Chapter 62: The Li Family's Ancestral Graves Can Only Vent Black Smoke

Crackling.

Following more than half a year of suppressing bandits, deep autumn had arrived once again in Liangzhou. The weather in Liangzhou grew cold rapidly, and by nightfall, those sensitive to the cold were already warming themselves by charcoal braziers.

In the Li residence, today was a lively occasion because the four heavyweights of Long County—Qian Gui, Li Fu, Zheng Zuosheng, and Young Master Yun—were all present.

Young Master Yun had placed several iron racks over the charcoal fires, specially commissioned from a blacksmith this year to make barbecue.

Of course, barbecue was not invented by Young Master Yun; in fact, many things already existed in this era, such as movable-type printing and barbecue.

However, barbecue here was called roasted meat, and they grilled a tremendous variety of items. Mutton, pork, clams, chicken, duck, and fish were merely child's play; they would even roast things like elephant meat, camel humps, and bear paws—virtually anything could be grilled.

Naturally, such luxuries were limited to the top one percent of the wealthy, while the bottom ninety-nine percent had nothing even tree roots to eat. The wealth gap was stark.

"Mother Pan has prepared plenty of pork and mutton, and most importantly, a huge piece of beef! You are in for a treat, so everyone help yourselves," Young Master Yun said cheerfully, handing a wooden clip along with a small plate to Li Fu and the others, urging them quickly.

Although roasted meat was common, a gentleman stays far from the kitchen. These men of letters had truly never experienced the practice of roasting and eating while serving themselves. When Young Master Yun first dragged them into such team-building sessions, they had each felt too embarrassed, but later, as they grew accustomed to it, they found that eating, drinking, and chatting this way held a distinct charm of its own.

Qian Gui smiled and took the initiative to pick up a piece of beef, saying, "I am quite fond of beef; I'll go first."

Both Long County and Chengji County were currently vigorously organizing land reclamation, which made draft oxen extremely important. Moreover, most dynasties strictly prohibited the slaughter of draft oxen unless an ox was old or died of natural causes. Even then, the matter had to be reported to the authorities, who would inspect the carcass to confirm the situation before permitting the slaughter and consumption of the meat.

Long County and Chengji County had funded themselves to purchase some draft oxen and packhorses, which were temporarily lent to various villages for land reclamation and grain cultivation. Consequently, regulations regarding the intentional slaughter of draft oxen were now managed with extreme strictness.

Today's ox had tumbled down a mountainside during reclamation a few days prior, breaking its leg on the spot with suspected internal bleeding and other complications. After two days of failed treatment, the authorities finally stepped in to slaughter it, and then carted the meat to the market to be sold.

Throughout the entire year, Young Master Yun himself had only managed to taste beef this one time.

Old Man Zheng was not to be outdone and briskly selected a piece. Previously, he had accompanied Qian Gui to Long County to clear his mind, but after witnessing his close friend stay in Long County to shine and make a difference, and observing the thriving and prosperous state of the county, the old man had spent half a month eating and drinking freely in the Li residence before finding Young Master Yun. He told Young Master Yun, "I see you have boundless energy, so help me run Chengji County as well; the two places are close anyway."

He was entirely serious. At the time, he had actually intended to resign and leave, and after speaking with Young Master Yun, he had even trotted back quickly to retrieve the official county seal. Fortunately, the county lieutenant and the others had not yet reported his resignation to Hanyang Commandery; otherwise, had a new magistrate been appointed, he would have been in a complete fix.

Old Man Zheng's current relationship with the Li family was rather delicate. Having once served as a Libationer of the Imperial Academy, his political intuition might be slightly lacking, but that did not mean he was a fool.

He could more or less perceive the subtle ambitions harbored by the Li father and son.

Zheng Zuosheng truly had not expected that Li Fu—a man who had relied entirely on sheer perseverance to achieve even a modest scholarly foundation—could harbor such immense ambitions in his heart. Ordinarily, ambition was merely ambition, yet fate had bestowed upon him a Young Master Yun. However, Zheng Zuosheng chose to see through it without exposing it, because once exposed, he would no longer know how to interact with Young Master Yun and the others.

