The heart piercing policy question from the imperial examination left You Chu anxious for several days.
But with his elder brother Zhang Ji returning safely, that worry was quickly thrown to the back of his mind.
Then, ten days later, when the results were posted and he saw his name on the list, You Chu completely stopped thinking about it.
Because the Left General was clearly eager for talent, all those who passed were required to report to the General's Residence on the very day of the announcement.
You Chu naturally recognized the Left General. After all, this imperial uncle never put on airs and was close to the people. As long as one had the heart to look, it was not difficult to see him in person.
But today's Liu Huangshu had removed that nearly farmer like outfit. Dressed in splendid robes and wearing a sword, he carried an air of authority without needing to show anger.
After roll call, when each person was received individually, You Chu did not even dare raise his head to meet his gaze.
What he did not expect at all was that after he entered and paid his respects, while he was still standing there with a pounding heart and wandering thoughts, a pair of broad hands full of calluses directly wrapped around both of his hands.
"I have long heard the name You Chu. Seeing you today, you truly are a man with ravines and valleys in your chest."
When he looked up, this Left General in splendid robes seemed to have shed another layer of majesty. His smile was kind and very approachable.
You Chu's nose immediately turned sour.
Han officials valued appearance and bearing, and he was short in stature and often looked down upon.
His elder brother Zhang Ji had recommended him several times before, but because of his height, he had repeatedly hit walls.
For the Left General to value him like this was something You Chu had never experienced in his life.
"Come, Zhongyun, sit and speak."
With his nose still sour, You Chu was pulled by Liu Bei to a seat cushion and pressed down to sit.
Only then did he suddenly realize something seemed off. What name did he, You Chu, have that could be long heard? And normally it should be said, long heard of You Zhongyun, right?
Liu Bei did not care about that. After sitting down with a smile, he began to ask You Chu several practical questions.
For example, if Qiang people in Guanzhong were falsely accused, how should they be judged.
For example, there were still remnants of Xiongnu tribes in Yong and Liang provinces. What attitude should be adopted toward them.
For example, Zhangye, Jiuquan, and Dunhuang were far from the Central Plains. Should they be loosely controlled or directly abandoned.
These were all topics You Chu was familiar with, so he focused and answered them one by one. When Liu Bei mentioned the distance of Jiuquan and Dunhuang, You Chu even became so excited that he stood up and declared.
"Although the Western Regions are bitter and cold, since ancient times they have been Han territory. If no one guards them, I am willing to go."
"Before the examination, thanks to the Left General's grace, I had lodging in the Imperial Academy. There I gained a friend named Zhou Shenglie, skilled in refined speech and knowledgeable in the classics."
"According to Zhou Shenglie, his ancestors moved to Dunhuang during Emperor Xuan's time. Since then, generation after generation have lived in Dunhuang, reciting the sages' words and observing Huaxia rites. Dunhuang is also Han territory."
"Zhou Shenglie answered the General's call as a Han son. How could the General bear to abandon the homeland of Han people?"
This righteous questioning made Liu Bei burst into laughter. He hurriedly stood up and apologized, saying this was only idle talk, and added.
"If I wished to abandon Dunhuang and Jiuquan, why would I send Zhang Yide to lead your elder brother and others to suppress the unrest in Liang Province?"
These reasonable words made You Chu repeatedly apologize. Then Liu Bei asked casually.
"The powerful Xu clan of Puban County has sent people, saying they wish to offer one hundred gold to support driving out the Cao bandits. What do you think?"
You Chu suggested without hesitation.
"General, why not accept the one hundred gold?"
"If I accept the gold and then ignore the Xu clan of Puban, that seems inappropriate." Liu Bei frowned.
"Why ignore them?"
"The Xu clan does not respect royal law and runs rampant in the countryside. My elder brother once served as county magistrate. When he passed through there to seek justice for the people, he was instead whipped thirty times by the Xu clan and humiliated."
"Such strongmen should be purged by the General to relieve the people's suffering."
This operation of taking the money and still taking action sounded completely normal from You Chu's mouth. And he clearly explained the grudge between the Xu clan and his brother, not worrying at all about being suspected of using public matters for private revenge.
Liu Bei listened with a smile. After thinking briefly, he said.
"I wish to recruit Zhongyun as a clerk in the General's Residence. I wonder…"
You Chu was overjoyed and immediately accepted.
"I am willing to guard Han soil in the northern lands for the General."
Liu Bei shook his head.
"Not guard. To destroy Cao bandits and sweep Jiangdong, and to make the four commanderies of Emperor Wu internal territory, that is my lifelong wish."
You Chu was momentarily stunned. For a moment, he did not know whether the Left General meant the Hexi Four Commanderies or the Four Han Commanderies of Liaodong.
But either way, such words were enough to clearly reveal towering ambition.
