The Deer and The Cauldron - Unabridged Thread

[foxs]

Zheng and Feng, two people rolled down to the foot of the cliff. As soon as the poison on the needles flared out, the two of them screamed and squealed like a pig being slaughtered, while still rolling down continuously. Fortunately after He Tishou entered Huashan Pai, she obeyed her master’s instruction; henceforth she discarded any sinister and acute poison she had been using. The poison on these ‘Han Sha She Ying’ steel needles only had anesthetic effect, not life threatening poison at all. Otherwise, based on her status as the Cult Leader of the Five-Poison Cult, the poison on her concealed weapons would immediately seal the throat upon contact with blood, the person hit would immediately die a violent death; before Feng and Zheng, two people reached the foot of the cliff, they would have taken their last breath. Even so, as the steel needles hit their bodies, they still felt unbearably numb and itchy; it was as if several hundred scorpions and centipedes were crawling and biting all over their bodies at once. Although Feng Xifan was strong and healthy, he still could not bear not to scream unceasingly.

Wei Xiaobao, Shuang’er, Feng Jizhong, Su Quan, Fang Yi, Mu Jianping, the Princess, Zeng Rou, Ah Ke rushed over one after another; seeing Feng and Zheng, two people’s condition, they were all aghast. Wei Xiaobao calmed himself down a little, and then still panting for breath, he rushed toward Chen Jinnan. He saw that Zheng Keshuang’s sword bored through Chen Jinnan’s chest; it was still stuck on his body, but he had not breathed his last. Wei Xiaobao could not help bursting into tears as he picked up Chen Jinnan’s body.

Chen Jinnan’s power was very profound, his internal breathing had not yet dispersed. “Xiaobao,” he said in a low voice, “Everybody will eventually die. I … I have lived my entire life for my country, for my people, I have a clear conscience against the heaven and the earth. You … you … you don’t have to be grieved.”

“Shifu, Shifu!” Wei Xiaobao could only cry out. Actually, the days he spent with Chen Jinnan were very few; each time they met he was always afraid Shifu would check the progress of his martial art training, and thus he was always anxious and was always thinking about how to fob his master and offer lame excuses to cover up his unwillingness to make progress; but at least he was very grateful for his Shifu’s kind intention.

This moment as he saw that Shifu was about to die, all the unspoken teachings Shifu usually taught him, the way Shifu treated him with the kindness and love of a father, choked his heart, making him wishing that he could die in place of Shifu. “Shifu,” he said, “I really was not being good to you; you … you taught me martial art, I … I did not learn it at all.”

Chen Jinnan smiled and said, “As long as you are being a good person, Shifu is very happy. Whether you learn martial art or not, that … that is not important at all.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “I will definitely listen to you, I will be a good person, not … not a bad person.”

Chen Jinnan smiled, “Good child,” he said, “You have always been good.”

Gnashing his teeth, Wei Xiaobao said, “That evil thief Zheng Keshuang harmed you, (boo hoo, boo hoo), Shifu, if I can get hold of him, I will definitely chop him into mincemeat to avenge you, (boo hoo, boo hoo …)” He wailed and talked at the same time, with tears raining down his face.

Chen Jinnan’s body shook. “No, no!” he hastily said, “I am Zheng Wangye’s subordinate. Guoxing Ye’s kindness to me was as heavy as the mountain. No matter what we must not murder Guoxing Ye’s flesh and blood … I would rather him being ruthless, but I must not be faithless. Xiaobao, I am going to die, you must not damage my loyal and righteous reputation. You … you must by all means listen to me …” His face was originally smiling, but right now he looked extremely anxious. “Xiaobao,” he continued, “Promise me, you must let him return to Taiwan; otherwise, otherwise, I won’t die with closed eyes.”

Wei Xiaobao had no choice; he was obliged to say, “Since Shifu spares this evil thief, I will … I will obey your instruction.”

Immediately Chen Jinnan was relieved; he heaved a deep sigh and then said slowly, “Xiaobao, Tian Di Hui’s … great undertaking of fighting the Qing restoring the Ming, you must do it well. Our Han people work as one, in the end we will be able to restore our rivers and mountains; too bad … too bad I won’t … won’t live to see it …” his voice was getting lower and lower, finally he was unable to inhale, and thus he died.

Wei Xiaobao embraced his body and wailed, “Shifu, Shifu!” He cried himself hoarse, yet Chen Jinnan did not stir at all.

All along Su Quan and the others had been standing by his side. Seeing Chen Jinnan died and Wei Xiaobao was unable to control his grief, they were all grief-stricken as well. Su Quan gently stroked his shoulder and said tenderly, “Xiaobao, your Shifu has passed away.”

Sobbing, Wei Xiaobao said, “Shifu is dead, he is dead!” He had never had any father, in the deepest part of his heart, he had always considered Shifu as his father to make up for his deficiency, only outwardly he did not realize it. Now that Shifu was dead, the pain in his heart was like flood breaking down the dike; it was hard to suppress. He finally came to the realization that he was after all a wild child without any father.

Su Quan wanted to steer him away from his sorrow, “How are we going to deal with the murderer of your Shifu?” she asked.

Wei Xiaobao sprang up and cursed, “Hot piece mama, little b@stard. My Shifu was your Zheng Family’s subordinate, but I, Wei Xiaobao, have never eaten even a mouthful of your Zheng Family’s rice, or spent a wen of your Zheng Family’s money. Your granny stinky thief, you still owe me ten thousand taels that you have not paid back. Shifu wanted me to spare your life, fine, I’ll spare your life. But I want you to pay me back the ten thousand taels right now. You still don’t want to pay it back? Then I’ll simply cut your body, one cut for each tael of silver.” While his mouth was hurling curses continously, he pulled his dagger and walked over toward Zheng Keshuang, whom he then kicked randomly.

The number of poisonous needles that hit Zheng Keshuang was comparatively less than those that hit Feng Xifan; by this time the pain was somewhat lessened. Hearing that Chen Jinnan wanted to spare his life, he was delighted beyond belief. But now that the debtor demanded payent, while he did not carry any money with him, he could only plead, “When I … I will return to Taiwan, I will definitely add ten times; no, I’ll add a hundred times to the principal.”

Wei Xiaobao kicked him on the head and cursed, “You have a heart of wolf and lungs of dog, a stinky thief who forget favors and violate justice; you speak like fart. You cannot avoid these ten thousand cuts.” Lifting up his dagger, he ran it over Zheng Keshuang’s face twice.

Zheng Keshuang was so scared that his soul flew to the outer sky; he cast a glance toward Ah Ke, hoping that she would say something to help him. But suddenly he remembered, “Not right, not right! The one this little thief loves the most is precisely Ah Ke, if right now she speak on my behalf, this little thief will hate me even more. It seems like these ten thousand cuts will be unavoidable.” He said, “One million taels of silver, I will definitely pay you back. Wei Xiangzhu, Wei Xianggong, if you don’t believe …”

Wei Xiaobao kicked him again, “Of course I don’t believe! My Shifu believed you, you killed him!” The grief and indignation in his heart was unbearable, he stretched out his dagger to stab Zheng Keshuang’s face.

Zheng Keshuang cried out, “If you don’t believe me, then I’ll have Ah Ke to vouch for me.”

“Vouching for you is useless,” Wei Xiaobao said, “She will vouch for you, later on you still won’t pay me back.”

Zheng Keshuang said, “I have a guarantee.”

“Alright,” Wei Xiaobao said, “Leave you dog head as the guarantee; you pay me back one million taels, I will return your dog head to you.”

Zheng Keshuang said, “I’ll leave Ah Ke as the guarantee for you!”

In that instant Wei Xiaobao felt the sky spun the earth went around, his hand loosened, the dagger fell to the ground, ‘chi!’ it went deep into the mud, only a few cun away from Zheng Keshuang’s head. “Aiyo!” Zheng Keshuang cried out; hastily he pulled his head away and said, “I pawn Ah Ke to you, believe me, I will send one million taels to you, and then you can return Ah Ke to me.”

“It can be discussed,” Wei Xiaobao said.

“Cannot, cannot!” Ah Ke cried out, “I am not yours, how can you pawn me?” Speaking to here, she broke into crying.

Zheng Keshuang anxiously said, “Right now I am facing imminent catastrophe, Ah Ke does not care about me at all, this woman is completely lacking any sense of justice, I don’t want her anymore. If Wei Xiangzhu agrees to take her, I will sell her to you for one million taels of silver. The two of us don’t owe the other anything; you don’t need to cut me ten thousand times anymore.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “In her heart she is always thinking about you, even if you sell her off to me it’s still useless.”

Zheng Keshuang said, “In her belly she already has your child, how could she think about me?”

Wei Xiaobao was pleasantly surprised; his voice quivered, “You … what did you say?”

Zheng Keshuang said, “That day at the Lovely Spring Courtyard in Yangzhou, you and she shared the bed, she has a baby …”

Ah Ke cried out loudly; she suddenly jumped up and rushed to the ocean while covering her face. Shuang’er caught up with her in several steps and pulled her arm to take her back. Ah Ke cried and said, “You … you promised not to tell, why … why did you say that? You speak like releasing … releasing …” Although she was ashamed and angry, she still thought the word ‘fart’ was indecent, hence she could not say it out loud.

Seeing the indeterminate changes on Wei Xiaobao’s countenance, Zheng Keshuang was afraid he might change his mind; he hastily said, “Wei Xiangzhu, this child is definitely yours. Ah Ke and I keep our purity, she said that only after bowing to the Heaven and the Earth with me will we become husband and wife. You … you must not be suspicious.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “This seems too good for Laozi, why didn’t you do it?”

Zheng Keshuang said, “Ever since she has your child inside her belly, she often thought about you; when she talked to me, she would mention you all day long. Listening to her I was bored to death, what do you want me to do with her?”

Ah Ke stomped her feet repeatedly, her face alternated between red and white; she said angrily, “You told him … you told him everything.” By saying that, she indirectly admitted that he was telling the truth.

Wei Xiaobao was greatly delighted. “Alright!” he said, “In that case get your Ma’s stinky duck egg out of here!”

Zheng Keshuang was also greatly delighted. “Thank you very much, thank you very much!” he hastily said, “I wish the two of you a hundred years of harmony; the congratulatory gift, Xiongdi … Xiongdi will deliver later.” While saying that he slowly crawled up.

“Pei!” Wei Xiaobao spat a mouthful of saliva to the ground; he cursed, “In all my life I don’t want to see you, stinky thief, anymore.” He thought, “I promised Shifu I will spare his life today. Someday there’s no harm in me sending other people to kill him to avenge Shifu. As long as the one I send is not from Tian Di Hui, other people cannot blame it on Shifu.”

All along the three Zheng Mansion bodyguards had been standing far away to the side, it was not until they saw that Wei Xiaobao spared their master’s life that they came over to help Zheng Keshuang up, as well as Feng Xifan, who was lying on the ground. Zheng Keshuang looked up to the sea, he hesitated. Shi Lang’s battleship had already sailed far away. There were two more boats moored at the beach; his own boat was shot by the Qing troops’ cannon, the mast was broken and the sail destroyed, they could not sail on it. The other boat could be considered in good condition, but obviously it was the boat Wei Xiaobao and the others were going to use; they definitely would not let him use it.

“Feng Shifu,” he said in a low voice, “We don’t have any boat; what can we do?”

“Let’s get on the skiff first and talk later,” Feng Xifan replied. The group of people slowly walked toward the beach.

Suddenly from behind them someone shouted in stern voice, “Hold on! Wei Xiangzhu spared your lives, but I won’t spare it.”

Zheng Keshuang was shocked; he saw a man with steel saber in his hand rushed over. It was none other than Tian Di Hui’s martial art expert Feng Jizhong. Zheng Keshuang said in a trembling voice, “You … you are Tian Di Hui Xiongdi, Tian Di Hui has always been under Taiwan’s Yan Ping Mansion’s command, you … you …”

“I, I, what?” Feng Jizhong sternly said, “Stop right there!”

Zheng Keshuang was scared; he had no choice but to reply, “Yes.”

Feng Jizhong returned to Wei Xiaobao and said, “Wei Xiangzhu, this man murdered Zongduozhu, he is the archenemy with whom our tens of thousands Tian Di Hui Xiongdi cannot live under the same sky; we simply cannot spare him. Zongduozhu had received Guoxing Ye’s great kindness; hence he was unwilling to kill his offspring. Wei Xiangzhu has agreed to fulfill his last wish, hence you cannot do it. But subordinate has never seen Guoxing Ye; Zongduozhu’s last wish was not addressed to me either. Today subordinate wants to put this evil thief to the sword to avenge Zongduozhu.”

With his right hand’s open palm behind his ear Wei Xiaobao cocked his head sideways as if he was trying to hear, “What did you say?” he asked, “My ears are suddenly blocked, I can’t hear anything. Feng Dage, whatever it is that you want to do, you might as well do it, there’s no need to wait for my order. There’s something wrong with my ears. Ay, must be that fellow Shi Lang’s cannon has deafened me.” It could not be any clearer than that; if Feng Jizhong wanted to kill Zheng Keshuang, he could make his move immediately, Wei Xiaobao simply would not stop him.

Seeing the hesitation on Feng Jizhong’s face, Wei Xiaobao added, “When Shifu was at the death’s door, he only ordered me not to kill Zheng Keshuang; he did not say that I should protect him for the rest of my life. As long as I do not personally make the move, it’s none of my business. There are millions and millions of people under the heavens, each one could kill him, who would be able to control it?”

Feng Jizhong tugged Wei Xiaobao’s sleeve, “Wei Xiangzhu let’s go over there to talk.”

The two of them walked a dozen or so zhang away, Feng Jizhong halted his steps and said, “Wei Xiangzhu, His Majesty has always been very fond of you; is that right?”

Wei Xiaobao was greatly taken aback. “That’s right,” he said, “So?”

Feng Jizhong said, “His Majesty wanted you to kill Zongduozhu, you are unwilling, hence you flee to this place; it goes to show that you take yi qi very seriously. The heroes and warriors of Jianghu, everybody is full of admiration.”

Wei Xiaobao shook his head and ruefully said, “But in the end Shifu is still dead.”

“Zongduozhu was killed by that fellow Zheng Keshuang,” Feng Jizhong said, “But the mission His Majesty assigned to Wei Xiangzhu can be considered accomplished …”

Wei Xiaobao was greatly astonished. “You … why did you say … say such thing?” he asked.

Feng Jizhong said, “In His Majesty’s heart, there are three people he is most afraid of. If these three are not eliminated, His Majesty’s dragon courtyard will never be stable. The first person is Wu Sangui; that goes without saying. The second person is precisely Zongduozhu; Tian Di Hui Xiongdi cover the whole world, the aspiration to fight the Qing and restore the Ming has never slacked off, giving His Majesty a lot of headache. Now that Zongduozhu is dead, one big load on His Majesty’s mind has been removed …”

Listening to this point, suddenly Wei Xiaobao felt as if a bright light had just flashed in his mind. “It’s you, it’s you. Turns out it is you!” he said.

[foxs]

Chapter 45 - Remaining bamboo piece used as a pole, can be used to check out the net of hearts in a deep pool.
(Translated by Foxs)

Lu Ding Ji 45.jpg

A big sea-turtle appeared from the ocean, with its head raised high, its mouth uttered human speech, “The Dragon King of the Eastern Sea especially sent Xiao Jiang to come and respectfully invite Wei Jueye for a feast, with gambling after the feast. Sea Dragon King will use coral and crystal to lay a bet, but everything is interchangeable with banknote used on land.”

[foxs]

Kangxi seemed to know everything about the inside information of Wei Xiaobao’s conduct and deeds in Tian Di Hui; he was even able to recite fluently the code word and secret exchange within the organization. Yet Kangxi was completely oblivious to the fact that Wei Xiaobao had stolen the Forty-two Chapter Sutra or that he was the White Dragon Envoy of the Divine Dragon Cult. Wei Xiaobao thought it over carefully, he was convinced that the spy must be of Tian Di Hui; not only that, this person must be very close to him. But all Green Wood Hall friends had red-bellied devotion and profound yi qi; it was unthinkable that one of them could become a spy and sell out their friends. For this reason, although all along there was a very heavy suspicion in his heart, he did not have the least bit of clue; he only thought that this matter was very strange and was very difficult to solve.

This moment, as Feng Jizhong said those things, Wei Xiaobao suddenly realized, “I really deserve to die,” he thought, “Why have I never thought about this person? That day the young Emperor wanted me to bombard the Bojue [Earl] Mansion; all Tian Di Hui people were there, only he alone was not there. It should have been very clear to me, those who were in the Bojue Mansion could not be the spy; otherwise, when the cannon were fired, who would be able to escape with their live? Only because he had had the information in advance that he went away first. Ay, I am indeed a silly big melon; if he did not say anything, I would still be kept inside a drum.”

Feng Jizhong was a quiet and uncommunicative person, he appeared to be an extremely honest man; although his martial art skill was high, he always carried the mannerism of a ‘stupid head wooden brain’ country bumpkin. Occasionally when Wei Xiaobao was thinking about who the spy might be, he was always thinking about a person with ‘quick mouth and teeth’, perhaps an unscrupulous businessman like Qian Laoben; or perhaps someone who was light on his feet, shrewd and street-smart Xu Tianchuan; or perhaps a thorough, competent and experienced Gao Yanchao; or perhaps a hot-tempered, wine lover Priest Xuanzhen. Even the experienced and knowledgeable, outspoken and straightforward, honest and frank Fan Gang, as well as the aging Li Lishi, whose health had been deteriorating for the past few years, and sharp and cynical Qi Qingbiao, were all suspects in his mind. Only toward this did-not-look-like-a-spy Feng Jizhong he did not have the least bit of suspicion.

Suddenly he thought of something else, “That time Shuang’er was also not in the Bojue Mansion; could it be that she … she is also a spy, she is also going against me?” Thinking about this, he could not help but was heartbroken. But then he immediately understood, “Feng Jizhong must have intentionally taken Shuang’er out. He knew this girl is my lifeblood; if she was blasted to death, and later on this matter is exposed, I would have hated him for the rest of my life. He is no more than the spy sent by His Majesty to report some information in secret; as soon as Tian Di Hui is wiped out, His Majesty would not have any use of him. If in His Majesty’s presence I gave him some trouble, he would not be able to withstand it; hence he really did not dare to offend me.”

This thought was complicated and not easy to express succinctly, but in Wei Xiaobao’s mind it was a brain-wave that happened in a flash and he understood immediately. “Feng Dage,” he said, “Thank you for taking Shuang’er out of Bojue Mansion so that the cannon blast would not kill him.”

“Ah!” Feng Jizhong exclaimed; his countenance changed instantly, and he backed off two steps with his hand on the hilt of his saber. “You … you …” he said.

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “You and I have a tacit mutual understanding; His Majesty has already told me everything since long ago.”

Feng Jizhong knew the Emperor doted on him very much, he must be telling the truth. “Why didn’t you obey the imperial edict then?” he asked. As soon as he asked that question, it was the same as if he openly admitted everything.

Wei Xiaobao smiled and said, “Feng Dage, why are you asking a question that you already know the answer? This is called ‘loyalty cannot satisfy both sides’. The way His Majesty treated me is without question really overflowing with imperial kindness; but Shifu’s treatment toward me was not bad either. Right now Shifu is already dead, what other apprehensions do I have left? It’s just that I do not know whether His Majesty would pardon my capital offence.”

Feng Jizhong said, “Now is a good chance to atone for your offense by meritorious acts. Just now I said that His Majesty is determined to get rid of three thorns in his side; other than Wu Sangui and Chen Jinnan, the third person is precisely Zheng Jing who occupies Taiwan illegally. We capture Zheng Jing’s son, and take him to Beijing; who knows? Maybe we can force Zheng Jing to surrender. If His Majesty is happy, even if Wei Dutong committed gargantuan offense, His Majesty may pardon everything.” Since he no longer concealed his real identity in front of Wei Xiaobao, the way he was addressing Wei Xiaobao had also changed; now he called him ‘Wei Dutong’. Even toward the Zongduozhu he now referred him by his given name.

In his heart Wei Xiaobao was very angry, “This traitor does not have any yi qi, unexpectedly he calls my Shifu by name.” But thinking about the possibility of reconciliation with Kangxi, he was quite happy. It did not matter to him whether he could be government official or not, but thinking about the time he could spend chatting with the young Emperor was enough to give him unending delight.

Feng Jizhong continued, “Wei Dutong, when we return to Beijing, we must keep everything in secret. If those Tian Di Hui people knew that Chen Jinnan is dead, most likely they would push you to become the Zongduozhu. Your yi qi is profound, you are willing to discard glory, splendor, wealth and rank; you did not want to be Bojue, you did not want to be Dutong, all because you wanted to save Tian Di Hui friends’ lives. This very moment this fact has been spread throughout the world. Right now Jianghu is bubbling and gurgling, everybody is talking about this matter; which one does not admire Wei Dutong’s heroic spirit?”

Wei Xiaobao was very proud of himself; he asked, “Did everybody really say that? You are not lying to me?”

“No, no …” Feng Jizhong replied, “Lowly officer definitely does not dare to lie to Dutong Daren.”

Wei Xiaobao mused, “Now he calls himself ‘lowly officer’; I wonder what is his official rank?” Although curious, he did not dare to ask, because if he did, he would expose the horse’s feet immediately; ‘His Majesty has already told me everything since long ago’ would then be a lie. But then he had a second thought, “There’s no harm in asking which rank he had been promoted to.” Thereupon he smiled and asked, “You have rendered such a great merit, His Majesty must have promoted your rank; right now which official position are you holding?”

Feng Jizhong said, “By His Majesty’s grace, he bestowed lowly officer the position Dusi.” [都司 – Vice Brigade Commander.]

Wei Xiaobao thought, “Turns out ‘sesame seed mung bean’ lowly military official position; with Laozi the difference is damn seventeen twenty-eight levels.”

In the Qing Dynasty’s bureaucratic system, Bojue was beyond ‘pin’ rank high-level officers. As the ‘Dutong’ (commander) of the Valiant Cavalry Brigade, Wei Xiaobao was a ‘one-pin’ rank officer. Han people’s Green Standard Army[1] military official’s highest rank Tidu [local commander, provincial governor] was also ‘one-pin’. Zongbing [regional commander] was ‘regular two-pin’, below this were Fujiang [deputy general], Canjiang [Administrator], Youji [Brigade Commander], and then Dusi [Vice Brigade Commander]. But looking at Feng Jizhong’s appearance, although his face still showed an extremely honest expression, there was a very proud look in his eyes. Thereupon Wei Xiaobao raised his cupped fist and said with a laugh, “Congratulations, congratulations! This is His Majesty’s personal promotion, you are definitely standing out from the masses.”

Feng Jizhong returned the propriety and said, “Later on I will rely on Daren to cultivate me.”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “We are on the same side, why did you say such thing? In term of working for His Majesty, your skill greatly surpasses mine.”

“How can lowly officer be compared to even a ten-thousandth of Daren?” Feng Jizhong replied, “Reporting to Daren, His Majesty has instructed lowly officer that if I see Daren, no matter what I must bring Daren back to Beijing, I must not disobey the imperial edict. Listening to His Majesty’s tone, lowly officer knew that His Majesty cares about Daren greatly; I can say that he miss you very much. This great merit of bringing Taiwan rebel’s son back to Beijing will make His Majesty happy; he will definitely raise Daren’s official position.”

“Um,” Wei Xiaobao said, “In that case you should be promoted to Youji.”

Feng Jizhong said, “Lowly officer only wish to do my best for His Majesty. When His Majesty sees Daren, he will be happy, as his servants we will also greatly rejoice. Whether we are promoted or not, it’s entirely by His Majesty’s grace.”

Wei Xiaobao mused, “I have always thought you were an honest person, turns out you really know how to talk in official jargon.”

Feng Jizhong continued, “If Daren assumed the Zongduozhu position of Tian Di Hui, you can gather the eighteen provinces Halls’ Xiangzhu and every place’s leaders together; we’ll say it’s the memorial ceremony for Chen Jinnan. At that time we’ll catch everything in one net, so that these conspirators against the law, the rebel thieves who commit heresy, will be unable to escape. This great merit will be ten times greater than when we bombarded the Bojue Mansion the other day. Daren, just think, if that day you obeyed the Emperor’s decree and killed Chen Jinnan, Li Lishi and those people, Tian Di Hui has rebel thieves in each province, one Zongduozhu is killed, another Zongduozhu will rise; we can’t wipe them out. Only by Daren yourself become the Zongduozhu will we be able to cut the weeds and eliminate the roots, and then the big worry weighing His Majesty’s heart will disappear forever.”

Hearing this, cold sweats began to form on Wei Xiaobao’s back; he thought, “This evil scheme is really difficult to deal with, I don’t think even you can come up with this plan, I am 90% sure that this is the young Emperor’s stratagem. If I return to Beijing, most likely the young Emperor will pardon my great offense, but he will definitely want me to eradicate Tian Di Hui. This is a clever way with which he is dealing with me, I won’t be able to escape from his clutch anymore.”

The more he thought about it, the more terrified he was; he thought, “The young Emperor wants me to surrender, he wants to beat my buttocks, those are not a big deal; but he wants me to be Tian Di Hui Zongduozhu and kill all the brothers’ heads; this I must not do, not in a million years. If I did it, all the heroes throughout the world will f*ck my eighteen generation ancestors; when I die, I won’t be able to see Shifu. All the big girls, little girls in here will also look down on me from the bottom of their hearts. Even if other people don’t care, even if Wei Xiaobao’s conscience is not much, in the end I still have a little bit.”

He cast a glance toward Feng Jizhong, while his mouth uttered, ‘Oh, oh,’ repeatedly; he thought, “If I don’t answer, he might become hostile to me immediately. If it comes to using force, a number of us might not necessarily lose to him, but this servant’s martial art skill is exceptionally strong, if one or two of my big girls, little girls are killed by him, it will be desperately serious. There’s no harm in me playing ‘Han Sha She Ying’ again.” He said hesitantly, “I will be very happy to go see His Majesty, it’s just that … it’s just that to kill that many Tian Di Hui brothers, it’s inevitably going to violate yi qi too much. We must discuss it carefully before we trespass our friends.”

“Daren is right,” Feng Jizhong said, “But there is a common saying, ‘Those who measure small things are not people of noble character; a great man has to be ruthless’ [orig. no poison, no great man].”

“Right, right!” Wei Xiaobao said, “A great man has to be ruthless … hey, aiyo, how can that fellow Zheng Keshuang escape?”

Feng Jizhong was startled; he turned around to look. Wei Xiaobao aimed his chest to him, he was about to reach down to activate the mechanism to release the poisonous needle when suddenly Shuang’er rushed over and called out, “Xianggong, what is it?”

Turned out all along she was watching these two men talking endlessly, and was very concerned; thereupon she slowly crept near. When she suddenly heard Wei Xiaobao cried out ‘aiyo’, immediately she leaped forward. If Wei Xiaobao released the ‘Han Sha She Ying’, Feng Jizhong would be hit for certain, but Shuang’er would also be affected. Although this moment his hand had already reached the mechanism, he did not dare to press the mechanism.

When Feng Jizhong turned his head around, he saw Zheng Keshuang and Feng Xifan were still standing on the beach, they had not moved at all. Immediately he knew something was not right; he ducked down and reached backward to grab Shuang’er and pulled her in front of his body as a shield. Based on Shuang’er’s martial art skill, Feng Jizhong should not necessarily be able to succeed in one grab; it’s just that he moved so suddenly, and Shuang’er did not guard against him at all, so that the main artery on her wrist was caught, her upper body went numb, she was unable to move a single step. In a deep voice Feng Jizhong said, “Wei Daren, please raise your hand.”

The golden opportunity to launch a sneak attack had gone, Shuang’er fell under the opponent’s control, Wei Xiaobao was put under disadvantageous position; he giggled and said, “Feng Dage, what kind of joke are you playing?”

Feng Jizhong said, “Wei Daren’s no-shadow no-trace secret projectile is indeed too formidable, lowly officer is very afraid of it; please raise your hands, otherwise, lowly officer will have no choice but to offend you.” While saying that, he pushed Shuang’er forward, while he himself hid behind her, so that Wei Xiaobao would not be able to release the secret projectile.

From the other side Su Quan, Fang Yi, Ah Ke, Zeng Rou and the others saw the unforeseen event, one after another they rushed over. Feng Jizhong thought, “This kid loves this girl the most, he won’t dare to make his move; but those other women might not cherish her life as much, the one they cherish is this kid.” With his left hand he pulled the steel saber hanging on his waist; stretching out his hand, he placed the edge of the blade on Wei Xiaobao’s throat. “Nobody come near!” he shouted.

Seeing Wei Xiaobao in danger, Su Quan and the others came to a halt. They were all anxious, but were also baffled; this Feng Jizhong was obviously Wei Xiaobao’s friend, they had just fought the enemy side-by-side, how could in an instant, as soon as they had disagreement, he immediately made his move? They supposed it must be because Wei Xiaobao wanted to release Zheng Keshuang, while Feng Jizhong wanted to kill him to avenge Chen Jinnan.

Wei Xiaobao tipped his head backward slightly, the tip of Feng Jizhong’s saber followed forward. “Wei Daren,” he shouted, “Please don’t move. Steel saber don’t have eyes; don’t blame me if I offend you. Please raise your hands.”

Wei Xiaobao had no choice, he slowly raised both hands while saying with a laugh, “Feng Dage, you want to rise to high-ranking official position, you want to get rich, you should be a bit more polite to me.”

“While it’s true that to be promoted and gain wealth is important, the first step is till protecting my own life,” Feng Jizhong replied. Suddenly his body slightly leaned sideways, he rushed behind Wei Xiaobao, reached out to draw the dagger in Wei Xiaobao’s boot, and pointed it to his back. “Wei Daren,” he said, “Your dagger is very sharp, lowly officer has seen you using it several times.”

Wei Xiaobao could only smile wryly. He felt slight pain on his back, and knew that the tip of the dagger had pierced his outer clothing. Although he was wearing his treasured protective vest, it would not stop the treasured dagger.

Feng Jizhong shouted, “Everybody turn around and throw your weapon down.” Seeing this turn of events, Su Quan and the others did not have any choice but to follow his order; they turned around and tossed their weapons to the ground.

Feng Jizhong saw there were still six Tian Di Hui brothers standing on the side; he shouted to them, “Come here, I have something to say.” The six people did not know what was going on, they came over.

Feng Jizhong raised his right elbow, ‘slam’ the point of his elbow struck the ‘da zhui’ [big spine] acupoint on Wei Xiaobao’s back; the steel saber in his left hand swept, accompanied by a series of ‘cha, cha, ah, ah, aiyo’ sound, all six Tian Di Hui brothers were hit by the saber. In an instant he had hacked these six people to their deaths, each saber chop hit a vital point on a man’s body. His saber was swift, his attacks were fierce; it was indeed rarely seen.

Hearing the miserable scream, Su Quan and the others turned around and saw the bodies of those six people scattered around on the ground; from the wound on either their heads, necks, chests, backs, waists, or flanks, blood was gushing out. None of the women did not cry out in fear, none of their faces did not change.

---

[1] Green standard army – standing infantry during Qing Dynasty; originally formed from Ming and other Chinese army units.

[foxs]

Turned out that as Feng Jizhong saw that his face was exposed, he immediately made his move; he was alone, hence he had to strike first by killing these six Tian Di Hui brothers; first, to intimidate with his power so that Wei Xiaobao and the women would not dare to rebel; second, so that he had six less enemies. This way, although his opponents were numerous, they were no more than one youngster and seven women.

He swung the saber in his left hand, turned around and pressed it against Wei Xiaobao’s neck. “Wei Daren,” he said, “Let’s go down to the boat.”

He was thinking to take only Wei Xiaobao and Zheng Keshuang, two people, under arrest and presented them to the Emperor, and thus rendering a great service. These seven women would be left on the island, so that they would not add trouble to him on the boat. By being lenient and not kill these seven women, he was actually preparing a room for action for himself, to avoid incurring Wei Xiaobao’s hatred too much. How the Emperor would deal with this youngster later would be beyond anybody’s guess.

When the women saw Wei Xiaobao was under his control, they were all alarmed and frightened; nobody knew what to do. Princess Jianning cursed loudly, “What kind of ‘thing’ are you? Why do you dare to be this rude? Quickly throw your saber down!” [I know the better translation would be ‘who do you think you are?’ but I thought preserving the word ‘thing’ is more fun.]

“Humph,” Feng Jizhong only snorted without paying her any attention. He had come with Wei Xiaobao escorting her to Yunnan to get married, so he knew she was the Princess, hence he did not dare to argue with his superior.

Seeing he did not take notice of her, the Princess was even more angry; in this earth, other than the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, plus Wei Xiaobao and Su Quan, four people, she had no regard of anybody else. Stooping down to pick a saber on the ground, she leaped forward to hack down on Feng Jizhong’s head.

