Liu Congyun’s Dream of Being a Zhuge-Style Military Strategist
At the fourth watch, wind rose outside the window, and tree leaves rustled in response.
From the mountain hollow, a dark mass of troops emerged—roughly several hundred men—slowly advancing toward Zu Ye’s position.
Little Liu Zi, responsible for the hall’s security, was leading several Xiao Jiao members on rotating sentry duty when he suddenly sensed other sounds mixed in the wind, as if something was approaching. He leapt onto a large tree and looked out into the distance: “My God!”
He jumped down with a swoosh and ran quickly to Zu Ye’s bed: “Zu Ye, trouble, trouble! Unknown people—a whole company of troops heading our way!”
Zu Ye had just lain down to sleep, but upon hearing this he immediately became alert: “Wake the brothers, load the bullets.”
“Yes.”
Zu Ye went outside and hid behind a tree, looking toward the mountains. He thought to himself: So many people—have the Japanese devils attacked? No, that’s not right—I haven’t heard any gunfire or cannon shots, nor have I heard the Nationalist Army retreating. While he was pondering countermeasures, Little Liu Zi rushed over again and patted Zu Ye’s shoulder: “Zu Ye, look behind you!”
Zu Ye had been focused on looking ahead. When he turned around, he couldn’t help but gasp—several hundred people had also come from down the mountain. They were surrounded!
All dozen or so brothers had gotten up, holding their box cannons, just waiting for Zu Ye’s command.
“Could it be the New Fourth Army again?” Zu Ye thought to himself.
Zu Ye thought tensely, then said to Little Liu Zi: “Get close and shout at them. Understand?”
Little Liu Zi nodded.
Zu Ye patted his shoulder: “Be careful.”
Little Liu Zi waved his hand, and Fan Yifei and several others followed. “Halt! What are you doing?” Little Liu Zi shouted loudly.
The troops stopped, quiet and silent. Zu Ye immediately sensed something was wrong: “Liu Zi, get down quick!”
In an instant, gunfire rang out. Several hundred bullets swept over together. If Zu Ye hadn’t shouted that warning, Little Liu Zi and the others would have been riddled with holes.
Zu Ye and his brothers lay on the ground, returning fire.
After firing for a while, the other side stopped, and a voice shouted: “Spray guns can’t match black donkeys,念短吧, keep fighting and you’ll be清碎了!”
Upon hearing this, Zu Ye understood—real bandits had come—it was all black speech code. The meaning was: Your weapons are no good, stop fighting, or we’ll kill you all!
“并肩子! 合吾! Friends, tread lightly!” Zu Ye responded in black speech code, hoping to build rapport. Translated into plain language, this meant: “Friends, we’re all brothers of the path, give us a way to live!”
“招子放亮点! 开山立柜洪五爷!”
Zu Ye understood immediately: Hong Laohu’s troops—Hong Laohu himself had really come!
“合吾! 合吾!” Zu Ye said loudly, “Borrowing your territory for a meal, 撸扣! 撸扣!”
The other side told Zu Ye to open his eyes wide and not oppose Hong Wu Ye; Zu Ye told the other side they were all friends, just eating a meal on their territory, and they would surrender their guns!
After speaking, Zu Ye said quietly to his brothers: “Are all the bullets chambered?”
The brothers nodded.
Zu Ye looked at everyone and said: “In a moment, fire all the bullets. Kill one and we break even, kill two and we profit one, understand?”
The brothers nodded again.
Zu Ye was feinting surrender, wanting to strike a desperate blow when the other side let their guard down.
At this critical moment, another voice came from the other side: “Over there… could that be Zu Ye?”
Zu Ye heard this voice—it sounded very familiar. Who was it? The wind was too strong to hear clearly. He then responded: “That’s right, it’s me!” The fierce wind carried Zu Ye’s voice over.
“It really is Zu Ye!” that person shouted loudly, then said to the people around him, “Quick, put down your guns, put them down! Our own people, our own people!”
“Zu Ye, it’s me, Liu Congyun (the former grand master of the West Sect’s ‘Dragon Whisker Sprout’ hall, whose position was taken by his disciple Qin Baichuan in 1936)!” another shout came from that direction, against the wind.
Zu Ye finally heard clearly—it really was Liu Congyun’s voice.
Liu Congyun ran over. Zu Ye slowly stood up, and the two men paused for a moment before embracing tightly.
People on both sides were dumbfounded—what kind of relationship was this? They had been ready to fight to the death, but in an instant they were shaking hands and making peace.
“How did Zu Ye come to be here?” Liu Congyun asked.
“How is Master Liu here?” Zu Ye asked almost simultaneously.
“Let’s talk inside,” Zu Ye said to Liu Congyun.
Liu Congyun looked at the surrounding bandits and said: “You all wait for me here.”
