Kitobni o'qish: «The Path of Li», sahifa 2

A huge shaggy dog sprawled at their feet. It threw out its hot tongue and looked at the newcomers with a calm look, which, however, could not deceive sophisticated travellers: the dog was mortally dangerous and just as devoted to its owner. Luo Yang stopped at a respectful distance and slowed down Li Zicheng with a movement of his hand. Taking a deep breath, he quietly called out to the woman: "Honorable mistress, will I be allowed to know what happened in your village? Where is everyone?" At the sound of his voice, a moment of understanding flashed in the eyes of the woman. However, it was instantly replaced by the former madness. The dog twitched its ears, listening. Letting go of her mother's neck for a moment, the child rustled in a thin voice:

"People, many people… They came and killed my friends, their dads and mothers… Then they burned everything here… My mother and I sat in the cellar and heard them screaming… They were screaming… Then everything burned… And it started to rain. The rain put out the fire, so we got out of the pit… And then Thunder came running from the forest… It was probably hiding from those with spears…" "Spears?" Li Zicheng asked incredulously. The girl nodded. "Yes, long bamboo spears with dark tips…" "Black iron," Luo Yang muttered. "This is not an imperial army." "And not the princely squads – those have excellent equipment, no worse than the regular army," Li added thoughtfully. "Robbers? But since when do they rob common people?" The old man, meanwhile, leaned towards the girl who let him in.

"When was the last time you ate?" The girl shrugged her shoulders. "I don't remember, sir…" "When did the bad people come?" Master Luo continued. The girl pondered, wrinkling her forehead. Then she lifted three fingers. "Three days ago?" Luo Yang tried to guess. The girl nodded. The old man turned to the warrior: "Give them our supplies. We can survive with our rice… They need it more." Li nodded in understanding and pulled the bag off his shoulder…

Capital. Forbidden City. Lake Palace.