Feng Jizhong leaned sideways to evade. ‘Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!’ the Princess hacked three times in a row, Feng Jizhong dodged left and right. If it were another woman, he would have used his leg to kick her down. But the one holding the saber was the Emperor’s imperial younger sister, the golden branch, jade leaves Princess. The desire in his heart was only to render merit and get promoted, to repay the kindness of the imperial family; how could he dare to offend the Princess? Thereupon right now he could only dodge.

“Stinky b@stard servant,” the Princess cursed, “Stand still, don’t move! I want to chop your head. Why do you keep your stinking head running around in circles so that I cannot chop it down? I will tell Huangdi Gege, to have him make mincemeat of you!”

Feng Jizhong was stunned; he thought that this woman was capable of doing what she was capable to say, she and the Emperor were brother and sister, while he himself was just a sesame seed mung bean little military official, how could he fight the Princess? But if he obeyed her command by keeping his stinking head steady and unmoving to let Her Highness the Princess’ ten thousand gold body’s precious hand’s saber chop it, he seemed to have difficulty in obeying it.

While her mouth was busy hurling curses, the Princess’ saber hacked to the left and chopped to the right continuously. Feng Jizhong slightly sidestepped and leaned his body sideways, he lightly and easily evaded the attack; although the saber always flashed by a few cun away from his body, it was never able to chop him. The Princess became impatient; sweeping the saber horizontally, she hacked across his waist.

“Careful!” Feng Jizhong shouted, and leaped up. It was obvious that the Princess would not be able to stop the momentum of the saber, it would chop Wei Xiaobao’s shoulder. While his body was still midair, Feng Jizhong’s left foot kicked on Wei Xiaobao’s body, throwing him down to the ground, while at the same time he borrowed the momentum to leap several more zhang away.

Shuang’er pounced forward, grabbed Wei Xiaobao, and flew several steps away. Feng Jizhong was greatly alarmed; he rushed over with a saber in his hand. Shuang’er’s martial art was superb, but after all, her strength was still lacking. She was half a head shorter than Wei Xiaobao, carrying him in her arms like that she was only able to run several zhang when Feng Jizhong had already come near.

The acupoint on Wei Xiaobao’s back was sealed, his four limbs did not obey his command; he could only said, “Put me down, let me release the secret projectile.” But Feng Jizhong came really fast; Shuang’er wanted to let Wei Xiaobao down so that he could release the ‘Han Sha She Ying’ secret projectile, but it was already too late. In desperation she threw him away.

Feng Jizhong was greatly delighted; he rushed forward and stretched out his hand to catch Wei Xiaobao. Suddenly he heard a light ‘click’ behind him, like the sound of fire-knife struck against a flint stone, followed by a loud ‘Bang!’ His body was flying midair, suddenly it dropped down to the ground. He twisted several times, and then stopped moving altogether.

Wei Xiaobao’s body landed on the sandy beach, he did not suffer any injury; he struggled for some time to crawl up, but was unable to do so. He saw a wisp of smoke in front of Shuang’er, her hand was holding a short gun; it was precisely the gift she received from Wu Liuqi the day they swore to become brother and sister. It was a refined firearm made in the Luocha Country; it was formidable beyond compare. Although Feng Jizhong possessed an extraordinary martial art skill, his flesh and blood body was simply unable to withstand it.

Shuang’er herself was so scared that she could only stared blankly. When the gun went off, it shook her hand and arm that she felt numb and painful. Her hand trembled, the gun fell to the ground.

For fear that Feng Jizhong had not died yet, Wei Xiaobao scrambled several steps forward, press the mechanism on his waist, and a cluster of steel needles shot out; all of the needles hit Feng Jizhong’s body. But Feng Jizhong did not budge at all; as soon as the gun went off, he was already dead.

The women cheered in chorus and swarmed forward. Seven women plus one Wei Xiaobao, it was literally ‘seven openings eight mouths’ [chaos (idiom)]; a hundred-percent ‘you speak, I talk’, everybody wanted to know what was going on. Wei Xiaobao briefly explained to them.

Shuang’er had been in contact with Feng Jizhong for quite a long time, on the journey he always displayed his honest, generous and simple character, treating her with respect and consideration. He was indeed a model of a man, who always did his duty without offending anybody; who would have thought that he was extremely shrewd? The more she thought about it, the more scared she was.

She turned around to pick up the gun from the ground. Suddenly it dawned on her the profound meaning behind Wu Liuqi’s desire to swear brotherhood with her that day: this extraordinary Wulin talent was hoping that in the future Wei Xiaobao would take her as his wife, but she was only a servant girl, in term of status, they did not match. After becoming the sworn sister of Tian Di Hui’s Red Banner Xiangzhu, she would be fit to marry the Tian Di Hui’s Green Wood Hall Xiangzhu. Remembering her sworn brother’s good intention, also that he died in injustice, she could not stop tears from flowing down her face.

Wei Xiaobao turned around and saw Zheng Keshuang and the other four people were walking toward the beach to board the skiff. He thought, “He has killed Shifu; if I let him leave safe and sound, it would be too easy for him.” Therefore, with a dagger in his hand, he ran after them and called out, “Hold on!”

Zheng Keshuang stopped and turned his head around; his countenance turned ash-grey. “Wei … Wei Xiangzhu, you promised to let me … let us go,” he said.

With a cold laugh Wei Xiaobao said, “I promised not to kill you. I have not promised not to chop your leg.”

Feng Xifan was furious; he was about to lash it out, but as soon as he raised his hand, his whole body felt limp and painful, he was unable to exert even half a part of strength.

By this time Zheng Keshuang was already scared out of his wits, his knees went weak, and he dropped on the ground. “Wei … Wei Xiangzhu,” he said, “If you chop my leg, I … I will definitely not able to live.”

Wei Xiaobao shook his head, “Whether you live or not, it’s not my concern. You owe me one million taels of silver, you said you want to use Ah Ke as the guarantee. But she and I have bowed to the Heaven and the Earth, she is my lawfully-wedded wife; in her belly she has my child, and she voluntarily wanted to come with me. How can you use my wife as your guarantee? How could there be such logic in the world?”

By this time Su Quan, Fang Yi, Zeng Rou, the Princess, and the others were already standing by Wei Xiaobao’s side. “It’s preposterous!” they said in chorus.

Zheng Keshuang’s mind was already in chaos, but he had a nagging feeling that something was just not right. “What … what should I do then?” he asked.

Wei Xiaobao said, “I’ll chop your arm and your thigh first as the guarantee. When you pay me the one million taels of silver in the future, I will return your cutoff arm and leg to you.”

Zheng Keshuang said, “Just now you said that I could sell Ah Ke off to you, the ten thousand taels … ten thousand taels of silver I owed you is already written off at one stroke.”

Wei Xiaobao shook his head vehemently. “Can’t do,” he said, “Just now my head was muddled, and I fell into your big trick. Ah Ke is my wife, how can you sell my wife back to me? Alright, I will sell your mother back to you, she is worth one million taels of silver. I will also sell your father back to you, worth another million taels of silver. And then your paternal granny, worth one million taels of silver, plus your maternal granny, also at one million taels of silver …”

Zheng Keshuang said, “My maternal grandmother has already passed away.”

“I can still sell dead people,” Wei Xiaobao said, “I will sell your maternal grandmother’s corpse to you; dead people only worth 80%, make it eight hundred thousand taels. The coffin is included, there’s no additional charge for it.”

The more he talked the more preposterous he was; Zheng Keshuang thought that he even wanted to sell dead people. If he had to buy his great-grandfather, his great-great-grandfather, his great-grandmother, his great-great-grandmother, even if the dead people were valued at 80%, or even 70, or 60%, he would not be able to tolerate it; but he did not dare to say that he was unwilling to buy. Without any choice he could only plead, “I … I really cannot afford it.”

“Alright,” Wei Xiaobao said, “Since you can’t afford it, I’ll spare you. But those you already bought you cannot return. You owe me three million eight hundred thousand taels of silver. How are you going to pay?”

The Princess laughed and said, “That’s right, three million eight hundred thousand taels. Quickly pay up.”

Scowling miserably, Zheng Keshuang said, “I don’t even have one thousand taels with me, where can I get three million eight hundred thousand taels?”

“Never mind!” Wei Xiaobao said, “You don’t have any money, I’ll let you return the merchandise. Quickly give me back your father, mother, (paternal) granny, and dead (maternal) granny. Not a hair less.”

Zheng Keshuang knew that if this unreasonable argument continued, in the end there would still be no solution. He looked at Ah Ke, hoping that she would say something on his behalf, but against expectation she stood some distance away, turning her back on him, determined not to get involved. He was very anxious, looking at Wei Xiaobao, he seemed to be determined to chop his hand his foot; Zheng Keshuang did not have any choice but to repeatedly kowtow and said, “Wei Xiangzhu, I … I killed Chen Junshi, it was really a crime deserving ten thousand deaths. I beseech your magnanimity to spare Xiaoren’s life. Even if I owe you, Senior, three million eight hundred thousand taels of silver, I … I will definitely try to pay you back.”

Seeing that he managed to torment Zheng Keshuang so that he was in such a sorry state, Wei Xiaobao’s hatred was somewhat diminished; he said, “In that case you must write an I.O.U.”

Zheng Keshuang was greatly delighted. “Yes, yes,” he busily said. Turning to his bodyguard he said, “Get some pen and paper.” But in that uninhabited island, where could they find any pen and paper?

The bodyguard was quite quick-witted; he tore a piece of his own long gown at once, and said, “There are many dead bodies over there, we can write using their blood as the ink.” Finished speaking he wanted to drag Feng Jizhong’s body immediately. Wei Xiaobao reached out with his left hand to grab Zheng Keshuang’s right wrist. White light flashed, he sliced his dagger to cut one section of Zheng Keshuang’s right hand index finger.

Zheng Keshuang screamed loudly. Wei Xiaobao said, “Use the blood from your finger to write.”

Zheng Keshuang was in so much pain that his whole body trembled; momentarily he was at a loss of what to do. Wei Xiaobao said, “Just write slowly, if your blood dry out, I’ll just cut your second finger.”

“Yes, yes!” Zheng Keshuang busily said. How could he dare to write slowly? Clenching his teeth he wrote with his cut finger on the piece of cloth, “I owe three million eight hundred thousand taels of silver exactly. Signed, Zheng Keshuang.” After writing these thirteen characters, the pain was unbearable that he nearly passed out.

With a cold laugh Wei Xiaobao said, “Shame on you as a magnificent Prince’s Mansion’s Gongzi, you did not work hard on your penmanship; the I.O.U you wrote, these several characters are trembling scrawls, all are faulty strokes, not a single one shows good penmanship.” Taking the piece of cloth from Zheng Keshuang, he handed it over to Shuang’er, saying, “Take this, see if the amount is correct. This man is treacherous and sly, don’t let him write several taels less.”

Shuang’er said, “Three million eight hundred thousand taels of silver, no less.” While saying that, she put the I.O.U. written in blood into her pocket.

Wei Xiaobao laughed aloud; he kicked Zheng Keshuang’s chin and shouted, “Get your dead (maternal) granny out of here!”

Zheng Keshuang tumbled down and rolled away. His bodyguards rushed over to help him up and wrap his cut finger. Two bodyguards separately helped Zheng Keshuang and Feng Xifan to board the skiff, and rowed it out to the sea.

Wei Xiaobao’s laughter continued; suddenly he remembered his Shifu’s tragic death, and could not help bursting into tears.

After the skiff was rowed several dozen zhang away from the beach, panic started to settle into Zheng Keshuang’s heart; he said, “Let us seize the big boat and get away with it, I don’t think those goddamn male and female dogs will be able to pursue.” But as they sailed toward the big boat, they found out that the boat was without the rudder and without any sailing equipment.

Feng Xifan hatefully said, “Those goddamn male and female dogs have already taken care of it.”

They look at the vast and obscure ocean, at the billowing waves, while the skiff was without provision and water; how could they make a distant sea voyage? Zheng Keshuang said, “Let us beseech that little thief again, ask him to lend us their boat. At most I will have to write another three million eight hundred thousand taels of silver I.O.U.”

Feng Xifan said, “It’s their only boat, how can they lend it to us? I’d rather be buried inside the fish’s belly that begging that little thief.”

Hearing his tone was resolute and decisive, Zheng Keshuang did not dare to disobey; he had no choice but to heave a sigh and instructed his three bodyguards to row the skiff into the ocean.

Wei Xiaobao and the others watched as Zheng Keshuang and the others rowed their skiff toward the big boat, and after finding out that the big boat was not sailable, they finally rowed the skiff away; Wei Xiaobao and the others could not help finding it hilarious.

[foxs]

Su Quan saw Wei Xiaobao was crying and laughing, apparently he still could not get over his grief over his Shifu’s death; she wanted to say something to please him, thereupon she said, “This Zheng Family’s Er Gongzi is devious to the extreme, obviously he wanted to steal our big boat. Xiaobao, in my opinion, he won’t pay you the three million eight hundred thousand taels of silver he owes.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Wei Xiaobao replied.

Su Quan laughed and said, “Whatever you do, usually you are very astute, but just now that fellow sold you your own wife for ten thousand taels to pay his debt. You did not think about it and simply agreed. You must love Ah Ke Meizi so much that you turned silly. At that time, if he wanted you to find ten thousand taels to pay him, I think you might readily agree.”

Wei Xiaobao used his sleeve to wipe the tears from his eyes; and then he laughed and said, “I don’t care if he said ‘three sevens are twenty-one’ [i.e. the facts of the matter], I would have agreed first and talked later; I will slowly settle the account with him.”

Fang Yi asked, “And then what happened? Why did you suddenly remember that you have suffered a big loss?”

Wei Xiaobao scratched his head. “After we killed Feng Jizhong, I did not have anything to worry about, suddenly my brain became very clear,” he said.

Actually, he had never had any suspicion against Feng Jizhong; it’s just that in the deepest part of his heart he had a nagging feeling that he had a great root of trouble nearby, but as for what kind of trouble, he himself was unclear, only he felt fear without any reason. When Feng Jizhong was killed, immediately he felt as if a heavy load had just been released, and he felt entirely free from worry. He thought, “Perhaps early on I was already afraid of this thief, only I did not realize it.”

They had just undergone a series of strange dangers, until now, where the powerful enemies were either dead or had run away. Now the island was back to peace and quiet. Everybody felt exhausted, both mentally and physically. Wei Xiaobao felt as if his legs weighed a thousand catties, he was unable to stand and hence he lay down on the sandy beach to rest. Su Quan rubbed his back to unseal the acupoint sealed by Feng Jizhong earlier.

The water reflected the setting sun, swayed by the waves the surface of the sea looked like tens of thousands golden snakes crawling and leaping one over another; the scenery was singularly beautiful beyond compare. One by one the women sat down. Shortly afterwards, Wei Xiaobao was the first to snore, and not to long after that, one by one the women also fell asleep.

More than two hours later, Fang Yi was the first to wake up. She went to the thatched hut that was used by Wei Xiaobao as his command tent in the past to prepare some food, and then she called everybody else to eat. In the main hall they lighted two pine torches so that the room was bright. The eight of them sat in a circle. After dinner, Fang Yi and Shuang’er cleaned up the bowls and the chopsticks.

Wei Xiaobao swept his gaze on Su Quan, Fang Yi, the Princess, Zeng Rou, Mu Jianping, Shuang’er and Ah Ke, seven women’s faces one by one. Some were tender and beautiful, some were gentle and soft, some were lively, some were extremely beautiful, each one had her own strength; he could not help but was greatly delighted. This moment he ‘leaned on red and cuddled on green-jade’, his heart felt so peaceful. Compared to the ‘heaven and earth in confusion’ time at the Lovely Spring Courtyard when he was under the large blanket with seven women, he felt a lot more safe, peaceful, and happy. He laughed and said, “That day I called this small island ‘Tong Chi Island’ [eat ‘em all, gambling], turns out I already have foresight, knowing that seven Jiejie Meimei would be willing to be my wives; it was indeed a mystery of the underworld, the Will of Heaven, that even if we ran, we cannot escape. From this day onward, the eight of us will live on this Tong Chi Island, our long-life the same as the heaven’s, enjoy immortal good fortune forever.”

“Xiaobao,” Su Quan said, “These eight characters [shou yu tian qi, xian fu yong xiang] are ominous, later on you must not say it.”

Wei Xiaobao immediately realized his mistake, he knew she did not want to hear anything related to the Cult Leader Hong. “Right, right!” hastily he said, “I was talking rubbish.”

Su Quan said, “When Shi Lang and Zheng Keshuang are home, most likely they will bring troops back here to take revenge, we must not live on this island for too long.”

Everybody agreed. Fang Yi said, “Quan Jiejie, where do you think we should go?”

Su Quan cast a glance toward Wei Xiaobao and said with a laugh, “Why don’t we hear Zhi Zunbao’s [most honorable/senior treasure] idea?”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “You call me Zhi Zunbao?”

Su Quan replied with a laugh, “If not Zhi Zunbao, how can you sweep ‘em all [tong chi]?”

Wei Xiaobao roared in laughter. “I do have a ‘bao’ [treasure] in my name,” he said, “Actually it was a tiny pair of treasure. Pair of fives or two wooden bench tiles, now those are the real Zhi Zunbao.”

Seeing the seven women’s eyes were fixed at him, he pondered a while and then said, “The Central Plains is definitely out of question. Shen Long Island is too close to this place, it’s not a good place either. We must go someplace comfortable but no people around.”

The problem was that desolate places with no people around are not comfortable, comfortable places surely have a lot of people in it. Besides, ‘comfort’ in Wei Xiaobao’s eyes means gambling, opera, storytelling, many different kinds of sights, singing, good dishes, light refreshments, and good-looking young women; not a single one of these was not ‘the more the merrier’. Other than good-looking young women, which, by the way, he already had quite a few by his side, those things could be found only if not in Beijing, then in Yangzhou or other first-class flourishing city in the world; exactly the places where it would be difficult for them to live in happiness.

As he was thinking about these romantic and bustling places, his filial piety heart was suddenly moved. “We gather together in here, it can be considered very exciting,” he said, “But I wonder how is my mother doing, all alone and helpless on her own.”

These women had never heard him mentioning his mother, they all thought that he had a filial heart, which was hard to come by. “Where is your mother right now?” they all asked. Some of them even thought, “Your mother is my mother-in-law, we ought to try to be together with her, to care for her, the Senior.”

Wei Xiaobao sighed and said, “My mother is at the Lovely Spring Courtyard in Yangzhou.”

When the women heard the Lovely Spring Courtyard in Yangzhou, five characters, other than the Princess, the other six immediately felt as if flying red clouds suddenly hit their faces. Some of them turned their heads away, some lowered their heads down.

“Ah, Lovely Spring Courtyard in Yangzhou,” the Princess said, “You have mentioned it before, that is the most fun place in the world; you promised to take me there to play.”

Fang Yi smiled and said, “He was swindling you, don’t believe him. That is the most indecent place on earth.”

“Why is it indecent?” the Princess asked, “Have you played there? Why all of you have such a strange expression on your faces?”

Fang Yi stifled her laugh and was unable to reply. The Princess wrapped her arm around Mu Jianping’s shoulder. “Good Meizi,” she said, “Tell me, what is it?”

Mu Jianping blushed deep red; she said, “That is … that is a brothel.”

The Princess still did not understand, “What is his Mama doing in a brothel?” she asked, “I heard that is the place where men come to have fun.”

Fang Yi laughed and said, “He always loves to talk rubbish, if you believe just half a sentence of what he said, it will be enough to give you headache.”

That day in the Lovely Spring Courtyard, Wei Xiaobao slept under the same blanket with seven women; other than the Princess and the old wh0re Mao Dongzhu, the remaining six women at this moment were sitting in front of him. In term of viciousness and roughness, the Princess was not inferior to Mao Dongzhu, but she was not as sinister, ruthless and dangerous as her mother, plus she was a lot younger and prettier than her mother. Wei Xiaobao was secretly congratulating himself, this time the switch was perfectly reasonable; if right now the one accompanied him was not the Princess but her mother, he would not have any idea of what to do. Perhaps after getting hold of her, he would become like the Old Emperor, he would want to leave home to become a monk on Mount Wutai. But if he absolutely must become a monk, he surely would want to have these seven wives coming with him.

Looking at the blushing six women, he presumed they were thinking of the situation that night. He mused, “That night in the dark, I was just fooling around randomly, I don’t know which one I slept with. Ah Ke and Quan Jiejie have my child inside their tummies; that’s two. I remember one more, but I don’t know which one. I have to find out slowly.” Smiling happily he said, “Even if we have to live on this Tong Chi Island forever, we won’t be lonely. Quan Jiejie, Princess, Ah Ke, the three of you have my child in your tummy; I wonder if someone else also has my child inside your tummy.”

As soon as they heard that, Fang Yi and the others, four women’s faces turned even redder. Mu Jianping hastily said, “I don’t have it, I don’t have it.”

Seeing Wei Xiaobao was looking at her, Zeng Rou shot him a malicious look, “Not me!”

Wei Xiaobao said, “Good Shuang’er, it must be that we are highly successful.”

Shuang’er sprang up and hid in the corner of the room. “No, no!” she said.

Wei Xiaobao turned to Fang Yi, “Yi Jiejie,” he said, “What about you? When you were at the Lovely Spring Courtyard, you stuffed a pillow on your belly, pretending to be pregnant; you must have foresight.”

“Pft!” Fang Yi stifled her laugh, but then could not help laughing. “Pei!” she spat, “Dead eunuch, you and I have not … how can I have …”

“Oh yeah,” Mu Jianping said, “Shijie, Zeng Jiejie, Shuang’er Meizi and me, four people have not bowed to the Heaven and the Earth with you to get married, how can we have a baby? Xiaobao, you deserve to die; you bowed to the Heaven and the Earth with Quan Jiejie, the Princess and Ah Ke Jiejie, yet you did not tell me, you did not invite me to drink the wedding wine.” In her mind, it was the tying of the knot in the ritual of bowing to the Heaven and the Earth that enable people to have children.

Listening to her naiveté, everybody laughed. While still laughing, Fang Yi wrapped her arm around her waist and said, “Xiao Shimei, in that case, tonight you and he should bow to the Heaven and the Earth to be husband and wife.”

“No way,” Mu Jianping replied, “There is no marriage sedan on this barren island. I have seen that the brides are always wearing crimson wedding gown, and phoenix crown with red clouds cape; we don’t have any of those.”

Su Quan laughed and said, “It won’t be a big deal if you are willing to put up with it a bit. We can pick some flowers and braid it into a flower garland, and consider it phoenix crown.”

Hearing the women chatting and joking, Wei Xiaobao was inwardly very anxious. “Who was the other one?” he mused, “Could it be Ah Qi? I remember carrying her in and out, after that I sat her on a chair, I did not bring her into the bed. But that night there were too many girls there, perhaps I muddle-headedly did bring her back into the bed. If she has my child inside her belly, this little fellow will be Mongolian ‘zheng ge er hao’ [see Chapter 39] prince in the future. Aiyo, not good! Could it be the old wh0re? If it was her, my child might be killed by Gui Xinshu and the others as well.”

He heard Mu Jianping said, “If we have to bow to the Heaven and the Earth in here, Fang Shijie must bow first.”

“No,” Fang Yi said, “You are the Junzhu Niangniang [lady princess, see also Chapter 10], it’s only natural that you bow first.”

Mu Jianping said, “We are the people of a perished nation, why do you even mention Junzhu or not Junzhu?”

Fang Yi smiled and said, “In that case, Shuang’er Meizi should bow to the Heaven and the Earth with him first; you have been with him the longest, you have been through life and death together, a friend in times of tribulations, you stand out from the masses.”

Shuang’er blushed. “If you say more, I am going to leave,” she said, while walking toward the door; but Fang Yi laughed and hugged her.

Su Quan turned to Wei Xiaobao and said with a laugh, “Xiaobao, you decide.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “Bowing to the Heaven and the Earth can be discussed slowly. Tomorrow we must bury Shifu first.”

When the women heard that, they were immediately filled with respect; nobody expected this man’s reverence toward his master was this heavy that he could utter such righteous phrases. Who would have thought that what he said next exposed his true nature: “The seven of you are all my dear good wives, there is no distinction between early or late, older or younger. Later on, every night all of you will throw dice to decide winning or losing. Whoever wins, that one will accompany me.” While saying that, he took the two dice from his pocket, blew it, and rolled it on the table.

“Pei!” the Princess spat, “Do you think you are that sweet-smelling? Whoever loses is the one who should accompany you.”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “Right, right! Just like playing finger-guessing game, whoever loses must drink a cup of wine as a forfeit. Alright, who will roll first?”

That night in the thatched hut on the inhabited island thoughts of love and warmth abound; there is no need to describe in details the throwing of dice, who won or who lost. From that day on, the throwing of dice among the women of the Wei family became usual practice. Originally Wei Xiaobao loved to throw dice with people to gamble, using gold, silver, money and valuables as the stake. The excitement of winning or losing always brought him abundant delight, but this time he decided on a method that from now on the women would have him as the stake, he would be compelled to stay out of the game. Although there was tenderness and happiness in his heart, the excitement of gambling was gone. Thus it was clear that ‘the flowers do not always bloom, the moon has its full and crescent phases, the affairs of the world cannot be expected to always follow the people’s expectation’.

The next day the eight of them slept until the sun was on top of the three poles before they got up. Wei Xiaobao led the seven women to bury Chen Jinnan’s remains. Seeing the yellow sandy soil covering his Shifu’s body, Wei Xiaobao could not help bursting in tears again. The women kneeled down together and did obeisance in front of the grave.

The Princess really did not want to do it, she thought I am the Princess of the magnificent Great Qing, how can I kowtow to you, a rebel thief? But it was clear to her that although she was a ‘golden branch, jade leaves’, perhaps in Wei Xiaobao’s eyes her rank was the lowest instead; in term of closeness, she was not as devoted as Shuang’er, in term of beauty she was not as pretty as Ah Ke, in term of martial art she could not beat Su Quan, in term of capability she was not as smart Fang Yi, in term of naivete and purity she was not as innocent as Mu Jianping, in term of gentleness she was not as refined as Zeng Rou. One day her shortcomings would catch up, she was nothing more than a harsh and unreasonable, rough and mean woman. If she did not pay her respect, perhaps henceforth Wei Xiaobao would view her in a new light, and might cheat on the dice; every night when they tossed the dice, he would cause her to achieve great victory. Therefore, feeling aggrieved as she was, she also kneeled down, while saying in her heart, “Rebel thief, oh rebel thief, I, Her Highness the Princess, bow to you, which you have never had the good fortune of receiving, until you go to the underworld, I am afraid you will suffer for your actions.”

[foxs]

When they finished paying their respect, they all stood up and turned around. “Aiyo!” Fang Yi suddenly cried out, “Where’s the boat? Where did it go?”

Hearing her terrified cry, everybody turned their eyes toward the sea, and saw that the boat moored on the beach had vanished without a trace; none was not shocked. They looked to the distant and only saw the boundless bluish green sea all the way to the horizon where it met the blue sky, with several dozen white birds swooping up and down on the surface of the water. Su Quan ran up the overhanging cliff to survey the island all around, north, south, east and west, she did not see even the shadow of the boat. Fang Yi rushed to the cave to look at the rudder, sail, and other sailing gear, as expected, those things had gone missing.

They all got back together and looked at each other in dismay; no one could stop fear from creeping into their hearts. Last night the eight of them were having too much fun and did not sleep until very late at night; they completely forgot to set up night guard duty, unexpectedly the boatmen stole the sailing gears and took the boat away. From now on they were trapped on an isolated island and would not be able to escape anymore. Wei Xiaobao thought about the possibility of Shi Lang and Zheng Keshuang returning with troops to take revenge, how could the eight of them fight the enemy? Even if Su Quan, the Princess and Ah Ke gave birth to three children without delay, their number would be no more than eleven.

Su Quan comforted the rest, “Things have come to this, worrying is useless. Let us slowly think of a plan.”

Back to the thatched hut, everybody hurled curses toward the boatmen with different mouths, same voice; but after swearing and cursing for a couple of hours, they could not come up with any fresh cursing words anymore. Su Quan said to Wei Xiaobao, “Right now we must guard against the Qing troops coming here in large number. Xiaobao, what do you think?”

Wei Xiaobao said, “If the Qing troops are coming, their number will not be a few for sure, we won’t be able to fight them. All we can do is hide, hoping that if they can’t find us in a short while, they would think that we have already sailed away.”

Su Quan nodded. “That’s true,” she said, “The Qing Troops will never have guessed that our boat was stolen.”

Wei Xiaobao was delighted. “If I were Shi Lang,” he said, “I won’t come again. He would presume that without a doubt we would immediately anoint oil on the soles of our feet; it would be foolish for us to stay here. Why would we want to wait for him to come back and arrest us?”

The Princess said, “If he reported to Huangdi Gege, Huangdi Gege might send people to look for us. Even if we already left, they would search carefully for clues to see where we went.”

Wei Xiaobao shook his head, “Shi Lang will not report to the Emperor,” he said.

With eyes open wide the Princess asked, “Why not?”

Wei Xiaobao replied, “If he did, naturally His Majesty would ask why he did not arrest and take us away. And then he would be forced to admit that he had been defeated in battle; wouldn’t he be inviting trouble for himself then?”

Su Quan laughed and said, “Very true, very true. Xiaobao’s skill as government official is superior. Conceal from superior do not conceal from subordinate; that is government official’s most important trick.”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “If Quan Jiejie became government official, I guarantee you will be promoted to a high-ranking position and gain great wealth.”

Su Quan smiled. She thought, “The trick that those people in the Shen Long Jiao used in doing their job, isn’t that more or less the same as the one used by the government official?”

Wei Xiaobao said, “As soon as Shi Lang speaks up, His Majesty will blame him as useless; that’s still all right, but His Majesty will definitely send him up with the troops to arrest us. Shi Lang thought we have already run away, where would he find us? Won’t that mean he is just inviting trouble for himself? It would be better for him to just shut up and gain wealth.” When the women heard that, they agreed that it made a lot of sense, their anxiety diminished a bit.

“What about that kid Zheng Keshuang?” the Princess asked, “From the tone of his voice, don’t you think he is unwilling to swallow his defeat just like that?” While saying that, she cast a quick glance toward Ah Ke. Everybody understood her meaning; she was saying, “A woman as delicate as a flower, as refined as a precious jade like Ah Ke, how could he give her up and not bring troops to seize her back?”

Ah Ke’s face blushed deep red; she lowered her head and said, “If he comes back, I … I will kill myself; I will definitely not go with him.” Her voice was filled with determination.

Wei Xiaobao was greatly delighted; he thought that Ah Ke had always been heartless toward him, it was he who resorted to all kinds of scheme, stealing, snatching and swindling just to get her. This time as he heard her, he was happier than if obtained ten big boats at once. Unable to restrain his joy, he wrapped his arms around her, and ‘smack!’ he landed a kiss on her face. “Good Ah Ke,” he said, “He won’t dare to come back. He still owes me three million eight hundred thousand taels. Even if he has gargantuan guts, will he dare to meet his creditor?”

“Aiyo, how corny!” the Princess said, “He will bring the troops to catch you, snatch the I.O.U. from you, and seize Ah Ke away. And then he will sell your dad, mama, granny [nainai - paternal], and granny [waipo - maternal] to you; altogether seven million six hundred taels of silver. He will also cut your finger and tell you to write an I.O.U. saying that you owe him money.”

The more Wei Xiaobao listened to her, the more annoyed he got. If he was able to deal with it, he would not be so angry, but if Zheng Keshuang really did that, dealing with him in the same muddled manner, selling him back his own dad, mama, (paternal) granny, and (maternal) granny, mama was not a problem, but he never knew who his dad was. And if he did not know his dad, naturally he would not know his (paternal) granny. If Zheng Keshuang sold him these two people, who he himself did not even know, hence the starting price was raised by a hundred percent, how could he afford to pay? In rage, he spoke harshly, “Shut up! If that kid Zheng Keshuang comes with the troops, I won’t sell anybody else, except the most valuable person in the world, the Emperor’s imperial sister to him. The child she is carrying in her belly, I will price at ten million taels; so he will have to pay me two million four hundred thousand taels! Then the deal is done.”

“Wah!” the Princess cried, she covered her face and ran away. Mu Jianping quickly ran after her and consoled her, she told her that Wei Xiaobao would never do such thing, that he was just trying to scare her, that no need for her to feel sad.

Even after lashing out his anger like that, Wei Xiaobao still felt that he had his hands bound and he was unable to do anything about it. In the end everybody listened to Su Quan’s direction. They found a large cave in the dense forest on the island, they swept and fixed it up as a place where they could take shelter and live their daily life. From that day onward, they never set foot inside the thatched hut anymore, hoping that if Shi Lang and Zheng Keshuang really came back, they would see that there was no human footprint on the island, and think that they had gone long ago; hence they would not search carefully.

