Divine Lucky Star-Chapter 247 - The Peach Garden Oath Doesnt Exist
Chapter 247: Chapter 247: The Peach Garden Oath Doesn’t Exist?
Chapter 247 -247: The Peach Garden Oath Doesn’t Exist?
Facing everyone’s questions, Wang Hao smiled and said, “Don’t rush, everyone. Let’s analyze a few points now. First, Liu Bei’s acting was absolutely at the level of an academy award winner. Second, Cao Cao valued Liu Bei even more than he did Lv Bu! Why did Cao Cao kill Lv Bu but treat Liu Bei with great kindness? Listen carefully to me as I explain!”
The room suddenly fell so silent you could hear a pin drop.
“Here, I need to emphasize a peculiar sentence,” Wang Hao said with a smile. “Following this peculiar conclusion, let’s turn back time a few years, which is to say… many years ago.”
“The ‘Records of Heroes at the End of Han’ states that in the last years of Emperor Ling of Han’s reign, Bei once stayed in the Capital, and then both he and Lord Cao returned to Pei, recruiting troops. As Emperor Ling passed away and chaos ensued throughout the land, Bei also raised an army to join in the campaign against Dong Zhuo. According to this account, Liu Bei was in Luoyang before Emperor Ling of Han’s demise, and he had dealings with Cao Cao. And if we consult Chen Shou’s ‘Biography of the Former Lord,’ during Emperor Ling of Han’s time, Liu Bei’s main activities were: in the year 175, at the age of fifteen, Liu Bei followed his mother’s orders to study abroad, becoming a disciple of Lu Zhi and a pupil of Ma Rong. In other words, the two years Liu Bei spent studying with Lu Zhi were mainly about getting worldly experience in Luoyang.”
“So, in fact, we can confirm that Liu Bei’s first trip to Luoyang was earlier than imagined, which was in the year 175. That year, Cao Cao was twenty-one years old. What was Cao Cao’s situation at that time? Check the ‘Annals of Emperor Wu in the Records of the Three Kingdoms’: At the age of twenty, he was recommended as Filially Pious and Incorrupt, and made the Captain of Northern Luoyang.”
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“So it’s clear from this that Liu Bei and Cao Cao knew each other when they were young, and the biggest piece of evidence is the sentence I previously mentioned—’In the last years of Emperor Ling of Han, Bei once stayed in the Capital, and then both he and Lord Cao returned to Pei, recruiting troops. As Emperor Ling passed away and chaos ensued throughout the land, Bei also raised an army to join in the campaign against Dong Zhuo. The most important word in this sentence is ‘again!'”
“In the ancient documents of the Heavenly People’s Republic, it is customary not to write any word carelessly, and ‘again’ means exactly that. This word proves that before this preserved record, there were other events related to both Cao Cao and Liu Bei. This thoroughly proves that the friendship between Liu Bei and Cao Cao dates back to their youth, to the year 175 when they went to Luoyang to study, marking the beginning of their friendship. We can definitely conclude: Liu Bei met Cao Cao as early as when he was fifteen years old!”
Everyone present was stunned by his words!
Wang Hao cited the classics and spoke confidently, making it impossible to refute him!
The most amazing thing was that Wang Hao even teased out that Cao Cao and Liu Bei knew each other when they were very young!
“175, Liu Bei was fifteen years old,” Wang Hao said with a smile, took a sip of water, and gently shook his fan, continuing slowly, “What are we doing at the age of fifteen? Attending junior high! And Liu Bei? He had already started making connections with the heroes of the land! And speaking of which, don’t get impatient, everyone, because we’ve already discussed Liu Bei’s acting skills, and what comes next is the real highlight of the story!”
Liu Bei had acting skills, and by fifteen, he had begun building connections with the heroes of the world, so what else did he do next, and what kind of review would he get from Wang Hao?
