Tang Dynasty Bandits

Chapter 4 Slap
Xiayi County, belonging to Songzhou, is located southeast of Songzhou City. This county is also the place where the armies of Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao met.

The county magistrate had already raised a sum of money and food from the gentry, and opened the treasury to add more, and sent people to deliver it respectfully to the rebel army in exchange for the rebel army's promise not to enter the city. Only then did the Cao army camp in the fields outside the city.

Tonight, on this prairie, a vast military tent was erected, supported by wooden planks and large enough to accommodate a hundred people for a feast. Inside the tent, naturally, were the leaders and prominent figures of the two armies.

Since their separation, both armies have gained some new leaders, and Wang Xianzhi, as the host, personally introduced them to everyone.

The tall and short ones were his senior disciples, Shang Junchang and Shang Rang. The gaunt, elegant figure, resembling a scholar, was Liu Yanzhang, the deputy leader of the Zhenyi League. The one with a naturally blue face was Qin Yan, the young master of the Bamboo Flower Gang. Besides these, there were many others, all renowned figures in the martial arts world.

After all, Wang Xianzhi presided over the Zhenyi League, the martial arts world's foremost sect, and had served as its leader for forty years, earning him immense respect within the martial arts world. Even after suffering a crushing defeat at the hands of veteran general Song Wei, resulting in heavy casualties, his army still boasted far more experts than Huang Chao's own forces.

Zhu Wen listened quietly to Wang Xianzhi's introduction of the heroes. While drinking, he memorized all their appearances and characteristics in his mind.

Although he never liked to remember so many people.

When he was young, he had complained about Wang Xianzhi's holding the position of leader of the martial arts world but failing to eliminate the evil in the world.

But after witnessing his imposing demeanor today and receiving a few martial arts lessons from Wang Xianzhi, he was truly impressed by this contemporary master. How could someone who had shared a life-and-death relationship with his master, Huang Chao, be a mere vulgar person with mere martial arts skills?

Such people also rose up in arms to fight against the Tang Dynasty court. It seems that the conflict between the court officials and the heroes of the grassroots has really reached the point of no return!

After introducing the leaders, Wang Xianzhi invited another man to come forward. He was wearing a round-necked robe, a wide-legged hat, and leather boots. He had a broad forehead and a greasy face. The gaps in his hat revealed his thinning hair.

Huang Chao and Zhu Wen were surprised to see this man wearing Tang Dynasty official uniform. Wang Xianzhi introduced him, saying, "This man is an angel from the imperial court, a doctor from the Ministry of Rites."

Huang Chao stood up suddenly. "Angel? Sent by the imperial court? Wang Xianzhi, tell me clearly, what are you going to do?"

"My dear brother, please be patient," Wang Xianzhi said gently. "To be honest, I have already discussed the matter with the court and will accept the offer of amnesty."

The imperial envoy interrupted, "That's right. It was Prime Minister Zheng who suggested recruiting the leader of the alliance."

As soon as Imperial Envoy Ren finished speaking, Shang Junchang, one of the Shang brothers, echoed him, saying, "Prime Minister Zheng is incorruptible and loves the people like his own children. We rebelled simply because of years of drought and floods, coupled with the rampant corruption of local officials, we were forced to join the people in rebellion. Now that Prime Minister Zheng has persuaded the Emperor to offer him amnesty, he must have a comprehensive plan to provide relief to the victims and punish corruption and violence. From now on, we will disband our forces and serve the court together, creating a prosperous era. This will be a glorious story in the future."

Shang Junchang's words were crude but subtle, blaming the rebellion of the Cao army on natural disasters and corrupt officials. His implication was that the emperor was wise and the central government was intelligent, while it was all the treacherous officials in the middle who were causing trouble. This way, the rebel leaders had a way out, and the court also gained respectability.

Shang Junchang was Wang Xianzhi's most proud disciple, and he was obviously prepared for what he said.

Wang Xianzhi also stood up, sighed deeply, and stared at Huang Chao, whose face was already full of blue veins and was about to explode. "A Chao, don't be angry for now. Listen to what I have to say from the heart."

Huang Chao snorted coldly: "What nonsense do you have? Come on and say it!"

Wang Xianzhi said, "You and I have been friends since childhood. You should know that my family is actually a descendant of the Wang family of Langya. Our ancestor was the famous calligrapher Wang Xizhi. It was only after the Sui and Tang dynasties that the Wang family of Langya declined, and our branch was expelled from the gentry, cutting off the inheritance of Confucian classics."

