Tang Dynasty Bandits

Chapter 129 Side Story: Hisa
Even after arriving in the Central Plains, Zhao Chou and Zhao Qianye would still often think of the winds of Liaodong.

A cold, icy wind, carrying the salty smell of sea, swept across the ridge of Mount Dahei. Standing within the walls of Beisha City, with his arms outstretched, he could embrace the sea atop the mountain.

Bisha City was the last stronghold of the Tang Dynasty in Liaodong. In the first year of the Zongzhang era, when Emperor Gaozong conquered Goguryeo, it returned to the embrace of China along with other cities in Liaodong. By the time Zhao Qianye was born, nearly two hundred years had passed.

Below the mountain are arable plains and good harbors, from which ships can easily sail to Donglai in the Qingqi region.

This allowed it to hold out longer than other cities.

“Our ancestors came to Liaodong when they crossed the sea to conquer the east with Marshal Xue Rengui…” Grandpa would always stroke his little head and say this patiently.

Zhao Qianye had never met his father. The old man told him that the day before he was born, his father died at sea while fighting against the Silla pirates who were raiding the farmland outside the city, and his soul went away with the waves.

He was raised by his grandfather, and as a child he always listened to stories told by his grandfather.

He only learned many years later that Marshal Xue Rengui had traveled by land to Liaodong, not by boat.

Besa City is located on a long, narrow peninsula, seemingly at the edge of the world.

The old man told him that the place where the Zhao family originated was called Tianshui, also known as Qinzhou, which was more than 3,000 li away from Beisha.

That's not far. Outside the city gate of Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty, there is a stone tablet that reads "Nine thousand nine hundred li to the west of Anxi".

The westernmost territory of the Tang Dynasty was 9,900 li away from Chang'an, which was located just east of Tianshui.

But that was a long, long time ago. Tianshui fell even earlier than Anxi, and now these places have become the land of the Tibetans, the sworn enemies of the Tang Dynasty. "Anxi, once a vast territory, is now the border defense of Fengxiang."

“Besides Liaodong, we have no other home to go back to,” the old man sighed.

According to Aweng, one of his ancestors returned to the Central Plains and then tried to visit the tomb of his distant ancestor Zhao Chongguo in the area controlled by the Tibetans, but he never returned.

What can an old man with white hair, who once had seven sons but can only rely on his grandson for survival, do besides lament?

Perhaps they also bowed in the direction of Donglai.

From time to time, wandering knights would sail across the land of Qi and Lu. They would buy mountain goods such as furs, and sometimes they would take up swords to help the city resist the invasion of foreign tribes.

Many of them left their bodies in Liaodong, and there are many tombstones and desolate graves on and around Daheishan Mountain, where even the names of the deceased may not be recorded.

"If it weren't for these heroes, we wouldn't have survived until now. We can only bow our heads in gratitude to them." The old man said, leaning on his cane, his voice trembling. "The last Protector-General of Anxi, Lord Guo Xin, has been dead for fifty years."

That winter was exceptionally cold.

The Khitan, Balhae, and Silla, three states that had been vassals of the Tang Dynasty many years ago, formed an unusual coalition to eliminate the Tang Dynasty's last stronghold in the northeast.

Even before the An Lushan Rebellion, they had already begun to encroach on the land of Liaodong. But as the empire's central government weakened, this encroachment only intensified.

These three countries often attacked each other over the unequal distribution of spoils, and then one or two of them would go and form an alliance with the Tang Dynasty. This was the key to why Beisha City was able to hold out for so many years.

Looking out from the top of Beisha City, the azure sea stretched to the horizon, with floating ice floes, howling winds, and swirling snowflakes. Amidst the vast snow curtain, enemy banners dotted the landscape.

The soldiers on the city walls were shivering with cold, and the people stayed indoors, afraid to go out. But the enemy troops besieging the city, dressed in thick fur coats, had set up an endless line of positions in the heavy snow.

Among the enemy were even Han Chinese faces—besides the heroes who risked their lives to support Liaodong, there were also some shameless scoundrels who served the enemy.

