A special thank you to my patrons:
—Jacob Mooe, kevin Williams, Jose Sierra, Archer, Acedia, kurtis newman, Jack, Little Sand Luca August, Kyle.S406, Alin Kadas, sediaz, Xanex44, Flavio Rodrigo.
You can read 50 chapters ahead of everyone on p@treon.
P@TREON - [email protected]/lessaservantofcosmos
(just replace the "@" with "a")
ps: Please support me on P@treon. I can really use your help!
————————————————————
Across the lands of the Divine Continent, the smoke of war was rising on all sides.
Though Fei Qian had not personally witnessed the black smoke billowing up from the Xianbei tribes that Ma Yue had set ablaze in the north, it was as if a scar had been seared into his heart nonetheless.
With great effort, Fei Qian managed to maintain a smile as he saw off Wang Xiang, the envoy sent by Wang Yi, the Administrator of Hedong Commandery, to offer congratulations. But the moment he turned away and was alone, the smile slowly drained from his face.
Earlier, he had learned from Wang Xiang's lips that Luoyang had been set ablaze by Dong Zhuo's order.
Sky-darkening black smoke had shrouded the city for ten li in every direction.
The symbol of an entire dynasty had thus been brought to an end.
Beside Fei Qian's desk stood a lotus-shaped incense burner, just on the verge of blooming. It seemed to have been added to the furnishings only a couple of days prior—most likely another item that the Wei clan had once used and had now sent over to settle debts.
The burner was of ancient bronze, its greenish smoke coiling lazily upward.
An incense burner such as this, if placed in a later era, would be a treasure capable of toppling cities with its value. But here in the Han dynasty of the present, it was merely a common vessel used by a gentry household.
Fei Qian stared blankly at the spiraling green smoke rising above the incense burner, feeling utterly lost.
There had been a time when he, too, had anguished over the calamity of Luoyang. But now, for reasons he could not quite name, the emotions within him were complex—there was grief, hesitation, and even a faintly concealed trace of… release.
If one cannot foresee the great events of the world, how can one possibly control the overarching currents of the age?
Yet foresight always came with limitations. It was just like the things Fei Qian had done before. The more he did, the more severely he shattered the history he had once known. It was like the wheel of a cart traveling along a road, pressing over a small stone and then veering slightly off course. As the stones grew more and more numerous, the entire wheel might eventually deviate from its path entirely.
And once it deviated, Fei Qian knew full well, his ability in the realm of foresight would be severed.
Though he had not remembered much to begin with, who in the world would not wish to possess a greater ability to seek advantage and avoid harm? Such emotions had nothing to do with morality or righteousness—it was simply a matter of pure human nature.
Even in later ages, if time could somehow flow backward, who knew how many people would be eyeing the walls of a certain Old Ma's family compound, scrambling to become Uncle Wang?
Within the incense burner, the aloeswood finished burning. A single thread of green smoke, as if lingering with reluctance, coiled once around the carved lotus petals of the burner before finally loosening its grip and slowly rising into the sky.
What must end, will end in time.
To contend for hegemony over the realm was not Fei Qian's aspiration. Yet to preserve a measure of vitality for the house of Han—that, indeed, was the one thing Fei Qian now most earnestly wished to accomplish.
It was much like the phrase people spoke of: "After the Battle of Yashan…" The appellation "Han people" was not taken up again until the people of the Tang dynasty revived its usage. Yet from then onward, why was there no such title as "Song people," or "Ming people," or "Qing people"? Why, in later ages, were there Chinatowns, but no Song Towns or Ming Towns? Why was it precisely the Han and the Tang that were known so prominently by name?
Why were the words now spoken and written all called the Han tongue and Han script, despite the existence of lyrics, poems, and songs through the ages? They remained Han characters, not something like Song speech, Ming language, or Qing symbols.
Why was it that neither at home nor abroad were terms such as Song-Ming or Ming-Qing used to refer to the people of the Central Plains? Could there be some inexplicable connection in all of this?
As Fei Qian pondered these thoughts, he felt as though thousands upon thousands of tangled, knotted threads were wrapping around his heart. For a moment, it was as if something had stuffed his chest entirely full, so clogged and stifling it was unbearable.
The sound of soft footsteps outside the hall interrupted Fei Qian's brooding. A personal guard arrived at the hall's lower steps to report that Wei Liu had come to see him.
