Lou Shuwan did not linger long in that moment of weakness.
Reflecting on the past could bring clarity to one’s heart, but those who had endured the crushing weight of life and death still had to keep walking the road ahead of them. Perhaps it was because years of indulgence in wine and women had dulled his mind, but Lou Shuweng failed to seize this rare opportunity to mock his sister — and it was also the last time he would ever see her look vulnerable.
Over the following two days, news of the coming great war spread through Prince Jin’s territory, and the army began to mobilize. Lou Shuwan once again threw herself into her busy daily work. On the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month of the ninth year of Wujian, Prince Jin Tian Shi’s envoy left Weisheng and rode out to reach the Jurchen western army, which had already crossed Yanmen Pass and was about to engage Wang Juyun’s forces. At the same time, Prince Jin’s declaration of war against the Jurchens, calling on all the people of the Central Plains to resist the Jin invasion, was distributed across the realm.
The moth flew into the flame.
After more than a decade of Jurchen invasion reducing the land to ruin and its people to suffering, Prince Jin’s long-cowering faction had finally, at this inescapable moment, proven with action the Han blood that ran in their veins.
The anti-Jin declaration stirred people’s blood, and at the same time it ignited the tide of resistance across the Central Plains. Prince Jin’s territory had originally been poor and barren, but during the decade of Jurchen southern invasion, the rich and fertile lands had all fallen, leaving the people destitute — while this territory, possessing relatively independent administrative authority, had gradually taken on something resembling peace. Now more than eight million people lived and worked under Prince Jin’s rule. On learning of this decision from above, some felt their blood stir with fervor, while others felt only despair and panic. Facing so powerful an enemy as the Jurchens, no matter what considerations lay behind the decision from above, the lives and livelihoods of those eight million people were now all being staked on it.
Some enlisted in the army, some relocated, and some waited to seize opportunities for wealth and glory when the Jurchens arrived. During the court deliberations in Weisheng, what was decided first — alongside the issuing of the declaration — was that Prince Jin Tian Shi himself would lead the army on campaign. Faced with the mighty Jurchens, Tian Shi’s decision came as a surprise; the ministers’ attempts to dissuade him failed, and Yu Yulin and Lou Shuwan also went to advise against it. That night, Tian Shi held a private banquet to entertain the two of them. When he had first met Yu and Lou, he had been a dissolute young man in his twenties, shielded by his uncle Tian Hu’s protection, and arrogant by nature. It was only later, after following Yu Yulin and Lou Shuwan to Mount Lüliang, that he had gained some measure of genuine friendship with them.
Later, when chaos swept the realm and Tian Hu’s regime retreated into the mountains, while the Tian clan’s relatives and nephews ran rampant, Tian Shi’s temperament had instead grown calm and steady. Whenever Lou Shuwan needed something done, Tian Shi was willing to lend a hand in good faith. And so, by the time Lou Shuwan, Yu Yulin, and the Huaxia Army later rose up in fury and destroyed Tian Hu’s regime, Tian Shi had already stood on Lou Shuwan’s side beforehand, and was subsequently put forward and became the new Prince Jin.
Lou Shuwan and Yu Yulin had always maintained a good relationship with Tian Shi, but as for his actual abilities, they naturally could not rate them too highly. Tian Hu had founded the Jin princedom, though the three brothers had only been hunters by origin. Tian Shi had been physically sturdy since childhood and had some raw strength, but he could not be called a first-rate master either. In his youth he had witnessed men of extraordinary brilliance, and after that he had kept a low profile — his instinct for picking sides was sharp, but he could hardly be called a man of passionate, decisive action. Having held Tian Hu’s position for just over a year, his sudden decision now to personally lead the campaign against the Jurchens truly struck people as strange.
But on this matter, Tian Shi made no attempt to hide the truth from the two of them.
“…As for the debate over leading the campaign in person, the court has been in an uproar over it. Facing the Jurchens’ overwhelming advance, retreating is the sensible course, and charging forward is for fools. I don’t look like a fool — but the real reason can only be told to the two of you, in private.”
Tian Shi’s private banquet was set in the garden atop Tianji Palace. Looking down from the terrace of this courtyard, Weisheng’s bustling traffic and night scenery spread out like a painting. Tian Shi stood with his hands behind his back, laughing with a sigh.