It turned out that after Liu Congyun had been driven out of Sichuan by Qin Baichuan and pursued by the great warlord Liu Xiang with no place to settle, he had no choice but to steel himself and go to Shanghai to find Zu Ye. Though family disgrace should not be made public, Liu Congyun had no alternative but to request Zu Ye’s help in killing his way back to Sichuan. But at that time Zu Ye was busy fighting the Japanese, and furthermore, the West Sect’s internal turmoil was good for the East Sect. The conflict between Liu Congyun and his disciple meant Zu Ye could profit as the fisherman—otherwise, if master and disciple, both supremely clever, were bound together doing things, they would also be a threat to the East Sect. The deeply calculating Zu Ye, facing the down-and-out Liu Congyun, first consoled him with kind words, then helped arrange lodging and took a large sum of silver from the hall for Liu Congyun’s expenses. Liu Congyun was moved to tears of gratitude. But Zu Ye kept delaying on helping him kill his way back to Sichuan. Liu Congyun’s heart grew utterly desolate. Zu Ye had an excuse—since ancient times the “Jiang Xiang Sect” had rules, Patriarch Fang Zhaoyu had left instructions: the four great halls each had their duties, and no hall should interfere in another hall’s internal affairs, otherwise the “Jiang Xiang Sect” would collectively denounce them.
Liu Congyun felt what Zu Ye said made sense, but later felt Zu Ye was deliberately not helping. Liu Congyun was a man of great ambition, who had devoted his life to military and political affairs. In his glory days he commanded military authority over several hundred thousand troops and often compared himself to Zhuge Kongming. How could he live such a life now in Shanghai, eating and drinking daily while waiting to die?
Later Liu Congyun requested to resign himself: “Zu Ye, this old one cannot spend every day doing nothing. Though over fifty years old, the person may be old but the heart is not. I still want to do things myself… I hereby request to resign.”
Zu Ye quickly asked: “Where does Master Liu want to go?”
Liu Congyun smiled and said: “Jiang Xiang A’Bao—wherever we land, we can take root. The world is vast, wealth is everywhere. But Zu Ye can rest assured, this old one will absolutely not operate on Zu Ye’s territory.”
Zu Ye tried repeatedly to make him stay, but still couldn’t keep Liu Congyun.
“Zu Ye’s kindness can never be repaid in this lifetime. Zu Ye, take care of your health. The green mountains remain unchanged, the green waters flow long—we shall meet again.”
Zu Ye took out much gold and silver: “Master Liu, take care. If you encounter difficulties in other lands, please return to my humble abode!”
After Liu Congyun left, Zu Ye began laying plans for the Zhoushan matter.
Actually, Liu Congyun had kept something back—during his recuperation in Shanghai, he had learned about the Hunan-Hubei bandits through the Shanghai underworld. Liu Congyun had great political acumen and was skilled at observing current affairs. At that time China was divided by warlords, the Nationalists and Communists were at war, Japanese invaders had entered, bandits occupied mountains as kings—various forces intertwined in the roiling Republican-era drama. Heroes contended, and who would ultimately win was still uncertain.
Times create heroes, chaos produces outstanding men. Taking advantage of chaos, fishing in troubled waters, waiting for opportunities, acting when the time is right—these were the instincts of a politician. Liu Congyun began conceiving his grand enterprise again!
The Nationalist side was closed to him. Whether the Central Army or local military forces, with one command from Old Chiang or Liu Xiang, no one would dare receive him. Going there meant seeking death! The Communist side was even less accessible—his background was not clean, and going there he feared being purged! Mixing in the underworld also had little meaning—ultimately it couldn’t become a great force! Thinking it over, he felt there was only one path: ally with a great bandit, at least have his own troops, have several hundred guns, occupy one region, and wait for opportunities!
Thus, Hong Laohu of the Hunan bandits, who had weapons dealings with the Shanghai underworld, entered Liu Congyun’s sights.
Liu Congyun came to Hunan to recommend himself. Hong Laohu at first was not impressed by this little old man. Later, after Liu Congyun recounted his glorious history, Hong Laohu suddenly understood: This was the “White Crane Gentleman” who had assisted Liu Xiang in defeating Liu Wenhui back then!
He then made Liu Congyun his military strategist. Liu Congyun knew Hong Laohu was testing him. After receiving the strategist title, Liu Congyun first helped Hong Laohu defeat another great Hunan bandit, Zhang Tianba, then eliminated the marauding bandits Liu Zhanshan who had invaded from Western Hunan, and furthermore ambushed a Nationalist convoy, seizing large quantities of weapons and supplies. Now Hong Laohu was reassured: The military strategist truly lived up to his reputation!
Now under Hong Laohu’s command were over a thousand men. Besides box cannons and Type 38 rifles, they also had American equipment shipped from Shanghai, and even several artillery pieces. They had become a small warlord occupying one region.
In the jianghu, this force was called righteous bandits. Like the righteous bandit Zhang Baima of the Northeast, Hong Laohu was also respected. They were called “Southern Tiger, Northern Horse.”
