Chapter 1: Shocking Events in Snowstorm (1)

Legend of Condor Heroes by Jin Yong

Chapter 1: Shocking Events in Snowstorm

1

Day in and day out, day after day, the Qiantang River majestically winded through and around Niu Family Village, near the city of Lin’an, on its journey toward the sea. On the shores there stood thirty or so tallow trees, leaves red as fire, yet another sign that it was now August.

The wild grass and weeds around the village were just beginning to turn yellow. The sun shone slantingly on the grass, adding to the gloom. Under two giant pine trees gathered a group of villagers, the crowd consisting of men and women along with more than ten children. Every one of them was listening to a skinny old man, giving him their full attention.

The old man was about fifty years old, his green robe once black, now faded a blue-grey. He banged two pieces of wood together a few times, and with a small bamboo stick in his left hand, he began to beat a small drum to keep up with the rhythm. He began to sing:

“Untended, Peach blossoms bloom endlessly,

vast unused fields of tobacco become food for crows.

In times past, by the village well,

families gathered in sorrow.”

 The old man banged together the two pieces of wood a couple of times more, and starts his story.

“This poem tells of villages, where ordinary people once lived, razed by Jurchen tribes and turned to rubble. One such story concerns Old Yie, who had a wife, a son, and a daughter. But they lost each other by the invasion of the Jin. Years passed. Finally, after much hardship and difficulty, they were able to get back together. They returned to their home in Weizhou, only to find that their home was burned to the ground by the Jin soldiers. They had no choice but to head off to Bianliang.”

He sang:

“The heavens have unexpected storms,

humans have unexpected misfortunes.”

He continued his story.

“As soon as the four of them arrived at Bianliang, they encountered a troop of Jin soldiers. Their commander looked down and saw that Miss Yie was a very beautiful maiden, and eager to capture such a glorious prize, he jumped down from his horse, and reached for her. Laughing, he threw her onto his saddle and said, ‘Pretty little girl, you will come home with me.’ How could the young lady Yie agree? She struggled with all her might to free herself from the official’s grip. The commander yelled out, ‘If you don’t stop struggling, then your family will die!’ After that, he took his wolf-fanged staff and smashed it down on her brother’s head.”

He sang again:

“The afterlife gets a new ghost,

the real world loses another soul.”

Continuing his story:

“Old Yie and his wife threw themselves onto their son’s body, and began to cry hysterically. The commander raised the wolf-fanged staff twice more and finished off the old man and his wife. The young lady Yie did not cry, she only said, ‘Sir, please stop killing more people. I will go with you.’ This made the commander very happy. But when he was off guard, the young lady Yie suddenly grabbed the saber from his waist, pulled it out, and thrusted the poin of the blade at his heart. It seemed like she was going to take revenge for the death of her family. Alas, it was not to be. The commander had a lot of experience on the battlefield, without thinking, he just pushed forward very naturally, causing the young lady Yie to fall to the ground. Then he spat in her face and said, ‘Little bastard!’ But the young lady Yie had already plunged the dagger into her neck. That poor and innocent girl.”

He sang again:

“With the beauty of flowers and the grace of the moon,

this sweet soul died young and sadly.”

He alternated between talking and singing, all the while beating his small drum with the bamboo stick. The crowds was entranced by the old man’s words. All the villagers now sighed in sadness and anger.

That man continued, “Dear friends, as the saying goes, ‘Treat others with an honest heart, hold your head up on high in pride. If evil deeds go unpunished, only the evil will survive.’ The Jin army has conquered half of our Great Song, killing and burning, raping and plundering, there is not an evil deed left undone. And yet, no punishment whatsoever seems to be forthcoming. The officials of our Great Song Empire are responsible for this. China has plenty of healthy and available soldiers. Yet, every time we encounter the Jin army, all they do is turn tail and run, leaving us peasants to suffer. There are such stories about Miss Yie and her family, thousands of people north of the Yangtze River. Living here in the south of the river is truly like being in paradise, but still you live each day in fear of invasion of the Jin army. ‘Rather be a dog in time of peace, than a man in time of trouble!’ My name is Zhang Shiwu, thank you everyone for listening to the story of the young lady Yie, the Young Martyr.”

After banging the two pieces of wood together a few more times, the storyteller held out a tray to the crowd. Many villagers dropped a few coins into the tray, which quickly filled up.

Zhang Shiwu thanked the villagers and collected the sixty to seventy coins into his traveling bag. He stood up and started to walk away.