“When the Jurchens come, there are really only two choices — fight, or make peace. The Tian family has always been hunters; when I was young, I never read many books, to be honest. If peace were truly possible, I’d want it too. The storytellers say that the fortunes of the world turn every five hundred years — that the fortune of the Wu Dynasty has run its course, and the world now belongs to the Jurchens. Submit to the Jurchens, hide here in Weisheng, and spend generation after generation as this peaceful little prince — damn it, that would actually feel pretty good… But it can’t be done.”
He shook his head. “The first time you and I worked together, Miss Lou, was going to Mount Lüliang — the martial contest for marriage, marrying into that Blood Bodhisattva sect or whatever it was. I saw quite a few heroic figures back then, though I wasn’t fully aware of things yet. Later, when Ning Yi killed the emperor and fought his way through the northwest, I was struck with terror — what was a petty Prince Jin, really? If I had angered him back then, my head would have been gone long ago. From that point on, I started paying attention to how these great figures thought — I read books, listened to storytellers… Through all the ages, so-called benevolence has always been false. When the Jurchens first took the Central Plains, their strength wasn’t yet sufficient, which is why there was a Liu Yu, a Prince Jin. But once the realm is truly settled, given the Jurchens’ savagery, the Tian clan will likely be wiped out to the last man. Since when have regional lords ever been allowed to exist?”
His expression still carried some of his old defiance, though his tone, beneath the mockery, also held a certain helplessness. Having said this, he walked to the railing at the edge of the terrace and stepped straight up onto it. Both Lou Shuwan and Yu Yulin tensed and stepped forward, but Tian Shi waved them back. “My uncle was cruel by nature and trusted no one, but for him to have risen from a mountain bandit to this position, he had vision. General Yu, Miss Lou, you both know that although this territory has always submitted to the Jurchens on the surface, my uncle was always planning for war against them. Was it because he was loyal and righteous? In truth, he simply understood this: it’s only when the realm is in chaos that there’s a place for a Prince Jin. Once the realm is settled, there’s no path forward for regional lords or heroes.”
“But even so, Your Highness could remain in the rear, holding the center…” Lou Shuwan stepped forward and said.
“Holding the center — how is that any different from Liu Yu, from the Wu emperor himself? Miss Lou, General Yu, you both know what the outcome of this great battle will be.” As he spoke, he sat down on that dangerous railing. “…The lamps of the Central Plains will go dark.”
The mountain wind blew past; ahead lay the brilliant lights of this age, and Tian Shi’s words dissolved into that wind like an ominous prophecy — but all three present knew this was a fact soon to come to pass.
“There are hardly any places like this left in the Central Plains, but after this battle, there won’t be a Weisheng city like this one anymore. Before the declaration of war, you both saw the letter Wang Juyun secretly sent — the Central Plains cannot win, cannot hold against the Jurchens. Wang Shanyue holding Daming is a desperate gamble to slow the Jurchen advance. Wang Juyun… a band of beggars who can’t even get a meal — they can’t hold the Jurchens back either. When we add ourselves to it, it will be one crushing defeat after another. But the hope is that after all these defeats, the people of Jiangnan — the southern Wu court, even the Black Banner — can finally fight the Jurchens to a mutual ruin. Only then will there someday be a stretch of land under Han rule.”
“Since we already know it will end in defeat, all we can do is think about how to retreat and regroup. Fight when we can win, flee when we can’t — when defeated, retreat into the mountains, and once the Jurchens pass, cut their supply lines from behind. I’m willing to stake my entire fortune as Prince Jin on this. But if, in ten or twenty years, the Jurchens are truly defeated… then this realm will remember my name. Perhaps I’ll even be given a seat at the table.”
“One road is submission to the Jurchens — a few more years, ten more years of comfort, then being slaughtered like a pig, and perhaps leaving behind an eternally reviled name. Aside from that, the only option is to carve out a path through nine deaths and one chance at life. How does one choose? Choosing that second path — honestly, I’m terrified.”