The Son of Heaven and the Autocrat of All Under Heaven, Huangdi Zhu Youjian, was in a disgusting mood. Vile weather and incessant cold rain did not contribute to the mental balance of the Great Emperor of the Celestial Empire. Somewhere out there, outside of his island Palace, the Capital was noisy, and the life of a big city was in full swing, but here, in the Palace, his jinshi Deming Liang filled the ruler of the Celestial Empire in on the horrific details of the famine in the Shaanxi province. According to him, the things were really bad, much worse than what Ji Chao, the eternal know-it-all, the head of the eunuchs, whispered about. "In Yan'an county, there was practically no rain during the year, and the ground dried up to a state of the stone. Last fall, people ate wormwood in the cities, and towards the end, they began to eat the bark from the trees. By the end of the year, when all the bark had already been peeled off, people began to eat chalk. A few days after that, their bellies swelled, people fell, and they were doomed to death… In all the districts outside the city, huge holes were dug where the city authorities buried several hundred people. In general, hunger is very strong in the north of Qingyang and Yan'an." Liang finished reading, carefully folded the scroll, put it in a buffalo tube and stared at the Emperor with devotion. Zhu Youjian listened to the official with an impenetrable face, for the Son of Heaven could not express his feelings in front of mere mortals. But deep in his soul, fear began to arise. He could not help but understand what would follow: turmoil, peasant riots, robbery on state roads or unrest in large cities. To worsen things, right there in the North, the Jurchens are waiting for an excuse to cross the border and besiege Beijing. And it is still unclear how the army will behave in such a situation… Generals are also people, and although they don't really care how many peasants will die out in this or that district, none of them will miss an opportunity to take over the reins of the sovereign's chariot. Of course, there are troops loyal to the "dragon throne" – there have to be some, but you never know… For almost a century, there have been continuous revolts here and there, and the army never has enough time to extinguish these centres of popular discontent. And, most importantly, no one can offer specific advice on what to do and how to deal with hunger. Even the great wise men have not yet learned how to deal with drought! Monks pray day and night in their temples, but it does not help much… "So the things are that bad," Zhu Youjian said in a cold voice. The official bowed even lower. The emperor sighed. He should have invited some of the highest dignitaries, find out what measures they were ready to take, but how could he discuss his decisions with these jinshis? With a slight nod, the Emperor dismissed the Liang, who left the reception hall backing away and constantly bowing. Zhu Youjian frowned. Now alone with himself, he could give in to anger. From the outside, this was expressed by the fact that he brought his eyebrows together. Being an intelligent man, the Emperor understood that a vicious atmosphere of lies and general distrust surrounded him in the Palace. More than one worthy person has cautiously hinted that power in the Celestial Empire was gradually flowing from the sovereign to his eunuchs, who constituted a great political force. From the "night guards" and the rulers of the secret city, these blameless creatures gradually took the role of "ear" advisers to almost every government official and even tried to influence the decisions of the Emperor himself, although so far they hardly succeeded. Now, alone with himself, the Emperor could admit that things in the country were getting worse and worse. A year ago, this damned drought in the South drove people to the point of devouring their own kind. There are no funds in the treasury to fight this force majeure since the damned ships of the Portuguese practically nullified the sea trade of the Celestial Empire, and in this situation, internal reserves would not last long. Riots in the country have become a common thing, the only redeeming thing being that the peasants will never find a single leader who could unite all the dissatisfied under his banner. On the one hand, this is excellent, as it will not be difficult for regular units to break up these disjointed forces. On the other hand, you could at least negotiate with the leader, discuss something, play for time, and then either the change in weather would help, or the "leader" would sell himself to the authorities in the most usual way and slay yesterday's associates with the same enthusiasm. This has happened many times before, so why wouldn't it repeat in modern history? Zhu Youjian chuckled with the corners of his lips. He wouldn't allow himself more than that, even when he was alone. But then he checked himself. Something is clearly going wrong today. This Deming Liang showed only the very top of the tree, but its roots remained invisible, even in such a detailed report. The bottom line is hundreds of villages were dying of hunger, millions of disgruntled peasants eking out a terrible existence, hundreds or even thousands of robbers blocking postal and trade routes, killing not only merchants and their servicemen but also senior government officials. Among the robbers, there are a lot of people with experience in military service, and although the peasants are mostly disorganised and not prepared for a war with the imperial army, nothing prevents them from doing this seriously in the very near future. The Emperor took a golden bell from the table near the throne and waved it once. Before the ringing of the bell had time to dissolve under the arches of the reception hall, the "nightingale floors" sang softly, almost inaudibly in the hallway. It was Ji Chao, the devoted dog and chief eunuch of the Emperor, who is hurrying up to attend the call. When his corpulent silhouette appeared on the doorstep, Huangdi had already put on a mask of "sovereign concern" and was ready to talk. Ji Chao habitually dropped to his knees and pressed his forehead against the floor. The Emperor chuckled. "Easy, Chao. This way, you will either split your forehead or damage the floor… Both are dear to me… for now…" "I'm all attention, my lord." Chao still did not look up from the floor. Chung Zhen chuckled. For a long time, he had no illusions about the obedience of the chief eunuch, but there was nothing that could be done – one has to live with what one has… "Tell me, my dear, putting away all these grimaces of increased love and respect: is it that bad in the provinces?" "Which ones, my Emperor?" said the chief eunuch, slipping away from the topic of hunger, but the Emperor did not give him the freedom to manoeuvre. "For example, in Shaanxi…" "Should I tell the truth, my Lord?" "Does a servant have the right to lie to his Emperor?" The Lord of the Celestial Empire answered with a question. The eunuch sighed, still not lifting his face from the floor. "This province is like a wineskin full of gunpowder, with unreasonable boys trying to make a fire under it." The emperor was alert. "Who do you mean? I mean, what boys…" The eunuch got frightened to death: the young Emperor was only seventeen! The eunuch knew that he already said too much and had to correct the awkward situation. "Your Imperial Majesty, mighty Huangdi, you perfectly understand that all uprisings begin in the provinces, but the fuse is set on fire in the capital…" "Well, go on…" "In my humble understanding, the Jurchen leaders are behind all this, my Lord. They have already approached the walls of the Forbidden City and entered Korea. What prevents them from setting a camp near the Capital once again? Or even take charge of the rebel troops?" "The capital is impregnable," the Emperor objected, without being too confident. The eunuch grinned at the floor. "The gates that a great army cannot break open can be easily opened by a donkey laden with gold. Do you think that all people surrounding you have no interest, my Emperor?" "I have never made wrong choices about my entourage," the Emperor said brusquely. "Do you have something reasonable to offer, or you will get off with quotations from the treatises of wise men again?" Ji Chao finally lifted his face from the floor and looked into the Emperor's eyes. "Yes, my Lord and Emperor. Otherwise, what else is an old eunuch needed for if not to give good advice on time?" Yujiao nodded brusquely and turned to the window.

