Chapter 1015: Qian, Surrender!

Inside the command tent, fragrant steam curled through the air.

Liu Dahu brought in the evening meal: oil-splashed noodles.

The Prince and the Heir Prince sat side by side, each holding a pair of chopsticks and mixing his own bowl. Siniang sat nearby and reached out to stroke the back of her son's head, looking every inch the image of a kindly mother.

Zheng Lin frowned slightly. Without a word, he set down his chopsticks, reached for the garlic on the table, and began peeling it.

He had seen this before. Back when Brother Tian was still studying at the Residence, whenever the family ate together, Tian Tian peeled shrimp if there was shrimp, peeled garlic if there were noodles, and after the meal even helped light the cigarettes.

But now that it was his turn to "inherit" the job, Zheng Lin still felt rather awkward about it.

It was not the same as before, when he had simply looked down on his biological father for being a mere mortal. In fact, after entering Qian this time, his father's conduct had answered quite a few questions for him, especially why such a group of people, such a great many people, were willing to follow this "mortal" all the way while forgetting life and death.

Even so, Zheng Lin instinctively felt that something was off.

If the father before him were truly seventy or eighty, too feeble to lift a hand and bedridden with illness, then fine. Perhaps Zheng Lin could at least make a token effort to serve him.

The problem was that his father was plainly in the prime of life, a newly advanced Third Grade Martial Artist at that, with a body sturdy as iron.

He simply enjoyed the feeling of having his son wait on him.

Zheng Fan took a peeled clove of garlic from in front of his son, bit into it, then followed it with a huge mouthful of noodles.

That flavor...

Hoo.

In truth, his son had guessed exactly right.

The Prince simply liked being served by his son.

If a child could not even be used as a little servant, what was the point of having one?

At an angle across the table, Yao Zizhan was also holding a bowl of oil-splashed noodles and eating with obvious relish.

This old fellow was difficult to sum up. Call him formidable, and he possessed magnificent calligraphy, magnificent poetry, magnificent prose, and for most of his life could take whatever surroundings he found himself in with remarkable equanimity. Call him unimpressive, and there were plenty of undignified things about him one could point to as well.

"Ah, I've been craving this for years. Back in Shengle City, first I loved Shengle's wine, and second I loved Shengle's food. Such a small bowl of noodles. I've had people make it for me elsewhere, but somehow it never tasted as authentic or as satisfying as the bowl served before Your Highness."

A few flecks of oil had gotten into his beard. Liu Dahu noticed and passed Master Yao a clean damp cloth.

The Prince smiled faintly, took another clove of garlic from his son, and said, "A man only gets this one life. Sometimes, if you take a step back and think about it, being able to eat well and drink well is already an immense blessing."

"Your Highness is absolutely right. Absolutely right." Yao Zizhan nodded at once.

"But this is precisely where men differ from beasts. Before the belly is full, there is only one problem in the head: hunger. Once the belly is full, you'd think the problem would be gone, wouldn't you? Yet all at once, the problems multiply. You look at the neighbor's red walls and green tiles. You look at the sedan chairs other people ride in, the silks and brocades they wear, the bright flowers and beauties around them. Once you've seen all that, you start thinking you're inferior to others. Then you start suffering over it."

"Indeed, Your Highness. Is that not what the old saying means: one does not fear scarcity, but inequality?"

"I think it's simply what happens when people eat until they're too full and have nothing better to do."

"Your Highness, that is not quite right. What men yearn for determines where they will go."

"Master Yao is right. This Prince has been instructed."

Yao Zizhan blinked twice.

"So you see," Zheng Fan continued, "I have never dared relax for even a moment against the aspirations of the Qian people. Look eight hundred years backward, or even eight hundred years forward. Of all the old lands of Great Xia, nowhere has had more people able to eat their fill than the State of Qian."

Yao Zizhan swallowed.

Suddenly, the noodles in front of him no longer smelled nearly so good.

Round and round they had talked, but his mission was never going to get past this Prince of Yan.

The man did not merely want Qian to lower its head and admit defeat.

He wanted its Emperor to leave the city in plain robes, leading a sheep, then kneel before his mount and surrender.

"Your Highness, can there truly be no... further accommodation?"

