[Liu Bang: It took over another month to open again. Looks like this damned thing is slighting your lord and master!]
[Zhang Jiao: Han Gaozu, do not blame the Rebel Army Group unjustly-only twelve days have passed on my side this time.]
Seeing that the interval on Zhang Jiao's side was also roughly twice as long as before, Zhu Yuanzhang felt somewhat better and began typing.
[Zhu Yuanzhang: The interval was longest on my side this time. Two months have passed.]
[Liu Bang: So I really did wrong this damned thing? Is there no rhyme or reason to when it opens?]
[Zhang Jiao: At least for now, I can discern no rule governing its opening times.]
Zhu Yuanzhang felt there was little point in discussing this, so he steered the conversation elsewhere.
[Zhu Yuanzhang: Han Gaozu, you should be back in Chang'an by now, yes? Zhang Jiao, how are things on your side?]
[Liu Bang: I've been back in Chang'an for several days and am resting now. This expedition against the Xiongnu took several months altogether. I even spent the New Year in the army and nearly died on Mount Baideng. Your lord and master needs a good, long rest.]
[Zhang Jiao: The Han Army did indeed appoint Dong Zhuo as commander. The day after our last group chat ended, they launched a fierce assault on Guangzong, which continued until yesterday. They suffered considerable casualties during the siege and have not attacked today. It seems they intend to turtle up in their camp and await reinforcements.]
Zhang Jiao summed up those eleven days of fighting over Guangzong in just two sentences, but the actual course of events had been anything but simple.
During the first three days, the Han Army's assaults on Guangzong City were ferocious. They overran several Yellow Turban Army camps outside the city and reached the top of Guangzong City's walls several times.
Fortunately, Zhang Jiao personally took command on the walls and rallied morale. The Yellow Turban soldiers fought with their lives on the line, holding fast without fear of sacrifice. Only then did they drive back the Han troops who scaled the walls, time and again, holding Guangzong at the cost of two to three times the Han Army's casualties.
Over the next seven or eight days, the Han Army alternated between fierce assaults, feints, and making a clamor in the east while striking in the west, trying nearly every siege tactic at their disposal.
But their fierce attacks during the first three days had failed to take Guangzong and instead cost them many soldiers, breaking their morale. Naturally, their later attacks proved even less successful, and the Yellow Turban Army gradually recaptured the camps they had lost.
During those grueling days of defending the city, even the General of Human Heaven, Zhang Liang, took an arrow. Fortunately, his iron armor protected him, and his wound was not serious.
The hardships endured by the other Yellow Turban Army defenders were easy to imagine.
[Zhu Yuanzhang: In that case, you must watch for an opportunity to send elite troops on a night raid against the Han Army's camp, setting fires as a feint. Meanwhile, have your battle-ready forces prepared. If the fires throw the Han Army into chaos or even trigger a camp panic, turn the feint into a real attack and crush them in one stroke!]
[Zhang Jiao: Thank you for your guidance, Brother Zhu!]
[Liu Bang: Old Zhu, it seems you have quite a knack for commanding troops. How do you compare with Han Xin, the Marquis of Huaiyin?]
[Zhu Yuanzhang: When it comes to commanding troops, I'm no match for Han Xin. Never mind me-look back over thousands of years, and you could count on your fingers those who stand alongside him.]
Chang'an.
The front hall of Changle Palace.
In a side hall being used as a study, Liu Bang lounged crookedly before his desk as usual. Reading Zhu Yuanzhang's words in the Rebel Army Group, he thought of Han Xin, who was currently under house arrest in Chang'an, and an idea stirred in his mind.
[Liu Bang: Old Zhu, did your lord and master kill Han Xin in the original history?]
Zhu Yuanzhang was about to answer offhand when he remembered their original agreement.
[Zhu Yuanzhang: Han Gaozu, when we formed our alliance, we agreed that my problems would take priority. Even if I have nothing urgent to resolve, we should address Zhang Jiao's difficulties first. Aren't you taking up our time by asking about Han Xin now?]
Reading this, Liu Bang said irritably, "This Old Zhu is as sly as a thief. Luckily, your lord and master came prepared, or I'd really look like a man who doesn't keep his word."
With that, he found several rolls of bamboo slips beside his desk that he had prepared long ago.
Liu Bang was a man whose sense of good faith was highly flexible.
Some promises he could disown at the drop of a hat, while others he would uphold strictly.
He cared deeply about the Rebel Army Group and the historical knowledge supplied by Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding ruler of the later Great Ming. Naturally, he would not let Zhu Yuanzhang think he failed to keep his word.
Thus, on his second day back in Chang'an, he summoned Xiao He and Zhang Liang to join Lou Jing and Chen Ping in discussing the question Zhu Yuanzhang had originally asked his advisers to consider.
[Liu Bang: I was only asking casually. If you think it wastes time, we can leave it for now. But I've already consulted Xiao He, Zhang Liang, Lou Jing, and Chen Ping about that matter you raised earlier. Would you like to hear their thoughts?]
On the Great Ming side.
Zhu Yuanzhang was briefly taken aback by these words.
Then he recalled the question he had asked when the group chat first opened: if the deaths from illness of Xiongying, his wife, and Biao'er before his own death, as described in the Great Ming Misfortune Song, were real, what should he do?
