LFHYB -Chapter 94 An Unexpected Fish Takes the Bait

Li Xuanba said, “If we really run into danger, they’ll still politely escort me away.”

Zhou Da blinked. “Huh?”

Li Xuanba stroked the golden eagle perched on his arm and said, “Who in this world doesn’t know that the Sui army is all busy preparing for war with Goguryeo? Only my second brother, Li Shimin—Second Young Master Li—commands an elite force that is truly unstoppable. With peasant rebellions breaking out everywhere, only my brother’s unit is desperately holding the line. But who would dare lay a finger on me… hm.”

He swept his gaze around the inn.

“I doubt any band of rebels would want to be the first to catch my brother’s attention. Innkeeper, do you have any fresh meat? My eagle is picky.”

Wu Di lifted its head. “Chirp!” Yes! I’m picky!

In the dead of winter, the inn’s waiter was so busy that a layer of sweat had actually formed on his forehead. “Y-Yes, we do—just delivered by a hunter. B-But, honored sir, our inn can’t accommodate so many people…”

Li Xuanba said, “That’s fine. I’m only stopping here briefly.”

Zhou Da selected ten men to enter the inn as Li Xuanba’s guards; the rest rested outside.

Li Xuanba bought flatbread and water for them, personally delivering it and specifically instructing that the water be boiled.

In ancient times there were no drugs that could knock someone out with a single sip. At most, people used things like croton seeds or impure arsenic. As long as one drank tasteless warm boiled water, most “poisons” could be avoided.

Before long, Chen Tieniu returned.

Behind him was a rather portly middle-aged man, bowing and scraping.

“Milord, this is the local village head,” Chen Tieniu said. “He wishes to invite you to stay at his home.”

Li Xuanba looked at him.

The village head dropped to his knees with a thud and kowtowed. “I-I greet the General! If the General does not mind, my home is quite spacious and can serve as your lodging.”

“I like peace and quiet,” Li Xuanba replied calmly.

“We—we will all move to another estate!” the village head hurriedly said. “We absolutely won’t disturb you!”

Li Xuanba nodded. “Very well. I’ll trouble you for a while, then. Please rise.”

The village head shakily stood up, and Li Xuanba followed him away.

The inn waiter finally let out a breath of relief.

Just before leaving the inn, Li Xuanba paused and said, “I came here to meet the Zhishi-lang Wang Bo. Once I’ve seen him, I’ll leave. I’ve already sent word to my second brother, so I must return soon. I hope I won’t be kept waiting too long.”

The village head who was leading him and the innkeeper seeing him off both froze.

After saying that, Li Xuanba stepped away. The other travelers hadn’t heard his last words and began whispering among themselves.

“That young man looked really handsome, just a bit thin. I wonder whose scholar he is?”

“Did you see his guards? He must be a noble youth from the commandery.”

“Maybe someone even more important passing through.”

“The village head called him ‘General.’ Such a young general—he’s probably a noble with powerful backing in court.”

“Really? Then should we go pay a visit?”

“But what if we disturb him…” …

A Daoist stroked his long beard and looked at Li Xuanba’s retreating figure, a glint of interest appearing in his eyes.

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Li Xuanba moved into the village head’s residence.

The village head cleared out the main courtyard, took the newest silk from his storehouse to make Li Xuanba’s bed, moved his wives and children to another compound, and himself stayed in a side courtyard awaiting orders.

Li Xuanba’s guards took over all security inside and outside the residence. Chen Tieniu even sent letters to the local Yingyang Garrison and the commandery governor, saying that their Huya-rank general was on his way back to Qinghe Commandery and had merely detoured to Mount Tai to sightsee, hoping for their convenience.

The local Yingyang general and the governor both regretted that they were currently suppressing bandits and had no time to visit Li Xuanba.

After all, he was one of the brightest twin stars among the young generals of the court today, and the emperor’s most beloved nephew. Who wouldn’t want to get acquainted with him?

