Chapter 64: Death of the Tiger General

May 24th.

In the blink of an eye, over half a month had passed.

Black Dragon Mountain quickly returned to its thriving, bustling state, as if that disaster had never happened.

The village soldiers no longer toiled at farming; they ate three meals a day and drilled without pause.

But Liu Chengzong could not see this scene — his father had confined him.

He ate and slept in the ancestral hall every day, reading before the ancestral tablets: the Zizhi Tongjian, ten volumes a day.

At this pace, thinking optimistically, Senior Licentiate Liu meant to lock him up for a month.

Thinking pessimistically, once he finished all 294 volumes of the Zizhi Tongjian, more books might well be sent for him to read.

This was his father's punishment for his plundering of the prince's estate.

Old Master Liu considered the matter of robbing the prince's estate extremely serious — so serious there was no way to remedy it.

But since past events not forgotten serve as teachers for the future, he carried out the family law upon the three organizers of the plunder.

Liu Chengzong had gathered the men, chosen the target, planned the affair, and used the title "Tiger General" as the bandit chief.

His punishment was confinement in the ancestral hall, to read the Zizhi Tongjian under the ancestors' supervision, so he might gain some wisdom, think deeply and far, and plan before acting.

Liu Chengzu had checked for gaps, filled in deficiencies, commanded the troops, and carried out the affair well.

His punishment was to single-handedly tend to the six wounded border soldiers — military action is an inauspicious affair — so he would share the soldiers' hardships.

All the village soldiers in the clan who had participated in and concealed the affair were punished by copying the troop-training section of the Practical Record of Military Training three times.

Their uncle was different; he was literate, so his punishment was to teach the above village soldiers to write, and to be able to recite it.

Beyond that, he had to copy the full text of the Practical Record of Military Training ten times.

Cao Yao, on the other hand, had brought it on himself — Old Master Liu had originally not assigned him anything.

He just had to shamelessly push himself forward, thinking: I'm a bandit chief too, big or small — why aren't you punishing me?

As a result, he was issued six plow oxen and sent with fifteen refugee households and surrendered banner troops to farm at Old Temple Village.

Yet these days, Liu Chengzong had actually been living quite contentedly — well fed and watered every day, doing nothing but reading and tempering his strength in the ancestral hall's courtyard, his health much improved.

That day, he was in the courtyard fiddling with a stone lock.

Liu Xiangyu strode into the ancestral hall, his steps light, and smiled. "How goes the reading?"

"Great."

Liu Chengzong set down the stone lock and saluted, then reported: "In three more days, I'll have finished the Tang Annals."

"Mm, no slacking." Liu Xiangyu beamed. "And what have you gleaned from it?"

"One must be able to heed advice, and also be on guard against everyone."

Liu Xiangyu was stunned by this answer for a moment, then said: "The heart must always be wary of others — that is also the principle behind my having Commander Cao watch the surrendered banner troops. But this 'heed advice'?"

Liu Chengzong answered with great seriousness: "The emperors of a dynasty's end, toward their ministers' remonstrances, do not follow, do not use, do not listen, do not accept.

In contrast, those who achieved hegemony — like Emperor Gao of Han: Xiao He advised taking Ba and Shu and securing the Three Qins, and the King of Han said 'Good'; Han Xin advised raising troops and marching east, and the King of Han was overjoyed."

Liu Xiangyu asked: "Then why, in your view, are the outcomes of remonstrance so vastly different between a dynasty's beginning and its end?"

"At the start, combed by wind and bathed by rain, hacking through brambles and thorns, those who offered counsel were no idle theorists; having personally braved arrows and stones to lay the foundation, the ruler who accepted remonstrance had no fear of his authority being usurped."

Having answered, Liu Chengzong smiled. "Nothing like a last-generation sovereign born deep in the palace — obstinate and self-assured, unable to draw on collective wisdom; looking forward and back, before making a single decision he must first fight a hundred rounds with himself."

Liu Xiangyu was struck speechless. He had wanted to hear his son discuss the art of a minister's remonstrance; who knew the fine lad would consider the question from the emperor's standpoint.

For a moment, he felt rather awkward. After a thought, he decided to just praise him — the answer was quite good.

"The reading hasn't been in vain. Tidy up the ancestral hall, and keep reading diligently after you're out." Senior Licentiate Liu said this, then turned to walk out of the hall, chuckling once: "Heh, you and your brother coordinate quite seamlessly."

Liu Chengzong paused blankly before it dawned on him: "Ah? I... I can come out?"

"Come out. The Tiger General is dead. The matter is settled."

"Hm?"