He turned back to look at the two of them and smiled, his gaze cold yet resolute. “But since we’re going to smash the pot and sell the iron anyway, staying behind to hold the center and personally leading the army on campaign are two entirely different reputations. First, if I’m on the front lines, the men below will have more confidence. Second — General Yu, don’t worry, I won’t meddle in the command — but if I go with the army, at least if we lose, we can flee together, hah…”
Yu Yulin laughed along with him. After a while Tian Shi stopped laughing. “But going forward, my path will be different from before. Wealth and glory are found in danger — that’s the principle Ning Yi taught me. Some things you can only obtain by staking your life on them… Miss Lou, though you’re a woman, over these years I’ve come to admire you more and more. After General Yu and I leave, I’ll have to trouble you to hold the center for me. Though you’ve handled many things better than I have all along, and you’ve probably already thought this through yourself — still, as the so-called prince here, there are some things good friends ought to say plainly to each other, just between us.”
“Please instruct me, Your Highness.” Lou Shuwan cupped her hands in salute.
“Fighting the Jurchens sounds like a fine reputation to have, but there are plenty of people who don’t want that reputation at all. I don’t dare stay in Weisheng — I’m afraid of being dragged out and killed in the middle of the night. Going with the army, I feel more at ease. Since you’re staying here, Miss Lou, don’t hold back on anyone who deserves killing.” A trace of killing intent showed in his eyes. “We’re smashing the pot anyway — this territory is yours to handle as you see fit. If there are old dogs who can’t be trusted and dare to act up, exterminate their entire clans! Proclaim their disgrace to the whole realm for generations to come! As for matters in the rear — even if they involve my own father — you may act as freely as you need!”
In the earlier coup within Prince Jin’s faction, of the three Tian brothers, Tian Hu and Tian Bao had both been killed, while Tian Biao — Tian Shi’s father — had been placed under house arrest since he was spared. In the war against the Jurchens, while the front lines fought on strength, the rear fought on the hearts of the people and on fear. The shadow of the Jurchens had loomed over the realm for more than a decade, and there would inevitably be those unwilling to be sacrificed in this great upheaval — perhaps many of them. Therefore, in this land of the Central Plains that had already endured a decade of upheaval, the situation of rising up against the Jurchens was likely to be far more complicated than it had been ten years earlier.
Lou Shuwan nodded simply.
“I know Miss Lou has people under her command, and General Yu will also leave men behind. Whatever can be spared from the palace staff, feel free to redeploy them too. But most important of all, Miss Lou… watch over your own safety. Once things have come to this point, there won’t be just one or two people wanting you dead. The road ahead is long and hard — the three of us… damn it, all take care of yourselves.”
He waved his hand from atop that high terrace.
People could only go along with the great tide of the times.
Leaving Tianji Palace, Lou Shuwan looked out over the prosperous city of Weisheng and thought of those words. Tian Shi had been Prince Jin for just over a year, and he had not yet lost that spark within him — everything he had said was something that could never be spoken to outsiders. Over the ten years of managing this territory, she had taken part in nearly everything that had happened here. And yet, now that the Jurchens were coming from the north, as she and the others tried to defy the great tide and strike a desperate blow, everything before her eyes could turn at any moment.
The people of this city, the people of this court — the things people were willing to do just to survive were beyond imagining. She thought of Ning Yi — back in the capital, when that Chancellor Qin had been thrown into prison and public sentiment had surged against him, he had been the one to strike against the tide. She truly wished she had that kind of ability herself…
A few days later, the envoy carrying the declaration of war reached the Jurchen western army’s camp. Facing this letter of challenge, Wanyan Zonghan was delighted, and boldly wrote down two words: Come and fight!
That same day, the Jurchen western army crushed Wang Juyun’s vanguard force of one hundred and sixty thousand, killing without number.
Not long after, the army in Weisheng took its oath before battle, and Tian Shi and Yu Yulin led their forces north. Lou Shuwan held the center at Weisheng, waving farewell from atop the high city walls as the vast army marched away. That Confucian scholar named Zeng Yuhuai also joined the army and marched north with them.
Weisheng was placed under martial law from that point on. From then on, the harsh suppression and control needed to secure the rear — including bloody purges — never ceased again, because Lou Shuwan understood that from this moment, all of Prince Jin’s territory, within the cities and without, throughout the court from top to bottom, had become a mountain of blades and a sea of swords. And to survive, she, facing all of this alone, could only become more ruthless and merciless still.
