As an emperor who had founded a new dynasty, Liu Bang thought his origins were already humble enough.
Although one of his ancestors had served as a high minister in the State of Wei, and his grandfather had been the head of Fengyi, making the family minor nobility of a sort.
By his father Liu Taigong's generation, however, all that remained was less than a hundred mu of farmland, leaving them little different from an ordinary farming household.
Thus, he often called himself a man of the poor quarters. Although he had become a village constable, he had not even counted as a formal official of Great Qin.
Despite such humble origins, he had led a band of old brothers from Pei County to contend for the realm against Xiang Yu and others-and won it. Whenever he thought of it, he found it incredible, yet felt proud.
He had never imagined that later ages would produce a founding emperor whose origins were far humbler than his own.
According to Zhu Yuanzhang, his mother, elder brother, and father had all died of illness and starvation. His family clearly had no grain to spare and had belonged to the poorest stratum of society.
Besides, although Liu Bang did not know what Zhu Yuanzhang meant by being a "monk," he knew what a beggar was.
At that thought, Liu Bang recalled the earlier quick-answer question about an emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
[Liu Bang: Old Zhu, could the "beggar emperor" in that quick-answer question have been you?]
[Zhu Yuanzhang: I'm not afraid of you laughing at me. Back then, I sought alms as a wandering monk, but in truth, I was no different from a beggar.]
Having seen "monk" and "wandering monk" several times, Liu Bang wanted to ask what they meant, but felt that the matter clearly was not important enough to waste time on.
[Zhang Jiao: I truly never imagined that, with such origins and after so much hardship, Brother Zhu could still become a founding sovereign and establish a new dynasty. That is truly admirable.]
Clearly, Zhu Yuanzhang's origins and experiences had shocked Zhang Jiao as well.
However, his own origins were not much better than Zhu Yuanzhang's. His family had once owned a little poor farmland, but local strongmen had seized it. Brutal officials demanding taxes had crippled his father, who later died of illness, and his family had then become tenant farmers.
At their poorest, he too had taken his mother and two younger brothers to beg from others, but only for a brief period, not for more than three years.
Just as Zhang Jiao was silently comparing his own origins with those of Liu Bang and Zhu Yuanzhang, Liu Bang suddenly brought up another matter in the group.
[Liu Bang: Zhang Jiao, you said earlier that neither Zhang Bao nor Zhang Liang could take charge of the Yellow Turban Army after you, while Chu Yan would struggle to win everyone over in the short term. I have an idea you might want to hear. Old Zhu, help me think it through too.]
Because Liu Bang had twice been the first to speak up for Zhang Jiao and resolve his doubts, Zhang Jiao now thought quite well of him. In truth, although he had risen against the Han, he had never harbored any ill will toward Liu Bang, who had founded Former Han.
Hearing that Liu Bang seemed to have something to ask of him, he immediately replied.
[Zhang Jiao: Please speak freely, Han Gaozu.]
[Liu Bang: Ah, Han Gaozu is a temple name for a dead man, after all. Hearing it over and over just feels wrong. From now on, call me Emperor Gao of Han or Old Liu instead. Liu Bang or Liu Ji is fine too.]
Zhang Jiao and Zhu Yuanzhang were briefly taken aback by these words, then felt embarrassed.
In their own eras, there was nothing wrong with calling Liu Bang Han Gaozu. But when facing a living Liu Bang, it was indeed inappropriate.
Had Liu Bang not brought it up, neither would have thought to change it.
[Liu Bang: I remember Old Zhu saying that one of my descendants, Liu Bei, was the founding sovereign of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms. Since he could become a founding sovereign, he must have considerable ability.]
[What do you think-could we have him join the Yellow Turban Army now? That way, Zhang Jiao, if you truly cannot survive the calamity of your fatal illness, with Chu Yan and Liu Bei, two men who both achieved quite a lot in history, the Yellow Turban Army could surely be preserved. They might even end the chaos of the Late Han, establish a new dynasty, and prevent the Uprising of the Five Barbarians.]
[Besides, if you do survive that calamity, recruiting Liu Bei into the Yellow Turban Army would give you another great general. Either way, you lose nothing.]
Zhang Jiao felt a stirring in his heart.
Although the idea had never occurred to him before, Liu Bang's explanation struck him as quite reasonable.
Moreover, if even a member of the Han Imperial Clan joined him, would that not further prove that "Blue Heaven is dead; Yellow Heaven shall rise"?
At that thought, Zhang Jiao was about to agree when Zhu Yuanzhang's words appeared in the group.
[Zhu Yuanzhang: I fear Liu Bei could never join the Yellow Turbans. History records that, although his family had fallen on hard times and he had to weave straw sandals for a living, he greatly valued his honored lineage as a descendant of Prince Jing of Zhongshan and aspired to revive the Han Dynasty.]
[Moreover, according to historical works such as Records of the Three Kingdoms, not long after the Yellow Turban Rebellion began, he and his sworn brothers Guan Yu and Zhang Fei trained several hundred soldiers and helped suppress the Yellow Turbans as local militia from Ji Province.]
