“Haven’t seen these before?” Chai Yingluo smiled softly. “These are trebuchets, used for siege warfare.”
“Siege warfare?” How could there be a siege battlefield set up in the imperial garden palace?
However, as Wei Shubin looked around, she discovered that besides the several trebuchets, there were other strange machines of varying heights on the field. The shorter ones were sturdy carts with protruding spikes in front; the tallest was a wheeled vehicle with an extremely long flagpole mounted on it, topped with a wooden cage resembling a bird’s nest. Someone was in the nest, shouting something loudly, but the wind carried the voice away making it indistinct.
As the shouting ceased, one trebuchet’s long arm began to move. The large bucket containing stones at one end first descended, gathering momentum as it neared the bottom. Then, people suddenly yanked the thick rope at the other end of the arm, causing the bucket to rise with the wind. The large stone shot out in a long arc through the air, falling to strike a distant spot, raising dust and creating the explosive sound they had grown familiar with.
From under the sunshade on the platform came a round of applause and laughter, mixed with discussions and exclamations. One voice stood out among them—bright, proud, and uninhibited—Wei Shubin could easily recognize it as Emperor Li Shimin speaking.
The two women reached the base of the platform stairs, quite close to where the group stood and sat. Chai Yingluo gestured for Wei Shubin to wait at the bottom while she lifted her skirts and climbed the stone steps one by one.
These long stone steps were quite worn, though recently repaired. Recalling what Chai Yingluo had told her on the way, Wei Shubin guessed these steps and the broad foundation were remnants of the Sui dynasty’s Guande Hall. The officials had demolished the dilapidated buildings above, intending to rebuild a summer palace, but had first erected this large tent on the platform.
The tent wasn’t new either, its outer oilcloth showing signs of weather damage, suggesting it had stood there for at least several months. As Wei Shubin was lost in thought, she heard Chai Yingluo above announcing herself to the Emperor.
The Emperor was clearly in excellent spirits and asked with a laugh: “What brings you here at this time, Ying’niang? Your aunt said you haven’t been well lately—in such hot weather, shouldn’t you be resting at home? But since you’re here—did you see those trebuchets? Ah, seeing you reminds me—the first time I ever carefully examined how trebuchets were built was with your mother!”
He spoke rapidly, and no one dared interrupt. When she finally found an opening, Chai Yingluo smiled and responded, “Was that during the Yi Army’s siege of Chang’an?”
“Of course! Your mother was remarkable then—of the 200,000 troops, more than half were the ‘Women’s Army’ she had initially recruited from nearby counties! The Emperor Emeritus sent your father and me to enter the past first and join forces with your mother. Your parents each established their military headquarters, nominally under my command, but your mother and I had grown up together at Mother’s knee—she only ever acted as an elder sister scolding her brother, how could she submit to my command…”
The Emperor broke into laughter at this point, and everyone on the platform joined in. Even Wei Shubin below the steps lowered her head and smiled. After laughing for a while, the Emperor continued:
“At that time, the stubborn Sui troops had retreated into the palace and were holding firm—the walls were high and the moats deep, making a direct assault difficult. Our Tang soldiers were all recruits, eager for merit, and I was impatient too. But the Emperor Emeritus was experienced and steady, holding back the generals from rash advances, ordering us to build these siege engines first. Fortunately so, how many lives would have been lost? Third Sister also understood Father’s deeper meaning, making me inspect and supervise the construction daily. These trebuchets, battering rams, nest towers, scaling ladders, and crossbows—we found craftsmen and blueprints everywhere then, examining each detail carefully: how to carve wood and cast metal, how to fill moats and scale walls. Once we understood the fundamentals, we knew how to use them thereafter. For those who lead armies, these things must be learned. Oh, right—”
In the midst of his enthusiastic discussion, the Emperor suddenly paused and ordered those nearby: “Go summon Prince Wu Yuan Gui here, quickly.”
Wei Shubin’s heart suddenly jumped, not understanding why the Emperor had unexpectedly thought of his younger brother Li Yuan Gui. However, Chai Yingluo seemed to guess and asked with a smile from the platform:
“Is Your Majesty setting up these siege engines here to use these great machines to attack Gaochang?”