The Green-Haired Tiger
Hong Laohu’s real name was Hong Shichang. He ranked fifth in his family and was then in his early forties, in the prime of life. In his early years he had been a schoolteacher. Later, because he couldn’t pay the land rent, the landlord brought people to seize his wife. His wife, already three months pregnant, was defiled and then threw herself into the river. At night Hong Shichang took a cleaver, climbed over the wall into the landlord’s home, and hacked to death all seven members of the landlord’s family, old and young, then fled to the mountains to hide.
At that time a beast disaster was occurring on the Hunan-Hubei border. People spread rumors that a man-eating monster beast had appeared in the great mountains. The monster beast looked like a tiger, was covered in green fur, and was called the “Green-Haired Tiger,” making common people afraid to enter the mountains even during the day. Even when entering the mountains, they went in groups.
Hong Shichang also feared this monster beast, but having killed people, he had no choice but to flee into the mountains. Running deep into the old-growth forest was safest.
Hong Shichang hid in the mountains for a week, suffering from hunger and cold. He picked a few wild fruits to eat, but they didn’t satisfy his hunger. While hesitating, he suddenly saw a wild rabbit hopping over. Hong Shichang immediately perked up. If he could catch this rabbit, he could satisfy his hunger!
Hong Shichang pulled out his cleaver and quietly walked over, afraid the rabbit would run away. As he slowly approached, he discovered this rabbit moved sluggishly, its belly very large and bulging on the ground—it was pregnant!
Hong Shichang suddenly thought of his beloved wife and could no longer bear to eat this rabbit. He sighed and shook his head: “Ah, little rabbit, go home quickly.”
Having said this, he tucked the cleaver into the back of his waist and walked away.
Suddenly a dark wind swept from behind. Hong Shichang turned sharply. A fierce tiger leapt from the bushes, bit the pregnant rabbit in one mouthful, and tore at it violently. The rabbit struggled a few times then stopped moving. Its belly burst open, blood flowing freely.
Hong Shichang shouted “Ah ya!” and reached to pull out his cleaver.
It turned out this tiger had been watching the rabbit for a long time. Earlier when Hong Shichang held the cleaver nearby, the tiger didn’t dare advance rashly. When Hong Shichang turned to leave, it suddenly pounced over and bit the rabbit to death.
Hong Shichang stood holding his raised cleaver. The tiger, gripping the bloody rabbit, glared with fury, thinking Hong Shichang wanted to steal its prey.
Hong Shichang stared intently at this tiger—it really was covered in green fur. He thought: You beast, you’ve harmed so many living creatures, I must hack you down today!
Though he thought this, his calves kept trembling. He had killed people but never killed a tiger—this thing was not easy to deal with. Better to run away now. Thinking this, Hong Shichang began slowly retreating, preparing to slip away. The tiger still stared at him unblinkingly. Suddenly, the tiger dropped its prey from its mouth, leapt up fiercely, and pounced toward Hong Shichang.
Hong Shichang cried out “Ah” and in panic raised his cleaver to hack at it. As their forms crossed, Hong Shichang’s shoulder took a claw from the tiger, but his blade also struck the tiger’s neck.
Hong Shichang’s left shoulder was nearly shattered, his clothes ripped apart, blood gushing forth. The tiger’s hide was thick and its fur dense. Though it took a blow, it wasn’t injured internally—only the surface skin was cut and bleeding.
Hong Shichang leaned to one side, his right hand barely raising the cleaver. The tiger looked at him and began circling. Hong Shichang followed the tiger’s rhythm, constantly turning.
The tiger was seeking an opportunity. Suddenly it leapt to the right. Hong Shichang raised his blade to chop. Unexpectedly the tiger feinted east and struck west—it turned its body and pounced at Hong Shichang’s left shoulder, biting onto Hong Shichang’s bleeding left shoulder in one bite.
Hong Shichang was instantly knocked to the ground. The flesh on his shoulder was torn, the pain unbearable. In desperation, he twisted his right hand and thrust the cleaver right into the tiger’s mouth with a swoosh. The tiger felt pain and tried to retreat, but unexpectedly the blade had entered vertically—the blade edge caught on the tiger’s fangs, the entire lower jaw blocked by the blade. It couldn’t spit it out or swallow it in. The tiger kept shrinking backward. Hong Shichang gripped the cleaver tightly, not daring to let go. Like a tug-of-war, they were deadlocked.
The tiger became furious, constantly shaking its head, its strength so great it seemed it would shake Hong Shichang into the sky. Hong Shichang was shaken like a kite, swaying back and forth, nearly exhausted. “Can’t die! Can’t die! Can’t die like this!”