At this point, You Chu began to feel uncertain. The final policy question of the examination asked who should rule the world. What exactly had he written back then.
Could it be that he had written something flattering and sycophantic to receive such favor?
Watching You Chu's departing back, Liu Bei also let out a light breath and murmured.
"Another good talent gained."
This You Chu, in later generations, was mentioned only in a few brief lines when speaking of Chancellor Zhuge's six northern expeditions to Qishan, seeming completely unremarkable.
But from another angle, the annals of history are clear. Anyone who can be recorded in history without an evil reputation, even briefly, which one is not a fine talent of their time?
As for Zhou Shenglie, Shi Delin, Jiao Xian, and others, from the examination they were all clearly not ordinary. But later generations indeed did not mention their names. At this moment, Liu Bei vaguely understood the embarrassment his son would face decades later when governing according to the Memorial of Chu Shi and encountering Jiang Wei.
I know your talent, but there is no name for you in the memorial.
Of course, these were just joking thoughts. In reality, all three were recorded as having passed the examination and all had places to display their ambitions.
Only one case.
Pinching his brow, Liu Bei pulled out an exam paper from beneath the desk. This policy essay was ordinary and unremarkable. But in the blank space of the paper, the candidate had written his name and clan, and stated he wished to gift one hundred gold and over a thousand troops.
Liu Bei shook his head and looked at the unsealed name, which read, Xu Ying of Puban.
He gave a cold laugh.
With people like this, this should make for a good New Year.
As for You Chu, he had been completely open. When speaking of Xu Ying, he had thought of avoiding suspicion, but quickly realized that such a grudge could be discovered with minimal inquiry. Deliberately hiding it would instead be inferior.
As for whether Xuande would ignore it, You Chu was not afraid.
Now his elder brother Zhang Ji, for his merit in suppressing Liang Province, served under Zhang Fei as Commander for Pacifying Rong.
Today, he himself had also been appointed as a clerk in the General's Residence.
Although neither brother could yet be considered prominent, they were certainly not people Xu Ying could casually bully.
Just wait and see.
As for now, feeling the pouch of coins his elder brother gave him, You Chu showed a relaxed smile.
Of course he would cut two or three jin of meat, buy some wine, and go back to tell his elder brother this good news.
In previous years, the winter slack season felt like days lasting years because there was nothing to do and the cold was bitter.
But this winter was not like that.
Perhaps because Chang'an's population was still not large, the coal cakes transported from Hanzhong were in surplus and sold cheaply.
The Imperial Academy also seized this time to vigorously promote education.
On the basis of promoting common literacy, they taught farming to old farmers and classics to children. For women and young adults, the various workshops and training halls inside the Academy were even better destinations. Here they could clearly learn techniques such as weaving and papermaking, and also negotiate whether to work, waiting only for the workshops to be completed to begin labor.
Originally, the Academy's teaching assistants alone were not enough for this. Fortunately, those who failed the examination had no immediate intention of leaving Chang'an to return home. Literacy was only a basic requirement among them, so most responded to the Academy's call and became part of this literacy education effort.
In fact, this was also part of the overall examination plan. And just as Kongming had expected, the participation of examination candidates quickly produced the first changes.
Since the Academy did not deliberately keep secrets, the methods for making tofu pudding, steaming soft buns, and making jiao'er, the ancient name for dumplings, all spread smoothly and produced the first batch of street vendors.
Unfortunately, there were not many soybeans left in Chang'an. With tofu pudding becoming extremely popular, soybean prices rose quickly. Those citizens who had casually planted beans unexpectedly made a profit.
Soon, people began trying to make bean products with beans other than soybeans. Kongming, seeing their colorful appearance, even tasted them out of curiosity and evaluated them as, edible.
What surprised Kongming most was that overnight, many warm houses appeared in Chang'an.
Curious, he sent Ma Zhong to investigate and found the reason was quite simple.
Since the Former Han, growing vegetables in warm houses in winter was no secret. But for common people, charcoal for winter heating was barely enough to survive. How could they have spare resources to set up warm houses?
But now there were coal cakes, which burned long and were cheap. Combined with the great popularity of dumplings, and the fact that chives, a main ingredient, were famously easy to grow in warm houses, it was not strange that warm houses suddenly sprang up everywhere.
It was just that it was said several people had already fainted in the warm houses. Zhang Zhongjing, while busy exploring allicin, also had to investigate why warm houses caused people to faint, making him extremely busy.
Amid this winter rhythm so different from the past, the most uncomfortable person was You Chu.
Previously, because of appearance issues, his recommendations had failed. He could only watch his elder brother toil and feel envious.
Now that he had entered the General's Residence, he was so busy every day that his shoe soles were nearly worn through. Instead, he began to envy his previous leisurely life.
After a month like this, one day when he returned, he saw his elder brother drinking alone in the courtyard, staring into space.