"I'm afraid there won't be any reinforcements," the old man sighed as always. "With this much snow!"

Bisha City was a city that was easy to defend and difficult to attack. In addition, the weather was freezing cold, so the foreign tribes did not have the ability to attack the city.

However, the enemy's siege forced the residents outside the city to flee into the city as well, and food supplies quickly became insufficient.

“There are already few Han Chinese in Liaodong, so we can’t have cannibalism unless we eat the flesh of the enemy.” The old man relayed the city lord’s words: “If we run out of food, we will open the city gates and men, women and children will all rush out and fight the enemy.”

Zhao Qianye knew what "going all out" meant.

Born in a remote, isolated city, he had witnessed far too many partings and deaths.

"I'll give it my all..." The boy grasped the old man's chapped and wrinkled hand: "Then I'll be able to see Grandpa again?"

"Yes, we can." The old man nodded firmly: "Not only your grandfather, but also our Zhao family ancestors, and Marshal Xue Rengui who brought our ancestors to Liaodong..."

These words greatly reduced the fear in Zhao Qianye's young heart.

"Qianye, do you know? We are human beings, with three souls and seven spirits. When we die, our souls can ascend to heaven. But the enemies outside the city are barbarians. Barbarians are no different from beasts. When they die, they can only be reborn as insects, just like they were in life."

The old man stared at him intently with his cloudy eyes and said firmly, "Those Han Chinese who act as accomplices to the enemy are the same. They are no longer human, but have turned themselves into beasts."

Zhao Qianye had also heard the schoolteacher next door mention this principle. The teacher said that Emperor Taizong once said, "The Rong and Di peoples are human-faced but beast-hearted. If they are slightly displeased, they will surely turn around and cause harm."

"Then what about Mother... isn't she a descendant of the Goguryeo people?" Zhao Qianye blinked, slightly puzzled.

"Silly child." The old man looked at the boy with loving eyes and stroked his small head. "There is a saying: When barbarians enter China, they become Chinese; when Chinese enter barbarians, they become barbarians."

"Whether you are Chinese or a barbarian depends not only on your bloodline, but also on where your heart is."

A deafening bell rang from the city lord's mansion, announcing that the grain reserves were about to run out.

The old man put down his cane, straightened his hunched back, and took down his treasured sword, which hadn't been used for many years, from the rammed earth wall. The sword, often polished with oil, still gleamed with a clear, sharp light, as clean as new, despite being a family heirloom.

At that moment, the swirling snowflakes stopped falling, and the rosy clouds were bathed in the glow of the emerging sun, a beautiful and dreamlike sight.

Zhao Qianye looked up and felt that above the clouds there truly was a heavenly world without suffering or war.

"I'll be able to see my grandfather, whom I've never met before, tomorrow."

As Zhao Qianye pondered silently, she felt an unusual calm in her heart, but for some reason, a few drops of water slowly slid down her crimson eyes.

"Don't cry, Qianye, don't cry..." The old man wiped away Zhao Qianye's tears with his rough cloth sleeve, coaxing him, "I'll sing you a song..."

The old man, with his calloused hands, embraced him and was about to sing a lullaby, just as he had when the boy was a baby. But suddenly, a series of shouts erupted from the city wall. At first, there were only two or three people, but the shouts gradually grew louder and louder until the city was filled with a deafening roar, like a mountain collapsing and a tsunami crashing.

The old man's cloudy eyes suddenly lit up, and he pulled him up to the city to see.

Looking out, it seemed as if a raging fire was burning on the ice!

A cavalry unit traversed the frozen coastline, snowflakes swirling with the clatter of their horseshoes. Each knight wore red helmet and armor, and a crimson battle robe.

At the center of the formation stood a female general whose beauty seemed to freeze time itself. She too was dressed in red, but her color was more vibrant than any of her soldiers, making her stand out immediately amidst the vast army.

Zhao Qianye could never forget that moment, even until his death.

He felt his gaze drawn to that figure, like a magnet attracting iron, and he couldn't look away.

