A family elder

"Has my Uncle Gao arrived? Don't disturb his rest!" Liu Acheng came to his senses and immediately called out before everyone at the ferry landing.

Just then, many people at the landing turned to look at one man. He was in his forties, about the same age as Wang Xizhi, but dressed simply in an ordinary Futou, cloth robes, and a lined jacket. He had been watching from the back, but at these words he hurried forward and called out in turn, "Is that my worthy nephew Acheng of the Liu Clan of Pengcheng? Gao Rou is here."

Liu Acheng hurried a few steps forward and bowed deeply before everyone... Wasn't this precisely the point-to bind his identity securely within layer upon layer of connections?

Unexpectedly, the other man was even more enthusiastic. He rushed over and caught Liu Acheng by both shoulders, then actually choked up on the spot. "After more than a decade of drifting, to receive a visit from the son of an old family friend during the New Year festivities... at last, sweetness has followed bitterness."

That was right. Liu Acheng had not cried; the other man cried first.

The boy raised his head, an inexplicable unease stirring within him. However he looked at the man, his emotion did not seem feigned. Thinking of what the man had endured in his life, he could only steel himself and offer comfort. "Uncle, what are you saying? This is only the beginning... Thanks to Uncle Wenzhen's rescue, things are settled with Lord Ren. We may be far from our native soil now, but so long as our two clans support one another, spreading branches and putting down roots, sending our children to study and marrying our descendants to one another, we'll renew our ties."

Gao Rou had been choking up but could still speak. Upon hearing this, however, he burst into great sobs and could no longer utter a word, only patting the boy's shoulders again and again. Two younger relatives had to come over and struggle to support him, and even then it took him a long while to stop crying.

By now, Liu Acheng felt terribly guilty, afraid the man had misunderstood something and truly mistaken him for someone else.

Yet after Gao Rou stopped weeping, they returned to his residence under the gaze of the people at the landing. Once the boats had left, Liu Acheng observed his surroundings while sitting on a couch and talking quietly with him, and gradually began to understand what lay beneath it all.

There was certainly an element of performance. This Uncle Gao Rou had crossed south alone more than a decade earlier and encountered circumstances almost identical to his own. How could he not know why Liu Acheng had come?

That whole boatload of gifts and the Xi Family's slave retainers also gave him ample grounds to put on a show.

But to insist that it was entirely an act would be to measure a gentleman's heart with a petty man's suspicions. The reason was simple: Liu Acheng could see and hear it. His uncle had truly suffered over the years, truly swallowed grievances, and most of that suffering and grievance stemmed from being alone, without clansmen or friends.

He had reportedly come south because his wife had died and he was still young, so he thought he could strike out here on behalf of his clan and establish a foothold. After four or five years of desperate scrambling, he had finally married again, this time to a woman from Qiuting in Kuaiji. Their eldest child was only five or six, the youngest two or three... His settling in Qiuting a few years ago had not reflected any wish to spend his final years there. Rather, once he no longer held office, it was the only support he had left.

Even the young men who had supported him earlier, and the people called his family, were mostly members of his wife's clan.

Here, he was almost like a man who had married into his wife's family.

But any notion that his wife's clan was particularly distinguished would be nonsense too. What great aristocratic clan, or even a respectable local clan, would look favorably on a lone man without clan support? They were merely an impoverished southern gentry family that still had a clan behind it.

His official career had gone poorly, and his finances were not much better.

Though he had served a term as county magistrate, according to Uncle Gao, he had still cherished hopes of climbing higher then. Instead of following others' example and simply emptying the storehouses, he had written a stack of proposals on governance for Xie Shang, who had recommended him.

Xie Shang had shown those writings to Liu Tan, then a leading figure among the celebrated scholars. Liu Tan had looked down on them, saying that people from out-of-the-way corners understood nothing yet loved offering opinions. Unable to swallow that insult, Uncle Gao had retorted that he expected nothing from such people and was merely setting out what he had learned about governance. Liu Tan had fired back that he had never intended to give anything to someone like Gao Rou in the first place.

The contempt had spilled from every word.

His career had stopped at county magistrate.

The little money and reputation he had acquired had all gone toward supporting his brother Gao Jian after he came south, leaving Gao Rou utterly marginalized.