The Prince smiled.

"Business requires capital. Bargaining requires something to bargain with. Tell me, what capital does your State of Qian still possess that is worth making this Prince... give ground? Half of Jiangnan has already fallen and submitted to Zhao Yuannian, your new Emperor. My army has cut the shipping route along the Qian River as well. This season's autumn grain has not even had time to reach Shangjing, has it? I imagine your capital is already suffering a grain shortage. The native chieftains of the southwest and the northern Qiang tribes have answered Great Yan's call and risen against Qian. At the Three Frontiers, that Emperor of mine is still leading the army in a deadlock against you. Qian's hands and feet have all been tied. Alas. All you have left is a hard mouth."

"Your Highness, the capital region of Great Qian still has hundreds of thousands of Imperial Guards loyal to His Majesty and loyal to the court!"

Yao Zizhan said it with magnificent righteousness.

The Prince merely slurped another mouthful of noodles.

"More chili."

Zheng Lin scraped another spoonful of chili into his father's bowl.

Master Yao looked rather embarrassed.

He knew perfectly well that his bluffing was useless before this man. But his mission compelled him to keep pushing the millstone around.

After that, they simply continued eating.

When the Prince finally set down his chopsticks, Yao Zizhan, who had long since lost all sense of flavor, immediately did the same.

Liu Dahu brought the Prince a cloth. Zheng Fan wiped his mouth, folded the cloth over, then wiped his hands as he said, "My demand is very simple. Just one thing. Zhao Mugou will leave the city bare of imperial splendor, dressed in plain robes, leading a sheep and holding jade in his mouth. He will surrender to this Prince."

"But, Your Highness..."

"There is not the slightest room for bargaining. If you cannot satisfy this one condition, then this Prince will make Shangjing history."

The force of a threat depended very much on who spoke it.

It was not merely the status and military might of Great Yan's Regent Prince.

The greatest weight behind those words was that the Prince before him had committed no shortage of massacres. Back Mountain Town was right there, and the human blood had not even dried yet.

Yao Zizhan was sensible enough not to bring that up, much less foolish enough to demand justice at this moment for the dead townspeople or the Qi Refiners on Back Mountain.

He stood, pursed his lips, and said, "Your Highness, there is one more thing. Someone else taught me to say it."

"Speak."

"Your Highness has one force controlling the river route outside the capital region, yet it has not hurried to attack. Your own main force has crossed the river twice, first appearing north of the capital region, then south of it here at Back Mountain. Is that not because Your Highness also believes that while the capital region may not truly have hundreds of thousands of troops, the number of Imperial Guards here is still... considerable? In your heart, Your Highness still does not wish to throw your limited forces into the whirlpool of the capital region at this time."

This was a much higher-level argument.

Because it was correct.

The Prince lifted his teacup and took a sip.

"Li Xundao told you that?"

"Yes."

"Then go back and tell Li Xundao something for me."

"Please speak."

"Great Yan is plainly about to win. Everyone knows Qian is nearly finished. It is difficult for a man to stake everything on a mere possibility. But if victory is already certain, then everything becomes easy. The troops around me are elite, but there are indeed too few of them. After I divided my forces, they were enough to set fires across the country, but this main force together with the force east of the capital region still isn't enough to plunge straight into the Qian capital region. But just watch. That Emperor back home... I don't know how well he can fight a losing game. But if he cannot even play a winning game like this properly, then I really will have to consider whether I should rebel and make him come down early to rest. Pass that on not only to Li Xundao, but to Zhao Mugou, to those chief ministers, and to every minister in the Qian court. Do not imagine that by clinging to the capital region you can wait for some turn in fortune. What you will wait for is the whole State of Yan, a million troops pouring south. Kneel now, and this Prince can still leave Zhao Mugou a respectable title and dignity. The civil and military officials of his court can still receive proper arrangements. The lands of Qian can preserve more of their vitality. But miss this village, and there will be no next shop. My apologies. There will not be the slightest room left to talk."

Yao Zizhan silently bowed to Zheng Fan. He had already turned to leave when Zheng Fan called him back.

"Master Yao."

"Does Your Highness have another instruction?"