At his core, Old Man Zheng remained loyal to the Liang State and the emperor. If Young Master Yun were to call upon him to raise the banner of rebellion, he would be the first to refuse. Yet, the moment he thought of the pitiful commoners in Chengji County, Old Man Zheng simply could not bear it. To save them, the imperial court could offer no help, but Young Master Yun could.

Thus, Zheng Zuosheng feigned ignorance, and Young Master Yun likewise saw through it without breaking the facade, continuing to jest and banter with Zheng Zuosheng. Since the time for raising the banner had not yet arrived and everyone's immediate goals remained aligned, there was no need to dwell on too many complications for the present.

Seeing that everyone had started grilling their meat, Young Master Yun smiled and said, "The New Year is approaching in a little while, and at that time, I will have Deng Qiang and the others return from the outside. They have toiled for a year as well, so they ought to take a proper break.

"Lord Qian, I must trouble you to make arrangements. Before the New Year, let us hold an end-of-year review meeting. Not only will we participate, but we will also have each village send two representatives, the village brave-heart squads send two, and the yamen's accountants and bailiffs each send a representative. Let us all speak about what has been accomplished over the past year, and then map out the tasks for the coming year."

Qian Gui smiled. His lord genuinely possessed a multitude of ideas, yet this approach was also profoundly pragmatic. Having collaborated with Young Master Yun for a long time, Qian Gui had discovered that Young Master Yun loved to plan ahead of time before undertaking any task, list all potential difficulties, and then execute the plan step by step.

In short, his work ethic was exceptionally grounded, resembling that of a seasoned veteran clerk. Moreover, he possessed a keen understanding of the thoughts of lower-level officials and was genuinely willing to view matters from their perspective to solve problems. Logically speaking, no matter how precocious Young Master Yun was, having been carefully and meticulously raised within the Li residence, he should never have exhibited the "why don't they eat meat porridge" mentality of the privileged.

Even Qian Gui himself, before his travels for study in his youth, had lived in utter naivety, believing that even the poorest people merely resembled the servants in his household—dressed in coarse but clean clothing, fed year-round, and able to enjoy a meat dish during festivals, lacking only the luxury of silk gauze and gold and silver trinkets.

He truly could not fathom how Li Fu had managed to produce such a child. Logically speaking, the ancestral tombs of the Li family should not be emitting blue smoke of good fortune; rather, they should be billowing black smoke. Where on earth did such immense destiny come from?

Qian Gui was now considered one of their own. After writing letters instructing his wife and children to relocate to Liangzhou, he had confided this decision to Young Master Yun. Moving his entire household demonstrated that Qian Gui had firmly tied himself to the Li family's war chariot. It was equivalent to wagering his entire family's fortunes—for better or worse, he was placing his fate in Young Master Yun's hands.

At that time, Young Master Yun had been genuinely moved. He had initially worried that this handsome, refined uncle might eventually leave, never expecting that the man would quietly wager his entire family.

Only, the roads were difficult to traverse at present, and Qian Gui's wife was in poor health. A month prior, she had sent a letter stating that they were already on the road, but having contracted a cold and fallen ill, she was unable to travel swiftly. Consequently, they had sought a temporary place to recuperate and expected to arrive sometime this winter, hoping to arrive just in time for the New Year so Qian Gui need not worry.

Because Qian Gui was so sincere, Young Master Yun no longer concealed things from him, and at that time revealed the identity of the Li family's ancestors. Along the way, Young Master Yun even took him to see Zhanlu. Young Master Yun was not superstitious, but the people of this era certainly were.

Ancient rebels invariably liked to manufacture auspicious anomalies beforehand—such as Chen Sheng and Wu Guang imitating foxes howling in the night to cry, "Great Chu will rise, Chen Sheng will be king," or Liu Bang staging the slaying of the white serpent uprising. They always had to bolster other people's confidence somehow.

True to form, upon inspecting Zhanlu, Qian Gui grew increasingly ecstatic and penned two additional letters to his own clan branch overnight.

The only thing Qian Gui could never comprehend was that if the Li ancestors were formerly of the Zhou Dynasty, then when the state fell and the city was destroyed, the dragon vein of the Zhou Dynasty must surely have been severed. Furthermore, with the fall of the state, even if residual dragon energy lingered, that energy would inevitably be infused with vast amounts of malevolent aura, deathly chill, and the decay of ruin.

