If possible, no one wants to live their life as explosive as firecrackers. Making a fortune quietly is the Chinese tradition. Dongfang Shuo? An unlucky fellow full of talent. The emperor liked hearing his jokes, so he could only serve as a crosstalk performer in the imperial palace for his entire life.
In Liu Xie’s “The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons,” in the chapters “Distinguishing Sao,” “Interpreting Fu,” “祝盟,” “Miscellaneous Writing,” “Discourse and Persuasion,” “Imperial Edicts,” “Letters and Records,” and others, nearly ten different literary forms of Dongfang Shuo were discussed. Such a literary giant’s life could be called a tragedy. All his abundant talent became capital for pleasing the emperor and making the emperor happy.
Yun Ye shook his head, driving the image of the elderly Dongfang Shuo in tattered clothes from his mind.
Li Jing’s advice might have been well-intentioned, but he was a war god who couldn’t see the situation clearly. Any decision he made was a step slower than others. This one step destined him to spend his remaining life trembling in suspicion. His advice needn’t be heeded. If it were military advice, Yun Ye would have no objections and would execute it immediately. But as for court matters, he’d wait. He shouldn’t listen to Xu Jingzong either, nor to the old man—that would be purely walking into a huge trap.
The commander of the Hundred Cavalry from the army arrived. In the Great Tang army, whenever there were important military decisions, the Hundred Cavalry Bureau’s people were indispensable. On one hand, it was to tell the Hundred Cavalry Bureau commander that one’s decisions were aimed at the army and beneficial to the army. Secondly, through the Hundred Cavalry Bureau, to tell the emperor that there were good reasons for these changes—they weren’t some conspiracy.
People from secret agencies—you could tell at a glance they were no good birds. Hook nose, triangular eyes, cheeks without flesh—the standard appearance of a military supervisor, far inferior to Old Niu.
He never sat, just stood behind Li Jing, constantly glancing at Yun Ye with those triangular eyes, as if wanting to see through him somehow. Suspicion was a virtue of secret agencies. Yun Ye had long understood these people. Over the past year or so, the Hundred Cavalry Bureau had probably put considerable effort into investigating him, though whether it had any effect was unknown.
“Grand Commander, this subordinate has come especially to confess guilt. The document tampering matter that you ordered this subordinate to thoroughly investigate—this subordinate has found no trace whatsoever. Please mete out punishment, Grand Commander.”
As soon as he opened his mouth, Yun Ye’s favorable impression of this fellow increased by several points. Although the man didn’t look so great, his voice was like a great bell, with some of a military man’s heroic spirit. However, standing behind Li Jing to confess guilt, he looked more like an executioner than a subordinate confessing sins.
“No need to investigate anymore. This old man already knows the ins and outs of this incident. The chief culprit is Na Rimu from the Kang Kingdom. Naturally we’ll settle this account with him in the future. I called you here today because there’s a new cipher symbol that needs you to witness and requires you to execute.” Li Jing didn’t turn his head, just said this lightly, then said to Yun Ye: “Marquis Yun, please begin your explanation. This old man is all ears. Whatever wonderful method you have, please explain it all.”
This Hundred Cavalry commander’s status was clearly not as high as Niu Jinda’s. If Niu Jinda were here, he’d have a seat, and Li Jing wouldn’t dare make Niu Jinda serve as his guard. Hearing Li Jing’s words, his triangular eyes widened to perfect circles, seemingly somewhat disbelieving, but since Li Jing had spoken, he could only close his mouth and prick up his ears to listen.
“I’ve heard Teacher Xu say that cipher symbols and cipher writings are all crude and shoddy little tricks. These things have been passed down for thousands of years, but why have famous generals of every dynasty never improved them? Bamboo joint messaging only changed into cipher writing during the Warring States period. Now that a leak has occurred, only then do you think of changing it? The military should be the foremost applier of the world’s most advanced methods. Why can’t we see this phenomenon from you people?”