At first everybody was still scared and was on edge; day and night they took turn to watch the sea. After several months, not only they did not see a single Qing navy or Taiwan battleship, they did not even see a single fishing boat; everybody started to relax, thinking that Shi Lang did not dare to be meddlesome, and since Zheng Keshuang was riding a skiff, he must have been sunk by the stormy sea.

On the island the eight of them spent their days fishing, hunting, shooting birds and picking fruits in peace and quiet. Fortunately the island did not lack birds and beasts, the sea was abound with fish and shrimp. Plus all eight of them knew martial art, hence they were able to fish and hunt quite easily; therefore, they never lacked any food.

Autumn passed, winter came, the weather was growing colder as the days went by. Su Quan, the Princess and Ah Ke, three women’s bellies were also getting bigger as the days went by. Fang Yi and Shuang’er were busy skinning animals and sewing the hides to make winter clothes, they had also prepared enough infant clothing for the three babies.

Another half a month passed, suddenly a big snow came, in one day and one night, the entire island was covered in pure white snow. The eight of them were prepared; they had abundant supply of cured fish, cured meat, firewood and dried fruit in the cave. Day in and day out they chatted with each other, each time the topic always drifted back to the three babies about to be born.

One night the snow stopped falling, the north wind blew very strong, and cold wind continuously crept into the cave via the wooden plank door. Shuang’er added dry firewood to the bonfire. Wei Xiaobao took out the dice and let the women roll. After five women rolled the dice, Mu Jianping threw a three-dot, the lowest combination; it looked like tonight her lost was decided. Zeng Rou laughed and said, “Jianping Meizi lost; I don’t need to throw.”

Mu Jianping laughed and said, “Quickly throw, quickly throw! Maybe you’ll throw a two-dot.”

Zeng Rou picked the dice and held them in her hand; imitating Wei Xiaobao, she gently blew the two dice in her palm. She was just about to throw when a burst of north wind blew; in the midst of the wind they faintly heard something that sounded like human voice. Everybody’s countenance changed. Actually, Su Quan was already asleep, but suddenly she sat up. Eight people were ‘you look at me, I look at you’, in that instant everybody’s face was drained of any blood. Mu Jianping cried out softly and buried her head into Fang Yi’s bosom.

A moment later, the wind carried a loud shout; this time they could hear it clearly, the cry was, “Xiao Guizi, Xiao Guizi, where are you? Xiao Xuanzi is thinking about you!”

Wei Xiaobao sprang up. “Xiao … Xiao Xuanzi is coming to look for me,” he said in a trembling voice.

“Who is Xiao Xuanzi?” the Princess asked.

“He is … he is …” Wei Xiaobao replied. Only he alone knew that ‘Xiao Xuanzi’, three characters, was Kangxi, he had never told anybody else, naturally Kangxi himself would not let anybody know; yet suddenly people were shouting this name, plus the voice was this loud and clear? His whole body trembled, he felt this matter was very strange. Kangxi must be dead, his ghost was thinking of him, and had come to Tong Chi Island to find him. For a moment he could not stop his eyes from brimming with tears of excitement; from he cave he rushed out and called, “Xiao Xuanzi, Xiao Xuanzi, are you looking for me? Xiao Guizi is here!”

He heard the voice called again, “Xiao Guizi, Xiao Guizi, where are you? Xiao Xuanzi is thinking about you!” The voice was very loud, it did not sound like it came from one person’s mouth, but it sounded like several thousand or several hundred people were shouting together. But several thousand or several hundred people shouting together can’t possibly shout this clearly; however, if it was one person shouting, no matter how outstanding his internal energy was, it would not sound like shaking thunder. Hence, it must be Kangxi’s ghost.

Wei Xiaobao’s heart was extremely grieved, tears flooding out from his eyes as he thought that Xiao Xuanzi’s yi qi to me was indeed very profound; after he is dead, his ghost is still coming to look for me. Usually he was extremely scared of ghosts, but this moment he simply must meet Xiao Xuanzi’s ghost no matter what. Thereupon he urged his feet to run faster, straight toward the voice, while calling out, “Xiao Xuanzi, don’t go, Xiao Guizi is here!”

The ground was covered with ice and snow, it was extremely slippery, Wei Xiaobao fell tumbling down, twice, but each time he simply crawled back up and ran again. Rounding a hillside, he saw the beach was full of specks of flame clustered together like a vast sky full of stars. Several hundred people with lanterns and torches in their hands were standing in a neat and tidy formation. Wei Xiaobao was shocked. “Aiyo!” he cried out, turned around and ran away.

From the crowd a man rushed out and called, “Wei Dutong, finally we found you!”

Wei Xiaobao only took two steps before realizing the situation; his track had been discovered. The opposite side had several hundred people, if they searched this tiny Tong Chi island, he would not be able to hide at all. Besides, he thought the voice sounded familiar. Therefore, he halted, braced himself, and slowly turned around.

The man called, “Wei Dutong, we all miss you very much. Thank the Heaven and thank the Earth, finally we find you.” The voice was brimming with joy and full of emotion. The man lifted up high the torch in his hand and rushed over in quick steps. When he got near, Wei Xiaobao recognized the man was Wang Jinbao.

To come across an old friend, Wei Xiaobao was also very happy. He remembered that day in Beijing outskirts under the imperial order Wang Jinbao was sent to arrest him, but he deliberately pretended not to see him, in complete disregard of his future career, even his own life, he let Wei Xiaobao go, indeed his yi qi was profound. He brought the troops today, although it was dangerous, there was still room for negotation. Thereupon Wei Xiaobao smiled and said, “Wang San Ge, your plan is marvelous, you can trick me to come out.”

Wang Jinbao threw his torch to the ground; bowing, he said, “Subordinate did not dare to play a trick, I really did not know Dutong is on the island.”

Wei Xiaobao smiled and said, “Then it must be His Majesty’s imperial instruction from his brocade sack of miracle plans, isn’t it?”

Wang Jinbao said, “The day His Majesty found out that Dutong had fled overseas, he sent subordinate with three sea-going ships bearing imperial order to search each and every small island for you. Each time we went ashore, we shouted like that in accordance with His Majesty’s imperial edict.”

By this time Shuang’er, Su Quan and the others arrived; they stood behind Wei Xiaobao. A moment later, Fang Yi, the Princess and Ah Ke, three women also arrived. Wei Xiaobao turned toward the Princess and said, “Your Huangdi Gege’s ability is really good, finally they found us.”

Wang Jinbao recognized the Princess; he kneeled down to pay his respect. The Princess asked, “Did His Majesty send you to arrest and take us back to Beijing?”

“No, he did not,” Wang Jinbao hastily replied, “His Majesty only sent Xiao Jiang [little/lowly general] to sea to look for Wei Dutong, we are completely unaware that Your Highness the Princess is also here.” The Princess lowered her head to look at her bulging belly; her face blushed.

Wang Jinbao turned to Wei Xiaobao, “Subordinate has left to sea for more than four months ago, and has come ashore, shouted and searched more than eighty small islands. Tonight we finally meet Dutong, I am really very happy.”

Wei Xiaobao smiled and said, “I am a big criminal, an offender to the throne, long ago I am not your superior anymore, let us get away from calling each other ‘Dutong’ and ‘subordinate’.”

Wang Jinbao said, “His Majesty’s idea, after Dutong hear the imperial edict, naturally you will understand.” Turning around, he beckoned to someone in the crowd. “Wen Gonggong [see Chapter 3],” he called, “Please come here.”

[foxs]

Someone stepped out from among the crowd, it was actually Wei Xiaobao’s old acquaintance, the eunuch of the Upper Study Room, Wen Youfang. He walked over and said in a loud and clear voice, “Hear the imperial edict.”

Wen Youfang was a gambling friend Wei Xiaobao met when he first entered the Palace; he could not cheat in playing dice, a ‘cattle’, who owed Wei Xiaobao countless amount of money. After Wei Xiaobao rose straight up in a clear sky [i.e. rapid promotion], each time they met, eighty times out of a hundred Wei Xiaobao always give him some tips.

As soon as Wei Xiaobao heard the three-character ‘hear the imperial edict’ [you sheng zhi], he kneeled down. Wen Youfang said, “This is a secret edict, other people must withdraw.”

As soon as Wang Jinbao heard that, he withdrew far away. Su Quan and the others also withdrew. But the Princess asked, “Huangdi Gege’s imperial edict, even I cannot hear it?”

Wen Youfang replied, “His Majesty’s order: this is a secret imperial edict, only Wei Xiaobao, one person may know; if it leaks even for a character or half a sentence, your servant will be executed along with my whole family unto the third generation.”

“Humph,” the Princess snorted, “How fierce! You’d better be executed along with your whole family unto the third generation then.” But thinking that if she stayed nearby, he would not be willing to read the imperial decree anyway, hence without any choice she also withdrew.

From his pocket Wen Youfang took out two yellow envelopes. Wei Xiaobao kneeled down immediately. “Servant Wei Xiaobao receives the imperial decree,” he said.

Wen Youfang said, “His Majesty’s order: this time you are to receive the imperial decree by standing up, you are not allowed to kneel down and kowtow, and you are not allowed to call yourself a servant.”

Wei Xiaobao was greatly surprised, “Where’s the logic in that?” he said.

Wen Youfang said, “His Majesty ordered me just like that, and now I am telling you just like that, whether there is a logic or not, you can ask His Majesty yourself when you see him.”

Wei Xiaobao had no choice but to respond in loud and clear voice, “Yes, thank you Your Majesty for your grace.” And then he stood up.

Wen Youfang handed one yellow envelope to him and said, “You may open and look at it.”

Wei Xiaobao received with both hands, tear the envelope, and took out a sheet of yellow paper. Wen Youfang raised the lantern in his left hand to illuminate the yellow paper. Wei Xiaobao saw six pictures on that piece of paper. The first picture depicted two boys rolling and wrestling on the floor, it was the scene of he and Kangxi in the past wrestling and having martial art competition. The second picture depicted a bunch of boys catching Oboi; Oboi pounced on Kangxi, Wei Xiaobao stabbed Oboi with a dagger. The third picture depicted a little monk carrying an old monk on his back, running away like flying, with six or seven lama holding sabers in their hands pursuing from behind; it was the scene of him rescuing the old Emperor at Qingliang Temple. The fourth picture depicted a nun wearing white clothes pouncing down from high in the air, with sword straight down to assassinate Kangxi, Wei Xiaobao blocked in front of his body, taking the sword on his behalf. The fifth picture depicted Wei Xiaobao at the Palace of Compassionate and Peaceful, with a foot on the fake Empress Dowager lying on the ground, while helping the real Empress Dowager get off the bed. The sixth picture depicted Wei Xiaobao with a Luocha woman, a Mongolian Prince, and and old lama, together they grabbed the braid of an old general; looking at the old general’s attire, he must be Ping Xi Qin Wang. It must be about Wei Xiaobao using a ruse to break up Wu Sangui’s three-way coalition forces.

Kangxi was very adept at painting, the six pictures were very elegant and vivid; only because he had never seen Wu Sangui, Prince Galdan, Sangjie Lama, and Princess Sophia, four people, the picture did not look like their actual appearance, but the rest of the characters in his drawing were very much like the originals, particularly Wei Xiaobao’s mischievous and naughty expression, it was remarkably true to life.

The six pictures did not have a single character on them, but naturally Wei Xiaobao understood that those are six of his great merits. Playing and fooling around and having martial art competition actually could not be considered any meritorious service, nevertheless Kangxi always remembered it in his heart. As for bombarding the Divine Dragon Island, capturing the fake Empress Dowager, arresting Wu Yingxiong and the other meritorious services, they were not worth mentioning in comparison to these six.

Wei Xiaobao looked at the pictures in a daze; he stared blankly with tears streaming down his face. He mused, “He spent this much effort in drawing these six pictures, remembering my meritorious services, that means he does not blame me anymore.”

Wen Youfang waited for a moment before asking, “Have you looked at it clearly?”

“Yes,” Wei Xiaobao replied.

Wen Youfang opened the second yellow envelope and said, “I’ll read His Majesty’s secret imperial decree.” Taking out a sheet of paper, he read, “Xiao Guizi, damn it, where have you gone? I miss you very much; you, this stinky fellow are heartless and inconsiderate, have you forgotten laozi?”

Wei Xiaobao mumbled in reply, “I have not, I really have not.”

Ever since there were ‘three sovereigns and five emperors’ in China, the Emperor using the word ‘damn it’, three characters [ta ma de], or the Emperor calls himself ‘laozi’, apparently Kangxi’s secret imperial edict was not only unprecedented, it was also never to be repeated in the future.

Wen Youfang paused for a moment, and then continue reading, “You did not obey my order, you were unwilling to kill your Shifu; moreover, you kidnapped Princess Jianning and ran away. Damn it, aren’t you taking advantage of me to become your dajiuzi [wife’s older brother]? But your meritorious services are so great, plus you are very loyal to me, whatever crime you have committed, I forgive them all. I am going to get married, if you don’t come to drink the celebratory wine, laozi will really not be happy. Let me tell you, you surrender obediently, and come to Beijing immediately, I have already prepared another Bojue [Earl] Mansion for you, a lot bigger than the previous one …”

Wei Xiaobao was bursting with joy, “Alright, alright!” he said in a loud voice, “I am coming immediately to drink the celebratory wine.”

Wen Youfang continued reading, “Let us get some things straight first, from this day onward, if you are not being obedient, I will definitely chop your head, don’t ever say that I swindle you to come to Beijing to kill you. Your Shifu surnamed Chen is already dead, Tian Di Hui has nothing to do with you anymore. You gain a bit more power, and destroy Tian Di Hui completely. I will also send you to fight Wu Sangui. I will give you Princess Jianning as your wife. In the future I will bestow you the title Gong [Duke] or Wang [King], you will be promoted and gain wealth, you will have a lot of fun. Xiao Xuanzi is your good friend, also your Shifu, raw bird fish soup [see Chapter 14], the words that I said, dead horses cannot chase it. You must come back for me as soon as possible!”

Finished reading the secret imperial decree, Wen Youfang asked, “Have you understood everything?”

“Yes,” Wei Xiaobao replied, “I have understood everything.”

Wen Youfang put the secret imperial decree into the lantern, lighted it with the candleflame; when he pulled it out, it was burning into ashes.

Wei Xiaobao watched as the secret imperial decree caught fire and turned into flame, and then slowly turned into ashes; myriads of thoughts surging in his mind as he squatted and fiddled with the ashes a little bit.

With smiles all over his face Wen Youfang paid his respect and said with a laugh, “Wei Daren, His Majesty doted on you so much, nothing could be better. Henceforth Xiaode [little/lowly one] will completely rely on you for my promotion.”

Wei Xiaobao sadly shook his head; he pondered, “He wanted me to wipe out Tian Di Hui. This matter will let down my friends too much. If I do such things, won’t I be the same as Wu Sangui, Feng Jizhong, that kind of people, become big traitor (to China), a turtle b@stard? Xiao Xuanzi’s bowl of rice is really not easy to eat. This time he spared me and did not kill me, but he said it clearly, next time he won’t spare me anymore. If I don’t go back, I wonder how he is going to deal with me?” He asked, “If I don’t go back to Beijing, what will His Majesty do? Did he tell you to arrest me and bring me back? Or did he tell you to kill me?”

Wen Youfang’s face showed complete astonishment. “Wei Daren will not accept the imperial order?” he asked, “This … how can there be such thing? This … isn’t that … ay, disobedient against the imperial decree? That kind of thing must not be even mentioned.”

“Tell me the truth,” Wei Xiaobao said, “If I disobey the imperial decree, then what happens?”

Wen Youfang scratched his head and said, “His Majesty only ordered Xiaode to do two things: the first is to deliver a secret imperial decree to Wei Daren, the other one is that after Wei Daren looked at the first imperial decree, to open the second secret imperial decree and to read it out loud. As for the contents of the secret imperial decree, Xiaode did not understand the least bit. About other things, naturally I do not know even more.”

Wei Xiaobao nodded his head; walking over to Wang Jinbao, he said, “Wang San Ge, in His Majesty’s secret imperial decree, he wants me to return to Beijing and do something for him. But … but you see, the Princess’ belly is getting very big, I really cannot leave now. If I do not follow the imperial edict to return to the Capital, how did His Majesty want you to deal with me?” He thought, “I need to hear the opposite party’s setting price first. If he says to kill without negotiation, I will surrender. Otherwise, there’s no harm in haggling over the price.”

Wang Jinbao replied, “His Majesty only sent subordinate to visit each and every island on the sea to look for Wei Dutong; after we found you, to have Wen Gonggong to read the imperial decree. As for what happens afterward, naturally subordinate will follow Wei Dutong’s instruction.”

Wei Xiaobao was greatly delighted. “So His Majesty did not order you to arrest me, kill me?”

“He did not, he did not,” Wang Jinbao busily said, “How can there be such thing? His Majesty holds Wei Dutong in such a high regard. When Wei Dutong enters the Capital, naturally you will be put in powerful position; if not Shangshu [equivalent to department head], then it must be great general.”

“Wang San Ge,” Wei Xiaobao said, “To be honest with you, His Majesty wants me to return to the Capital so that I can lead people to wipe out Tian Di Hui. I am a Tian Di Hui Xiangzhu, this kind of ‘murdering friends’ matter, I absolutely cannot do.”

Wang Jinbao had always upheld yi qi, he had already understood clearly what happened to Wei Xiaobao; hearing him said so, he could not refrain from nodding his head repeatedly, thinking that selling out friends for the sake of promotion and wealth was worse than a dog or pig.

Wei Xiaobao said, “His Majesty’s kindness to me is as heavy as the mountain, but the thing that he commanded me to do, I just can’t do it. I do not dare to see His Majesty’s face, I have no choice but to work like an ox or like a horse in my next life to repay His Majesty’s great kindness. When you see His Majesty, please explain to him my difficulty. I know that loyalty cannot satisfy both sides, putting on a play ought to commit suicide to repay the master, although cutting the neck will be frighteningly painful, I have no way out, I might have to display utter loyalty by sacrificing myself to the service of my country.”

Wang Jinbao examined his own heart; if he was faced with this difficult problem, there would be only one way out, i.e. committing suicide to repay his lord and emperor for the kindness to recognizing his worth and employing him, but he would not be able to bear crossing over his friends and righteousness. Thereupon he hastily advised him, “Wei Dutong must not take this path, we can slowly think of a way out. Let subordinate report Dutong’s predicament to His Majesty. These past several months Zhang Tidu, Zhao Zongbing, Sun Fujiang several people have rendered some meritorious service, His Majesty are holding them in high regard. Disregarding our future prospects, all of us will kowtow and plead for leniency on behalf of Wei Dutong.”

Seeing he was flustered and exasperated, Wei Xiaobao was secretly amused, “To have Wei Xiaobao kills himself is just like expecting the sun to rise from the west. Forget suicide, laozi can’t even cut my own little finger. Besides, if Xiao Xuanzi wanted to kill me he would kill me immediately, if he wanted to spare me he would simply spare me; nobody knows how much idea he has in his head. Relying on you, several people, kowtowing to him, what good will it bring?” However, seeing Wang Jinbao’s profound yi qi, he was deeply grateful. Holding Wang Jinbao’s hand, he said, “If that’s the case, I will have to toil Wang San Ge to present a memorial to the Emperor, tell him that Wei Xiaobao has difficulty left and right, and was about to swipe a sword across my own throat, luckily you are here to rescue me that I did not die.”

“Yes, yes!” Wang Jinbao said, while in his heart he thought that eunuch Wen was standing on the side, he had witnessed everything; if Wang Jinbao was to deceive their lord like this, perhaps he would expose this trickery. Wang Jinbao’s face could not help showing awkward expression.

Wei Xiaobao roared in laughter and said, “Wang San Ge need not take it seriously, I was only joking. His Majesty is fully aware of Wei Xiaobao’s conduct, committing suicide I am very afraid of the pain. Just report back everything according to the facts.” Wang Jinbao was relieved.

Wei Xiaobao thought that if he rode on Wang Jinbao’s ship and returned to the Central Plains, and then disappeared without a trace, the Emperor would definitely put the blame on him, most likely he would kill him. If Wei Xiaobao earnestly asked him, most probably Wang Jinbao would not refuse; but unavoidably Wei Xiaobao would wrong him too much. He said, “Our business is done. Wang San Ge, Xiongdi has not gambled on this uninhabited island for too long; it’s really so boring, what do you say we throw a couple of dice?”

Wang Jinbao was greatly delighted, he was a serious gambler, his gambling urge was not below that of Wei Xiaobao’s; when he did not have any opponent, oftentimes his left hand would gamble against his right hand. Thereupon he immediately agreed and could not wait to start immediately. He ordered his soldiers to move a large rock with flat top over, six soldiers stood around with lanterns raised high, shouting and cheering while Wang Jinbao and Wei Xiaobao threw the dice. Before long, Wen Youfang, as well as several Canjiang [regimental commander] and Youji [brigade commander] joined in. The number of people standing around the large rock grew larger and larger.

Mu Jianping watched all this dubiously; she quietly asked Fang Yi, “Shijie, why do they throw dice? Could it be that the loser will … will … but they are all men.”

“Pft,” Fang Yi stifled her laughter; she said in a low voice, “Whoever lost the game will have to accompany you.”

Although Mu Jianping did not understand worldly affair, she knew there was no such thing. Stretching out her hand, she tickled Fang Yi’s armpit. The two women broke into giggles.

The gambling continued until daybreak. The money in front of Wei Xiaobao had become three high piles, first, his luck in gambling was really good, second, he was playing a trick; from these crowd of officers and men, nine out of ten had lost to him. Wei Xiaobao was in high spirits; when he turned his head around, he saw the Princess, Ah Ke and Mu Jianping, three women had already fallen asleep crouching on the rocks, while Su Quan, Fang Yi, Shuang’er and Zeng Rou, four women, were struggling hard to keep their sleepy eyes open while they accompanied him on the side. He could not help feeling bad and apologetic toward them. He pushed the three large pile in front of him forward and said, “Wang San Ge, these several thousand taels, please bestow it on my behalf to the Xiongdi. Everybody has come to this barren island, I do not have anything to entertain you; I feel really bad.”

Originally the officers and men who lost had their countenances ash-grey; as soon as they heard him, thunderous happy shouts arose, they all expressed their gratitude in chorus. Wang Jinbao ordered the officers and men to row the skiffs back to the ships, and bring back from the ships rice grains, pork and lamb, good wine, medication, as well as bowls and chopsticks, tables and chairs, pots and pans, kitchen knife, and so on, skiff by skiff. He also ordered the soldiers to build several large thatched huts in the forest. Many people worked together, several hundred officers and men exerted their strength, in just several days everything was in place on the Tong Chi Island; only then did they bade their farewell from Wei Xiaobao.

[foxs]

As he was about to leave, Wen Youfang found out that this island was called Tong Chi Island; he could not help stomping his feet and heaving deep sigh, saying that if he had known earlier, he would have asked Wei Xiaobao to let him be the banker for several rounds. On Tong Chi Island leisurely be a banker, how could he not eat ‘em all?

More than ten days later, Ah Ke gave birth to a baby boy first, the next say Su Quan also gave birth to another boy. It was more than a month later when the Princess gave birth to a baby girl. Seeing the other women gave birth to baby boys, while she gave birth to a baby girl, the Princess was angry; she cried repeatedly for the next several days. Wei Xiaobao constantly comforted her, telling her that he prefer a daughter over a son; only then did he coax her and turn her tears into laughter.

For the three babies there were seven mothers. Although not a single mother had any experience with babies, with a lot of ‘seven hands eight feet’ and hundreds of jesting, the three infants were healthy, strong and lively.

The women respectfully asked Wei Xiaobao to give the babies names. Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “I am blind and do not know any letters, you want me to give my sons, my daughter names, that means you are giving me great difficulty. Let’s do it this way, we throw dice, whatever the result, that will be their names.” Immediately he picked up the dice, with his mouth mumbling some prayers, “God of gambling Bodhisattva please bless, give me three good names. The first one!”

He threw the dice, one produced six dots, the other five dots, a ‘tiger head’ combination. Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “Ah Da’s [basically it means ‘the first’] name is not bad, he will be called Wei Hutou [tiger head].”

The second throw produced one-dot and six-dot combination, a ‘copper-hammer’. Thereupon Lao’er [ol’ second] was named Wei Tongchui [you guessed it: copper hammer].

The third throw. The first die rolled to two dots; the second die was rolling continuously, finally it stopped at also two dots, a ‘wooden bench’ combination. Wei Xiaobao was taken aback, but then the burst out laughing. “Our Da Guniang’s [big/oldest miss] name is very strange; she will be called Wei Bandeng [wooden bench]!”

The women were all shocked. The Princess angrily said, “So unpleasant to hear! Such a nice girl, how can you call her ‘Bandeng, Bandeng’? Quickly pick another name.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “It is the name picked by the God of gambling and Bodhisattva, how can we casually change it at random?” Picking up the baby girl, he landed a kiss on her face, ‘smack!’ and then he said with a laugh, “Dear one Wei Bandeng little treasure, this name sounds so pretty.”

The Princess angrily said, “No way, no way! No matter what I don’t want to call her Bandeng. I was the one giving birth to the child; such an ugly name, I don’t want it.”

“Humph,” Wei Xiaobao said, “You gave birth to the child, are you the only one who produced the child?”

The Princess snatched the dice away and said, “I’ll throw. Whatever I throw, that will be her name.”

Wei Xiaobao had no choice; he was helpless against her. “Alright,” he said, “This time you cannot renege! What if you also throw a tiger-head or a copper-hammer?”

“Just like her Gege, we’ll call her Hutou or Tongchui,” the Princess replied. Shaking the dice continuously in her palm, she said, “God of gambling Bodhisattva, if you don’t give my daughter a good name, I am going to smash your two stinking dice.” And then she rolled the dice.

The two dice rolled around several times before they finally stop. Unexpectedly there is indeed such coincidence in the world, both dice produced two dots, it was still the ‘wooden bench’ combination. The Princess’ eyes grew big as she stared blankly before ‘Wah!’ she broke into tears.

Everybody was amazed and amused at the same time. Su Quan laughed and said, “Meizi, don’t worry! Two dots make a pair, a pair of two-dots is Shuangshuang; our daughter will be called Wei Shuangshuang. What do you think?”

The Princess turned the tears into laughter; immediately she perked up. “Good, good!” she said with a laugh, “The name is very interesting, it’s almost the same as Shuang’er Meizi’s name.”

Shuang’er was also very happy; she picked up Wei Shuangshuang and hugged her in her bosom with full affection. Mu Jianping laughed and said, “Shuang’er Meimei, since you love her that much, quickly feed her milk.”

Shuang’er blushed. “Pei!” she spat, “You’d better feed her yourself!” Reaching out, she tried to unbutton Mu Jianping’s clothes. Mu Jianping quickly ran away. The women roared in laughter.

With the addition of these three babies, Tong Chi Island was even more lively. Since Wang Jinbao left a large quantity of foodstuff and appliances, they had more than enough of everything, there was no need to go fishing and hunting every day. Only whenever they felt like eating some fresh fish, shrimp or game did they go out to get some.

At first everybody was still anxious that since Kangxi summoned Wei Xiaobao and he did not answer, there would be cataclysmic mishap, or perhaps bad repercussion to them. But after several months without any news, they gradually pushed this matter out of their minds.

The next summer, Wang Jinbao suddenly reappeared, leading several big ships, with another imperial edict. This time the imperial edict was like ‘four pair of horses pulled side by side and six steed’; the wording was profound. Wei Xiaobao did not understand a single sentence, he relied on Su Quan to explain everything. [Translator’s note: thank God Jin Yong did not quote the entire edict. Phew!] Turned out Kangxi did not mention a single sentence about the past events, he only sent a Canjiang, leading five hundred soldiers, to be stationed on the island to protect the Princess. Other than that, he also sent sixteen menservants and eight female servants, eight servant girls; the three big ships were packed with various appliances and food.

Wei Xiaobao was secretly worried, “Xiao Xuanzi is giving me these many things, I am afraid he wants me to live on this Tong Chi Island for the rest of my life.” His natural disposition was restless; although he passed the time on the Island carefree and without worries, plus he had seven ‘delicate as flower, refined as precious jade’ wives to accompany him, but he had passed the peace and quiet days for quite a long time, he was really bored. Every now and then he would recall past events, thinking about the time when he was still at the Lovely Spring Courtyard, where people grabbed his little braid and beat and cursed him, yet he felt alive and invigorated.

The twelfth month of the same year, Kangxi sent Zhao Liangdong with yet another imperial decree, the Emperor appointed his second son Yun Reng to be the Crown Prince, general amnesty was proclaimed throughout the world, Wei Xiaobao’s nobility title was raised one rank, he was bestowed the title Second Class Earl of Tong Chi. Wei Xiaobao invited Zhao Liangdong for dinner and wine. During the banquest Zhao Liangdong told him about the crusade against Wu Sangui, saying that Wu Sangui’s troops and generals were formidable, various elite troops had suffered defeat.

Wei Xiaobao said, “Zhao Er Ge, when you are back, please report to His Majesty that I feel stifled in here and am very bored, I want to ask His Majesty to send me go fight that old fellow Wu Sangui.”

Zhao Liangdong said, “His Majesty has foreseen that Jueye is loyal to the ruler and love his country, when you find out about rebel Wu running wild, you would definitely volunteer to go into battle. His Majesty said, if Wei Xiaobao wants to fight Wu Sangui, he can, but he must destroy Tian Di Hui first. Otherwise, he’d better stay on Tong Chi Island fishing and catching turtles.” Wei Xiaobao was on the verge of tears, he almost broke out crying.

Zhao Liangdong said, “His Majesty said that once upon a time when the Han Dynasty’s Han Guangwu was young, he had a good friend called Yan Ziling[1]. After Han Guangwu became the Emperor, this Yan Ziling did not want to become a high-ranking officer, but lived in Fuchun River [in Zhejiang] to fish. His Majesty also said that in the past King Wu of Zhao had a high-ranking minister called Jiang Taigong [Jiang Ziya], who also loved to fish on the bank of Wei River. King Wu of Zhou and Han Guangwu were good emperors of the ancient times. Therefore, it is clear that every good emperor always has a high-ranking officer who loves to fish. His Majesty said that he wants to be raw bird fish soup. If Wei Jueye did not catch bird or fish for him, how can His Majesty become raw bird fish soup? Wei Jueye, subordinate is an uncouth man; why His Majesty wants Wei Jueye to catch bird and fish in here, I really do not understand. But His Majesty is very wise, there must be a very good reason behind it.”

“Yes, yes!” Wei Xiaobao replied. He could only smile bitterly. He knew Kangxi was joking with him; apparently because he did not agree to wipe out Tian Di Hui, the Emperor condemned him to catch fish in here for a lifetime. These five hundred officers and men were supposedly to protect the Princess, but they were actually prison warden, prison guards to monitor them strictly, so that he could not leave the island even for a single step. The more he thought about it, the more depressed he was. The banquet ended in haste, unexpectedly after drinking he did not even want to gamble. Returning to his room, he stared blankly with tears falling down his face.

Seeing Wei Xiaobao crying, his seven wives were astonished; they came together to console him. He told them what Kangxi had said. The Princess angrily said, “That’s right! Huangdi Gege really wanted to raise your official ranking and nobility, from third-class earl to second-class earl, so be it. But where’s the logic behind ‘Tong Chi Bo’? Our Great Qing only has Zhao Xin Bo [bright trust; ‘bo’ means Earl], Wei Yi Bo [staunch prestige], or else Xiang Qin Bo [help/assist hardworking/industrious], Cheng En Bo [continuing grace/kindness]. You are originally Zhong Yong Bo [loyal and brave], which was very good. These three characters ‘Tong Chi Bo’ are clearly to make fun of you. He … he … does not care about me at all.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “Earl of Tong Chi is not a big deal; I was the one who picked the name ‘Tong Chi’ for this island, you cannot blame His Majesty. I am the Island Master of the Tong Chi Island, naturally my title is Earl of Tong Chi, which is a lot better than ‘Earl of Tong Pei’ [‘pei’ means paying for loss (in gambling)]. Quan Jiejie, can you think of a way to return to the Central Plains? I … I really miss my Mama.”

Su Quan shook her head and said, “This is a really difficult matter, we can only wait patiently for an opportunity.”

Wei Xiaobao picked up a teacup, ‘crash!’ he threw it down to the floor and it shattered into pieces. “You just don’t want to think of a way,” he angrily said, “Fine, I will quietly sneak away alone in the future, you must not blame me. I … I … I would rather be at the Lovely Spring Courtyard, become a turtle who pick up the teapots; I don’t want to be a damn Earl of Tong Chi. The boredom really stifles me to death.”