Somewhere in the North of Shaanxi Province.

…Livay He's gang turned out to be the first gang of robbers on the path of Zicheng and old Luo. The travellers quickly found it, following the smell of fire and delicious cooking, and it turned out that it was not difficult for Li to neutralise the bandits. And now, having eaten around the campfire of the robbers, the travellers had to decide what to do next. To begin with, Zicheng dug a large hole with a Dao sword found in the bale of one of the robbers and dumped the bodies. "So that wild animals do not tear them to pieces," he explained to his companion, somehow embarrassed. Luo Yang nodded in approval. Slightly bewildered, he asked: "Do you feel pity for them?" Li shrugged. "Hardly… It is a pity that it was I who killed them." "This is not quite typical of a warrior. A warrior would have been proud of such an impressive victory." "I am a peasant who became a warrior by the will of fate. If I have the choice, I try not to shed too much blood. And they are also not to blame for the fact that I got in their way. Everyone has their own path. Our paths crossed here by chance." "A nobleman blames himself, a small man blames others," Luo muttered. Zicheng looked at him with interest. "Is that yours?" "It's a Confucius. I am not a source of wisdom, I only bring someone else's wisdom to the ears of those who have a desire to learn about it." Li nodded in understanding, put aside the robber's sword, and looked around. "Looks like that's it. We can go." "Well, then point the direction." Zicheng waved his hand north towards the distant mountains. "There, a couple of days away is the village where I was born. Be my guest, wise Man." "Thank you, valiant Li, that will be an honour for me. Shall we go?" "Yes. I'd like to leave this place as soon as possible," Li Zicheng nodded and grabbed his travel bag from the ground. The old man picked up his staff, and the travellers headed north to the distant village of Michzhi that the young warrior talked about all the time to the wandering philosopher. They didn't make it. Later, Luo Yang reproached himself more than once for making long stops, allowing himself and his companion to relax, admiring the picturesque views for a long time. But deep inside, the old man understood that they still could not have prevented the tragedy, the consequences of which they had witnessed. When the last ascent was overcome, a view of the Michzhi valley and the village opened in front of them. The young warrior wanted to say something sublime, something appropriate for the moment, but the words froze in his throat… The old man also froze at the top of the hill. What they saw in the valley was truly terrible! There was no village. That is, it was absolutely gone… Here and there, they saw scattered fragments of pitchforks and spears, jagged sickles, and arrowheads in the posts that had remained in the place of the fences. They could find whole arrows with white plumage in the grass, with excellent hardened tips. Li Zicheng, who had not said a single word during the entire time that they had been examining the ashes, dropped a short word – "army", and continued searching. Luo stood aside and tried to understand what was that unusual sweetish smell over the ashes, a smell so unpleasant and annoying. Tired of waiting for his young companion to finish his examination, he called him with a nod. "What do you think happened here? And where have all the villagers gone?" He looked up at Li and staggered back: there were so much pain and despair in him. The warrior closed his eyelids slightly and said hoarsely: "They all died…" "But where are the bodies then?" Zicheng shook his head to the side, and only then the old man saw something similar to the ashes of a huge fire, with a faint smoke still rising…Then the old man understood what that sweetish aroma over the village: it was the smell of burnt human flesh was… Li fell to his knees and covered his face with his hands… Old Luo Yang slowly walked up to him and sank down beside him… He put his hand on his shoulder, covered with rough leather armour. "Cry, warrior, weep, for your soul being purified, and your tears washing away their sins," the wise man shook his head towards the funeral pyre. Li looked up at the old man, his eyes dry and full of hidden pain. "I have long ceased to cry, wise Man. Even as a child when my mother was taken by the almighty Heaven. Or in my youth, when Heaven called my father. Can you explain to me why everyone was killed? They did not harm anyone! And they were attacked not by robbers, but by a detachment of the regular army!" "I don't know yet," Luo said dully.