Between Yanmen Pass in the south and the ruins of Taiyuan, in that impoverished stretch of land, Wang Juyun was defeated again and again, and again and again he gathered up his scattered troops, having long prepared for exactly this. This had already been a place with little hope of survival to begin with; the army lacked clothing and food, and its weapons were far from refined. The people whom Wang Juyun had gathered together through religious means pressed forward on their last hope and encouragement — and in it, one could faintly glimpse traces of the old Yongle-era uprising.
The brutal fighting at Daming Prefecture raged on day after day like a hell of blood, and Zhu Biao led over ten thousand Huaxia Army troops in ceaseless harassment and fire-raids around its perimeter. Yet more and more uprisings began gathering in other places as well. Between the ninth and tenth months, across the Central Plains north of the Yellow River, people who had been jolted awake surged forward like the last white blood cells in a weakened body’s bloodstream, burning themselves up as they charged the powerful invading enemy.
This was the Central Plains’ last stand.
In the northwest, the flames of war pushed day by day toward the ancient city of Chengdu. For the city’s residents, it had been a long time since they had felt the touch of war directly, though news from outside the walls arrived daily. Prefect Liu Shaojing had gathered “over a hundred thousand” righteous troops to resist the Black Banner rebels; there were reports of victories as well as rumors of defeat, and occasionally rumors that places like Jiading had been wiped out entirely by the Black Banner rebels.
Some had fled before the fighting began; others could not bear to leave their homeland, or hesitated just long enough to lose their chance to leave. Liu Laoshuan was one of those who had not left — his family had lived in Chengdu for generations, and he ran a small shop near the South Gate that had always done decent business. When the first wave of people left the city, he had still hesitated, and not long after, Chengdu was sealed off on all sides, and there was no leaving anymore. After that, all manner of rumors began fermenting through the city.
The Black Banner — this was an army the people of Wu Dynasty knew little about. Its greatest act of rebellion, without question, was the regicide of more than a decade earlier; many even believed that it was that demon’s regicide which had caused the Wu Dynasty’s fortunes to be seized away, sending it into decline ever since. In the years since the Black Banner had relocated to the southwest, the outside world had known little of it; even factions with business dealings rarely spoke of it. Only now, upon inquiry, did people learn that this fearsome band of outlaws had once fought the Jurchens to a bloody standstill in the northwest, years before.
Just how ferocious a band of men must they be, to have fought those Jurchen savages to a draw? Against this backdrop, rumors kept spreading and growing — that the Black Banner had massacred half the Chengdu plain, that Jiading had been burned to bare earth, that the Black Banner army not only ate people but especially loved eating women and children. Meanwhile, amid the mix of victory reports and defeat rumors, the Black Banner’s cannon fire kept drawing closer and closer to Chengdu.
By the latter part of the ninth month, wounded soldiers retreating from the front lines could already be seen constantly within the city of Chengdu. On the twenty-seventh day of the ninth month — far sooner than the city’s residents had expected — the Huaxia Army, whose advance had in fact already slowed, reached the southern side of the city and began the siege.
Liu Laoshuan picked up the fire-poker from his home, bid farewell to his wife and children, and prepared to help defend the walls in this moment of crisis.
On the first day of the tenth month, half an hour after the Huaxia Army’s charge horns sounded, before Liu Laoshuan had even managed to leave his house, Chengdu’s South Gate was breached as its defenders turned traitor.
The gate was pushed open amid cannon fire, and black banners spread forward through the breach…
The Wu Dynasty, Lin’an.
Setting aside the fighting in the southwest — by the tenth month, the weather had already turned cold, and the mood in Lin’an seethed with a mixture of resolve and excitement.
The war that had erupted so fiercely north of the Yellow River was now known to the broad populace of the Wu Dynasty. Prince Jin’s proclamation to the realm, and his bold march north, seemed to suggest that the Wu Dynasty still held the mandate of legitimacy. Most inspiring of all was Wang Shanyue’s stand at Daming Prefecture.
The Guangwu Army’s initial provocation when the Jurchens came south — seizing Daming Prefecture and defeating Li Xizhi — had at first been called reckless. But as this army of over forty thousand miraculously held the city against the assault of Zongfu and Zongbi’s three hundred thousand troops, with each passing day people’s spirits grew bolder. If forty-thousand-odd men could hold off an army of three hundred thousand Jurchens, perhaps it proved that after a decade of hardening, the Wu Dynasty was not entirely without a chance against the Jurchens after all.