The greatest difference between humans and animals is that humans have willpower. The power激发ed by spiritual strength sometimes exceeds one’s own imagination. Hong Shichang was going all in! In the brief moment when the tiger paused to catch its breath, the desperate Hong Shichang threw caution to the wind and thrust his right hand into the tiger’s mouth. His entire arm slid past the throat, reaching directly into the tiger’s stomach. The tiger was so choked it kept shedding tears. It wanted to bite, but with an arm in its cavity, it simply couldn’t close its jaws. Hong Shichang used his last bit of strength and with a great shout of “Fuck—” exerted himself and pulled out half the tiger’s stomach!
The tiger’s stomach was turned inside out. It retreated a few steps. Soon blood flowed from all seven orifices. Its body went limp and it collapsed on the ground, constantly vomiting blood. Its breathing grew weaker and weaker. Finally it blinked and moved no more.
Hong Shichang went completely soft and collapsed on the ground. By this time the sky had darkened. Crows flew overhead calling. Hong Shichang touched his bloody, mangled arm and couldn’t help shedding streaming hot tears.
“Hero!” Two people emerged from the bushes.
Hong Shichang was startled: “Who’s there?”
“Hero, you’re truly formidable! That tiger-fighting just now was so mighty!”
“You saw it?”
“Yes!” The two nodded repeatedly.
“Then why didn’t you come up to help?” Hong Shichang said angrily.
“It was dark. At first we couldn’t see clearly, only heard tiger roars. We thought it was two tigers fighting over territory. We two didn’t dare get close, afraid of being eaten by the green-haired tiger. Later we heard human shouts and rushed over, but by then the hero had already killed the tiger,” one of them said.
“What do you do?” Hong Shichang asked.
The two looked at each other: “Sigh, to be honest with the hero, we two… we two are deserters.”
“Deserters?”
“The Central Plains War was a complete mess. We were Han Fuju’s soldiers, defending the south bank of the Yellow River. Later Feng Yuxiang’s army attacked. The officers didn’t charge forward but stayed behind pointing guns at us, forcing us to charge. We soldiers aren’t afraid to die, but we can’t die so senselessly. That generals don’t charge is understandable, but company commanders and platoon commanders also didn’t charge—every one of them was greedy for life and afraid of death, using us as human shields. Selling our lives for such an army isn’t worth it. Not just us—many people ran! By the way, where are you from, hero? Why did you come up the mountain alone to fight tigers?”
“Sigh—I was forced. My surname is Hong, given name Shichang. I’m from this very county…” Hong Shichang told of his past.
After hearing this, the two felt deep admiration. The taller one said: “My name is Wang Jikun, his is Liu Xuequan. We’re both from Shandong. We three are all people fleeing for our lives. Meeting here today is fate. Why don’t we become sworn brothers—three people becoming sworn brothers of different surnames? In this chaotic world we can look after each other. How about it?”
Upon hearing this, Hong Shichang felt it made good sense. One person alone in the mountains would be hard-pressed to survive. Several people together could get things done. Looking again at these two—they were honest men—he said: “I’m 34. And you?”
Wang Jikun said: “I’m 28.”
Liu Xuequan said: “I’m 25.”
“Good!” Hong Shichang shouted. “Today we’ll use this tiger head as our offering, seal our oath with blood, and become brothers. We don’t seek to be born on the same year, month, and day, but seek to die on the same year, month, and day!” So saying, he used the cleaver to chop off the tiger’s head.
The three men placed the tiger head on a large bluestone. Facing the bright moon, backed by pine waves, they kowtowed and swore oaths, becoming brothers. From this moment, the greatest bandit gang of the Hunan-Hubei region began to sprout.
Wang Jikun and Liu Xuequan both had guns. After the three became sworn brothers, they first used guns to go down the mountain and rob several landlords and wealthy households. Later, having money, they began recruiting desperate poor wretches to come up the mountain, expanding their armaments. Thus the troop grew larger and larger. Meanwhile, in view of Hong Shichang’s tiger-killing deed, the brothers felt Big Brother was even mightier than a tiger—a true king of the mountains—and suggested the boss adopt the name “Hong Laohu.” Impressive!
Hong Shichang nodded in agreement. From then on, the name Hong Laohu grew more and more renowned. Hong Laohu’s troops had strict discipline: First, don’t oppress common people; second, don’t forcibly seize women; third, don’t abduct young children; fourth, don’t plunder legitimate merchants; fifth, don’t kill revolutionary patriots.
In the jianghu they all called this force righteous bandits. Like the righteous bandit Zhang Baima of the Northeast, Hong Laohu was also respected. They were called “Southern Tiger, Northern Horse.”
Liu Congyun’s arrival gave Hong Laohu wings like a tiger. Liu Congyun also seemed to have found a kindred spirit, and his thoughts of achieving great things rose again.
After hearing Liu Congyun’s account, Zu Ye felt infinite emotion. Heroes are forced into being. He then also told Liu Congyun how he had come to this place.