As the crowd dispersed, a young man about twenty years old walked out from among the villagers and pushed his way toward the storyteller. He asked, “Mister Zhang, did you just come from the north?”

The young man was very tall and sturdy with big eyes and a pair of very thick eyebrows. He was from the north, as could be seen from his accent.

Zhang Shiwu answered, “Yes.”

The young man asked again, “Then let’s go for a drink. I’ll pay, what do you think?”

Zhang Shiwu replied, “I dare not receive such a favor as a stranger.”

The young man laughed and replied, “After we drink a few cups, we won’t be strangers anymore, right? My surname is Guo, my given name is Xiaotian.” Guo Xiaotian said before pointing at a clean, white faced young man behind him, he continued, “And this is my friend, his surname is Yang and his given name is Tiexin. We were just listening to your story. As expected, it was a good story. However, we still have a few questions we would like to ask.”

Zhang Shiwu replied, “No problem, no problem. It was fate that did its job that brought me to meet the two of you today.”

Guo Xiaotian led Zhang Shiwu to the only wineshop in Niu Family Village and there they sat down at one of the tables.

Qu San, the owner of this small wine shop was a cripple. Supported by his two crutches, he slowly brought out two kettles of warmed rice wine, before returning to fetch a plate of peas, a plate of salted peanuts, a plate of dried bean curd, and a plate with three salted eggs. After that, he just sat down on the stool by the door and stared at the setting sun in the horizon, not even sparing a glance at the three men. In the courtyard, his young daughter was chasing chickens.

Guo Xiaotian poured wine and had Zhang Shiwu take two sips, then handed him the simple snack. “Here, please eat.” And then he said, “In the countryside, we can only buy meat on the second and sixteenth of every month, so we don’t have anything to eat with the wine. Please forgive us.”

Zhang Shiwu replied, “At least we have wine, I can’t complain about that. From your accents, it seems like you’re both from the north.”

 “We’re both from Shandong.” Yang Tiexin answered, “But we came here three years ago because we couldn’t stand the Jin invasion of our hometown. When we arrived here, we fell in love with the simple life in the south, as well as the people, so we settled down there. You said earlier that living here south of the river is like living in paradise, all we fear is the Jin invasion. Do you really think the Jin will cross the Yangtze and invade us?”

Zhang Shiwu sighed, “It is as if gold and silver could literally cover the ground, and wherever you look, there are always beautiful women, such is the wealth and charm of the south compared to the north. Not a day goes by without Jin thinking of invading. However, the final decision on Jin’s invasion is not made by Jin, but by our Great Song Imperial Court in Lin’an!”

This made Guo Xiaotian and Yang Tiexin shocked as they asked in unison, “Why do you say that?”

Zhang Shiwu answered, “We Han Chinese outnumber the Jurchen by more than hundred to one. If only the Imperial Court started employing honest and loyal people, our Great Song will prevail. With a hundred of our men against one of their useless soldiers, how could the Jin army win? The northern half of our country was literally handed over to the Jin by three generations of useless Emperors, Hui Zong, Qin Zong, and Gao Zong. Those three Emperors, from grandfather to grandson, all trusted and used corrupt officials who oppressed the common people, and then they killed or eliminated all the generals who wanted to oppose the Jin. Such a beautiful land, and they actually handed it directly into the hands of the Jin. The Jin people just respectfully accepted it. If the Imperial Court continued to trust and use corrupt officials, it would be the same as them kneeling on the ground begging the Jin army to come. How could the Jin people refuse?”

After hearing that, Guo Xiaotian exclaimed, “Exactly!” and he could not help but slam his hand on the table in anger. All the bowls, plates, and chopsticks on the table were sent flying from the impact.

Zhang Shiwu continued, “Come to think of it, Hui Zong was determined to live forever, to become an immortal. He was surrounded by corrupt and useless officials. Zai Jing and Wong Yu only knew how to raise taxes and profiteer, Tong Guan and Liang Shichen were eunuchs who only knew how to curry favor, Gao Qiu and Li Bangyan only knew how to mess around and get women for the Emperor. The Emperor did not bother with official business at all, if he was not visiting monks for guidance, then he was wandering around looking for rare and interesting stones. Once Jin came, he turned into a turtle and hid in his shell, and passed the throne to his son, Qin Zong. At that time Li Gang was defending the capital city of Bianliang and fighting off the Jin army. But who knew that Qin Zong would believe some rumors started by corrupt officials and dismiss Li Gang. Furthermore, he did not replace Li Gang with another experienced and capable general. Instead, he handed the defense of the capital in the hands of a self-proclaimed ambassador from the gods named Guo Jing and asked him to invite the army of heaven to defend the city. The army of heaven did not show up. How could we not lose the capital? At last both Hui Zong and Qin Zong were captured by the Jin army. These two fools had it coming and got what they deserved, but they also brought disaster to millions of Chinese peasants who did nothing to deserve it.”