Alongside the news from Daming Prefecture spread a reassessment of the defense of Taiyuan years earlier. During the Jurchens’ first southern invasion, Qin Sizhuan’s eldest son Qin Shaohe had held Taiyuan for a full year, and in the end, receiving no reinforcement from any side, the city fell and he died with it. After Ning Yi’s rebellion, this had become a forbidden topic — but now, at last, people were bringing it up again. Whatever one thought of Ning Yi, Qin Sizhuan back then had not been without merit — and his eldest son, in particular, had truly been a man of loyalty and righteousness.
At the very least, the way the former Emperor Jinghan, Zhou Zhe, had handled the matter back then had been wrong.
This shift in public opinion originated from the Princess’s residence, which now controlled the lower levels of propaganda in Lin’an — but behind it lay deeper reasons. First, over all these years, Zhou Pei had always harbored resentment toward Ning Yi. The reason for that resentment was that she had, to some degree, still thought of Ning Yi as a teacher rather than an enemy. But as time passed and reality pressed in on her — especially as Ning Yi’s methods toward the Wu Dynasty grew ever more merciless — the fantasy she had kept hidden even from herself shattered. Once she truly began to view Ning Yi as an enemy, she realized that resentment served no purpose. Having stopped resenting him, all that was left was to weigh the matter clearly and rationally.
The second reason lay in the awkward situation in the southwest. It was Qin Hui and the ministers under him who had chosen to go to war in the southwest; it was the emperor, out of fear, who had failed to commit fully to it. By the time the situation in the southwest had spiraled out of control, the war in the north was already imminent, and the army could no longer spare large reinforcements for the southwest. Facing the Black Banner Army’s overwhelming strength, having the court send in ragged remnants of troops in a piecemeal strategy would only be throwing more men away to be beaten.
As for how to ease the situation in the southwest, Crown Prince Jun Wu had taken quite the shameless approach: you made this mess, you clean it up. The Black Banner Army had said clearly enough in their declaration — we’re here to secure the trade routes and are temporarily occupying the cities; if you want them back, just send someone to negotiate.
But in practice, how could anyone possibly negotiate? Between the Wu Dynasty and the Huaxia Army lay an irreconcilable blood feud over the regicide, and it had always been the official position that the Black Banner Army was nothing more than a band of bandits. If the court sent someone to negotiate, then regardless of the outcome, it would amount to an official admission of weakness — a confirmation that the Huaxia Army was a major power on equal footing with the Wu Dynasty. Under such a categorization, not only could negotiation not guarantee the return of the Sichuan region, but even if the Black Banner were to hand the entire Chengdu plain back voluntarily, it would still be an unacceptable exchange for the Wu Dynasty to accept.
And yet, when the enemy’s true strength was laid bare before them, however unwilling they were, politically, people had no choice but to accept this new reality.
The rehabilitation of Qin Shaohe’s reputation was the first step in this shift of attitude.
The realm was vast, and enormous upheaval — or disaster — loomed close at hand. In the tenth month, Lin’an was abuzz with activity. People praised the deeds of the Wang family, bringing forward the family’s many widows again and again for endless commendation. Young scholars set down their pens to take up arms, singing songs of fervent resolve. During this time, Long Qifei and others were also busy running about the capital, promoting the valor and tragic sacrifice of the southwestern worthies who had faced the Black Banner bandits, pleading for the court’s “heavenly troops” to march out. Amid all this clamor, there were also quieter things happening in the corners of the city.
Li Pin’s Bright Hall had, these past few days, remained a relatively quiet place.
During his years in Lin’an, he had engaged in journalism, education, and so-called New Confucianism, and most of those who had gone to the southwest to oppose Ning Yi had had some contact with him. But relatively speaking, the Bright Hall had gradually drifted away from the center of political power. In this recent period of upheaval across the realm, Li Pin had shut his doors to visitors, maintaining a relatively quiet stance. Though his newspaper cooperated with the Princess’s residence in terms of propaganda direction, he no longer took part in the greater affairs of state.
