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Long ago.
More precisely, back when my master was still alive, and I was claiming to be just plain old Chunsik instead of Lü Bu.
"Disciple. What is justice?"
Michael Sandel...?
That name immediately sprang to mind, but I couldn't bring myself to say it out loud.
"Justice means what is right and proper."
"You're thinking of something else first, then reciting it straight from the book."
"..."
My master knew me far too well.
"Then let me continue. What can be called right and proper?"
"Performing good deeds."
"Performing good. Indeed. If one pursues good and shuns evil, any human can live virtuously."
My master asked.
"So, in this era, what does it mean to pursue good?"
"..."
"Protecting one's family? Exposing corruption? Achieving fame and glory through service?"
"What do you think is good, Master?"
"Once, I believed the Clear Stream faction was good."
My master had belonged to the Clear Stream faction in the capital.
"Based on the myriad principles I learned at Luoyang's Imperial Academy, I thought purging the court of sycophants and removing those who blinded the Emperor would bring justice and order. Unlike those eunuch scum, we... ah, you're spacing out again."
"Sorry. Could you summarize it in three characters?"
"Very well. You want me to get straight to the point, don't you?"
"As expected, Master, you're different from those stuffy old fools. We actually communicate."
My master sighed deeply, tapping the table with his empty bamboo pipe that didn't even have any smoke coming from it.
"Justice can only be asserted with power."
"..."
"Without power, even the pursuit of justice is just an empty echo. So, what is power?"
"Martial might, authority, capital..."
"Pulling in more strange words. Not wrong, but call it 'financial power' instead."
"Hey, as long as the meaning gets across, isn't that fine?"
"Can you even write that 'capital' nonsense properly?"
Oh.
I knew it used the character for 'root' as its base, but was it the one for assets?
No, wealth is the character for 'wealth'...
"Enough. Debating word usage with you would just give me a headache, so back to the main point."
"Thank you, Master."
"Only when those with power pursue justice does the law stand straight and the people go unfed. And the current court is a world where the powerful are too busy lining their own pockets."
My master had been ousted from the court's political struggles.
"I had no power. I learned the emptiness of the powerless. The pain of that day, when I was dragged out of the palace by two soldiers alongside my colleagues, still throbs."
I'd heard he'd submitted a memorial.
He'd exposed a eunuch's corruption, only for that eunuch to brand him and his academy fellows as traitors and try to execute them.
"To change the realm, one must seize power in the court. To gain power in the court, one must claim high central authority. And for that, personal strength alone isn't enough—one must build a 'faction'."
"Are you telling me to start my own kingdom?"
"You never miss a chance to say something outrageous. If this weren't just between us, you'd be reported for treason and executed right now. Though you wouldn't go down quietly."
My master had warned me time and again.
Don't spout nonsense anywhere that could get you turned into morning dew on the execution grounds.
Words that slipped out from my modern sensibilities must have sounded utterly bizarre to him.
"Disciple. Do you want to change the world?"
"Yes."
My master often posed difficult questions, but some I could answer easily.
"How?"
"I want to create a world without bandits."
"A world without bandits. Is that truly easy?"
"It'll be a hard road, and ideologically impossible perhaps, but if we strive for it and aim for a world with 'almost no bandits', won't we reach that point someday?"
"..."
"To that end, I'll do my utmost with what I can. Though right now, the only method that comes to mind is wiping out the bandits."
"The nation."
My master spoke gravely.
"Soon, a great bandit horde will appear."
"Bigger than now?"
"These bandits aren't the sort you can capture by force and turn into soldiers or farmers working in Jinyang Fortress."
"Like the greenwood outlaws who make plundering their trade..."
"Greenwood. I don't know which mountain stronghold that refers to, but if we must compare, they're like the Xiongnu."
Those who live by seizing others' possessions.
"Anyway, as long as the point gets across, right?"
"Listening to you makes my gut twist."
"Master, even if I'm not the sharpest, I'm the smartest one around here you can chat with, aren't I?"
"You may have wisdom, but your intellect is merely mortal... so keep someone smarter by your side to fill that gap."
"..."
My master sometimes openly rebuked me, but this thick skull of mine was beyond my control.
"I'm not dumb."
"Have you memorized the Analects?"
"What's the point of rote recitation? Understanding the meaning and putting it into practice is what matters."
"Exactly why I say you have wisdom but not high intellect."
"Even if I haven't fully grasped the Four Books and Three Classics...!"
"There."
Thwack.
"There are no Four Books and Three Classics in this era, you fool."
"..."
"Someday, such a canon may be established. Scholars will debate what constitutes the Four Books and Three Classics. But at least in my time at the academy, no one dared arbitrarily codify the Hundred Schools' teachings that way. Even if classifications existed, they weren't called that."