After listening, Liu Congyun gave a thumbs up: “Zu Ye’s patriotic loyalty and meticulous planning—this old one admires! Come, go with me to meet Commander Hong! After meeting, we’ll clear up the misunderstanding. Commander Hong thought you were outside thieves causing trouble on his territory, which is why he came to suppress you!”
Zu Ye hesitated: To go or not to go? Swindlers and bandits weren’t on the same path. If he didn’t go, he definitely couldn’t stay on this territory anymore—where else could he go?
Suddenly he thought of another key problem: “Master Liu hasn’t told Hong Laohu all the internal情况 of the ‘Jiang Xiang Sect,’ has he?”
Liu Congyun chuckled: “Of course I told him.”
“This…” Zu Ye hesitated for a moment.
“Ha ha ha ha!” Liu Congyun laughed again. “Hasn’t Zu Ye heard that military strategy emphasizes illusion and reality? I told him our group are all fortune-telling masters deeply versed in yin-yang arts, all with real abilities. Nationwide there are so many ‘secret societies and religious sects’—one more ‘Jiang Xiang Sect’ doesn’t matter. It’s just that abilities are real or fake, and ours are real. That’s why Zu Ye can be called the number one master by the Jianghuai common people, and why I could become a military strategist holding military authority under Liu Xiang. Moreover, in the Pacification War, I greatly defeated Liu Wenhui—who in the Nationalist and Communist parties and各路 warlords doesn’t know? Zu Ye, my traitorous disciple Qin Baichuan was right—illusion and reality, reality and illusion, we’ve already whitewashed ourselves! As for our scheming and swindling, who knows? Who can see through it? I already told Commander Hong that even the gang leader of the ‘Axe Gang,’ Wang Yaqiao, holds you in high regard! And speaking of which, Hong Laohu himself is a bandit—these are all trades that can’t see the light of day. Who would expose whom?”
At this moment, Zu Ye suddenly recalled what Jiang Feiyan had once said: “Zu Ye, we’ve long been true masters!”
After thinking it over, Zu Ye decided to meet Hong Laohu. After exchanging words, he would make his decision.
The Four Great Flying Thieves of the Republican Era
Hong Laohu was waiting for news in the mountain cave in the back hills, fuming inwardly: A bunch of outside thieves causing trouble on my territory, even robbing several corpse-driving teams—this is simply not taking me seriously!
At this moment Liu Congyun entered leading Zu Ye: “Commander!”
Hong Laohu stood up from his tiger-skin chair: “Military Strategist.”
“Who is he?” Hong Laohu pointed at Zu Ye and asked Liu Congyun.
“Commander, don’t panic, it’s all a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding. Just listen to this old one explain…” Liu Congyun told Hong Laohu everything he knew.
“Ha ha ha ha… I was wondering who it was—turns out it’s the ‘Mr. Tieban’ who commands awe throughout Jianghuai! Long admired, long admired!” Hong Laohu said, grasping Zu Ye’s hand.
“The Commander flatters me. Just a crude jianghu nobody who has wandered to your esteemed territory and offended the Commander—I hope you’ll forgive me,” Zu Ye said.
“Sir is too modest. My military strategist has mentioned you many times. Sir is a peerless genius of talent, and loyally righteous. Meeting you today is truly fate! Someone, bring wine!” Hong Laohu was very pleased.
At the banquet, besides Hong Laohu and Liu Congyun, four more people arrived. Hong Laohu smiled and said to Zu Ye: “Sir, let me introduce them to you one by one…”
Following Hong Laohu’s introductions, Zu Ye became acquainted with these people—all backbone members of Hong Laohu’s gang, known as the “Four Great Vajras.”
“Hundred-Pace Piercing Yang” Wang Jikun—this was Hong Laohu’s sworn second brother. Wang Jikun had taken up arms on the battlefield at age fifteen, participated in the Second Northern Expedition and the Central Plains War. His marksmanship was incredibly precise—within a hundred paces he could hit an enemy right between the eyebrows, thus earning the elegant sobriquet “Hundred-Pace Piercing Yang.”
“Black-Faced Evil Star” Liu Xuequan—this was Hong Laohu’s third brother. He was called “Black-Faced Evil Star” because his skin was dark—place him in the night and only his eyeballs showed white. If he closed his eyes and didn’t open his mouth to show his teeth, you couldn’t sense his presence at all. Moreover, every time the bandit gang took action, he wore a black mask, struck ruthlessly, and left no survivors.
“Twin Blades Heroine” Zhu Jin—the only female among the Four Great Vajras. In her early years she studied under the Hunan martial master Meng Dahong, practicing excellent saber skills and wielding a pair of mandarin duck blades. Mandarin duck blades—one scabbard, two blades, each handle forming a semi-circle, the two blades together forming a full moon shape. Moreover, Zhu Jin was also Hong Laohu’s mistress, and subordinates all called her “Madam.”
