14

LAME PRIEST DISTRIBUTES MONEY AND RICE TO RAISE AN ARMY;

WANG ZE IS CHARGED WITH A CRIME AND THROWN INTO JAIL.

POEM:

The false doctrines1 lack the real art, they say,

Fearing its secrets exist no more.

But if you know them, and your heart is true,

Why need you seek the immortals’ lore?

Wang Ze was watching the mounted men when, in the midst of his conversation with the priestess, someone could be heard shouting, “Are you plotting a rebellion in there?” and he began to tremble with fright. When he looked up, however, he saw a person of wonderfully bizarre appearance wearing an iron-frame Daoist cap, straw sandals, and a scarlet robe with a black border. His complexion was a purplish red, his eyes were like strange stars, and he rode into the manor house on the back of a tiger.

“Master Zhang!” exclaimed the priestess. “I was in the middle of a discussion with Officer Wang. Come in if you want to, but why make such a to-do about it?”

The master jumped down from the tiger’s back, shouted, “Off with you!” and the tiger ran outside. He then paid his respects to the priestess. Wang Ze bowed to the master, who returned the gesture and took a seat.

“Master Zhang,” said the priestess, “this is Officer Wang of Beizhou. In five days’ time you will all be going to his aid.”

“I’m Zhang Luan,” said the master to Wang Ze. “I’ve often said to the priestess that you could make yourself the sole ruler of this area. Several times I’ve thought of visiting you, but I was afraid you might not be willing to see me, so I didn’t dare. But priestess, how did you get Officer Wang to come here?”

“I sent Eterna to Beizhou to perform a little magic in front of the yamen and lure him into coming. We were just discussing what to do when you arrived.”

“When is he going to rebel?”

“Very soon now. Once the mood of the army units changes, he’ll spring into action, and you and the others will go and help.” She had barely finished saying this when a strange beast came in. Wang Ze looked—it was a lion, which entered the thatched hall and prowled around, roaring as it did so. Wang Ze was both terrified and elated. This is a celestial creature, he thought; how could there be one like it on earth as well? It must be my destiny to meet it.”

He was about to ask the priestess, when she started shouting at the lion: “You wretch! Since you’ve come to help Officer Wang, why do you need to play these tricks on him? Put your magic powers away!” The lion shook its head and vanished. In its place stood a man.

“Who is this?” Wang Ze asked the priestess.

“His name is Bu Ji.” She told Bu Ji to pay his respects to Wang Ze. After he had done so, he took a seat in the upper part of the thatched hall. “Officer Wang, did you see Zhang Luan’s and Bu Ji’s skills?”

“Those two are so remarkable I don’t doubt that we’ll succeed.”

“There’s one other person we need to get, to make sure that you succeed.”

“Who is that?” As he said these words, a celestial crane flew down from the sky and landed in the thatched hall. A man jumped off its back, and Zhang Luan, Bu Ji, and Eterna all bowed before him. Wang Ze saw that the man was not more than four feet tall, and that he was wearing a tattered turban, a coarse cloth gown, torn leggings, and hemp shoes with the grommets shorn off. A black sash was tied around his waist. Noting these things, Wang Ze did not get up to greet him. I wonder who this could be, he thought.

“Officer Wang!” called the priestess. “This is my son, Zuo Chu. If you had his help, you would certainly succeed in your great enterprise. Why don’t you get up and greet him?” Wang Ze scrambled to his feet and bowed.

Zuo Chu came up to the head of the thatched hall, bowed to the priestess, and sat down beside the others. “Madam,” he said to the priestess, “has the date been set for Officer Wang’s rebellion?”

“Son, the sooner the better, given the circumstances. We were just waiting for you to arrive in order to set the date.”

“It’s too late today,” said Zuo Chu. “Let’s take Officer Wang back.” To Wang Ze he said, “Tomorrow I’ll come to Beizhou with Zhang Luan and Bu Ji and help you with the rebellion.”

Wang Ze thanked Priestess Pia and the others, and Eterna led him out of the manor house and through a forest, then pointed to the road he should take. When he turned back to look at her, however, she had vanished. He walked a few steps further and was astonished to find that he had arrived at the gates of Beizhou. How very strange, he thought. A while ago I had to walk for ages to reach the priestess’s manor house, but now I’ve arrived at the city gates after just a few steps. Those people must all be supernatural beings who can practice magic. If they come to my aid, I shall certainly make a name for myself.

He entered the city and went to his house, where nothing of significance happened that night. He was not on duty the next day, but when dawn came, he received a shock. This is another strange thing, he thought: Why has all my furniture disappeared? And where did this roomful of rice come from? He had scarcely finished asking himself these questions when he saw three men coming in the door—Zuo Chu, Zhang Luan, and Bu Ji. “Since you’re my guests, I ought to offer you some tea,” said Wang Ze when they had greeted one another, “but I don’t have any servants. I wonder if you’d be willing to accompany me to the tavern next door for a few cups of wine?”

“Don’t say a few cups,” said Zuo Chu. “Let’s drink until we’re really drunk!”

“I’m off duty today, so it’s a good time for a long session,” said Wang Ze.

