Chapter 58: Perfect Harmony Between Sovereign and Subject, an Eternal Legend

Zheng Zuosheng cast a subtle glance at his close friend. "When I came here to assume office last year, I happened to catch the Mid-Autumn Festival and even came to visit Xiaoxian. Back then, Long County didn't look like this at all. I have no idea why such drastic changes have taken place in just one short year."

His friend smiled and said, "Let's walk. Once we meet the person, we'll naturally find out."

Although official visits required submitting a formal calling card three days in advance, Zheng Zuosheng and Li Fu shared a bond that was part-mentor, part-friend, so they did not care for such tedious formalities during private gatherings.

Led by Zheng Zuosheng, the two men quickly arrived at the Li residence. To their surprise, their trip was in vain; the elderly gardener of the Li household opened the door and informed them that Li Fu was not at home.

That made it awkward for them to go inside.

The Li household had few members; with Li Fu away, only the two mistresses remained in the back courtyard, leaving them with no choice but to leave temporarily and find a place to sit. It was not until evening, when Li Fu returned home after a busy day and learned of the visitors from his servants, that he finally sought out Zheng Zuosheng.

After more than half a year apart, suddenly reunited with his old friend, Zheng Zuosheng and Li Fu sized each other up by the light of the lanterns held by the servants, both feeling a mixture of emotion and astonishment.

When Zheng Zuosheng had traveled all the way from the imperial capital, despite enduring the bitterness of demotion and the hardships of the journey, he had still possessed an elegant and refined scholarly demeanor during the Mid-Autumn Festival last year.

Meeting him again now, Zheng Zuosheng was not only considerably tanned, but the wrinkles on his face had also deepened, making it obvious that his year as a county magistrate had not been an easy one.

"Xiaoxian, you've changed a lot," Zheng Zuosheng sighed with emotion.

During the daytime, as he and his friend wandered aimlessly around Long County, they found that the entire county was talking about Li Fu and Li Fu's young son. Who would have thought that in less than a year, Li Fu would have the daring and capability to accomplish so much?

If Li Fu truly possessed such ability, he had already been in Long County for several years, so why did he only start exerting himself this year? Thinking over and over again, Zheng Zuosheng concluded that there must be an eminent expert behind the scenes helping Li Fu.

Furthermore, Li Fu himself had changed dramatically.

First of all, he had also darkened considerably. In addition, Li Fu now possessed a much more capable and pragmatic aura. He used to be like a scholar teaching young children to recite verses such as "Who knows that the food on the plate, every single grain comes from hard toil," yet anyone could tell that he had never farmed or tasted hardship; his hands were clean and free of calluses, having only ever held books and brushes.

He taught by citing ancient classics, and his students would listen with rapt attention, yet what was missing was genuine experience and authenticity.

The present Li Fu, however, was different. He was like someone who had gone out in spring to plow the fields and weed, sweating in the crop fields until his back could no longer straighten. Then, when he went on to teach his students the very same poetry, this time it was backed not only by classical allusions, but by his own authentic feelings.

Perhaps this was what the ancients meant when they said: "Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles."

A thousand words finally converged into nothing more than a shared smile.

"Xiaoxian, how is my pupil doing now? I kept hearing people talk about him today. Not that I mean to criticize, but Yun'er is still young; it is a bit too early for you to start gathering prestige for him now."

Li Fu smiled and brushed aside the matter of Yun'er, saying instead, "Let's walk. Let's not stand on the road talking; we can talk at my house. By the way, who is this?"

Ever since a moment ago, Zheng Zuosheng's friend had stepped back two paces and stood quietly. Although he hadn't spoken, he had been examining Li Fu with even greater earnestness than Zheng Zuosheng.

The friend immediately introduced himself, "I am Qian Gui, a native of Yuzhou. I resigned from my official post at the summer solstice last year and simply set out to travel and study everywhere. As it happened, when I reached Liangzhou, I visited Ziming. Who would have expected that a heavy snow in winter would be followed by Li Weiyue's rebellion in early spring, leaving me trapped here."

"You are Qian Gui, styled Zhiyi, whom Lord Cui praised as a talent capable of saving the world?" Li Fu was genuinely surprised. Earlier, he had been too focused on his old friend and hadn't looked closely at this Qian Zhiyi.

Yuzhou was a land flowing with outstanding people and abundant resources, as well as a major agricultural province. Its water conservancy and irrigation projects were exceptionally well-developed, making it the most populous among the fifteen provinces of the realm.

