I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 594 Extra: I, Shi Zimiao, the Imperial Tutor of the Han Dynasty (Part )

PS: I’ll top it off with a special chapter first.

When he was young, Shi Zimiao always felt that he was very lucky.

Although he came from a humble background, he was favored by an old Taoist priest and was accepted as his disciple.

To this day, Shi Zimiao still clearly remembers the scene when he first met the old Taoist priest - at that time he was just a carefree shepherd boy, and the happiest thing in his daily life was to take a nap while grazing.

His cows are very smart and won't run around.

But on that day, while he was sleeping, his cow ran away.

Shi Zimiao cried and searched for a long time but couldn't find his cow. Just when he thought he had lost his cow and didn't even dare to go home, the old Taoist priest came to him almost from the sky, leading his cow.

She comforted him in a gentle tone as he sobbed, and left a message: "Little boy, I see that you are very talented and a rare genius in the world. Would you like to be my disciple?"

When he recalls it now, Shi Zimiao still can't help but wonder whether the cow in his family was originally taken away by his master.

Later, the old Taoist followed him to his home. Shi Zimiao had forgotten how the old Taoist persuaded his parents, but in the end, the old Taoist took a large sum of money as a teacher's gift from his parents, and then took him away to a place that Shi Zimiao still cannot forget - Luoyang.

Shi Zimiao still remembers what his master said when he introduced Luoyang to him: "Emperor Guangwu believed that Han was of the fire element, and water overcomes fire, so he removed the word 'water' and added '隹', changing Luo to 'Luo'."

At that time, Shi Zimiao did not understand all this. He just felt that his master was indeed very eloquent. At the same time, he remembered that the expenses they had incurred along the way were all gifts from his family to pay them as apprenticeship gifts.

Although his master always said that their meeting was fate, Shi Zimiao always felt that this fate was that his master ran out of money when he was near his home, so he accepted him as a disciple in order to get travel expenses.

But Shi Zimiao had to admit that even if his master was a liar, he was a great liar who could deceive everyone in the world.

At least the dignitaries in Luoyang were deceived by his master and respected him very much. Even the most honorable emperor in the world, now known as Emperor Xiaohuan, invited his master to the palace to discuss philosophy.

And his master did not disappoint the promise he made to his parents, and passed on all the Daoist scriptures he knew to Shi Zimiao. Although Shi Zimiao did not really understand how many profound principles were contained in those Daoist scriptures, he did not see his master using those Daoist scriptures to attract any strange phenomena from the sky.

Regarding these, his master just told him to let nature take its course, and he would naturally understand when the time comes.

Of course, when facing those dignitaries, the master's requirements for him are simpler. If he encounters something he doesn't understand, all he has to do is smile.

As for the rest, those dignitaries will figure it out themselves.

Relying on these principles, which he did not fully understand, Shi Zimiao received and sorted out the Taoist canon left by his master after his master's death in order to pass on his master's legacy.

Shi Zimiao didn't know why, but after he completed the Taoist Canon, many powerful people liked to borrow it from him and treated him with the same respect as their master, even though he was obviously not as persuasive as his master.

Even Emperor Xiaohuan summoned him once.

Unfortunately, Emperor Xiaohuan died not long after that and the new emperor ascended the throne.

At that time, Luoyang City was in chaos, but Shi Zimiao lived a good life relying on his own and his master's fame and the protection of high-ranking officials.

At that time, Shi Zimiao thought that his good days would continue like this. When he was old enough, he would look for a disciple with whom he had a destiny, just like his master... No, Shi Zimiao decided to look for several. Otherwise, if he only looked for one, he might be bored when he had few disciples.

Unfortunately, however, his plan could not keep up with the changes.

The new emperor lost several sons.

Shi Zimi still doesn't know which guy thought of him and actually proposed to the new emperor to send the prince to him to be raised as a shelter from disaster.

Shi Zimiao had indeed thought of taking in disciples, but he had never thought of taking in children! Shi Zimiao had never hated his fame as much as he did at that moment.

Unfortunately, the emperor was afraid that the new prince would die again, so he agreed.

Shi Zimiao had witnessed the new emperor's style with his own eyes. He killed so many high-ranking officials and the so-called celebrities they talked about, without any hesitation.

The royal order cannot be violated.