Yun Ye was blunt. If the military wanted his things, they couldn’t do so without paying a price. He figured this pauper Li Jing couldn’t produce much money anyway. What he needed was Li Jing’s motion to have elite military personnel participate in the academy, and incidentally find a path forward for the academy’s students. It seemed that being a spy was also a pretty good choice.
“Ignorant youngster! Our Hundred Cavalry Bureau has long since changed the cipher writing. Now, no matter what, there will never again be incidents of documents being tampered with.” The master hadn’t said anything, yet he got anxious—a good dog indeed.
“Your Hundred Cavalry Bureau’s broken toys—you still have the face to present them as treasures? You’ve forcibly turned good cipher writing into something neither fish nor fowl. Splitting one letter into three parts, carried by three people for delivery—that’s your secret. The Hundred Cavalry Bureau just turned three people into five people. With such a change, you have the nerve to claim ‘even if the enemy has sage wisdom, they cannot recognize it’?”
Li Jing had already told Yun Ye about the cipher writing changes. He too doubted how much effect changing three people to five people would have. As a result, Yun Ye ridiculed it as worthless. He had written a letter on five sheets of paper. Looking at any single sheet alone showed meaningless characters. After scrambling the order, he gave it to Yun Ye to look at without telling him how to read this letter. As a result, in less than an hour, Yun Ye had figured out the meaning of this letter and incidentally tampered with its meaning, leaving Li Jing dumbfounded.
Ancient China had countless people of exceptional talent and intelligence. The acrostic poems they wrote were truly marvelous. “Zheng Zhuang loves guests, allows me to drop my cap first before the wine. Writing flows like wind, a resounding reputation doesn’t betray the lord. Mount Gao, Old Bai, jade bones and icy skin—how can they grow old? From now on in Nanxu, good nights with clear wind and moon filling the lake.” The first character of each line was Su Dongpo’s judgment allowing a prostitute to marry and live an honest life. Having been steeped in such things for half a lifetime, how could Yun Ye not see through Li Jing’s simple skip-three-jump-two idiotic writing method?
The Hundred Cavalry Bureau’s military general was rendered speechless by Yun Ye’s words. After a long while, he finally said: “I don’t believe you can write cipher writing so elaborately.” He stiffened his neck, refusing to admit error.
Yun Ye said to Li Jing: “Grand Commander, I am now a spy. Please say one sentence, Grand Commander. I will now use this sentence to write a secret message. Let’s see if the omnipotent Hundred Cavalry Bureau can figure it out. If they can’t, go consult Xu Jingzong and have him explain it to you. This junior has been jolted over two thousand li and needs good rest.”
Faced with Yun Ye’s arrogance, Li Jing smiled bitterly. The Hundred Cavalry Bureau fellow was grinding his teeth almost to powder, yet was helpless. Yun Ye had been tricked here by a fake document—he wasn’t under orders to serve at the front. Yun Ye should be working at the Bureau of Imperial Manufactories right now, not suffering in this icy, snowy land. This was their error, and this was also why Yun Ye and his group had been overbearing everywhere since arriving at the military camp.
“Tomorrow at the fourth watch, prepare meals. At the fifth watch, the entire army departs. The Cavalry Assault Battalion takes the left route, the Mo Dao Battalion brings up the rear. Send scouts out fifteen li. Order Li Ji to ambush troops at the mountain pass. When the enemy has passed halfway, strike from the center route, cutting the enemy army into two segments. Grand Commander Li Jing, this order. January sixteenth.”
This was a military order Li Jing had just improvised. Yun Ye was not allowed to leave the tent and had to write it now. The two of them stared at Yun Ye like tigers watching their prey, treating him like a real spy.
Yun Ye pulled out a book and, ignoring the two men, leisurely began reading. Occasionally he would write something on a piece of paper. Just when the Hundred Cavalry Bureau commander was about to explode, Yun Ye closed his book, stretched lazily, and handed the paper in his hand to Li Jing.