“Soaring on the Grass” Yan Laoqi—this person had superb lightness skills. He could tread on duckweed, pass through mountains and caves, travel several hundred li daily without tiring, and could even fly through forests. Later someone explained: it wasn’t flying—it was because he leapt between trees so quickly it looked like flying. This person, together with “Rival to the Living Monkey” Fan Yifei of Henan, “Rival to the Civet Cat” Duan Yunpeng of Beiping, and “Especially the Pigeon” Wang Jinquan of Chongqing, were called the “Four Great Thieves of the Republican Era.” Later, “Rival to the Living Monkey” followed Zu Ye, Yan Laoqi followed Hong Laohu, Especially the Pigeon was shot dead by Dai Li, and Duan Yunpeng defected to the Nationalists. After the founding of New China, Duan Yunpeng, following Chiang Kai-shek’s orders, infiltrated back to the mainland to assassinate Mao Zedong, was caught by Luo Ruiqing who was then Minister of Public Security, and was executed by firing squad in 1969.
Hong Laohu introduced them one by one, and Zu Ye bowed to each in turn. Looking at Hong Laohu’s capable soldiers and strong generals plus a force of over a thousand men, then thinking of his own glory days in Shanghai, Zu Ye felt a pang of sadness—a small sorcerer meeting a great one. From that moment, Zu Ye became even more determined to unify the “Jiang Xiang Sect” and revive its glory.
The Batous and Xiao Jiaos were currently eating in the outer hall. They hadn’t eaten meat in a long time, and the mountain wild rabbit meat tasted quite fragrant. While eating, everyone wondered: What is Zu Ye planning this time, what will happen next?
“Sir, why rob the corpse-driving teams? Corpse-driving in Hunan and Hubei has a long history—it’s our local old custom,” Hong Laohu said. Up to this moment, he still didn’t know the secret of the Japanese corpse-driving teams.
Zu Ye smiled and said: “Does the Commander really believe corpses can stand up and walk?”
“Of course not! When a person dies it’s like a lamp going out—just a pile of rotten flesh. But the corpse-drivers doing this can comfort the hearts of the deceased’s families. Many things are better not understood too clearly. Confused people are happy. Zheng Banqiao said, ‘Rare is confusion.'” Hong Laohu’s scholarly origins and cultural nature now revealed themselves.
“Then hasn’t the Commander noticed anything wrong with the recent corpse-driving teams?” Zu Ye asked.
“What’s wrong? There are more teams? The devils have invaded on a large scale—first the Henan Campaign, then the Wuhan Campaign. So many people died, it’s normal for corpse-driving teams to increase,” Hong Laohu said.
“Has the Commander heard of people using corpse-driving to smuggle opium and silver dollars?” Zu Ye asked again.
“Heh heh heh heh! Of course!”
“The Commander doesn’t intervene?”
“Passing through my territory, how could I not intervene? Those who should pay their cut have all paid. Old Beard Liu from Western Hunan, Pockmark Zhang from Southern Sichuan, Commander Xu in the Central Army, Steward Du from Shanghai—aren’t these just the famous names and numbers? Eastern route, western route, the two lakes, Southern Guangdong—everyone who should give has given. Can’t kill the chicken to get the eggs, and can’t push your luck either,” Hong Laohu said.
“No wonder, no wonder.” Zu Ye kept nodding.
“No wonder what?”
“No wonder Commander Hong didn’t take the corpse-driving teams seriously. Commander, look at what this is?” So saying, Zu Ye pulled several sheets of drawings from his sleeve and handed them to Hong Laohu.
“This is…” Hong Laohu was somewhat puzzled.
“Maps of the two lakes. Accurate, aren’t they?” Zu Ye said.
Hong Laohu looked carefully and said: “Not off by a hair! Where did these come from?”
Zu Ye leaned over, staring at the map, then suddenly pointed his finger at a black circle on it, as if discovering something: “Commander… I just discovered this myself—even you all have been marked…”
“Where?”
“Here!”
A black circle with two characters written inside: Over Thousand.
Zu Ye picked up the drawings and couldn’t help nodding, then said: “At first I thought this marked the mountain’s elevation. Just now when Master Liu brought me to you, I got a sense of the general route and position. Just now looking at this drawing again, I discovered this black circle represents a location that’s exactly your base. The black circle should represent… forgive my presumption, should represent ‘bandits,’ and the two characters ‘Over Thousand’ refer to the number of people in the Commander’s force…”
“Where did these drawings come from?” Hong Laohu became a bit anxious. Mountain bandits all had multiple hideouts like a cunning rabbit—what they feared most was having their positions exposed.
“Commander, don’t worry, just listen to me explain…” Zu Ye laid out the true situation of the Japanese corpse-driving teams one by one.
After listening, Hong Laohu nodded repeatedly, then said: “The devils are clever! Chairman Chiang probably doesn’t have this attention to detail, doesn’t have this boldness, and doesn’t have this time. How can this battle even be fought!”