"Actually, if we're speaking in terms of long-term peace and stability, I do not hope that you people will lower your heads. I would rather clean the entire house from top to bottom."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Yao Zizhan staggered out of the command tent.

Zheng Lin looked puzzled. "If that's so, then why give them a chance to bow their heads at all?"

Zheng Fan reached out and rubbed his son's head.

"Sometimes, even a general who wins a hundred battles cannot stop a state from dying."

"But this will leave hidden troubles. In many places, submission exists in name only. It's like back when Uncle Gou was Savage King on the snowfield."

"I know. But back then, if your Uncle Gou hadn't been blocked by your father in Jin and prevented from getting home, just see which tribe on the snowfield would have dared act insolently in front of him. The same principle applies here. So long as I, Zheng Fan, am alive, those old loyalists and their sons whom I personally beat to the ground will not dare get up and start jumping around. They will kneel. They will lie flat. They will stay down. Whenever my gaze sweeps over them, every last one will put on a smiling face and offer me flattering words. As for what comes after that... My two sons aren't vegetarians either, are they?"

"Father, are you tired?" Zheng Lin asked.

"Heh. Get the hell out of here, brat. Your father is still in the prime of his life. All right. Go inspect the camp for your father. I'm turning in early tonight."

His Highness the Heir Prince rose and left the command tent.

Soon after, Liu Dahu replaced the tea.

Bright red goji berries floated one after another on the surface, exuding a strange air of festivity and stubborn defiance.

Siniang leaned against her man's shoulder and gently stroked his chest with one hand.

Then she asked the same question their son had asked earlier.

"Husband, are you tired?"

"I don't know whether this counts as tired."

Zheng Fan reached out and took Siniang's hand.

"But this war is plainly entering its final stretch. Whether Shangjing surrenders or not, it doesn't have many days left to jump around. I can finally let out the breath I've been holding. As for those fellows tied to the Great Xia prophecy, they may be useless at everything else, but they're cowardly as hell. Even now, none of them has shown me anything real. Besides, they don't have the qualifications to make me hold even half a breath on their account. So... if I were some white-haired old man, that would be one thing. But at my age, though I'm no longer young, I'm nowhere near old either."

"So Husband feels somewhat empty inside?"

"I suppose... hss..."

"Husband... still feeling empty?"

"F-full... very fulfilled..."

...

Yao Zizhan returned to Shangjing and conveyed the words of Great Yan's Regent Prince.

What surprised Master Yao, yet also felt entirely natural, was that neither the Emperor nor the chief ministers in the Imperial Study flew into a rage after hearing him.

On the contrary, everyone was very calm.

Once Yao Zizhan finished speaking, he quietly closed his mouth.

During the previous Emperor's reign, he had been little more than a monument propped up by his literary reputation. He remained much the same under this reign, and he knew it himself.

The oppressive silence in the Imperial Study lasted a very long time.

No one truly had anything to say.

At last, the Emperor rose and left.

The chief ministers also stood in silence and departed the Imperial Study.

The fortunes of the state were much like the Imperial Study at that moment: helpless beyond words.

Out of habit, Yao Zizhan followed Li Xundao out and went with him to Li Xundao's private signing room.

After they sat, Yao Zizhan said directly, "Back Mountain... is gone."

Li Xundao nodded. "I know."

Clearly, that piece of news had traveled faster than Master Yao.

"Has the situation worsened again?" Yao Zizhan asked.

He had only just returned and naturally had not heard the newest reports, but one glance at the Imperial Study earlier had been enough to tell him that the situation must have deteriorated further.

"Mm."

"Jiangnan?"

"No. Zhao Yuannian in Jiangnan is nothing more than a puppet. The Yan know he is a puppet. We know he is a puppet. He himself, together with all of Jiangnan, knows he is a puppet. Whoever wins, whoever stabilizes the situation, Zhao Yuannian himself is nothing to fear."

"Then the southwest or northwest?"

"If those native chieftains truly had the ability to charge out of the mountains and forests, seize cities, and take territory, they would have done it long ago. The northern Qiang are a heap of loose sand among themselves and cannot stir up much trouble either. True, they have tied down troops from several commanderies and kept them from coming to reinforce the sovereign, but the decisive confrontation is still between Great Qian and Yan on the main battlefield. The problem is in the north."