He scanned the ashes once more. "And I don't even have any thoughts about this. But once you are able to assess the situation soberly, we will talk about everything. And we will take the only correct decision." Li Zicheng's eyes suddenly froze. "I'll take revenge," he muttered dully.

The philosopher shrugged his shoulders. "It's your right and your choice. Just remember that the one who is going to take revenge must dig two graves first…" "Why two?" "For your enemy and for yourself. Because everything that you do in this world comes back to you sooner or later." Luo rose from his knees and slowly walked away from the burned village. "Where are you going?" Li called him over his shoulder, without turning around. Yang stopped and said in a deliberately calm voice: "It's time to think about an overnight stay. Trust me, friend, the dead are not the best neighbours for this. Or am I wrong?" Nodding his head to some of his own thoughts, he walked towards the road. Li Zicheng gazed after him for a while, silent, then got up, grabbing a handful of earth mixed with ash in his glove, pulled out a piece of canvas from his bosom and wrapped the earth in it. He put the bag behind the lapel of his robe and looked once again around the burned village with a cold glance. His distracted attention was suddenly riveted by a hawk flying over the road. The bird of prey gave a shrill, sharp cry and rushed into the sky with lightning speed. Li Zicheng watched the predator carefully. What he saw instilled a vague premonition in the young man's heart: now his life will be somewhat similar to the life of a hawk, filled with the same tiresome stalking of prey.

第二章
Chapter 2

The messenger arrived early in the morning, and by lunchtime, the camp of the rebellion fleet looked like a disturbed hive.

A diverse rebel army was preparing for its first battle. Ragged, starved and exhausted by long walks and anxious, sleepless nights, they were still preparing to fight.

Li came out of the tent of Liu Hei, the Chief of this army, with an ambiguous feeling. Li was torn between anger and empathy. He couldn't bear the thought of the savageness of his enemy, but he felt a warriors sadness, knowing that most of his troops wouldn't survive the next battle. Only a person who was ignorant of military affairs could be intimidated by this horde. And how can several dozen hastily armed and barely trained common man and herders could even be called an army? Li shook his head and went to his fire to convey the words of the rebel leader to his companion and teacher Luo Yang. Old Luo was dozing, sitting in a meditative pose in front of almost extinguished fire embers. It seemed that the general turmoil was passing unnoticed by his consciousness.

As soon as Zicheng approached the fire, the old man opened his eyes and waved a welcoming gesture to Li. Li placed himself on the mat that was replacing both a tent and a bed for him in recent days.

They came to Liu Hei's detachment ten days ago, after almost a month of wandering through the nearby deserted villages in search of someone who could bring light on what happened in Mizhi. However, all the villages they visited along the way were either empty or turned into the same ashes. At the same time, Luo noted that not only citizens have been missing. Livestock, food, personal belongings were scattered around the area. It was a ghost town after a ghost town.

Old Luo stood on the outskirts of one of these villages, indulged in some kind of meditation known only to him. Zicheng, accustomed to such moments with their mentor, waited patiently for the old man to get back to him. Finally, Luo opened his eyes and said:

"It was bad timing on our behalf. I wouldn't mind being somewhere on the opposite borders of the Celestial Empire."

"Why is that?" Li asked. The old man chuckled.

"Can't you see for yourself?"

"I can only see deserted village."

Luo sighed.

"We need to harry up."

Zicheng was filled with anger. An empty village was no better than a village that had just been burned down: the smell of fear hung over everything, an elusive veil of hopelessness and imminent death. He grabbed his sword, but the old man held his hand.

"There's no one nearby," he grunted soothingly. "Only death and emptiness. We must search for survivors," the old man suddenly uttered. Li shook himself, throwing off the obsession with his last words and looked up at Luo Yang.

He continued to stroke his long moustache, thinking and finally, he said:

"Let's follow the footsteps of those who left the village. I think it will not be difficult for you: your army is chasing after cattle; they should be chasing after their people."

