On the outer seas of Goguryeo, waves surged to the sky. A fleet struggled through the sea waves with difficulty. All the main sails on the ships had been lowered. Only a small sail at the stern was inflated like a ball by the gale. The sea surface was like a boiling pot of water. Six giant ships were like toys, sometimes thrown to the wave crests, sometimes sent to the troughs.
Lai Chuanfeng, his face covered with curly whiskers and wearing tattered clothes, roared in the strong wind. His sturdy arms tightly gripped the cables, desperately pulling backward. The ten toes of both feet tightly gripped the deck. No matter what, he had to separate the tangled cables. Otherwise, when the main sail couldn’t be raised later, everyone could only drift with the ocean currents into the ocean’s depths.
Equally disheveled was Wang Xuance. This refined gentleman had now also become a wild man. Three years of sea voyaging had long since tempered this scholar full of literary talent into a qualified sailor. With a dark complexion, sturdy arms, and a muscular chest swelling with tension, his entire body was drenched by seawater. Still, he shouted “heave-ho, heave-ho” with the work chant, letting the cables cut into the muscles on his shoulders.
Hypatia stood on the bridge, holding binoculars to gaze at any land that appeared in her view. This time, if they couldn’t find a suitable docking place again, the fleet would completely fall into a desperate situation. Although they had lost seven warships along the way, she didn’t feel much sorrow, because the sea simply didn’t give you time to grieve.
On the leading Hailang (Sea Wolf), three streams of flames suddenly rose up. After shooting halfway into the air, they burst open suddenly. Under the lead-gray clouds, they appeared extremely bright.
Lai Chuanfeng tightly wound the cables in his hands around the capstan. Six sturdy men immediately circled around and turned the capstan. Wang Xuance suddenly released the cables in his hands. A giant sail covered with patches rapidly rose up the main mast. The large ship paused for a moment. The small sail dropped down. A not-too-large triangular sail quickly rose up, changing the giant ship’s direction of advance, leaping forward toward the right front.
More than just this one ship made changes. The other five Sea Wolf-class warships simultaneously made the same movements. The main sails borrowed the powerful wind force, bringing the giant ships to leap out of the ocean current and advance in the direction the east wind blew.
“Land!” Hypatia was the first to discover the shadow of petrels in the sky. As long as one saw these spirits of the sea, it meant land was right before them…
He Ping was He Shao’s cousin. Originally he had a very good future, serving in the Court of Diplomatic Reception. At the age of thirty, he had already reached the sixth rank lower grade—one could say his prospects were bright. The triennial promotion assessment began. He Ping was full of confidence in himself. Not to mention relying on his cousin He Shao, the Great Tang’s foremost wealthy merchant—just his own achievements over these three years were enough to send him to the sixth rank proper position. Becoming a chief administrator of the Court of Diplomatic Reception was no big problem. Once he reached that position, he could also be considered to have brought glory to his ancestors once.
Things indeed went as he wished. With a first-class evaluation, he successfully rose one rank. Just when his entire family was immersed in joy, a single appointment notice struck him down from the bright mountain peak into an invincible abyss.
“Mission to the Wa Kingdom, monitor the Wa Kingdom, understand the Wa Kingdom, supervise silver output…”
Then He Ping, who had just been promoted to sixth rank official, was sent by the East Sea Fleet to the Great Tang’s vassal state—the Wa Kingdom. Time flew like an arrow. Six years had already passed in incomparable anxiety. The thirty-six-year-old He Ping with graying hair did one thing every day—stand by the sea gazing at his homeland. For this, he persisted through wind and rain without cease.
The well-behaved Wa woman Taira Yahata beside him had already followed him for five years and had borne him two children. Yet He Ping still harbored resentful anger toward this land.
From Chang’an to the Wa Kingdom, the difference was too great. It was like falling from heaven into hell. If it were just hardship, He Ping actually didn’t mind. Back when he was at the academy, he had piled artificial mountains and gnawed dry steamed buns for several months. Physical exhaustion and food scarcity were not problems for him. The academy emphasized self-reliance. There was good rice here, abundant fish. As long as he got some vegetables, life could go on. If people who came from the academy couldn’t even solve their own food, clothing, and shelter, that would be too much of a disappointment to the teachers’ instruction.
Zhangsun Wuji was a bastard. My cousin offended you, so why take it out on me? If you had sent me to some poor remote area of the empire, I absolutely wouldn’t curse you. Instead, I’d be grateful to you. But sending me to a monkey’s den—what was that about?
About two hundred sailors who had committed serious crimes, two chief clerks who only knew how to drink and not keep accounts, managing over twenty thousand Wa Kingdom mine slaves at the silver mountain—this was He Ping’s main duty.
As for monitoring the Wa Kingdom, He Ping didn’t know how to monitor or where to start monitoring from. The Wa Kingdom’s ships had all been turned into wood chips by the East Sea Fleet. Although Fujiwara-kyo was said to be the Wa Kingdom’s capital, its population was only about eighty thousand. The low city walls simply had no way to resist high-intensity attacks. Every time He Ping saw Fujiwara-kyo, he thought: Give me eight thousand fierce soldiers and I shall surely sweep this land flat.
After bamboo was burned and then sharpened, it became the weapons of Wa Kingdom soldiers. Cutting bamboo into bamboo strips and stringing them together created bamboo armor. Only those nobles could possess iron weapons.