The four men moved to a table near an upstairs window in the tavern and were drinking there when a squad of soldiers came marching by with banners flying. “This isn’t scheduled as a day for drill,” said Wang Ze. “Why have all these soldiers come out from the two battalions?”

“Officer Wang,” said Zuo Chu, “go down and ask them.”

Wang Ze went downstairs and out the door. The soldiers all knew him, and they came forward and greeted him. “Where have you men been?” he asked them.

“Officer Wang,” the battalion commander said, “the prefect is grinding us professionals down! We’ve served for three months, and he’s not even issued us with money and rice for the first month. We went to the granary this morning, but he drove us away.”

“Well, what do you plan to do about it?”

“If he won’t issue the money and rice tomorrow, we’ll have to mutiny!” The commander and his men went off, while Wang Ze returned upstairs and reported to Zuo Chu what he had said.

Zuo Chu sprang to his feet. “Rush after them and tell them to come back and you’ll give them a month’s supply yourself! That should bring them over to your side.”

“But Master!” protested Wang Ze. “Where are we going to get all that money and rice?”

“You just bring the soldiers back. I know how to provide it.”

Wang Ze rushed after the commander and asked him to bring his men to a halt. If they came back, he said, he would give them a month’s supply of money and rice. The commander ordered a large number of men to Wang Ze’s house, which they found piled high with rice.

“Soldiers,” said Zuo Chu, “so long as you have the strength, it doesn’t matter whether you take one picul or two of rice. Just don’t quarrel among yourselves.” In groups of three and four, the soldiers came forward and carried the rice away, some taking a picul and a half, others taking two piculs.

“We have less than two hundred piculs,” said Wang Ze, “as against the six thousand men in the two battalions. How are we going to provide for all of them?”

“Don’t you worry about that,” said Zuo Chu. “I’ll guarantee that they all get supplied with rice.”

The soldiers worked from breakfast until noontime, moving over ten thousand piculs, and still there were four or five left in the house. The commander and his men came to thank Wang Ze.

“Officer Wang,” Zuo Chu said to him, “it’s still early. Have a word with the battalion commander and tell him to announce to his men that they can come by today and collect one month’s wages.”

The commander was thrilled to hear this, and he raced back and announced to his men that they could come and collect their pay.

“Master, you’ve distributed a great deal of rice,” Wang Ze said to Zuo Chu, “but where is the money?”

“I have it,” replied Zuo Chu, sending Zhang Luan and Bu Ji inside to begin carrying it out. With a thousand strings in each pile, the room was soon stacked full of money. Even before they had finished stacking it, the soldiers were at the door, and Wang Ze allowed them to come in and carry the money away. They went on doing so until evening, by which time every man in the two battalions had been paid. Of the six thousand men and their families, none failed to sing the praises of Wang Ze: “Good old Officer Wang! Who else but he would have been willing to let people come in and take his money and rice away? If you were quick and strong enough, you now have three months’ supply of rice and money in your home. So what do we have to worry about?” Zuo Chu, Zhang Luan, and Bu Ji, having distributed all the money and rice, took their leave, arranging to come back the following day.

Wang Ze was on duty that day. At the third quarter of the fifth watch he entered the yamen and attended the prefect, who was mounting his tribunal. The prefect’s name was Zhang De, and the inhabitants of the prefecture cursed him as

A beast wrapped up in silks and satins,

A swine fed only on the choicest morsels.

This prefect never paid any attention to his proper duties; he was interested only in acquiring money. Taking his seat at the head of the chamber, he now called on his aide, Wang Ze. From the lower part of the chamber Wang Ze bowed and said, “At your service, sir.”

“Wang Ze,” said the prefect, “I understand you’re so wealthy that yesterday you took my place and distributed money and rice to six thousand soldiers. If you distributed it to them, why didn’t you offer me any?”

Wang Ze didn’t dare tell him that the money and rice had been magically created by the three men and had to reluctantly agree to the prefect’s demand. He was just about to set off when two men stepped forward dressed in purple robes with silk sashes around their waists. One of them bowed and reported to the prefect, “Your Honor! All the rice in one of our storehouses has disappeared, even though the locks have not been tampered with!”

The prefect was shocked. He was at a complete loss until the keeper of the treasury stepped forward, bowed, and reported, “Your Honor! All the money in the treasury has disappeared, even though the locks have not been tampered with!”

“Now I understand!” exclaimed the prefect. “Wang Ze, my storehouse has lost its rice and my treasury its money. You have neither storehouse nor treasury, so how did you manage to distribute both rice and money to six thousand men?”

He ordered the jailers to bring out the long cangue and had Wang Ze locked in it right there in the chamber. He was then taken to the jail and turned over to the Office of Public Order for questioning. Because Prefect Zhang sent Wang Ze to jail, certain consequences followed: the prefect’s head parted company with his body, all his family died untimely deaths, and the people of Beizhou were prevented from leading peaceful lives. This state of affairs continued until the court raised an army to root out the demons and retake the area. Truly

The corrupt official deserves to die;

Demons are agents of his early doom.

What disaster was it that the prefect provoked? Turn to the next chapter to find out.