People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 68 Organization
Zhang Zhongjing's mood was complicated. Outsiders only saw that he was getting closer and closer to the bandit chief Xu Chen, but they didn't know why he was willing to do so. This was not a choice made under coercion or out of fear of death, but the result of following his heart.

As an upright and outstanding scholar, Zhang Zhongjing naturally knew how to be loyal to the emperor and maintain his integrity. In this respect, he was no different from Fu Xie and Ju Shou.

If the Yellow Turbans threatened him with death and forced him to serve the bandits, he would definitely not be willing to do so. He might even lose his head rather than compromise.

But now the Yellow Turbans did not force him like that. In fact, they had always taken extra care of him. Just as other prisoners were undergoing labor reform, he did not have to endure such torture.

In the end, they no longer tried to persuade me to surrender. Instead, I took the initiative to get closer to them and was even willing to do something for them.

Zhang Zhongjing knew that if others saw his situation, they would think that he had surrendered to the enemy and betrayed the Han court, but he would not deliberately distance himself from the Yellow Turbans because of this.

His unwillingness to surrender was a quality that a scholar should have.

The reason why he is close to Xu Chen today is also because of his scholarly character.

Everything should be open and aboveboard, without being influenced by other people's opinions.

What really made him and the Yellow Turbans close was Xu Chen's attitude of truly fighting for the common people. This was undoubtedly in line with the Confucian pursuit of a world of universal peace. Could it be that the right thing could become wrong just because the people doing it were different?
The so-called celebrities of the Han Dynasty might have gained fame through their study of the classics of sages, or through their performance of filial piety and righteousness that was almost a show, but it seemed that no one ever really cared about the food, drink, and diseases of the common people.

These things are just trivial matters in people's livelihood, but in Zhang Zhongjing's view, they are the real big things.

Now I see that there are people who are really doing these "little things". In order to bring some improvements to the lives of ordinary people, they are willing to try every possible way to overcome difficulties and have the perseverance to persist for ten, twenty years or even longer.

Ironically, the person who did this was not a scholar who advocated benevolence, righteousness and morality, but a traitor.
"This will benefit the people's livelihood. Regardless of the final results, I will do my best to compile it. However, it is important to write a quick and concise medical manual, which is quite different from the medical skills I have learned. It will probably take quite a while to complete the book."

Zhang Zhongjing agreed without hesitation. Whether or not to do this had nothing to do with whether the other party was a Yellow Turban.

Even if Xu Chen was captured by the Han court today, he would continue to do this.

Of course, he also understood that outsiders would probably not be interested in analyzing his inner thoughts. They would only see that Zhang Ji had lost his integrity and served the enemy, and actually colluded with the Yellow Turbans and worked for them.

When Xu Chen saw that he agreed, although it was not unexpected, he was also very happy.

"Thank you for your help, Zhongjing. I will also search for doctors to assist you in this matter. I will also select a group of people from the army to learn first aid and nursing with you. In the future, we can set up a special medical corps to treat injuries in the army."

Having said that, Xu Chen couldn't help but look at the figures who were working hard on the vast plain.

Throughout China's long history, it has always been caught in a vicious cycle of historical development. Although there have always been advances and changes in productivity and thought, no qualitative changes have ever taken place.

Xu Chen is not arrogant enough to seek the ultimate answer for human society. What he wants is to break the original historical cycle and allow Eastern civilization to accelerate across hundreds or even thousands of years and enter a more progressive and fair world. This is enough.

This is not easy, but when he really starts these undertakings, he does not feel tired. Instead, he is full of passion and motivation. This is the meaning of coming to this world.

After the matter was discussed clearly, Zhang Zhongjing did not stay any longer. He said goodbye to Xu Chen and left on his own.

However, on the way back to the city, when they passed by the farmland, it was also the time when Ju Shou and Fu Xie returned to the farmland to work.

When the two sides met on the road, they both stopped and then there was silence. Ju Shou looked calm and indifferent, and it was hard to tell what his mood was. Fu Xie snorted coldly, only glanced at Zhang Zhongjing and turned away.

The friendship they had when they were captives with Zhang Zhongjing no longer exists.

Although they had not heard the news of Zhang Zhongjing's complete surrender, seeing how close Zhang Zhongjing was to the Yellow Turbans, they also believed that Zhang Zhongjing had already surrendered to the bandits.

Zhang Zhongjing did not make any excuses for this. Since there was nothing wrong, why should he explain?

Soon, Ju Shou and Fu Xie continued to move forward amid the scolding of the surrendered officials and the Yellow Turbans, and they were about to start a new round of work.

After watching them leave, Zhang Zhongjing sighed, shook his head and continued walking back.

He was not frustrated by the attitudes of Ju Shou and Fu Xie. Compared with these self-consuming things, he preferred to focus his mind and energy on studying the "Barefoot Doctor Manual".

After Zhang Zhongjing left, Xu Chen jumped off the stone, then patted the dust off his butt, turned to look at Tian Shitou on the side, and gave orders.

"Let's go to the next village. As the captain of the army, you can't just sit there doing nothing."

This time when he went to the countryside, he not only brought Zhang Zhongjing to investigate the disease conditions of the people, but also brought Tian Shitou to inspect the grassroots governance of the Yellow Turbans.

After capturing Yuyang, Xu Chen began to work on organizational construction.

Taking into account the urgent military needs and the lack of sufficient intellectuals, he finally chose to temporarily implement a military-political integrated management form in Yuyang, with his own basic Yellow Turban Army assuming the functions of both the army and the government.

Correspondingly, Xu Chen also made direct changes to the Yellow Turbans.

Among the five thousand Yellow Turbans, in addition to his own three hundred personal guards, Xu Chen only retained about fifteen hundred people as the standing army. These fifteen hundred people were exactly the grassroots officers such as sergeants, squad leaders, and centurions appointed in the original Yellow Turban Army.

As long as these grassroots officers are trained to be qualified, then the army, whether it has thousands of people or tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people, will have a complete skeleton.

As for the other 3,000-odd soldiers, Xu Chen released them all and registered them locally, stuffing them into the various villages and towns under his jurisdiction, and used these Yellow Turbans to manage the local grassroots.

Of course, a small Yuyang County cannot accommodate so many Yellow Turbans. With Xu Chen’s expansion, they will eventually spread to an increasingly vast world.

Such a military-first governance system has high requirements on the personnel quality of the Yellow Turbans, and the Yellow Turbans are now just groping in the dark as they go along.

Xu Chen can only continue to improve them through education and promotion.

Now, Xu Chen is going to take Tian Shitou to inspect the specific actions of the local Yellow Turbans.

He did not forget the finger pointing at himself.

(End of this chapter)