Chapter 537: Oh Sea, You Are All Water!

"What did you say to my nephew?"

When they took a boat from Chui County's harbor to Zhifu Island, Heifu saw his nephew Wei Yang staring blankly into space, so he questioned Zhang Cang, who was on the same vessel.

"It's no bad thing for a young man to know a bit more of the truth."

Zhang Cang smugly stroked the whiskers on his plump face and let out a hearty laugh.

After dealing with Heifu for so many years, Zhang Cang had noticed that at first, Heifu had played the fool, clinging to him with endless questions like a curious baby, but later he dropped the act entirely — no matter what Zhang Cang said, whether "the ancient kings' Feng and Shan sacrifices are a sham," "Chiyou was actually a hero," or "the Yellow Emperor's victory over the Flame Emperor was fabricated by the Tian clan's hired scholars," Heifu remained utterly impassive and would occasionally drop some startling remark like "the victor becomes king, the loser a bandit," which in turn would rattle Zhang Cang to his core.

Reflecting on it afterward, Zhang Cang felt something was off!

"I, Zhang Cang, am the most learned man under heaven, a disciple of Master Xun, versed in everything — why am I always led by the nose by someone who rose from the ranks of common soldiers and only picked up a smattering of half-baked learning in his spare time from military and administrative duties?"

But Zhang Cang truly could not out-argue Heifu, so with a roll of his eyes, he began filling Heifu's naive nephew's head with ideas, thoroughly shattering the boy's worldview.

Not stopping there, Zhang Cang even volunteered himself: "I am willing to be your son Polu's teacher! A mere three hundred jin of brown sugar as my tuition gift will suffice!"

Heifu glanced sidelong at Zhang Cang, his eyes full of fastidious disdain.

"Three hundred jin — aren't you afraid of eating yourself sick? And your learning is admittedly not poor, it's just that…"

Heifu's tone and expression were like someone at a market meat stall holding up a slab of fatty pork with utter disgust, which provoked Zhang Cang to anger: "Just what?"

"It's just that your living is too dissolute, with no restraint of your desires; I fear you would be a bad influence on my son from an early age. Still, as ice is formed by water yet is colder than water, and indigo comes from blue yet surpasses blue, it's not out of the question… Ah, Brother Zihu, I haven't finished speaking — where are you going?"

Zhang Cang walked unsteadily across the deck, glancing back with a cold sneer: "Disgusting. Probably seasickness. I'm going to the side of the boat to throw up for a while…"

"This fellow."

Heifu pointed at the fat man's staggering figure, let out a helpless laugh, and paid Zhang Cang no more mind, walking on his own to the other end of the ship to report their progress to Qin Shi Huang.

…

This was a luxurious towered ship, its deck structures exceptionally massive, with a high hull and broad prow, resembling a multi-storied building from the outside and capable of carrying several hundred people. The prow and stern were carved with dragon motifs, and many blue-feathered banners were raised to project an imposing might — truly a case of "riding a water chariot with lotus canopies, driving two dragons with hornless dragons as outriders."

Besides the towered ship they rode, many other vessels guarded them on all sides — great wings, middle wings, small wings, and mengchong assault ships, each with its own distinct function.

These ships had been brought all the way from Kuaiji, a journey of a thousand li, because the ships of the Qi region had mostly been taken away by the anti-Qin Yongmen Commander when Qi fell — which was also the source of the pirates plaguing Jiaodong.

The general commanding this Kuaiji towered-ship force was called Ren Xiao. Years earlier, he had followed Wang Jian in pacifying Jiangdong and Kuaiji, earning merit, and took over the captured Chu riverine forces, later serving as Commandant of Kuaiji. This time he had been specially transferred to escort the imperial progress, and it was only now that Heifu learned the sea route from the Yue region to the Qi region had long since been opened!

At the time, Zhang Cang had seized on his ignorance and mocked him mercilessly: "Three hundred years ago, the Wu fleet sailed eight hundred li across the sea and fought a great battle with the Qi fleet at Langya. Two hundred years ago, the Yue people even made Langya their capital — if the sea route were impassable, how could they have communicated with Kuaiji?"

It seemed Heifu had still underestimated the seafaring skills of this era, though even the grandest efforts were limited to coastal navigation; at present, even crossing from Jiaodong over the Bohai Sea to Liaodong was an exceedingly difficult voyage.

