Jingkou

A single stretch of water lay between Jingkou and Guazhou; only a few mountain ridges separated them from Mount Zhong.

Mount Zhong was called Mount Jiang in this era, but the line of poetry still worked. Mount Zhong was its old Han-era name; it had only been changed when Stone City was built because Sun Quan's grandfather was named Sun Zhong, and his name had to be avoided. Naturally, the Great Jin had no reason to keep observing that taboo for Sun Quan's grandfather. If anything, using the Han-era name made you seem more cultured, didn't it?

That was right. In late July, Liu Acheng followed the refugee band led by Liu Rengong, the Refugee Commander, to the spiritual homeland that had haunted his dreams, Jiankang... or rather, its next-door neighbor, Jingkou, a place that appeared time and again in the poetry of later ages.

They had indeed made good time. In fact, the latter half of the journey, after leaving the Huai River, had gone remarkably smoothly and far faster than the first.

The main reason was both cruel and comical—the robbery in the Huai River region had cost the refugees most of their livestock, pack animals, and transport, including their wheelbarrows, but it had also effectively allowed almost the entire band to travel light.

Moreover, that organized robbery had robbed the Great Jin soldiers along the rest of the route of any interest in this band of paupers. With Liu Rengong also holding proper documents issued by the Grand Commander-in-Chief's Office, they had no grounds for refusing to distribute grain.

On reflection, without distributing grain, they could hardly skim any off the top, either. That probably helped them get on with it.

Under these circumstances, people naturally fled or broke away, and in great numbers. Over a thousand households and three or four thousand people dwindled to fewer than a thousand households and roughly three thousand people. Yet somehow, these departures did not slow the main body down.

Of course, Liu Acheng deserved a tiny share of the credit.

And this newly promoted member of the refugee band's senior management could thump his chest and declare that, though his personal contribution was insignificant, his centralized straw-sandal production scheme and straw-sandal department had rendered tremendous service-far beyond his expectations, even.

First, his original idea had worked. By controlling straw sandals, an essential supply on the road, they could keep the band in line... Straw sandals wore out quickly. A journey of eighty or a hundred li, a crossing through a stream, or a little rain might ruin them, especially since they had passed through the great marsh of Sheyang Lake along the way. People could only buy replacements from Liu Rengong... except that everyone had lost their money and possessions. They either had to trade away precious grain or obey the arrangements made by Liu Rengong-or rather, Third Granduncle Liu of Dongwei, and even little Liu Acheng himself-and perform particular jobs for the band in exchange for tomorrow's sandals.

You helped gather firewood; he helped carry this child for two days. That was how they got by.

Second, there was a side benefit that hardly counted as unexpected, at least to Liu Cheng: straw-sandal production had increased dramatically.

It made sense. Once skilled sandal weavers like Grandpa Wang no longer had to worry about their own and their families' daily safety, keeping warm at night, or cooking during the day, and no longer had to find and prepare their materials themselves, their output naturally soared.

Liu Cheng had originally worried that these weavers might resent the arrangement. After all, they were now eating from one communal pot. In reality, however, they were thrilled to follow Liu Rengong directly, as though weaving sandals for the esteemed Refugee Commander were some great honor.

As for the victims and their families gathered under his protection, they were even more tearfully grateful. Grandpa Wang, for instance, repeatedly declared that without Liu Rengong taking them in, he and his granddaughter would have had no way to survive. He would lead his granddaughter in kowtowing to Liu Rengong's family at the drop of a hat, publicly calling him "Master"!

That amounted to voluntarily entering his service as Slave Retainers—and they were terrified he might turn them away.

Returning to the present, when they reached Guazhou Ferry, officials made a show of blocking their passage and declaring that they could not cross. Yet Liu Rengong really did have some means at his disposal. He went forward to negotiate in person and actually secured permission to cross the river.

Once across, they arrived at the foot of the famous Beigu Mountain, where officials from Southern Xu Province were already waiting at the landing. They approached with dark faces and delivered a long speech: although the grand commander-in-chief was benevolent enough to allow refugees from Northern Chu across the river, they had to settle in certain designated places, remain within the Jingkou area, and wait for local officials to issue white-register household papers and so forth. Any offense would be punished severely, and so on.

All of this was addressed only to Liu Rengong. Ordinary refugees could not even hear it, so it was hard to say whom they were warning.

Liu Rengong remained composed. After another conversation, the officials' attitude promptly improved once again, and the authorities plainly changed their arrangements on the spot. After distributing another round of grain, they instead directed the Refugee Commander to take his people to the relocated Langya Commandery.

