Xu You is from Nanyang and comes from a wealthy family in Nanyang. When he was young, he was friends with Cao Cao, Yuan Shao and others and had a good relationship.
Xu You did not attend the banquet before, but this time, Xu You came to the banquet. Such an arrangement also let Liu Bei know some of Yuan Shao's thoughts.
Xu You was very interested in Liu Bei. He was a student of modern classics. He knew that Liu Bei came from the ancient literary school and was known as a master of classics debate, so he was interested in having a debate with him.
The two debated Zuo's Spring and Autumn Period and Gongyang's Spring and Autumn Period.
At the banquet, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao watched the two debate with interest while drinking.
"I thought Ziyuan could win, Mengde, what do you think?"
Looking at Xu You's eloquent and powerful output, Yuan Shao believed that the knowledgeable Xu You should win this debate, and Liu Bei's undefeated record was about to be ended.
"I... still think Xuande can win."
Cao Cao thought for a while and did not obey Yuan Shao's idea.
"Oh? Xuande?"
Yuan Shao glanced at Cao Cao: "It seems that Meng De admires Liu Xuande very much."
Cao Cao smiled.
"He traveled over mountains and ridges to reach Luoyang. The hardships involved are far beyond our understanding. Many times the hardships and dangers will surely bring many times more knowledge. That's why Xuande became Lu Gong's disciple."
"interesting……"
Yuan Shao said nothing more and turned to look at the debate between the two. After a while, he was somewhat surprised to find that Xu You was already at a disadvantage.
Liu Bei seized on the deficiencies in Xu You's academic theory and criticized them fiercely, which put Xu You at a disadvantage. He continued to parry and had no power to fight back.
After burning the incense, Xu You was speechless after being refuted by Liu Bei. Even though his face turned red, he could not refute Liu Bei's last argument. He could only cover his face, lamenting, and reluctantly admitted his failure, smiling bitterly.
"Everyone knows that Liu Xuande, a native of Zhuo, is unparalleled in debates on scriptures, so why should I bring shame on myself?"
Liu Bei raised his wine glass in toast to You.
"Isn't it wonderful to make friends through literature? Victory or defeat can only be determined by a thought. In the final analysis, we are all scholars and disciples of saints. Why bother to make things difficult for each other?"
After hearing this, Xu You sighed and raised his glass.
"Xuande is a great talent, I am ashamed of myself."
After that, the two of them toasted and drank together.
Yuan Shao laughed loudly and stood up, congratulating Liu Bei on his victory and comforting Xu You on his defeat.
Cao Cao, who was sitting next to him, smiled and raised his glass to Liu Bei. Liu Bei responded. The two looked at each other and smiled, saying nothing.
In the days that followed, Yuan Shao invited Liu Bei for drinks twice in a row, and introduced his circle of friends to Liu Bei, including young people and older people.
During the fourth meeting, Liu Bei even met Zhang Miao, the governor of Chenliu, and He Yong, a famous party member.
These two thousand stone prefects left their posts without permission to come to see Yuan Shao...
Famous party members came to see Yuan Shao despite being pursued by the eunuchs...
Good guy, Yuan Shao, you are playing a big role.
Zhang Miao was a righteous and heroic man, and was known as one of the Eight Chefs in the scholar circle.
This kitchen is not a chef's kitchen, but refers to spending money to help others out of trouble when they are in danger, being generous and distributing money, spending too much money, and benefiting many people, so this title was given.
In short, he is a famous scapegoat in the scholar circle. He is extremely rich and willing to spend money. He spends money to the point where everyone is embarrassed.
It's a reputation that's purely made with money.
And there are seven other wealthy people like him in this circle of scholars.
Liu Bei suddenly became interested in making friends.
If this relationship is good, wouldn't this guy be a mobile ATM in the future?
Both of them were more than ten years older than Liu Bei, but they both heard about Liu Bei's reputation as a disciple of Lu Zhi, a master of debates, and a poet of the Han Dynasty, and they were very interested in this young man who had suddenly risen to prominence.