They both wrote back asking Li Xuanba to stay a bit longer, preferably to detour to the commandery city so they could receive him in grand fashion.

Along with the letters came many gifts, all of which Li Xuanba accepted with a smile.

Everyone in Great Sui knew that Li Xuanba loved books, while Li Shimin loved bows. The Qi-Lu region was the birthplace of Confucian learning and had no shortage of ancient texts. Li Xuanba received quite a few Han- and Wei-dynasty rare editions. Whether they were genuine or not, as long as they were books he hadn’t read before, he liked them.

As for the powerful bows, Li Xuanba figured his second brother probably wouldn’t care for them, so he could bring them home for Xiao Wu to play with.

After settling down at the foot of Mount Tai, scholar-officials who had come to tour the mountain began sending in calling cards the very next day.

No matter their rank, Li Xuanba read every card carefully and personally wrote letters declining their visits.

Although he met no one, his reputation among the scholars became that of someone approachable and courteous.

Li Xuanba said to the village head, “I’ll only stay at the foot of Mount Tai for five days. If I linger any longer, my second brother will personally come drag me back. You’d better make Zhishi-lang come sooner.”

The village head put on a terrified, tearful expression. “This humble commoner has absolutely no collusion with the rebels!”

Li Xuanba merely smiled without saying anything.

By Li Xuanba’s third day at Mount Tai, the person he was waiting for still hadn’t come.

He wasn’t anxious at all. He lit a fire in the study and, while warming himself, sorted through the intelligence he had obtained from the local yizhuang (charitable associations).

Long ago, based on the locations of peasant uprisings recorded in historical sources, Li Xuanba had deliberately set up many such organizations. The savings he had painstakingly accumulated over the years had now been completely poured into them.

Years of planning had not failed him—the information he obtained fully repaid his investment.

When choosing which peasant rebel leader to contact first, Li Xuanba had originally favored Wagang.

Wagang was currently not only the most inconspicuous force, but also the one that everyone in the world believed would be wiped out first—because this rebel army had the audacity to operate right near the Eastern Capital, Luoyang.

What the world did not know was Yang Guang’s temperament.

Yang Guang was extremely arrogant. After defeating Tuyuhun, this arrogance reached its peak, and he could not tolerate even half a bad word. If anyone told him that there were rebellions near Luoyang, he would only throw that person into prison or even have them killed. Thus, neither the local officials around Luoyang nor the people at Yang Guang’s side dared mention that there were uprisings nearby.

Without an imperial order, without a Hu-ben general sent to coordinate regional forces, the troops of the Yingyang Garrisons could not leave their jurisdictions—they could only pace back and forth on their own turf.

The Wagang Village peasant rebel army was like players in a real-time strategy game grinding monsters on a map in later generations: every monster had a fixed aggro range. As long as you watched those boundaries carefully, you could level up smoothly without taking damage, and in the end they astonishingly grew into the largest peasant rebel force of all.

After analyzing the rise and fall of the Wagang rebels, Li Xuanba decided to give up on contacting them in advance.

Luoyang was, after all, a sensitive area. Right now the Wagang rebels were “hiding in plain sight,” but once he made contact, that might no longer be the case.

Besides, Zhai Rang was already doing a very good job. In terms of character, he was even more upright and honorable than Dou Jiande—a truly exemplary man—which was why he ended up being betrayed and ruined by Li Mi. As long as things continued to develop as they were meant to in history, that would be the best possible outcome. There was no need for Li Xuanba to meddle and draw a snake by adding feet.

After filtering through his options, Li Xuanba chose Wang Bo.

Wang Bo was the first person in the Sui dynasty to rise in open rebellion—but that was not why Li Xuanba selected him.

Li Xuanba judged Wang Bo to be the most suitable because Wang Bo had first surrendered to Yuwen Huaji, then to Dou Jiande, and in the same year had again led his followers to submit to Li Yuan.