[Finally, his teacher was Lu Zhi, so he probably followed Lu Zhi in attacking Guangzong. He might even still be in the Han Army's camps outside Guangzong City right now.]
Both Liu Bang and Zhang Jiao were surprised by these messages.
Of course, Liu Bang had his own motives for suggesting that Liu Bei join the Yellow Turbans.
In his view, Later Han was indeed beyond saving. But if Liu Bei, the founding sovereign of Shu Han, could inherit Zhang Jiao's forces, perhaps the dynasty he eventually founded would not be Shu Han, but a third Great Han following Former Han and Later Han!
Nor was he simply using Zhang Jiao.
If Zhang Jiao survived, or if Chu Yan proved more capable than Liu Bei, then Liu Bei would naturally become a great general under Zhang Jiao or Chu Yan, rather than a founding sovereign.
He had never imagined that Liu Bei had stood against the Yellow Turban Army from the very beginning, and had even fought them.
That alone would have been one thing. The crucial point was that Liu Bei's ambition was to "restore the Han Dynasty," which meant he would find it very difficult to stand alongside the anti-Han Yellow Turban Army.
As for Zhang Jiao, his surprise came purely from never having imagined that a future sovereign of the Three Kingdoms might be among the Han Army outside the city.
[Liu Bang: Old Zhu, from what you know of Liu Bei, is there any chance he could change his ambition and join the Yellow Turban Army?]
[Zhu Yuanzhang: Liu Bei should only be in his twenties now, but he spent more than twenty years drifting through the chaos of the Late Han, rising and falling, without ever abandoning his desire to restore the Han Dynasty. Even when he finally established Shu Han, he first proclaimed himself king. Only after learning that Cao Pi had usurped the Han throne and proclaimed himself emperor did he take the imperial title, to carry on the Han succession.]
[With a man who lived through all that, I hardly need to tell you, Han Gao... Emperor Gao of Han. Surely you can understand that he is unlikely to change his ambition and join the Yellow Turbans.]
[Liu Bang: Your old man here thought this Liu Bei was something impressive. But from what you've said, he led troops against the Yellow Turbans soon after the rebellion began, yet took more than twenty years of muddling along to establish one of the Three Kingdoms? His abilities don't seem all that good.]
Zhu Yuanzhang had not expected that reaction from Liu Bang.
Still, considering that Liu Bang had taken only seven years to go from rebelling against Qin to founding Great Han, Liu Bei's experiences and achievements did indeed fall far short of his.
But after reflecting on the history of the closing years of Later Han, Zhu Yuanzhang could not resist saying a word in Liu Bei's defense.
[Zhu Yuanzhang: Although Liu Bei's talents fell far short of yours, Emperor Gao of Han, and also of his contemporary Cao Cao's, he was still an outstanding figure of the closing years of Later Han. The circumstances then were very different from those of the Late Qin.]
[Liu Bang: Since Liu Bei's ambition runs counter to the Yellow Turban Army's, and his ability is lacking too, forget I ever suggested having him join the Yellow Turbans.]
Zhu Yuanzhang could not help imagining what might happen if Liu Bei really did join the Yellow Turbans. He was just about to say something when the Administrator appeared.
[Administrator: This group chat has now ended. Please look forward to the next session.] [The letters across time and space feature has also been enabled. Each group member will receive one letter sheet to try it out. To obtain more letter sheets, please make more preparations for activities such as "Rebel Army Q&A."]
The translucent group chat display before Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes disappeared, replaced by a translucent sheet of paper.
When he looked at the sheet, information about its functions and restrictions surfaced in his mind.
"Group members may compose a letter to another group member on the letter sheet through silent thought, and may also write a reply. Each letter sheet is limited to two thousand characters, and regardless of its length, each sheet may address only one matter."
"After completing the letter, simply think of sending it to a particular group member, and that recipient will receive the letter sheet."
As this information surfaced in his mind, Zhu Yuanzhang first felt delighted, then frowned slightly.
The two-thousand-character limit isn't much of an issue, but allowing only one matter per sheet is rather stingy.
Still, having these letter sheets is better than having none. At least I can use them to explain affairs of state to Liu Bang that require lengthy descriptions, so Xiao He, Zhang Liang, and the other advisers of the early Han can help devise plans.
I just don't know how hard these letter sheets will be to obtain. If I can stockpile a few, or even a dozen or several dozen, I'll be able to communicate with Liu Bang and Zhang Jiao many times even while the group chat is closed.
At that thought, Zhu Yuanzhang's brow relaxed.
Then, with a thought, the translucent letter sheet before his eyes vanished. At another thought, it reappeared.
Only after trying this several times did Zhu Yuanzhang turn his attention elsewhere and pick up a stack of densely written papers from his desk. They contained the Administrator's explanation of "how to value and develop medicine."
"Attend me."
"Your servant is here." Yunqi entered from outside the hall.
"Go summon the crown prince and the Duke of Han."
"Yes."