"Relocated" referred to the corresponding administrative divisions the Great Jin court had established within the territory it actually controlled after its flight south cost it its original provinces and commanderies. These were intended to settle, reassure, and administer the exiled gentry and commoners from those places.

For example, the larger Xuzhou in the north had long remained outside the court's control, so a smaller Xuzhou had been marked out around Jingkou, commonly called Southern Xu Province. Xuzhou had a Langya Commandery, so this Southern Xu Province likewise contained a smaller Langya Commandery. Supposedly, the Grand General Who Campaigns Against the West, Huan Wen, had served there in his youth as Langya Interior Minister, a position similar to commandery governor, and had even planted a very famous tree at his headquarters in Jincheng.

But that revealed a problem. Liu Zhi's ancestral clan seat was Pengcheng in Xuzhou, while his actual home lay on the border between Pengcheng and Pei Commandery. By any reckoning, they should not have been settled in the relocated Langya Commandery... Taken together with what had happened at Guazhou Ferry and beneath Beigu Mountain, there had to be a reason behind it. Liu Acheng simply lacked the standing to learn what it was.

And so, following the local officials' directions, they traveled west along Jingkou Avenue, then turned south. They reached a valley backed by mountains and woods, with a small stream flowing west. Told that they were now within the relocated Langya Commandery, they made camp there.

Liu Acheng had even guessed where those mountains were: somewhere along the southern foothills of the so-called Ningzhen Mountains, around what later generations would know as Baohua Mountain, Tang Mountain, and Fang Mountain. The little stream flowing west along the contours of the hills probably fed into the Qinhuai River, while the road they had followed south should have been the stretch leading from Jiankang and Jingkou toward Jurong.

But sixteen hundred years separated this place from his own time. Not only was there none of the later prosperity, someone even claimed to have heard a tiger roar along the road south between two mountains.

That was chilling, too.

Everything lay in ruins, waiting to be rebuilt. Though they were all penniless, once they had a place to settle, the whole band's spirits visibly lifted, as if the great robbery ten days earlier had never happened. Liu Huzi, for instance, seemed like a wild donkey freed from the millstone. He promptly vanished with a dozen sturdy companions, though not before asking Liu Acheng whether he wanted to come.

Come do what? Go where? For what purpose?

Liu Acheng had no idea. Before he could get a clear answer, Liu Huzi grew impatient and ran off with his men.

Still, that suited him. Taking the opportunity, the boy hurried to submit his new reform proposal to Liu Rengong, looking determined to make straw sandals his livelihood.

"Keep the straw-sandal people together?" Liu Rengong was plainly puzzled. "We no longer have to travel. Are straw sandals still of any use?"

"We can trade them at the markets for sauce, vinegar, oil, and salt," Liu Cheng hastened to explain. "Lord Ren, we've only just arrived, and all we have is a little grain. We can gather firewood ourselves, but not oil, salt, sauce, or vinegar... While we were rushing along as though fleeing for our lives, we could endure a few days without them. How can we bear that now? As it happens, I saw quite a few roadside markets along Jingkou Avenue on our way here, and we produce plenty of sandals. Third Granduncle and I can sell the surplus and bring back sauce and vinegar. Every household we can help is one more helped."

"That makes sense." Lord Ren nodded. "But in a few days, the court should come to register us. There should be relief, and each household will be able to get by. Why go to all this trouble?"

You still trust the court to provide aid?!

Liu Cheng was inwardly speechless, but his expression never changed. He simply hurried to persuade him:

"What I mean is, even if the court comes to register us, why would it give us sauce and vinegar? And even if it does, there are quite a few widows, orphans, and people without family among the sandal weavers. There's no harm in keeping them together so they can earn some money to feed their children. Consider it a good deed. Besides, if you ask me, we should gather the skilled mat weavers as well. Now that we're settling down, mats will be in high demand... Again, even if the court provides aid, it may give us seeds and clothes, but it won't give us mats."

Liu Zhi was finally convinced and nodded repeatedly. "Acheng, you're as thorough as ever. I've learned to trust you along the way, so we'll follow your plan again. Go and handle it with Third Brother."

Naturally, Liu Cheng was delighted to receive a firm answer. He immediately took a chicken feather for a command arrow: not only would he keep the sandal-making team together, he would introduce market-oriented reforms and expand a straw-mat department. Early the next morning, he and Grandpa Liu San found two of the very few surviving wheelbarrows in the band and prepared eagerly to sell their stock from the journey along Jingkou Avenue.