"The Three Frontiers... something happened?"

"Liang Garrison has fallen, but the Three Frontiers system is more than a single Liang Garrison. The real problem is that the Emperor of Yan has issued a new decree. It only recently reached Shangjing."

"What decree?"

"That Emperor has ordered every able-bodied male in Yan and Jin between the ages of fifteen and sixty to be mobilized as laborers, auxiliaries, or soldiers. He is determined to enter Qian."

The words the Prince had spoken inside the command tent suddenly surfaced in Yao Zizhan's mind.

He had said that if, with the game already running in his favor, that Emperor back home still did not know how to seize the moment, then...

Of course, Yao Zizhan had not repeated those words inside the Imperial Study.

There was no need.

Li Xundao looked at the brush rack before him and smiled.

"This time, the Emperor of Yan has shown even greater resolve than his father ever did."

After all, however thoroughly the late Emperor of Yan had emptied his household reserves, he had never gone quite this mad.

This Emperor had.

He truly did not intend to keep anything back at home.

Everything was going into devouring this war whole.

Yao Zizhan let out a long sigh.

"Because the Yan believe victory is certain. Chu has split apart again, and the Chu lands can no longer hold Yan in check."

"Yes."

Li Xundao raised his head slightly.

"The tide can no longer be turned. In two days, I will take the lead and submit a memorial to His Majesty requesting surrender."

"You..."

Yao Zizhan did not leap up in fury and denounce Li Xundao.

Instead, his eyes held concern and pain.

"Xundao, why must you be the one to do this?"

"Years ago, before Master went to Yanjing, I failed to stop him. Master died. Back Mountain was where I grew up and cultivated. I failed to protect that too. This Great Qian was what I, and my father, devoted ourselves to preserving. I failed to protect it as well. I, Xundao, have spent my whole life 'seeking the Way.' In the end, what I found was emptiness. I do not regret it, Master Yao. I do not regret any of it. At least I once saw, once heard, once thought. But since I came empty-handed, then allow me to leave empty-handed too."

"But your name..."

Yao Zizhan was the Literary Sage. Few men beneath Heaven were more sensitive to the weight of reputation.

"Xundao, when you descended the mountain in white robes and entered court as Chancellor, do you understand what the people will say if you are the one who leads the court in requesting surrender? How will the histories write you? A hundred years from now, you, Li Xundao, will stand in the histories and in popular tales beside every shameless Daoist who ever flattered a sovereign, ruined a state, and played the treacherous minister. On the opera stage, a painted clown will play you. Beside some fool dressed in an imperial robe, you will face Yan iron cavalry and perform the ridiculous trick of scattering beans to conjure soldiers!"

"Master Yao is Master Yao after all. You've even written the play for me already. Hahahaha."

"And you're still laughing!"

"It doesn't matter. When I say 'empty,' I mean empty in the heart. As for what is strapped to my back, wound around my arms, or placed on my head, none of that was ever worth caring about."

Li Xundao picked up his brush and began writing the memorial.

"Zhong Tianlang took his own life at Menhai Garrison and died for the state. Meng Gong died beneath his command banner amid the rout. Le Huan was chased into a dead end by Jin Shuke and chose death rather than surrender. Old Fifth Han managed to return, but his army has long since scattered clean away. Great Qian today is full of weapons and beacon fires. Every extra day we delay, who knows how many soldiers and common people will die for nothing in a war that no longer has any chance of victory. Losing is not their responsibility. It is mine. Yours. Ours. His Majesty's. We 'meat-eaters' who sit above the people were simply inferior to our enemy. Why make them keep bleeding for us? And that is before we even speak of what will happen if the Emperor of Yan truly mobilizes the strength of his entire state and pours it into Qian. Whatever the Yan lose at home, whatever they lack afterward, they will make the lands of Qian repay every bit of it. You know that. I know it. We all do. The late Emperor was a good Emperor. The present Emperor is a good Emperor as well. No one is simply willing to be the first to step forward now. So let it be me. Master Yao, please grind the ink for me."

"Ah..."

"Only grind the ink. I don't need you to write it for me."

Yao Zizhan's old face reddened. He got up and began grinding the ink.