"Elder Brother came back so early today?" You Chu asked curiously. His brother now, besides leading troops, also went to the Imperial Academy to borrow books to read. He did not want to fall behind in either civil or military matters. One could say he was even busier than You Chu.
Zhang Ji nodded, raised a cup of wine and drank it in one gulp, then said lightly.
"I took leave today to visit General Zhang."
"General Zhang…"
You Chu's first reaction was Zhang Yide, but he immediately realized that was impossible. He then tested.
"General Zhang Junyi?"
Zhang Ji nodded, poured another cup of wine, and stared at it as he spoke in a low voice.
"Tomorrow is Laba. I went early to visit. General Junyi looked full of worry but said nothing."
"I cannot understand it. General Junyi said the Left General has not made things difficult for him. He only needs Cao to send a letter requesting him, and he will be returned."
"But General Junyi's family is all in Ye City. He cannot serve the Left General. How could Xudu possibly ignore this?"
You Chu knew his brother's inner conflict. After thinking, he could only comfort him from another angle.
"If so, when Lord Xuande leaves Tong Pass next year to retake the old capital, Elder Brother will not have to face General Junyi. Just let General Yide capture Xiahou once more."
His words were sharp. Zhang Ji said nothing and only drank another full cup.
His sworn brother, because of his short stature, had been looked down upon by the Cao and Xiahou clans and thus harbored resentment. That was why he could so decisively side with the Left General. Zhang Ji understood that.
Letting out a breath of turbid air, Zhang Ji said with feeling.
"If there were no Cao Liu conflicts, serving the Han and campaigning west with General Junyi to expand the borders, how good would that be."
His voice gradually faded until it could no longer be heard. After speaking, Zhang Ji fell backward and fell asleep just like that.
You Chu sighed, struggled to drag his brother back into the room and cover him with bedding, then finally remembered.
"It's Laba already…"
"Holes in broken walls buried the dead last year. New houses shelter new people this year."
Humming an off key verse, You Chu shook his brother's wine flask and found little left. He directly lifted it and drank the rest, wiped his mouth, and planned to go back to sleep.
Just as he had taken off his shoes, he suddenly remembered something. Hopping on one foot, he went to open a small crack in his brother's bedroom window.
Although it was said that Doctor Zhang claimed only completely sealed warm houses would cause charcoal gas to make people faint, being cautious was never a bad thing.
Besides, my elder brother has campaigned in Liang Province. What is a little cold?
The next day, when You Chu arrived at the General's Residence, he was given a bowl of mixed grain and fruit porridge at the gate. The soldiers said this followed Spring and Autumn customs, boiling a year's labor into porridge to pray for next year's harvest. The meaning was quite good.
He finished it in a few mouthfuls and returned the bowl, then immediately ran to find the physician in the General's Residence.
"My elder brother has caught a chill. Please prepare a dose of cold remedy soup, and also a dose of Guizhi Decoction."
After delivering the medicine and bringing back a bowl of Laba porridge, and watching Zhang Ji drink it with half closed eyes, You Chu ran back to return the bowl and then began his duties for the day.
From Laba onward, You Chu could feel that the atmosphere in Chang'an had begun to change. Naturally, this was because the New Year was approaching.
As the days drew closer, You Chu found it increasingly difficult to keep all his attention on official duties.
Street vendors increased. Compared to previous years, there was much more food.
The simplest was the kind of soft and sweet steamed buns eaten during the examination. In Guanzhong, this was also called momo. This special method was now collectively called Uncle Emperor buns.
In addition, various tofu puddings of different thickness, and sugar blocks sent from Chengdu were all quite novel.
There were also Chengdu merchants who opened paper shops in Chang'an, and launched several kinds of colored and patterned paper. It was said these were used to write name cards to give as New Year greetings, called greeting cards.
Most important of all was Chang'an's consistently stable grain prices.
Some said this was because the Left General had Yi Province behind him, with Shu's fertility beyond measure.
Others said this was because General Zhang Yide, on the Left General's orders, measured and confiscated the lands of the powerful Xu clan of Puban, seizing dozens of carts of grain and wealth.
In short, although it was the depth of winter, some elderly in Chang'an sighed that Chang'an had not seen such clear skies in decades.
What truly surprised You Chu most was that on the twenty third of the twelfth month, Lord Xuande summoned everyone in the residence to hold a simple sealing ceremony, saying they would rest for the New Year and reopen on the fifth day.
As You Chu was leaving, Lord Xuande called him over.
"Post this in the streets and alleys of Chang'an."
Motivated by the holiday, You Chu worked quickly. Soon, citizens gathering outside also clustered together, trying to read the words.
"On New Year's Eve, a New Year's celebration will be held before the old imperial palace. There will be Nuo performances and Iron Trees with Silver Flowers. Let us welcome the New Year together."
"Iron Trees with Silver Flowers. What is that?"