Fortunately, Liu Rengong spotted them and found the arrangement inadequate. He had Liu Huzi, who was once again rushing out, spare two men to help push the wheelbarrows and serve as guards, saving them some trouble.

Now, Jingkou Avenue was probably the most important road in the Great Jin at this time. It followed the river with mountains at its back, yet kept a sufficient distance from the water. Its western end began at the North Hedge Gate of the capital, Jiankang, and along it stood Jingkou's famous eight garrison towns, eleven forts, and thirty-three beacon towers. At its far end lay the last and largest of those eight garrisons, Iron Urn City, Jingkou's actual administrative seat beneath Beigu Mountain.

To the north, Iron Urn City faced Guazhou Ferry across the river. To the south, it controlled the Three Wu Canal, gathering in the goods and tax revenues of the Three Wu.

That was where the original meaning of the later name Zhenjiang-"guarding the river"-came from.

In fact, even now, whether one spoke of Southern Xu Province or the generally understood bounds of Jingkou, the divisions, including its military installations, had been drawn around Jingkou Avenue, not the other way around.

Even the Gaoping Xis, identified in The Aristocratic Politics of the Eastern Jin as second only to the Eastern Jin's four ruling aristocratic clans, had gained their substantial and secure political position through Xi Jian's development of Jingkou after his great contribution to suppressing the Wang Dun Rebellion.

Jingkou was the Gaoping Xis' stronghold, the foundation that kept them standing firm. Jingkou Avenue was Jingkou's great artery.

Some of this Liu Acheng had known before transmigrating; some he had worked out through logic. But most of the basic information he learned by asking around the roadside market at the junction of the Jurong Highway and Jingkou Avenue.

He had supposedly come to sell straw sandals, yet shortly after arriving, he wandered off under the pretext of checking market conditions. Asking one person and listening to another, he investigated everything from Jingkou Avenue itself to the fabled Xi Family. Grandpa Liu San had already sold more than a dozen pairs of sandals at the stall, and he was still out "checking the market."

"The grand commander-in-chief is the grand commander-in-chief. He's the empress dowager's own father-how could he not be? He's been in charge of Jingkou for years."

"The Xi Family? All the people running the Xi Family have gone south to live like immortals. They aren't in Jingkou."

"The Xie Family? I think they do live in Black Robe Alley, like the Wang Family. We've sold firewood there before. Going through the water gate costs five coins. If you fail to sell anything, you're in trouble... Their young gentlemen ride out in covered carriages with dozens of beautiful courtesans... You see that often enough."

"The Wang Family... Those are people like immortals. How could we ever meet them?"

"The Northern Command Army is us here, the Jingkou troops. They're all people from Qing Province and Xuzhou. Situ Xi raised them when he put down the rebellion."

"The Western Command is the Yuzhou army. They copied Jingkou and recruited refugees to form it. Some of our people go there to enlist, too. We're all northerners, after all... No, not the Jingzhou army. Jingzhou's troops belong to Great General Huan."

"How would I know why the Western Command isn't called the Northern Command, or why the Northern Command isn't called the Eastern Command? Are you buying something or not?"

"I know that one... When the court first crossed south, it established military headquarters. Our Jingkou was the seat of the General of the Northern Army's headquarters, so it became known as the Northern Command. My father served there back then."

"Can you just talk about the empress dowager like that? How would I know how old the emperor is?"

"I know you've just arrived. Stay here three or five years, and you'll know these things better than I do..."

It had to be said that, though Jingkou was not Jiankang proper, it still had something of the air of a place beneath the Son of Heaven's feet. Strike up a conversation with anyone at the crossroads market, point at a beacon tower by the distant river as an excuse to ask a question, and they could offer a few remarks about the Wangs, Huans, Chus, Xies, and Xis.

Only now did Liu Acheng finally understand what was going on with this Grand Commander-in-Chief Chu Pou. He was an imperial in-law-the ruling empress dowager's own father! An imperial in-law commanding the military affairs of five provinces, he was actually spoken of alongside the Wangs, Xies, Xis, and Huans! At least among the common people, his current renown surpassed that of the Xis and Xies. The Xie Family was even regarded as a dependent of the Chu Family.

As for why, apparently the Xie Family had also risen through marriage into the imperial family, but its connection was one degree more distant than the Chu Family's.

And so, only when the afternoon sun had slanted well toward the west did Liu Acheng return to the stall, thoroughly satisfied. He found Grandpa Liu San waiting with a stern face. "Acheng, did you go to check the going price of straw sandals?"