Sometimes, my master dropped profoundly insightful words that hinted at deeper knowledge.
"Among the Hundred Schools, things that could pair with the Analects... argh."
Thwack.
"Why hit me?"
"You skimmed right over it, didn't you?"
"..."
"Fine, I get it. Rather than drag this out, I'll just canonize the Four Books and Three Classics before I die. Enough. Read the Analects daily, internalize it, and practice it."
He merely tapped my forehead with his smokeless bamboo pipe, urging me to keep studying.
"Disciple. Setting everything else aside, engrave these three things I say deep in your mind."
As always, my master concluded our dialogue to ensure it stuck.
"One. Cultivate power. The strength to assert your thoughts to others."
Whether martial might, authority, or financial power.
"Two. Don't let yourself be used. You handle this well enough without me saying it."
"Don't be a pushover... ah, got it. Ahem."
"I'm worried you'll still be like this after I'm gone."
"I'll be extra careful once I enter service."
"...Can't even sum up the third as 'watch your words'."
My master said.
"Three."
Not with his thick bamboo pipe, but with his slender, branch-like finger, he pointed at my chest.
"Never betray the heart you hold within."
"..."
"I believe even those innately wicked can be taught and guided to the righteous path—reformed. You already hold that method in your heart, so I trust you won't waver to greed."
"Master."
"Disciple."
My master asked.
"What justice do you hold in your heart?"
"Righteousness and chivalry."
"That's enough."
My master asked no more.
"I lacked much to change the realm, but I've left a North Star in the night sky for the one who will set justice aright. Now I can depart in peace."
That was the last teaching my master left me.
After the Battle to Rescue the Shangshan Great Farmstead.
About a month had passed.
"Feeling better, Hou Cheng?"
"Good as new now."
"And Zhang Liao?"
"He's diligently handling paperwork in my stead."
Back from his injury, Hou Cheng spun his arm around, showing off his recovered strength as he claimed.
"I told him well. He's smarter than me, so he must have grasped it quicker through this incident."
"Fortunate indeed. Hou Cheng, do you remember what I once told you?"
"A soldier's best time is when he's not holding a weapon."
"Right."
Having served nearly two years in a modern army, I thought so then—and even now, after a decade as a general in this Han dynasty, I still do.
"The only good time for a soldier to swing a weapon is in training."
"Not wielding weapons to fight enemies means the world is at peace. Zhang Liao must have realized that too."
"Yes."
We've warred against bandits for nearly ten years, but the best is still a peaceful world without them rampaging.
"That hot-blooded young pup has real depth of mind. Grand General material."
"Planning to serve under him when he becomes Grand General?"
"I'm his mentor in military administration, so I should become Grand General first."
"You know even cold water has a hierarchy?"
"You become Grand General first. Then we'll three become the Three Great Generals under you."
"Sounds good, but you'd have to wipe the eunuchs' asses for that. You okay with it?"
"Ugh."
Hou Cheng made no secret of his disgust.
"You want men who can't even act like men to guard them?"
"Literally wipe their asses. Some eunuchs are so bloated they can't even handle their own."
"Aren't normal eunuchs supposed to be skinny and frail?"
"Those types become court pigs from indulgence. How much luxury and debauchery do you think? And besides..."
I glanced around.
"How tightly do you think the Emperor clings to those Ten Attendants?"
"General. That's dangerous talk."
"Just between us. No one's around, so relax."
"...Brother."
Hou Cheng sighed heavily.
"They're saying Grand General He Jin is gathering warlords under him. Building a force to oppose the eunuchs."
"He has no choice. Local governors elsewhere can't even handle the rebellions properly."
Even in remote Bing Province, rumors from afar inevitably spread.
He Jin was rallying warlords in the court.
The eunuchs were trying to control He Jin as a subordinate, while he bowed and scraped to build his power.
Yuan Shao, Dong Zhuo, some Cao fellow—leading troops to suppress Yellow Turban rebels and gaining fame.
"Brother."
"What."
"You're still not thinking of heading to the capital?"
"Nah."
What of Lü Bu?
"Refugees keep flooding into Bing Province hearing the name Lü Fengxian. How could I abandon them and leave?"
"...The capital's watching closely. Bing Province may be rife with bandits, mountain thieves, and Xiongnu by nature, but unlike elsewhere, we thoroughly repel them."
While other provinces sweat against Yellow Turbans, we're sheltering those they drove out and building them new lives.
"That's why Ding Yuan keeps you in check. He's Bing Province Governor, but newcomers think this is Lü Bu's land."
