As for ground battle, Sun Ce felt certain that his valor was more than enough to make Jingzhou’s soldiers understand not everyone could be trifled with! Of course, Sun Ce thought it would be fantastic if one day he could match Lyu Bu’s combat power!
Unaware of the formidable opponent they would soon encounter, Wang Wei and Wen Pin were marching on the river, still pondering over how to leverage the people’s support in Jingzhou to take Jiangxia City, not realizing that someone had already prepared the plate to serve them up in one fell swoop.
In Eastern Qingzhou, a lean man from the Great Han picked up a rabbit and returned to his mountain stronghold, looking at the yellow-faced man seated in the chief position, "Yuanshao, this is for you."
"Alas, there’s not a morsel of grain left in our stronghold. Let’s go borrow some," said Pei Yuanshao as he accepted the wild rabbit, his eyes reddening before he heaved a sigh and spoke to Zhou Cang, "A couple of days ago, Guann Hai came to tell me if we would go with him to borrow some grain."
"Guann Hai!" A trace of wariness appeared in Zhou Cang’s eyes. In all of Qingzhou, he and Guann Hai were known as the most formidable fighters among the Yellow Turbans. Also, they had both met in their early years under the Great Sage Teacher, though their roles differed – Zhou Cang as a trusted aide, and Guann Hai as a Channel Commander.
"Old Zhou, tell me, should we go borrow grain or seek refuge with Liu Xuande," Pei Yuanshao asked, looking at Zhou Cang. Although Zhou Cang was much stronger than Pei Yuanshao, it was Pei Yuanshao who commanded troops in the stronghold.
After much hesitation, Zhou Cang finally plopped down on the ground, "Seek refuge with Liu Xuande. At least Liu Xuande still adheres to the Great Commander’s faith and righteousness. Although the Great Commander is dead, he managed to carve out a path for us Yellow Turbans with his own life!"
"What about us? Ordinary Yellow Turbans are pardoned for joining, but what of ourselves?" Pei Yuanshao made the inquiry, showing no intent to interfere, "Forget it, let’s send the brothers on. To live out our lives in anonymity is just as well. A figure like the Great Commander is ultimately beyond our comparison!"
"Our brothers are unable to lift the pot lid and have nothing to eat. If it weren’t for our sharing what little we have with them, they might have already fled to Liu Xuande by now. Let’s go offer incense to the Great Commander and surrender together. If we are to die, so be it!" Zhou Cang stood up, brushing the dust off his clothes and spoke with a bitter look on his face.
"I’ll go call all our brothers. After all, they’ve also seen blood and can be considered good soldiers. Going there and joining the Qingzhou Tuntian Army wouldn’t be too bad," Pei Yuanshao said with a wry smile. Since Zhou Cang had made his choice, he would accompany him. After all, Pei Yuanshao owed his life to Zhou Cang, so accompanying him in death would be like repaying that debt.
Called by his soldiers, Pei Yuanshao’s men quickly assembled, and then they followed Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao in offering incense to a Wordless Stele.
This was a stele erected by Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao after they learned that the Great Commander had sacrificed his life for justice. But due to Qingzhou’s decline, their illiteracy, and absence of a craftsman, they had to establish a blank stele, offering incense periodically to appease the Ghostly Deity.
Chen Xi had no idea that, across Qingzhou and Mount Tai, such worship of the Great Commander was common among the Yellow Turbans. Perhaps the Yellow Turbans didn’t know what Zang Ba looked like, but those who had surrendered knew that their current lives were bought with the death of one such man, and so they all erected tablets at home to honor him. Even those Yellow Turbans who hadn’t surrendered in Qingzhou erected a stele to honor the Great Commander’s benevolence, including Guann Hai, who offered incense to it.
Indeed, by now, even if Zang Ba showed up, those who followed Zang Ba and met the Great Commander once or twice might not recognize him. However, this didn’t mean they had forgotten the Great Commander. On the contrary, they would forever remember him, ensuring the incense never ceased. To put it in contemporary terms, although the Great Commander was dead, he would forever live in their hearts...
Because of this, the Great Commander, even in death, had essentially become the faith of these converted Yellow Turbans, gradually supplanting their original belief in the Great Sage Teacher, Zhang Jiao. But compared to Zhang Jiao’s rebellious creed of "The Blue Sky is dead, the Yellow Sky will rise," Zang Ba’s representation of virtue, courage, and willingness to die for justice seemed utterly righteous...
If one day someone were to build a temple for the Great Commander, Chen Xi would turn a blind eye to it, because after all, beliefs and sects were bound to emerge sooner or later. And rather than adhering to some contradictory philosophical ideas or joining decadent, self-defeating sects, the faith in the Great Commander was perfectly acceptable, even excellent! Believing in a pure hero, a hero who died for righteousness, was certainly a good thing!
Of course, Chen Xi didn’t know about these matters. If he had, he would certainly have covertly built a temple for the Great Commander. As for whether Zang Ba would feel depressed, Chen Xi wouldn’t care. Stability in his rule was his ultimate pursuit!
Just imagine a sect centered around the Great Commander, with Mencius’s ideas on dying for righteousness and a mishmash of other thoughts as its tenets—it could instantly attract millions of followers, and parading Mencius’s name seemed rather impressive! As for the problems with its doctrines, they were no issue at all. Throughout history, many doctrinal problems existed, but groups still thrived. Besides, the rigor of Mencius’s ideas wasn’t for nothing. As a religious doctrine, it might not be ideal, but it was not impossible! After all, sometimes the Confucian School is also referred to as Confucianism, so starting a new branch would be plausible. There’s nothing wrong with that.