Such a developed region naturally implied an abundance of prominent aristocratic clans, with the Qian clan standing proudly at the absolute top tier among them.

Even if one claimed that the Li clan's ancestors were emperors, it was useless to try and rival them, for as the saying went, "Iron-willed aristocratic families, flowing dynasties." Besides, how many years had it been since the Liang Dynasty perished? Who even remembered? Shouting slogans about restoring the Li clan would attract hardly any response.

Not only was the Qian clan a distinguished and illustrious family, but Qian Gui's father's generation was known as the "Three Outstanding Ones," with all three brothers serving as high-ranking officials in the Liang court. The seven most outstanding members of the younger generation were even given the title: "Among the seven talents who can save the world, Qian Gui is uniquely superb."

Of course, when these exaggerations were spread, Qian Gui was still merely a youth of seventeen or eighteen.

At that time, he was still studying. Even if his academic brilliance was off the charts, at least no one had ever seen him accomplish anything earth-shattering. Why, then, was he singled out as "uniquely superb"?

This was much like the ancient tale of lying on ice to catch carp; the Qian clan had simply been gathering prestige for him from an early age.

Regardless, for a family as large as the Qian clan to dare push Qian Gui forward meant that Qian Gui must be exceptionally intelligent. Otherwise, pushing a fool forward would be useless—could a fool serve as an official or lead the clan to greater heights?

In short, even though such praise contained elements of exaggeration, it still demonstrated his excellence.

Later, as Qian Gui grew up, his other brothers and cousins also entered officialdom, and Qian Gui was no exception. A few years ago, he was recommended to serve as the Palace Attendant of the Liang Dynasty. Although this position was not high in rank, it was one that remained close to the emperor's side.

Under normal circumstances, his duty was to prepare brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones for the emperor; when the emperor went on imperial tours, he had to accompany the sovereign, and in addition, he assisted in sacrificial rites and was responsible for arranging the sacrificial offerings.

Although it seemed like miscellaneous work, it belonged to the inner circle of imperial attendants, making it a highly coveted position.

Li Fu had never expected that Qian Gui would cast aside such a coveted post without a second thought, and moreover, embark on a journey of travel and study at such an age. It seemed rather strange.

Generally, people undertook study tours between the ages of fifteen or sixteen and their early twenties, while still learning and before entering official service, wandering around to build networks and accumulate social experience. Qian Gui was already thirty-seven years old now; although slightly younger than Li Fu, wasn't it rather inappropriate for him to be starting a study tour at this stage?

Putting all that aside, however, Qian Gui's fame was immense. After all, he had the backing of the Qian clan and the entire scholarly stratum of Yuzhou to spread his renown. Anyone moving in literary circles had almost certainly heard Lord Cui's evaluation of him.

Looking at Qian Gui now, although he was an older uncle of thirty-seven, he wore wide robes with flowing sleeves, possessed a tall stature with long legs, and a face as flawless as jade—he truly looked magnificent. Only someone with such an appearance could serve as an attendant close to the Son of Heaven. If he were ugly and constantly swaggered before the emperor's eyes, the Son of Heaven would probably eat one less bowl of rice a day.

Consequently, all along the way, Li Fu became much more enthusiastic toward Qian Gui. What a rare talent! Yun'er had said they must unite all forces that could be united. These great aristocratic clans concentrated vast numbers of people, and usable talents ought to be put to use.

Since this Qian Gui was so unlucky as to be trapped in Liangzhou, it would be a terrible waste for such a great talent not to exercise his abilities, passing his days merely eating, drinking, and waiting for the affair of Li Weiyue to conclude.

Even if he intended to leave eventually, he could help out for now. During this period, Li Fu spent half his days in the yamen and the other half busy establishing villages, running around until he was utterly exhausted.

Chattering away as they walked, the three men engaged in a free-flowing conversation throughout the night until dawn, when Li Fu could no longer hold out against the exhaustion and went to sleep. Zheng Zuosheng and Qian Gui had already arranged for lodgings during the day, and it was inconvenient for them to stay overnight at the Li residence, so amidst the faint light of dawn, they departed the Li estate once more.

Li Fu was dead tired, but Zheng Zuosheng was elated.