Li nodded. Indeed, he noticed the footsteps of the villagers immediately, as soon as he saw that the village was empty, and proceeded to inspect the area. Those tracks led to the spurs of the nearest mountains.

"What else do you think all this smells like, except death and desolation?" He muttered gloomily.

They came across the front pickets of the rebels the very next day. The sun was going down, and Li was already looking for a place to sleep when two men armed with pikes came out onto the trail. It took less than a second for Li to realise that he was not a trained man.

"Who are you?" One of the armed men cried out with a guttural voice. It was a tall, middle-aged man in shabby, patched-up clothes. He pointed his spike right at the old man. However, he hasn't received any reaction from Luo.

"We are peaceful travellers, good man," Luo's voice was filled with humility and obedience. Zicheng followed the example of his mentor and bowed to the second stranger, a young man of no more than seventeen, from whose eys you sense fear.

The older man broke the silence and said:

"Follow me."

Li shrugged his shoulders, exchanged glances with the old man, and stepped off the path. The young man followed, nearly touching Luo Yang's back with his long spear.

After a while, tired of the painful silence, the old man asked:

"And who would you be? What do you want from peaceful travellers?"

"How will you prove, strangers, that you are exactly what you seem to be?"

"Why do we need to prove you anything?" Zicheng chuckled. The man walking in front stopped abruptly and directed his pike exactly towards Li's heart.

In less than a second, Li grabbed the spike with his left hand and pulled men towards himself, landing a punch right to his jaw with his right hand.

Before the man had time to fall to the ground, his pike was in the hands of Zicheng, and its sting was looking in his direction. He froze, having fallen to the ground, staring at the tip of his weapon pointing right at his eye. Meanwhile, Luo turned to face the young man at the rear and calmly took the peak from his fear-bound hands.

"That's better," the wise man smiled as if apologising and patted the numb guy on the shoulder. Li put his pike aside and reached out his right hand to help him stand up. The man glared at him:

"I don't need pity from you! If you have taken me down, finish me!'

"I don't like to kill for no reason," Zicheng snapped,

"We are not here to fight you. We are all on the same side. Take me to your commander warrior," The peasant kneeled and shook his head in disbelief.

"This is not the time and place to drop down on your knees," he muttered, somewhat embarrassed by an unexpected situation, as he turned from a prisoner into a celestial with a blink of an eye. "You'd better get us to your leader as soon as possible. We want to talk to him.

"Yes, of course," the men rushed up and, nodding to his young partner and picking up the spear, headed into the forest, constantly looking back at the unusual companions. The young guard had already forgotten about his duties and walked alongside the famous wise man, bombarding him with a heap of questions like "how long have you been travelling?", or "which province did you like the most?'.

The older warrior, whose name was Tang, led them to the tent of the rebel leader Liu Hei, former tax collector-turned-Chief, who enjoyed the undoubted popularity among his associates. This could be seen even by the extremely respectful tone in which young Liang, the second guard from the lane, spoke about their leader. According to the rebels, Liu Hei collected taxes for a long time, being in the retinue of Xuan Ming, the head of Xian in Shaanxi province.

At the same time, Liu never went too far in dealing with ordinary people, and he was a strict but fair human being.

But over the years, collecting taxes has become increasingly difficult. The rulers demanded more and more, while time after time, nature threw new challenges o to the common man. Over time, when collecting tax became merely impossible, Xuan Ming was forced to resort to the help of the troops since several times his tax collectors were driven out of the villages by locals and even beaten up with sticks a couple of times.

Liu Hei found himself in an ambiguous position when he had to choose whether to continue serving faithfully to his master, the Emperor's henchman or to give up everything and go on the run.

Raised in a military settlement, Hei was the fifth son of his father, and therefore he was not drafted into the army. He was ready to be faithful to his vassal oath, but one day the village where he arrived with a small support detachment made up of governor's warriors was burnt down after one of the guards was hit by a stone thrown by a child.

Liu Hei witnessed the unarmed man being beaten, houses burned, woman raped, and children enslaved. Those who remained alive were tied up and driven into slavery, and the corpses of the rest were ordered by the commander to be burned along with the entire village.