Su Quan did not get angry; she smiled and said, “Xiaobao, don’t worry, there will come a day His Majesty is going to send you on a mission.”

Wei Xiaobao was greatly delighted; he stood up and bowed deeply. “Good Jiejie, I apologize to you. Please tell me quickly, His Majesty may send me on what mission? As long as it’s not to strike Tian Di Hui, I … I will do anything.”

The Princess said, “What if Huangdi Gege sends you to the outhouse to wash the chamber pot?”

“I will do it,” Wei Xiaobao angrily said, “But every day I will send you to do it for me.” Seeing he was in such a bad temper, the Princess did not dare to say anything anymore.

Mu Jianping said, “Quan Jiejie, tell him quickly. Xiaobao is extremely anxious.”

Su Quan hesitantly replied, “Doing what, I do not know. But reckoning the Emperor’s mind, inevitably there will be one day he may call you back to Beijing. He wants to force you to surrender, he wants you to wipe out Tian Di Hui. For each day you did not agree, he is wasting one day of his time with you. Xiaobao, you want to be a hero or a warrior, you must give careful consideration to yi qi toward your friends, this little bit of suffering is the price you have to pay. You want to be a hero, but you also want to hear a ‘powder head’ singing the Eighteen Touches. This hero thing is not easy to do.”

Wei Xiaobao thought what she said made a lot of sense; he stood up and said with a laugh, “I can be a hero, and sing the Eighteen Touches myself, do you think that’s possible?” And then he started to sing, “One touch, two touches, touching the edge of Quan Jiejie’s hair …” while reaching out to stroke Su Quan’s hair. Everybody giggled; the little disturbance vanished without a trace.

Since then, day after day, year after year, Wei Xiaobao and the seven women lived on Tong Chi Island. Each year on the twelfth month, Kangxi always sent people with gifts. He bestowed Wei Xiaobao a set of crystal dice, green-jade emerald Paijiu, and various gold-inlaid jade gambling equipment; so many that their number could not be counted. Fortunately there were five hundred officers and men on Tong Chi Island that Wei Xiaobao never lacked gambling opponent.

One particular year Sun Sike came to deliver the gifts. Wei Xiaobao saw the red ruby on his hat, an insignia of a one-pin rank military officer, so Wei Xiaobao knew that he had been promoted to a Tidu [local commander]; hastily he congratulated him, “Sun Si Ge, congratulations on your promotion!”

With smile all over his face, Sun Sike saluted and paid his respect, “It’s all because of His Majesty’s grace and Wei Jueye’s cultivation.”

He opened the imperial edict and read it out loud. Turned out it was about the imperial court pacifying the three border defenses: one after another Yunnan’s Ping Xi Wang [king who pacifies the west] Wu Sangui, Guangdong’s Ping Nan Wang [king who pacifies the south] Shang Zhixin, and Fujian’s Jing Nan Wang [‘jing’ also means peace/tranquil/pacify] Geng Jingzhong, were subdued. Kangxi evaluated everybody’s merit and bestowed reward accordingly. The Second-class Earl of Tong Chi Wei Xiaobao was nominated to be a great general; based on his distinguished service, which was very commendable, he rose in nobility rank to First-class Earl of Tong Chi. Even his eldest son Wei Hutou was granted the title ‘Yun Qi Wei’ [lit. cloud rider military officer[2]].

Finished expressing his gratitude, Wei Xiaobao received various gifts sent by Kangxi, among which was unexpectedly a large marble screen, which he had seen in the study room at Wu Sangui’s Wuhua Palace, one of Wu Sangui’s three treasures. Zhang Yong, Zhao Liangdong, Wang Jinbao, Sun Sike and the others have also sent generous gifts.

That evening during the banquet, Sun Sike told Wei Xiaobao about the effort of pacifying Wu Sangui. Turned out Zhang Yong inflicted heavy damage on Wu Sangui’s main force in Gansu and Ningxia region, repeatedly rendered great merits. By this time he was conferred the title First-class Marquis and Shaofu [young tutor], the official tutor to the crown prince; his titles and honors were far above Wei Xiaobao’s. Sun Sike said that after Zhang Houye [master marquis] was struck by Gui Xinshu’s palm in the past, he had never recovered fully; he could not ride horse, he could not even stand, during the battle he always commanded his main forces sitting on sedan chair.

Wei Xiaobao clucked his tongue in amazement; he said, “The sedan chair carriers must also be considered warriors; otherwise, when Zhang Laoge [old brother] cried out ‘Charge!’ and the four sedan chair bearers retreated, won’t that be terrible?”

“That’s right!” Sun Sike said, “Just before the battle, Zhang Houye always had an attendant behind the sedan chair carrying his axe-saber. If the sedan chair wanted to turn around, the big axe-saber would immediately chop down.”

Sun Sike also told him how Zhao Liangdong took over Yangping Pass, broke Hanzhong, subdued Chengdu, and attacked down to Kunming. His meritorious service was very great. The Emperor conferred him the title ‘Yonglue Jiangjun’ [brave and cunning general], and appointed him the Zongdu [governor-general] of Yunnan and Guizhou, also appointed him to be the Shangshu [department head] of Ministry of War. Wang Jinbao and Sun Sike himself were also promoted to be Tidu due to their ardor in battle.

---

[1] Yan Zi Ling (ca. 40 BC to ca. 40 AD) is one of the most famous examples of a scholar who declined public life in favour of honourable reclusion. Around the year 14 AD, Yan studied at the state academy in Changan. He was then about 40, having spent a number of years in retirement, together with other honorable men, in the Shaoxing area, due to the turmoil that took place while the usurper Wang Mang was in power (6-23). At the academy Yan met Liu Xiu, who later ruled as the Han dynasty Guang Wu emperor. Although Liu Xiu was then about 20 years younger than Yan, they became very close friends, and several stories attest to their strong personal relationship. When Liu Xiu became emperor he was able to persuade Yan Zi Ling to visit him in the capital, but he could not persuade him to take office. Instead Yan went into retirement again, this time in a secluded spot up the Fu Chun River about 100 km. southwest of Hangzhou, spending his time enjoying nature. (Courtesy of Ace High)

[2] Commandant of Fleet-as-Clouds Cavalry was the eighth in order of precedence out of nine grades of the peerage awarded for valor, achievement and distinction. It was not divided into subclasses unlike the top seven. It was equivalent to a fifth rank position in the nine ranks system. It was also a rough equivalent of Companion or Commander of a chivalric order. (Courtesy of Ace High)

[foxs]

Seeing Sun Sike was radiant with delight, while he did not personally participate in the excitement, Wei Xiaobao could not help feeling discontented and was not happy at all; but thinking that all four of his good friends had rendered great merit and were conferred titles as high-ranking officials, he was quite happy for them.

Sun Sike said, “Several of us often talked about how these past few years we fought the battles, we really enjoyed it. There is a saying, ‘when you drink water, think of its source’; it was all because of His Majesty’s grace in recognizing our worth and employing us, and because of Wei Jueye’s kindness in recommending us. If only Wei Jueye was appointed the Grand Marshal to Pacify the West, leading the four of us to fight Wu Sangui, then everything is perfect. Zhao Er Ge and Wang San Ge often quarrel with each other, their quarrel has reached His Majesty’s imperial presence; even Zhang Dage is helpless to keep them under control. Several times His Majesty mentioned Wei Jueye, saying that if they always quarrel like this, it means that there are letting you down. Only after that did they finally not dare to quarrel anymore.”

Wei Xiaobao smiled and said, “Those two always quarrel as soon as they see each other; even after they become great generals, why don’t their temperaments change?”

“Isn’t that so?” Sun Sike replied, “The two of them individually submitted memorial to the Emperor, I say you are wrong, you say I am wrong. Luckily His Majesty is magnanimous, he did not investigate; otherwise, I am afraid both of them would face disciplinary action against them.”

“What happened to that old fellow Wu Sangui?” Wei Xiaobao asked, “Did you grab his braid and kick that damn fellow several times?”

Sun Sike shook his head, “That old fellow’s luck was really good …”

Wei Xiaobao was shocked. “He escaped?” he asked.

“It’s not that,” Sun Sike said, “He suffered defeat everywhere, he lost the area he occupied one by one; seeing that he could not hold his ground anymore, just before his death he wanted to satisfy his craving of becoming an emperor. Thereupon he put on yellow gown, and ascended the great treasure, and called his capital Hengzhou. We heard that when he became an emperor, he made a big ruckus. After several big defeats, frightened and angered, he took his own life.”

“I see,” Wei Xiaobao said, “That old fellow had it easy.”

“After the rebel Wu died,” Sun Sike continued, “Various generals under his command threw their support to his grandson, Wu Shifan, to succeed the throne, and retreated to Kunming. Zhao Er Ge attacked Kunming, he captured rebel Wu’s great generals Xia Guoxiang and Ma Bao and beheaded them. Wu Shifan committed suicide. The world is peaceful once again.”

“There was a national treasure in Kunming,” Wei Xiaobao said, “I wonder what happened to her?”

“Which national treasure?” Sun Sike asked, “Subordinate has never heard about it.”

“It’s actually a living national treasure,” Wei Xiaobao replied, “The Number One Beauty in the World, Chen Yuanyuan.”

Sun Sike laughed and said, “Turns out it’s Chen Yuanyuan. I did not hear anything about her whereabouts. I don’t know whether she died in the confusion of the battle, or whether she escaped alive.”

“What a pity, what a pity!” Wei Xiaobao repeatedly exclaimed. He thought, “Ah Ke is my wife, that means Chen Yuanyuan is my genuine goods at fair prices Senior, mother-in-law. If Zhao Er Ge captured her, and knew that she was my mother-in-law, he would undoubtedly send her to Tong Chi Island, to let her and Ah Ke, mother and daughter, have a reunion. They, mother and daughter, have a reunion is not a big deal, but we, mother-in-law and son-in-law having a reunion is significantly different. Forget everything else, just listening to her plucking her pipa, and singing ‘Song of Yuanyuan’, ‘Tune of Fangfang’ [yuan means round, fang means square], it’s really no small matter. On Tong Chi [eat ‘em all] I cannot eat my wife’s mother, but I wonder if ‘son-in-law looking at mother-in-law, greedily swallow my saliva into my belly’, is allowed?”

When the feast was over he returned to the inner hall, and told everything to his seven wives. As Ah Ke heared that her mother’s whereabouts was unknown, although since childhood she was stolen by Jiu Nan, hence she was not by her mother’s side, but she still had the mother-daughter affection; inevitably she was grieved. Wei Xiaobao comforted Ah Ke by telling her not to worry, saying that no matter which place her mother went, that ‘Bai Sheng Dao Wang’ [Hundred Victory Saber King] Hu Yizhi [see Chapter 33] would definitely follow and attend upon her by her side, keeping close to her all the time.

“Ah Ke,” he said, “This Hu Dage’s martial art skill is very high, you have personally seen it. To protect your mother, one person, is as easy as a hand’s turn.” Ah Ke thought he was right, her knitted eyebrows spread out somewhat.

Suddenly Wei Xiaobao slapped the table and called out, “Aiyo, not good!”

Ah Ke was startled. “What is it?” she asked, “Do you think my Niang [mother] is in danger?”

“Your Niang is not in danger,” Wei Xiaobao replied, “But I am in great danger.”

Ah Ke was puzzled, “What danger are you in?” she asked.

Wei Xiaobao said, “Hu Dage and I have sworn brotherhood. If in the turmoil and chaos of war he fool around and snuggle close to your Niang, won’t he be my father-in-law? This might be really confusing.”

“Pei!” Ah Ke spat and shot him a malicious look. “This Hu Bobo [uncle, older than one’s father] is the most upright and honest man I know, and you think all men in the world are just like you, as soon as you see a woman you’ll immediately fool around and snuggle close to her?”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “Come, come, come, let us fool around and snuggle close to each other!” While saying that he spread his arms wide to embrace her.

After Wei Xiaobao was promoted to be the First-class Earl of Tong Chi, the number of cooks, menservants and maidservants on the Island increased by the dozens. Wei Hutou was still in diapers, yet he had already been conferred the title ‘Yun Qi Wei’. Life on the barren island unexpectedly became full of luxury [orig. brocade garments, jade meals], with all the glory, splendor, and wealth according to his rank. It’s just that it was too easy and comfortable that Wei Xiaobao was bored. He tried with thousand ways, a hundred plans to create trouble and play some pranks; he came up with some weird tricks and preposterous plans, in total disregard of his own career. Unfortunately, the seven madams were deadpan in opposing him; day and night they watched over him closely. Even the Princess, who simply loved to act willfully and make a scene, this time refused to accompany him to incite trouble. This First-class Earl of Tong Chi was bound hands and feet; he could only heave a deep sigh dejectedly.

He recalled Sun Sike’s story about the punitive expedition against Wu Sangui, big and small battles, some of them were full of all kinds of thrillers, some were saturated with delight, yet he was not involved at all, he did not have any chance to display his full capabilities; he was extremely disappointed. If he was in involved battle, he would not have let Wu Sangui to die that easily; he would think of a way to catch him alive, put him in a cage, from Hengzhou in Hunan all the way to Beijing, he would charge five qian to whoever wanted to see him, and one tael to whoever wanted to spit on him, children paid half-price, beautiful women free. Common people all over the world hated this big traitor to the bones, why should I, Wei Xiaobao, not take advantage to gain some spending money?

Wu Sangui was defeated, there was no more war to fight; but other than fighting a war, there were so many interesting things in the world, as long as he was able to come to a place with many people, someplace bustling with noise and excitement. In short, he had to leave Tong Chi Island first. But with seven wives, two sons and one daughter, who would follow him closely, it was like ten large stones were hanging on his neck. If they wanted to stealthily leave Tong Chi Island together, it would be more difficult than difficult. It would be better to cast these ten people away, and then he could attempt to escape alone.

Ever since he sent Sun Sike off, not a single day passed where he did not mule over this idea. Sometimes he would sit on a rock, fishing, imagining that he was sitting on the back of a big sea turtle, braving the wind and the billows, leisurely heading toward the Central Plains; wouldn’t that be pleasant?

It was almost Zhongqiu [mid-autumn, the fifteenth of the eighth lunar month], the weather was blisteringly hot, Wei Xiaobao took his fishing pole and bait, and went fishing for a while. He was quite fidgety that day. Leaning on a big rock his mind went blurry as he was about to fall asleep. Suddenly he heard a voice speaking, “Reporting to Wei Jueye, Ocean Dragon King request the pleasure of seeing you!”

Wei Xiaobao was surprised; focusing his eyes, he saw a big sea-turtle on the surface of the ocean, with its head raised high, but its mouth uttered human speech, “The Senior, Dragon King of the Eastern Sea is lonely and bored in the Crystal Palace, he especially sent Xiao Jiang [little/lowly general] to come and respectfully invite Wei Jueye for a feast, with gambling after the feast. Sea Dragon King will use coral and crystal to lay a bet, but everything is interchangeable with banknote used on land.”

Wei Xiaobao was greatly delighted. “Wonderful, wonderful!” he cried out, “This distinguished gentleman is so polite, naturally I have to accompany him.”

The big turtle said, “In the Crystal Palace there will also be theatrical troupe, who are very good at playing ‘Qun Ying Hui’ [meeting of heroes], ‘Ding Jun Shan’[1], ‘Zhong Kui married off his younger sister’, ‘White Water Beach’, and all kinds of good stories. There will also be Mr. Storytellers, good at telling the Great Ming’s Legend of Heroic Deeds, Water Margin, and other great books. There will also be countless courtesans, who can sing all kinds of new folksongs, like ‘Tan Wu Geng’ [sighing before dawn (fifth watch period, 03:00-05:00)], ‘Eighteen Touches’, or ‘Si Ji Xiang Si’ [missing each other throughout four seasons]; not a single one cannot sing. Sea Dragon King’s seven Princesses all have countenance of a flower, face like the moon. They have long admired Wei Jueye’s distinguished and accomplished intelligence, and all are looking forward to seeing you.”

There was an unbearable itch in Wei Xiaobao’s heart. “Good, good, good!” he repeatedly exclaimed, “Let’s go.”

The big turtle said, “Would Jueye please sit on Xiaode’s [little/lowly one] back, I will take you to the Crystal Palace.”

Wei Xiaobao leaped down and sat on the big turtle’s back. The big turtle left the beach and swam steadily toward the Crystal Palace. The Dragon King of the Eastern Sea personally welcomed him outside the Palace, hand-in-hand they entered the Palace. The Dragon King of the Southern Sea had already been waiting inside.

During the feast, more guests arrived in an endless stream; there were Zhu Bajie [The Pig of Journey to the West] and Cow Demon King, two evil spirits, and then there were Zhang Fei, Li Kui[2], Niu Gao[3], and Cheng Yaojin, four great generals, King Zhou and Hegemon Chu, Emperor Yang of Sui, and Ming Dynasty’s Emperor Zhengde, four Emperors. These four Emperors, four generals, the pig, the cow, and two dragons, four divine demons, were the most muddleheaded ‘cattle’ [see Chapter 3] among the celestial, underground, and bottom of the ocean creatures since time immemorial.

After the feast they started gambling; Wei Xiaobao became the banker. He casually grabbed the tiles, practiced fraud over and over, each set of his tiles was either supreme treasure [one, two, two, four], or pair of heavens [all sixes]. He won so big that those twelve people let out ‘Wah, wah!’ cry. Gold, silver, money and valuables they lost piled up in front of Wei Xiaobao. Finally even King Zhou’s Daji[4], Emperor Zhengde’s older sister Lie Feng, as well as Zhu Bajie’s rake and Zhang Fei’s a zhang-long eight-serpent spear were also won over.

When General Li Kui’s pair of broad axes was won over, Li Kui’s gambling character was not good, his black face was bulging dark red, he shouted, “Thief servant bird, as human being when you see something good you ought to restrain yourself. You won someone else’s women, it’s not a big deal, but you even want to have the tool with which laozi eat, you ignore yi qi too much.” Grabbing Wei Xiaobao’s chest, he brought his vinegar-bowl-size fist up and punched down. ‘Bang!’ he hit Wei Xiaobao above his ear, shaking him so much that his ears were buzzing.

Wei Xiaobao screamed and raised both of his hands, the fishing line was flung upward, the hook hit him at the back of his neck, so that when he jerked the fishing pole up, the hook entered his flesh and his whole body was also jerked upward. In an instant Li Kui, Zhang Fei, Sea Dragon King and so on disappeared without a trace. Suddenly he realized it was just a dream of Nanke [i.e. dreams of grandeur, empty dream]. But he heard another loud ‘Bang!’ from the direction of the sea.

---

[1] Mount Ding Jun – referring to Battle of Mount Ding Jun – Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

[2] Li Kui is a fictional character in the Outlaws of the Marsh. He ranks 22nd of the 36 Heavenly Spirits of the 108 Liangshan heroes and is nicknamed Black Whirlwind. Li Kui is one of the most memorable characters in Outlaws of the Marsh, often ridiculed and used for comedic effect. He represents both a light and dark side of the outlaws. His exploits with Taoist Luo and his journeys with Yan Qing represent the most humorous side of the novel. He is perhaps the most controversial character in the story. Often depicted as reckless, violent and cannibalistic, he kills indiscriminately whenever his blood lust is aroused. Men from even his own combat unit were sometimes afraid to go near him during battle. At the behest of Song Jiang and Wu Yong, he once killed a four-year-old child to force Zhu Tong to become an outlaw. Taoist Luo nonetheless describes Li Kui as a Heavenly Spirit sent to Earth to destroy the wicked. (Courtesy of Ace High)

[3] Niu Gao was a very capable general under Yue Fei. He is sent to relieve Ou Yang Pass which is besieged by a powerful Jurchen army. After he routs the besiegers, the garrison commander offers him his sister-in-law as wife. The woman is also an expert in martial skills, so on their wedding night the husband and wife engage in a friendly duel in their bedchamber. (Courtesy of Ace High)

[4] Daji (c. 11th century BC), mythical fox spirit and concubine of the last Shang Dynasty Emperor Zhou Xin.

[foxs]

Chapter 46 - Thousand li sail and mast going outside the country, nine firmaments wind and rain going through the city.
(Translated by Foxs)

Lu Ding Ji 46.jpg

“Leading the Navy, Chen Junshi surrounded two red-haired demons’ main battleships. The cannon blasted, battle cry ensued; the surface of the sea was filled with gun smoke and flames. After fighting for more than two hours, there was a loud explosion; one of the red-haired demons’ main battleships was sunk by our troops.”

[foxs]

Looking up, Wei Xiaobao saw more than a dozen huge battleships, with their sails fully opened to ride the wind, sailing fast toward the island. Wei Xiaobao knew something was amiss; he pulled the string, but was unable to get the hook off, on the contrary, the hook went deeper into the back of his neck that it hurt. Immediately he moved his feet and dashed away, dragging the fishing pole behind him. He thought it must be that young fellow Zheng Keshuang coming with his troops to settle the debt. Settling debt was originally very good, but before the debtor dropped in, he sent several cannon blasts first in torrential rush, certainly it was not a good omen.

Before he even reached his house, Peng Canjiang [administrator/colonel] had already rushed over, flustered and exasperated. “Wei … Wei Jueye … things … things look bad, Taiwan warships have arrived,” he said.

“How do you know they are Taiwan’s warships?” Wei Xiaobao asked.

Peng Canjiang replied, “Lowly officer just … just now used the telescope [orig. ‘thousand li lens’] to took, the ship’s … stern … no, no, the ship’s bow is painted with a sun and a moon; that is Taiwan’s Zheng … rebel Zheng’s insignia. If one ship carries five hundred troops and generals, two ships one thousand, thirteen ships means seven or eight thousands …”

Wei Xiaobao took the telescope from his hand and looked at the incoming ships. When he counted, there were indeed thirteen big ships. Looking at the bow, he also vaguely saw the painting of a sun and a moon insignia. “Quickly lead the troops for defense, guard along the shore,” he barked his order, “When the enemy come ashore on skiffs, release the arrows!”

Peng Canjiang repeatedly complied and rushed away. Hearing the commotion, Su Quan and the others came out. They heard the incoming ships fired their cannon again, ‘Boom, boom boom!’

“Ah Ke Meizi,” the Princess said, “When you go to Taiwan, are you going to take Hutou along or not?”

Ah Ke stomped her feet in anger. “You … what joke are you playing?” she said.

Wei Xiaobao was even angrier; he cursed, “Let the Princess strap her stinky Shuangshuang go to Taiwan …”

“Hey,” Su Quan suddenly exclaimed, “When the shells fall into the sea, why isn’t there any splash of water?”

They heard ‘boom, boom’ again, twice, smoke came out of the cannon’s mouth, but nothing hit the shore, nothing hit the sea either. Wei Xiaobao was stumped, but then he burst out laughing, “Those are gun salute; they are not here to give us trouble.”

“Peaceful measures before using force!” the Princess said.

“Where is that girl Shuangshuang?” Wei Xiaobao angrily said, “Quickly come out, laozi is going to spank her butt.”

The Princess was upset, “Without rhyme or reason, why do you want to beat your daughter?” she said.

“Who told her to have such an annoying Niang [mother]?” Wei Xiaobao retorted. [Translator’s note: I know I might annoy some readers too, but I just want to show the different words for ‘mother’: muqin, mama, niang … there’s more, but I don’t remember on top of my head.]

The ships were getting near. From the telescope he saw clearly that the flag rising above the ship was unexpectedly the Great Qing’s Yellow Dragon banner; it was not Taiwan’s sun and moon flag at all. Wei Xiaobao was pleasantly surprised, he handed the telescope over to Su Quan and said, “You look, it’s really strange.”

Su Quan looked for a moment and then she smiled and said, “They are the Great Qing’s Navy, not Taiwan’s.”

Wei Xiaobao received the telescope back and looked again; he said with a laugh, “That’s right! They are definitely the Great Qing’s Navy. Aiya! What is it? It damn hurts!” Turning his head around, turned out Wei Hutou, who was carried in Ah Ke’s arms, was grabbing the fishing rod and pulled it hard; the fishhook was still attached to Wei Xiaobao’s neck, naturally when he pulled it Wei Xiaobao yelped in pain.

Stifling her laughter, hastily Ah Ke gently took the hook off. “I am sorry,” she said with a laugh, “Please don’t be angry.”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “Good son, still very young, yet already have Jiang Taigong’s[1] trick. Amazing!”

“Humph!” the Princess snorted, “Partial (biased) ghost!”

They saw Peng Canjiang ran back and called out, “Wei Jueye, the ships actually raised Great Qing’s flag, I am afraid it’s a trick.”

“That’s right!” Wei Xiaobao replied, “As soon as they send men on a skiff to come ashore, we’ll interrogate them clearly first and talk later.” Peng Canjiang received the order and left.

The Princess said, “It must be that kid Zheng Keshuang in disguise, raising the Great Qing’s flag. Obviously those are Taiwan’s ships!”

“Very good, very good!” Wei Xiaobao said, “Princess, lately you look so beautiful.”

The Princess was taken aback; hearing her husband’s praise, she could not help feeling happy. “I am still the same,” she said with a smile, “What do you mean ‘beautiful’?”

Wei Xiaobao said, “Your lips are red, your face white, your eyebrows curve like Chang’e [the lady in the moon in Chinese mythology] descending from the moon. When Zheng Keshuang sees you I am sure he will be very happy.”

“Pei!” the Princess spat.

Shortly afterwards, the ships arrived near the shore. They dropped anchor, and six or seven sailors rowed a skiff toward the shore. Peng Canjiang ordered his troops to bend their bows with the arrows aimed at the skiff. When the skiff was near, someone picked up a megaphone [lit. speech cylinder, I don’t know the ancient name of this contraption] and put it on his mouth. “Imperial edict arrives!” he called out, “Navy Tidu Shi Junmen [lit. ‘military gate’] delivering the decree to Wei Jueye.”

Wei Xiaobao was greatly delighted. “Damn it,” he swore, “What strange trick that fellow Shi Lang is playing? Why would he ride Taiwan’s ships to deliver a decree?”

Su Quan said, “I am guessing he came across Taiwan ships on the ocean, attacked them and was victorious, he seized the Taiwan’s ships away.”

“Must be that,” Wei Xiaobao agreed, “Quan Jiejie can prophesy with supernatural accuracy.”

The Princess was still not convinced, she whispered, “My guess is Shi Lang surrendered to Taiwan, Zheng Keshuang sent him off to deliver a fake imperial decree.”

Wei Xiaobao’s heart was happy, he did not bother to scold her; he pinched her bottom and slapped her before hurriedly went to the beach to receive the imperial decree.

The man in the skiff was indeed Shi Lang. He stood on the sandy beach and announced the imperial decree in loud voice. Turned out Kangxi sent Shi Lang to attack Taiwan. In the battle of Penghu [Pescadores Islands, Taiwan], the Zheng Navy suffered a crushing defeat. Shi Lang pursued the retreating enemy into Taiwan. The Ming Dynasty’s Yanping Jun Wang Zheng Keshuang surrendered without even a fight, and thus Taiwan became the Great Qing’s territory.

Kangxi evaluated everybody’s merit and bestowed reward accordingly. Based on the merit that in the past Shi Lang stayed in Beijing without doing anything, and it was Wei Xiaobao who sponsored and recommended him for service, Wei Xiaobao was promoted to be Second-class Marquis of Tong Chi, he was simultaneously bestowed the title Tai Zi Tai Bao [tutor to the crown prince]. His oldest son, Wei Hutou was promoted to be First-class Qing Che Du Wei [lit. light carriage military rank[2]].

Finished expressing his gratitude, Wei Xiaobao stood and stared blankly; it never occurred to him that finally Taiwan was pacified by Shi Lang.

Each time he and Zheng Keshuang met each other, they always hated each other, his Shifu Chen Jinnan was harmed by him, which drove his hatred deep to the bones; but Taiwan was subdued, it means not a cun of land was left of the Great Ming’s world. He could not help feeling depressed.

He was still very young, and never went to school, all those talks about Manchu and Han differences; he had never really cared about the animosity between countries and races. However, he had been with Tian Di Hui for a long time, usually when he attended their meeting, he heard the brothers talked about it a lot, automatically he developed the feeling that Manchu people occupying our Han people’s rivers and mountains was completely inappropriate. This moment as he heard that Shi Lang had captured Zheng Keshuang and brought him to Beijing, he did not feel happy at all. He also thought about his Shifu exhausting his heart and strength throughout his life, hoping to restore the Great Ming’s world; even if this great undertaking was unsuccessful, at least he wanted to preserve a piece of land belonging to the Great Ming overseas. Who would have thought that not long after his Shifu was murdered, Zheng Keshuang had already surrendered? If in the underworld Shifu knew about it, he would definitely weep bitter tears.

Wei Xiaobao recalled that the reason his Shifu was killed that day was because he had just had a hard fight with Shi Lang; his spirit was hard-pressed, his physique weary. Otherwise, Zheng Keshuang would not have been successful in plotting against him from his back. Looking at Shi Lang’s joyfully satisfied expression, he could not stop anger from rising in his chest. “Shi Daren has rendered great merit,” he said, “I am sure you are promoted to be a high-ranking official.”

Shi Lang smiled and said, “Because of His Majesty’s grace, lowly officer has been bestowed the title Third-class Marquis of Jing Hai [From Chapter 34: Shi Lang’s original title was ‘Jing Hai Jiang Jun’ (lit. the general who pacifies the ocean)].”

“Congratulations, congratulations!” Wei Xiaobao said, while in his heart he said, “Originally I was First-class Earl of Tong Chi; with one rank promotion I became Third-class Marquis of Tong Chi. The young Emperor promoted me two ranks in succession, turns out it is so that my rank will still be higher than Shi Lang, to avoid everybody became third-class marquis, which won’t feel very good.” But thinking about Shi Lang went to battle and pacified Taiwan, what an exciting view it was, while he was bored to death on this barren island. His jealousy grew into anger, he could not help hating Shi Lang even more that his teeth itched.

Shi Lang paid his respect, and then he said respectfully, “His Majesty summoned lowly officer and spoke warmly to me, he encouraged me a lot, and finally said, ‘Shi Lang, this time you render great merit, do you know who has been supporting you for promotion? Previously you stayed in Beijing, nobody paid you any attention; who has given you guarantee and recommendation?’ Lowly officer replied, ‘Reporting to Your Majesty, that would be Wei Jueye who guaranteed me and presented a memorial to the throne for my promotion, plus Your Majesty’s grace.’ His Majesty said, ‘You did not forget your origin; that’s good. I want you to promptly go to Tong Chi Island to announce imperial decree to Wei Xiaobao, with my grace his nobility rank will increase, he has the capacity to judge a person’s qualities and thus has rendered meritorious service for the imperial court.’ For this reason lowly officer rushed over here.”

Wei Xiaobao sighed. He thought, “Each and everyone of the people I recommended rendered meritorious service, only I alone am imprisoned on this uninhabited island without able to move a single step. The young Emperor repeatedly raises my official ranking and titular honors, while in fact even if I become the King of Tong Chi, what so amazing about it?” He said, “Shi Daren, you sailed on these Taiwan battleship to come here, and gave me quite a fright; I thought it was Taiwan’s Navy coming to attack us. Who would have thought that it was you showing off your military strength?”

Shi Lang hastily saluted and apologized. “I do not dare, I do not dare,” he said, “Lowly officer received the imperial edict, I was impatient to see Jueye, Taiwan’s battleships were made well, they are able to sail a lot faster; for this reason I rode Taiwan ships to hurry over here.”

“So Taiwan’s battleships can travel faster,” Wei Xiaobao said, “Because of the insignia of the sun and the moon on the ship I previously thought in my heart that perhaps Shi Daren wanted to set himself up as a king in Taiwan; I was quite worried.”

Shi Lang was shocked; he busily said, “Lowly officer is extremely muddleheaded, Daren’s direction is right. It was due to lowly officer’s negligence that I have not removed Taiwan battleships’ emblems.”

Actually, it was not because of his negligence, but because he had pacified Taiwan, he was extremely proud of himself; as he rode the captured Taiwan’s battleship north to Tianjin, and then south to Tong Chi Island, he intentionally did not remove the Taiwan insignia on the bow of the ships, so that people would see it and point fingers at it, and talk about the origin of the battleships. In short, it was to flaunt his outstanding military service. Unexpectedly Wei Xiaobao spoke up about his suspicion that Shi Lang wanted to set himself up to be King in Taiwan. It was indeed the biggest taboo for a court official; he could not stop cold sweats from covering his back, thinking that the young Emperor had always shown absolute special favor toward this youngster. Shi Lang went to a bloody battle to subdue Taiwan, this youngster comfortably lived on this island doing nothing, yet his meritorious service was still greater than Shi Lang’s. He was granted the title Second-class Marquis, while Shi Lang himself was only Third-class Marquis. If Wei Xiaobao returned to Beijing and spoke several sentences of complaint in front of the Emperor, Shi Lang would be in a very deep trouble.

