Lingnan's Lingering Trouble

"Brother Zhongweng, I'm sorry!"

The matter stemmed from a student's question about whether he could fill his stomach. There was Zhongweng's roundabout response, as well as Dong Zhongshu's slightly revised and more accurate statement.

When Dong Zhongshu chatted with Zhang Xuezhou after the match, he casually mentioned some related matters.

Zhang Xuezhou's addition became the straw that broke the camel's back for many students' mental state.

Seeing his old friend's students leaving one after another, Dong Zhongshu felt that things had gone wrong.

He, the supporter who came to show his support, seemed to have become the one who ruined the event.

"It's alright!"

The middle-aged man waved his hand, indicating that he was used to such things.

Clothing, food, housing, and transportation—each is an important aspect of life.

Being able to read a few sentences and recognize a few characters is not enough to fill one's stomach. For more than 90% of the people in the Han Dynasty, the most important thing was to keep warm and well-fed.

Without material satisfaction, it is impossible to talk about spiritual development.

However, governing a region cannot rely solely on a group of people who simply want to be fed and clothed. It requires people who understand construction, people who understand laws, people who know how to apply rules, people who understand the imperial system, and people who can learn from the experiences of better regions...

This was not something that a learned prefect could accomplish on his own.

The focus of the academy was not on having a few famous people to attend, nor on having a large number of students.

For him, the key is to strike a balance between material and spiritual well-being while cultivating talented individuals.

A group of people with weak will left, but some with strong will stayed.

What seems like a disaster is actually a good thing for him from another perspective.

The middle-aged man indicated that he was fine and then continued speaking.

"Let's talk about this a bit further away. How did you end up in Sichuan?"

His own fame did not attract any students, and he even helped his old friend get rid of a group of people, which made Dong Zhongshu lose face.

But he was indeed somewhat curious about Zhang Xuezhou.

The journey from Lingnan to Bashu is thousands of miles long, and the mountains and rivers along the way are difficult to cross, making it a challenging obstacle for most people.

"To put it simply, I was grabbed by a bird demon and lifted into the air, then it was struck by lightning, and then I fell here," Zhang Xuezhou said.

Your explanation is a bit far-fetched!

Dong Zhongshu thought Zhang Xuezhou was talking nonsense.

But a muffled clap of thunder in the night sky made him soften his words considerably.

Dong Zhongshu gazed at the night sky illuminated by lightning, only to see that the high sky was covered with dark clouds, not the pure blackness of night.

He touched his cheek, and a raindrop immediately fell onto his head.

Let's go over there and take shelter from the rain!

Dong Zhongshu pointed to the few wooden sheds that had been temporarily erected at the academy, and then strode inside.

It's raining! It's raining!

The two had only been inside the shed for a little over ten seconds when a student shouted, and everyone scattered, taking shelter in various wooden sheds to keep out the rain.

Only the middle-aged man lecturing remained seated on the lecture platform in the center of the academy, giving his presentation.

"This teacher is so dedicated!" Zhang Xuezhou exclaimed.

"You haven't even studied under him, so why are you calling him 'teacher'?" Dong Zhongshu corrected him. "He is Wen Weng, the governor of Shu Commandery. By proper etiquette, you should address him as Governor Wen!"

"Prefect Wen is truly dedicated," Zhang Xuezhou nodded.

"This is not dedication, but rather Wen Weng's mastery of the art of wind and rain, which makes it difficult for these winds and rains to affect his body," Dong Zhongshu continued to correct.

"That evasion technique is amazing!"

Zhang Xuezhou thought for a moment, then offered a sincere compliment.

He possessed nine evasion techniques, including a water-avoidance technique, but this technique only prevented him from drowning; it did not prevent Zhang Xuezhou from getting wet.

If it rains and Zhang Xuezhou gets soaked to the bone, that's perfectly normal.

But Prefect Wen's magic of wind and rain could prevent rainwater from getting on his body, which amazed Zhang Xuezhou.

"If you say that Wen Weng's control over this technique is extremely subtle, then I will admit it. But where is the power in his technique?" Dong Zhongshu disagreed.

Good is good, bad is bad, Dong Zhongshu quickly corrected Zhang Xuezhou's words.

As a master of his school of thought, he acted with integrity and impartiality in his academic and cognitive judgments, and he did not mince words.

This even affected his character.

This also led to Dong Zhongshu doing unpopular and less rewarding work for many years.

For example, he took over Grand Commandant Zhou's task and asked Zhang Xuezhou to Zou Bugui.

For example, he traveled to Bashu to find out what Prefect Wen wanted to convey to Emperor Jing.

Doing these things poorly can lead to serious problems, but doing them well doesn't bring much achievement.

In short, Dong Zhongshu could take on any task that was troublesome and unprofitable; these were the only tasks he could get in the imperial court.

Upon seeing Zhang Xuezhou, who offered no explanation, and recalling his disastrous trip to Lingnan, and even more so, the utterly unfortunate Grand Commandant Zhou, Dong Zhongshu felt that nothing in life was good.

He stared at Zhang Xuezhou, then moved a little closer before speaking to him in a low voice.

What were the battle scenes like that you witnessed in Lingnan at that time?

Many things have been left unfinished during the trip to Lingnan, but many other things are still involved and continue to have related effects.

Dong Zhongshu felt as if a fog was shrouding Lingnan, and a fog was also shrouding the imperial court.

He couldn't see the truth within the fog, but he still wanted to know.

But very few people returned alive from Lingnan, and even fewer had witnessed the true state of the battlefield.

"I'm referring to His Majesty's slaying of that giant serpent with a human face," Dong Zhongshu said in a low voice.

"It's been two years, why are you asking this?" Zhang Xuezhou asked curiously, "Weren't you there at the time?"

"I was protecting Changqing while he played the zither, and my mind was entirely focused on Changqing. I didn't witness the final confrontation," Dong Zhongshu said. "This matter is very important to me. Could you tell me about it?"

Coming to Sichuan was a tough job, but Dong Zhongshu discovered a new path opening up before him.

If he hadn't come to Sichuan, he would have had a very difficult time meeting the eyewitnesses from that time.

"Where is your Changqing?"

"He suffered terribly; the giant snake's attack blinded him, and he hasn't recovered since, let alone been able to see anything clearly back then!"

Those who returned alive from Lingnan included Dong Zhongshu, Sima Xiangru, the Crown Wei Qing, Wei Qing, Zhang Qian, and Lu Neng, the chief of the palace guards.

Among the crowd, Dong Zhongshu and Sima Xiangru the main force in protection and spellcasting, and were constantly in the state of casting spells without any time to spare. The Crown Prince and Wei Qing were the victims of the attack, and the palace guard chief Lu Neng was desperately protecting the Crown Prince. Zhang Qian and Zhang Xuezhou were just hiding behind them and playing a minor role.

Few people had the leisure to observe the clash between Emperor Jing and the Emperor, and only Zhang Qian and Zhang Xuezhou survived.

Zhang Qian was summoned to the palace by the crown prince, and then returned to Yanmen Pass without saying a word.

Only Zhang Xuezhou remained.

The atmosphere at court was very strange in the past two years; Emperor Jing even punished Grand Commandant Zhou on charges of rebellion.

Dong Zhongshu sensed that something was brewing in the imperial court.

All of this was triggered by the trip to Lingnan.

When Dong Zhongshu thought about the emperor he had met in the palace and vaguely sensed that something was wrong, he was even more afraid that he would fall into the same trap as Grand Commandant Zhou because he was involved in the trip to Lingnan.

For Dong Zhongshu, only by understanding what exactly happened at the time and accurately assessing the true situation of the court could he make the right response.