In any case, at this very moment, within this narrow bay, there were at least a hundred ships and several thousand men — aside from defending against possible pirate attacks, their purpose was to lend full pomp and majesty to the emperor's arrival at Zhifu Island.

"If you ask me, if you linked all the ships bow to stern, you could build a wooden bridge out of them — why bother sailing several li out to sea? Could it be they want to experience the joy of seasickness?" Heifu grumbled inwardly.

Qin Shi Huang, along with Ye Teng and the other ministers, was also enjoying the sea breeze near the dragon-head prow at that moment. The emperor was tall and imposing, one hand resting on the dragon head, chest out and head high, his beard ruffled by the sea wind — he could not have looked more majestic, yet in truth, his complexion was not particularly good…

His Imperial Majesty had spent years in the Guanzhong region; even when he took a boat, it was drifting on windless, waveless ponds — when had he ever ridden such a rocking seagoing vessel?

In truth, Qin Shi Huang had prepared for this — weren't there so many fangshi masters in his retinue? Each one bragged to the skies; surely they had some remedy for seasickness?

And so the fangshi masters began competing to show off their skills, presenting all manner of wondrous prescriptions.

Some said that when boarding the ship, one should secretly take a small piece of Fulonggan and hide it in the hair or cap, and then one would not feel dizzy.

Others offered a method: take plantain root bark, pound it to a paste, tie half a ge of it in a cloth, and attach it to the belt and head, and this affliction would be avoided.

There was even something more arcane: dip a finger in river water and write the character for "earth" in the palm of the hand, and one would feel no fear…

In the end, it was the folk remedy from Nan Commandery that Heifu presented which was somewhat more reliable: affix a fresh slice of old ginger to the navel — it might help.

At present, no one knew which remedy Qin Shi Huang had actually used, but the effect was not good. Although the mainland was not far from Zhifu Island, today's wind and waves seemed to follow the natural law that "nature does not persist for Yao nor perish for Jie," and did not calm in the slightest for the emperor's arrival.

The emperor was a man who cared deeply about face; he was a sovereign high above, a deity walking the mortal world — he certainly could not vomit from seasickness in full public view. Did he not care about face? So he forced himself to stand on the deck, only his expression was a bit too stern, and he said not a word.

"Your Majesty, General Ren says we will be able to dock in half a ke!"

After Heifu made his report, the First Emperor's complexion improved slightly. As the ship cut through the waves, the facing Zhifu Island grew larger and larger…

Zhifu got its name because the terrain here is highly distinctive, closely resembling an enormous lingzhi fungus. As for the "fu," it means a screen or barrier — lying across the Yellow Sea, it is like a natural screen guarding the Jiaodong region behind it.

Zhifu is not far from the coastline and cannot really be considered a complete sea island, for every winter, a narrow sandbar several li long emerges above the water, enough for people to cross. However, this narrow sandbar path appears and disappears with the ocean tides; if one miscalculates the time, those on it will be swallowed by the sea.

Thus, His Imperial Majesty certainly could not walk barefoot along this path that might be submerged at any moment; he still had to ride a great ship and make a solemn landing on the island.

Fortunately, Qin Shi Huang was not the first great figure to come here — as early as three hundred years ago, Duke Jing of Qi, who loved sea views, had sojourned here several times, enjoying his holiday so much that he even forgot state affairs, and it was said he only galloped back when he heard Yan Ying was dying…

Half a ke later, the towered ship entered the harbor. The temporary dock that Commandery Governor Heifu had ordered erected proved a great help, and Qin Shi Huang, surrounded by his ministers, stepped onto the island.

The island was neither very large nor very small, about fifty li in circumference, with a jagged coastline, vast tidal flats, and several natural harbors where a fleet could land. The island was undulating with hills, densely forested, lush and verdant.

The emperor surveyed the island with curiosity. The sandy beach was crawling with hermit crabs, which, disturbed by the people, retreated into their spiral shells. A flock of sand gulls soared in the sky, riding the sea breeze; they too feared these uninvited guests, mistaking the ships for terrible monsters and not daring to land for a long while.

Treading on solid ground, finally free of the torment of holding back vomit on the rocking deck, Qin Shi Huang now had the leisure to turn around and properly take in this sea.