There was another factor, of course, which Liu Acheng saw clearly. Ever since arriving in Kuaiji, he had noticed that the estates and fortified manors here were nothing like those in Wuxing and Danyang. These estates were newly established, and most had yet to complete a self-contained economic cycle. Thus, the great households swallowing up vast stretches of woodland and farmland often needed several shops in Shanyin, the commandery seat, both to sell local specialties and surplus goods and to facilitate exchanges for other necessities their estates required.

In fairness, it was hard to say whether this model was a temporary expedient or a historical advance. If repeated upheavals followed, it would naturally develop toward the Wuxing and Danyang model. Conversely, if peace could endure, Kuaiji's version would prove a more advanced form of estate economy.

Returning to Uncle Gao Rou: though his standing as a celebrated scholar and his former rank as county magistrate had enabled him to establish himself in Kuaiji and acquire a small estate, it was not enough to make him financially comfortable. Especially over the past two years, most of its produce had been converted into money and silk to support those in Jingkou. With the estate here needing management and local connections needing maintenance, he could hardly even make a trip to Jingkou to visit his younger clansmen.

It was harder still for those younger clansmen to visit him.

Or rather, if the brothers Gao Rou and Gao Jian had truly possessed such means, the Gao family would long since have moved straight to Kuaiji. Why would they have needed to remain in Jingkou as elite soldiers?

Looking back at this moment from Uncle Gao's perspective, the finest dozen years of his life had passed in humiliation and frustration. What had kept him from advancing, what had left everything stifled and constrained, was nothing more than his background as a northern migrant.

How could he not feel aggrieved?

No wonder Liu Acheng's arrival had lifted his spirits.

He genuinely yearned to regain the support of his own clan and the ties of old family friendships.

Since that was so, Liu Acheng naturally had to return a peach for a plum and play the dutiful nephew to this affectionate uncle.

"Uncle, there's actually another matter here in Kuaiji that I'd like your help considering." After discussing affairs great and small in Jingkou and Jiankang, Liu Acheng hesitated, then turned sideways on the couch and spoke earnestly.

"Please tell me, worthy nephew." Gao Rou had pressed a hot towel to his face and listened to the account of his own clansmen in Jingkou and Liu Rengong's circumstances, from Gao Heng's marriage alliance with the Liu family to matters involving Liu Jili, Cai Mo, Yin Hao, and others. His spirits were now visibly revived.

Liu Acheng dispensed with formalities and explained his plan to encourage Xi Yin and Wang Xizhi to hold public and private purification gatherings for the Shangsi Festival, along with a jointly signed letter calling for political unity. He also listed the conditions already secured: Wang Xizhi was strongly tempted, Xi Yin had agreed, Xi Yin's eldest son Xi Chao had tacitly approved, and Lu Song-another refugee from the north, but one with a legitimate northern Daoist lineage-had already gone to bribe Master Du Ming's household. Moreover, Jiankang's awkward political circumstances genuinely called for such an appeal to unity to provide a way down for everyone.

"It ought to be possible." Gao Rou considered it, then answered seriously. "If Xi Linhai and Wang Jiang Province-Wang Xizhi-are both willing, the matter itself should succeed. But that is only 'should.' You still need to watch two people..."

"Wang Lantian and Xie Eastern Mountain?" Liu Acheng immediately asked.

"Exactly." Gao Rou looked distinctly pleased. "That you thought of those two shows you've already seen through Kuaiji's inner workings."

"That's hardly much. In family standing and power, only those two could influence Wang Jiang Province and Xi Linhai... Wang Lantian is the Interior Minister of Kuaiji, the man in direct charge, so he can easily intervene. Xie Eastern Mountain sees things as clearly as a fire before him and keeps watch on Jiankang and even the whole situation. He might weigh it politically," Liu Acheng said frankly. "But with all these incidents happening one after another in Jiankang, I think that even if Xie Eastern Mountain disagrees, he should tacitly allow it."

"Exactly. That leaves only Wang Lantian," Gao Rou said seriously. "And there's something you may not know. Though Wang Lantian and Wang Jiang Province haven't openly torn off the veneer of civility, there is friction beneath it."

"Why?" Liu Acheng paused, then asked earnestly.

