According to the normal historical process, Liu Bei would have to wait at least until after the Yellow Turban Uprising if he wanted to make a move.

But even though Liu Bei was successful in suppressing the rebellion during the Yellow Turban Uprising, Liu Bei didn't achieve much after several years of hard work due to his low background.

If things continue like this, Liu Jian will be almost an old man by the time they make a career.

Some things just can't come naturally.

Liu Jian thought about it and felt that this was the third year after Xia Yu and others failed in the battle against Xianbei. This year Jiangxia and Lujiang counties rebelled, and the border of Youzhou had been invaded by Xianbei for many years. It was an urgent matter. If he could take this opportunity to make achievements,

Maybe you and Liu Bei can enter the official career first and start accumulating political resources early.

If we can capture a base area before the chaos, that would definitely be the best.

But just serving in the military and making meritorious deeds is not enough.

As Zhang Fei said, there are more and more good people joining the army, and there are also more people who can make meritorious deeds. If you start as a pawn, can you stand out?

To achieve success, you must have backers and connections to complement each other.

…

"Gongsun Zan?"

Liu Bei was somewhat disapproving: "Although he is from a large family in western Liaoning, he is just a commoner. The Gongsun family will not take him seriously. How can he help us?"

Liu Jian laughed when he heard this. It was exactly what he thought.

When he was a classmate with Gongsun Zan in Fengshi Mountain, he was a little strange. Since Liu Bei and Gongsun Zan had a good relationship, and they were both tied up due to identity issues, and they were in the same boat, why didn't Liu Bei go to Gongsun Zan when he became successful in his early years?

Qiu, but later when Gongsun Zan became successful, he reluctantly gave Liu Bei a hand?

After living in the Han Dynasty, Liu Jian realized that it was not that Liu Bei did not want to use the big tree Gongsun Zan early, but that he did not know what Gongsun Zan was doing now!

It sounds funny, but I really don’t know.

Compared with later generations, communications in the Han Dynasty were really backward. Televisions, mobile phones, newspapers, and books were all available. The literacy rate of the population was also very average. Many people could not even name the officials at all levels of the county where they lived.

Clearly, let alone a foreign country?

For students like Gongsun Zan, after they leave the school, it is like disappearing from the world for Liu Bei. Unless he pays special attention and inquires, the timeliness of the information will be delayed by years.

But now, Liu Jianke has been inquiring about Gongsun Zan.

And since the separation at Fengshi Mountain, he has written letters to Gongsun Zan from time to time to maintain appropriate contact.

Even if Gongsun Zan didn't reply to him very often, he would still write.

The two great princes in the late Han Dynasty, one in the early period and the other in the later period, were his classmates. Unless he was really stupid, he would let Gongsun Zan go his own way.

As for the specific situation of Gongsun Zan, all he could do was spend money to bribe the post officials and get some sporadic information from Liaodong on a regular basis, but that was enough for him.

He doesn't need to know too much, he only needs to know the key nodes.

"Brother, I don't know that Gongsun Bogui is no longer what he used to be. He cannot be compared with what he was back then."

"what for?"

Liu Jian patiently explained to Liu Bei: "Gongsun Bogui was favored by the governor of this county because of his majestic appearance and high voice, so he recruited his son-in-law. Otherwise, how could you think that he, a bastard of the Gongsun family, could have entered Master Lu's sect?"

?”

Liu Bei was surprised and said: "When I was under Master Lu, I never heard him say this!?"

"The son-in-law who came to visit me was not very honorable because he relied on his father-in-law. Naturally, he was embarrassed to say more... But he is now prosperous. At this time last year, he was the six hundred-stone chief official of the Liaodong vassal state. After the end of the year, he was already

The county magistrate who is more powerful than Qianshi will come here to take office soon."

Liu Bei was very surprised when he heard this.

Only a few years later, Gongsun Zan already had a long history of serving six hundred shi, and now he has been promoted to the county magistrate of Bi Qian Shi and the senior official of Yue Gu 80 Dendrobium.

In the Han Dynasty, Qianshi was a watershed, and those above Qianshi were treated differently.

Although Gongsun Zan is now more powerful than Qianshi, his annual salary is only 180 shi less than Qianshi's senior officials. He has already stepped into the noble class of the Han Dynasty.

After being stunned for a while, Liu Bei said:

"Come here to take office? My dear brother, what you mean is that he wants to come to Zhuo County to be the county magistrate? Our Zhuo County has more than 10,000 households and more than 100,000 people, but it is a big county."

"Yes, so he is very powerful... As far as I know, Bogui served as chariot driver under the county governor Liu Qi in the past. During this period, Liu Qi broke the law and was sent to prison. He disguised himself as an escort and was pardoned during the escort.

Naihuan, Bo Gui was also cited as a filial and honest man because of his deeds. I guess there must be some inside story... But he has been on a straight path since then, until he got the county magistrate of Bi Qianshi at the beginning of this year. According to time, he returned to Liaoxi Province

We’re getting married, and I’m going to take office this month.”

Liu Bei was envious of Gongsun Zan's good fortune.