This was the northern side of the island, facing the boundless ocean directly, with an expansive view. Though the wind and waves were strong, the sunlight was just right, and the sky was nearly cloudless, making the sea appear exceptionally azure, exceptionally vast.

The coastline here was more beautiful than those at Xiami Saltworks, Yeyi, and Huang County. Were it not imperial forbidden ground set aside as a sacrificial site, Heifu would even have wanted to build a large villa here…

Qin Shi Huang lingered thus by the seashore for a long time. Fortunately, he was indeed, as later generations would judge, "slightly lacking in literary grace," and unlike those poet-emperors, he would not blurt out any romantic verses. At most, he would have his ministers erect a grand stele here, recording the emperor's great achievements, so that the echo of the sea might long recite the words upon it.

"Those things are mostly written for others to see. If he had to write something, Qin Shi Huang would probably write only one simple line."

I came, I saw, I conquered!

Heifu stood with the emperor on the beach, enduring the wind, and grumbled inwardly.

As for himself? Heifu, who had no artistic cells whatsoever, if he didn't plagiarize a poem, could only squeeze out a single line after racking his brain for ages.

"Oh sea, you are all water!"

…

In any case, disturbed by this beautiful scenery, the emperor's mood, ruined by seasickness, improved considerably. With a spirited wave of his hand, he bade Heifu lead the way, and the party headed straight for the Temple of the Yang Lord…

Indeed, Qin Shi Huang had come here precisely to worship the "Yang Lord," one of the Eight Deities of the Qi region!

That day, Zhang Cang had told Wei Yang that the Lords of Heaven, Earth, and Arms were all worshipped in the western part of the Qi state, while the remaining five deities were concentrated in the east.

Among them, the Yin Lord was worshipped at Can Mountain in Yeyi County; the Moon Lord at Lai Mountain in Huang County; the Sun Lord at Cheng Mountain in Buye County — which was where Heifu had exiled those Confucian scholars who had caused a disturbance in the market.

The Yang Lord, ranked fifth, was worshipped on Zhifu Island.

The Eight Deities were the gods of Qi. However, after Qin's unification, other deities were not simply abolished wholesale; instead, they were selectively chosen — some were discarded, while others were incorporated into the official sacrifices.

For example, the fates of the Eight Gods were not all the same. The Heaven-Facing God, who held the highest status, was certain to be discarded, because that was where the Kings of Qi had performed the Heaven-worshipping rites. Now that Qi had fallen, the emperor of the Qin Dynasty would only worship Heaven within the Passes and at Mount Tai, and would never again come to the Heaven-Facing Abyss.

The Earth Lord located at Mount Liangfu, on the other hand, was exalted to the utmost, because it happened to align with the Feng and Shan sacrifices in the Lu region.

The same went for Chiyou. Though he would not be destroyed, for the sake of the Great Unity of All the Xia, he was destined to be recast as a rebel, and the sacrifices to him would be diluted.

As for the remaining gods, their treatment depended entirely on the emperor's preferences. The First Emperor favored yang and disfavored yin, favored the sun and disfavored the moon. So when he passed Mount Can and Mount Lai, he merely sent his ministers to go through the motions, offering just one lao-sacrifice. The number of shamans and invocators, and the list of jade tablets and offerings, were all pitifully few.

But for the next several primary sacrificial sites, the emperor attached great importance to them, and even decided to personally ascend Zhifu Island to sacrifice to the Yang Lord...

The Yang Lord stood opposite the Yin Lord. On the level of the Qi people's religious deities, he governed natural disasters like floods, droughts, wind, and hail, and also oversaw the harvests of rice, beans, grain, and millet. In Qi, where the people lived by the five grains, he was one of the deities who received the most reverent worship.

Among these, Zhifu Island, in the eyes of Qi's esoteric arts practitioners, was precisely a place of ultimate yang. That was why Duke Jing of Qi had chosen to build a temple there, hoping to pray for immortality.

This same notion was also embraced by the First Emperor, who likewise yearned for eternal life...

The Yang Lord Temple's site backed against the main peak of Zhifu and faced the vast ocean. It had a mountain gate built of reef stone and a wooden temple hall. Every year, Qi would send people to perform worship, but in recent years the incense offerings had ceased. Many shamans and invocators had fled, leaving only a white-haired, white-bearded old man and a few young disciples to continue guarding the place.

