Chapter 58 I'm That Butterfly

  Liu Xiu was overjoyed, and the three of them discussed it for a few more sentences before deciding to go along with this plan. Considering that it was indeed inconvenient at the post house, Liu Xiu accepted Zhang Fei's invitation and moved to his Peach Garden home. The three of them packed up their simple luggage, instructed the people left behind by Mao Jie, and then rushed to the Zhang family together.

  After arranging Liu Xiu's accommodation, Zhang Fei instructed people to prepare a banquet while personally writing more than a dozen invitations and sending them separately to the homes of familiar companions, only saying that they were invited to drink wine, admire the newly acquired fine horses, and discuss martial arts, without mentioning Liu Xiu or others.

  As expected, it didn't take long for the servants who delivered the invitations to return. They said that most people had accepted and would definitely attend, but two of them were out and couldn't be contacted at the moment, so they probably wouldn't make it.

  Liu Xiu was already very satisfied, taking advantage of Zhang Fei and Liu Bei's distraction, he thought about his words carefully, waiting for the right moment to persuade those young men to go with Lu Min to inspect the upper valley. He was originally a man of few words, in his previous life he had practiced calligraphy and painting diligently for revenge, and didn't interact with people much, now he had to speak eloquently in front of everyone, it was inevitable that he felt some psychological fear. But once he thought about it, if this matter was successful, not only would it be greatly beneficial to his own status in Lu Min's eyes, but also have some effect on the safety of Zhuo County, and if it went further, it could instill a sense of overall situation in the young Han scholars, which wouldn't be a bad thing.

  Through these days of observation, Liu Xiu noticed a very bad phenomenon, that is, the young people in Youzhou do not like to read books much. The great Confucian Lu Zhi returned to his hometown to recover from an illness, and the Mao family specially invited him to Taogu to teach, but only a few dozen students went, and most of them were just satisfied with being recorded as a disciple under Lu Zhi's door, very few people thought about really going to read some books, becoming a disciple who ascends to the hall, let alone an inner room disciple who enters for the purpose of studying.

  Liu Xiu was also aware that the so-called Confucian classics were not as sacred as the Confucians claimed, but in this era, they were still a prominent school of thought. Moreover, Lu Zhi studied ancient texts, not those pedantic and empty words of the corrupt Confucians. They treated the classics more as history, drawing lessons from them, which was somewhat useful.

  However, not many people realize this, and Zhang Fei is considered to be one of the more studious ones, with a good relationship with the Mao family, but he didn't go to Taogu Jing She to study either, which shows that he wasn't really interested in reading books. Liu Bei was the same way, it seems like among the three of them, Guan Yu, who is still an unknown fugitive somewhere, is actually a bookworm, always carrying around "Spring and Autumn Annals" to read, while Liu Bei and Zhang Fei have no interest in this aspect at all.

  Liu Xiu did not believe that reading books was omnipotent, but he thought it was unacceptable not to read books and strongly disapproved of the prevailing attitude of underestimating knowledge.

  However, being a bookworm doesn't necessarily mean everything is good. For example, Lu Min has been studying with Lu Zhi since he was young, and his knowledge is naturally impressive. But he also has a bad habit of underestimating the importance of practice, only focusing on burying his head in books, and although he has enthusiasm, his actual operational ability is somewhat lacking. He came to Zhou County full of passion to discuss preparations for battle, but Li Ding negated him, and he was left speechless. More importantly, from these few days of contact, Liu Xiu can see that Lu Min's understanding of the situation in Youzhou is actually quite conceptualized. Apart from hearing some information from Gongsun Zan, his own knowledge is limited, and most of it remains at a superficial level.

  This is also the reason why he advised Lu Min to go and see for himself. He never believed in the saying "a scholar can know everything without leaving his door". Not to mention that information exchange is not smooth now, even in the era of information explosion when everyone can have a large number of information sources, practice is still an indispensable process. There has never been anyone who can become an expert just by surfing the internet, unless he was born to be a talker.

  Of course, selling one's mouth can also make a living. Liu Xiu has seen countless experts do so, but he doesn't believe that selling one's mouth can produce famous generals. Zhao Kuo was indeed eloquent, but in the end, wasn't it just one battle that led to the demise of Zhao's 400,000-strong army?

