Chapter 124: The Chess-Master Prince

They are two of a kind, a pair of scoundrels. Fujiwara no Hashio is no good, and Li Cui is even worse. One treats this place as his own home, while the other is so shameless he simply refuses to leave.

Many people do not understand the origin of the phrase "half a catty is eight taels." In ancient times, one catty was equal to sixteen taels, so half a catty was naturally eight taels—a fact even primary school children used to know. However, since one catty is now ten taels, some people have become confused.

Why was a catty sixteen taels in ancient times? There is a reason for this; it was not something the ancients simply made up. The sixteen-tael scale was known as the "Sixteen Golden Star Scale." It was composed of the seven stars of the Northern Dipper, the six stars of the Southern Dipper, and the three stars of Fortune, Prosperity, and Longevity. It served as a warning to merchants to be honest and trustworthy, neither cheating nor deceiving. Otherwise, being short one tael meant losing fortune, two meant losing prosperity, and three meant shortening one's life. Thinking of the unscrupulous merchants of later ages, they truly lack fortune, prosperity, and longevity; the money they earn only goes toward buying medicine.

Zhen Qian had to bite the bullet and pay out of his own pocket to host the two of them, along with their subordinates. He feared he would eventually be eaten into poverty by these two.

"Does your manor have a chess set? Why don't we play a game?"

Chess was not something Zhen Qian brought with him. As early as the Warring States period, military strategists had creatively invented this game based on the evolution of warfare. During the Tang Dynasty, the chancellor Niu Sengru added the "catapult" (the character for "cannon" then included the radical for "stone"), which gradually evolved into the modern cannon, perfecting the moves for both sides and forming the prototype of modern Chinese chess. By the Song Dynasty, the "Chu River and Han Border" was added, making it increasingly similar to the game played today.

In the Tang Dynasty, chess pieces were mostly copper and shaped like figures, very similar to modern international chess. It was not until the Song Dynasty that they gradually evolved into flat pieces.

In addition to well-known Tang Dynasty pastimes like pitch-pot, polo, and cuju, chess was also a popular form of entertainment, suitable for all ages—from emperors and ministers down to peddlers and porters.

Zhen Qian naturally had a chess set at home, but one set, being made of copper, had been melted down by him to cast private currency. Another set, made of nanmu wood, had been kept.

Playing chess requires sharp thinking, meticulous analytical ability, judgment, and the capacity for prediction. In later times, it could be seen in game rooms, under the shade of trees by the roadside, and even online—the battles were convenient and fast. Zhen Qian naturally knew how to play, and he was quite good at it.

Unfortunately, the rules of Tang Dynasty chess were different from those of later times; it lacked a pair of cannons, which made Zhen Qian feel somewhat uncomfortable.

Li Cui’s skill was excellent. He crushed Zhen Qian in three consecutive games, leaving him utterly defeated. Fujiwara no Hashio, watching from the side, was burning with anxiety, wishing he could rush in to help Zhen Qian.

"Fujiwara-kun! Why don't you play a few games with His Highness..."

Fujiwara had long been unable to restrain his eagerness and immediately began to battle Li Cui. "Move the chariot... drop the horse... pawn crosses the river...!"

Li Cui laughed heartily. "Delightful! Again!"

Fujiwara pulled a long face. It is often said that the bystander sees clearly while the player is confused. When Zhen Qian was playing, Fujiwara could always spot Li Cui's flaws, but when it was his turn, his own game was full of holes. After being defeated twice in a row by Li Cui, he felt as though he had lost face for the Japanese people, looking like a rutting gorilla with a face as red as a monkey's backside.

Li Cui was even more smug, his face glowing with triumph. Lacking the grace of a gentleman, he declared, "Even if we played another thousand games, you would still lose to this Prince!"

Fujiwara was as angry as a toad and turned to Zhen Qian, trying to form an alliance: "Brother Zhen, why don't we play together?"

Li Cui was amused. "Fine! Even if you two join forces, you are no match for this Prince!"

Zhen Qian could not stand Li Cui’s arrogance. "Fine! You said it yourself, Your Highness. Don't blame us for winning unfairly..."

"Come... does this Prince fear you two shrimps and crabs?"

Li Cui’s skill was indeed high; he had been holding back when playing one-on-one. Only when the two joined forces did they realize they had fallen into his trap.

"The pawn crosses the river, unstoppable! Check!"

"I block!"

"This Prince checks again!"

"I block again!"

"Let's see how you block this... Checkmate! Admit defeat!"

Li Cui tossed the chess piece in his hand triumphantly, like a victorious general on the battlefield, looking down at his two defeated opponents. "This Prince still had a chariot left unused, and I still sent you scurrying. Even if you practice for another ten years, you are no match for me!"