“Mm,” Zu Ye nodded, “but I always feel… always feel…”
“Feel what?” Hong Laohu pressed.
“I feel these drawings are far more than just military maps, or they have other uses. Otherwise the devils wouldn’t have been so desperate as to dig up my ancestral graves to force me out!” Zu Ye said fiercely.
Seeing Hong Laohu didn’t understand, Zu Ye continued: “According to my subordinate brothers, there are many such corpse-driving teams nationwide. In the south they drive corpses, in the north they call the dead—it seems… it seems when these drawings are assembled together they have even greater use.”
“Greater use?” Hong Laohu was puzzled. “Isn’t drawing military maps a big enough matter?”
“I feel this is only one aspect. The devils seem very afraid we’ll see through the hidden secrets in these maps…” Zu Ye said deeply.
Hong Laohu nodded and said: “Like this… Sir… let’s sort this out. The ancients said: ‘A craftsman who wishes to do good work must first sharpen his tools.’ Buddhism says: ‘Where there is cause there must be effect, where there is effect there must be cause.’ The devils went to such trouble with these maps—they definitely have major schemes. The maps are the cause, their future conspiracy is the effect, and cause and effect are continuous. Today’s effect is yesterday’s cause. Let’s carefully look at what shameful things the devils have done since invading China—perhaps we can find clues. Sir deals in the I Ching, so you must know the Taiji principle of ‘so small it has no interior, so large it has no exterior.’ A dewdrop can reflect the entire world. Let’s work backwards and see what clues there are…”
Hong Laohu was indeed a bandit with scholarly origins—learned in ancient and modern knowledge, eloquent as flowing water. Zu Ye couldn’t help but feel admiration.
At this moment, Liu Congyun also put down his wine cup and leaned over. These three were all old foxes whose brains turned three times faster than normal people. At this moment, facing maps hiding mysterious secrets, they intended to see through the Japanese invaders’ heaven-deceiving conspiracy.
“No need to mention the main battlefield—from the three northeastern provinces downward, advancing into Hebei, Shandong, and Henan, then pushing into the heartland of the two lakes, while simultaneously attacking Shanghai and Southern Guangdong. This conforms to the devils’ China invasion strategy… Places they can’t reach for now, they bomb. After occupying Nanjing, they began massacring… these are all normal strategic and tactical measures…” Hong Laohu said.
“Mm. After Nanjing fell, Old Chiang fled to Chongqing… Sigh, the founding father Dr. Sun Yat-sen didn’t understand feng shui at the time. If he had understood feng shui, he absolutely wouldn’t have set the Nationalist Government capital in Nanjing…” Liu Congyun interjected.
“How so?” Hong Laohu asked.
The Feng Shui of the “Ancient Capital of Six Dynasties” Nanjing City
Liu Congyun stroked his beard and said: “The Commander is well-read in history and must know of Nanjing’s dynastic changes. Nanjing is called the ‘Ancient Capital of Six Dynasties,’ but Commander, look—among the dynasties that established their capital in Nanjing throughout history, was there one that was long-lived? Was there one that prospered? During the Three Kingdoms period, Eastern Wu established its capital in this place and was quickly eliminated. Next came the Eastern Jin, which also quickly ended. Then came the four small dynasties of Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen. After that came the Southern Tang, which lasted less than forty years. Then came the great Ming Dynasty. Fortunately Ming Chengzu Zhu Di was relatively clever—after taking power he immediately moved the capital to Beijing. Later at the end of the Ming period the capital returned to Nanjing, and as a result after persisting for just over ten years all the Ming remnants were completely destroyed by the Qing. Look at these dynasties that established capitals in Nanjing—at most over a hundred years, at least several decades. If not short-lived, then weak. This is all because Nanjing’s feng shui is unsuitable for a capital. Now that the Nationalist Government has moved away, that’s actually good—who knows, perhaps the War of Resistance will now see a major turning point!”
After listening, Hong Laohu nodded repeatedly: “It really is like this—dynasties established in Nanjing are short-lived. Why is that?”
Liu Congyun chuckled: “Commander, hear me out. A place for establishing a capital must inherit the dragon vein’s energy, depend on mountains and adjoin water, with mountains behind as a barrier and clear water in front as a source of wealth. But Nanjing City lacks this good fortune. According to the ancient rule of sitting north and facing south, behind Nanjing is the rolling Yangtze River—nothing to rely on, undercurrents surging—an image of unrest and instability, thus unsuitable for a capital. But this kind of place with rolling river waters and lush greenery happens to accord with the spiritual energy of scholars splashing ink and letting their divine thoughts soar, thus Jiangnan produces many talented scholars while the north produces sages.”
Zu Ye nodded: “What Master Liu says is extremely correct—that’s exactly the principle. Throughout the ages, in the thousand-year Jiangling history, how many talented scholars and beauties has Jiangnan produced!”