Only at this moment did Liu Chengzong realize that his father had locked him in the ancestral hall not merely to make him read.

It was also to use confinement to prevent him from going out and exposing his identity.

Before he could press further, Liu Xiangyu had already laid out the whole story for him.

The prince's estate at the junction of three counties in Yan'an Prefecture was isolated and starved of news.

Moreover, because it had blocked the river, the downstream common folk had been displaced and scattered by the drought.

It was not until the seventh day after it had been plundered clean that someone delivered word to Yan'an Prefecture.

By the time the government troops arrived, the prince's estate had been visited in turn by several waves of famine victims — even the doors, windows, tables, and chairs had been dismantled for firewood. Nothing at all remained.

But there are no walls in the world that don't leak wind; the government troops seized a few commoners and easily fixed their suspicion on the Tiger General, who had suddenly appeared distributing grain.

The Tiger General's trail was indeed hard to find — his grain deliveries were everywhere, with no pattern, and no cart ruts could be found on the roads.

Straining to follow faint clues, they found a cave, but there was nothing inside either.

Just as the government troops were about to abandon the search, a great genius in Ganquan County took up the Tiger General's name and easily gathered several hundred famine victims to plunder wealthy and powerful households.

From founding his enterprise to bankruptcy took two days in all. He was attacked three times in succession by Mobile Corps General Li Bei, dispatched by Yan'an Prefecture, pursued for 170 li, and beheaded.

So now, the Tiger General was dead.

Li Bei gained battle merit, Yan'an Prefecture had a head to present to the Prince of Qin and close the case, the common folk received relief, and Liu Chengzong emerged from the ancestral hall.

Everyone was happy.

Only that impostor leader was to be pitied.

"Tch, this Prefect of Yan'an is no good — and to think I even sent him grain."

Carrying the stone lock as he followed behind his father, Liu Chengzong grumbled and cursed: "Sending a punitive expedition just like that!"

"Right." At these words, however, Liu Xiangyu turned around and asked: "I haven't asked you yet — why did you send grain to Yan'an Prefecture twice? And did you push grain carts all around the prefectural seat to deliver grain?"

Twice?

Did they all run a trip just to deliver grain?

Liu Chengzong shook his head woodenly. "I only delivered grain once. I handed over a note and had Song Shouzhen write the letter.

And I only delivered grain to the villages along Coiling Dragon Creek and Peony Creek. Running anywhere else would've killed me — you can't haul the grain back in one trip anyway."

Only after saying this did he figure out what had happened. He clapped his hands. "It's definitely those two. Dad, didn't I tell you about Sky-Wrecker and Sky-Splitter?

Most likely they're doing the same thing. Someone had the same idea as me, so the prefectural office got grain delivered twice."

Liu Chengzong's heart lurched. "Could one of them have used my name and gotten cut down by government troops? Probably Sky-Splitter."

"Why not Sky-Wrecker?"

"Dad, think about it. You pick a fake name to hide who you are."

Liu Chengzong raised a hand and explained to his father. "I'm no general, so I called myself Tiger General. Sky-Wrecker is refined and cultured, so he called himself Sky-Wrecker.

Only Sky-Splitter — his name was probably made up on the spot too. That man has broad shoulders and long arms; you can tell at a glance he's an expert archer. He figured it out and borrowed my name... but he never claimed to be from Sweet Springs."

Liu Xiangyu mulled it over carefully and thought it was possible.

But he didn't much care. Seeing Liu Chengzong still holding the stone lock, he said, "Put the lock down, go home and change. Wear the official cap and robe the county office gave you. We're heading to the prefectural city shortly."

"To the prefectural city? What's happened?"

"Rest easy, it's nothing to do with you."

Liu Xiangyu said, "The new Three-Border Supreme Commander has taken office. Bandit chief Wang Er died at Shangluo, Wang Daliang died at Great Stone Creek, and Zhou Dawang of Jiezhou is dead too.

The newly appointed Supreme Commander Yang wants all regions to jointly suppress Wang Zuogua. Yan'an Prefecture is mobilizing troops again. I hear Wang Zuogua has already entered Yellow Dragon Mountain — they'll most likely return empty-handed."

Liu Chengzong was stunned. "Dad, how do you know so much?"

"You're allowed to associate with bandits, but your old man isn't allowed to sound out officials for news?

Your old man also knows the actual troop strength of the Yan'an Guard banner army is only one thousand nine hundred and twenty."

Old Master Liu puffed his whiskers and instructed, "The prefectural magistrate's office is looking for us honored scholars with titular ranks — probably wants to raise grain. Just go and speak carefully."