The inheritance of Confucian classics was extremely important to the aristocratic families. Without this inheritance, one would no longer be included in the aristocratic family register.

Huang Chao said coldly, "Of course I know."

Wang Xianzhi continued, "The Qingqi Zhenyi League, along with the Shaolin Temple in Songshan, the Cangjian Villa in Yangzhou, the Langya Pavilion in Jiangzuo, the Tang Sect in Western Shu, and the Tianshi Mansion in Longhu Mountain are collectively known as the Six Great Sects of the World. The Langya Pavilion in Jiangzuo was founded by Chen Qingzhi, a great general of the Southern Liang Dynasty during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, known as the White Horse God of War. He admired the Wang Clan of Langya and took the pseudonym Mei Changsu of Jiangzuo because of his admiration for the Wang Clan of Langya. This speaks to the former prestige of our Wang Clan of Langya."

His eyes were filled with sincere emotions like blazing fire, and he was completely lost in memories. "A Chao, when I was young, I actually envied you. You were smart, talented, and able to read. I once told you that if you became prime minister in the future, I would become the general, and together we would support the country and rebuild the prosperous Tang Dynasty."

Wang Xianzhi shook his head. "I never imagined that in this world dominated by aristocratic families, someone as brilliant as you, renowned for your poetry and prose, would repeatedly fail the imperial examinations. I truly envy the sons of the powerful aristocrats of our time; they don't have to put in much effort to earn a place in the imperial court and be highly valued by the royal family. While I may be the world's greatest martial artist and leader of the martial arts world, I'm ultimately just a white-clad outlaw."

At this point, Wang Xianzhi's eyes suddenly turned fierce. "But, from today on, everything is different. With Prime Minister Zheng guaranteeing us, the court is definitely not deceiving us. Now that we are middle-aged, we still have the opportunity to realize our youthful dreams, enter the government, and achieve great things. Isn't this exactly what you and I want?"

Huang Chao listened and nodded repeatedly, making "hmmmm" sounds. Zhu Wen was startled to see that Huang Chao seemed to agree, but he saw that Huang Chao had walked forward without him noticing.

"You're quite right, but—"

Huang Chao slowly stretched out his left palm and slapped it on the face of Wang Xianzhi, the world's number one master. Blood spurted out instantly!

But Huang Chao did not stop, and hit Wang Xianzhi's left cheek again, which had not been hit yet. He attacked Wang Xianzhi on both sides of the face. This time the blow was even more severe, causing two bloody teeth of Wang Xianzhi to fly out in an instant and directly nailed to the wooden pillar supporting the tent, penetrating more than an inch into the wood!

The two slaps made the whole place silent, and the air seemed to be stagnant. At this moment, even if a needle fell on the ground, it would be heard clearly by everyone.

When had Wang Xianzhi, the leader of the martial arts world, ever been slapped in the face like this? Who would dare? Even the Demon Lord, who battled Wang Xianzhi for three days and three nights forty years ago, couldn't land a single blow on his face!
When Zhu Wen saw Huang Chao slapping Wang Xianzhi's face so hard, all 48,000 pores on his body felt as if they had eaten ginseng fruit. He felt so refreshed that he had to hold back his laughter.

Don't hit people in the face, but Zhu Wen liked to hit others in the face, and also liked to watch people being hit in the face.

He hadn't been this happy in a long time.

"People will surely think I struck you because the court didn't explicitly grant me an official position. But I'm making it clear today that I, Huang Chao, disdain the Li family's official titles! From the moment I failed the imperial examination and walked out of the gates of Chang'an, I no longer placed my hopes on the Tang court."

"Wang Xianzhi!" Huang Chao said word by word, "If you insist on accepting the amnesty, then our friendship of over forty years will be severed. When we meet on the battlefield in the future, we will be enemies, and the battle will not end until one of us dies."

After saying that, Huang Chao flicked his sleeves, turned around, and walked out of the tent with big strides, leaving only his tall figure behind.

Everything in the entire tent seemed to be still, as if time had frozen for tens of millions of years. Not even the sound of anyone breathing could be heard. Everyone was like clay sculptures or wooden carvings, shocked by what had just happened.

I don't know how long it took before the sound reappeared in this space, and time seemed to start flowing again at this moment.

“Hahahaha…well done, well done!”

It was Wang Xianzhi's voice that broke the silence. He looked towards the tent door where Huang Chao had disappeared and laughed loudly.