With this fear in mind, Shi Lang’s high and mighty manner that he bore when he first went ashore subsided. He ordered several officers who came with him to step forward and pay their respect. Among these people was someone with whom Wei Xiaobao had already met, it was Lin Xingzhu, the Ditang School’s martial art expert who came with Chen Jinnan at Liuzhou. Wei Xiaobao was startled, “He was Taiwan’s high-ranking military officer,” he mused, “How did he become Shi Lang’s subordinate?” When Lin Xingzhu reported his own name and rank, Wei Xiaobao found out that he was a Dusi [Vice Brigade Commander/Major] in the Navy.

As Lin Xingzhu went ashore and saw Wei Xiaobao, he was also puzzled and doubtful, “He is Chen Junshi’s [military strategist] young disciple, how did he become imperial court’s high-ranking official? Even Shi Tidu is very respectful to him?”

Shi Lang pointed to Lin Xingzhu and another man called Hong Chao, a Navy Shoubei [captain], and said, “Lin Dusi and Hong Shoubei originally served in Taiwan’s military. Following Zheng Keshuang Jueye and Liu Gaoxuan Daren’s lead, they returned and surrender to the imperial court. These two gentlemen are very familiar with maritime matters, thus this time lowly officer brought them along and have them take care of Taiwan’s fleet.”

“Oh,” Wei Xiaobao muttered, “I see.” Looking at Lin Xingzhu and Hong Chao, he saw that both lowered their heads with ashamed expression on their faces.

Ever since Zheng Chenggong [Koxinga] established government on the Island, Taiwan has had trading relations with Japan, Lu Song, Siam, An Nan, and other places; it was very prosperous. Shi Lang pacified Taiwan, he obtained a lot of foreign treasures and rare objects, but he himself did not take any, he presented everything to the imperial court. Kangxi told him to take some as a gift to Wei Xiaobao. Other than that, Shi Lang also brought some gifts of his own, but mostly were Taiwan’s local products, such as bamboo trunk, grass woven mat, and so on, mostly coarse and plain items.

---

[1] Lü Shang, ancestral name Jiang (姜), clan name Lü (呂), given name Shang (尚), and style name Ziya (子牙). Also known by various titles including Jiang Tai Gong (Grand Duke Jiang), Tai Gong Wang, and Shang Fu (Father Shang). The last ruler of the Shang dynasty, King Zhou of Shang (16th - 11th century BC) was a tyrannical and debauched slave owner who spent his days carousing with his favorite concubine Daji and mercilessly executing or punishing upright officials and all others who objected to his ways. After faithfully serving the Shang court for approximately twenty years, Jiang came to find King Zhou insufferable, and feigned madness in order to escape court life and the ruler's power. Jiang was an expert in military affairs and hoped that someday someone would call on him to help overthrow the king. Jiang disappeared, only to resurface in the Zhou countryside at the apocryphal age of seventy-two, when he was recruited by King Wen of Zhou and became instrumental in Zhou affairs. It is said that, while in exile, he continued to wait placidly, fishing in a tributary of the Wei River (near today’s Xi'an) using a barbless hook or even no hook at all, on the theory that the fish would come to him of their own volition when they were ready. (Wikipedia)

[2] Chief Commandant of Light Chariots was the sixth in order of precedence out of nine grades of the peerage awarded for valour, achievement and distinction. It was divided into three subclasses. It was equivalent to a third rank position in the nine ranks system. It was also the rough equivalent to a Knight Grand Cross of a chivalric order. (Courtesy of Ace High)

[foxs]

Seeing the gifts, Wei Xiaobao was getting more angry; he thought, “Zhang Dage, Zhao Er Ge, Wang San Ge, Sun Si Ge pacified Wu Sangui, they sent me such lucrative gifts; you, on the other hand, present me with these beggars’ rotten things. I wonder if you still have any regards toward me?”

That evening Wei Xiaobao held a banquet to entertain the guests; he had Shi Lang sat on the seat of honor. There were four high-ranking Navy officers, as well as Lin Xingzhu and Hong Chao, two people. After the wine made three rounds, Wei Xiaobao asked, “Lin Dusi, originally Taiwan’s Yanping Jun Wang was Zheng Jing, Zheng Wangye, how did it become that fellow Zheng Keshuang? I heard he is Zheng Wangye’s second son, according to reason, he should not be the Wangye, should he?”

“Yes,” Lin Xingzhu replied, “Reporting to Jueye, Zheng Wangye passed away on the twenty-eighth of the first month this year, leaving his order that the Da Gongzi [first/oldest young master] Keshang was to succeed the throne. Da Gongzi was brilliant and steadfast, Taiwan’s people and soldiers had always had high esteem on him. But Tai Furen [grand/great madame] Dong Guotai did not like him at all; she sent Feng Xifan to assassinate him. [Translator’s note: I am not sure if Dong Guotai was her name. ‘Guotai’ could also mean ‘madame of the country’.] After he was killed, the Er Gongzi [second young master] Keshuang took over the throne. Da Gongzi’s wife, Madame Chen went to see Dong Guotai, saying that Da Gongzi was innocent. Dong Guotai was very angry, she ordered her people to drive her away. Holding Da Gongzi’s body, Madame Chen cried for a moment, and then she hanged herself and died. That Madame Chen was Chen … Chen Junshi’s oldest daughter. In our hearts all the people in Taiwan were very dissatisfied over his matter.”

Hearing that his Shifu’s daughter was murdered, Wei Xiaobao remembered Shifu, his heart ached. Slapping the table, he cursed, “Damn it, that kid Zheng Keshuang is stupid and a muddle-head, what kind of fart Wangye can he be?”

“Yes,” Lin Xingzhu said, “Er Gongzi ascended the throne, he bestowed his father-in-law Feng Xifan the title Tidu [local commander], all government affairs were handled by him. This man is unfair, he is very selfish. Whenever someone had the guts to speak several sentences about fairness, he would kill those people. Thus the hundreds of civil and military officials dared to be angry but did not dare to speak up. Da Gongzi and Madame Chen’s ghosts frequently appeared, finally in the fourth month Dong Guotai was scared to death by the ghosts.”

“Delighted, delighted!” Wei Xiaobao said, “When this Dong Guotai arrived in the nether world, Guoxing Ye [Koxinga] won’t possible let her get away with it.”

“Nobody says otherwise,” Lin Xingzhu agreed, “Dong Guotai was scared to death by the ghosts, as soon as this matter was known, everybody was delighted. The entire Taiwan, from north to south, everybody released firecrackers for three days; they said it was to chase away the ghosts, but actually it was to celebrate this old revered grandmother’s death!”

“Interesting, interesting!” Wei Xiaobao repeatedly exclaimed.

Shi Lang said, “The ghost story is not necessarily true. Presumeably after murdering her oldest grandson and hounding his oldest granddaughter-in-law, Dong Guotai’s heart was disturbed. The elderly suspected there were ghosts in the dark, hence day and night she saw ghosts.”

“Evil spirits really exist,” Wei Xiaobao said seriously, “Especially the people who died of persecution or died because others wronged them. After they become ghosts, they would definitely seek revenge. Shi Daren, this time you pacified Taiwan, you killed a lot of people. I am sure there are not a few ghosts on these Taiwan’s battleships; it would be best if Shi Daren is careful.”

Shi Lang’s countenance slightly changed, but immediately he laughed and said, “Going into battle in a war, inevitably we will have to kill people. If all the enemy troops and generals who died in battle became ghosts who seek revenge, all military officers will not die a good death.”

Wei Xiaobao shook his head, “That is not necessarily the case,” he said, “Shi Daren was originally a great general under Taiwan’s Guoxing Ye’s command, you returned and excessively killed Taiwan’s troops and generals. The dead people’s wronged ghosts are naturally dissatisfied. This is clearly different from other generals.”

Shi Lang did not say anything, in his heart he was enraged. He was a Fujian’s Jinjiang [county] native, from among Taiwan’s Zheng Wang’s troops, eight out of ten were Fujian people; there were especially a lot of Minnan [south Fujian] people. After he pacified Taiwan, he had heard not a few rumors and hearsays, cursing him as a traitor to Han, as well as a traitor to Min [short name for Fujian]. There was even an anonymous literary work in the form of a poem scolding him and satirizing him. In the deepest part of his heart he was actually ashamed; only Wei Xiaobao was the first person who openly mocked him on his face.

Helpless against Wei Xiaobao, he vented his anger toward Lin Xingzhu. He glowered at him while saying in his heart, “As soon as we leave this island, laozi will deal with you really good.”

“Shi Daren,” Wei Xiaobao said, “Your luck is really good; if Chen Junshi was not murdered, he would have defended Zheng Keshang in Taiwan; Dong Guotai, Zheng Keshuang, and the others could not possibly seize the throne. With Chen Junshi in command, from top to bottom the troops and the people defended Taiwan wholeheartedly, you may not necessarily be able to succeed.”

Shi Lang was silent; he thought that his own ability was definitely far inferior to Chen Jinnan’s; if this person did not die, naturally the situation was substantially different.

Hong Chao suddenly interrupted, “Wei Jueye is right. All the people, troops and generals of Taiwan also said the same thing. Everybody hated Zheng Keshuang for murdering his loyal minister; he is the damaged Great Wall, indeed he is Guoxing Ye’s unworthy grandson.”

Shi Lang angrily said, “Hong Shoubei, since you have surrendered to the Great Qing, how could you dare to speak this kind of treason and heresy?”

Hong Chao hastily stood up and said, “Lowly officer is muddleheaded, Daren please forgive my offence.”

“Hong Laoxiong [old brother],” Wei Xiaobao said, “You are speaking honestly; even if His Majesty heard it with his own ears, he would not possibly blame you. Sit down and drink some wine.”

“Yes,” Hong Chao replied. Trembling with fear, he sat down. He picked up the winecup with both hands, but his hands were trembling so hard that more than half of the wine spilled out the cup.

Wei Xiaobao said, “Chen Junshi was murdered by Zheng Keshuang, everybody in Taiwan knew about it, didn’t they?”

“Yes,” Hong Chao replied, “When Zheng Keshuang returned to Taiwan, he … he said that Chen Junshi … was … was …” He cast a glance to Shi Lang, did not dare to continue.

Wei Xiaobao said, “As long as you are telling the truth, nobody will blame you.”

“Yes, yes,” Hong Chao said, “Zheng Keshuang and Feng Xifan, two people, along with several bodyguards were drifting on the sea in a skiff, they came across a fishing boat who rescued them and brought them back to Taiwan. Zheng Keshuang said that Chen Junshi was killed by General Shi. When Zheng Wangye heard about it, he wept bitterly for several days. Later on after Zheng Keshuang usurped the throne, he personally announced in public that he had killed Chen Junshi with his own hands; he even bragged that his martial art skill was so amazing. A lot of Chen Junshi’s subordinates did not want accept it; they inquired of him what crime has Chen Junshi committed. But they were all arrested by Feng Xifan and executed.”

Wei Xiaobao banged the wine cup in his hand heavily on the table. “F*ck his granny!” he cursed. Suddenly he roared in laughter and said, “Usually we swear at people’s granny, but this man’s granny is indeed rather not worthwhile. Only f*cking Zheng Keshuang’s granny is really ‘made by Heaven and arranged by Earth’, ‘ding three pays twenty four’ [don’t know what it is]; nothing is more fitting than this.”

When Shi Lang heard these few sentences, his heart was quite happy. Because he offended Zheng Chenggong his entire family was executed; it was all because of Dong Guotai’s provocation. He said, “What Wei Jueye said is very true, we can f*ck his granny. Guoxing Ye was a hero and a warrior, everything in him was good, only he took a wrong wife.”

Wei Xiaobao shook his head and said, “Other people can f*ck Zheng Keshuang’s granny, in this world only General Shi alone must not f*ck her. General Shi’s glory, riches and honor came from this old revered grandmother. Although your parents, wife and child were all murdered by her, in return you get Navy Tidu, Third-class Marquis of Jing Hai. You are better off doing this business deal.”

Immediately Shi Lang’s countenance turned deep red; in his heart he cursed, “Laozi wants to f*ck your, Wei Xiaobao’s, granny.” Supressing his anger, he picked up the winecup with both hands and took a big mouthful. But his breathing was adversed, as soon as the wine entered his throat, he suddenly broke into violent coughing.

Wei Xiaobao mused, “Looking at your face, in your heart naturally you want to f*ck my granny in a big way; too bad I don’t know who my dad is, I don’t know who my granny is even more. You want to f*ck my granny, you will definitely f*ck the wrong person. In your heart most likely you still want to be my laozi [old man], in that case my granny will be your ma. You want to f*ck my granny, won’t that mean you are at sixes and sevens with your own Niang, a complete confusion?” He looked at Shi Lang with an amused look.

A navy Fujiang [deputy general] surnamed Lu was also sitting on their table, he was afraid these two people would vent their feeling toward each other; he said, “Wei Jueye, this time Shi Junmen pacified Taiwan, the success was entirely due to his sweat and blood in disregarding everything. Shi Junmen received the imperial order, from the fourth of the sixth month he commanded more than six hundred warships, and more than sixty thousand sergeants on the expedition to Taiwan. On the ocean we went against the wind, and it took eleven days for us to reach Penghu. We fought Taiwan troops under the command of Liu Guoxuan in big battle, so fierce that the sky darkened and the earth black, the sun and the moon gave forth no more of its light, even Shi Junmen was very concerned …”

Wei Xiaobao noticed that both Lin Xingzhu and Hong Chao hung their heads with an angry look on their faces; he presumed these two were also fighting at the battle of Penghu, and he knew naturally in this battle Shi Lang was victorious, hence he did not want to hear Lu Fujiang telling him the story of Shi Lang’s proud past achievemens. He asked, “General Shi, that day when Guoxing Ye took Taiwan, he was also attacking from Penghu, wasn’t he?”

“Exactly,” Shi Lang replied.

Wei Xiaobao said, “At that time you were under Guoxing Ye’s command, I wonder how did the battle go?”

Shi Lang said, “The red-haired demons did not dispatch troops to defend Penghu.”

Wei Xiaobao asked Lin Xingzhu, “In those days Guoxing Ye crossed the ocean attacking east, I heard Lin Dage led cane-shield troops to chop the demons’ legs; I wonder how did you do that?”

Lin Xingzhu thought, “About the cane-shield troops chopping the demons’ legs, I have already told you the story. And now you are asking me again, naturally it is because you don’t want to listen to the stinking history about Shi Lang subduing Taiwan, but want to listen to Guoxing Ye and Chen Junshi’s heroic deeds instead. I must not talk about my own deeds too much, because if Shi Lang harbors a grudge in his heart, he would definitely deal with me. I’d better hold him up in good light.” Thereupon he said, “Twice has Shi Junmen attacked Taiwan, his meritorious service is indeed very big. In those days Guoxing Ye assembled all the generals to dicuss whether or not they should cross the ocean and attack to the east. A lot of generals said that Taiwan’s natural barrier is difficult to attack, the wind and waves on the sea is very big, red-haired demons’ guns were difficult to deal with; this mission is indeed dangerous. But Chen Junshi and General Shi made a supreme effort to endorse it, and in the end they set up great merits.” Hearing this, Shi Lang’s face showed a pleased expression.

Lin Xingzhu continued, “It was Yongli’s fifteenth year second month …”

Shi Lang said, “Lin Dusi, the former Ming’s era name must not be mentioned anymore; it was the Great Qing Shunzhi’s eighteenth year.”

“Yes, yes,” Lin Xingzhu said, “On the second month that year, Guoxing Ye moved his camp to Jinmen City. On the first day of the third month the entire force made a vow and offered sacrifice to the sea. For the first ten days afterwards, Guoxing Ye and Chen Junshi assembled the troops under their command into Right Martial Guards, Left and Right Tiger Guards, Valiant Cavalry Camp, Left Vanguard, Center Attacking Force, Rear Guard Camp, Front and Rear Communication Team, Auxilliary Destroyer Rear Camp, into the navy ships and gathered them at Liaoluo Bay to wait for the wind. At that time the troops’ hearts were anxious, a lot of people were afraid to go out to sea, Guoxing Ye and Chen Junshi, General Shi, separately went to the camps to encourage the hearts of the troops. We waited until noon of the twenty-third day before the sky was clear, the wind and the waves ceased to blow; thereupon the great force moved out. By the afternoon of the twenty-fourth we arrived at Penghu. But after we reached Penghu, the gale returned, the wind and the waves on the sea were growing, for several days we were unable to set sail. There was no food on all the islands of Penghu, there was food shortage in the troops, we had to live on eating sweet potatoes; the hearts of the troops started to panic. By the thirtieth, we simply could not wait anymore. Guoxing Ye gave his order to set off, regardless of big wind big waves, we must go into battle. That day in the middle of the night, after the first watch, Guoxing Ye’s central command’s warship flew the command banner and fired the cannon three times, the metal drums were sounded, the battleships raised their sails toward the east. At that time black clouds covered the whole sky, the great waves on the sea looked like small hills pouncing on the bow of the ships. Strong wind, heavy rain, everybody was soaked to the bones. Guoxing Ye stood on the bow, with a sword in his hand; he shouted, ‘Display utter loyalty to defend our country, not afraid of the wind and the waves!’ Tens of thousands troops echoed in chorus, ‘Display utter loyalty to defend our country, not afraid of the wind and the waves!’ The yelling was so loud that the sound of the gale and the billows were nearly drown.”

Wei Xiaobao said to Shi Lang, “At that time naturally General Shi also shouted like that?”

Shi Lang replied, “That time lowly officer received the order to defend Xiamen, I did not go to Taiwan.”

“I see,” Wei Xiaobao said, “What a pity, what a pity!”

Lu Fujiang said, “When Zheng Wangye arrived at Penghu, he did not encounter strong wind and big waves, but Shi Junmen’s bloody battle; now that was ‘startling the heart moving the soul’. Liu Guoxuan assembled the Navy at Penghu’s Niu Xin [ox heart] Bay, Ji Long [chickeen coop] Islet, and built earthen rampart for twenty li along the coast, each section of the rampart was reinforced with a cannon. When the Great Qing Navy arrived, the cannon on the shore were fired simultaneously; there were also rockets, mortars, it was desperately serious …”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “Lu Fujiang, I’ll say your gut is more or less the same as mine.”

“I do not dare,” Lu Fujiang said, “How can lowly officer be compared to Jueye?”

“You can’t be compared with me?” Wei Xiaobao asked.

“Naturally I can’t,” Lu Fujiang replied.

“That’s strange,” Wei Xiaobao said, “I always thought I am as meek as a mouse; it’s considered very disappointing. Turns out you are even more useless than I am, ha ha … that’s strange, that’s strange.” Lu Fujiang face swollen red; he did not dare to make any noise.

Wei Xiaobao asked Lin Xingzhu, “After Guoxing Ye took the troops to sea, and then what happened?”

Lin Xingzhu said, “The battleships sailed in the gale and big waves for four hours; by the third watch of the night [11pm – 1am] suddenly the breeze was still, the waves were quiet, the black cloud dissipated. A moment later, the wind turned into tail wind instead; the joyous cry of the troops thundered, everybody said Laotian [God/Heaven] was blessing them, the victory was guaranteed. Early morning on the first day of the following month, the battleships finally reached outside Lu Er Men [deer ear gate]. Using the bamboo pole to gauge the water, unexpectedly it was high sand shallow water; there was no way we could sail forward. Guoxing Ye was very anxious, he set up an incense burner table, to pray to the Heaven. Not too long afterwards, suddenly the tide arose, all battleships overflowed into the Lu Er Men. The red-haired troops on the shore opened fire to bombard us. Over there the red-haired demons had built two cities, one was called ‘re lan zhe cheng’ [Fort Zeelandia], the other was called ‘pu luo min zhe cheng’[1] …”

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[1] pu luo min zhe cheng [普罗民遮城] is currently called ‘chi kan lou’ [赤崁楼 – Chihkan Tower], a tourist attraction. It was built by the Dutch and known as Provintia then. It was used as gunpowder storage at the time of Koxinga. (Courtesy of Chowbeng)

[foxs]

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “The devils’ place names are so weird; what ‘re lai che’ [hot covering], ‘leng lai che’ [cold covering], ‘na mo bo luo mi duo Guanshiyin Pu zhe’ [namo paramita Guanyin Bodhisattva]?”

Lin Xingzhu smiled and continued his story, “At that time Guoxing Ye used the telescope to look, he saw the red-haired demons’ main force had two big warships, two battle cruisers, plus several hundreds small battleships and small boats. Thereupon he passed on an order, sending the Front Communication Team’s Commander Chen Ze to lead a fleet of ships to land on Lu Er Men Island, to guard North Shanwei to prevent other red-haired fleet from giving their assistance.

He sent Huang Zhao to lead five hundred Xian Shou [lit. shining metal hand] men, with twenty cannon, divided into three teams, to be stationed at the tail of Yi Kun Shen in formation, to block the enemy from moving southward. He sent lowly officer with five hundred Teng Pai Shou [rattan shield hand] men, from behind the demons’ port going around the left of Kun Shen to intercept and kill. He also sent Xiao Gongchen to lead twenty fast-ships; as soon as they saw the red-haired fleet passing the seven Kun Shen [Translator’s note: I thought it was a place name, but am not sure. 鲲身 Any help?] to attack, they were to pretend that they were going to land to besiege the city, and to make a lot of loud noise to give the impression that they succeeded in pinning down the enemy. In the meantime, various generals received orders to set off separately, while the cannon on the ships also returned fire. On the other side Chen Junshi led the Navy to surround and strike the red-haired demons’ main battleships.

Battle cry ensued; the surface of the sea was filled with gun smoke and flames. After fighting for more than two hours, there was a loud explosion; one of the red-haired demons’ main battleships was sunk by our troops. It was only later that I found out that it was the ‘bei ke de ya’ [not sure, Becker or Baker something?], the red-haired demons’ Navy elite ship. The other ship, Maria, suffered serious damage; it escaped eastwards toward the ocean and its whereabouts was unknown. Two red-haired demons’ ships also retreated. At that time the brothers under Chen Ze’s command encountered red-haired demon troops, they all strived to be the first to fight; although the red-haired demons’ firearms were formidable, seeing our troops rushed in and killed the enemy courageously, they were so scared that they lost the will to fight, and retreated back into the city. Our troops landed at Chikan [Fort Provintia], and stormed toward ‘pu luo min zhe cheng’.”

(Author’s note: When Zheng Chenggong attacked Taiwan, from Penghu he landed in the vicinity of modern day Tainan. At that time the Holland’s massive military force was also stationed in Tainan region.)

Wei Xiaobao poured a cup of wine and handed it over to Lin Xingzhu with both hand. “Lin Dage,” he said, “You fought well. I toast you a cup.”

Lin Xingzhu stood up to receive it; he expressed his thanks, and after drinking it up he continued, “After our troops landed at Provintia, local Chinese people swarmed out to welcome us, a lot of people were so happy that they cried. They said, ‘This time our liberator has finally arrived.’ Wei Jueye, Guoxing Ye’s esteemed father, Zheng Taishi [imperial tutor] was originally doing business without capital on the ocean, Taiwan was his, the Senior’s lair. Later on the Senior brought his subordinate brothers back to the Central Plains. Hence Taiwan was separately occupied by Holland demons and Spain demons; Holland demons in the south, Spain demons in the north. Two demons fought each other, the Spain demons were defeated, and entire Taiwan fell under Holland demons’ grip. Our Chinese people on the island were mistreated and killed to death by the Holland’s red-haired demons. There was a brother, former subordinate of Zheng Taishi, called Guo Huaiyi; he was a warrior. He remained on the island and did not leave. Seeing Chinese people were bullied very badly by the red-haired demons, he assembled the brothers in secret, notified Chinese people everywhere that on the fifteenth of the eight month, the Mid-Autumn Festival, they were to move together to kill all the red-haired demons on the island. Unexpectedly there was a traitor, called Puzai, who went as far as to inform the red-haired demons …”

Wei Xiaobao slapped the table and cursed, “His granny, Chinese people’s affair was spoiled by a traitor.”

“That’s right,” Lin Xingzhu said, “When Guo Huaiyi Dage saw that Puzai ran away, he knew the situation had turned worse. Immediately he led more than sixteen-thousand Chinese to attack ‘pu luo min zhe cheng’, destroying and setting the red-haired demons’ government buildings and shops on fire. The red-haired demons deployed a large army to counterattack, their guns were formidable. Our Chinese people, other than several fiery-dragon spears, were only using broadswords, iron spears, hoes, wooden sticks, and similar types of weapons. In Provintia they fought for fifteen days straight. Guo Huaiyi Dage was unfortunate and was killed by the red-haired demon’s gun …”

“Aiya, that’s bad,” Wei Xiaobao exclaimed.

“It was,” Lin Xingzhu said, “Guo Huaiyi Dage died, the snake was without a head; the Chinese people were defeated and driven out of the city. On the bank of the Great Lake the bloody battle continued for seven days and seven nights. The number of Chinese people killed on the bank of Great Lake totalled more than four thousand; women and girls also rather die than submit, more than five hundred of them were killed. The rest were captured by the red-haired demons, women were forced to be barracks’ prostitute, the men were either pulled to death by five horses running separate directions, or branded to slow death by branding irons …”

Wei Xiaobao was enraged; he cried out, “Red-haired demons are this cruel, they are more vicious than the Great Qing troops’ massacre of our people in Yangzhou!”

Shi Lang and Lu Fujiang looked at each other in dismay; they could only smile wryly. They both thought, “The way this youngster talk is really without any regard of the gravity of things.”

Lin Xingzhu said, “It was Yongli’s sixth year, the eighth month …”

Hong Chao bent his fingers and counted, “Yongli’s sixth year, that is the Great Qing Shunzhi’s seventh … eighth … ninth … Shunzhi’s ninth year.”

“Is that right?” Lin Xingzhu said, “Anyway, ever since that great massacre, the Chinese people of Taiwan and the red-haired demons cannot exist together. As soon as there is the tiniest reason, the red-haired demons would kill Chinese people randomly. Therefore, when they saw Guoxing Ye’s main forces, it was as if the Emperor Bodhisattva Savior has arrived. Men, women, young and old, everybody shared with us their grievance. That very evening, the red-haired demon governor knew defeat was imminent; he took his anger out on the Chinese people, he killed the Chinese who lived in Kun Shen; no matter young or old, he gathered them together and killed altogether more than five hundred people. The next day Guoxing Ye dispatched the troops to attack ‘pu luo min zhe cheng’. Chen Junshi came up with a strategy, we trained the rattan shield troops to roll around on the ground to chop the demon troops’ leg; and thus ‘pu luo min zhe cheng’ fell.”

“That is Laoxiong’s great merit,” Wei Xiaobao said.

“It was all due to Chen Junshi’s brilliant scheme,” Lin Xingzhu replied, “Lowly officer did not have any merit.” He continued, “Immediately afterwards Guoxing Ye deployed the troops to attack Fort Zeelandia, where the red-haired demon governor was stationed. The artillery barrage from the top of the city wall was very fierce, our troops suffered heavy casualties. But General Ma Xin and General Liu Guoxuan courageously attacked Yi Kun Shen. Seeing too many brothers died, Guoxing Ye built earthen rampart outside the city, surrounding Fort Zeelandia all around, and installed cannon on the rampart, pounding the city walls with artillery barrage. Before long our second Navy’s Left Attacking Force, Front Attacking Force, Wisdom Force, Valiant Troops, Amphibious Force, Palace Hall Troops, all ships have also arrived; our power rose up. While dispatching the troops to clear up the wild area for farming, Guoxing Ye also intensified the besieging of the city. Besieged until the fifth month, suddenly the red-haired demons’ reinforcement from Batavia arrived. The red-haired demons from the city came out to attack. There were big battles on land and sea, our troops dauntlessly rushed in and killed the enemy, the sea water was dyed red with blood.”

Wei Xiaobao slapped the table and exclaimed, “Fierce, fierce!” Turning to Shi Lang he said, “Too bad at that time General Shi was in Xiamen; otherwise, you could keep up with these several big battles, and killed several hundreds of those damn red-haired demons, and then you can really be considered a hero.” Shi Lang stayed silent.

Wei Xiaobao asked Hong Chao, “Hong Dage, at that time which group were you in?”

Hong Chao replied, “At that time lowly officer was under Liu Guoxuan, General Liu’s command; along with Chen Ze, General Chen’s navy we besieged the red-haired demons’ reinforcement, in a big battle at the North Shanwei region. The red-haired demons’ warships were huge, their guns very sharp; when the bullets from our firearms reached the red-haired demons’ big warship, they all bounced back from the armor plating, we could not harm the ship. Seeing we could not withstand the enemy, the Front Communication Team’s Lin Jinshen, General Lin personally led two-hundred-men suicide team, with their bodies covered in gunpowder they braved death by jumping into the red-haired demons’ big warship to damage and explode the cannon on the ship. Seeing us attacking violently with no fear of death at all, the red-haired demons’ were thrown into confusion. We killed a red-haired demon commander, captured two battleships, and utterly routed the red-haired demons’ navy. On land Chen Junshi led the troops in great battle also seized total victory. Later on seven red-haired demons’ lead bullets were dug out from Chen Junshi’s body.”

“Hey,” Wei Xiaobao said, “My Shifu did not die under the red-haired demons’ guns; he died under his granny Zheng Keshuang, that kid’s sword. General Shi, real men kill foreign devils, now that is amazing. Chinese people kill Chinese people, even if he killed a lot, he cannot be considered a hero. Do you agree?”

“Humph,” Shi Lang snorted, but did not say anything.

Lin Xingzhu said, “The red-haired demons suffered defeat after defeat, they wanted to burn our troops’ provision, but each time Chen Junshi always saw through their plan, they were never able to steal our chicken or nibble our grain. The red-haired demon governor was trapped in an isolated city, he had his hands bound and was unable to do anything about it. He sent people across the sea to contact the Great Qing’s Fujian and Zhejiang Zongdu [governor-general] Li Lutai, to ask him to send troops and rescued them. That Li Daren was an interesting fellow; he sent a letter asking the red-haired demons to come to Fujian first to crush Guoxing Ye’s garrisons in Jinmen and Xiamen regions, and then the Great Qing troops would come to Taiwan and launch converging attack from inside and outside. At that time the red-haired demons were powerless to defend themselves; they were like a turtle shrinking its head inside Fort Zeelandia, how could they send troops to Jinmen, Xiamen?”

Wei Xiaobao said, “The red-haired demons speak like a fart; all along they didn’t want to attack Jinmen, Xiamen, did they? When Great Qing speak, we always keep our words; didn’t we eventually send troops to attack Taiwan? We’re only twenty, thirty years late; it’s not a big deal! When General Shi led the troops to attack Taiwan, I wonder if there were red-haired demons with whom you coordinate inside and outside offensives.”

Shi Lang could not endure patiently anymore; he stood up abruptly and said, “Wei Jueye, Xiongdi and you are ministers of the same palace hall, both of us are Great Qing officials; why do you always speak cold words and make sarcastic comments, always mocking Xiongdi?”

“Eh? That’s strange,” Wei Xiaobao exclaimed in surprise, “When did I ever mock General Shi? General Shi did not have any illicit relations with foreign country, that’s great. But if you do have an illicit relations with foreign country, I’ll say there’s still time. General Shi holds massive military power in your hands, red-haired demons, Spaniard demons, Portuguese demons, Luocha demons, will be very happy to make friends with you.”

Shi Lang shivered in his heart, “Not good!” he mused, “If this little demon made an accusation in front of His Majesty, framing me of having illicit relations with foreign country, my entire life would be destroyed in his hands.” Just now his temper flared, he spoke rudely; he could not help feeling remorse. Hastily he forced a laugh and said, “Xiongdi has drank several cups too much, and has offended quite a bit, Wei Jueye please forgive me.”

When Wei Xiaobao saw that he was angry, originally he was rather scared, but then he saw that Shi Lang changed his attitude and offered an apology, he knew that Shi Lang was afraid of him. Thereupon he laughed and said, “If General Shi seriously wants to establish yourself as a king in Taiwan, it would be better for you to kill Xiongdi first to silence me, so that I would not report it to His Majesty. But if you are just making a loud of noise and throwing a fit, although Xiongdi’s gut is small, I am not afraid.”

Shi Lang’s countenance turned deathly pale. Leaving his seat he bowed deeply with cupped fist and said, “Wei Jueye, a person of great moral stature does not remember the offenses committed by one of low moral stature; lowly officer was preposterous, I am willing to accept punishment. But establishing myself as a king in Taiwan or having illicit relations with foreign country, lowly officer absolutely never has this intention. Lowly officer single-mindedly exerting myself for His Majesty, following his order with loyalty, definitely not double-minded.”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “Please sit down, please sit down. We will wait and see.” Turning his head toward Lin Xingzhu he said, “Your story is more interesting than Mr. Storyteller. This episode, Guoxing Ye fought a bloody battle in Taiwan, the red-haired demons pissed in their pants in terror. And then what happened?”

