He also had a younger sister, only about five or six years old, with the single name Grace, who was clever, lively, obedient, and adorable, greatly favored by their father. Because she was so young, and he, as her older brother, was not exactly a model of maturity, his little sister had been staying with their eldest sister for the time being.

As for his own father, the one who had once served under Charles Clark and held the post of Prefect of Jiangyang Commandery, last year—namely, the sixth year of Jian'an, when Charles Clark suppressed the rebellion of Philip Harris—was implicated, dismissed from office, and, in a fit of anger, fell gravely ill. He struggled on for more than half a year, but passed away just over three months ago.

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Listening to Steward Mason angrily recount the story of this rebellion, Peter Brooks felt a deep sense of contempt and indignation toward the actions of Charles Clark and his son. When Charles Clark's father, George Clark, first entered Shu, being outsiders and fearing they could not outmaneuver the local gentry of Yizhou, he gathered refugees from places like Nanyang who had fled to Yizhou and formed an army called the "Eastern Province Troops." As the military backbone of his rule in Yizhou, George Clark was quite a capable figure. At the very least, in Yizhou, with this ragtag group of Eastern Province Troops who had received little formal training, he toiled for years and finally managed to establish a foothold in Yizhou.

However, after Charles Clark succeeded his father as Governor of Yizhou, his weak character and lenient but ineffectual rule allowed these rootless Eastern Province Troops to bully the local native residents. Charles Clark was utterly unable to restrain these arrogant and pampered soldiers, causing the conflict between the great clans of Yizhou and Charles Clark's ruling clique to grow ever more intense.

Philip Harris, a high official in Yizhou, grew resentful of Charles Clark's rule because the interests of the people and the gentry of Yizhou were being harmed, and so he raised a rebellion. At the time, many of the great clans of Yizhou sided with Philip Harris, and in places like Shu Commandery (now Chengdu, Sichuan), Guanghan (now north of Guanghan, Sichuan), and Jianwei (now north of Pengshan, Sichuan), they responded in succession, sending their own servants and tenant farmers to join Philip Harris's revolt. In a short time, Philip Harris commanded tens of thousands of troops and became a formidable enemy to Charles Clark. In the sixth year of Jian'an, Philip Harris even led his army to besiege Chengdu, and the Eastern Province Troops under Charles Clark, fearing execution if they failed, fought desperately. Philip Harris, unable to prevail, was forced to retreat to Jiangzhou (now Chongqing, Sichuan), where he was killed by pursuing forces. Afterwards, countless heads of the great clans of Yizhou rolled, and their properties were confiscated. The entire region was gripped by a reign of terror, and it was not until last autumn that the chaos of Philip Harris's rebellion finally settled. Yet, among every ten great clans of Yizhou, perhaps five were destroyed.

After this battle, no fewer than several dozen great clans of Shu were implicated. Even the father of Peter Brooks, who had lived quietly in Jiangyang Commandery and was himself one of the local gentry of Yizhou, was affected. Fearing further unrest among the clans and another betrayal, Charles Clark stripped him of his post as Prefect of Jiangyang and demoted him to a mere commandery official. This series of retaliations against the gentry and people of Shu made Charles Clark even more unpopular—people gnashed their teeth at him, and it was only a matter of time before someone made paper effigies to stick with needles and beat with shoes.

The gritted hatred in Steward Mason's voice when he mentioned the ruler of Yizhou made Peter Brooks realize something: no wonder Charles Clark was so unpopular in Yizhou, and why later the people of Yizhou would rather surrender to Abraham Lincoln than serve him. It turned out there was such a foolish affair mixed in. His own poor, unfortunate father had lost his office and even died of anger because of this, making Peter Brooks look down on Charles Clark's character even more.

Moreover, hearing Steward Mason mention that the great clans of Yizhou provided troops made Peter Brooks curious: “Old Steward, according to what you say, aren’t these great clans of Yizhou even more powerful than those imperial appointees like the hundred-household or thousand-household officials? Being able to muster so many people is truly impressive.”

Hearing his young master's amazement, Steward Mason chuckled, “Young master, in big households like those in Chengdu, which family doesn’t have over ten thousand tenant farmers and dependents? Which doesn’t own several thousand qing of good farmland? Take our own family—even though we’re not particularly famous in Yizhou, here in Jiangyang, never mind others, just based on the The Brooks Family's centuries of management and reputation in Jiangyang Commandery, whoever comes to serve as Prefect of Jiangyang, or even as County Magistrate, has to first consider whether their own backing is strong enough that they don’t need to pay their respects to you, young master... Our The Brooks Family owns over 1,800 qing of good farmland in Jiangyang Commandery, has more than 500 tenant households, and nearly a thousand households of servants and retainers.”

“Dependents?” Peter Brooks didn’t quite understand, blinking at Steward Mason, hoping for an explanation. Steward Mason, acting furtively like a thief, glanced around and then lowered his voice to explain to Peter Brooks.

※※※

After hearing Steward Mason's explanation, Peter Brooks was truly shocked. It turned out that these servants and retainers were considered dependents—households controlled by officials, nobles, landlords, and gentry in feudal China through privilege and power. And this segment of the population was never recorded in the official household registers of local governments.