Upon hearing this, Wang Xianzhi's men drew their weapons and abruptly rose to their feet. Led by a man holding a judge's pen, and followed closely by Qin Yan of the Bamboo Flower Gang, the heroes of Wang Xianzhi's army instantly surrounded Huang Chao's officers, murderous intent blazing in their eyes.

Obviously, they all thought that Wang Xianzhi was laughing in anger and wanted to fight Huang Chao's troops here, so they rushed to take action and surrounded Zhu Wen and others in the center of Gai.

The imperial envoy, however, had an expression of watching a joke, and looked at Zhu Wen and others as if they were dead people.

Zhu Wen suddenly felt a wave of boredom once again, and thought to himself, "Why do these people still look like those country folk? Vulgar, dull, and boring?"

It really made him feel a little disappointed and even wanted to yawn.

Zhu Wen looked at the man beside him and saw a handsome young man of medium build. His face was pale and cold sweat was pouring down his face. He said in fear: "This... this..." This man was Huang Chao's nephew Lin Langjun, an honest and mediocre young man.

"Mr. Lin." Zhu Wen patted his shoulder calmly, "Don't worry. I don't think General Huang would be wrong about this guy."

"Uncle...you wouldn't have mistaken him? What are you talking about?"

Zhu Wen was too lazy to answer Lin Langjun's question, but Qin Yan, the young master of the Bamboo Flower Gang, who rushed over, was obviously quite unhappy that Zhu Wen dared to speak so calmly in such a tense situation.

Qin Yan's blue face suddenly flashed with anger: "You don't know the big picture, you are courting death. Just now I saw you winking at an angel, so disrespectful..."

Zhu Wen just said coldly: "Master Qin Yan, what nonsense are you talking about?"

He suddenly spread his hands and said, "As far as I'm concerned, you could go to the Jinglong Rain Forest in Nanzhao Kingdom and wrestle with the white elephants that are gnawing on palm trees. When those roller-sized hooves hit your head, maybe your mind will become clearer."

Qin Yan gritted his teeth for a moment.

"Die, you rat!"

He drew his sword and was about to chop at Zhu Wen.

The court angel also glanced at Zhu Wen with mockery in his eyes.

When the heroes put swords and guns on the necks of Zhu Wen and others.

Suddenly, a loud shout rang out: "Stop it! Stop messing around!"

The one who spoke was Wang Xianzhi, the commander-in-chief of the Cao army, the general Tianbu Pingjun, and the commander-in-chief of all the heroes in the country.

He stopped Qin Yan and the others, looked at their bewildered expressions, and said, "These past few decades have been like a dream, and I have only just awakened today. This is truly a wake-up call."

"Brother Huang Chao sees things more clearly than I do. I'm afraid we'll be sorry to the angel this time."

Qin Yan's movements became stiff and he felt as awkward as a puppet. He didn't know whether to move forward or backward and could only look at Wang Xianzhi awkwardly.

Wang Xianzhi suddenly took out a bright yellow imperial edict, which was the imperial edict written by the emperor himself and stamped with the imperial seal. It clearly stated that Wang Xianzhi was appointed as the chief censor of the Left Shence Army and concurrently the Supervisory Censor, all his sins were pardoned, and other leaders would be given rewards as appropriate.

But Wang Xianzhi showed no mercy. With a swish, he tore the imperial edict made of silk brocade and written with tribute ink from Yizhou, Hebei, into pieces in an instant. The scraps of cloth fluttered down in the tent like butterflies in the sky.

"This..." The imperial envoy was speechless for a moment: "Captain Wang, tearing up the imperial edict is a disgrace to the royal family. There will be no such good things in the future..."

When the imperial envoy said this, Zhu Wen suddenly turned his gaze to him and said with a smile: "Angel just wanted to laugh at us, but now you have become the laughing stock yourself."

Ren Tianshi was so angry that his face turned blue. He was about to scold Zhu Wen, but he was met with Wang Xianzhi's gaze as deep as an ancient well. He suddenly realized that he was in the enemy camp. He felt a chill all over his body and dared not say anything more.

Wang Xianzhi said, "The crime of disobeying the emperor's order is punishable by extermination of the entire clan. How could a commoner not know this? However, the underworld has its own rules. I have made up my mind, so there is no need to say more."

He added, "When two armies engage in battle, messengers are not executed, but formalities must be followed. Come, drag the angel away, lash him with thirty lashes, and expel him from the army!"

