble lady? Don't worry, the world will not change."

"That's right, let's talk about it first. The Jin Dynasty is really disappointing."

"Mr. Chen was born into a military family, his clan members are ignorant and he has no help. Isn't the world more dependent on scholars than when the Sima family replaced the Wei Dynasty?"

Liang Fen and Fu Chang looked at each other and stopped talking.

The world is changing, and people are confused. But no matter what the future holds, the current Guanxi scholars are indeed extremely disappointed with the Jin Dynasty and are very eager to see changes. When they are hungry, they can even accept the Hu regime as long as it can bring peace to everyone and return to the "Ten Years of Taikang Prosperity Dream".

He believed that scholars in other places were similar, especially after Mr. Chen publicly published his manifesto.

(End of this chapter)