So, Shi Zimi accepted this task in a daze.

In order to prevent the prince from dying young, Shi Zimi was busy like a dog every day after taking over the responsibility of raising the prince who was still breastfeeding.

Fortunately, he didn't need to breastfeed. Shi Zimiao knew clearly that his life was now tied to that of the prince. If anything happened to the prince, even if he had met Emperor Xiaohuan before, he would not be able to escape the fate of being buried with the prince.

At that time, Shi Zimi kept following the prince around every day, fearing that something might happen to the prince one day.

Shi Zimiao felt exhausted at the time, but now thinking back, it was actually quite fun.

Under his careful care, the prince survived and grew up day by day.

But when the prince was a little older, Shi Zimiao discovered the problem. For the sake of the prince's health, he could not reveal the prince's identity. Even the emperor and the empress did not dare to ask too much about the prince's affairs.

As a result, the task of teaching the prince fell on Shi Zimiao.

But he really doesn't know how to teach children!

Although the prince is smart, Shi Zimiao can only teach him the same way his master taught him.

At first, Shi Zimiao thought the effect was very good.

But gradually, Shi Zimiao realized that something was wrong.

The prince he taught was the queen's son, and who knows, he might become a crown prince someday... But looking at the natural way the prince was growing up before his eyes, where was the aura of a crown prince?

It was of course his credit that the prince grew up successfully, but it was his fault if he was raised in a wrong way.

At this time, Shi Zimiao suddenly came up with a brilliant idea - he had been living in Luoyang for so many years and had never had the experience of traveling around the world like his master. Shi Zimiao planned to set out on a journey as soon as the prince was brought into the palace.

Of course, although he said he was traveling, Shi Zimiao was actually planning to find a sparsely populated place to live in seclusion for a few years.

Shi Zimiao thought he was too smart.

Finally, Shi Zimiao received a notice from Guo Sheng, the eunuch he was most familiar with, and could tell the prince his identity. To be fair, Shi Zimiao had raised the prince for nearly ten years and still had deep feelings for him.

But after the prince knew his identity, he forgot all the natural ways he had taught him.

Shi Zimiao did not blame the prince, because he did not understand these principles at all when he was a child. He believed that when the prince grew up, things would be different.

But not now, so he wanted to leave even more strongly.

But in the following time, Shi Zimiao discovered a strange thing that puzzled him.

If we say that the prince was forcing himself to act like an adult when he first learned of his identity, then in the half month before he entered the palace, at certain special moments, he gave him the illusion that he was an adult pretending to be a child.

This left Shi Zimiao puzzled. He even thought that perhaps this was the destiny of Emperor Liu?
In other words, Shi Zimi doesn't like to be too serious and is unwilling to get to the bottom of things.

However, it is true that the prince has gradually matured and become less childish during this period of time.

In the past, the prince would only read reluctantly when he was asked to do so, but now, the prince would ask him to interpret the contents of the book.

In his heart, Shi Zimiao felt a little sad when he saw this scene. But he also understood that such a prince was more suitable for the palace.

Therefore, half a month before the prince entered the palace, Shi Zimi tried his best to teach the prince what he thought the prince needed.

Then, he watched the prince, whom he had raised for nearly ten years, leave and enter the palace.

He himself hurriedly packed his bags in the name of traveling around.

In fact, after noticing the changes in the prince, Shi Zimiao was still hesitant about whether to leave. After all, to the people in the palace, the prince was obviously moving in a good direction.

But Shi Zimiao finally chose to leave. After all, with his abilities, he wouldn't be able to help much after the prince entered the palace.

Besides, even he had heard about the other prince's affairs. Rather than staying and possibly giving people the chance to find fault with the prince, it would be better for him to leave and avoid offending certain people.

Because the Han Dynasty was not at peace at that time, Shi Zimiao did not travel far, but came to Shaohua Mountain in Jingzhao Yin and lived in seclusion.

As early as when he followed his master, Shi Zimiao had learned a lot of survival skills. Later, when he took care of the prince personally, Shi Zimiao further improved his skills. He was very happy on Shaohua Mountain.

Although he still missed her a little in his heart, Shi Zimiao understood that the fate between them should be over.