These days, even if Xiaolian is elected, few will be appointed to actual positions. Eight out of ten Xiaolians are waiting for the position of Lang Guan.

Gongsun Zan was young, and after being promoted as a filial piety and incorruptible person, he became the head of the Liaodong Kingdom with six hundred stone. There is no doubt that this has nothing to do with his personal talents... it has nothing to do with it. It should be with the help of his father-in-law who has two thousand stone.

After being envious, Liu Bei asked: "Then what should you and me do?"

"After I reported to my father tomorrow, we will go out of the county to greet our classmates... Let's go farther away and meet him a hundred miles to the west to show our sincerity!"

Liu Bei lowered his head and pursed his lips with a strange expression.

"Why do you look like this? Are you unwilling to welcome him?"

"no."

"What happened?"

After a long time, Liu Bei sighed loudly: "I just feel sorry for your foresight, dear brother. When we were under Master Lu together, we were short-sighted. Although we had contacts with Gongsun, he preferred to cling to Niyang Wangyi and Lingzhou Fu.

"

Liu Jian rolled his eyes: "Don't flatter me, it sounds disgusting."

Seeing that he didn't appreciate it, Liu Bei was a little angry: "I mean it sincerely!"

When they were studying under Lu Zhi, their status as brothers was very embarrassing.

In Fengshi Mountain, wherever you look, you can see the queens of the sect whose status and family status are much higher than those of the two brothers.

For example, Niyang Wangyi, Lingzhou Fu Xie, and Hejian Wei Jie all came from famous scholarly families, and their futures were unlimited.

Liu Bei didn't know what he was doing at that time, so he wanted to use his identity as "Queen Jing of Zhongshan" to make friends with a group of students, but the result was predictable.

After King Jing of Zhongshan, looking at the entire Zhongshan Kingdom, there are not only 10,000, but also 8,000. What do you think?

As a result, not only did he not make friends with anyone from the famous family, but even Gongsun Zan was a little despised.

Although Gongsun Zan was the son of a concubine, he had a high-minded character. He did not say anything about Liu Bei's behavior of deliberately using his clan status to make friends with high-ranking disciples, but in fact he looked down on him in his heart.

On the contrary, Liu Jian, although he was from the same clan as Liu Bei, he never mentioned his identity as a clan member of the Han Dynasty, let alone currying favor with others.

Although he was suspected of being aloof, Gongsun Zan took a high look at him and felt that this person was ambitious.

In fact, it's not that Liu Jian has backbone, but that he has a strong purpose.

In Liu Jian's eyes, these unattainable descendants of high-ranking families are not as good as Gongsun Zan, because he has already planned for his future.

I am afraid that it will be difficult for me to interact with these people in the future, and it is useless to make friends with them.

Seeing Liu Bei regretful, Liu Jian stopped joking and comforted:

"Brother, there is no need to blame yourself. At that time, my younger brother was just young and ignorant, aloof and unworthy of praise."

Liu Bei smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Don't be humble, you are just better than me."

If this younger brother is really aloof, why is he still secretly inquiring about Gongsun Zan after so many years? He clearly has farsightedness.

It seems that my future may depend on this younger brother.

…

The next day, they went to see Liu Zhou and Hu, and told them that they would leave the county for a few days and go east to meet Gongsun Zan who was about to take office.

The brothers only talked about welcoming their classmates, but did not say that they wanted to enter the officialdom through Gongsun Zan.

Liu Zhou and Hu were overjoyed when they heard that a classmate from Goushi Mountain had come to take office as the magistrate of Zhuoxian County.

Liu Zhou stroked his beard, looked at Mrs. Hu proudly, and boasted: "Look, what are you talking about? Let these two children go to Lu Zigan to study scriptures, they will definitely have a great future! But you are the wife of

See, I feel sorry for my child who is suffering from a long journey. Back then, I cried out to stop him and even scratched my face. What now? All my classmates back then have come to serve as county magistrates for us! This generation has become more prosperous one by one!"

Mrs. Hu rolled her eyes at Liu Zhou with disdain: "My son is promising, knows how to make friends, and knows how to inquire about the whereabouts of his classmates. What does this have to do with an old guy like you?"

Liu Zhou raised his eyebrows and was about to get angry at Mrs. Hu: "Why do you, a woman, talk like that!"

"What do you want?" Mrs. Hu glared at him, and Liu Zhou suddenly lost his momentum.

He coughed softly: "I don't care about this woman like you! You have no knowledge..."

Then he looked at the two of them: "You two should dress more formally. Choose thicker overalls in the cold weather, and buy some more gifts. Although they are classmates, they will still be our local county magistrates after they take office. The etiquette must be

speak!"

"Don't worry, father, I'll take care of it soon."

Liu Jian and Liu Beifang were about to say goodbye, but they heard Mrs. Hu suddenly say: "Since we are welcoming the county magistrate, Jian'er can go alone. Liu... Xuande is still at home preparing for his coming-of-age ceremony, so don't go with him."

Liu Bei was shocked when he heard this.
To be continued...