Through a whole night of conversation, he had truly come to understand just how tumultuous and magnificent Li Fu's past year had been. And Yun'er, at such a tender age, had actually matured in understanding to such an astonishing degree! If that was truly the case, then the rumors circulating outside regarding Yun'er were actually too modest; Yun'er was even more exceptional and outstanding than people said.

Unfortunately, by the time they returned to the estate with Li Fu, Yun'er was already fast asleep, and it would have been discourteous to drag a small child out of bed in the middle of the night, so everything had to wait until daylight.

Meanwhile, Qian Gui suddenly remarked, "Ziming, you should know that since my youth I have traveled across mountains and rivers, observing the trends of mountain ranges across all the provinces of the realm, and I am most adept at discerning the earthly breath of a region.

"The capital of Liangzhou is Guzang County in Wuwei Commandery, and it is Guzang County in Wuwei Commandery that ought to be the place where the earthly breath, vitality, and popular sentiment of the entire Liangzhou converge. Long County lies in a remote and secluded corner, plagued constantly by the misery of raids; it is by no means a land blessed with outstanding people and spiritual energy.

"Recently, Long County has not experienced any dramatic shifts in terrain such as earthquakes or seas turning into mulberry fields. This shows that the earthly breath of Long County was originally sluggish and utterly devoid of any auspicious omens. Yet, when I entered Long County by daylight, I discovered that the earthly breath here is surging upwards. Since this is not the result of the mighty forces of heaven and earth transforming Long County, it must be the work of human hands.

"Yet, when I observe Lord Li, he possesses perseverance but lacks keenness, and ambition but lacks daring; he does not seem like the kind of person who could bring about such a massive change in Long County. Truly strange, most strange!"

Zheng Zuosheng was already high on excitement. Originally depressed over the affairs of Chengji County, seeing his friend's administration flourishing like a roaring fire made him feel that at last there was some good news, putting him in high spirits.

Hearing Qian Gui speak thus, he smiled and said, "Why bother thinking too much about it? It is enough that Xiaoxian is doing practical work. Besides, Xiaoxian has been constantly praising Yun'er. I know Xiaoxian well; when he praises someone by seven parts, it means that person is ten parts good. He may have unspoken words regarding the transformation of Long County. If it is not his own merit, it might well be Yun'er's, for all we know."

Qian Gui was stunned into silence.

During the daytime, he had repeatedly heard the name Li Yun. But upon hearing it again, he remembered that Li Yun was only around three years old. He was well aware that influential families would eagerly build up prestige for their young children from an early age; for instance, when he himself was born, his family had begun preparations early on, claiming that three days before his birth, Ganoderma lucidum had even sprouted from the rafters of their house.

He had assumed Yun'er was just another case of this, which was why he had focused his observations on Li Fu.

Now, listening to Zheng Zuosheng, he realized that the man was speaking in a tone that was half-joking and half-earnest.

"Although Ganro became a prime minister at age twelve, still..." It wasn't as if the world had never seen adolescent prodigies; Qian Gui had witnessed them himself.

For example, Lord Cui's youngest daughter, at the age of six, was already capable of discoursing on matters of the people, and could summon the soaring birds in the forest to harmonize with her musical melodies in a single tune. Thus, as she grew a little older, suitors had beaten down her doorstep, and she was now married to the Chen clan, a prominent family of Yuzhou.

The aristocratic families of Yuzhou supported one another, and it was precisely because of this connection that he had earned Lord Cui's praise. In his youth, because Lord Cui was accompanying his daughter to her wedding and staying temporarily in Yuzhou, he had briefly set up a school to take in disciples, and Qian Gui had incidentally become a disciple of Lord Cui as well. Of course, Lord Cui merely accompanied his daughter and stayed in Yuzhou for a single year, after which the school closed down.

Still, that was enough.

He had secured the identity of being Lord Cui's disciple as well as his commendation, causing his fame to soar overnight.

Thus, exceptional children did exist. However, Qian Gui did not voice his inner thoughts aloud, which were that he saw Li Fu as someone with perseverance but lacking quick-wittedness, eager to accomplish great things yet devoid of decisiveness. Even if such a person's child were exceptionally clever, cultivated by a father with such a personality, no matter how talented they were, they could not possibly turn out extraordinarily remarkable.

To be frank, Qian Gui felt somewhat disappointed inwardly.

For someone of his age to resign from office under the pretext of a study tour—no ghost would believe it. At that moment, raising his head to look at the clear, bright sky, Qian Gui recalled the conversation he had had with Li Gong when he tendered his resignation.