Mindful of who would be the next victim of the imperial soldiers, Liu went to the nearest village and rose. He spoke to common men and begged them to leave. He told the truth of what will they face. He did not lack inspiration. The cries of the beaten people and the flames of burning houses were still fresh in his memory. People believed him, as this was said by Liu Hei. He had a spiritual aura around him, which made people follow him and listen to him. Even Li, has noticed it.

Having a great knowledge of military operations – Liu Hei began to gather his army from former herders and ploughmen, blacksmiths and potters. He took them to the training yard, forcing them to learn to resist the princely squads, trying to introduce the tactics of ambush war, knowing well that in an open field, his "army" would be nothing more than prey.

They might not be the best soldiers, but they were warriors. They were fighting for their lives, for their future. And freedom was their reward. Walking past dozens of tents and huts, where motley-dressed people were sitting around fires, cooking dinner, the travellers found themselves in front of a larger tent. Tang signalled to wait and disappeared inside.

Li glanced around and saw that everyone was staring at them.

He was not offended: his armour was supposed to have an irritating effect on the inhabitants of the camp. The guards were not treated very well here. At that moment, the curtain fell back, and Tang invited them inside. Li bent down and entered the low passage, habitually closing his eyes so as not to become blind from the bright outer light. Liu Hei greeted the guests. A pair of oil lamps burned on the sides. Even in the wild forest, the former tax collector could not give up his secular habits: ordinary men did not use interior lighting, as lamp oil was an unaffordable luxury.

At the sight of those who entered, the Chief of the rebels rose and bowed, casting a tenacious glance at the intruders. He pointed to the opposite seats while agile Liang hastily put bowls of rice and cups of rice wine in front of them. Li took a second to get accustomed to their surroundings.

Liu himself wore a faded robe, his hair militarily tied in a tight knot. He looked like a man in his thirties. Old Luo Yang didn't seem to pay attention to anything until silent Liu Hei said:

"I'm glad that fate has brought famous Luo Yang to my home."

"That's because we are now waling on the same paths," the old master smiled thinly. Liu also smiled.

"Yet we are here, and I have a lot of questions for you if you don't mind…"

"There is only one, and the main question: will I have so many answers? After all, I myself travel in search of the truth."

Liu nodded.

"We came across many burned-down villages along the way. Death is in the valleys, Chief. How are you going to fight it? With these several dozen unfortunates?"

Liu Hei frowned, then a clear sadness appeared on his face. "I don't know, wise man. I think about it every day and night. These people entrusted their destinies to me, and we don't care what happens to us; we only live for our children. Today our task is to save them. We'll think about the rest tomorrow if the sun rises."

"That's reasonable," Luo Yang muttered, overwhelmed by the inner strength that sounded in this simple phrase.

"What choice did they have?" The Chief of the rebels finished his thought, nodding towards the tent exit. Yang nodded.

"Of course, they had none. But you had. What prompted a former successful tax collector, a respected person, to leave a sedate existence and run through the forests?"

Liu Hei paused, rubbing his clean-shaven chin, stroking his thin moustache. Then he said in a simple tone:

"Probably, otherwise, my conscience would not allow me to live."

The old man nodded gravely.

"You will be given a tent; rest now. Tomorrow we will continue."

"Thank you, Master Liu, that's what we'll do," Li Zicheng stood up. Luo Yang followed him. The owner of the tent jumped to his feet with the obvious intention of accompanying them, but the wise man stopped him with a gesture.

"It is unworthy of a Chief to engage in the life of lonely travellers. Let young Liang accompany us. We became friends on the way."

"So be it," Liu Hei agreed and invited Liang, who happily accompanied the guests to their tent.

The next morning, they met again in the Chief's tent.

"Heaven sent you to me," the owner of the tent began with the traditional form of polite address. "In my case, this is not that much of an exaggeration. Yesterday you had a chance to note the tragedy of the situation. People entrusted their lives to me, I am responsible for them, but I am afraid they are not ready. I need your guidance?"

Leaving his empty cup aside, Luo Yang started smoking his pipe made from juniper wood. The smoke rose in circles, playing in the streaks of sunlight, penetrating through the holes in the tent canvas. It was impossible to see what exactly the old man was thinking about. Li, nor Liu dared to interfere with the thoughts of an old man.