Surviving as Guan Yu in the Three Kingdoms

As soon as we arrived in Qing Province, Zhang Shiping let out a sigh.

“To think this is really the Qing Province I knew. Those Yellow Turban bastards, they’ve stripped it clean like a swarm of locusts.”

I found myself nodding at his words.

The place called Qing Province in the Three Kingdoms is on China’s Shandong Peninsula, a trading hub with sea routes connecting various parts of China and the Korean Peninsula.

In a place where trade is active, there should naturally be many wealthy people visible on the streets as various goods come and go…

But all that could be seen were mansions that must have been splendid before being looted, and markets and houses that had turned to ruins.

The rural backwater of Yu Province was at least shabby from being exploited by corrupt officials, but it still had some semblance of human life…

“Indeed, Master Zhang. To think that Linzi County, where the administrative center of Qing Province is located, with its many ports good for fishing and trading, has come to this.”

Liu Bei also looked around and sighed.

“This must all be because of the war, Yunchang. We’ll probably see a lot of scenes like this from now on. It reminds me of when I was young and suffered from not having enough to eat, and it pains my heart.”

Young mothers looking like walking corpses begging while carrying children too weak to cry, corpses already swarming with flies from starvation not even cleared away.

Seeing such extreme poverty in person, which I had only seen in UNICEF broadcasts as if it were a story from a foreign country, makes my heart ache.

“Yunchang, no, Master Zhang. Do we have some spare rations now?”
“We have about half a year’s worth of rations, so I think we can spare some to share with them.”

Hearing that, Zhang Fei shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s not like we’re in a bad situation, so we should help when we can. That’s how we’ll make a name for ourselves in the world, right? Don’t you agree, Sister Xuande?”
“Yide is right. And we can’t just leave people dying of hunger. Let’s provide relief before joining the camp of the Governor of Qing Province nearby.”

Liu Bei has been a fundamentally kind person since we were in Xu County.

However, he’s definitely not a fool who is just blindly kind without any thought, but rather the type of person who does good deeds with some purpose in mind.

In Korea, some people criticized Liu Bei as a hypocrite for doing good deeds with ulterior motives, but I didn’t think so.

Whether Liu Bei is sharing this porridge with a purpose or out of pure goodwill, either way, he’s sharing a bowl of porridge.

And the people who eat it will escape the crisis of death and gain hope to live another day.

“If we’re going to distribute food anyway, wouldn’t it be good to spread Lord Xuande’s name widely? Let’s have the soldiers tell people that this porridge is being given out thanks to Lord Xuande’s grace.”
“As expected of Brother Yunchang. If we’re going to do a good deed, we should make sure people know who’s doing it.”

Religious organizations often say that if you do good deeds without others knowing, you’ll receive great rewards in heaven.

They even teach that it’s bad to show off when doing good deeds, but it’s not like we obtained our rations by digging up oil from the ground.

If we’re going to give, we should utilize it as effectively as possible.

“Also, Lord Xuande, the people here have probably been starving for a long time, so it would be better to give them rice gruel with a lot of salt instead of thick porridge. If they suddenly eat thick porridge, they might die.”
“But wouldn’t they be happier with thicker porridge?”
“They might feel full when eating, but eating heavy food in a starved state can cause indigestion and even death. And if we’re being strict, they probably need salt more than food, so it’s better to give them salted rice gruel.”

We often think of overeating as eating until our stomachs burst or getting indigestion, but for someone who has been severely starving for days, even eating a single normal portion suddenly is overeating.

In the latter case, they’re likely to die from severe abdominal pain and indigestion.

There’s probably little knowledge about this in this era, but knowing this, I can’t just stand by and watch.

“If Yunchang says so, it must be true. Then let’s start by boiling rice gruel right away. Tell the soldiers to take out rice and salt and prepare for cooking. Also, have them go around and gather people.”

As soon as he heard that, Zhang Fei got off his horse and led the soldiers far away.

The rest of us, including myself, set up cauldrons and started boiling porridge as per Liu Bei’s orders.

Usually, someone of my rank could avoid such menial tasks, but…

“Yunchang, even if it’s rice gruel, if you don’t stir it well, it might lose its taste or burn, so be careful.”