Guo Xiaotian and Yang Tiexin were just getting angrier and angrier.

Guo Xiaotian said, “We have all heard about the capture of emperors, the Disgrace of the year of Jing Kang, many times. We have also heard about the talk of the ‘Army of Heaven’ before, but we only thought it was a joke or a baseless rumor. Could this be true?”

Zhang Shiwu answered, “Absolutely true.”

Yang Tiexin added, “After that, Lord Kang declared himself emperor in Nanjing, he had capable and loyal generals like Yue Fei and Han Shizhong. If he had directly attacked north, although he might not have been able to recapture all the lost territories, recapturing the capital Bianliang should not have been a problem. However, that hated traitor such as Qin Hui only wanted to negotiate, turned the tables and killed our beloved General Yue Fei.”

Zhang Shiwu poured a cup of wine for the three of them and drained his cup in one gulp. He continued, “Our beloved General Yue Fei once said these two lines, ‘Only aspiring to eat Tartar flesh, chatting while drinking Hun blood.’ This poem has conveyed what is in the hearts of every Chinese. Ay! This traitor Qin Hui is awfully lucky. It is a pity that we were born sixty years too late.”

Guo Xiaotian asked, “What do you mean?”

Zhang Shiwu replied, “Then, you two heroes would go into Lin’an and kill this traitor. Then, the three of us would eat his flesh and drink his blood. We won’t have to come here to eat peas and drink cold wine anymore!”

The three of them burst out laughing at that comment.

Yang Tiexin noticed that the jug of wine was empty and ordered another one. The three men just sat there cursing Qin Hui. Qu San, the cripple, put down a plate of peas and a plate of peanuts. Hearing the three men cursing Qin Hui excitedly, he suddenly sneered loudly.

Yang Tiexin turned to him and asked, “Qu San, what’s wrong? You don’t agree with us cursing Qin Hui, right?”

Qu San, the cripple, replied, “Good cursing! Good cursing! There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just that I heard that Qin Hui wasn’t the leader who was responsible for killing Yue Fei to negotiate peace.”

The three men asked in surprise, “Not Qin Hui? Then who was he?”

Qu San replied, “Qin Hui was the Grand Chancellor, regardless of whether peace was negotiated or not, he still was and would continue to be the Grand Chancellor. However, our beloved General Yue Fei only wanted to destroy Jin and restored the two emperors Hui and Qin. Once these two emperors return, how do you suppose Emperor Gao Zong was going to retain his crown?”

As soon as he finished saying what he said, he turned and struggled back to that stool, and looked back at the sky that was now filled with stars as if in a trance. Qu San’s face looked no older than thirty, yet he was hunched over with traces of white in his hair. From behind, he looked like an old man, very old since the loss of his wife. He had moved to Niu Family Village only about a year ago with his daughter, escaping from painful memories.

Zhang Shiwu and the two men looked at each other in silence. After a while, Zhang Shiwu spoke up, “That’s right! Sir, you really said something! The real culprit behind the assassination of our beloved General Yue Fei might not be Qin Hui, but Emperor Gao Zong. This Emperor Gao Zong was shameless to begin with, he could definitely do something like this!”

Guo Xiaotian asked, “Was he really that shameless?”

Zhang Shiwu replied, “Back then when our beloved General Yue had just defeated the Jin army in several consecutive battles, along with the rebellion of our patriotic brothers in the north, the Jin army was cornered. The Tartars were just beginning to panic about what to do when suddenly Gao Zong sent them a letter of surrender and asked for peace negotiations. Of course the Jin Emperor was overjoyed, but he replied, ‘There will be no peace negotiations unless Yue Fei is killed.’ So Qin Hui carried out his evil plan and our beloved General Yue was killed in the Pavilion of Changes. Our beloved General Yue was killed in November of the eleventth year of Zhao Xing, just one month later, peace was concluded. The boundary between Song and Jin was drawn at the Huai River and Emperor Gao Zong called himself a vassal of the Jin Emperor. How do you think the letter of surrender was written?”