“First, let’s check the ‘Biography of the Former Lord’ in the Records of the Three Kingdoms. After ending his brief period of studying abroad, Liu Bei returned to the HB area and began to establish his own influence: The Former Lord was not very fond of reading, preferring dogs, horses, music, and beautiful clothing. He was tall, with hands that reached below his knees and his ears visible when he looked forward. He was a man of few words, good at winning people over, and his emotions did not show on his face. He liked making connections with bold and generous people, and the youth competed to join him. The great merchants of Zhongshan, Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang, who were rich with thousands of gold, trading horses in Zhuo County, took note of him and thus gave him ample gold and wealth. With this, Liu Bei was able to gather followers.”
“First, everybody, look: how long did Liu Bei study under Lu Zhi? Considering that Lu Zhi promptly left for a position in Lujiang, Liu Bei would have left Luoyang no later than 177, less than two years. Which means, when Liu Bei began to establish his own power, he was only seventeen or eighteen years old. Here we also happen to pinpoint the date when Liu Bei became acquainted with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. According to ‘Guan Yu’s Biography’: ‘Guan Yu, styled Yunchang, originally named Changsheng, was from Hedong. He fled a crime, rushing to Zhuo County. Liu Bei was gathering followers in his village, and both Yu and Zhang Fei served as his protectors.’ From here, we can deduce that Liu Bei’s efforts to make connections with bold individuals likely began during his studies in Luoyang and that his interactions with Cao Cao were initiated through Ranger activities.”
“After leaving Luoyang and returning to Zhuo County, Guan Yu committed a murder, fled from Hedong to Zhuo County, and encountered Liu Bei who was organizing a Ranger club there. Together with Zhang Fei, they became Liu Bei’s go-to men.”
“Since we’re on the subject, let me just mention that in reality there was no Peach Garden Oath in history, it’s only said that they were as close as brothers, and moreover, Guan Yu was older than Liu Bei! This is precisely why I have repeatedly emphasized Liu Bei’s acting skills, heh, life is just like a play, all depending on acting skills!”
What?
There was no Peach Garden Oath? It was just made up in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms? And Guan Yu was older than Liu Bei?!
Zhang Xingzhe was furious at that moment, “What nonsense are you talking about! How could the Peach Garden Oath not exist?!”
All the audience members were dumbfounded; after all, the Peach Garden Oath, a tale that had been passed down through the ages, didn’t actually exist?!
“Don’t get worked up, everyone, hear me out,” Wang Hao said leisurely, taking a sip of water and shaking his fan, smiling, “The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is just that, a romance, which means it’s a dramatization. The novel opens with the Yellow Turban Uprising, and Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, as the protagonists of the book, are glorified. But real history is obviously not so simple. In fact, when we talk about Luoyang, we cannot fail to mention Yuan Shao, and he’s a key figure, which I will get to soon, but let’s take it one step at a time.”
“Next comes the year when the Han dynasty came to a historical end: 184, the Yellow Turban Uprising broke out. Liu Bei made his mark in the army that year. According to the ‘Biography of the Former Lord’: ‘The Former Lord, with his followers, joined Prefect Zou Jing in defeating the Yellow Turban rebels and was awarded for his contributions, appointed as the Officer of Anxi.’ The key points in this sentence are these: Firstly, Liu Bei’s several years of Ranger activities in his hometown gave him his own private army. Secondly, this army was affiliated under Prefect Zou Jing.”
“So, it is to say, between returning to his hometown in 177 and the year 184, Liu Bei had been recruiting his own army all along, and it was during this time that he took in Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. Alright, having sorted out Liu Bei’s activities before the year 184, let’s move onto more important matters: In 189, the Eunuchs’ Rebellion took place, and the First Empire was dead in political terms. Combining this with Wang Can’s viewpoint, Liu Bei must have returned to Luoyang by early 189 at the latest, before Emperor Ling’s death, to restore or rebuild his friendship with Cao Cao.”
“Now comes the question, why did Liu Bei return to Luoyang?”
