Dai Commandery.
In the west, within a certain mountain valley.
Inside a mountain stronghold.
Liu Bei was drinking with several wandering knights.
The wine was excellent—clear and transparent, with different grades.
Some drank mild wine, while others drank strong liquor.
Among them were Guan Yu, Jian Yong, and others.
"We merely cultivate the valley to make a living, while the Yellow Turbans run rampant outside. Whenever I think of the common people suffering, I feel ashamed. If a true man can neither achieve great deeds nor bring comfort to the common people, how can he call himself a true man?" After three rounds of wine, Jian Yong sighed.
"Agricultural Commandant possesses unfathomable strategy and holds the common people in his heart. He is truly an extraordinary man of this age. Gathering displaced people and bandits and settling them in the mountains is itself a way of comforting the common people," Liu Bei said.
"That may be so, Brother Liu, but we are in the prime of our lives, yet we sit idly in these mountains. Is that not wasting our time?" Jian Yong said again.
"How is it sitting idly? Every day, we inspect the settlements, cultivate fields, comfort the people, and aid the masses. Those are great matters as well," Liu Bei said admiringly.
"Fine, then. It seems Brother Liu intends to spend the rest of his life in these mountains? You are a relative of the Han Dynasty. Do you not wish to support and preserve the Great Han, win achievements, and become a marquis or minister?" Jian Yong asked.
"I believe Agricultural Commandant is merely lying low for now. I see him stockpiling provisions and drilling soldiers every day. He is clearly waiting for the right moment," Liu Bei said firmly.
His vision was still far keener