Of course, they also knew a little bit about Yuan Shao's intention to recruit Liu Bei, especially when they had agreed to secretly go to Beijing to discuss important matters, they brought Liu Bei in. It was obvious that they wanted to bring Liu Bei together to work together.
Although Liu Bei is a member of the Han family, he seems to be willing, otherwise he would not be content and chatting and laughing with Cao Cao and Xu You.
There was no need to say more about things that were tacitly understood, so after the normal banquet, everyone tacitly started talking about business.
He Yong, a member of the party who was hunted by the eunuchs, first sighed.
"Recently, Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong's disciples have secured seven more county governor positions and eighteen more county magistrate positions for their children. Less than half of the court officials are the children of eunuchs. For this reason, the number of scholars who have been excluded is countless. If things go on like this, in this palace and in this place, all the eunuchs' sons will be the officials, so what do you want us people to do?"
Zhang Miao pretended to sigh and waved his hand.
"Boqiu, be careful with your words, be careful with your words, don't talk about state affairs, it's better to have a drink."
He Yong patted the table and put the wine glass upside down on the table.
"Drink? Meng Zhuo, haven't I drank enough? What's the use of just drinking? Can the things I worry about be reduced?"
"Boqiu, why bother? The world is like this, what can you do?"
Zhang Miao raised his wine glass and sighed: "It can only be said that we were born at the wrong time. We had the heart to serve the country, but we did not have the door to serve the country. This door was actually blocked by a group of eunuchs."
Liu Bei looked at Yuan Shao and then at Cao Cao. Seeing that their expressions were as usual, he knew that this was probably a show.
I'm afraid that it won't be long before the topic turns to myself.
So Liu Bei said nothing and drank silently, waiting for them to change the topic.
Zhang Miao and He Yong complained, and Yuan Shao took over.
"Why do you two lament so much? Although the world is turbid, we are still here. We can still drink, have fun, entertain friends, and talk to each other. What's wrong with this? Xuande, what do you think?"
Yuan Shao's change of topic was a bit harsh, but the point had already been reached. Zhang Miao and He Yong had been laying the groundwork for a while, and Liu Bei had waited for this sentence.
The eyes of everyone present were focused on Liu Bei.
Liu Bei sat in front of the desk, smiled, raised his glass and toasted Yuan Shao.
"Otherwise, I don't dare to lie, but drinking really can't solve any problems. When I was depressed in the past, I tried drinking to solve it, but it was solved for a while. After I woke up, my sadness increased instead of decreasing.
This sadness is like the water flowing in the river, endless and unstoppable, so I understand it. Cutting off the water with a knife will make the water flow even more. Raising a glass to relieve the sorrow makes the sorrow worse. Wine is not a good thing. It relieves the temporary helplessness. What it brings is more lasting pain. "
After saying that, Liu Bei put down his wine glass.
Cut off the water with a knife and the water will flow more. Raise a cup to relieve sorrow and sorrow.
Although several people present wanted not to care about these two sentences, they couldn't help but forget that they temporarily forgot that this was a trap set up to test Liu Bei's political leanings.
They all recited these two sentences silently several times. The more they recited them, the more flavorful and wonderful they felt.
Wonderful.
However, this is not a literary meeting after all.
Cao Cao looked at Yuan Shao and saw that Yuan Shao seemed to have forgotten what he should do. He was immersed in these two beautiful lines and couldn't extricate himself. He felt somewhat helpless.
So Cao Cao spoke.
"Wine is indeed not a good thing. Raising a glass to relieve sorrow will make it worse. Xuande's words have eliminated the helplessness of our drinkers."
Yuan Shao suddenly heard Cao Cao's words, and then realized what he should do most.
"Ahem, great talent Xuande, these words make us drunkards speechless. We are speechless. We will stop drinking."
After saying that, Yuan Shao put down his wine glass and said: "As long as I don't drink, this sadness will become even more helpless. How can I resolve the sadness in my heart?"