"Because Wang Jiang Province considers the Langya Wang Clan half a step above the Taiyuan Wang Clan, and himself half a step above Wang Lantian. Yet Wang Lantian's career has gone more smoothly, unlike his own-he doesn't even dare take up his post in Jiang Province-so he resents it considerably. On top of that, with Wang Lantian serving as interior minister here, Kuaiji's celebrated scholars inevitably go to curry favor with him. That only makes Wang Jiang Province, who considers himself the leader of Kuaiji's scholars, more indignant." Gao Rou also turned sideways on the couch and smiled. "That's simply the sort of man Wang Jiang Province is... Say he has no interest in an official career, and he's always fretting over these things. Say he cares entirely about fame and profit, and he still broadly preserves his dignity... He's the same about Jiankang and the north. He says he pays them no heed, but still sighs and worries from time to time. Yet ask him to abandon his leisurely life, and he is never willing."

"That's understandable." Liu Acheng thought for a moment, then smiled too. "Human nature. It doesn't compromise the larger picture... Besides, from what I've heard, Wang Jiang Province already counts as one of the decent men here in Kuaiji."

"Indeed. Wang Jiang Province is a decent man, better than many so-called celebrated scholars. So is Xie Eastern Mountain. He can be sharp at times, but broadly speaking, he tolerates others and knows to leave everyone some room." Gao Rou sighed, though it was unclear what had come to mind. "When you truly meet those other celebrated scholars, you'll learn what it means to be muddleheaded, what it means to be cruel, greedy, and shameless... Yet they're celebrated scholars, with families behind them and official posts in their grip. You can only beg favors of them; they never need to beg favors of you."

I've actually already witnessed Xi Linhai's fawning devotion to Daoism... Liu Cheng avoided that thorny subject and continued asking, "So, broadly speaking, this should succeed?"

"Broadly speaking, yes." Gao Rou nodded earnestly. "Even if Wang Lantian intervenes, I imagine it would only leave Wang Jiang Province disgruntled, rather than obstruct the affair."

"Then I'd like to ask you, Uncle Gao, to do all you can to help bring it about and keep it going," Liu Cheng continued.

"Of course," Gao Rou said as though it went without saying. "Never mind that, if it succeeds, everyone in Kuaiji who calls himself a celebrated scholar will want to join in. Even if it were merely you coming to ask me, would I refuse to help? But Acheng, first I must ask you something. Why are you working so hard to arrange this? What do you want?"

"I want quite a few things," Liu Acheng said with a smile. "For instance, to help Lu Song, who also fled here from the north this year, establish himself, giving us northern migrants another layer of connections. Or, since I've entered the Xi Family's household, I ought to find things to do that please those above me and secure my position. Doesn't Lord Xi like this sort of thing? And seeing the mountains of money in his house that he can't possibly spend, I'd like to help him use some to aid the people of Kuaiji... But at the root of it, I do have a selfish motive."

At this point, Liu Acheng grew serious, and Gao Rou, who had been smiling, became solemn as well. "Uncle, I want to make an effort to have my own name included at the end of that jointly signed letter."

At last, Gao Rou fell silent, sitting cross-legged on the couch in thought.

Liu Acheng did not press him, but waited quietly as well.

After an unknown stretch of time, Gao Rou finally looked at the boy beside him and slowly spoke. "Acheng, tell me honestly. Do you truly seek only to have your name listed at the end?"

"Of course," Liu Acheng answered openly. "Having my name on it would already count as establishing myself in Kuaiji. From then on, I, Liu Acheng, would rank among Kuaiji's celebrated scholars. What more could I expect? I'm so young. Surely I can't expect to replace Wang Lantian or Wang Jiang Province as their leader?"

"And afterward?" Gao Rou asked seriously. "If your name is included at the end, what comes after this? Do you have any other ambitions? Or, for that matter, what if this cannot be accomplished at all?"

Liu Acheng thought, then slowly shook his head. "Let's accomplish this first. I really haven't thought about what comes afterward. In fact, even this came together through a meeting of chances. If it fails, I can accept that. After all, how old am I? If we can make this an annual affair, wouldn't it be enough to see whether I can add my name over the next few years?"