Even in such a distant place, with extraordinary eyesight passed down through generations, it would be impossible to see the person's true face.

The old man observed for a long time, then let out a long sigh: "The enemy has as many as 30,000 men, and they have built strong fortifications around the city. They can even freeze water instantly. With only a few thousand cavalrymen, how can we easily break through the siege..."

Zhao Qianye's heart sank.

He knew that when Ah Weng was young, he was the most astute scout in Beisha City. Those who were with him were now buried on the ridges of Daheishan Mountain or in the vast wilderness of Liaozuo.

But the cheers from the bystanders were even more intense.

Zhao Qianye stared intently and saw the knights dismount, line up a row of large shields on the ice, and then set up their crossbows.

The crossbow bolts, like the previous blizzard, surged into the enemy ranks, easily piercing through felt and fur, blooming into countless blood flowers on the snow.

Then, the seven thousand knights mounted their horses in perfect unison, drew their swords, and charged through the gaps in the allied camp, turning the snow-covered ground into an endless pool of blood.

This was no ordinary war; it was a massacre.

When Zhao Qianye's gaze shifted from the piles of corpses and severed limbs of the Hu people, he noticed that the reinforcements were carrying a large red banner with the character "Zhen" in black lettering.

As the evening snow falls heavily outside the camp gate, the wind whips the red flag, freezing it stiff and unmoving.

The female general glanced at them lightly.

The soldiers of the three services began to sing in unison.

"Heavenly soldiers descended upon Jade Gate amidst the snow, while enemy arrows rained down like sand upon golden armor."

The clouds and dragons, wind and tigers all return; Venus enters the moon, and the enemy can be destroyed.

The enemy can be destroyed, the banners extinguished, and we will tread on the entrails of the barbarians and wade through their blood.

Hanging the beard in the blue sky, burying the beard beside the purple border.

When the barbarians are gone, the Han dynasty prospers.

But the song is grand, the winds are blowing, and the clouds are flying high; where can we find brave warriors to guard the four corners of the land?

The old man looked at the soldiers singing loudly below the city and suddenly burst into laughter. His white beard trembled violently at the corners of his withered lips with his laughter.

His hunched body suddenly straightened, and his eyes shone with a piercing light.

Just like his spirited and ambitious self in his youth!

"This is the song that the men of our Great Tang should sing!"

The old man shouted loudly, and then, in his aged voice, with the passion that had been dormant for many years, he began to sing at the top of his lungs—

"With no barbarians, the Han dynasty prospers!"

Tens of thousands of people sang in unison, their voices resounding throughout the city and beyond, shaking the fields and echoing between the sea and the sky.

As long as someone remembers these songs, the loyal spirit of the Tang Dynasty will live on, no matter where they are in the world.

……

"The imperial court will not send any more reinforcements; this is the last time." The peerless female general sighed, scanning the white-haired soldiers throughout the city. Her clear, icy voice was tinged with melancholy.

She said to Zhao Qianye, "However, a few years ago, the country recovered Tianshui, the ancestral home of your Zhao clan. You can come back with me and pay respects to your ancestors."

Zhao Qianye was about to say, "Thank you, but no need."

The female general added, "I happen to be going there to fight next year and kill the Tibetans."

“Okay.” Zhao Qianye changed his mind and nodded emphatically.

After returning to the Central Plains, he became the adopted son of the Tianshui Zhao family branch of the Zhongwu Army, and he also changed "Qianye" from his nickname to his pen name.

The nights in Liaodong are clearly much longer than those in the Central Plains.

He felt that every day after leaving Liaodong was an endless night, a thousand nights without end.

That fiery red figure has been almost the sole pillar that has sustained him through the years.

He was her sharpest sword, whether she was defending against the barbarians or suppressing the rebels.

It was only because, when he obeyed her orders to fight, he could recall the snow outside Beisha City that day, the cold wind that swept through the banners, and the ballad that he would never forget: "When the barbarians are gone, the Han dynasty prospers."

That's all.

(End of this chapter)