Fei Qian collected his emotions somewhat. When he saw Wei Liu, however, he noticed the troubled expression on the man's face and asked, "Menglian, is there some difficulty you face?"
Wei Liu suddenly left his seat, prostrated himself on the ground, and knocked his head against the floor, saying, "The Three Elders of Linfen desire an audience with you, General of the Household… Yet Liu's own status is lowly, and thus…" He trailed off.
The Three Elders?
Fei Qian furrowed his brow. He did not immediately tell Wei Liu to rise. Instead, he sank into silent contemplation.
The policy of the Three Elders had been established ever since the time of Emperor Gaozu of Han. Liu Bang had made it a national policy, decreeing: "Select from among the people those aged fifty or above, who possess cultivated virtue and are capable of leading the masses toward goodness, and appoint them as Three Elders—one for each village. From among the village Three Elders, choose one to serve as the County Three Elder. He shall consult with the county magistrate, assistant, and commandant on matters of governance, and shall be exempted from corvée labor and military garrison duties."
Linfen, naturally being a county-level entity, would have one County Three Elder. The Three Elder was not a subordinate functionary of the county office, but belonged to a separate system altogether, working alongside the county magistrate, assistant, and commandant to morally transform the common people. He received no official salary or stipend, enjoying only the preferential treatment of exemption from forced labor.
The role of the Three Elders in leading the masses toward goodness meant that they were to edify the populace through virtue and moral character. The county officials focused on "shepherding the people," that is, governing through law and administration, while the Three Elders emphasized "guiding them toward virtue," meaning moral instruction. The two perfectly complemented each other—this was, in fact, a shared consensus within the ruling class of the Han dynasty. Although the Three Elders were not government officials and required state recognition or appointment, in effect, they represented a downward penetration of governmental ruling authority.
The distinction between the Han and the Qin dynasties lay precisely here. Although both divided their political administrative structures along commandery and county lines, the Han clearly placed greater emphasis on the native local customs in the villages and countryside. The position of Three Elder was a product of the negotiation between public law and popular sentiment, and it played a significant role in maintaining order within Han dynasty communities.
However, any policy or institution, once implemented for a period of time, inevitably undergoes some deformation.
Originally, the Three Elders held only a moral instructive role, not a political administrative one. Yet it was inevitable that local powerful families, having seized control of classical scholarship, would cast greedy eyes further afield, or leverage their clan's power and influence to meddle in the affairs of the commandery or county. At the same time, the officials within the commanderies and counties gradually began to encroach upon the realm of moral edification. Records of minor local officials transforming the people through benevolence and virtue grew more frequent, such as "urging people in their livelihoods, instituting regulations and ordinances, down to limits on fruit and vegetables and quotas on chickens and swine; once agricultural work was finished, they ordered the youth to gather together and return to the schools."
By this point in time, most Three Elders no longer exclusively held the duty of moral transformation as they had in the early Han. This semi-official position had become increasingly blurred. Some had faded into a purely nominal existence, while others had insinuated themselves into the grassroots political structure.
"The Three Elder of Linfen…" Fei Qian looked at Wei Liu as he spoke, "Is he a member of the Wei clan?"
Wei Liu knocked his head on the floor again and replied, "Indeed he is. He is the elder of my own clan, with the given name Wang and the courtesy name Bozhan."
Although the Three Elders had continuously evolved under the strengthening bureaucratic stratification, in the villages and rural areas, they still commanded considerable prestige. Though they held no actual administrative authority, their influence and renown were invariably tangible and real.
Moral transformation and edification, was it…
Fei Qian looked at Wei Liu, let out a sigh, and said, "Menglian, rise. This matter was bound to come sooner or later, and it is not something you alone could have prevented. When does he wish to come?"
In all likelihood, it would not be anything pleasant. But avoiding the meeting was not a solution either. Since Wei Liu had come in advance to give notice, the proprieties had been properly observed, so a meeting would still have to be held.
As for the rest, he would simply have to meet the soldiers as they came and block the water with earth.
Wei Liu produced a wooden name card from his bosom, raised it above his head with both hands, and presented it forward. It was clear that the Wei clan had already arranged this, specifically sending Wei Liu to inform him in advance—which was why Wei Liu had knelt and offered his apologies at the very start.
Fei Qian accepted the name card, his eyes narrowing slightly.
It was a "piercing card," rather than a "calling tablet," that was used.