In other words, an ordinary family of mediocre fortune might still defy the odds someday and have their ancestral tombs emit a wisp of auspicious blue smoke.

The descendants of deposed emperors, however, could not. Their fortunes had long been intertwined with the dragon vein. In times of prosperity, even if their personal birth fortune was mediocre, they remained sheltered by true dragon energy—these were the so-called sons and grandsons of dragons and scions of heaven.

Yet in times of misfortune, they were likewise implicated by the dragon vein, making it virtually impossible for any talent to emerge among them. Even if an individual of grand fortune were to appear, they would be eroded by the decaying dragon energy, causing their destiny to dissipate until they faded into utter mediocrity.

This was precisely why, throughout historical records from antiquity to the present, not a single attempt at restoration following the fall of a dynasty had ever succeeded, and it was rare for descendants to produce any other form of exceptional talent.

Even when Liu, the imperial uncle of Shu Han, restored the Han Dynasty's mandate for another eighty-six years, that was because at a time when the realm was in utter chaos with contending warlords, and Cao Wei committed treason, they had never actually executed Liu Xie. The dragon vein of the Han Dynasty had nearly been severed, but ultimately it was not completely cut off.

In the end, Liu the Imperial Uncle emerged from Shu, and with a heart of utter devotion and anguish, rekindled the common people's faith in a Han Dynasty that had already ruled for 405 years. Ultimately, he rallied immense popular support with despondent hearts and reshaped the dragon vein. Alas, the reshaped dragon vein could not endure, and the Han Dynasty, granted an eighty-six-year extension of life, eventually fractured and collapsed once more. If even a Han Dynasty fallen in such a manner could not successfully achieve restoration and unification through its descendants, how much less could the Zhou Dynasty, which had ruled for a mere 276 years?

Therefore, ever since learning of this matter, Qian Gui had always felt that the Li family's ancestral tombs were billowing black smoke—not as a curse, but stating a factual reality. Centuries had passed; if any residual dragon energy remained, it was bound to contain the resentment and murderous malice of the commoners from the nation's fall.

Under such circumstances, it was impossible for Zhanlu to choose Li Yun, nor would it choose any member of the Li family.

Yet the reality was that Zhanlu was in Young Master Yun's hands, and Zhanlu had already been unsheathed. This indicated that Zhanlu had not merely passed through Young Master Yun's hands to reach its true master—it had chosen Young Master Yun directly.

Qian Gui had pondered this matter over several sleepless nights, nearly suspecting the father-son relationship between Li Yun and Li Fu.

Later on, he figured it out: whatever the case, the person he had chosen was Young Master Yun, and as long as Zhanlu remained in Young Master Yun's hands, all was well. If it were not in Young Master Yun's hands, he would have had to figure out a way to eliminate that true master of Zhanlu, nipping the danger in the cradle.

Seeing Qian Gui lost in thought while grilling meat and remaining silent, Young Master Yun continued, "Aside from eating barbecue today, the most important matter is to discuss the land division for Long County and Chengji County."

At this mention, both Zheng Zuosheng and Qian Gui turned solemn.

Since ancient times, rulers had all wished to touch the land. Yet this matter was genuinely difficult to execute. Generally speaking, any attempt at land reform was extraordinarily arduous, and very few who tried met a favorable end.

Previously, it was merely an experiment in the Lower Dyke Village, and being a small locality, it was manageable. If both counties were to touch the land reform, outsiders would recognize this as the governing philosophy of the Li clan.

Should that happen, Young Master Yun would essentially be slicing into the largest pie belonging to others; those aristocratic families and powerful clans would likely be the first to refuse.

Driven to desperate straits, even someone like Li Gong had never dared to declare that nationwide reform should begin with the measurement of land, opting instead for the compromise of a dwelling tax.

If they were to raise the banner of rebellion and assault cities in the future, these people—possessing centuries of accumulated wealth—would fight tooth and nail to prevent their lands from being seized and divided, and the outcome would be unpredictable. Take the Qian clan in Yuzhou, for instance; they were also a prominent aristocratic family with countless acres of farmland. Were they expected to hand it all over as well?

One misstep, and Young Master Yun would become the public enemy of the realm.

Young Master Yun was well aware of this, and today's barbecue gathering served a primary purpose: to unify the mindset of his inner circle, particularly that of Qian Gui.