Three Kingdoms

The longer I come to the Han Dynasty, the more profound I feel the weight of the word gentry.

Looking at the city in front of them, who would believe that half of it is related to the Yuan family?

Even the small courtyard where Fei Qian lives now belongs to the Yuan family's real estate. It can be said that the Yuan family has such an industry in Nanyang, Runan, regardless of the size of the county, which is comparable to those of Wan in later generations...

The gentry in the Han Dynasty were divided into five classes. The fifth class was the powerful people in the countryside. They owned a piece of land, mostly had self-sufficient farms, and had a number of dependent people such as children and guests.

The fourth level is the common surname. That is to say, the powerful people in the countryside have developed to a certain stage, their expenses have spread, and their descendants have become numerous and become famous surnames in an area. For example, in later generations, Chenjiazhuang, Majazhai, etc. are all included in this list.

The third class is the rich family. Through the efforts of generations of people, the big surname has penetrated into all levels and has a large clan population through blood relationships. This dependent population and clan population gradually formed private armed forces (tribes). Therefore, at this stage, larger dock walls were basically built for self-protection.

At this time, the wealthy family was already a dignitary of the party, presiding over the village deliberation, criticizing the village figures, and even influencing the selection of political officials.

But among the big families, it is not that easy to become a famous family.

As the name suggests, a noble family must have a reputation, and the first prerequisite for fame is that there must be famous people in the family. A powerful gentry without famous people can at best be called a powerful clan, not a distinguished clan.

The role of celebrities was not only to be the spokesperson on behalf of the family, but also to be the inheritor of the family culture. By maintaining the cultural accomplishment of the family and entering the official career through the recommendation of Confucian classics, they gradually became an important social force in the Han Dynasty.

Above the noble clans, there is the Crown clan.

That is to say, the crown of the world.

This type of crown clan has a long history of family cultural accumulation. At the same time, many of their descendants have entered officialdom through Confucian studies, and even reached the status of ministers for generations. They recruited disciples, disciples, recruited subordinates, and formed lifelong disciples and officials. After several generations of continuous development, the disciples and former officials of the Guan clan spread all over the world, and they became the leaders of the scholar-bureaucrat class, and then became a powerful family that influenced politics, economy, and ideology.

The Yuan family is the crown clan in the world today.

In addition to the Yuan family, there are also the Yang family from Hongnong and the Wang family from Taiyuan...

Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, the fourth and third princes, had disciples and former officials all over the world, and they had national influence. Governors, officials, and celebrities from various places had extremely close contacts with the Yuan family.

Fei Qian guessed that this was the most important reason why Yuan Wei dared to stay alone in Luoyang, while Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao were entrenched in the north and south of the Yellow River respectively.

Yuan Wei's actions were quite similar to those of later generations of militants. He had a large number of disciples and former officials of the Yuan family tied up with him, so he dared to dangle in front of Dong Zhuo. Although Yuan Wei himself did not fight Dong Zhuo with open swords and guns, he still Those little eyes and that little figure all reflect the strong provocative meaning of "you touch me and try it"...

Therefore, Fei Qian felt that he was too insignificant now. If he left the land of Jingxiang, who would have heard of his name among the nobles in other places? Who else will pay attention?

The fame of the Han Dynasty is really not something you can achieve just by thinking about it.

Fei Qian recalled that when he watched some TV series about the Three Kingdoms before, he wondered why Xuzhou's white-bearded Tao Qian had to give way to Xuzhou three times? Doesn't Tao Qian want to leave an inheritance to his son?

Thinking about it now, Tao Qian had no choice but to do it. His son had no reputation. Even if he was forced to keep him, he would probably be like Liu Cong, the son of Liu Biao, and someone would have strange thoughts soon.

And the consequences of this kind of thinking are often very serious.

The human heart is always the hardest part to guess.

Nowadays, Fei Qian finds that the brain power he has expended on guessing people's hearts seems to have been used more and more after the Han Dynasty. Sometimes he thinks that if he had been so diligent in later generations, he might have climbed to a high position long ago. .

Sure enough, people's potential is forced out...

Just like the letter in my hand now.

In the morning, Yang Hong came to the small courtyard where Fei Qian and his party lived. He said a few words to Fei Qian and Yi Ji, including how well he had a rest last night and how was his diet. After some polite words, he asked to chat with Fei Qian alone. .

Although Yi Ji was a little surprised, he still bowed and retreated.

Then this letter from Liu Biao, Yi Ji managed to hide it all the way, but was finally exposed under Fei Qian's eyes.

Excluding the irrelevant words in the letter, the most critical point is that Liu Biao made three points in the letter:

First, support Yuan Shu in challenging Dong, showing that he is on the same front as Yuan Shu;

Second, in order to show sincerity, we have already requested that Yuan Shu be granted the title of Grand Administrator of Nanyang;

Third, in order to avoid misunderstanding between the two sides and leave sufficient space for communication, Liu Biao decided to withdraw most of his troops from Wan...

No wonder Liu Biao secretly asked Yi Ji to deliver...

A well-established member of the Han clan supported a high-ranking official to openly provoke the order of the court, which is hard to say...

Speaking of which, Liu Biao's decisiveness is quite ruthless. Wan County was abandoned immediately. However, the position of the Huang family was a bit awkward. This was not easy to handle...

But why did Yang Hong show me this letter?

Or why did Yuan Shu do this?

From Yuan Shu's side, I may represent a part of the Jingxiang gentry, so——

Yuan Shu meant to use this example to show that it was very risky for the Jingxiang gentry to choose Liu Biao?

Or is Yuan Shu indicating that he will control more Jingxiang land, and Liu Biao is running out of energy, so why not switch to Yuan Shu's sect?

Perhaps Yuan Shu used himself to show the Jingxiang gentry his own genteel temperament, unlike Liu Biao, who was a villain and a hideous person?

Or maybe it means that even the clan members of the Han Dynasty support Yuan Shu, so he is the one chosen by everyone and chosen by heaven?

Or does it imply that once the Huang family, who was thrown out as a buffer, turns against Liu Biao, Yuan Shu will provide support?

…

All of these are possible, but Fei Qian couldn't tell for a while which one of them was the meaning of Yuan Shu, or was it all two or three?

Fei Qian knew that Yang Hong across from him was observing him, so he didn't say anything. Instead, he quietly repackaged the letter and handed it back to Yang Hong.

Yang Hong raised his eyebrows slightly and thought to himself, no wonder Yuan Gong is optimistic about this person. It seems that his Qi cultivation skills are pretty good, but then again, if there is no one from the city, he can't marry the Jingxiang gentry.

Yang Hong smiled and said, "Zi Yuan, can you understand my Lord's intention?"

"I'm sorry for Qian's stupidity, but I'd like to ask Zichong for advice." It was naturally impossible for Fei Qian to tell Yang Hong that he understood Yuan Shu's meaning.

"Haha," Yang Hong chuckled and said, "My lord has the world in mind and always feels that there are leftover materials in the forest and leftover pearls in the abyss. Therefore, regardless of the old people in the countryside or the great sages in the countryside, everyone is thirsty for talents."

Fei Qian understood somewhat, but this statement sounded strange...