After observing several of the Wa Kingdom’s wars to suppress rebellions, He Ping stayed far away from Fujiwara-kyo and lived at the silver mountain. In his view, helping the empire collect silver using the blowing ash method was far more important than monitoring the Wa Kingdom. The small number of formidable warriors were a joke before the Great Tang’s military. According to He Ping’s judgment, without two or three hundred years’ time, the Wa Kingdom couldn’t possibly reach the Great Tang’s current political, cultural, and military level.
Prince Umayado died at Ikaruga Palace. The Soga clan expanded extremely. A woman jumped out, led a group of formidable assassins to kill Soga no Iruka, then proclaimed herself Empress Kogyoku.
Empress Kogyoku had a son who was already ten years old. He Ping had met this prince and discovered he was different from others. His appearance also differed greatly from others. He spoke Chang’an dialect extremely fluently—this was extremely rare among the Wa people.
Out of a desire to speak Chang’an dialect with someone, for quite a long period, He Ping was this youth’s teacher. Except for the learning that the academy ordered not to be transmitted externally, he almost taught everything about Confucian classics without reservation.
“Speaking of which, it’s very strange. No one has seen Empress Kogyoku, including the Wa Kingdom’s closest ministers. No one can see Empress Kogyoku’s true face, because the Empress’s face is always covered with a veil.”
Those who had seen the Empress’s face all died. Those old ministers remaining from early years, after swearing solemnly to their descendants that the Empress’s bloodline was incomparably noble, immediately committed suicide with their swords, without a single exception.
He Ping was like an outsider, watching as the Wa Kingdom’s capital moved from Fujiwara-kyo to Naniwa, then relocated to Asuka. All this had nothing to do with him. Hollowing out the silver mountain here was what he needed to do.
The East Sea Fleet came once every year, transporting away refined silver. The Great Tang’s commerce was becoming increasingly prosperous. The demand for silver was extremely large. In six years, He Ping’s official rank had also become fifth rank proper. However, such changes had not half a bit of use in the Wa Kingdom.
He Ping once again came to the seaside, hands behind his back, strolling on the soft beach. This was one of his few hobbies. Sea waves rolled up white foam, rushing onto the beach again and again, then slowly receding. Occasionally one or two small fish would be left on the beach, helplessly jumping. Academy people had heard Marquis Yun tell that story about the fish and the child, so at this time, He Ping would bend down to pick up those stranded small fish, then throw them forcefully back into the sea…
A sturdy youth followed behind He Ping. Following his gaze toward the sea, he asked He Ping in a low voice: “Teacher, are you thinking of your homeland?”
He Ping nodded and said: “Yes, six years now. I think of my homeland every moment. Last night I even returned there in a dream.”
“Teacher, I only know the Great Tang is incomparably powerful, but my understanding of your country is limited to this. Can you resolve this student’s doubts?”
He Ping smiled, patted the youth’s head and said: “You already know enough. Knowing it’s an incomparably powerful country and knowing fear is good enough. Know too much and you’ll despair!”
“Japan is also advancing! My mother has already pacified the Japanese archipelago. As long as we learn from the Great Tang’s light corvée and low taxes, Japan will very quickly become as powerful as the Great Tang!”
He Ping laughed heartily again. This kind of childish talk made him very happy today. Holding the child’s hand, he climbed off the beach and sat in a sedan chair. Sixteen mine slaves lifted it up. Once again looking back at the sea, he said: “Prosperity is actually the Wa Kingdom’s disaster. An ant’s step and an elephant’s step cannot be compared.”
The youth nodded, then asked again: “I’ve recently been studying statecraft and know that silver is an extremely precious thing. Since silver is produced in Japan, why do Japanese people have no qualification to mine silver or use silver?”
He Ping looked at the youth and said awkwardly: “Because the Great Tang needs silver, so you cannot use it.”
“Why?” the youth pressed.
“You should still go ask your mother. She should be very clear about why…”
Today was the time to inspect the silver quantity. He Ping needed to personally supervise. On this point, He Ping was never careless. How much was produced each month, how much entered storage—there must be extremely detailed records.
Outside the silver mountain was an extremely vast grassland. The youth rode a horse galloping across the grassland, followed by about a hundred servants running desperately for their lives. In the center of the grassland stood a snow-white tent. Every year at the start of spring, the Empress would bring Prince Zanhua to live on this grassland for a while.
Inside the tent, the Empress knelt sitting at a table, holding a writing brush continuously reviewing the memorials before her. Just as she was about to complete her work, Prince Zanhua lifted the curtain and drilled inside. The only person who could enter the Empress’s tent without announcement was Prince Zanhua alone.
The Empress put down the brush in her hand, sighed and said: “Calm down, calm down. You’re about to become a king. How can you still be so rash and impetuous?”
Prince Zanhua picked up the cup in front of the Empress, drank dry the water inside in one gulp, then asked his mother huffily: “Today I asked my teacher—since silver is produced in Japan, why do Japanese people have no qualification to mine silver or use silver?”
The Empress raised her head, looked at her son with a smile and said: “What did your teacher say?”
“Teacher’s answer was extremely unreasonable. He said it was because the Great Tang needs silver!”
“Teacher wasn’t wrong. That’s exactly the principle. The Great Tang needs silver—that explains everything. He answered very truthfully, very aptly!”