Occasionally, though, acquaintances would come by, sit with him a while, and leave. Cheng Zhouhai, who had long worked for the Princess’s residence, was one such visitor. On the seventh day of the tenth month, Grand Princess Zhou Pei’s carriage also arrived. In the courtyard of the Bright Hall, Li Pin, Zhou Pei, and Cheng Zhouhai sat down together, and Li Pin spoke simply of a few matters.
“…These past years, fighting the Huaxia Army head-on has become nearly impossible. Their advance through the Sichuan region looks unstoppable, but in truth, once they neared Chengdu, they already slowed their pace. Ning Yi is quite stingy in this regard — he’d rather spend a great deal of time turning the enemy against itself than lose too many of his own men. Chengdu’s gates opened because the defending troops turned traitor at the critical moment — but among all this news, there’s only one thing that concerns me…”
In the sunlight, Li Pin slowly poured the tea. “The Huaxia Army swept across most of the Sichuan region, and at first there were some incidents of troops breaking discipline. In Jiading, these were rooted out and dealt with very severely. Once they entered Chengdu, the Huaxia Army’s soldiers and the city’s residents have had almost no conflicts — no tearing down of houses, no looting of grain, aside from necessary arrests, almost no clashes with the residents at all. Your Highness, Master Cheng — how many armies of the Wu Dynasty could manage that? Yue Fei’s Beiwei Army might come close, but only barely. Any other army, if it tried to set such rules after taking a city and actually enforce them, its own commanders would be complaining nonstop — you simply couldn’t lead troops that way…”
Li Pin paused. “Ning Yi… he was right. To defeat him, one can only become like him. So over these years, I’ve kept turning his words over in my mind, his actions and his thinking… I’ve come to understand some of it, though much remains beyond me. And among the things I have come to understand, I’ve found that there are many contradictions in what he does and thinks…”
“…At the very start of his regicide and rebellion, there were probably things he hadn’t fully thought through, and he spoke rather passionately then. When I was in the northwest, the time I broke with him, he said some things — that he wanted to destroy Confucianism, that it was survival of the fittest through natural selection. But looking at what followed, his actual steps were nowhere near that radical. He talked about equality, about awakening people’s minds — but from what I’ve seen since, Ning Yi has actually been extremely cautious in this regard. Even his wife — the one surnamed Liu — has gone further than him in this; the two of them often argue over it… Before the late Zuo Duanyou left Xiaocang River, Ning Yi once made a joke to him — something like, if things ever spiraled completely out of control, if the whole world turned against him, then he would equalize land ownership…”
Li Pin held his teacup and thought for a moment. “Master Zuo later spoke to me about this — he said Ning Yi seemed to be joking, but was also utterly certain about it… Master Zuo and I talked through the night about it, turning it over again and again — the more we thought about it, the more it chilled us… For Ning Yi to have said such a thing, he must clearly understand just how terrifying those words are. Equalizing land rights combined with equality for all people… but he said he’d only use it as a last resort — why not use it now, then? Along the path he’s walked, he may look bold and unstoppable, but in truth it hasn’t been easy for him either. He wants to destroy Confucianism, to make all people equal, to make all people awaken, to fight the Wu Dynasty, to fight the Jurchens, to fight the entire realm — it’s all so difficult. Why hasn’t he used this method?”
“After years of turning it over in my mind, I believe that behind Ning Yi’s thinking there lies an even more extreme path — one that even he himself isn’t certain about. All along, he’s said that awakening comes first, and equality after. But what if equality came first, and awakening after? If all people are truly equal, why should the gentry landowners — why should you and I here — occupy the positions we do? Why should you and I live better than others, when we’re all human…”
The winter sunlight held no warmth. He paused after saying this. “…In the affairs of this world, moderation is precious… The Huaxia Army is about to strike out, and more voices will start speaking up. Ning Yi wants to walk the middle path — we can give him a push in that direction. If we do this…”
He took a sip of tea. “…I don’t know what it will turn into.”
The city stirred restlessly, and the whole land stirred with it. Li Pin’s gaze was cold and sorrowful, as though all the world’s last quiet had gathered here.
Scattered light filtered down through the gaps in the trees — this was a world too restless for sleep, a dreamless realm of men…