"Watch your words—you're the one who needs to. This land belongs to the Emperor."
"In name only. Everyone knows provinces are warlords' domains now."
"...My master once said something like that."
My master had said.
"If the center's power doesn't reach the provinces, an era like the Warring States will come, with local warlords proclaiming themselves kings."
"Bing Province's Undefeated King, Lü Fengxian."
"You're really plotting my execution for treason."
"Your third spear-brother Hou Somebody dies with you. How's that?"
Hou Cheng joked around.
"People already see you as Bing Province Governor—no, King of Bing Province."
"..."
"Not rebelling against the state. Better for Bing if you become governor than some central hack pocketing merits, promotions, and rewards."
"...Legitimacy."
A sigh escaped me naturally.
"I have no justification to strike Ding Yuan."
"That's..."
Legitimacy is crucial.
"He knows it. See how he tried to sideline rather than promote Zhang Liao when I recommended him? What's he doing now?"
"Plans to make him Adjutant. When he's of age. Took time for you too."
"He's using Zhang Liao to check me."
Ding Yuan is openly keeping me in check.
Using Zhang Liao, whom I essentially discovered.
"Will Zhang Liao go along?"
"That's his choice."
"He won't recklessly switch spear sides."
"Even with Grand General potential, who knows about ambition."
My instincts said 'Zhang Liao's not that kind of man'.
"Black-haired beasts are hard to trust lightly. Not like you three who've been with me for years."
Not yet fully trustworthy.
"Only you three can have my back for now. Someday I might entrust you with my Fangtian Halberd, but not yet."
"Touching words, but don't forget: every swing of your halberd turns the area to ash. We behind you get scorched too."
Hou Cheng rubbed his nose and averted his gaze.
"Embarrassed? Huh?"
"Enough already. Let's talk petitions."
"Stabbing at sore spots."
Hou Cheng tossed out a new topic.
"Zhang Liao said new refugees petitioned you."
"Troublesome."
Unintentionally, I'd ended up receiving the refugees' petitions.
- I've got confidence in a fight. Use me as a soldier. I'll be useful!
I'd trained some strong-looking vagrant for ten days in camp, and it certainly boosted the troops' morale.
- Please... just... food...
Starving farmers appeared, so I released surplus grain.
Not for free—they ate and worked off the equivalent in labor.
- The roads are bad; travel's tough. Can't you do something?
With so many refugees, roads crumbled, so I sent soldiers to repair them swiftly.
Up to here, fine.
- How about an investment? Entrust me with grain; I'll double it! Urk!!
Someone even tried to gamble with army grain.
- General. We need to expand the market. It'll stimulate trade and increase tax revenue.
A wealthy clan head from Jinyang's gentry suddenly requested market expansion and patrol support.
- General! I've got an amazing invention in my head! Fund it, and I'll make it real!
...Blacksmiths from the forge burst in demanding investment.
"Why petition me instead of Governor Ding Yuan?"
"Back to square one, but outsiders and locals alike see you as the real authority."
Hou Cheng pointed skyward.
"Everyone says Ding Yuan won't listen, so better to talk to the reasonable General Lü."
"..."
"And you've resolved most. Patrols for security, talents promoted to squad leaders. That grain investor? A con man. Ding Yuan would've lost the grain."
"If taxes get wasted, he'd squeeze the people dry."
Stepping in oversteps my bounds.
I handle what I can as camp commander, but meddling in everything is outright illegal.
"Hou Cheng."
"Yes."
"Is Ding Yuan a villain who must die?"
"..."
Hou Cheng couldn't answer.
"Not yet. Maybe never, or maybe he already is and we haven't noticed."
"..."
"But one promise."
I stated clearly to Hou Cheng.
"The instant Ding Yuan betrays righteousness, I'll take his head."
"..."
"Whether that old snake yields it easily, who knows."
Ten years.
Ding Yuan never once gave me cause.
If, someday, justification arises.
"I can't serve under someone who acts unjustly for personal gain."
Strike without mercy.
"You gonna kill him?"
"We'll see."
Cross that bridge when we come to it.
"Even villains can repent if they're human."
At least so far.
"But a beast in human skin? A mad dog gets beaten to death."
He still carries the scent of a man, not a rotten beast.
Time flew swiftly after the Yellow Turbans were pacified.
Time passed, to the 6th year of Zhongping.
The Emperor of the era.
Emperor Ling, deceased.
His eldest son ascended as the new Emperor.
Grand General He Jin, backing his nephew the Emperor, began seizing control of the court and plotted to fully purge the eunuch clique.
Winter passed, into spring.
1st year of Guangxi.
A subordinate of Grand General He Jin visited Jinyang Fortress in Bing Province.