“By that time,” Lin Xingzhu continued, “The news that Guoxing Ye led a large army to attack Taiwan had reached the inland. Huang Wu, Huang Daren immediately submitted a proposal to the imperial court, he submitted what was called ‘Five Plans to Fortify Defenses and Raze the Fields in Pacifying the Ocean’.”

“Who is that Huang Wu?” Wei Xiaobao asked.

Lin Xingzhu cast a glance toward Shi Lang, he coughed several times, but did not immediately reply. Shi Lang said, “This Huang Daren was originally also a subordinate of Guoxing Ye, his rank was a Zongbing [regional commander]. After he submitted to the imperial court, his political career took off smoothly. By the time of his death, his title was First-class Duke of Hai Deng [hai – ocean, deng – settling of liquid; maybe a place’s name.].”

“Hey,” Wei Xiaobao exclaimed, “Turns out he was also a trai …” in the end he forcibly swallowed the last syllable ‘tor’.

Shi Lang’s countenance turned red; he mused, “You curse me as a traitor, I’ll say you are a fake Manchu; we are no better or worse than the other.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “What kind of clever scheme did this Huang Wu use to pat His Majesty’s bottom that in a short while he was bestowed the title Duke? His skill is really not small! This trick we may want to polish and refine, and try to emulate.”

“This Huang Wu,” Lin Xingzhu said, “In those days Guoxing Ye sent him to guard Hai Deng, but he surrendered Hai Deng to the imperial court. The officers and soldiers who were unwilling to surrender, he killed them all. At that time the imperial court was at a loss on how to deal with Guoxing Ye, suddenly there was this general in command of the troops from the other side who wanted to surrender along with the entire city; naturally the imperial court was overjoyed. Hence the reason he received such a preferential treatment.”

“So that’s how it is,” Wei Xiaobao said, “What plan did he propose?”

Lin Xingzhu sighed and said, “This Huang Daren really did a lot of harm to the common people. His ‘Five Plans to Pacify the Ocean’, number one was to move all common people from the coastal area inland, so that those Jinmen, Xiamen, as well as Taiwan, would not get any material assistance. Number two was to burn down all ships and boats in the coast; henceforth not a cun of wood was allowed to go out to sea. Number three was to kill Guoxing Ye’s father, Zheng Taishi. Number four was to excavate the tomb of Guoxing Ye’s ancestors, to damage his fengshui [geomancy]. Number five was to relocate the officers and men, former subordinates of Guoxing Ye who had surrendered inland to open up land for farming in various provinces, to avoid future misfortune.”

“Hey,” Wei Xiaobao said, “This fellow’s plans are indeed very malicious.”

“Aren’t they?” Lin Xingzhu said, “At that time Emperor Shunzhi had just passed away, His Majesty had just ascended the throne, his age was young, Oboi arrogated all powers. That treacherous bandit Oboi saw Huang Wu’s ‘Five Plans to Pacify the Ocean’ and agreed that it made a lot of sense, he issued an order from Liaodong all the way to Zhili, Jiangsi, Zhejiang, Fujian, as well as Guangdong, nobody was allowed to live within thirty li from the coast, all vessels were to be burned down. In those days common people lived in the coastal area by the thousands and tens of thousands, none was not forced out from their homes and wandering about, a lot of them did not survive.”

Shi Lang spoke up, “Huang Wu’s scheme went indeed a bit too far. It was not until the current ruler took office, Wei Daren took down Oboi, that the sea ban was lifted. But the common people in seven coastal provinces have already suffered harmful effects. At that time the imperial court issued strict order, common people who violated the ban were arrested and immediately beheaded. A lot of people could not survive, they went to the seaside to catch fish; I don’t know how many were killed. At that time Zheng Taishi was also killed. Oboi sent the Minister of War Shangshu Sunahai on a special mission to Quanzhou’s [prefecture] Nan An Xian [South An County] in Fujian to dig out Zheng family’s ancestral tomb.”

[foxs]

Wei Xiaobao said, “Oboi claimed to be a warrior, but he committed such a senseless act; if he really have skills, he should challenge Guoxing Ye with real swords, real spears. By relocating the coastal population inland, isn’t it clear that he was afraid? His Majesty cherishes common people, if Huang Wu’s plans were presented to His Majesty, he would definitely have his head chopped.”

“Exactly,” Shi Lang said, “Huang Wu died early, it could be considered his luck.”

Lin Xingzhu said, “When the news of Zheng Taishi’s death reached Taiwan, Guoxing Ye was afraid it might shake the troops’ heart, so he said it was a lie and that they must not be gullible. But according to his personal guards, Guoxing Ye often cried bitterly in the middle of the night. Guoxing Ye also confided with Chen Junshi and several other generals that Huang Wu’s plot was indeed sinister. Fortunately they had gone on a punitive expedition to the east to Taiwan; otherwise, tens of thousands soldiers could not have a foothold in Jinmen and Xiamen. By then we have held our siege for a long time, several times the red-haired troops wanted to break the siege, each time they were beaten back into the city. Hence Guoxing Ye issued an order that before the New Year we must attack and bring Fort Zeelandia down.” Turning toward Hong Chao he said, “We attacked on the twenty-third of the eleventh month, didn’t we?”

“Yes,” Hong Chao replied, “That day the wind was strong, with heavy rain. Our troops fired the cannon from all the earthen ramparts at the same time, damaging the corner of the city wall, the fortifications on the east and west of the city were also broken. The red-haired demons desperately rushed out, but after several hundreds of them died, they were driven back into the city. Thereupon the red-haired governor raised a white flag to surrender. At that time the Chinese people in Taiwan wanted to take revenge by killing the red-haired demons clean. Guoxing Ye enlightened the people that our China is a country with etiquette, the enemy surrendered must not be killed. He allowed the red-haired governor to write a letter of surrender with fourteen sections before he led the ruined army, defeated generals boarded the ships and left Taiwan to flee to Batavia. The red-haired demons occupied Taiwan since the Ming Dynasty’s Tian Qi’s fourth year, for a total of 38 years, until that year, the Yongli’s fifteenth year … which was the Great Qing’s Shunzhi’s eighteenth year, eleventh month, twenty-ninth day, when Taiwan returned to be China’s territory.”

Lin Xingzhu said, “Guoxing Ye issued a military order not to kill the surrendering red-haired troops, but Chinese people were unbearably angry; they continuously spat on them and threw rocks at them. Little children even made up a song to mock them. The red-haired troops with broken hands broken feet, hanging their heads dispiritedly; they did not dare to utter even a single word of demon language. After their battleship set off, they lowered their flag, and fired a gun salute, saying that it was to show their humble respect to Guoxing Ye for his kindness of not killing them.”

“Good!” Wei Xiaobao said, “We, Chinese, have a really great power and prestige. The red-haired demons’ cannon were that formidable, to conquer Taiwan was really not easy, really not easy!”

Hong Chao said, “Guoxing Ye changed the name Fort Zeelandia to Anping Zhen [lit. safe and peaceful, zhen – small town], he changed ‘pu luo min zhe cheng’ into Chengtian Fu [lit. supporting heaven, fu – prefecture]; henceforth both have always been Taiwan’s strategic town.”

Lu Fujiang interjected, “When Shi Junmen took over Taiwan, the path he took was the old path taken by Guoxing Ye in the past; he went in from Lu Er Men …”

Wei Xiaobao waved his hand to stop him; he yawned big and said, “Chinese defeating the red-haired demons and driving them out to see, that is an immensely enjoyable story. Our people defeating our people, it’s approximately no more than that. General Shi, we have drank quite a bit of wine, let’s adjourn now.”

Shi Lang stood up and said, “Yes, thank you very much Jueye for the dinner, lowly officer takes my leave.”

Wei Xiaobao went back to the inner hall and told his wives how he stopped Shi Lang from talking; in short he prevented him from boasting about his outstanding military service in taking over Taiwan. His six wives found the story amusing, only Ah Ke remained silent. She thought that if she was married to Zheng Keshuang, she would have been captured and taken prisoner together with him; brought to Beijing, as a concubine of a vanquished nation, it would be difficult to escape humiliation. That day when she saw Zheng Keshuang left Tong Chi Island on a skiff, she did not care about his life or death. This moment as she heard that his country perished and he surrendered to the enemy, she did not have the slightest concern. Recalling the past events, she was amazed that she was actually crazy about his elegant manner and his appearance, knowing full well that this man was someone without any backbone, a spoiled son of rich parents without any future prospects. She realized that it was as if she was blind by being deeply attached to him. This moment as she thought back, she was still feeling deeply ashamed.

The Princess said, “Huangdi Gege was too generous to him, that fellow Zheng Keshuang surrendered, unexpectedly he bestowed him a first-class duke title, his nobility rank is above Xiaobao’s. It really upsets me.”

Wei Xiaobao waved his hand, “Not a big deal, not a big deal. Guoxing Ye was a great hero, His Majesty was looking at Guoxing Ye’s face that he bestowed his offspring the title of first-class duke. Based on Zheng Keshuang’s own ability, at most he would only be bestowed the title first-class caterpillar.”

At noon the next day, Wei Xiaobao singled out Lin Xingzhu and Hong Chao, two people for a small banquet; he asked them about Shi Lang taking over Taiwan.

Turned out the Qing troops and Taiwan troops were engaged in bloody battle for several days at Penghu Islands’ Niu Xin Bay and Ji Long islet. The first day Shi Lang lost, afterwards Qing’s Navy reinforcement arrived, the battle raged again. Taiwan’s vessels were burned and suffered heavy defeat, the number of casualties among the officers and soldiers reaching more than ten thousand men, the battleships were either sunk or burned, the total damage reaching more than three hundred boats. Liu Guoxuan led the defeated army back into Taiwan.

Shi Lang led the Navy to attack Taiwan. Lu Er Men had shallow water, battleships could not enter; they dropped anchor on the ocean for twelve days, with no strategy left to try. Suddenly thick fog filled the sky, the tide swelled, Qing warships swarmed in. In Taiwan, everybody from top to bottom was greatly alarmed; they all said, “In the past because of the tide rose in Lu Er Men Guoxing Ye was able to enter Taiwan; and now Lu Er Men’s tide rises again, the natural barrier is lost, this is the Will of Heaven that made it so, fighting again is useless.”

When Zheng Keshuang was informed that the boats of Qing troops had entered Lu Er Men, he was already thrown into panic mode, when Feng Xifan advised him to surrender, naturally he readily agreed. It’s just that he was afraid Shi Lang would avenge his personal enmity and would make things difficult for Zheng Clan’s offspring that he was greatly hesitant. Immediately Liu Guoxuan sent a letter to Shi Lang, saying that they were willing to surrender, but Guoxing Ye’s descendants must be saved from harm, or else the entire Taiwan population, military and civilian alike, would recall fondly Guoxing Ye’s kindness and righteousness, and would rather fight to the last man. Shi Lang immediately replied, guaranteeing that he would not bother about the old grievance, otherwise, let Heaven and men abandon him, and let his descendants be cut-off from the earth. Thereupon Zheng Keshuang, Feng Xifan and Liu Guoxuan led Taiwan’s civil and military officials to surrender. The Ming Dynasty’s imperial clan Prince Ningjing Zhu Shugui committed suicide to die for his country, his five concubines were buried alive as sacrifice together with their husband, and thus the Ming family was cut short.

Wei Xiaobao thought, “This Ming Dynasty Emperor’s descendants committed suicide to die for his country, five of his wives followed him in death. If I, Wei Xiaobao, commit suicide, I wonder from my seven wives, how many would want to accompany me? I am sure Shuang’er would, the Princess would surely apologize for not accompanying me. As for the other five, most likely they would throw dice to decide who would die and who would live. When Fang Yi throw the dice, she would definitely cheat, calling me, the dead person, a ‘cattle’.”

Lin Xingzhu continued, saying that after Shi Lang led the troops to land, he indeed kept his words, he did not give the Zheng Clan offspring any trouble. He even personally went to Zheng Chenggong’s Yan Ping Jun Wang ancestral shrine to offer sacrifice and cried bitterly for a moment.

Hong Chao said, “During the sacrifice he read a memorial in which there were some sentences like this: ‘From Tong’an [district, Xiamen, Fujian] Hou [marquis] entered Taiwan, only then did Taiwan soil have inhabitant. Overtaking the bestowed confidence to open land and initiate the cliff boundary, who would dare to do it? Today by the authority of the Son of Heaven Lang leads military power, subduing this land, did not decline to wipe out the country and punish the guilty, for the reason of loyalty to the imperial court as well as to fulfill the duty to avenge father and brother. Alone Lang rose through the ranks, with Ci Xing[1] was as delighted as fish meet water, there was not the slightest bit of resentment, but it led to great violation. Lang and Ci Xing had enmity and hatred, but my feeling is still like minister and his master. The poor scholar in the midst of reed, justice will not be done. Righteousness and personal kindness, henceforth it is over.’ These several sentences were on everyone’s lips for a period of time.”

“What was he rambling about?” Wei Xiaobao asked.

“The poor scholar in the midst of reed was Wu Zixu,” Hong Chao replied, “In the past Wu Zixu wiped out the State of Chu, he dug Chu’s King Ping’s body from the grave and lashed the corpse three hundred times to avenge the enmity of him killing Wu Zixu’s father and brother. Shi Lang was saying that he definitely won’t do such thing.”

“Humph,” Wei Xiaobao said with a cold laugh, “Does he dare? Although Guoxing Ye is dead, Shi Lang is still extremely afraid of him. He defeated the Zheng Family’s family estate, he is afraid Guoxing Ye’s brave spirit would find him and give him trouble, thereupon he went to Guoxing Ye’s ancestral shrine to kowtow and plea for leniency. This man is very treacherous, you must not fall into his trick.” Lin and Hong, two people, voiced their agreement.

“The story of Wu Zixu,” Wei Xiaobao continued, “I have watched a play about him. Wu Zixu closed himself up, in one night the hair on his head turned white from fright, right?”

“Yes, yes,” Hong Chao replied, “Jueye’s memory is very good.”

Wei Xiaobao had not heard stories for a long time, thereupon he asked about Wu Zixu’s story from the beginning to end. By coincidence this Hong Chao was a Xiuxai [a person who has passed the county level imperial exam]; although he had not passed a university entrance exam, he had quite a bit of ink in his belly; thereupon he narrated the story in details [lit. count by fives and tens].

Wei Xiaobao listened with keen interest and with pleasure; he said, “In this barren island I am truly bored to death, fortunately two gentlemen came to tell stories to relieve my boredom. It would be best if you two stay several days longer, there is no hurry to leave.”

Lin Xingzhu said, “We are surrendered enemy generals from Taiwan, while we were talking yesterday we have offended General Shi. If General Shi wanted to deal with us, it will be as easy as pinching an ant dead. All he needs is a carelessly spoken word with rebellious intent, then he will charge us with conspiracy against the law, immediately behead us first and submit report later. Even if after chopping our heads he did not submit any report, nobody would investigate. Wei Daren, please speak to General Shi on our behalf, tell him that you want us to stay here to serve you.”

Wei Xiaobao was greatly delighted. “Hong Dage, what do you have in mind?” he asked.

Hong Chao said, “Last night lowly officer and Lin Dage talked it over, if Wei Daren cannot save our lives, the two of us undoubtedly will die without burial site.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “If the two of you want to follow me, you must listen to what I say.”

Lin and Hong, two people bowed together and said, “No matter what Wei Daren tells us to do, lowly officer will follow obediently.”

Wei Xiaobao was extremely delighted; he thought, “With these two good helpers, I have a way of leaving this ghost place.”

Kangxi sent Peng Canjiang with his troops to guard Tong Chi Island with strict imperial order in advance that they must not let Wei Xiaobao and his family to leave the island even for one step. Peng Canjiang’s brain was not too bright; he did not have any special skill either. But toward the Emperor’s imperial edict, even if his head was chopped seventeen, eighteen times, he would not dare to violate the least bit. Kangxi wanted him to guard closely, he would guard closely. If Wei Xiaobao wanted to take his life, it would be as easy as lifting his hand; but even if he wiped these 501 soldiers guarding him clean, without a boat, in the end he could not leave the island. Hong and Ling, two people were veteran generals of the Navy; certainly they had skill in handling ships and navigating the ocean.

That evening he held another banquet for Shi Lang. This time he only invited Lin Xingzhu and Hong Chao, two people to accompany them. After some chitchat, Wei Xiaobao said, “General Shi, are you going to stay here for one or two months?”

“Actually, lowly officer was thinking of staying a few days, to hear Daren’s instruction more often,” Shi Lang replied, “But Taiwan has just started to be put in order, it can’t be left too long. I am thinking of taking my leave from Daren tomorrow.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “You said you wanted to stay here with me for a few days to hear my instruction more often. Are you serious, or did you just say that to make me happy?”

“Naturally I am one-hundred percent serious,” Shi Lang replied, “Lowly officer said it from the bottom of my heart. That year lowly officer followed Daren, the troops were stationed on Tong Chi Island, while we were bombarding Shen Long Island. Every day I had the pleasure of hearing Daren giving instructions, drinking wine, gambling, chatting and laughing with Daren; that kind of days, I had a great fun.”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “If you could have that kind of days, will you be happy?”

“Naturally I will,” Shi Lang replied, “Someday His Majesty will send Daren on an important mission with heavy responsibility involving national military, lowly officer still want to follow Daren.”

Wei Xiaobao nodded. “It’s very easy,” he said, “You want to follow me, you want to hear me and joke with me, it’s not difficult at all. Tomorrow all of us will go to Taiwan together.”

Shi Lang was shocked. He stood up and said with a trembling voice, “This … this … this matter is not on His Majesty’s imperial edict; lowly officer does not dare to receive order. Please … please Daren forgive me.”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “It’s not that I want to go to Taiwan to do anything, it’s just that I heard your story, it is so exciting. Guoxing Ye opened up new land in Tainan and Taipei, developing a new and colorful world, I want to see it with my own eyes. When we get to Taiwan, aren’t you going to hear my instruction more often? You said it so yourself. It’s just that I think you conduct yourself very well, plus you have followed me in the past; we are old boss, old subordinate, our friendship is more than ordinary, so I thought hard to find a way to grant your wish. I am going to Taiwan to play for a month or two, and then I’ll come back here. The gods do not know, the ghosts do not perceive; if you don’t say anything, I don’t say anything, there is no way His Majesty will find out.”

Shi Lang’s expression looked very awkward. He bowed and said, “Wei Daren, this matter is really difficult to do. Whatever Daren commands, lowly officer will obey faithfully, but if His Majesty put the blame on me, it would be a great inconvenience. If lowly officer does not submit a memorial to the Emperor, it would be a great crime of deceiving one’s lord; lowly officer absolutely will not dare to do it.”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “Please sit down, please sit down. General Shi, since you are unwilling, it’s a trivial matter, no need to be mentioned anymore.”

Shi Lang felt as if a heavy burden had just removed from him; he repeatedly said ‘yes’, and sat back on the banquet table.

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “Speaking about great crime of deceiving one’s lord, let me be honest with you: I have deceived His Majesty several times. It’s just that His Majesty is magnanimous; when he found out later, he only swore at me several times, but never made a big deal out of it.”

“Yes, yes,” Shi Lang said, “Everybody says that His Majesty treated Wei Daren with deep kindness and profound benevolence; it is indeed very different. A ruler and his minister hit it off like this, it is unprecedented in history. But a small general, an external minister without any good fortune like lowly officer, I absolutely will not dare to follow Wei Daren’s example.”

Wei Xiaobao smiled and said, “General Shi speaks as if you are very timid, while in my opinion, your guts in the contrary are very big. I heard that after General Shi attacked Taiwan, you wrote a memorial and presented it as a memorial to Guoxing Ye; is there such thing?”

---

[1] Ci Xing – bestowed surname (emperor conferring favor on ethnic group). Guoxing Ye itself means ‘Lord of the Imperial Surname’.

[foxs]

Shi Lang said, “Reporting to Daren, the three characters ‘Guoxing Ye’ are not supposed to be mentioned. Presently the national surname is Aisin Gioro [reminder: ‘Guoxing Ye’ means ‘Lord of the Imperial Surname’]. When we are talking about Zheng Chenggong, if we want to be a bit polite, we may say ‘Former Ming’s Ci Xing’ [see Note 2 above]. As a result, lowly officer’s memorial only mentioned ‘Ci Xing’, two characters; I definitely am not bold enough to violate the taboo.”

He presumed that since he was unwilling to take Wei Xiaobao to Taiwan, this little demon would be bound to look for bones in the egg, determined to find a setback for Shi Lang. The three-character ‘Guoxing Ye’ was the name the people were accustomed to, but Zheng Chenggong was bestowed the surname Zhu by the Ming Dynasty, his national surname was Ming Dynasty’s national surname, not Qing Dynasty’s national surname. If Wei Xiaobao insisted to make a big deal of these three characters in the memorial, saying that Shi Lang keep in his mind constantly that the national surname was Zhu, and reporting it to the imperial court, this matter maybe big or maybe small, but it could also grow into a disaster. Thereupon he seized the initiative to offer an explanation first.

Actually, Wei Xiaobao did not have the slightest knowledge; he failed to grasp the crucial point of what Shi Lang was saying. After Shi Lang argued, Wei Xiaobao was able to find something to grab on instead. “General Shi,” he said, “You have once received rank and emolument of nobility from the Ming Dynasty, it’s no wonder that the surname bestowed by the previous dynasty was constantly in your mind. If you are really loyal to our Great Qing, you should have called Zheng Chenggong ‘Nixing’ [rebel surname], ‘Weixing’ [bogus surname], ‘Feixing’ [bandit surname], ‘Gouxing’ [dog surname].”

Shi Lang lowered his head in silence. Although in his heart he 120% disapproved, he felt it was inappropriate to debate over this matter with Wei Xiaobao. By calling Zheng Chenggong ‘Ci Xing’, indeed it was an indication that he had not forgotten the previous dynasty’s idea.

Wei Xiaobao said, “General Shi’s memorial must be written very well, I wonder if it is alright for you to recite it to me?”

Shi Lang only knew how to lead the troops and go to war, how could he write a eulogy? This funeral oration was written by a secretary, one of his aides and advisors. This secretary was quite talented, the memorial was written with such passion and rich in imagery, the meaning behind it sincere. Shi Lang had heard not a few people praised it, he was very proud, thereupon he had memorized quite a bit of sentences from it to show off in front of other people. Immediately he said, “Lowly officer invented several sentences of crazy nonsense; I will only make Wei Daren laugh at me.” Thereupon he recited several important passages from the memorial.

Finished listening to the section ‘Alone Lang rose through the ranks, with Ci Xing was as delighted as fish meet water, there was not the slightest bit of resentment, but it led to great violation. Lang and Ci Xing had enmity and hatred, but my feeling is still like minister and his master. The poor scholar in the midst of reed, justice will not be done. Righteousness and personal kindness, henceforth it is over.’ Wei Xiaobao nodded and praised, “Good essay, good essay. This memorial, let’s forget the fact that even if my head is chopped I will never be able to write one, even if someone wrote it for me and had me memorize it, I won’t be able to remember it in ten days or eight days. General Shi is well-versed in both civil and military affairs; your memory is very good. My admiration, my admiration.”

Shi Lang’s face blushed slightly; he said in his heart, “You know perfectly well that I can’t write something like that, someone else wrote it, I simply memorized it well and recited it back. You ridicule me like this, no need for me to talk to you too much.”

Wei Xiaobao asked, “About that ‘The poor scholar in the midst of reed, justice will not be done’, what does that mean? My learning is very disappointing, I don’t understand it.”

Shi Lang said, “’The poor scholar in the midst of reed’ was referring to Wu Zixu. In the past from the State of Chu he ran away to the State of Wu. When he reached the river bank, an elderly fisherman took him cross the river, and left to get him some rice to eat. Wu Zixu was afraid the pursuing troops would catch him; he hid in the cluster of reeds on the river bank. The elderly fisherman returned; seeing someone was hiding in the reeds, he called out, ‘You in the reeds, you in the reeds, aren’t you the poor scholar?’ Afterwards Wu Zixu led Wu troops to attack and defeat the State of Chu. He dug the King Ping of Chu’s corpse from the grave and whipped the corpse three hundred times to avenge the enmity of him killing Wu Zixu’s father and brother. Ci Xing … Zheng Chenggong has killed my father, brother, wife and child, Taiwan people were afraid after I broke Taiwan, I would also dig the grave to exact revenge. In this memorial lowly officer was saying that this kind of matter I resolved not to do. Zheng Chenggong’s spirit in heaven may rest in peace, Taiwan troops and people also have nothing to worry about.”

“I see,” Wei Xiaobao said, “General Shi is comparing yourself to Wu Zixu.”

“Wu Zixu was a great hero, great warrior,” Shi Lang said, “How can lowly officer dare to be compared to him? It’s just that Wu Zixu’s entire family ran into misfortune, he alone escaped. In the end he returned with the troops and avenged this big enmity. This part is similar to what lowly officer has gone through. That’s all.”

Wei Xiaobao nodded; he said, “I wish that General Shi’s outcome in the future will be greatly different from Wu Zixu, otherwise it will be really not good.”

Shi Lang immediately remembered that Wu Zixu rendered great merit in the State of Wu, but in the end he was killed by the King of Wu. He could not stop his countenance from changing greatly; his hand that was holding the wine cup was also trembling.

Wei Xiaobao shook his head and said, “I heard Wu Zixu rendered great merit, he became conceited, and was very disrespectful toward the King of Wu. General Shi, you compared yourself to Wu Zixu, it was really inappropriate. I am sure that the memorial of yours has already relayed to Beijing, His Majesty also has seen it. If you have nobody help you to explain it to His Majesty, I think, hey, hey, ay, too bad, too bad, I am afraid a great meritorious service will be thrown into running water …”

Shi Lang hastily said, “Daren please understand, lowly officer said that I am not Wu Zixu, I do not dare to say that I want to be Wu Zixu. This … this matter is entirely … entirely different.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “Your memorial has spread everywhere, General Shi compared himself to Wu Zixu, everybody in the world knows that.”

Shi Lang stood up, his voice trembling, “His Majesty is an enlightened sage, his benevolence is like a mountain, he will save his subject with merit from harm. Lowly officer is serving a good master; compared to Wu Zixu, my good fortune is a lot better.”

“What you said is true,” Wei Xiaobao said, “I am not too clear on Wu Zixu’s motive in the end, why he harbored evil intention. But I have seen the play, when the King of Wu was going to kill him, Wu Zixu said, ‘Dig my eyes and embed them on the city gate, let me see the Yue troops breaching the city and the demise of the State of Wu.’ Afterwards I think the State of Wu was indeed wiped out. General Shi is adept in pen and sword, I am sure you know the story, is that true?”

Shi Lang could not help feeling a slight chill from his back penetrated straight to his bones. Initially he only thought that after rendering great merit Wu Zixu was killed by the King of Wu, this matter was not clear in history books, he was already feeling uneasy, but he did not expect that at the death’s door Wu Zixu was uttering those words. His memorial said, ‘The poor scholar in the midst of reed, justice will not be done.’ Although he did not do what Wu Zixu did, but the fact that he was comparing himself to Wu Zixu was very clear in other people’s eyes and ears. His memorial mentioned Wu Zixu, it only referred to ‘whipping the corpse to take revenge’, who would have thought that Wei Xiaobao could pull the ‘cursing the demise of the nation’ matter up? If other people charged him with this kind of grave accusation, the disaster would be truly unspeakable.

What Wei Xiaobao had said, if it was conveyed to the Emperor’s ears, even if the Emperor was an enlightened sage and would not charge him with the guilt, in his heart he must not be too happy. Shi Lang was sure that he could forget the prospect of any future promotion. If, like Wei Xiaobao, the Emperor’s trusted aides also add oil to the fire, incite disharmony by saying that in his heart Shi Lang was harboring the thought of blaming and ridiculing the imperial court for killing minister who has given outstanding service, the head on top of his neck would really be difficult to protect.

In that instant his thoughts were surging like the tide, he had a thousand regrets, ten thousand regrets, he really thought he should not offer sacrifice to Zheng Chenggong, he should not order the secretary to write this eulogy to such an extent as to have this freak elf little demon grabbed the ‘foot of the pain’. He stood silently with a blank expression on his face, not knowing what to say to defend himself.

Wei Xiaobao said, “General Shi, when His Majesty personally took over the government, what was the first major issue he dealt with?”

“Killing the treacherous official Oboi,” Shi Lang replied.

“That’s right,” Wei Xiaobao said, “While admittedly Oboi was a treacherous court official, he was the appointed high-ranking minister who look after the government. During the besieging of towns and breaking the enemy, he rendered enormous merit to our Great Qing. His Majesty once said, ‘I killed Oboi, perhaps someone would say that I do not empathize with minister who has given outstanding service, they would say something bird something bow.’ What did he say? I can’t remember it.”

Shi Lang said, “It’s ‘the birds are gone, the bow is put away’.”

“Right,” Wei Xiaobao said, “Even you said the same thing …”

“No, no,” Shi Lang busily said, “I did not talk about His Majesty, it was the idiom.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “You did say that idiom to describe His Majesty killing Oboi.”

Shi Lang anxiously said, “Daren asked me what that idiom is, lowly officer only answered Daren’s question; I absolutely do not dare … do not dare to slander or speak ill of His Majesty.”

Wei Xiaobao fixed his gaze at him, he could see the panic in Shi Lang’s heart.

Since the ancient times, when any feudal official thought that their merit was great but the reward was meager, the emperor would definitely hate it. The official did not need to speak up, as long as in their hearts they were ‘harboring the thought of blaming or complaining’, four characters [‘xin cun yuan wang’], it would mean immediate beheading.

While his heart was shaken, Shi Lang was lured by Wei Xiaobao to say the four-character ‘the birds are gone, the bow is put away’ [niao jin gong cang]. Immediately he knew things went bad, but he had said it, there was no way he could take it back. Besides, other than Wei Xiaobao, there were Lin Xingzhu and Hong Chao on the side, there was no way he could deny it.

Wei Xiaobao said, “General Shi did say ‘the birds are gone, the bow is put away’; whether those words are to slander or speak ill of His Majesty, I don’t know. In the imperial court, there are many learned Da Xue Shi, Shangshu, and Hanlin [see Chapter 37] ministers; there is no harm in us asking them to judge. However, my days of serving His Majesty are not a few, I seem to remember His Majesty loves people calling him ‘niao sheng yu tang’ [raw bird fish soup, see Chapter 14], but he does not like people calling him ‘niao jin gong cang’. Both idioms have the word ‘bird’, but I am afraid the two are substantially different. One is good bird, the other is evil bird; don’t you think?”

Shi Lang was shocked and angered at the same time; he thought since things have come to this, he’d better go through to the end. You frame me like this, I might as well kill all three of you, to get rid of the root of future trouble. Entertaining this thought in his mind, he could not stop his eyes from exposing ominous glint.

Wei Xiaobao could see the sinister expression suddenly appeared on Shi Lang’s face; he could not prevent his heart from shivering. Forcing a laughed, he said, “Once General Shi spoke the words, dead horse cannot chase it. Right now there are two roads you can take. The first is: immediately kill me along with Lin and Hong, two people, kill all my wives and children, and then lead your troops to Taiwan, immediately set yourself as the king. It’s just that the troops you have right now are the Great Qing’s officers and men, they may not necessarily be willing to follow you in rebellion, while Taiwan’s military and civilians may not necessarily submit to you.”

In his heart Shi Lang was pondering about the same thing, but as soon as Wei Xiaobao hit the nail on the head, he forced himself to restrain his ferocity. Busily he said, “Lowly officer does not have that thought at all, Daren must not be overly suspicious and add heavy criminal accusation on lowly officer. But I wonder what the second road that Daren was talking about is? Would Daren show favor by giving me directions?”

Hearing the softening of the way Shi Lang spoke, Wei Xiaobao’s heart was relieved. With his toes on the ground he leaned forward and said, “The second road is: only by allowing Xiongdi and Lin and Hong, two gentlemen, to help you will you get out of trouble. Just now when General Shi mentioned the word ‘bird’, it was a respectful eulogy to His Majesty as the ‘raw bird fish soup’, which is very good. Someday when Xiongdi sees His Majesty, I will definitely say that General Shi is loyal in working for His Majesty, that you keep in mind constantly the vast and mighty imperial kindness, that while we were chatting, you often mentioned Wu Zixu’s forgetting favor and violating justice, that since the King of Wu dispatched an army to help him to avenge the enmity of his father’s murder, later on no matter what mission he was sent for, even if it was to enter the fire he ought to enter the fire, if it was to enter the water, he should have entered the water; how could he complain and harbor resentment in his heart? If General Shi were to become Wu Zixu, not only you would defend King of Wu’s rivers and mountains for ten thousand upon ten thousand years, not only you would save Xi Shi, this kind of beauty, you could even snatch Dong Shi, Nan Shi, Bei Shi, Zhong Shi, the whole bunch, and presented them to the King of Wu[1]. What Wu Zixu constantly had in his mind was only himself, while what General Shi constantly has in your mind is exactly our Great Qing’s enlightened sage the Son of Heaven. Good intention will have good reward, His Majesty bestows reward based on evaluation of merit, naturally General Shi will also have Duke and Marquis titles for ten thousand generations.”