Liu Bang had first suggested having the imperial physicians pay closer attention to the health of all three, then summoning renowned physicians from across the realm to the capital. Should the three truly fall ill, those physicians could treat them.
His question, "What if they contract incurable illnesses?" had stumped Liu Bang, who then said he could only wait until he returned to Chang'an to consult Zhang Liang, Xiao He, and the others.
Although, during the second group chat, the Rebel Army Group had revealed a genuinely useful method of prolonging life through a question.
Following Li Shanchang's and Zhu Biao's advice, he had also issued an edict to compile medical texts and a pharmacopoeia, taking the opportunity to gather renowned physicians from across the realm in the capital to exchange medical knowledge and advance medicine in Great Ming.
Still, he wanted to hear what Zhang Liang, Xiao He, and the other advisers of the early Han had to suggest. In any case, the three of them were now allies, so there was no need to count how often they helped one another.
[Zhu Yuanzhang: Han Gaozu, let's hear it.]
[Liu Bang: What you wanted before was really just to keep your eldest grandson, your first wife, and your eldest son from dying early of illness, so they could live longer. Am I right?]
[Zhu Yuanzhang: Correct.]
[Liu Bang: During our last chat, this Rebel Army Group actually gave us guidance on that. First, maintain discipline and moderation in daily habits, diet, and the like. Second, those words: "value medicine and Development Medicine."]
[Liu Bang: After discussing it, Zhang Liang, Xiao He, and the others thought you might model an institution on the old Jixia Academy of Qi and establish a "Medical Academy."]
[Liu Bang: Attract renowned physicians from across the realm with rewards such as high offices, generous salaries, grand residences, and hefty sums of money, and have them exchange knowledge and discuss medicine in this Medical Academy. You could also award different titles, such as scholar, master, or teacher, according to their medical abilities, highlighting the prestige of those with superior skills and helping them make their names.]
[Liu Bang: I hear that in the Jixia Academy of old, the Hundred Schools regularly debated questions such as "a white horse is not a horse," while many distinguished scholars lectured on their learning and ideas. It produced quite a few eminent men as a result.]
[Liu Bang: If you adopt this plan, Great Ming will surely produce more renowned physicians. Who knows? They might even find cures for illnesses previously considered incurable.]
Inside Changle Palace, Liu Bang recounted the suggestions one by one from the bamboo slips recording that day's discussion among Zhang Liang, Xiao He, and the other two, while his own thoughts began to wander.
Upon hearing about the former glory of the Jixia Academy that day, he had conceived the idea of establishing an "academy" in Chang'an as well. It would gather the Hundred Schools, scattered throughout the realm by the wars at the end of the Qin, in Chang'an, allowing all manner of ideas and learning beneficial to Great Han to emerge.
As one of the Hundred Schools, the school of medicine, though counted among the lesser schools, could also flourish in this academy with his support.
But Xiao He told him that building such an "academy" and supporting the realm's eminent scholars would likely cost even more than constructing and maintaining Changle and Weiyang Palaces. Great Han's current finances could not bear it.
Zhang Liang and Lou Jing also told him that the flourishing of the Hundred Schools had its drawbacks-some of their ideas and doctrines might undermine Great Han's rule.
For one thing, there were bound to be advocates of feudal enfeoffment among the Hundred Schools.
Although Great Han currently maintained both commanderies and kingdoms, Liu Bang and his key subordinates, such as Xiao He, believed the realm should achieve true unity through the commandery-and-county system. Only then could they prevent a return to the pre-Qin era, when rival states had waged war for hundreds of years.
On the Great Ming side.
After reading Liu Bang's messages, Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes lit up with a hint of delighted surprise.
"Truly worthy of being advisers of the early Han whose names have endured through the ages. They came up with a fine idea for me using only pre-Qin history as their guide."
"That old fellow Li Shanchang-I wonder if he thought of this and didn't tell me, or if he really isn't as good as Zhang Liang and Xiao He... I'm being foolish. Of course he isn't as good as Zhang Liang and Xiao He."
"The Jixia Academy, the Medical Academy... I suppose it could be seen as a different sort of Imperial Academy, focused on medicine?"
Zhu Yuanzhang did not ponder for long before gathering his thoughts.
The Rebel Army Group had not remained open very long on either of the previous two occasions, making this time precious. Thus, while it was open, he should focus on talking with Liu Bang and Zhang Jiao. He could consider the establishment of the Medical Academy in detail after the chat ended.
With that thought, Zhu Yuanzhang typed.
[Zhu Yuanzhang: The Medical Academy plan is indeed sound. Thank you, Han Gaozu. Zhang Jiao, do you have any difficulties to raise? If not, I'll answer Han Gaozu's earlier question about Han Xin first.]
Zhang Jiao did have something to ask, but he felt that he had yet to offer Liu Bang or Zhu Yuanzhang any help. His own question was not urgent, so he might as well let Liu Bang have the opportunity.
[Zhang Jiao: Brother Zhu, you may answer Han Gaozu's question first.]
[Liu Bang: Thanks, Brother Zhang. Old Zhu, stop dawdling and tell me already.]