This pattern of repeatedly switching allegiance proved Wang Bo’s inner weakness. Although he had been forced to rebel, if given a chance to “submit to the court,” he would certainly seize it.

That said, the fact that such a weak-willed man had been driven to be the very first to rise in rebellion really showed just how “impressive” the Sui emperor was.

Wang Bo’s back-and-forth conduct was also quite interesting.

When he first chose someone to defect to, he did not pick a closer warlord or peasant rebel leader. Instead, he traveled thousands of li to seek out Yuwen Huaji—the man who had killed the Sui emperor.

When Yuwen Huaji was on the verge of defeat, Wang Bo opened his city gates and surrendered to Dou Jiande; that could still be explained as simple self-preservation. But he had barely gone over to Dou Jiande when he immediately led his subordinates to Li Yuan instead—making it obvious that he looked down on Dou Jiande, another peasant rebel leader, and had more faith in Li Yuan.

This revealed two things. First, Wang Bo deeply hated Emperor Yang of Sui. Second, once Emperor Yang was gone, Wang Bo strongly yearned for the aristocratic class.

That yearning for the nobility made Wang Bo instinctively lower himself before Li Xuanba, making him easier to persuade.

Next year, the peasant army led by Wang Bo would establish its main base at the foot of Mount Tai. His troop movements were not without planning; before choosing Mount Tai, he must have already sent people to plant “nails” there.

After Li Xuanba’s investigation, the local village head was found to be a distant relative of Wang Bo. Although the two had hardly had any contact, once it was known that Wang Bo would move his base to Mount Tai next year, the location of Wang Bo’s “nail” was already perfectly clear.

Li Xuanba did not think himself an exceptionally brilliant strategist, but with enough intelligence, and by reasoning backward from the future to the present, he believed he would not go wrong.

As for whether this plan was risky, Li Xuanba thought the risk was minimal.

Although rebellions were flaring up everywhere now, with tens of thousands gathering at a time, when spread across all the commanderies and counties, they were no more than bands of mountain bandits.

The fifth year of the Daye era had been the height of the Sui dynasty’s power; now it was only Daye year seven. Not only did Yang Guang not care, even the local officials where the unrest occurred did not take these rebels seriously. The peasant armies themselves had no ambition to grow bigger or stronger—they merely gathered in mountain hideouts to survive.

With his “invincible in every battle” second brother as a deterrent, the reputation for benevolence built by their charitable estate, and Wang Bo’s historically recorded weakness and admiration for the aristocracy, Li Xuanba figured the worst that could happen was returning empty-handed.

And if he did return empty-handed, it would not be his loss—it would be Wang Bo’s.

While Li Xuanba was organizing his intelligence, noisy sounds came from outside the study.

Seeing Chen Tieniu stride in aggressively, Li Xuanba asked, “So he finally came?”

Chen Tieniu clasped his fists. “There was a Daoist sneaking around outside the gate. I don’t know if he’s one of Wang Bo’s people, so I tied him up and brought him in.”

“A Daoist?” Li Xuanba folded up his documents. “Bring him in.”

Li Xuanba thought: It couldn’t be one of those staple figures of early-Tang fiction, Yuan Tiangang or Li Chunfeng, could it?

The moment the thought arose, he laughed and shook his head.

Yuan Tiangang and Li Chunfeng, like Liu Ji (Liu Bowen) of the Ming dynasty, had all been elevated by later legends into unbelievable, almost comical levels of mystical authority.

In reality, Yuan Tiangang and Li Chunfeng were not master and disciple, and their status and positions were worlds apart; they probably had little personal connection at all. The Back-Pushing Diagram was a later fabrication.

Yuan Tiangang really was a physiognomist. But at this time, nobles both believed in and looked down on divination and prophecy; physiognomists were more like amusing, flattering attendants kept around for entertainment. So Yuan Tiangang never held high office in his life.