"No." Liu Cheng glanced at another straw-sandal and mat stall just seven or eight paces away and shook his head decisively. "I was asking about current affairs."

At that, Grandpa Liu San's stern expression actually eased. He merely sighed, then asked, "What did you find out? Did you establish whether we really will be on the white registers, exempt from labor service and taxes? Will they give us seeds to clear land? What are we to do in winter?"

Liu Cheng froze, then spread his hands with a rueful smile. "I actually forgot all that."

"Then what were you asking about?" Grandpa Liu San grew angry again.

Liu Cheng remained unruffled. Enthusiastically, he recounted what he had learned about Jingkou's local roads, military affairs, the origin of the Northern Command's name, and the rumors surrounding Wang and Xie, the Chus, and the Xis. Grandpa Liu San listened patiently to the end, then surrendered to utter helplessness. Pressing the still-scarred corner of his mouth, he shook his head. "Suit yourself."

The boy gave a dry chuckle and finally settled obediently against the large tree behind their sandal stall. His eyes still darted about, though, as if he wanted to memorize every passing vehicle and person and inspect every vendor and item in the market.

To be honest, selling sandals really did not require his help at present. A customer would buy a pair for three or five coins—three proper five-zhu coins, or five Shenlang Coins privately minted by powerful southern clans—or one or two sheng of millet: one sheng of this year's fresh southern millet, or two of old grain stored for three years or more... Grandpa Liu San handled all of this more deftly than anyone. Why would he need a boy to judge the goods?

Besides, Grandpa Liu San had already seen through him. The lad had asked for this assignment purely so he could come and play at the market.

A boy was a boy, after all. What could you do?

And so Liu Cheng leaned against the tree, watched another four or five pairs of sandals sell, and continued letting his mind wander. At last, a customer appeared who caught his interest.

The man had a dark face and led a horse. He wore a proper kudzu-cloth robe, a single-ridged cap of the worthy, and a flute at his waist. He was extremely tall and somewhat stooped... These features made him look like a respectable middle-aged scholar. On closer inspection, however, his robe was filthy, his cap shabby, and his hair coarse and yellowish. The straw sandal on his left foot had split right through its central rope and could no longer be used.

As he approached and stopped before the stall, they could distinctly smell the same sour stink that clung to the other refugees in their short working clothes.

In fact, because he wore a long robe and had worked up a sweat on the road, his smell was even stronger.

"Straw sandals... How much for a pair?" After feeling them a couple of times, he finally spoke, but his voice sounded quite young.

Apparently, he merely looked old. His ragged clothes, haggard expression, lack of grooming, and, above all, slight stoop had made him seem middle-aged.

"Three five-zhu coins, five Shenlang Coins, one sheng of fresh millet, or three of old millet," Liu Cheng volunteered. "You can trade clothes or cloth, too. We have plenty of sandals, so we can value whatever you bring according to its condition... Of course, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, or anything else useful can also be traded."

The tall young man who looked old and slightly stooped visibly hesitated. Then he took a small pouch from behind his waist, opened it, and poured out just one Shenlang Coin. Third Granduncle Liu's accommodating smile immediately disappeared.

Helplessly, the man took out another pouch and tipped it over. A half-eaten rice ball rolled out.

"We don't want that." Grandpa Liu San hurriedly waved his hands.

The man became visibly embarrassed. Even the two men helping with the wheelbarrows exchanged speechless glances-he was leading a perfectly sturdy horse, yet had only one coin on him? He was worse off than refugees like them.

Liu Cheng, however, had noticed from the start that the saddle and reins were only half-worn and did not match the man's clothes. Perhaps he had borrowed someone else's horse for the trip. From his appearance, he probably was a scion of a gentry family, only reduced to utter destitution.

Just then, the man found another item: the half-worn bamboo flute at his waist.

Before he could speak, Grandpa Liu San began waving him off again.

"If you're willing, you can trade the flute. We don't really know how to value it, though, so we can only give you one pair," Liu Cheng said first. It was not sympathy that moved him; he had just remembered that his own persona was that of an impoverished gentry scion. Naturally, he ought to show consideration for a fellow of his kind who looked like Camel Xiangzi.

Sure enough, Grandpa Liu San glanced at the boy who had abruptly spoken beside him and said nothing more.

