People's fortunes have never been the same.
No one understood this more keenly than Hou Junji.
Take himself, for example. He had given everything in the Western Regions, only to return and abruptly learn that—
In another ten-odd years, old Hou's head would be chopped off by His Majesty to serve as a warning to would-be troublemakers.
Every time that thought surfaced, Hou Junji could not help but think of Wang Xuance and Xuanzang, those two who had gone west from the Western Regions all the way to Tianzhu.
Just look at that. How treacherous could the human heart be?
So young, yet already skilled at deceiving a dignified duke of the realm.
Truly hateful.
And the man before him now, Liu Rengui, was much the same sort.
Facing Hou Junji's demand, Liu Rengui spoke with firm righteousness:
"It is only the eighth month. How can I abandon my post without authorization?"
"Even if it is by imperial command, I beg pardon—I cannot accept!"
What he said was perfectly reasonable. Under normal circumstances, Hou Junji would have had both the leisure and the eloquence to argue it out properly, debating until the other party was convinced and willingly set off.
But this time, Hou Junji chose to follow his instincts.
"Bind him. Take him away."
At once, a pack of household guards belonging to the Duke's estate—fierce as wolves and tigers—pounced forward. Without a word, they tied Liu Rengui up and slung him across a horse's back.
The move was far too blunt.
The county yamen runners reacted instantly, hands flying to their sword hilts as they surrounded the scene.
Only then did Hou Junji unhurriedly untie the golden fish pouch at his waist, draw out the gleaming fish tally inside, and declare calmly:
"I am Hou Junji, Left Guard General and Duke of Lu. I act on His Majesty's orders to recruit worthy talent."
Once it was an affair handled by a capital official, the runners dispersed of their own accord, politely ignoring the fact that Liu Rengui—his mouth stuffed, still struggling and muffling desperate "mmph mmph" cries—was draped over a horse.
After all, however one looked at it, an imperial summons was a good thing.
Best to congratulate Magistrate Liu first.
Only after they had gone some distance did Hou Junji order Liu Rengui unbound.
"His Majesty summons you. Magistrate Liu need only come with me—why make things so troublesome?" Hou Junji said, sounding remarkably considerate.
Liu Rengui immediately felt indignant.
How had this suddenly become his fault?
But glancing at the ring of wolfish household guards around him, Liu Rengui wisely chose not to dwell on the issue. Instead, he sighed.
"It is not that Liu Rengui disobeys, but rather…"
He recalled the handwritten letter he had previously received from His Majesty. In the end, he shook his head.
"His Majesty wrote that he dreamed in Taiji Palace of a strange star falling at Chencang, and on that basis summoned me to the capital."
"Such dream-omen talk is already inauspicious. Moreover, Chencang lies west of Chang'an, associated with metal and slaughter—an even graver portent."
Hou Junji stared at him, dumbfounded, then decided to shake his head.
"So—do you want to ride properly to see His Majesty, or should I bind you again and lay you across the horse before taking you to see His Majesty?"
Liu Rengui declined Hou Junji's kind offer to personally fetch the rope, and obediently mounted the horse.
What made him uneasy, however, was that all along the road Hou Junji kept glancing at him, on and off, as though measuring him. Just as Liu Rengui was about to lose his temper, Hou Junji finally asked:
"Zhengze—do you understand military affairs?"
Liu Rengui looked at him with unconcealed distaste. Why switch to using his courtesy name? Were they really that close?
Still, he answered seriously:
"I once served as a staff officer in Xizhou. I have some understanding of formations and military matters."
Hou Junji paid no mind to the look of disdain and said leisurely:
"Old Liu, if I told you that you'll become a famed general in the future—would you believe it?"
Liu Rengui studied Hou Junji carefully, then replied in earnest:
"Duke, this subordinate is only twenty-nine. How could I bear the title 'old'?"
As for being a famed general, Liu Rengui offered no comment. He only felt that his image of a Great Tang duke had shattered completely.
Why did this man seem… not very sharp?
Hou Junji, for his part, was equally puzzled.
Why was it that when the light-screen called him "Old Hou," it sounded rather affectionate—yet when he used the same approach to get close to Liu Rengui, it was completely ineffective?
Chencang lay more than three hundred li from Chang'an. Even though Hou Junji cut through matters decisively and did not linger there, a same-day round trip was impossible.
Thus, it was only after Li Shimin had spent half an hour reviewing memorials the next day that he finally met Liu Rengui.
Seeing Liu Rengui—only two years younger than himself—Li Shimin was in excellent spirits and intended to make a good show of winning him over.
So after Liu Rengui had finished paying his respects, the Tang emperor warmly clasped both his hands and said:
"If I were to say that Zhengze possesses the makings of a great general, would you believe it?"
Liu Rengui tried hard to pull free, but Li Shimin's grip was far too strong.
Left with no choice, he turned his gaze toward the Duke of Lu, Hou Junji.
Were you two in on this together?
This Son of Heaven of Great Tang doesn't seem quite normal either!
Liu Rengui's expression was far too obvious, but Li Shimin had no intention of explaining.
By now, he understood that no matter how much was said, in the end everything would have to be decided within Ganlu Hall.