"Xundao, let me sign my name with yours."

"Heh." Li Xundao laughed.

Yao Zizhan grew anxious. "I mean it."

"Truly, there is no need. Master Yao, please spend the rest of your life writing more poems and more essays. In the future, if we want later generations to remember the State of Qian in the annals of history... perhaps Great Qian will still have to borrow some light from Master Yao."

...

Two Yan armies entered the Qian capital region from east and west.

More than a dozen county cities in the capital region opened their gates and surrendered outright.

The Yan armies continued forward without encountering any resistance until, at last, they reached the walls of Shangjing.

Several days earlier, the Emperor of Great Qian had already issued an Edict of Self-Reproach to all beneath Heaven.

Then, under Grand Chief Minister Li's leadership, His Majesty agreed to the request that Qian surrender to Yan.

Those two decrees caused the garrison troops and common people throughout the capital region to breathe out a long-held sigh of relief.

That one man... even if he did nothing at all... so long as he drew near... could leave the entire capital region unable to breathe.

...

Li Xundao climbed into his carriage, and the carriage rolled out of the Grand Chief Minister's Residence.

Waiting outside were stones, rotten vegetable leaves, curses, and the unmistakable stink of manure.

Once the Grand Chief Minister's carriage entered the street, commoners on both sides began pointing and cursing. Quite a few threw whatever they had at the carriage.

Inside, Grand Chief Minister Li merely closed his eyes and sat unmoving as a mountain.

Only after the carriage left the city and headed west did the curses finally die away.

Because out there, the Yan army camp was very, very close.

The people of Shangjing dared curse Grand Chief Minister Li as a traitorous minister who had ruined the state and harmed the people, a poisonous scoundrel who had bewitched the Emperor with evil counsel.

They did not dare run in front of the Yan camp and cause trouble.

The carriage stopped at the camp gate.

Li Xundao, dressed in full official robes, stepped down. He saw that both drivers who had brought him here had blood running from their split foreheads, yet neither had uttered a word.

Li Xundao bent and bowed to them. Then he bowed to the soldiers who had escorted him all the way out of the city.

"You have all worked hard."

The men returned the salute.

"The Chancellor has been wronged."

Li Xundao shook his head.

Ever since he had asked His Majesty to surrender, his reputation had plunged beyond foul among the common people. Students from the Imperial Academy and elsewhere had gathered in groups outside his residence to curse him. It was even said that His Majesty had already received quite a number of memorials impeaching him.

Yet he did not feel wronged.

He might have descended from a mountain, but he was hardly out of touch with ordinary people.

Precisely because he knew what people were like, nothing about their behavior surprised him.

He simply accepted all of it as natural.

Tomorrow was the day His Majesty would leave the city and surrender.

Today, he, Li Xundao, had come here as Grand Chief Minister to complete the final formalities with that Prince of Yan.

One thing did surprise him.

After Qian's imperial edict and state letter had been delivered, a state letter and imperial decree from Yan had returned from the Yan camp almost immediately.

Given the enormous distance, it was naturally impossible for documents to travel back and forth that quickly.

There was only one explanation.

The imperial decree had been forged by the Prince.

He had barely bothered making the forgery convincing, nor had he tried to hide it. He had done it openly and grandly.

Yet no one doubted its force.

After all, Great Yan's Regent Prince had long since reached the point where his word carried the weight of nine cauldrons.

A powerful minister and great general who had risen to such a position... there really was no second example.

Li Xundao waited a long while without being granted entry.

Just as he was about to send someone to ask what was happening, a broad figure in a black python robe slowly rode out astride a Pixiu.

"To trouble Your Highness to come out personally to meet Li is an honor. Li is grateful."

The Prince looked at him calmly.

At this man who had once "invited" him up Back Mountain.

"This Prince is already waiting for tomorrow. I can't be bothered with any more twists and turns. Go back and tell your Emperor something. It isn't the first time he's knelt to me. Call that the first time being unfamiliar. But this time... he should be very practiced indeed."

Li Xundao bowed and turned as though to return to his carriage.

The Prince looked faintly surprised.

"You're not going to die here?"

Li Xundao stopped and looked puzzled.