In order to avoid being discovered by others, Shi Zimiao did not use his name. But he was a Taoist priest with skills after all. He could usually treat people's illnesses, relieve their worries, and so on.

Therefore, although he lived in seclusion in the mountains, Shi Zimiao was still able to learn about the outside world intermittently.

Shortly after arriving at Shaohua Mountain, Shi Zimiao heard people say that Shi Hou of Luoyang was a wise prince who was supported by many officials in Luoyang.

Upon hearing the news, Shi Zimiao immediately realized after his initial joy that the prince he raised might be in a bad situation. After all, the prince had never lived with the emperor before. Although they were related by blood, they had never gotten along with each other.

What happened afterwards was just as Shi Zimiao had expected. Even though he took the risk of being exposed and actively inquired for information, he did not find out more.

In this way, Shi Zimiao could only sigh!

After a long time, the rebels in Liangzhou, which had been peaceful for several years, made a comeback and reached Youfufeng. Although Shi Zimiao felt that they might not be able to reach Chang'an, let alone Shaohua Mountain to the east of Chang'an City, he packed his bags again, ready to live in seclusion in Huashan if anything happened.

Fortunately, this time, the imperial court sent a large army not only to defend Youfufeng, but also to counterattack into Liangzhou.

Shi Zimiao heard the title of the prince again. At this time, people still called the prince "Shi Hou".

Shi Zimiao heard that the reason why the imperial army was able to win a great victory this time was not only due to the effective command of General Huangfu and General Zhu, but also because Ji County in Hanyang County had not been captured by the rebels. Not only that, the Han army in Ji County also used this county to interfere with the rebels' food supply, and after the rebels retreated, the rebel leader Wang Guo was killed by a man named Guan Yu.

Shi Zimiao was very happy to hear that the bandit leader was dead, but he was confused afterwards.

Because he heard that Guan Yu was recommended by Shi Hou through the General of Chariots and Cavalry, and it was said that he was also influenced by Shi Daoren, who raised Shi Hou...

"Why don't I remember knowing Guan Yu?" Shi Zimiao complained in his heart, but he did not refute. After all, he knew that many words would be distorted when passed on by word of mouth, and the truth behind them was still unknown!

However, since this incident, more and more news about Shi Hou has been reported.

It also made Shi Zimiao miss the boy he raised more often.

However, a lot of the news about Shi Hou sounded fake to him - something like Shi Hou was brought up among the common people by Shi Dao Ren, and lived the same life as ordinary people, so Shi Dao Ren taught Shi Hou to understand the sufferings of the common people...

How could Shi Zimiao dare to let the prince suffer? He himself was better at suffering.

Of course, there are also some things that sound very true to Shi Zimiao - Shi Daoren is truly a famous teacher in the world. Shi Hou was young and virtuous, and he must have benefited from Shi Daoren's words and deeds.

Whenever this happened, Shi Zimiao couldn't help but feel excited: "Ah, yes, yes, I taught you all that!"

For example, there are some sayings that Shi Hou once said that have been passed down, such as "Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles", "What you learn from books is always shallow, you must practice it yourself to truly understand it", and so on.

Shi Zimiao felt that although he was not the one who taught these words, he had taught the principles behind them.

As Marquis Shi became more and more famous, all the news about him was good news, and the title of Marquis Shi was gradually replaced by that of Crown Prince.

Whenever Shi Zimiao heard people talking about state affairs, he could not avoid the mention of the crown prince. When talking about the crown prince, many people could not help but talk about Shi Daoren, who had taught the crown prince since he was young and who later retired after achieving success and did not pursue fame or fortune.

However, people will invariably sigh: "It would be great if my children could receive the teachings of Shi Daoren!"

Later, Shi Zimiao heard about Guan Yu again. This time, Guan Yu did something big and punished many illegal officials in Luoyang County. When the news reached Jingzhao Yin, even the petty officials there were less likely to oppress the people.

As Guan Yu became famous, the story about how Guan Yu was recommended by the prince through General He Miao became popular again.

At this time, even Shi Zimiao couldn't help but wonder, could it be that he had mentioned it to the prince at some point, but he forgot about it, but the prince remembered it?
As he thought about it, Shi Zimiao himself felt that this was the truth.

——That’s right! I, Shi Zimiao, am the Imperial Preceptor of the Han Dynasty!

(End of this chapter)