“Hahaha, you clever devil!” The Emperor clapped and laughed. “You truly haven’t disappointed your mother’s lifetime of determination—she left behind an intelligent seed. Few women have such insight—oh right, you all go to Taiji Hall and invite the Empress to come relax here—the other day she was advising me not to linger in this dangerous place with weapons, fearing accidental injury! Your aunt is good in every way except one—she worries too much. How can I not come to supervise personally? We started setting up the field and building machines last year, and in half a year there was virtually no progress. These fools—no matter how I explain, they just don’t understand. It’s truly frustrating! If I’m not here in person, nothing gets done!”
Wei Shubin was already feeling dizzy from listening, and Chai Yingluo asked from above: “What’s not working? Could it be that the craftsmen don’t know how to build these trebuchets and catapults anymore?”
“Ah! Child, you really can’t take praise—speak a few more words and your womanly limitations show!” The Emperor sighed. “These siege engines have been used for hundreds or thousands of years—what difficulty is there in building a few batches? For warfare in the Central Plains, skilled craftsmen aren’t hard to find, and wood, metal parts, axes, saws, chisels, and planes are all readily available. Even that time your mother and I attacked the Sui capital under the Emperor Emeritus, we built hundreds of scaling ladders and battering rams in just ten days. But there’s one thing: have you ever heard of an army marching five or six thousand li carrying such cumbersome equipment?”
Wei Shubin couldn’t help but turn her head again to look at those towering trebuchets and nest towers in the field, clicking her tongue in amazement. Though built with sturdy materials, they were so tall that even standing still they risked swaying and falling. Though equipped with wooden wheels, they’d be doing well just to travel a hundred li without falling apart—traveling thousands of li would be impossible.
“That’s impossible. However… could they not be built, then dismantled into wooden parts and wheels, transported in pieces by cart to the battlefield, and reassembled there by craftsmen?”
When Chai Yingluo offered this suggestion, not only did the Emperor laugh, but others on the platform also joined in with a mixture of praise and mockery. After the buzzing voices subsided, the Emperor seemed to turn to address others:
“Don’t laugh at my niece—she’s not entirely off track. Weren’t we still repeatedly discussing just two months ago whether this strategy was feasible?”
Someone on the platform responded: “Your Majesty’s careful consideration of cart and horse loading capacity shows the deep military understanding of one who commands from the tent. As for the Daoist Master… forgive my directness, but I fear she knows nothing of army supply ratios, like those Confucian ministers who speak without knowledge.”
This comment prompted another round of laughter from the platform. Someone else said: “You, Guo Si, dare to speak so boldly before His Majesty—isn’t it just because the Daoist Master is a pretty young woman? If she had been born male and could follow His Majesty in military campaigns, she might well be a famous general by now, and you, General Guo, might not necessarily surpass her.” Another added: “Even without being male, in troubled times, the Daoist Master might lead a Women’s Army as her mother did; or if born among barbarians, like Lady Feng Xianshi of Lingnan, she could be a heroic woman in armor, leading cavalry to quell the rebellion. It’s only because we live in peaceful prosperity that noble ladies need not struggle to survive and can be pampered at home…”
Listening to the men’s banter on the platform, Wei Shubin guessed these were all military men around the Emperor, not as bound by ceremony as civil officials. Though they knew Chai Yingluo’s identity, they probably didn’t dare truly disrespect her, but as a group of men caught up in the excitement of the military exercise field, their blood stirring, when a young beautiful woman suddenly joined their discussion, they couldn’t help but speak freely and presumptuously.
She couldn’t see Chai Yingluo’s expression or bear on the platform but thought to herself that if she were surrounded by a group of men teasing her like this, she would surely die of embarrassment. However, the Zixu Temple abbess must have been used to such scenes, for when the voices subsided, she calmly questioned the Emperor as if she hadn’t heard the previous banter:
“Yingluo understands now—these wooden materials are too cumbersome to be transported thousands of li by cart. So what is Your Majesty’s purpose in conducting these military exercises here these past few months?”