16

WITH WANG ZE LEADING THE THRONG, BEIZHOU REVOLTS;

ETERNA HEADS TROOPS IN RAIDING NEIGHBORING TOWNS.

POEM:

He declared himself king without much thought—

What royal virtues could he exemplify?

It’s so easy all of a sudden to lose

And, cut to pieces among the swords, to die!

When the Beizhou spies found out that Liu Yanwei had mobilized his troops, they raced back to report to Wang Ze, and the whole population of the prefecture was thrown into panic. Wang Ze himself was so shocked that he didn’t know what to do. He hastily asked Zuo Chu, Zhang Luan, and Bu Ji for their advice.

“Have you heard how many troops he has?” asked Zuo Chu.

“Five thousand—that’s what scares me. How are we going to deal with this?”

“Don’t panic! I’ll need only three thousand men to counter him. You’re about to see what I’m capable of.” He at once selected three thousand mounted men, rewarded them with money and gifts, and told them that they were to do battle the following day.

The following morning he marshaled his troops, then left Beizhou city and arrayed them in battle formation. Liu Yanwei, in full armor, with a lance of tempered steel and riding a horse that could go like the wind, came out in front of the battle lines. The three thousand troops saw how formidable he looked and quailed inwardly. Liu pointed his lance at them and declared, “If there are any men of good sense in Beizhou, they will tie Wang Ze up and hand him over to the court, thus sparing the city from wholesale slaughter!” Wang Ze, who was scared out of his wits, didn’t dare say a word.

Zuo Chu, wearing a tattered cloth gown and gripping a sword, pointed with the tip of his sword at Liu Yanwei and declared, “If you have any sense, you’ll take your troops straight back to Jizhou and save your own life! The slightest delay, and all your men will die at my hands!”

“You’re one of Wang Ze’s accomplices, and without even wearing any armor you have the nerve to challenge me! Why, I’ll run you through with a single thrust of my lance!”

“I’m not going to fight a war of words with you. Instead let me show you what I can do!” As Liu Yanwei demonstrated his lance technique in front of the lines to intimidate him, Zuo Chu pointed with the tip of his sword. The center of his battle line opened up, and a pack of tigers and leopards burst forth. Liu Yanwei’s horse reared up in fright, throwing him to the ground. Although his troops rushed forward to help him back onto his horse, when they saw the strange animals, they fled for their lives, leaving their weapons behind. Wang Ze led his three thousand men in pursuit of the enemy, killing them as they ran. Liu Yanwei had suffered a grave defeat, with the loss of fully half his men. He returned to Jizhou, which is where we shall leave him.

Having won one battle, Wang Ze felt reassured and emboldened. When the people of the prefecture saw how he had defeated the government troops, they rallied to his side. The men under his command, impressed with Zuo Chu’s magical powers, gave him their wholehearted support. Wang led the Beizhou troops in attacks on neighboring prefectures and counties, while Eterna commanded the demon soldiers in raids on the local towns and villages. They recruited the troops who surrendered to them and obtained large quantities of money and provisions, and Wang’s power grew even greater.

In the Eastern Capital, when the butcher Zhang Qi, the steamed cake vendor Ren Qian, and the noodle seller Wu Sanlang heard that Eterna was now Wang Ze’s wife, they fled to Beizhou to join him. Impressed by the way people had transferred their loyalties, Wang proclaimed himself King of Dongping and named Eterna his queen, Zuo Chu his strategist, Pellet Priest his state mentor, Zhang Luan his first minister, and Bu Ji his field marshal. His lesser followers also received official appointments. And his power continued to grow.

The neighboring prefectures and counties prepared urgent appeals for help and submitted them to the emperor. A shocked Emperor Renzong addressed his assembled civil and military officials: “Beizhou is in revolt, and Wang Ze has gathered a large number of demons about him. They have raided the neighboring prefectures and defeated Liu Yanwei of Jizhou. We find this setback extremely distressing and wonder whom we could best appoint as commander to overcome Wang Ze.”

The assistant director of the left, Lü Shun, stepped forward holding his tablet: “I recommend Wen Yanbo from Fenzhou in Hedong. He performed a meritorious service in subduing the Xi Xia. He has now given up his official post and is living in retirement in the Western Capital. If he is appointed, I am confident that he will be able to retake Beizhou and eliminate Wang Ze.”

“But why should we appoint Wen Yanbo ahead of other men?” asked the emperor.

“Yesterday, when I heard the reports,” testified Lü Shun, “I felt that Wang Ze was such a formidable rebel that no strategy would succeed in capturing him, but at midnight it suddenly occurred to me that if you add the character ‘wen’ to that for ‘bei,’ they make up the character for ‘defeat.’ That is why Wen Yanbo is the only suitable appointment. I specially waited up for this dawn audience so that I could make the proposal in person. I am prepared to guarantee Wen’s success with the lives of my entire family.”

Emperor Renzong was delighted with the proposal and immediately issued an order sending emissaries to the Western Capital to summon Wen Yanbo to court. The emissaries traveled posthaste to the Western Capital, where Wen and all the local officials came out of the city to receive the order. Once it had been read out publicly in the yamen, the officials kowtowed in the direction of the imperial palace to express their gratitude. After receiving it, Wen Yanbo parted from his family and left at once for the court. Because he came to suppress the rebellion,1 certain consequences followed: a band of people responsible for devilish crimes died deaths even more ghastly than the death of Li Cunxiao in the History of the Five Dynasties or that of Peng Yue in the Han History.

When he points with his whip, the bane of evil is destroyed;

Wherever his horse’s hooves go, the deviltry comes to an end.

Was Wen Yanbo victorious? Turn to the next chapter to find out.