Zhen Qian had to admit that under the Tang Dynasty rules, he was no match for Li Cui. "Your Highness, do not speak too soon. This commoner was simply unaccustomed to these rules, which is why I lost!"

"Oh! You are still unconvinced? I will make you yield in heart and mind. Tell me, what other rules could there be for this game?"

Seeing Li Cui take the bait, Zhen Qian placed four pieces on the board. "These are cannons. They can strike across mountains. The rules of the game should be changed, shouldn't they?"

Li Cui looked at Zhen Qian with a cryptic smile. Was this a case of a dog jumping over a wall in desperation? He wanted to change the rules to favor himself. Li Cui wanted to see how he would dare to modify the established conventions.

Zhen Qian spread out a sheet of paper with a board drawn on it that was completely different from the Tang style. The Tang board was nine-by-nine with no "Chu River and Han Border."

Li Cui watched with curiosity as he saw a chasm on the paper—the "Chu River and Han Border" that Zhen Qian mentioned. The board had ten horizontal lines and nine vertical lines, forming ninety intersections. There were four extra cannons, and thirty-two pieces in total, divided into black and red. There were seven types of pieces: one General, two chariots, two horses, two cannons, two advisors, two elephants, and five soldiers, all moving on the intersections.

"The elephant flies in a 'field' shape but cannot cross the river; if there is a piece in the middle, it is blocked. The horse moves in an 'L' shape. Because it can jump in eight directions, it is called 'eight-faced majesty,' but if a piece blocks its path, it cannot move, which is called 'stumbling the horse's leg.' The chariot is the most powerful; it can move horizontally or vertically as far as it likes. The cannon moves like a chariot when not capturing, but to capture, it must jump over a piece—either friendly or enemy—which is called 'striking across the mountain'..."

Zhen Qian explained the modern rules and demonstrated them. With the rules changed, he wanted to see how Li Cui could still be so arrogant!

The board had changed, and the moves had changed, but the essence was similar. The rules were more complex, requiring deeper thought. However, this did not stump the chess enthusiast Li Cui. "What kind of weapon is this cannon? Does it exist in war?"

"Of course..."

It was clear Li Cui was a military novice. "As early as the Spring and Autumn period, projectile weapons existed, then called 'catapults.' In the late Warring States period, the Qin army used stone catapults to bombard the city towers of Zheng in the Han state... The Three Kingdoms period had a mechanical inventor named Ma Jun who improved the stone-throwing machine... capable of launching dozens of stones in succession..."

"I see..." Li Cui became interested. He rolled up his sleeves and sat cross-legged opposite Zhen Qian. "Come... let's fight three hundred rounds by your rules!"

The development of Chinese chess was a slow process. Li Cui, encountering it for the first time, felt as if his heart were being clawed by a cat. Once he started, he realized many moves were severely restricted, which he found hard to adapt to at first.

But a chess enthusiast is a chess enthusiast. Some people are born with a mathematical talent that others cannot match. In Zhen Qian’s eyes, Li Cui possessed a rare talent. After only five or six games, Li Cui had already formed a complete strategy, and his level was soaring.

At first, Zhen Qian was dismissive, but soon he felt the pressure. Li Cui’s attacks were as sharp as a storm, and his defense was solid as a rock. It was nearly impossible to find a flaw.

Li Cui’s face gradually revealed a smile, while Zhen Qian’s brow was tightly furrowed. Seeing his defense being torn apart, he let out a long sigh and threw down his piece. "Your Highness is truly a master of chess. This commoner is thoroughly impressed!"

Fujiwara, watching from the side, pushed Zhen Qian aside. "My turn!"

Li Cui looked at Fujiwara with disdain. "Just you? I will give you a chariot and a cannon, and you still wouldn't be my match!"

Fujiwara, enraged by Li Cui's arrogance, shouted, "We haven't started yet, Your Highness! Do not look down on the people of Japan!"

The two glared at each other like fighting cocks. "No take-backs... I capture... No, you moved wrong! This piece can't move that way, I'll teach you!"

Fujiwara was no match for Li Cui at all. He made mistakes from the very start, losing three pieces in a row. Fujiwara panicked, and in his desperation, he made even more errors. Li Cui, having no gentlemanly conduct, refused to let him take back his moves.

The game was a whirlwind of action. Fujiwara had no way to parry and was defeated in less than a dozen turns.

"Again!"

Fujiwara was determined. Even if he couldn't win, he would wear his opponent out!

Li Cui, however, was in his element. He played ten consecutive games, and looking at Fujiwara’s liver-colored face, he let out a peal of laughter so loud it was deafening.