The stooped young man who looked older than his years said nothing either. With his dark complexion, there was no telling whether he had blushed. He simply set down the flute, took a pair of sandals, and bowed his head to change into them. Afterward, he still did not leave. Instead, he asked curiously, "There are only a few of you. How do you have so many straw sandals to sell?"

An impoverished member of the gentry was a rare encounter. Eager to talk to him, Liu Acheng gave him a frank explanation.

But halfway through his account, someone at the western end of the roadside market suddenly called something in a low voice. Immediately, the market, long drowsy beneath the afternoon sun, seemed to come alive. Not only did the few customers standing in the road stop; the vendors began rolling up their wares, carrying and dragging them aside.

Soon, Liu Acheng and the others heard the words clearly—"Axe-Wielding Slaves are coming!"

At that, Grandpa Liu San reacted as well. Calling to the two helpers, he tugged up the straw ropes strung with sandals and had them carried behind the tree. Then each man wheeled a barrow around behind it. Looking back, he found Liu Acheng still standing in a daze with the tall, penniless scholar, so he hurried over, seized the boy, and dragged him behind the tree.

Though he had been looking around curiously, Liu Acheng did not reject his companions' kindness. He merely smiled at the tall man still standing there, then slipped behind the tree to peek out.

Moments later, a procession of more than a dozen carriages came along Jingkou Avenue. Sure enough, several Slave Retainers carrying blades and axes cleared the way at the front and along the sides. More surprising still, nearly half the procession consisted of covered carriages, almost all carrying several young, beautiful women in lavish clothes. Two or three carriages had even thrown their curtains open without the slightest restraint, allowing the women to laugh and point at the vendors standing solemnly off the road.

The entire market watched the procession, its path cleared by Axe-Wielding Slaves, disappear into the distance. Only after some time did normal order return.

"We've sold plenty of pairs. We can account for ourselves well enough. Let's hurry and exchange the money for oil, salt, sauce, and vinegar, then go!" Still shaken, Grandpa Liu San tugged at the boy behind the tree as he proposed this.

Liu Acheng naturally had no objection.

And so one of their two companions loaded the remaining sandals onto a wheelbarrow, while the other took the money and hurried off with Grandpa Liu San to buy vinegar, cloth, salt, sauce, and the like.

Unable to contain his curiosity, Liu Cheng took the opportunity to ask the tall man in the kudzu-cloth robe, "Brother, do these southern gentry families' Axe-Wielding Slaves really slash at people in the street?"

"Actually, provided you don't offend them, these days such Axe-Wielding Slaves more or less refrain from cutting people down," the robed man explained with a sneer, holding his horse. "Especially the owner of today's procession. Just look at those courtesans parading through the streets and those covered carriages supposedly reserved for recluses, then reckon the timing. It must be that celebrated gentleman of Eastern Mountain from the Xie Family, finished with his mourning and preparing to return to Kuaiji to enjoy himself..."

Hearing the obvious sarcasm in "these days," "more or less," and "recluses," Liu Cheng had been smiling along. But the final words left him stunned for a long while, and he could not help asking on the spot, "The man who just passed was Xie An?!"

The man in the kudzu-cloth robe finally let down his guard and studied the boy before him seriously. "You know of Xie Anshi as well? I haven't yet asked your name."

"You're older than I am, brother. I ought to ask your name first." Liu Acheng hurriedly cupped his hands. "Forgive my earlier lack of courtesy."

"Liu Lang, of the Liu Clan of Pengcheng. Though I've come of age, I still have only my childhood name, Jili, to serve as a courtesy name. You may call me Liu Jili." Looking down from his height, the stooped man returned the salute with his head held high.

A moment earlier, Liu Cheng had been astonished that Xie An had passed within a dozen paces of him. Now he was truly speechless inside. Why is everyone surnamed Liu? And why are they all from the Liu Clan of Pengcheng? Have I stumbled into a whole nest of Pengcheng Lius here in Jingkou?!

----------A scene break with Axe-Wielding Slaves----------

Though An gave free rein to his love of hills and valleys, whenever he went sightseeing, he invariably took courtesans along. After he repeatedly declined summons to office, Emperor Jianwen, then serving as chief minister, said, "Since Anshi shares in others' pleasures, he cannot refuse to share in their troubles. Summon him, and he will surely come."

-Book of Jin, "Biography of Xie An"

PS: My deepest thanks to our new alliance leader, Zhi'ai Weiyib.

Also, among the characters appearing early in this book, at least as far as my current backlog goes, those with aristocratic backgrounds are generally historical figures-or people who should have existed historically, but whose names are unknown, so I have simply given them names and appearances.