  Liu Xiu thinks that Zhao Kuo's failure may not be his personal failure. He has such a good theoretical foundation, at least it shows he is clever. What he lacks is actual combat experience. If his father Zhao She was not just scolding him with empty words, but let him go to the battlefield to experience the cruelty of war, if King Zhao was not blinded by his reputation and handed over 400,000 troops to him all at once, but instead tested and trained him step by step, then Zhao Kuo might have become a famous general. Even if he really didn't have the ability and his verbal skills were stronger than his actual abilities, it wouldn't have ended in such a big disaster.

  Zhao Kuang has become history, Liu Xiu can't change it, but now he still has the opportunity to change. Although the effect may be limited, he hopes to do his best to bring a little bit of correct idea to this era, even if it's just a gentle breeze.

  It's said that when the butterfly flaps its wings in Amazon, a hurricane may be triggered on the Pacific. Liu Xiu has self-awareness; he is good at calligraphy and painting, and teaching Zhang Fei might not be a problem, but to think of changing the world seems a bit overestimating himself. Compared with his peers, his strengths should lie in ideology, after all, nearly two thousand years of historical accumulation are not entirely rubbish.

  I am that butterfly.

  Having recognized his own strengths and weaknesses, Liu Xiu began to consider how to make the most of his advantages and avoid his disadvantages, striving to inspire those young people to broaden their horizons at the upcoming banquet, rather than just drinking, talking about martial arts, and comparing fists and feet.

  Liu Xiu suddenly realized that when he thought others were narrow-minded, he himself had the same problem. He may have surpassed these people in terms of thinking level, but in specific cases, his knowledge was extremely limited. For example, he was also completely ignorant about the Huren situation and was not more insightful than others.

  Liu Xiuzhen leaned on her elbow, propped up against the windowsill, with a worried look on her face.

  "Everything is ready, elder brother." Liu Bei walked over with a smile, his eyes shining brightly. Seeing Liu Xiu furrowing his brow, he couldn't help but feel some surprise: "What's wrong?"

  "I'm thinking of a way to persuade those people." Liu Xu sighed and said: "Xuande, I'll ask you a question."

  "You say." Liu Bei was somewhat nervous: "Don't make it too difficult, I may not be able to answer."

  "Haha......" Liu Xiu waved his hand, signaling Liu Bei not to be so tense. It was clear that Lu Min's request for him to change the way he addressed him as "older brother" had a significant impact on Liu Bei, who now showed a hint of reverence towards him. "Uh... are you familiar with the situation of the Hu people?"

  Liu Bei blinked his eyes and shook his head: "Apart from what Bo Yi said, I know about the same as you." He thought for a moment and also came up with a question: "Shouldn't the young masters of the big clans in Zhuo County know more than us?"

  "I'm worried about this, if we open our mouths at that time, everyone will know, but what they know, we may not know, who is convincing whom?" Liu Xiu rubbed his lips with a hint of embarrassment and smacked his mouth.

  Liu Bei was also embarrassed and said: "This... I'm afraid I won't be able to help you, big brother."

  Liu Xiu furrowed his brow, gazing at the brilliant sunlight outside, but in his heart, it was as if a layer of dark clouds had gathered. Originally, he had been eager to teach others, but now that the time had come, he realized that he might not necessarily understand more than others, and this feeling wasn't very good.

  After a long silence, Liu Bei suddenly thought of someone. He turned his eyes and smiled: "I know what to do. Xuande, come with me back to the inn, we're going to find someone."

  Liu Bei saw Liu Xiu suddenly turn from worry to joy and couldn't help but ask in surprise: "Who? Can he be of any help?"

  "If he can't help us, then probably no one can." Liu Xiu said with a smile: "Let's go find that great bandit Huo Yan, when it comes to the situation of the barbarians, there is no one more clear than him."

  "Him?" Liu Bei suddenly realized, then shook his head repeatedly in disbelief: "You beat him up like that, and he'll still help you? Big brother, don't go seeking humiliation for yourself, think of another way instead."

  "No, Wu Junhou said that Yan Rou is not a traitor, in fact he's a pretty good guy." Liu Xiu hesitated for a moment, made up his mind: "It's precisely because I hurt him, so I want to go see him and apologize to him in person."

  Liu Bei pursed his lips and said nothing. Outside the door, a round of applause erupted, followed by a childish voice laughing: "Knowing one's mistakes and changing is not a bad thing, I, Wen Hui, am willing to accompany Brother Liu on a trip to see the prairie fire clouds."