"Does Your Highness intend to kill Li now and fulfill the oath you made all those years ago?"

"I'm not in any hurry about that. But I had assumed that since your Emperor is going to crawl on his knees before me tomorrow, Grand Chief Minister Li ought by rights to finish himself today."

"Your Highness, if I died here, what would that make of things? Would I not merely be preserving my own reputation while casting my sovereign and father into unrighteousness?"

"Li Xundao, if you are willing to surrender sincerely to me, then regarding what happened that day at the lotus pond on Back Mountain, this Prince can consider sparing you."

"Your Highness should know that my father was the Tattooed-Face Chancellor."

"I know."

"Xundao is untalented, but I dare not disgrace the honor of my house."

"Why bother?" The Prince smiled. "Your father's ending wasn't exactly good."

For more than ten years, Qian people had lamented again and again:

If the Tattooed-Face Chancellor of Great Qian had still been alive, how might things have turned out?

At the very least, Great Qian would not have lost again and again so miserably at the beginning. What came afterward might not have been one retreat into passivity after another, all the way to today's hopeless ruin.

And yet, however much the Qian people lamented it, neither the common people nor the court had ever truly rehabilitated the Tattooed-Face Chancellor.

They did not believe that killing him had been wrong.

The mistake, in their eyes, was simply that he had been killed too early.

Li Xundao remained silent for a long while.

Then he said, "Great Qian supported its scholar-officials for a hundred years, and supported Back Mountain for a hundred years. Someone ought to give an accounting. Justice resides in the hearts of men."

"Look at the marks all over your carriage. Look at the wounds on the faces of your drivers and guards. No matter how I look, I can't see this justice in the hearts of men. Where exactly is it? Li Xundao, submit to me today and I can help you. I can sweep Shangjing clean. I can also rehabilitate your father."

"Your Highness knows Xundao will not agree. You are merely saying it in passing, so Xundao will merely answer in passing. Master and the late Emperor have been waiting for Xundao on the mountain for a long time, waiting to drink tea with me. As for justice and the hearts of men..."

Li Xundao placed a hand over his own chest.

"So long as my own heart is at peace."

"You're only deceiving yourself," the Prince said with a smile.

"A man lives only one life. To deceive oneself well enough is already an extraordinary skill. One more thing. Xundao heard that at the foot of Back Mountain, Your Highness declared that from now on, All Under Heaven would be personally civilized by you."

"That's right."

"Then Xundao sincerely wishes Your Highness success in civilizing All Under Heaven. When that day comes, wherever Xundao may be... I will offer congratulations to all Xia, and congratulations to Your Highness."

With that, Grand Chief Minister Li climbed back into his carriage.

The carriage and its escort turned around and returned to Shangjing.

The Prince shook his head.

He himself did not quite know why.

After a sigh, he too returned to the command tent.

That night, news came from inside Shangjing.

Liu Dahu entered the command tent.

At that moment, the Prince was playing Go with Liu Dahu's father.

"Your Highness..."

"What is it?" Zheng Fan asked as he placed a stone.

"After Li Xundao returned to the city, he went to the imperial palace and reported on his mission. After that, on his way from the palace back to his residence, he ordered the guards around him away, dismissed his household servants, stepped down from his carriage, and walked alone into the street."

At this point, the Go stone slowly turned between Zheng Fan's fingers.

"And then?"

"Li Xundao was beaten to death by the enraged people of Shangjing. They say... it was like what happened to Count Huwei in the capital of Liang all those years ago. The common people tore apart and ate his corpse."

"Oh. Understood."

The Prince answered with perfect calm and placed his stone.

Liu Dahu stood nearby for a while. Seeing that the Prince had no further instructions, he prepared to leave the tent rather than disturb the Prince's game with his father.

His hand had only just reached for the curtain when the Prince's voice sounded behind him.

"Dahu."

"This subordinate is here!"

"Send another message into Shangjing. Tomorrow, their Emperor is not permitted to wear plain robes. He will come out stripped bare to the waist. And tell the people inside Shangjing this: When my army enters the city, from princes and nobles above to common households below, any doorway without a black banner hanging before it will be deemed to harbor treasonous intent against Great Yan. That household will be exterminated."

[End of Chapter 1015]