Imperial Envoy Ren's face instantly turned as pale as a dead fish's eye. Cold sweat broke out all over his body, and he begged for mercy repeatedly. But no one paid any attention to his pleas. The military judge immediately entered the tent, lifted the Imperial Envoy's robe, stripped off his trousers, and then, in front of countless soldiers, flogged him thirty times, until blood stained and he cried out for his parents. Only then did they escort the Imperial Envoy out of the camp.

When leaving the camp, the imperial envoy turned his head and glanced in the direction of the big tent, with unspeakable resentment in his eyes.

Liu Yanzhang, the deputy leader of the Zhenyi Alliance and a childhood friend of Wang Xianzhi, looked at Wang Xianzhi and sighed, "Alliance leader, I knew this would be the outcome. Perhaps you're just waiting for a reason to let go of the obsessions of the first half of your life."

"Speaking of which, we in the Zhenyi Alliance have never cooperated with the government."

Wang Xianzhi looked lonely, with a trace of vicissitudes in his eyes: "Yes!"

He rubbed his swollen cheek with his hand, walked out of the tent, walked to Huang Chao who was standing in the middle of the night, and stood shoulder to shoulder with Huang Chao.

"Brother Wang, I've been waiting for you. You didn't let me down." Huang Chao put his hands behind his back and said calmly, "You know, you want to restore the former glory of the Wang family of Langya, but what I want is to make sure that there are no more aristocratic families in the world."

Wang Xianzhi was silent for a moment.

After a while, he held Huang Chao's hand.

Friendship in youth, lifelong loyalty.

Huang Chao suddenly laughed at himself and said, "It may seem like I hit you today, but you actually used me to win people's hearts. This proves your composure as the world's number one master, who remains unmoved by praise or criticism. This actually serves as a backing for me."

These words portrayed Wang Xianzhi as a wise man who used Huang Chao's hand to strengthen his original intention and suppress the generals who wanted to recruit him. It also gave Wang Xianzhi enough way out.

"From today on, even if it means sacrificing our heads and shedding our blood, we will fight the imperial court to the very end, and live up to the pride of Shandong heroes like us," said Wang Xianzhi.

"You seem quite pessimistic." Huang Chao said, "I don't think that old scoundrel Song Wei is enough to make you so."

"Song Wei is now in the west, commanding the troops from Pinglu, Xuanwu, and Zhongwu. He has tens of thousands of soldiers and will soon reach Songzhou." Wang Xianzhi said, "But if you and I join forces, the old thief will not be a concern."

"However, the problem is that there are also people from the east who are rushing towards Songzhou at full speed."

Wang Xianzhi smiled bitterly and said, "One of the Four Great Generals of the Tang Dynasty, the Acting Minister of War, the Jiedushi of Taining, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Grass Army, Qi Kerang, 'Qilian Snow Clears', is about to join forces with Song Wei to attack us."

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of the crowd who were listening to the conversation between the two changed drastically.

　The incident of Huang Chao beating Wang Xianzhi is recorded in the Zizhi Tongjian and Ouyang Xiu's New Book of Tang. However, according to official history, this incident occurred at the Qizhou Assembly at the end of the third year of the Qianfu reign (876). However, due to plot needs, this incident was moved to the eve of the Battle of Songzhou in the fourth year of the Qianfu reign (877), closely linking it with the subsequent battle between the Wang Xianzhi-Huang Chao coalition and the government troops led by Song Wei.

　　"Zizhi Tongjian" records: Xianzhi was very happy to receive it, and all the people congratulated him. Before he could leave, Huang Chao, who was not as good as him, was furious and said, "We all made a great oath to rule the world, but now you have taken the official and sent him to the left army. Where will these 5,000 people go?" He beat Xianzhi and injured his head, and the people were noisy. Xianzhi was afraid of the public anger and did not obey the order.
　　However, I believe the phrase "not being able to obtain an official position" is a personal interpretation by the historian, as according to Tang dynasty practice, Huang Chao would have been offered an official position. However, I do not believe Huang Chao was a "resolute revolutionary fighter" as defined by the class-based historical perspective of the past. Rather, I believe the real reason for Huang Chao's refusal to accept the amnesty was that his fellow soldiers had not been properly resettled.

　　In reality, the Tang Dynasty never recruited only the most powerful. The Tang dynasty treated the situation the best, often recruiting rebels to bolster its military. For example, during the Caizhou Campaign during the reign of Emperor Xianzong, the entire Wu clan was exterminated. However, Wu Yuanji's subordinates and advisors, such as Dong Chongzhi and Li You, were given important positions, some even later being promoted to Jiedushi. After all, these individuals were highly capable and demonstrated their value in uniting the front.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)