Speaking of this, Zu Ye thought for a moment, then suddenly asked: “What I want to know more is, after the devils captured Nanjing, besides burning, killing, raping, and pillaging, were there any other unusual actions?”
“There were!” Hong Laohu thought and said, “It sounds quite ridiculous. I have several brothers who ran out from Nanjing City. They said after the devils occupied Nanjing, they put chains and locks on the bull’s nose at Niutou Mountain in Nanjing, and stationed a company’s worth of soldiers to guard that mountain… Oh right, do the Military Strategist and Sir know what Niutou Mountain is all about? Why is it called Niutou Mountain?”
“Mm. Niutou Mountain is where Nanjing’s dragon vein is located,” Zu Ye said. “Legend has it that when Zhu Yuanzhang was herding cattle for a landlord, he often couldn’t eat his fill. While herding, his stomach would get hungry. One day, he was so unbearably hungry that he killed a small calf and roasted it to eat. That evening when he returned, the landlord counted the cattle and discovered one was missing, so he asked Zhu Yuanzhang where it went. Zhu Yuanzhang lied and said the small calf had eaten grass and gone into the mountains and couldn’t be chased back. The landlord smiled sinisterly and said, ‘My cattle will respond whenever they hear my call. I’ll go up the mountain now to call. If there’s no mooing sound answering me, I’ll slaughter you.’ After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang was so scared his forehead was covered in sweat, thinking this time he was dead for sure. Unexpectedly, when the landlord stood on the mountaintop and called, mooing sounds of a cow really came from the mountain, but it just wouldn’t come out. Later the landlord brought people to search the mountain but found nothing, so he could only beat Zhu Yuanzhang and let it go. Much later when Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor, people spread the story that Zhu Chongba was the true dragon son of heaven. After that calf was killed and ascended to heaven, it still had to obey the true dragon son of heaven’s command, so when the landlord called, the small calf’s spirit quickly responded. Later that mountain’s shape slowly changed, gradually growing into the shape of a bull’s head. Once when Zhu Yuanzhang left the palace to inspect, he passed below the mountain and casually glanced up, getting quite a fright. He quickly asked the attending eunuch why this mountain looked like a bull’s head—it was frightening, level it for me! The eunuch said, ‘Cannot do that, cannot do that! This mountain is the very calf that saved Your Majesty’s life transformed!’ After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded. When he looked up again, the bull’s head on the mountain actually smiled faintly at him. Zhu Yuanzhang got another fright and quickly ordered the eunuch, ‘Quick! Quick! Put a shackle on this bull’s head!’ So skilled craftsmen from the palace began chiseling at Niutou Mountain, opening a hole at the position of the bull’s nose and threading it with iron chains. Only then did Zhu Yuanzhang feel at ease looking at it. From then on people said whoever grasped the chains on the bull’s head grasped Nanjing’s dragon vein.”
After listening, Hong Laohu scratched his head and said: “This thing—does Sir believe it?”
Zu Ye laughed and said: “I don’t believe it, but the devils do.”
Liu Congyun also smiled: “Throughout the ages, how many legends are there in the Chinese land! The devils invading China have used every trick!”
Zu Ye said: “Right! I heard that not long ago they also bombarded Laojun Platform in Luyi, Henan, and as a result fired thirteen artillery shells without a single one exploding—scared a bunch of soldiers until they were dumbfounded!”
“This is a true matter!” Hong Laohu said. “The whole nation knows! This matter is truly strange—what are the odds of thirteen artillery shells simultaneously becoming duds?”
“Very small, small enough to be negligible, but it really happened. It’s like choking yourself to death drinking water, or sneezing so hard you break a rib—very low probability, but it happens in the world,” Zu Ye said with a smile.
“Heh heh,” the “Twin Blades Heroine” Zhu Jin, who had been listening from the side, couldn’t help laughing. “Sir is so humorous—sneezing so hard you break a rib, heh heh…” She laughed again.
“Hundred-Pace Piercing Yang” Wang Jikun also began interjecting: “This can only show that Japanese devils’ military production isn’t up to par. Look at Hitler’s munitions factories—ammunition is randomly inspected, and if the dud rate exceeds one in a thousand, everyone in the entire factory gets cremated. Under such circumstances, who would dare manufacture duds!”
“Black-Faced Evil Star” Liu Xuequan also came over: “In my view, it’s still our ancestors’ spirits manifesting. That’s Taishang Laojun we’re talking about! No matter how formidable the devils are, they’re still human. Laojun is a celestial immortal. In the cloud layers with a flick of his whisk, he knocked down all the artillery shells. It’s just that ordinary mortals can’t see it…”
“Then he should flick his whisk and drive the devils back to Japan!” Wang Jikun retorted.
“Alright, alright, we’re getting off track,” Hong Laohu said. “Looks like the devils are very superstitious. Besides military attacks, they’re also using all these unorthodox methods…”