Thus, he merely waved his hand, instructing Liu Rengui to remain in Chang'an until the tenth month. Only after the tenth month would his posting be decided. Before that—
Hou Junji, inwardly, was thoroughly unimpressed.
In for a penny, in for a pound. If it really came to it, he could always personally bind Liu Rengui and drag him into Ganlu Hall.
After all, it would all be for Liu Rengui's own good.
...
Jian'an, Year Sixteen. Chengdu.
Because the situation in Yong and Liang was not currently pressing, Fa Zheng, who needed to oversee affairs in Hanzhong, departed first. Zhang Fei remained behind, waiting to head north together with Zilong and his personal troops.
It was still the East Gate's Wanli Bridge.
Only now, those seeing them off had become Liu Bei, Kongming, and the great families of Chengdu.
"Zilong, take good care of your health," Liu Bei exhorted.
"Zilong must be well-versed in cavalry tactics. Do not rely solely on bravery in combat," Kongming advised.
"Is General Zhao really leaving—never to return?" the Chengdu great families whispered among themselves, unable to hide their excitement.
But when Chen Dao swept them with a cold glance, and they saw the murderous expressions of the guards behind him, the great families wisely chose silence.
A full year had passed. No matter how unwilling they once were, the great families were now thoroughly subdued.
The lands under their names had been forcibly remeasured by Imperial Uncle Liu according to population, and the private retainers they had accumulated over many years had been reduced by more than half.
Even if they wanted to act now, without land or private troops, they were powerless.
Moreover, the clever ones had already thrown themselves at Liu Bei's side. If they could truly follow this Imperial Uncle Liu in restoring the Han, who would still care about a few plots of land?
That said, for them, the confiscation of estates and dispersal of retainers had all been personally enforced by Zhao Yun, who came knocking on their doors to request their "voluntary cooperation." Authority had accumulated—and resentment with it.
Thus, seeing Zhao Yun finally about to leave, they all breathed a long sigh of relief.
Zhao Yun himself had no such awareness.
After solemnly saluting Liu Bei and the Military Advisor in turn, he cast another cold glance at the Chengdu great families, making them unconsciously step back half a pace.
Then Zhao Yun raised his voice:
"My lord, take care. Military Advisor, take care. Yun goes!"
With that, he flicked the reins, pressed his heels lightly to his horse's flanks, and galloped northward without looking back.
Beside him, Zhang Fei laughed heartily and called out:
"When Old Zhang comes back next time, I'll bring the Military Advisor a tender lamb from Yong and Liang—just you wait!"
Led by Zhao Yun, three hundred personal guards followed. The cavalry rolled like torn clouds and, in short order, vanished into the distance.
Watching the group disappear in the blink of an eye, Liu Bei showed little sign of regret. He merely smiled.
"It seems our stalwart men can hardly wait to return north."
Kongming nodded in agreement.
"Only by returning north can they truly gallop at will."
He saw it clearly. From Jingzhou onward, Zhao Yun had gradually been constrained.
When taking the four southern commanderies of Jing, Zhao Yun and his men had been limited by terrain, forced to fight as infantry.
Later, during their stay in Gong'an, both later analysis and Guan Yu's choices made it clear that the advantage in Jing and Xiang lay with the navy—there was no stage for Zhao Yun to display his talents.
Under such circumstances, when Liu Bei entered Shu, Zhao Yun had strongly requested to accompany him.
From the Yiling route into Jiangzhou, then from Jiangzhou to Chengdu, the roads were harsh—but Zhao Yun never complained.
In the end, within the narrow bounds of Langzhong, he seized an opportunity for battle and won renown in a single engagement.
Zilong's blade was truly sharp.
Liu Bei laughed aloud.
"We are not Emperor Xizong. Chengdu may be pleasant, but Cao the bandit will not come all this way to fight us here."
"Our day of returning north is not far off."
Kongming inclined his head in agreement.
Putting Chengdu in order was to secure the rear. After more than a year, the people were prosperous, the inner treasury full, and a trend toward commerce and learning had begun among the populace.
It was now the eleventh month. Last year's reclaimed fields south of Chengdu had yielded their sugarcane harvest, and output from the sugar workshops rose steadily.
This could already be called "commerce paving the way before the troops move."
Red sugar and precious white sugar produced in Chengdu, along with Shu brocade, traveled east by boat to Jiangling, or were loaded onto packhorses and sent to Hanzhong, or were exchanged by bowing tribal peoples for all manner of goods, carried off into Nanzhong.
Both Kongming and Liu Bei felt that with another two or three months of effort, this place could be entrusted to a capable man as Grand Administrator, following established precedent.
They were destined to head north, to contend with Cao the bandit for mastery of the Central Plains.
With this unspoken understanding, the pace of Chengdu's development quietly accelerated.
Taking advantage of the agricultural off-season, the long-planned literacy schools—meant to teach adult commoners to read—were finally put on the agenda.
Old Man Li listened to his daughter Li Shu recount it all, scarcely daring to believe his ears.
"My little girl… a lecturer now?"
Li Shu blushed.
"Only Master Zhuge deserves to be called a lecturer. I'm merely teaching people to recognize characters."