A few days earlier, Heifu had sent Cao Can to comb the entire island, ensuring no one harboring ill intent remained stranded there. In addition, he had thoroughly investigated the old man guarding the temple, confirming that he was indeed the old shaman-invocator here, who had stayed on Zhifu Island for who knows how long, never noticed by anyone, and only then allowed him to remain.

But Chen Ping, ever cautious, had Cao Can dispatch two soldiers to search and confiscate every sharp object in the temple. When the old man performed the rites, he too was to be searched, and he was not permitted to come within five paces of the emperor!

That temple-guarding old man was plain-looking, his body gaunt and withered. He wore a somewhat tattered green hemp robe, and stood hunched, holding a ritual whisk. He had long since been standing in front of the temple to welcome the First Emperor. He was quite old, his sparse, wispy long beard already completely white, yet his lower stance was very steady, standing firmly rooted in the sea wind, not moving a muscle.

Though the old man's movements were slow, they were methodical. After arranging all the ritual implements, he withdrew and stood to one side.

Only then did the First Emperor, dressed in ceremonial robes, step into the Yang Lord Temple. He had attendants present two lao-sacrifices, and bowed with clasped hands toward the spirit tablet of the god within the temple. The assembled ministers stood solemnly behind him.

At that moment, a laugh rang out, followed by a sentence in flawless Guanzhong refined speech!

"The last king this old man and this Yang Lord saw was the Min King of Qi, who came here to worship after declaring himself Eastern Emperor. Further back, the one who came most often was Duke Jing of Qi."

"Now the Yang Lord has seen the worshipper change from a Qi lord of the Jiang clan, to a Qi king of the Tian clan, and now to an emperor of the Ying clan. I wonder what he would think?"

The First Emperor frowned and turned his head. Heifu and the others also looked to the side in shock, only to see that the one speaking was none other than that seemingly dull and honest temple-guarding old man, who had not uttered a single word and had only meticulously arranged the sacrificial rites!

Heifu cursed inwardly. He glared at Cao Can, who was standing guard outside and looked utterly baffled by the situation. That fellow was usually so cautious—how could he have made such a massive blunder this time?

Never mind, he would deal with him later. Heifu immediately stepped forward and rebuked the old man: "How dare you! His Majesty is sacrificing to the Yang Lord, and you dare speak such nonsense here, using the past to satirize the present—what are you scheming? You lot, seize him, take him away, and hand him over to the prison clerk for judgment!"

The old man, however, laughed heartily and waved his hand. "Commandery Governor of Jiaodong, did you not even refuse to tear down the village schools, precisely so you could hear the voices of the common people? Why won't you let this old man say a few more words? What I mean is, in the sacrificial canons of the Three Dynasties, worship did not extend beyond one's own territorial spirits. Yet now His Majesty performs the Feng and Shan sacrifices at Mount Tai, enshrines men like Guan Yiwu and others into the temple, and also sacrifices to the Yang Lord of the Qi lands. This truly breaks new ground since the Three Dynasties! He is indeed worthy of being the First Emperor who surpasses the Five Emperors of virtue!"

These words were rather pleasing to the ear. The First Emperor's curiosity was piqued, and he stopped the palace guards, sizing up the old man. "Who are you?"

"Your Majesty, your servant is the invocator of this Yang Lord Temple."

The old man smiled. "However, your servant has another name..."

As he spoke, as if performing a magic trick, he straightened his body and opened his eyes. In that instant, he seemed to exude a composed and dignified bearing, unperturbed by favor or disgrace. The crude hemp garment on his body only served to accentuate an otherworldly, transcendent air!

The old man, who seemed to have transformed into a different person, bowed with clasped hands. "Your servant, An Qisheng, greets Your Majesty!"

"Ah!"

The esoteric arts practitioners Lu Ao, Han Zhong, and the others all let out cries of surprise. The assembled ministers also looked at one another, many faces full of astonishment.

"An Qisheng! This is actually An Qisheng? How can that be!"

Seeing that the First Emperor also showed delighted surprise, Heifu cursed inwardly: "An Qisheng? More like the Sweeper Monk, I'd say! Finally, a high-level player has arrived. Now this is going to be interesting!"

PS: Going to eat. If I get back early tonight, I'll try to write another chapter. If it's not up by midnight, it's not coming, so don't wait.

(End of chapter)