Hearing this, Shi Lang was elated; hastily he bowed deeply with cupped fist and said, “If Daren really speaks those kind words in front of His Majesty, lowly officer will never dare to forget Daren’s benevolence forever.”

Wei Xiaobao stood up to return the propriety and said with a smile, “These words are a kind act that costs nothing; if my mood is good, I will definitely submit the memorial to His Majesty.”

Shi Lang thought, “If I don’t let you come to Taiwan, how can you, this kid, have a good mood?” Sitting back on his chair he said, “Taiwan has just been pacified, the hearts of the people are still in doubt. Lowly officer was just thinking of sending a memorial to explain everything to His Majesty, asking him to send a senior and revered high official to go on his behalf to declare the Holy Sage’s virtuous intention and reassure the hearts of the common people. Naturally Wei daren is the most appropriate high official. Lowly officer will immediately pay my respect and present the memorial, asking His Majesty to issue an imperial edict, to appoint Daren to go first and appease Taiwan.”

Wei Xiaobao shook his head, “You pay your respect and submit memorial to the Emperor in Beijing, once you left, several months will pass, I am afraid the idle gossip that is going to enter His Majesty’s ears, if not a thousand sentences, it will be at least eight hundred sentences. This kind of matter cannot be delayed even for a moment. It would be best if General Shi asked a high official, one of His Majesty’s trusted aides to go to Taiwan and investigate thoroughly. Only then will you demonstrate that you did not have any intention to set up yourself as a king in Taiwan. The rumor outside is that you even have a title picked, something called ‘Great Ming Taiwan King of Jing Hai’; is that right?”

Hearing the seven characters ‘da ming tai wan jing hai wang’, Shi Lang could not help jumping in fright. He thought you lived in an uninhabited island, yet you heard rumor like that? Certainly it is something you randomly blurt out. But if this rumor reached Beijing, surely the imperial court would rather believe it than dismissing it, and then Shi Lang would die without a burial site. Thereupon he hastily said, “That rumor, Daren absolutely must not believe it.”

“Right,” Wei Xiaobao said indifferently, “You and I have known each other for a long time, naturally I did not believe it. But General Shi pacified Taiwan, you killed a lot of people, I am sure you made a lot of enemies. If your enemies want to slander you, I’ll say not much you can do about it; it would be hard for you to plead your innocence. There is a common saying, ‘in the imperial court, everybody is a government official’. I wonder if there is a high or senior official in the imperial court who would be willing to disregard his body, family, even his life, and with all his strength defend General Shi.”

---

[1] Xi Shi was a famous beauty given by King Gou Jian of Yue as concubine to King of Wu as part of a successful plan to destroy Wu. The character ‘Xi’ of Xi Shi means ‘west’. Subsequently, ‘Dong’, ‘Nan’, ‘Bei’ and ‘Zhong’ are ‘east’, ‘south’, ‘north’ and ‘middle’, respectively.

[foxs]

There was another shock in Shi Lang’s heart; he did not have any powerful support in the imperial court. Or else he would not have stayed in Beijing lying idle for a long time in the past. He went around everywhere trying to curry favor, yet there was no path or door he could take. Indeed the only one who could get him somewhere was only the gentleman in front of him right now, the Wei Daren. Therefore, clenching his teeth, he said, “Daren’s directions, lowly officer cannot thank you enough. Since this matter is urgent, lowly officer will be so bold as to ask Daren to leave for Taiwan tomorrow to investigate and ascertain the truth.”

Wei Xiaobao was greatly delighted, but he thought that since now you are asking me, there is no harm in playing hard to get. He said, “Based on our, two brothers’ friendship, clearing up injustice on behalf of General Shi, even if I have to exhaust myself, it is nothing. It’s just that I have lived on this island for a long time, if I go out to sea I am afraid I will become seasick. Besides, I have my wives and children who are by my side every day, I would hate to be separated from them.”

Shi Lang silently cursed in his belly, “I don’t know how many times you have gone out to sea, I have never seen you dizzy in any damn boat!” Forcing a laugh he said, “Naturally Daren’s madams, young master and young lady may accompany you for a visit. Lowly officer will select the biggest ship for Daren to ride. These days there are no storms on the sea at all, Daren may set your heart at ease.”

Wei Xiaobao frowned and said, “In that case, Xiongdi has no choice but to brave the difficulty and take a trip with General Shi.” Shi Lang repeatedly expressed his thanks.

The next day Wei Xiaobao took his seven wives, his two sons Hutou and Tongchui, and his daughter Shuangshuang to board Shi Lang’s flagship. Peng Canjiang tried to stop them, Shi Lang immediately give his order to have him tied on a tree. The ships weighed their anchors and sailed away.

Looking at Tong Chi Island, on which he resided for several years, Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “The banker has left the Island, this place cannot be called Tong Chi Island anymore. Han Guangwu had Yan Ziling who loved to fish. Every enlightened sage the Son of Heaven must have loyal minister who loves to fish. His Majesty sent me here to fish, it’s only right if we change the name.”

“Absolutely,” Shi Lang said, “What does Daren think, what name will be best?”

Wei Xiaobao thought for a moment before answering, “One time His Majesty sent someone to deliver an imperial decree, saying that King Wen of Zhou had Jiang Taigong who loved to fish, let’s call this island ‘Diaoyu Dao’ [diaoyu – fishing (with line and hook), dao – island].”

Shi Lang clapped and praised, “The name Daren gives, nothing is better than that. On one hand it is a eulogy, comparing His Majesty with King Wen of Zhou and Han Guangwu; on the other hand it will appear that Daren is an expert in pen and sword just like Jiang Taigong, also like Yan Ziling who was pure, honest, and elegant. Right, right, from now on we are going to call this island Diaoyu Island.”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “It’s just that my title the Marquis of Tong Chi should be changed to Marquis of Diaoyu. Someday when official rank is promoted and my nobility is advancing, I will be called Duke of Diaoyu [‘diaoyu gong’, ‘gong’ can also be used as a term of respect to address older men]; it doesn’t sound too good.”

Shi Lang laughed and said, “Elderly fisherman has great benefit, enjoying great, great harvest; it will sound very good.”

Wei Xiaobao nodded and said, “His Majesty conferred to me the title Earl of Tong Chi, Marquis of Tong Chi, I thought it sounded nice, but my several wives were not too happy. Someday I will submit a memorial asking His Majesty to change my title to Marquis of Diaoyu, perhaps everybody will be happy.”

In his tummy Shi Lang was amused; he thought, “What Earl of Tong Chi, Marquis of Tong Chi? His Majesty was just making fun of you, he treated you as a court jester, there was no meaning of respect. Even if you change it to Marquis of Diaoyu, what’s so nice about it?” But with his mouth he said, “There was an old story about a fisherman, a woodcutter, a farmer and a scholar; the fisherman ranked number one, the scholar was number four. The titles Duke of Diaoyu, King of Diaoyu, are more respectable than Hanlin’s Zhuangyuan[1].” [Translator’s note: perhaps I am reading too much into it, but I could have sworn that he was referring to Reverend Yideng’s four disciples.]

Whether in succeeding generations this Diaoyu Island became Diaoyutai Islands [Senkaku Islands, between Taiwan and Okinawa], it is a pity that this fact cannot be verified by historical records. If we could try to find historical remains of Wei Xiaobao on the island, we would know that during Kangxi’s early years, probably there were already our fellow countrymen who dwelled in that place for a long time, probably the five hundred troops who were stationed over there.

One particular day, Wei Xiaobao, riding on Shi Lang’s flagship, arrived in Taiwan; they came ashore at Anping Prefecture. Along the way Lin Xingzhu and Hong Chao showed how in those days Zheng Chenggong led the troops, how he routed the red-haired troops. Wei Xiaobao listened with keen interest and pleasure. Since Shi Lang had agreed to take him to Taiwan, he no longer ridiculed him in his talks.

In the General Mansion Shi Lang prepared a large banquet, showing Wei Xiaobao grand hospitality. During the feast, suddenly he received a report that an imperial decree has just arrived from Beijing. Shi Lang hurriedly went out to receive the decree. When he returned, he carried a strange expression on his face.

“Wei Daren,” he said, “The imperial edict says we must give up defending Taiwan. This is really bad.”

“Why is that?” Wei Xiaobao asked.

Shi Lang replied, “The imperial edict ordered lowly officer to make any preparation necessary to leave Taiwan. Entire Taiwan, military personnel and civilian alike, everybody has to move inland, not a single family, a single mouth is allowed to stay. Lowly officer asked the envoy minister who brought the decree, turns out there was a proposal by the cabinet ministers in the imperial court: Taiwan is a separate area overseas, easy to become robbers’ abyss and marsh [meeting place of fish and beast, i.e. breeding ground of crime], not easy for the imperial court to control. If they sent large army to defend, it will cost a lot of money for soldier’s pay and provision. Consequently, they decided they don’t want it.”

Wei Xiaobao pondered this matter silently for half a day. He asked, “General Shi, do you know the real intention of those high-ranking senior ministers of the imperial court?”

Shi Lang was startled, “Could it be … could it be that the talk about Wu Zixu has reached Beijing?” he asked in a trembling voice.

Wei Xiaobao smiled and said, “There’s a common saying: ‘Good deeds do not go beyond the door, evil deeds spread a thousand miles.’ The imperial court is worried that General really wanted to be some ‘Great Ming Taiwan King of Jing Hai’; that’s certainly is a possibility.”

“What … what should we do?” Shi Lang asked, “Taiwan’s common people numbers several tens of thousands people, they have lived here in peace and worked happily for decades; these bunch of people are sent inland, what are they supposed to do to pass their days? If they are forced to migrate, definitely there will be huge changes. Besides, as soon as the Great Qing’s officers and men leave, the red-haired troops will immediately take it over. We, the Chinese, worked hard in establishing the foundation, now we present it with both hands to the red-haired demons, how can the people be willing to do that?”

Wei Xiaobao hesitated for half a day. “This matter,” he started, “I believe it’s not completely irreversible. His Majesty is most compassionate toward common people, General must plead on behalf of common people, you never know, maybe His Majesty will grant your request.”

Shi Lang was somewhat comforted. He said, “But if there are already rumors and hearsays in the imperial court, and lowly officer plead with His Majesty like that, it would appear that I am unwilling to leave Taiwan, then I will appear … appear not to have enough loyalty.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “This time you must immediately go to Beijing, explain in person the hows and whys to His Majesty. Since you are in Beijing, if there is any rumor that says that you intend to establish yourself as king in Taiwan, naturally nobody will believe anymore.”

Shi Lang slapped his thigh and said, “Right, right! Daren’s advice is very true, lowly officer will leave tomorrow.” Suddenly he was struck by an inspiration, “Taiwan’s civil and military official business, I will have to ask Daren to temporarily manage. There is no one His Majesty trusts more than Daren, only if Daren presides over Taiwan will no one in the imperial court dare to utter half a sentence of gossip.”

Wei Xiaobao was greatly delighted; he thought he could satisfy his craving of holding a government post, it would feel really great. He laughed and said, “You did not receive imperial edict, on your own initiative you hand over the power over military forces to me; if His Majesty blames you, then what?”

When Shi Lang heard it, he was greatly hesitant. He pondered, “He is Chen Jinnan’s disciple, an accomplice of Tian Di Hui rebels. Although His Majesty dotes on him, over the years he was exiled on Tong Chi Island, without giving him any political power or mission to do. If he has this power over the troops and horses, and joins hands with Tian Di Hui and rises in rebellion, I … I will commit capital offense.” But then he had a second thought, “I only need to bring the entire Navy fleet with me, he will not dare to budge. If he brazenly takes any rash action, if he has the impertinence to revolt, the Navy will return and immediately pacify him.” Thereupon he laughed and said, “If I hand over the power over the troops and horses to other people, maybe His Majesty will blame me, but if I hand it over to Daren, of course all taboos are off.”

Presently the banquet ended prematurely. That very night Shi Lang issued an order to have all high-ranking civil and military officials to pay their respect to Wei Xiaobao, giving him the full authority to conduct all government affairs as he saw fit. He also requested the secretary to put together a memorial to the throne on Wei Xiaobao’s behalf, stating that he was concerned over the national affairs, and had come to Taiwan with a specific purpose in mind to temporarily take control of the situation, so that the imperial court would have no reason to be concerned, and asked for forgiveness for the crime of acting without permission. He also said that the common people of Taiwan have live peacefully over there for a long time, that ‘your servant’ the minister has seen Taiwan with his own eyes, it appeared that moving the people was not suitable.

By the time everything was settled, it was already morning the next day. Shi Lang wanted to depart immediately. Wei Xiaobao asked, “There is one big thing, have you prepared it?”

“I wonder which big thing?” Shi Lang asked.

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “Something to spend!”

“Something to spend?” Shi Lang did not understand.

“That’s right!” Wei Xiaobao replied, “This time you pacified Taiwan, your merit is not small. Those high-ranking ministers of the imperial court, how much gift are you going to give to each one?”

Shi Lang was taken aback, he said, “This is all because of the Son of Heaven’s powerful benevolence, it was because the officers and soldiers were following the order that we succeeded in pacifying Taiwan. Those high-ranking ministers of the imperial court did not spend any effort.”

Wei Xiaobao shook his head. “Ay, Old Shi, you are so proud of yourself, your old shortcoming flares out again. You pacified Taiwan, everybody thinks that you hogged the mountain of gold and the mountain of silver you found here and made a fortune. The officers in the imperial court, which one would not be jealous of you?”

Shi Lang anxiously said, “Daren please understand, if for personal gain Shi Lang helped himself to even one tael of Taiwan’s money, this time I go to Beijing, let His Majesty hack me to pieces, let me be executed by lingering death.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “You yourself want to be an honest and upright official, but you can’t expect everybody to follow you to be an honest and upright official. The more you are honest, the more people will find it easier to slander you; they will say that in Taiwan you bought the heart of the people, with the intention of going against the law. So, this time you go to Beijing empty-handed without bringing anything?”

Shi Lang said, “I’ll bring some local products of Taiwan, such as wood carvings, bamboo basket, straw mats, leather suitcases …”

Wei Xiaobao burst into loud laughter. At first Shi Lang was flushed with anger, but suddenly he saw the light; in the end he resolved to make up for the previous mistakes. Immediately he bowed deeply with cupped fist toward Wei Xiaobao and said, “Thank you Daren for giving me directions. Lowly officer nearly rush into big disaster this time.”

Wei Xiaobao assembled the civil and military officials, he said, “This time General Shi is going to Beijing to plead on behalf of the common people; if he does not succeed, everybody will be destitute and homeless. This mission will cost money, could it be that General Shi has to cover the cost alone? Gentlemen, brothers, let’s everybody hurry to raise money, let’s share the pleading cost together!”

When Shi Lang took the official position, he did it with honesty; all the time he was in Taiwan, he had never taken gold and silver from the people. This moment Wei Xiaobao took over his duty, the first order of business was to raise the ‘pleading cost’.

As soon as the people of Taiwan heard the news about moving inland, they already panicked. When they learned that Shi Lang was following Wei Xiaobao’s advice to go to Beijing to plead for the people so that they would not have to move, everybody was most willing to contribute to this ‘pleading cost’. Fortunately there was no lack of riches and honor among the people of Taiwan; in just half a day they had raised more than three-hundred thousand taels of silver. Wei Xiaobao ordered the treasurer to advance more than six-hundred thousand taels, bringing the total to more than one million taels. He instructed Shi Lang on to whom he had to give more, to whom there would not be any harm if he gave less. Shi Lang could not thank him enough. It was not until the first watch of the night [7 to 9pm] that evening that he finally set sail.

The next morning Wei Xiaobao held a general assembly; he addressed the officials, “General Shi left for Beijing last night. After calculating the ‘pleading cost’ back and forth, we are still short by more than one million taels. In consideration to the entire people of Taiwan, Xiongdi has no choice but to scrape my personal savings over the year, also my seven wives’ pearls and jewels, and managed to collect one million taels, which I handed to General Shi to be brought away and used for this mission. Ay, taking an official post in Taiwan is really not easy. Xiongdi is just taking the office temporarily, the first day I already suffer one million taels deficit. This time I lose my family fortune, and am completely wiped out.”

The prefectural magistrate of Taiwan bowed and said, “Daren cherishes common people, you are being a father and a mother to the people, you are indeed the benefactor of ten thousand families. Other than the six-hundred thousand taels advance payment from the public treasury that we have to pay back, naturally the entire people of Taiwan will return Wei Daren’s one million taels with thanks.”

Wei Xiaobao nodded and said, “Each one of you must also contribute some money, everybody has worked with ‘both sleeves flowing in the breeze’ [i.e. unsoiled by corrupt practice] or something like that, I am not clear about it. Those with high official post should contribute ten thousand taels, those with lower official post’s contribution may vary from several thousand taels to several hundred taels. Everybody work as one, no matter how you look at it, in the end it is for the common people. This advance funds, naturally the locals will have to pay back. We, as father and mother officials of the people, should not extract interest from the people; everybody will have to suffer a bit of loss, as long as we can get our capital back, then that’s it. This is called, ‘loving the common people as our own children’.”

The officials were greatly delighted; they all expressed their gratitude, thinking that this Wei Daren was very considerate toward the feeling of the masses, and was willing to spend his own wealth for them; he was indeed a good superior.

The first day Wei Xiaobao took office, he had already scraped one million taels. Hereafter profits pouring in from all sides; his endless ingenuity need not be explained in details.

Several days later, Wei Xiaobao instructed his subordinate to prepare an offering, he wanted to go to Zheng Chenggong’s ancestral hall to offer scrifice; he wanted to see what did this Guoxing Ye, whose fame shook the world, really look like.

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[1] Hanlin’s Zhuangyuan refers to the top scorer in the examination administered by Hanlin Imperial Academy.

[foxs]

Arriving at the shrine, he looked up to see, and saw the statue of Zheng Chenggong sitting on a chair. His face was oval, his upper lip, his lower lip, as well as his lower jaw, were covered in short black beard; his ears were very big, but his eyes were very small. His eyebrows curved, he looked rather like a benevolent man; there was no bold and powerful, heroic air on him. Wei Xiaobao was quite disappointed. He asked the officials who were coming with him, “Did Guoxing Ye really look like this?”

Lin Xingzhu replied, “This statue looks quite like Guoxing Ye. Guoxing Ye was born as a scholar; although he was a big hero and great warrior, he had a very elegant appearance.”

“I see,” Wei Xiaobao said. He saw that on either side of the statue there was smaller statue; a women on the left and a man on the right. He asked, “And who are those two?”

“The woman was Dong Taifei [grand concubine], the man was the heir Wangye,” Lin Xingzhu explained.

“What do you mean heir Wangye?” Wei Xiaobao asked.

“He was the young master of Guoxing Ye,” Lin Xingzhu replied, “Who succeeded him as the Wangye.”

Wei Xiaobao nodded. “Ah, it’s Zheng Jing,” he said, “He looked a bit similar to that kid Zheng Keshuang. Where is my Shifu Chen Junshi’s statue?”

“Chen Junshi did not have any statue,” Lin Xingzhu replied.

Wei Xiaobao said, “This Dong Taifei was very bad, quickly pull her down. Don’t delay, get someone to make a statue in Chen Junshi’s image and put it here to accompany Guoxing Ye.” Lin Xingzhu was greatly delighted; he personally climbed onto the idol platform, and took the Dong Taifei’s image down.

Wei Xiaobao kneeled down in front of Guoxing Ye’s image and kowtowed several times. “Guoxing Ye,” he said, “You are a hero, a warrior. I am kowtowing to you, I assume you will receive it. This old revered granny spoiled your great undertaking, yet she accompanies you every day, you must be angry. I am helping you driving her out, and let my Shifu Chen Junshi come to accompany you.” Thinking about his Shifu’s tragic death, he could not help shedding some tears.

The entire population of Taiwan hated Dong Taifei to the bones, while they loved Chen Yonghua for stationing soldiers, developing farms and running schools, for always promoting what was useful and getting rid of what was harmful, plus for loving the people. Common people referred him as ‘Taiwan’s Zhuge Liang’. When Zheng Keshuang took over the country, nobody dared to speak any malicious word against Dong Taifei, nobody dared to say any words of praise of Chen Yonghua.

This moment Wei Xiaobao issued the order ‘remove Dong install Chen’, the people were very happy. They also heard that he kowtowed and shed tears in front of Guoxing Ye’s image, all the people were even more grateful. Although this Wei Daren’s demand of money was, quite frankly, rather serious, first of all, he was Chen Junshi’s disciple, Taiwan’s military personel and civilians alike inevitably were fond of him. Secondly, Shi Lang led the Qing troops to take over Taiwan, he wiped out the last remaining rivers and mountains of the Great Ming overseas. For these reasons, although ‘Shi was just and honest, Wei was corrupt’, contrary to expectation, the common people felt that this Wei Daren was affable; they would rather have him guarding Taiwan and thought that it would be best if Shi Lang never returned forever.

However, things turn out contrary to the way they wished; after more than a month, Shi Lang, leading the Navy, came back to Taiwan. Wei Xiaobao waited on the shore to welcome him. He saw a high ranking officer wearing the attire of a one-pin rank high official accompanied Shi Lang as he disembarked from the boat. The high-ranking officer was still walking on the gangplank, he already called out loudly, “Wei Xiongdi, how are you? You made your Gege miss you very much.” Turned out he was Songgotu.

Wei Xiaobao was overjoyed; he scrambled forward. Two people pulled each other’s hand while they both were still on the gangplank, and both roared in laughter.

Songgotu said with a laugh, “Xiongdi, congratuations, congratulations! His Majesty issued an imperial edict, you are to go to Beijing.”

In his heart Wei Xiaobao was both delighted and worried; he thought, “If I wanted to go to Beijing, I would have gone long time ago. The young Emperor is so obstinate, he can’t possibly yield to me. I won’t agree to attack Tian Di Hui, he won’t want to see my face.”

Shi Lang chuckled and said, “The Emperor’s benevolence is vast and mighty, it is indeed unspeakable. His Majesty has agreed to withdraw the decree of moving Taiwan people inland.”

For the past month or so, day and night all Taiwan military-civilian were anxious, afraid that the Emperor would insist on evacuating Taiwan. Everybody said that the Emperor’s mouth was ‘golden mouth’; whatever he said, he would not renege. As soon as Shi Lang spoke those words, the government officials on the shore heard it, they could not help but cheer loudly. They broke into loud cry together, “Long live, long live, long, long live!” The news spread like wildfire, sound of cheering rose up everywhere, followed by ‘pi pi pa pa’ noise of firecrackers. The atmosphere was much more lively than the New Year celebration.

Songgotu announced the imperial decree, Kangxi was giving Wei Xiaobao quite encouragement and exhortation, ordering him to go to Beijing as soon as possible because he had another appointment for him. After Wei Xiaobao finished expressing his gratitude, the two of them went to the inner hall for a private discussion.

“Xiongdi,” Songgotu said, “This time your face is indeed not small, afraid that you still have apprehensions, His Majesty ordered me to personally deliver the imperial edict in haste. Do you know what mission His Majesty is going to send you to?”

Wei Xiaobao shook his head, “His Majesty’s divine intention, wonderful consideration, we as his servants will never be able to guess.”

Songgotu leaned forward and whispered in Wei Xiaobao’s ear, “Attack Luocha demons!”

Wei Xiaobao was startled; but then he sprang up and cried out, “Wonderful!”

Songgotu said, “His Majesty said that as soon as you find out, you must be very happy. Sure enough, he was right. Xiongdi, ever since Shunzhi’s years, Luocha demons have been occupying our Heilongjiang region, and they run amock over there. The late Emperor and His Majesty are magnanimous, they refuse to be bothered about it. Who would have thought that Luocha demons won a cun [inch], they wanted a chi [foot], they took more and more of our land. Liaodong is the place where our Great Qing has our root, how can we let the demons threaten it? Right now the three border defense rebels and Taiwan’s Zheng Clan have all been pacified, there’s no problem in the world, thereupon His Majesty decided to use military force against the Luocha.”

Wei Xiaobao had stayed on Tong Chi Island doing nothing for several years, he was so bored that he felt like while playing Pai Jiu he repeatedly grabbed ten pairs of ‘departing ten’. At this time as he heard the news, he was so happy that he grinned from ear to ear.

Songgotu said, “In order to keep the peace, His Majesty has issued several imperial edicts to the Luocha Country’s Great Khan, but all along they never respond. Afterwards Holland’s envoy minister communicated the information that although Luocha country is big, it is actually a country of barbarians, in the entire country there is not a single person who understand Chinese characters. His Majesty’s imperial decrees that they received were just a completely unfathomable mystery to them, thereupon without any better option they decided not to respond. However, all along Luocha troops come to the east to occupy our land in endless stream. His Majesty said, our China pays particular attention to benevolence and righteousness, we can’t simply punish the barbarians without telling them first. We need to tell them their error first, and give them the opportunity to repent and change quickly and completely. If after the imperial edict they are still stiffnecked and refuse to accept the enlightenment, only then would we have to kill them. Among the ministers of the imperial court, only Wei Xiongdi, one person is proficient in Luocha language.”

(Book note: During the China-Russia negotiation, it was a known fact that neither party understood the other’s language and script. The history records that Russian Tsar delivered letter to Kangxi, saying, ‘In the former times the Emperor bestowed a letter, our humble country did not understand the content, hence we did not go through it.’)

Wei Xiaobao thought, “Turns out it was because I understand Luocha demons’ language that the young Emperor surrenders to me.” He could not help dancing and gesticulating for joy, feeling very proud of himself.

Songgotu laughed and said, “Xiongdi is proficient in Luocha language, admittedly it is amazing; but there is one great skill that nobody can reach up to you. We heard that Luocha Country’s Queen Regent is the Great Khan’s Jiejie, this Queen is Xiongdi’s good old friend; is that right?”

Wei Xiaobao roared in laughter and said, “Luocha women’s whole body is covered in golden hair. This Queen Regent Sophia’s appearance is not bad, but when you caress her skin, it felt very rough.”

Songgotu laughed and said, “His Majesty wants Xiongdi to set out on a mission immediately and make an effort to brave the difficulty again, to caress her skin once again.”

Wei Xiaobao laughed while shaking his head. “I have no appetite, I have no appetite,” he said.

Songgotu said, “Xiongdi caresses her, two countries will be good friends, from now on we can avoid the calamity of blade and troops; this is a wonderful merit of bringing peace and stability to our country.”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “Turns out His Majesty did not send me to lead the troops to war, but he wants to unleash my ‘shiba mo shengong’ [eighteen-touch divine skill; ‘mo’ can mean touch/caress/feel (with hand) or grope]. Ha ha …!” And then he started singing, “One touch, two touches, touching the side of Luocha Country Queen’s hair. The Queen’s hair is like gold, Suo Dage [reminder: Songgotu in Chinese is Suo E’tu] and Wei Xiaobao have all the money to spend!” The two of them roared in laughter.

Wei Xiaobao asked about the details of Luocha Country invading and occupying Heilongjiang, Songgotu told him everything he knew. Turned out during the reign of Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty [1573-1619] Luocha people determined to invade east. (Book note: Luocha was Russia. The Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, commentaries by Lang Tan, et al. recorded, ‘Russia was called Luocha, with different interpretation to the ears, slow and fast.’ The slow reading was Russia [Eluosi], the fast reading was Luocha. According to Russian original pronounciation, Luocha was closer.)

One after another, Tomsk, Yeniseysk, Yakutsk, Okhotsk and the others in Siberia built fortification. In Shunzhi’s sixth year, Luocha people built fortification in Mount Luding, and called it Albazin (in China it was referred to as Yakesa [Jaxa]), while at the same time spreading to the east, robbing and plundering along the way.

In Shunzhi’s ninth year, Manchurian Qing’s Liaoning Guta [district] Commander Ba Hai leading 2,000 troops routed Luocha troops at the bank of Heilongjiang [river]. Later on at the mouth of Songhua River, Manchurian Qing’s Commander in Ming Anda [county, Suihua, Heilongjiang] courageously fought Luocha troops and inflicted heavy damage. The Luocha troops withdrew to the west and built fortification in Nerchisk, while dispatching an envoy to Moscow to beg for assistance. Along the way the envoy spread rumors, saying that in Heilongjiang region gold and silver were everywhere, oxen and horses in large numbers, the houses of the people were inlaid with gold. The Luocha people dreamed of vast wealth, the troops marched to the east, robbing and plundering along the way, devastating the common people. Cossack cavalry was especially bloody and cruel.

Manchurian Qing’s Liaoning Guta Commander Sha’erhuda, Liaoning Guta General Bahai led the troops to met the enemy, during Shunzhi’s sixteenth and seventeenth year they scored several victories, killing the Luocha troops’ commanders and generals, killing and beheading more than half Cossack cavalry. For this reason Luocha people did not dare to come to the bank of Heilongjiang anymore.

During Kangxi’s early years, Luocha military and civilian marched to the east in large scale again, they made Yakesa their base of operations. After Kangxi grew older, he knew Luocha people had enormous ambition, hence he took more rigorous action in defense, by stationing Jilin Navy at Heilongjiang to guard the area. Luocha troops also received continuous reinforcements, and built Yakesa’s city wall to make it completely secured, while at the same time setting up stations along the major road all the way back to Luocha Country’s headquarters, determined to engulf the vast land of Heilongjiang region.

At that time Kangxi was focusing all his resources to deal with Wu Sangui; he could not afford to divide his forces to defend against Luocha Country’s invasion. It was only after the three border defenses were pacified and the Zheng Clan of Taiwan surrendered, that he had no fear of trouble from the rear, did he finally turn his attention to deal with Luocha Country. He remembered Wei Xiaobao had been to Moscow; not only he was familiar with the nation’s situation, he also had a rather unusual relationship with the Queen Regent who held the power over Luocha Country, since he had offered her advice to escape from the trap and helped her seizing power, and was bestowed nobility title by her. It was a very powerful chess piece Kangxi had in his hand; why not use it? As soon as Kangxi learned that Wei Xiaobao had gone to Taiwan, he sent Songgotu to announce the summons.

Wei Xiaobao took his wives and children, and had his servants carried the ‘pleading wealth’ he had gained in Taiwan, ‘both sleeves in the golden breeze’, went onboard the ship to sail north. Before departure he asked Shi Lang for original Taiwan’s high-ranking officers to come with him to assist him in the incoming mission: Lin Xingzhu, Hong Chao, as well as five hundred rattan-shield troops. Shi Lang knew that this time Wei Xiaobao went to the Capital, he would be put in an important position, while in order to maintain his position, Shi Lang himself needed somebody powerful in the imperial court to back him up; naturally he did not raise any objection, on the contrary, he sent off Wei Xiaobao and Songgotu with some serious gifts.

Taiwan people knew that in the imperial court’s withdrawal of the decree to abandon Taiwan and move them inland, this Wei Daren had rendered a very big meritorious service; everybody was grateful. Tens of thousand people sent him off with countless umbrellas, ‘protecting the people’ banners, and so on. When Wei Xiaobao was about to get on the boat, two elderly men took off his boots and held it high above their heads, saying that it was something left behind to consider. Originally this ‘shedding of boots’ ceremony was only performed on upright and honorable local official that the common people loved and respected. Wei Xiaobao was a ‘corrupt official’, unexpectedly he also enjoyed this rare honor; not only it was unprecedented; perhaps it would never happen again in the future. The crackling of firecrackers to send him off did not need to be mentioned.

Book note: According to the historical records, when the Qing court determined to abandon Taiwan, the decision had been made; but because Shi Lang contended strongly, the Da Xueshi Li Lei mediated for him. It was only then did the court decide establish local government and set up garrison. At that time it seemed like a trivial matter, but it had significant effects toward the later generations. If at that time Shi Lang did not contend strongly, the Qing court abandoned Taiwan as soon as they pacified the Zheng Clan and moved the entire Taiwan military personel and civilians inland, the Dutch was bound to come back, henceforth Taiwan would not be part of China’s territory. For this reason, although some people pointed their fingers to Shi Lang as a traitor to China, with regard to the Chinese people, he strenously opposed the proposal to abandon Taiwan, keeping this wide expanse of land as China’s territory, his meritorious service can be considered enormous. Shi Lang also submitted a memorial to the Emperor to lower Taiwan’s land tax. Based on his proposal, Kangxi gave the common people of Taiwan quite some benefits.