Li Jing was completely confused. He couldn’t understand it—not a single character. To be precise, they weren’t even characters—just ghostly scribbles. The Hundred Cavalry Bureau commander was about to erupt in anger when he heard Li Jing shout loudly: “Hong Cheng, shut up! If you dare one more word of disrespect toward Marquis Yun, I’ll deal with you by military law!” He then asked Yun Ye: “This is the new cipher writing you’ve created?”
The military general surnamed Hong closed his mouth, glaring at Yun Ye furiously with bulging eyes.
“This is the simplest type. If you need something more profound, you can send people to study at the academy. It’s agreed—one thousand strings of cash per student, fair price for all. By the way, let me tell you, when I return to the academy, the mathematics class will teach these things. You’d better study this thing you’ve received quickly. Don’t let it happen that the children of my academy can use your Hundred Cavalry Bureau’s cipher writing as toys. At that time, even immortals won’t be able to save you.”
“Marquis Yun, money matters are trivial, but surely this type of cipher writing must be extremely difficult to learn. The army is full of rough men. I’m afraid they won’t easily master it.” Li Jing felt that even a scholarly general like himself couldn’t figure it out—could he expect those rough fellows to learn it?
“Grand Commander, for you to learn it probably wouldn’t even take the time to drink a cup of tea. How difficult do you think it would be? At the academy, these things are just a kind of game for students. Of course, that’s after they’ve been taught.”
“Without orders, you must not teach these things to students. I’ll immediately send a letter to His Majesty, requesting His Majesty to issue an edict forbidding the academy from teaching these cipher writings. If His Majesty doesn’t approve, I, Hong Cheng, even if it means death and the extermination of my clan, will not allow you to leak this out.”
Hong Cheng’s eyes had turned red. You could see he was trying hard to control himself, not letting himself think about killing.
“Talking about this now is premature. You should go find Xu Jingzong to see if he can decipher these cipher symbols—that’s the proper business. Whether or not to eliminate me, you can think about that after you return.” Yun Ye said to Hong Cheng with a smile. Hearing this, Hong Cheng hurriedly ran out.
“Why does Marquis Yun press Hong Cheng so hard? Although his appearance is poor, his loyalty to Great Tang cannot be questioned. I’ve said it—how many people like you do you expect in the world? This cipher symbol—I needn’t wait to know that Xu Jingzong can definitely decipher it. This kind of clever trickery—even if I were more conceited, I couldn’t compete with you. Why must you make things difficult for a crude military man?”
Li Jing misunderstood. He thought Yun Ye was angry at Hong Cheng.
“The Grand Commander overpraises me. I’m also a military man. Although I can’t wield swords and spears or kill bandits, my heart is no different from Hong Cheng’s. I’m just angry that he doesn’t strive for improvement. Since cipher writing appeared nearly two thousand years ago, dynasties have changed, years have passed, how many heroes have become dried bones in tombs—who would have thought that the military’s method of transmitting secrets hasn’t changed one bit? What’s the reason? Did our ancestors invent cipher symbols so we could lie on them, muddle through, and wait for death? Hong Cheng had dog’s luck—I’m here, so he escapes great calamity. This time it was luck. What about next time? Even if I were made entirely of iron, how many nails could I hammer? If I don’t pass on this knowledge I have to more people, what do you expect later generations to do when they encounter such situations—also be as helpless as us? Those shortsighted people—if they were at the academy, I’d definitely lock them in the dungeon to think things over properly.”
These words made Li Jing’s face turn red. This was the difference between modern people and ancient people. He wrote a military text but kept it hidden and secret. Even when Hou Junji wanted to learn, he taught half and hid half, saying these would be enough to pacify the realm. Although Hou Junji later rebelled, proving how shrewd his judgment was without implicating him, still, as a teacher, his behavior set an extremely bad example for later generations. Everyone teaching half while hiding half started with him. This influence was even worse than if Hou Junji’s rebellion had succeeded.