With Liu Bei personally holding a ladle and boiling the porridge, no one could escape.

In the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei is described almost like a vacuum cleaner sucking up public sentiment, and I think I can see why.

From his days as a volunteer army leader to becoming the King of Hanzhong, and later even as emperor, he consistently showed this attitude of leading by example and caring for the people… That must be why the people’s hearts had no choice but to follow him.

After about an hour of desperately boiling porridge, Zhang Fei appeared, leading what looked like over a thousand people.

“Lord Liu Xuande has personally boiled porridge for you! So receive it with gratitude!”

At those words, all the people who came for a bowl of porridge looked embarrassed and ready to make deep bows.

They seem to think that even if Liu Bei isn’t an official, as a volunteer army leader commanding 1,000 soldiers, he must be some notable local magnate.

Liu Bei smiled warmly and took the hand of an elderly woman, saying:

“There’s no need to be so overwhelmed. We are volunteers who have risen for the Han Dynasty, and we’re just sharing food with you all.”
“Thank you, thank you.”
“No, and now that the rice gruel is ready, hurry and form a line. Aren’t you all hungry?”

Saying that, Liu Bei stood behind the cauldron and held up a ladle.

Then he personally ladled out porridge to the people, including the old woman he had just spoken to, while offering words of encouragement.

“It’s hard now, but it will get better soon. We’ve come, and the Governor of Qing Province will also raise an army to suppress those rebels.”

The old woman, with tears in her eyes, asked:

“Is that really true?”
“We will risk our lives to fight for you and everyone here, so it will be so. So please be at ease and wait just a little longer.”

As I ladled out porridge next to her, I felt that she was truly a born politician.

If she had been born in Korea, even if becoming president might have been a stretch, she could have become a member of the National Assembly in any environment.

Her sympathetic gaze towards the old woman’s situation, along with her smile and gentle gestures giving hope that things would get better soon.

In a world where anyone in power would naturally show only arrogant and overbearing attitudes, if someone like this appears…

People would want to follow them even at the risk of their lives.

It’s no wonder the people of Jing Province followed Liu Bei even at the risk of being chased by Cao Cao.

“Even if you’re hungry now, wait just a little longer. Then I, Liu Bei, will restore your daily lives to you.”

Liu Bei continued to ladle out porridge while offering warm words to every citizen in line until they all received a bowl of rice gruel and left.

As the distribution was nearing its end, Liu Bei, seemingly tired, sat down and started catching his breath.

“I thought I was going to die, ladling out hot porridge for hours, Yunchang.”

I went to Liu Bei’s side and started fanning him with a fan.

“You’ve worked hard, Lord Xuande.”

At those words, Liu Bei pointed to the people hurriedly eating rice gruel in front of us instead of speaking.

They were all praising Liu Bei.

“Did they say the one who shared this rice gruel with us is Lord Liu Xuande? He’s such a good person, releasing military rations for us commoners in this urgent situation.”
“I’m so thankful that we can fill our stomachs a little thanks to him…”
“Honestly, I thought everything was hopeless, but hearing his words gave me hope.”

In Korea, it’s rare for people to find hope in life just because a politician shows up at a place like this and ladles out porridge.

But this is an era where authority and social status exist.

In such an era, when Liu Bei, who belongs to the privileged class as a volunteer army leader, personally encourages people saying things will be okay, it immediately shows its effect.

Even in his exhausted state, Liu Bei puffed out his chest and boasted.

“Yunchang, how do you think I did?”
“Yes, there’s no one but you, Lord Xuande, who could give so many people hope to live on by using just a few seok of rice.”
“Right? But I’ll show even better sides of myself from now on, so look forward to it.”
“I understand.”

As we were catching our breath like this, a military official approached us and asked:

“Is Lord Liu Xuande here by any chance?”
“This person here is Lord Liu Xuande.”

The official nodded and paid his respects.

“I am Taishi Ci, serving the Governor of Qing Province. I have been ordered to come and welcome you, as we heard that Lord Liu Xuande was coming to assist us in this difficult situation.”

Taishi Ci, I thought he might have been in Qing Province at this time…

I never expected him to be here.

This is too good to hand over to that Sun Ce fellow, isn’t it?