Li Chunfeng, on the other hand, was a trusted civil official who followed Li Shimin when he was still Prince of Qin. During the Zhenguan era he served as Court Academician and Director of Astronomy, and under Emperor Gaozong he was ennobled as Baron of Changle. He made great contributions to astronomy, calendrics, and mathematics—a serious high official. In the official histories, he never once read people’s fortunes.

If Li Chunfeng could see later generations turning him into a mystic charlatan—and even calling him Yuan Tiangang’s “disciple”—he would probably burst out of his coffin in rage.

Moreover, Yuan Tiangang was currently serving as a county magistrate in Ziguo in Shu, and Li Chunfeng was still a small child. Neither of them could possibly be here.

So Li Xuanba guessed that this Daoist really was someone sent by Wang Bo.

He straightened his clothes and put on a gentle, approachable expression, so as not to scare off Wang Bo’s scout.

The Daoist, his hands bound, was brought in by Chen Tieniu.

Li Xuanba said kindly, “If he isn’t carrying any weapons, untie him.”

Chen Tieniu had already searched him thoroughly and taken away the only iron sword from his waist.

Hearing this, he untied the ropes on the Daoist’s hands, then stood at Li Xuanba’s side with one hand on the hilt of his saber, glaring at the young Daoist.

Wudi had been shaking its head and munching on dried meat. It tilted its head to look at Chen Tieniu, then landed on Li Xuanba’s other shoulder, also widening its eyes to stare at the young Daoist.

Although he wore a long beard, the Daoist’s face was quite young. Being glared at by both Chen Tieniu and Wudi, he shrank back slightly.

Li Xuanba flicked Wudi on the belly. “Get down. You’re heavy.”

Wudi lowered its head in dissatisfaction and nudged Li Xuanba’s cheek, then flapped its wings and flew onto Chen Tieniu’s shoulder, continuing to glare majestically at the young Daoist.

Seeing how lively and expressive Wudi was, the young Daoist began to believe a few more points of the rumors about Third Young Master Li’s uncanny nature.

He knelt and said, “I am not a suspicious person. I only wished to pay my respects to Third Young Master Li.”

Li Xuanba asked, “Then why didn’t you send a calling card instead of wandering around nearby?”

The young Daoist gave a bitter smile. “I come from a humble background and didn’t dare send one rashly, so I hesitated for a few days… who would have thought I’d be tied up and treated like a thief.”

Li Xuanba said, “Get up and speak. You wish to seek refuge under me?”

The young Daoist rose and said respectfully, “Yes.”

Li Xuanba nodded. “Not many poor scholars dare to present themselves directly. Since you have that courage, you must have some confidence in yourself. I usually don’t accept people who come to attach themselves to me, but since you’ve already been brought before me, we must have some fate. I’ll give you a chance to show what you can do. If you truly have talent, I’ll recommend you.”

Li Xuanba still suspected that this man had been sent by Wang Bo, so he deliberately displayed a courteous, talent-loving attitude. After this man finished “probing” his temperament, Wang Bo ought to appear.

If Wang Bo didn’t come soon, his second brother really would ride over to arrest someone.

The young Daoist hadn’t expected Li Xuanba to be so easy-going.

In most people’s impressions, the sons of noble families were arrogant and domineering. Someone like Li Xuanba, who had made his name so young, should have been even more high-handed.

Yet he had been tied up and dragged in as a suspicious character, only to find that Third Young Master Li not only didn’t punish him, but even praised him for his courage in presenting himself and was willing to give him a chance. Warmth welled up in the young Daoist’s heart, and even his eyes reddened.

He took out a worn, frayed booklet from his robe, bent low, and raised it with both hands as he said hoarsely, “My surname is Wei, given name Zheng, courtesy name Xuancheng. These are my own poems and essays. Please, Third Young Master, have a look.”

Li Xuanba smiled gently. “All right. Tieniu, take the booklet— …Ah?!”

“What was your name again?!”