Yang Tiexin answered, “Shamelessly, of course.”

Zhang Shiwu replied, “Of course! I happen to know what was written in the letter. It read, ‘Your humble subject asks for forgiveness and mercy. If accepted, your subjects will be forever grateful and your humble sons and descendants will forever serve Your Majesty. Your humble subject also swears to provide an annual tribute of two hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver and two hundred and fifty thousand rolls of silk.’ He not only sold himself as a servant, but also all his descendants. Being a servant is no big deal, but isn’t that like saying that every Chinese person is also their servant?”

Bang!

Guo Xiaotian slammed his fist down on the table again, this time knocking over one of the cups, spilling wine all over the table. In a rage, he shouted, “Shameless! Disgraceful! How did this sorry excuse for a man become an emperor?”

Zhang Shiwu replies with renewed energy, “When our nation heard about this treaty, there was no one on the street who was not angry. Especially for those Chinese people north of the Huai River, they were even more grieve stricken because they saw that our country could not be intact. Gao Zong saw that his seat on the throne was secured, he immediately rewarded Qin Hui for his ‘meritorious’ service. Qin Hui was already Lord of Lu, and now Gao Zong added a title of Tai Shi to his name, giving him almost the highest power below the emperor.”

The storyteller continued, “Xiao Zong succeeded Gao Zong, and Guang Zong succeeded him, and during that time Jin still controlled half of China. Now Guang Zong had been succeeded by Emperor Ning Zong, he has been on the throne for five years now, mostly following what Grand Chancellor Han Tuozhou said. What will the future hold? It’s hard to say!” For the past few moments, he had been shaking his head non-stop.

“What do you mean by it’s hard to say?” Guo Xiaotian replied, “We are in the countryside, not in Lin’an, where your heads can be chopped off! There is no one in all of China who does not call Grand Chancellor Han Tuozhou a villain! If you betray the country and oppress the people, that person is practically Qin Hui’s sworn brother!”

Now that they were talking about the current affairs, Zhang Shiwu was beginning to to feel a little fearful and did not dare to criticize and speak straight from the heart like he did before. He downed another cup of rice wine and said, “Thank you, gentlemen, for the wine. However, before I leave, may I give you a piece of polite advice? I know that both of you are passionate men, but it is best to be cautious in both words and deeds. This is the only way to avoid calamities. At this point, the best that we, commoners, can hope for is to forge ahead and do our best. Aiya! It is like the saying goes: ‘Surrounded by mountains, dancing in the halls. The shores of West Lake resound with song. Southern fragrances intoxicates all. As drunkenly our noblemen mistook Lin’an for Bianzhou!”

Yang Tiexin asked, “What is the story behind these four lines?”

“There is no story.” Zhang Shiwu answered, “It just told that the official of our Great Song Empire only care about feasting and drinking by the West Lake. They want to pretend that Lin’an is our capital and don’t bother to take back our land in the north and move back to Bianliang again.”

By the time Zhang Shiwu said goodbye, he was already very drunk. As he staggered towards Bianliang, one could hear him muttering to himself, “The River Soaked in Red. Jing Kang’s Disgrace, still fresh in the memory, the hatred of the people, when will it end? I’m riding my carriage…”

Guo Xiaotian paid the bill and walked home with Yang Tiexin. The two men lived next door to each other. After walking for a while, they managed to return to their home.

Guo Xiaotian’s wife, Li Ping, was just chasing a chicken into a little trap. Turning around, she smiled and said, “Both of you had gone drinking again? Brother Yang, why don’t you and your wife come over for dinner tonight? We are going to make a whole chicken.”

Yang Tiexin smiled back and answered, “Alright, I guess we are going to inconvenience the two of you again. We have so many chickens and ducks just there to waste food upon, but we can’t part with any of them.”

Li Ping replied, “Your wife is indeed a kind person. She said she has been raising these chickens and ducks since they were babies, how could she kill them?”

Yang Tiexin laughed and replied, “I told her that I would kill them if she couldn’t do it herself, she then started crying and sobbing. Aiya! What can I do? Tell you what, I will go hunting tonight and we will invite the two of you over tomorrow night!”

Guo Xiaotian cut in, “We are family! Stop talking about who is inviting and who is not! Tonight we will go hunting together!”

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