Shi Lang’s second son Shi Shilun was also an uncorrupted government official; whenever the commoners had any dispute with the ‘red silk member of the gentry’, Shi Shilun always took the common people’s side. For this reason among the people he was called ‘Shi Qingtian’ [Blue Sky Shi, i.e. upright and honorable official]; he was also the leading character of the later generations’ book ‘Shi Gong’an’ [‘gong an’ means judge’s desk/complex legal case].

Shi Lang’s sixth son Shi Shibiao became the Tidu [local commander] of Fujian Navy. In Kangxi’s sixtieth year he was stationed in Taiwan; it was known in history as ‘The thirteenth day of the eighth month, the disaster of strange wind and violent rain caught them unprepared, a lot of soldiers and civilians died. All through the night Shibiao stood outside. Because of this he fell ill. In the ninth month, he died on the line of duty. Imperial decree was issued as lamentation and expression of sympathy, bestowing him the title of Taizi Taibao’ [Tutor to the crown prince]. In the middle of the hurricane that attacked Taiwan this man stayed outside overnight to direct the relieve effort, until he fell ill and died; he could be considered a good officer who loved the people.

Our country historians have always had prejudice against Manchurian-Han relations; they always attacked Shi Lang’s takeover of Taiwan as his fault, calling him ‘a traitor (to Han)’. When our book was first written, it was also based on the same general impressions. Contemporary historians, however, persevere to rally the Chinese people to have a unified notion, giving Shi Lang’s contribution in integrating Taiwan a considerable praise.

In commemorating this national hero, the author has visited Shi Lang’s native place of Quanzhou [Fujian] on a tour, witnessing how the locals erected Shi Lang’s statue by the sea, and built a ‘Qing Hai Hou [marquis of ocean pacifier] Temple’; therefore, our book’s original views of negating Shi Lang is hereby slightly revised.

[foxs]

Chapter 47 - The banner pointing to the clouds went out in the autumn to take tactical border position, the sound of drum transmitted by the wind at the end of the night overlooked the Pass.
(Translated by Foxs)

Lu Ding Ji 47.jpg

The Qing troops shouted together, several thousand tree trunks suddenly shot water; from four sides eight directions water spurted into the city. They heard above their heads the water swooshing incessantly. Just like white dragons streams of water flew into the city. In an instant the city of Yakesa was covered in boundless thick fog.

[foxs]

One day the ship arrived at Tanggu. Wei Xiaobao, Songgotu and their men disembarked and continued their journey by land, passing through Tianjin and continuing to Beijing. When he entered the gate of the Capital, Wei Xiaobao felt as if it was a thing of the previous generation; his heart was bursting with joy, he felt his body was as light as the immortals. Immediately he went to the Palace to appear before the Emperor.

Kangxi summoned him for an audience at the Upper Study Room. Wei Xiaobao walked to Kangxi’s presence, where he kneeled down and kowtowed. Before straightening up his body, his heart was suddenly overwhelmed with mixed feelings of grief and joy; he could not help bursting into tears while still crouching down.

Seeing Wei Xiaobao’s arrival, the greater part of Kangxi’s heart was happy, but there was a small part of his heart that was enraged; he mused, “This kid is undisciplined and out of control, he has the cheek to repeatedly defy the imperial decree. This time although I am going to send him on a mission, I must discipline him well, lest he will rely on my favor and become arrogant, then I can’t control him any longer.” Who would have thought that as soon as Wei Xiaobao saw him he unexpectedly cried loudly? Kangxi’s heart melted. He laughed and said, “Damn it, as soon as you, this kid, saw Laozi, why are you crying?”

Still sobbing, Wei Xiaobao replied, “Your servant thought that for the rest of my life I won’t be able to see Your Majesty. Today we finally meet, my joy is unbearable.”

Kangxi laughed and said, “Get up, get up! Let me look at you.”

Wei Xiaobao crawled up, his face was covered in tears and snot, but the corners of his mouth revealed a smile.

Kangxi laughed and said, “Damn it, you, this kid, has grown.” With childlike innocence he suddenly stood up and walked down his throne. “Let me see,” he said, “Are you taller, or am I taller?” He walked pass him and stood back to back with him. Wei Xiaobao could see right away that in term of height the two of them were comparable to each other; but the Emperor wanted to compare height, how could he be taller than the Emperor? He slightly bent his knees at once.

Kangxi held his hand above their heads to measure, he was about one cun taller. He laughed and said, “We are about the same height.” Turning around and walked a few steps away, he asked with a smile, “Xiao Guizi, how many children do you have?”

“Your servant is no good at anything,” Wei Xiaobao replied, “I only have two sons and a daughter.”

Kangxi laughed heartily and said, “I am better in this matter. I already have four sons and three daughters.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “Your Majesty has great skill and strategy, naturally … naturally you are also extraordinary in this matter.”

Kangxi laughed and said, “We have not seen each other for several years, your literary knowledge did not make the least bit of progress. What does having sons and daughters have anything to do with great skill and strategy?”

Wei Xiaobao replied, “In the past King Wen of Zhou had one hundred sons; every good emperor certainly has a lot of sons.”

Kangxi laughed, “How do you know?” he asked.

Wei Xiaobao said, “Your Majesty sent your servant to fish; the two of us are like King Wen of Zhou and Jiang Taigong. King Wen of Zhou’s affairs, naturally your servant has to ask clearly, so that when I see Your Majesty, I can report back to my superior.”

These past several years Kangxi was busy fighting the war against Wu Sangui; day and night he worked hard, making plans, dealing with national affairs; he missed having this young minister, Wei Xiaobao, by his side, with whom he used to chat and joke to relieve boredom, so much so that sometimes he was extremely bored. This moment as the ruler and his minister reunited, he was very happy. After some more chitchat, he asked Wei Xiaobao about his life on Tong Chi Island, he also wanted to know Taiwan’s local conditions and the people there.

“Taiwan’s soil is fertile,” Wei Xiaobao replied, “The climate is warm, the output is abundant; the people there pass their days in happiness. When they found out that Your Majesty allows them to continue living in Taiwan, everybody was grateful for the vast and mighty imperial kindness; they all said that Your Majesty is a hundred per cent raw bird fish soup [see Chapter 14].”

Kangxi nodded and said, “Governance should not be a nuisance. The people have lived in peace and worked happily in Taiwan, forcing them to move inland is greatly disruptive. The high-ranking ministers of the imperial court do not understand Taiwan’s situation, they submitted this preposterous proposal and nearly spoiled the big affair. You and Shi Lang submitted the advice, your merit is not small.”

‘Poof’, Wei Xiaobao sank on his knees; he kowtowed and said, “Your servant repeatedly disobeyed the imperial decree, I deserve to be beheaded seventeen, eighteen times; no matter what merit, Your Majesty need not care about it. I am just asking Your Majesty’s grace, please spare your servant’s life, allow me to serve by your side.”

Kangxi smiled and said, “You knew you deserve to be beheaded seventeen, eighteen times; too bad you don’t have eighteen heads. Otherwise, I would definitely chop seventeen of those heads.”

“Yes, yes,” Wei Xiaobao said, “Your servant does not want too many heads either. Only one head with a mouth to speak and eat, and I will be perfectly contented.”

Kangxi said, “Whether your head will remain or not, I must see first whether you are loyal or not, whether you still dare to disobey the imperial decree.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “In term of loyalty, your servant is loyal and devoted, I have a red-bellied devotion, I will display utter loyalty to dedicate myself to the service of my country.”

Kangxi laughed and said, “You remember quite a bit of those idioms with the ‘loyalty’ character in them; are there some more?” [Translator’s note: as you may already guessed, each of the idioms (expression made up of four characters) Wei Xiaobao mentioned above has a ‘loyal’ character in it.]

Wei Xiaobao said, “In my heart I only have one ‘loyal’ character, naturally I remember some. There’s … there’s ‘loyal to the lord love one’s country’, and then ‘loyal minister are not afraid of death, those who are afraid of death are not loyal minister’ [naturally this last one is not strictly an idiom of four characters]. And then there’s ‘loyal, considerate, open and guileless’ …”

“Get up!” Kangxi said, “If you are really ‘loyal, considerate, open and guileless’, there is nobody in the world who is wicked, mischievous, and crafty.”

Wei Xiaobao stood up and said, “Reporting to Your Majesty: I am loyal and devoted to you, one person, only. Regarding other people, I am not that loyal, sometimes I still swindle him a bit. Your servant’s character is a bit slippery, this fact Your Majesty also knows very well. However, toward Your Majesty I pay particular attention to ‘loyalty’ [zhong xin], toward my friends I pay particular attention to ‘spirit of loyalty and self-sacrifice/code of brotherhood’ [yi qi]. When loyalty and righteousness cannot satisfy both sides, your servant has no choice but to shrink my head like a turtle and went fishing on Tong Chi Island.”

“No need to worry,” Kangxi said, “We are going to talk about this day onward; I am not going to order you to attack Tian Di Hui.”

With hands behind his back Kangxi paced back and forth several times; he said slowly, “Toward your friends you uphold yi qi, that is a virtue; I can’t blame you for that. The sage [usually refers to Confucius] paid particular attention to loyalty and forgiveness; this ‘loyal’ character does not necessarily refer only to the ruler, toward everybody we must spare no effort, and that is the real meaning of ‘loyalty’. Loyal and righteousness [zhong yi], two characters, originally one cannot exist without the other. You would rather die than turning your back on your friends, you are unwilling to sell your friends for the sake of riches and honor, glory and splendor, it is also considered very rare, you really have the air of the ancient people. Since you are unwilling to turn your back on your friends, naturally you will not turn your back on me. Xiao Guizi, I pardon your guilt, not entirely because of your past meritorious service, not entirely because you and I are kindred spirits since we were young, but it is also because you attach importance to yi qi, which is really not a bad thing.”

Wei Xiaobao shed tears of gratitude; choking with emotion he said, “Your servant … your servant does not understand anything. I only feel that other people sincerely treat me well, I really … really cannot … cannot do them wrong.”

Kangxi nodded his head and said, “Your Luocha Country’s Queen Regent, her treatment to you was not bad either, but now I am sending you to attack her; what do you think?”

“Pft,” Wei Xiaobao broke out in laughter. “She was locked up by others, her life almost could not be guaranteed. Your servant taught her to instigate the gunmen to start a rebellion and finally seize the throne; it can be considered I already repaid her kindness. She sent her troops, presumably to seize Your Majesty’s beautiful rivers and mountains, we simply cannot let her do that. This woman is a fickle; today she fools around with this man, tomorrow she will fool around with that man, she really must not do that. It’s a pity that Luocha Country is really too far, otherwise your servant will bring some troops to capture this Queen and have Your Majesty look at her. It will be quite interesting.”

“Luocha Country is really too far,” Kangxi repeated, “These five characters are very important. Based on these five characters alone, once we go out to war, we must grasp the victory. Although Luocha Country’s firearms are sharp, their cavalry brave, but they are far, we are near. They came tens of thousands li to the east; their soldiers, horses, firearms, ammunitions, grain and straw, their clothes, everything is not easy to get. Presently I have already sent the Minister of Revenue Yu Sang’a to go ahead to Guta, Liaoning, to build the two cities Aigun and Kumarsk, to amass grain and straw and ammunition, also to set up ten relay stations for post horses, so that military logistic and army provisions can flow unimpeded, continuous from the source. The other day I also issued an imperical decree to Mongolia, forbiding them to have any trade relation with Luocha people. Moreover, I sent Heilongjiang General Sabusu to dispatch cavalry far and wide; if they see Luocha people’s rations and fodder and their vehicles, to set those damn things on fire, if they see Luocha troops’ horses, to immediately slaughter those damn horses.”

Wei Xiaobao was greatly delighted; he said, “Your Majesty so deployed, whatever is near, whatever is thousand li distant, this war has already been won seventy, eighty percent.”

“That’s not necessarily true,” Kangxi replied, “Luocha is a big country. According to Nan Huairen, the extent of their country is bigger than our China, we really must not underestimate the enemy. If we lose the war, Liaodong will fall, the foundation of our country will be shaken. If they are defeated, it won’t affect their present situation; all they have to do is retreat to the west. Hence in this war we must win and cannot lose. If you are defeated, I will have to personally lead the troops out of the Pass. The first order of business is to chop your head.” While speaking the last sentence, his voice was stern.

“Your Majesty,” Wei Xiaobao said, “Please set your heart at ease. If your servant cannot save my neck, it is because Luocha troops chop it down, definitely I won’t let Your Majesty come and do it.”

“It’s good that you understand it,” Kangxi said, “Weapons are ominous, war is dangerous, nobody can guarantee victory. I only tell you that you absolutely cannot be careless; war is not a matter of smooth talk and oily mouth.”

Wei Xiaobao respectfully replied, “Yes.”

Kangxi continued, “If the only thing I need is sending the troops to fight, I did not need to send you. But this time we start a war with Luocha Country, it is not to wipe them out at all, I only want them to sound out the difficulties and retreat to avoid defeat, and won’t dare to come and invade our territory, that’s all. Thus we must show them kindness and power at the same time, to make them deeply grateful, to have both countries live in harmony forever. If you indulge in killings, the Luocha Country’s monarch might become hostile out of shame, and incite the whole country to attack. Even if we can win, it will be a military disaster, the gains will not make up for the losses. Only if we can live in harmony, not fighting or wrong the other’s troops, will it be considered very auspicious. If you can persuade the Luocha Country Queen Regent to withdraw the troops, both countries make peace, it will be your greatest merit.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “When your servant sees Luocha troop’s generals, I will enlighten them with Your Majesty’s imperial edict, and ask them to bring words back to Luocha Country Queen Regent.”

Kangxi said, “I have had quite a few western missionaries here, I asked them in details about Luocha Country history, dynasty and past events, their natural conditions and social customs, geography, military and administrative affairs …”

“Right, right,” Wei Xiaobao said, “Your Majesty knows them and knows ourselves, we will emerge victorious in every battle.”

Kangxi showed a faint smile; he said, “Those clergymen all said that Luocha people love to take unfair advantage of good people but are afraid of the evil ones. If we blindly speak good words with them, they win a cun and want a chi, they will be more and more vicious. We should explicitly show our true colors, let them know that we are not to be trifled with. Consequently, on one hand we must mobilize a large army, prepare everything well, so if we have to fight we’ll fight; on the other hand we must appear to be a righteous nation. China is a superior country, we won’t show off our power and bully people at will.”

“Your servant understands,” Wei Xiaobao said, “Sometimes we put up our red face, draw our knife and use the damn thing; sometimes we put up our white face, laughing happily stroking him several times. Just like Zhuge Liang captured Meng Huo seven times, so that he would submit completely and henceforth did not dare to revolt.”

Kangxi let out a ‘hey, hey’ laughter; he said, “That’s exactly it.”

Noticing Kangxi’s strange laughter, Wei Xiaobao had a second thought; he understood Kangxi’s mind. He laughed and said, “Just like the Lord of Ten Thousand Years captured Xiao Guizi seven times, so that your servant would be grateful and afraid at the same time, henceforth will not dare to play any trick. Xiao Guizi is just like Sun Wukong [Monkey King, Journey to the West]; in a word, he cannot jump out of the Lord of Ten Thousand Years’ Tathagata Buddha’s palm.”

Kangxi laughed and said, “As you grew several years older, you also become more and more modest. If you really want to jump out of my palm, I can’t really catch you.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “Your servant is very comfortable in Your Majesty’s palm, why would I want to jump out?”

Kangxi said, “Speaking about pacifying Wu Sangui, your merit is really not small; this is one thing that you have not caught up yet. Presently I am sending you to lead the three armies of water and land, in a campaign against the Luocha. The city of Yakesa is built on Mount Luding [deer and cauldron], I confer to you the title of Third-class Duke of Luding, Great General of Fuyuan [county, Heilongjiang; ‘fu yuan’ itself means ‘consoling/pacifying (places) far away’]. In military affairs, Commander Peng Chun, Heilongjiang General Sabusu, and Liaoning Guta General Ba Hai will assist you. In the administrative side, Songgotu will assist you. We will set out four-way cavalry and infantry first, plus 5000-men Navy. If that is not enough, we will send whatever is necessary. All horses and logistics are in place. Aigun and Liaoning Guta are already stocked with provisions, enough to be used by the large army for a period of three years. There are 350 battlefield cannon, and there are fifty siege cannon. Do you think this is enough?”

For each sentence Kangxi spoke, Wei Xiaobao thanked him for his grace. When Kangxi finished, Wei Xiaobao hastily kneeled down and kowtowed over and over.

Kangxi said, “Luocha Country only has no more than six thousand cavalry and infantry at Yakesa and Nerchinsk. We have seven or eight times that number to deal with them, indeed it is the sound of thunder ten-thousand great power; I only hope that you won’t fail our magnificent China’s national prestige.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “In this war your servant is fighting on behalf of Your Majesty; if we show even the tiniest setback, the Luocha people will look down on us. In spite of everything, Your Majesty please set your heart at ease.”

“Very good,” Kangxi said, “What else do you need?”

Wei Xiaobao said, “From Taiwan your servant brought along five hundred rattan-shield troops to the Capital. They have been in battle with the red-haired troops, and are very good at resisting firearms. Your servant is thinking to take them to destroy Luocha.”

“That’s very good!” Kangxi said happily, “Zheng Chenggong’s troops have defeated Dutch’s red-haired troops, you bring them to fight Luocha troops, our chance of victory is increased by thirty-percent. Originally I was worried the Luocha troops’ firearms are formidable, I am afraid there will be too many casualties among our officers and soldiers.”

[foxs]

Wei Xiaobao said, “Rattan shield can withstand flintlock musket’s bullet, these rattan-shield troops can roll pass their defense line and use broadsword to chop demon troops’ demon legs.”

Kangxi was greatly delighted, “Wonderful, wonderful!” he repeatedly exclaimed.

Wei Xiaobao said, “Your servant also has a young concubine, in those days she came with me to Moscow, she is proficient in Luocha demon language. I want to ask Your Majesty’s gracious approval to let her come with the army to handle affairs.” According to Qing Dynasty regulation, taking one’s family along in a military expedition was a grave offense; therefore, he had to ask permission first.

Kangxi nodded. “I know,” he said, “Now go and set up meritorious service!”

Wei Xiaobao kowtowed to take his leave. When he retreated toward the door, Kangxi suddenly asked, “I heard that your Shifu Chen Yonghua was murdered by Zheng Keshuang; is that right?”

Wei Xiaobao was startled. “Yes,” he replied.

Kangxi said, “Zheng Keshuang has surrendered to the imperial court. I have agreed to preserve the entire Zheng Clan’s descendants. You must not give them any trouble.” Wei Xiaobao had no choice but to say ‘yes’.

Before reaching the Capital this time, he had long planned on looking for Zheng Keshuang and made life difficult for him; who would have thought that Kangxi has already anticipated this and ordered him in this way? If he made his move, he would definitely disobey the imperial decree. He mused, “Could it be that I have to forget the big enmity of this kid murdering my Shifu?”

As he walked away slowly with his head hung low, suddenly he heard someone said, “Wei Xiongdi, congratulations!”

Wei Xiaobao thought the voice sounded very familiar. When he looked up, he saw a tall man with wide shoulder standing in front of him; the man looked at him with smile on his face. It was none other than the Imperial Bodyguard Zongguan [chief manager] Dolong. Wei Xiaobao’s shock was no small matter. When he escaped from the Palace that day, he had obviously stabbed Dolong to his death with a dagger in his residence; wasn’t this his ghost coming to demand his life back? In that instant Wei Xiaobao was so scared that his whole body trembled; he wanted to turn around and flee, he also wanted to kneel down and plead for mercy, but he felt as if his feet were nailed to the ground, he could not move even for half a step, all around the lower part of his body felt tense, in that instant he felt a very strong urge to defecate and urinate at the same time.

Dolong came over, he pulled Wei Xiaobao’s hand and said with a laugh, “Good Xiongdi, I have not seen you for many years, your Gege miss you very much, and have come to make sure that everything is according to your wishes. I heard you went fishing for His Majesty on Tong Chi Island, and His Majesty constantly promotes your official ranking and titular honors. I am very happy to hear that.”

Wei Xiaobao felt Dolong’s palm was warm, under the sunlight illuminating the colonnade, he saw a shadow by Dolong’s side; apparently he was not a ghost, his fright was reduced somewhat. “Yes, yes,” he mumbled in reply. He was also afraid that Dolong might remember the former enmity and wanted to settle this old debt. But the dagger clearly penetrated Dolong’s back and pierced his heart; how did he not die? In his panic, he could not think of anything.

Dolong said, “That day in Xiongdi’s residence, your Gege has fallen into the enemy’s plot. Fortunately I received Xiongdi’s help who drove the assassin away so that my life was protected. I have never been able to personally thank you over this matter, I often thought about it in my heart. You also asked Shi Lang to deliver gift for me from Taiwan; I really owe you too much.”

Seeing his sincere expression, Wei Xiaobao decided that Dolong was not being sarcastic; he thought, “He is the Imperial Bodyguard Zongguan, a member of His Majesty’s inner ministerial circle. This time Shi Lang came to give presents, naturally Dolong received his share. Presumably he asked Shi Lang about me, and Shi Lang simply did me a favor with little cost to himself, saying that part of the gift was from me, so that it will appear that he and I have very deep friendship; in turn, people will look at my face and will not give Shi Lang any difficulty. By why did he say that I drove the assassin away? I really don’t understand.”

Dolong saw Wei Xiaobao’s face was white, alternating with blue; he also looked restless. Thinking that Wei Xiaobao must have just received Kangxi’s rebuke, Dolong tried to console him, “His Majesty’s temper has not been too good recently, most probably it’s because the Luocha Country bullies people too much; Xiongdi don’t have to worry about it. Wait till my shift is over, we’ll have a nice dinner together and chat.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “His Majesty’s benevolence is as high as the sky and as deep as the earth. Just now he promoted my official rank again. Xiongdi is deeply grateful, I really don’t know how to repay our lord’s kindness.”

Dolong laughed and said, “Congratulations! Congratulations! Xiongdi is very competent, you can share His Majesty’s tribulations. To have your official ranking and titular honors raised, of course it is proper and to be expected.” There was a hint of envy in his voice.

Wei Xiaobao noticed the warmth and the envy in the tone of his voice and in his facial expression. Knowing that Dolong was a straightforward man, Wei Xiaobao knew he was not pretending; the fear in his heart vanished completely. He laughed and said, “Duo Dage [in Chinese, Dolong is spelled Duo Long], please wait a moment, Xiongdi really need to go pee. His Majesty summoned me for an audience, he gave me a lot of instructions and warnings, Xiongdi tried to hold it that long, but now I can’t hold it much longer.”

Dolong roared in laughter; he knew that when the Emperor summoned his ministers, if he did not indicate that the meeting was finished, the ministers would not dare to withdraw. If the minister had an urgent need to urinate, it would be an enormous difficulty. It’s just that only toward a favored minister like Wei Xiaobao would the Emperor talk for quite so long. With other ministers, usually the Emperor only talked for two, three sentences, and he was dismissed; hence there has never been any urgent need for the ministers to urinate or defecate. Dolong had always been close to Wei Xiaobao; today as they met again after a long time, he was genuinely happy. Immediately he took Wei Xiaobao’s hand and took him to the door of the latrine [orig. ‘thatched hut’], and waited outside as Wei Xiaobao finished his business.

That day, in order to save his Shifu’s life, as well as his Tian Di Hui brothers, Wei Xiaobao had no choice but to stab Dolong. Recalling that ordinarily Dolong treated him well, in the deepest part of his heart Wei Xiaobao was actually quite regretful and uneasy; who would have thought that not only Dolong did not die, he also did not show any sign that he took offense of what had happened. Wei Xiaobao urinated with a happy heart. When he went out of the latrine, he casually sounded Dolong out on what happened that day.

Dolong said, “When I woke up that day, I found out that I had been lying in bed for three days and four nights. The Imperial Physician Guan told me that fortunately I was born with an anomaly; my heart was slanted, so that the assassin’s blade only pierced my lung and did not harm my heart at all. He said that someone with a slanted heart like me, in a hundred thousand people you won’t necessarily find one.”

In his heart Wei Xiaobao cried out, “Ashamed! So that’s what happened.” He laughed and said, “I always thought that Dage is a hero with straight heart and intestine, who would have thought that Dage is a prejudiced man? [‘slanted heart’ means partial/biased/prejudiced]. Dage is prejudiced, are you particularly doting on young Auntie, or on your son?”

Dolong was taken aback. He then laughed and said, “If Xiongdi did not mention it, I would not have thought about it. I do dote on my eighth concubine Fang a bit more than the rest; it may be assumed that it is due to my slanted heart condition.” The two of them roared in laughter.

Wei Xiaobao said with a laugh, “That assassin’s martial art skill was very high; he came to plot against Dage, unexpectedly Xiongdi was not aware of him in advance.”

“That’s right,” Dolong said. Lowering his voice he added, “By coincidence at that time Princess Jianning came from the Hall to see Xiongdi. This kind of affair, as servants we do not dare to ask one question too many. I recuperated for three months and was completely healed. His Majesty revealed to me that it was Wei Xiongdi who courageously saved my life and personally killed the assassin. Xiongdi need not mention the particulars of this event; in short, your Gege owes you a lot.”

Wei Xiaobao’s skin was thick, during Kangxi’s reign, he could be reckoned as first or second best; however, listening to Dolong, he could not stop his face from turning red. Only then did he find out that the Emperor has concealed his secret. First, because it was the Emperor himself who told him, Dolong had no reason to be suspicious. Second, since it involved the Princess’ private business, the people in the Palace understood that the less it was brought up the better. Even if they had doubt as big as the sky, they had no choice but to bury it deep inside their hearts. Were it not for this, they would have to take a lot of trouble to concoct a lie to cover up the past events.

Wei Xiaobao was ashamed; he also felt that he must repay this honest, considerate and naïve man well. He said, “From Taiwan Xiongdi has brought some local products as souvenirs; as soon as I get home I will have someone deliver some to Dage’s mansion.”

Dolong repeatedly shook his hand, “No need, no need,” he said, “We are family, why bother like this? Last time the gift Shi Lang brought was already too much.”

Wei Xiaobao suddenly remembered something, “It’s a kind act that costs nothing,” he mused, “Even if His Majesty finds out, he cannot blame me for disobeying the imperial decree.” Thereupon he asked, “Duo Dage, after that kid Zheng Keshuang surrendered, how is he doing in Beijing?”

“His Majesty treated him very well,” Dolong replied, “He was bestowed First-class Duke title. This kid does not know how to do anything, he only relies on his ancestors’ fortune; unexpectedly his nobility is higher than you, Xiongdi.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “When we joke around that day, we falsely accused him of owing the Imperial Bodyguards ten thousand taels of silver, and then Xiongdi took out some money to pay for him. Does Dage still remember that?”

Dolong burst out laughing. “I remember, I remember,” he said, “That Miss, Xiongdi’s good friend, what happened to her next? If she still follows Zheng Keshuang, we may go and take her back.”

Wei Xiaobao smiled and said, “That Miss has already become my wife long ago, she even gave birth to my son.”

Dolong laughed and said, ““Congratulations, congratulations! Otherwise, since that kid Zheng Keshuang is in Beijing, I don’t care if he is a first-class duke or second-class duke, in the end he will become a no-entitlement, no-power empty-headed Jueye [master noble]. Let us drop him a visit, so that this kid won’t dare to release a fart. This kind of surrendering border defense king, he spends his days trembling with fear, afraid that His Majesty might suspect in his heart he has not really surrendered and would rise again in rebellion.”

“We don’t have to bully him,” Wei Xiaobao said, “It’s just that those who murdered people must pay with his life, those who owed a debt must return the money. This is an absolutely fair and reasonable matter. Forget that he is merely a first-class duke, even if he is a Prince or a Bei Lei [see note 15 chapter 13], he can’t owe a debt and refuse to pay.”

“Right, right,” Dolong said, “That day he owed Xiongdi ten thousand taels of silver, not a few of our Imperial Bodyguard brothers witnessed this; we can go to demand payment from him.”

Wei Xiaobao smiled and said, “This kid has not made much progress. Only ten thousand taels of silver is nothing; afterwards he continuously amassed a lot of debt from Xiongdi. He has personally written an I.O.U. that I have it in my hand. For three generations his Zheng Family became Wangye in Taiwan, how much gold, silver, money and valuables they accumulated has he spent? He must have brought everything to Beijing. Zheng Chenggong and Zheng Jing were good people, presumably they would not milk common people dry; but this kid Zheng Keshuang, could he be polite? He became Wangye for a day, at least he would plunder above one million taels; two days two millions, three days three millions. He has become Wangye for several days, just calculate how much money he has acquired!”

Dolong’s jaw dropped and his tongue was tied. “Awesome, awesome,” he muttered.

Wei Xiaobao said, “When Xiongdi is back home, I will have the loan receipt delivered to Dage. This money, Xiongdi does not want any …”

“We can’t do that,” Dolong hastily said, “Your Gege will collect the payment for you, I guarantee that you won’t get a qian less. I will take my men the Imperial Bodyguards to pay a visit; even if he has guts as big as the sky he won’t dare not to pay.”

“This debt is rather large,” Wei Xiaobao said, “In those days this kid spent his time in drinking and pleasure, he spent money like flowing water. To have him pay everything back at once is really not easy. Let’s do it this way: Dage bring people to collect, if within eight or ten days he cannot pay, let him break up the whole debt into pieces, have him write separate I.O.U., put the Imperial Bodyguard brothers’ names as the creditors. Each I.O.U. can be a thousand taels, two thousand taels, I don’t care. Whichever Imperial Bodyguard brother can collect the debt, let it be his.”

“Absolutely not!” Dolong said, “All Imperial Bodyguards are your old subordinates. Doing a trivial thing like collecting the debt for an old boss and still want some reward, where’s the logic in that?”

Wei Xiaobao said, “They are all my old subordinates, my good brothers, my good friends. For the last several years Xiongdi’s promotion to the nobility is like spurring the horse to full speed, yet all along I did not give any benefit to everybody; when I think about it, I find it quite embarrassing. I want the Imperial Bodyguard brothers to have a share on this several million taels.”

Dolong was stunned. “What … there are several … several million taels?” he asked in a trembling voice.

Wei Xiaobao smiled, “Speaking about capital,” he said, “I did not spend that much. Some of it was spending money, some was a trick; profit after profit, the total amount is not small. This money, Dage may take a bit bigger share.”

Dolong still did not believe; he mumbled, “Several million taels? This … isn’t this too much?”

“That’s why,” Wei Xiaobao said, “I wanted him to break it up into smaller I.O.U.s. It’s going to be easier to collect.” Lowering his voice, he said, “I cannot be involved in this matter; if the Imperial Censor found out, they might submit report, saying Xiongdi is in association with outside border defense, lending money and exacting interest. Whether it’s big or small, I will have to face criminal charge. But if the Imperial Bodyguards want to collect some gambling debt from him, each one collects one or two thousand taels, it won’t be such a big deal. If Dage is afraid to have the Imperial Bodyguards eating this money alone the responsibility is too great, there’s no harm in asking some Valiant Cavalry Brigade officers to come along. They are also my old subordinates; I should also share some benefits with them.”

Dolong repeatedly voiced his agreement. He had made up his mind, when this debt was collected, he would return at least half to Wei Xiaobao. Although Wei Xiaobao was generous and easy-mannered, Dolong could not let him lose his life savings.

Wei Xiaobao was so proud of himself; he thought that if Dolong bring along these ‘like wolves and tigers’ group of Imperial Bodyguards and Valiant Cavalry Brigade officers to collect the debt, this time Zheng Keshuang would definitely have a bad headache. Although the Emperor had ordered him in advance not to personally give Zheng Keshuang any trouble, this big enmity of murdering his Shifu, if he could not avenge it, at least he would make Zheng Keshuang lose half of his family property. In this matter most likely Zheng Keshuang would quietly suffer in silence [orig. ‘eat yellow lotus’], and would not dare to make it public. If other people found out, it would be personal matters between Zheng Keshuang and the Imperial Bodyguards and the Valiant Cavalry Brigade officers who collected gambling debt. People always said that Zheng Keshuang was a hedonistic son of rich parents, that he did not have a good family foundation, as soon as he arrived at the Capital, he gambled and made a scene; no one would put the blame on Wei Xiaobao.

When he exited the Palace, Prince Kang Giyesu, Li Lei, Ming Zhu, Songgotu, Lei Dehong, Du Lide, Feng Pu, Tu Hai, Wang Xi, Huang Ji, Wu Zhengzhi, Zong Deyi, and the other Manchu-Han high-ranking ministers were waiting outside the Palace gate. One after another they stepped forward to congratulate him. With Wei Xiaobao in the middle, they all went to the Tong Mao’er [copper hat] Alley.