"Good, good. It's good that you can think that way." Gao Rou nodded, then sighed. "First work to accomplish this, and don't think about anything else... Acheng, I'm already old and worn. Some words sound dispiriting when spoken, and you young people don't want to hear them. But I reached the South of the Yangtze before you and have spent more than a decade muddling along in Kuaiji. These dispiriting words are all I have to leave you. If I didn't speak them, I would instead be failing to be honest with the younger generation."

"Please instruct me, Uncle." Liu Acheng hurriedly turned on the couch and cupped his hands.

"If your name can be included, and you harbor great ambitions, then afterward you should stop muddling along in Kuaiji-or at least not remain doing so for long." Gao Rou's face seemed to tighten again. "Of course, by muddling along, I mean among the celebrated scholars. If you're diligently studying and practicing calligraphy in the Xi household, that is perfectly fine..."

"Is that because advancing further after getting your name included would be difficult?" Liu Acheng asked curiously.

"Far more than difficult," Gao Rou said with a bitter smile. "Do you think all these celebrated scholars are fools? Even if they are foolish in some respects, when fame and profit are involved, every one of them is sharp as a needle... For bottom-rung scholars among the northern migrants like us, without sufficient intelligence and talent, we can't even enter their circle... But don't imagine they allow us in out of generosity. Our talents and learning are precisely what they use to cover their shame!

"Look, a man with such talent and such learning ranks only at the bottom. Doesn't that make us upper-ranking men look all the more exalted?"

Liu Acheng also gave a bitter smile.

"And once you're in, if you still try to surpass them through talent and learning, they will most likely unite to trample you down, leaving you unable to advance a single inch." Gao Rou's bitterness deepened. "After all, what determines the rank of a celebrated scholar's distinction? Not learning or talent, but family standing. Moreover, apart from a very few top-ranking families whose members genuinely need not concern themselves with wealth and rank, most people become celebrated scholars for the same reasons as us-to gain a name and obtain office. Naturally, they quibble over who stands above whom. When I served as county magistrate and took my duties a little seriously, they mocked me. When my whole clan fled here and I sought a garrison commander's post for Wenzhen so our younger clansmen could survive, they mocked me again. But what about them? They openly seek office so they can plunder, without the slightest shame... By what right?"

"Exactly. Unless we become Buddhist monks or Daoist priests and don't compete with them for office, there's no climbing upward in the celebrated scholars' circle." Liu Acheng nodded and offered his own conclusions. "Even Wang Jiang Province, with his family background and acknowledged decency, envies Wang Lantian. How much more so those sharp-tongued, muddleheaded, cruel, greedy, shameless men you mentioned?"

Gao Rou nodded repeatedly.

"To be honest, Uncle, I have thought about this. It's just that, before meeting you, I still harbored a shred of hope... But after hearing these words from your heart, I'll return to my earlier plan. Once I've secured a place among Kuaiji's celebrated scholars, I'll spend a few more years honing myself. When I'm old enough, I'll find some way to go straight into office. Jiankang would do, or a local post. Even being an elite soldier would be fine," Liu Acheng said frankly. "I can't truly spend half my life muddling along here."

"Those are the words." Reaching across the edge of the couch, Gao Rou pressed his hand onto the boy's, but again could not help choking up. "Those are the words... Take warning from me. Don't waste ten years as I did... That was also my real reason for keeping Wenzhen-Gao Jian-in Jingkou... Acheng, this road may rise a little, but ultimately it leads nowhere. If we northern migrants want to stand upright in the South of the Yangtze, we must either stake our lives on the Northern Expedition or fortify every step, join forces, and build our position together."

Liu Cheng had taken off his shoes to sit on the couch. At these words, he leaped down barefoot and bowed deeply to Gao Rou on the icy floor, answering with utter sincerity, "Uncle, I will remember your teaching until my teeth are gone."

------The scene break remembered until teeth are gone------

Emperor Gao, the Great Ancestor... arrived in Kuaiji and met his family elder Gao Rou. Astonished that a man of Gao Rou's kindness and talent should still be reduced to such faltering progress, he fully understood that the northern migrants were not accepted in the South of the Yangtze, and thus conceived the intention of building their position.

-New Book of Qi, Volume One, "Basic Annals of Emperor Gao, the Great Ancestor," Part One