Chapter 137: The Chess Game of the World

North country scenery, a thousand miles of ice sealed, ten thousand miles of snow drifting. Looking inside and outside the Great Wall, only a vast expanse is left; up and down the great river, the rushing torrents are suddenly halted. The mountains dance like silver snakes, and the plains gallop like wax elephants, vying with heaven for height. On a sunny day, seeing the red garments and plain attire, it is extraordinarily enchanting. Such are the beautiful rivers and mountains, causing countless heroes to bow in homage...

Amidst the white mountains and black waters, a caravan plowed slowly through the wind and snow. The burly man in the lead was wrapped in furs, leaving only a pair of resolute eyes exposed. He waved his hand and shouted hoarsely to the caravan behind him, "Brothers, put in a little more effort! Ahead lies the main camp of the Urohu Tribe, where fine wine and beauties await without end..."

The Shiwei are further divided into the South Shiwei, North Shiwei, Boshiwei, and Great Shiwei. The South Shiwei ranged from modern-day Qiqihar to Hulun Lake; the North Shiwei were distributed along the eastern side of the Greater Khingan Mountains, extending east to the western section of the Lesser Khingan Mountains; the Boshiwei inhabited the Pangu River basin at the northern foothills of the Greater Khingan Mountains; and the Great Shiwei operated in the region east of Lake Baikal.

The Urohu Tribe belonged to a branch clan of the South Shiwei, located near the east and west banks of the Nen River along the line from Nehe County to Qiqihar.

The Shiwei people had always made their living by nomadism and hunting, supplemented by fishing and primitive agriculture. They submitted as vassals to the Central Plains dynasties, mostly offering sable furs as tribute. Because of the extreme cold in their land, the Shiwei people often retreated into the mountains to live in earthen caves during the winter, while some tribes dwelt in houses covered with birch bark in the summer.

Because the exchanges between the Shiwei and the Great Tang were frequently disrupted by the Khitans and Tujue, their contacts with the Tang imperial court were intermittent. In view of the Shiwei's irregular allegiance and in order to strengthen governance over them, the Tang court soon established the Shiwei Governor-General's Office in their region, appointing Shiwei leaders as Grand Governor and Governors, and formally incorporating the Shiwei territory into the territory of the Great Tang.

Nowadays, as An Lushan and the Khitans were in constant friction, the Tang court had broken off contact with the Shiwei, leaving the Great Tang's administration over the Shiwei beyond its capabilities.

Ordinarily, Tang caravans would never venture so deep into the barren wastelands. Even the Sogdians, who excelled at commerce, only transported their goods as far as the Khitans, and even Silla and the Balhae Kingdom rarely set foot there.

Yet this caravan, composed of Han Chinese men, had crossed boundless deserts and traversed towering mountains and rugged ranges. Braving hardship, drinking snow when thirsty and swallowing felt when hungry, they had come to the Shiwei lands where Central Plains people seldom ventured. This was an undeveloped virgin territory; the shrewdest merchants were too lazy to bring goods here, as the semi-primitive, semi-slave social structure destined this place to have no economic exchange.

The burly man in the lead was named Zhen Er. Over three months ago, he had set out from Fanyang, passing through the Andong Protectorate, Yingzhou, and the Songmo Protectorate to arrive at the Urohu Tribe of the Shiwei. This would be the final stop northward for this caravan; afterward, they would turn southeast to enter the Balhae Kingdom, and when spring arrived, they would head south from the Andong Protectorate along the Yalu River. At Xing City, there was a newly established trading post belonging to this caravan—one of the two trading posts established three months ago by Zhen Yi, who had crossed the sea from Dengzhou to the Andong Protectorate on the Liaodong Peninsula. The other was at Duli Town (near modern-day Dalian).

Thinking of Zhen Yi, Zhen Er's face was filled with envy. Now Zhen Yi was called Zhen Di, taking names from the Thousand Character Classic: "Heaven and Earth are dark and yellow, the universe is prehistoric, the sun and moon wax and wane, the stars are arrayed in rows." Ever since Third Brother developed an interest in the investigation of things and entered the Wolf Cave, he had never shown his face again, and was bestowed the name Zhen Xuan by the master. Then there was Fourth Brother, who was sent by the master to Yangzhou and made such a splashing success in a mere two months that he earned the name Zhen Huang. Thinking of this, Zhen Er felt a surge of competitive spirit. He heard that the master had already sent Fifth Brother and Sixth Brother to Chang'an and Chengdu; if those two beat him to it, he would end up with only the character "Hong," which would be the ultimate humiliation!

In the hearts of all the brothers, aside from the deep-seated gratitude buried within, the master was forever an enigma, as if all things in the world were under the master's control. Every word and every action of the master contained extremely profound meanings; not a single brother could fully grasp what the master was truly thinking. Following closely in the master's footsteps was simply the right thing to do.

"The snowflakes of Yanshan are as large as mats, drifting down piece by piece onto the Xuanyuan Terrace..."

This was a poem by Li Taibai. The master had told him that the further north one went, the colder the climate became, and there was a place where the sun could not be seen for half the year, with temperatures plummeting to over forty degrees below zero Celsius. When he left Hengzhou, the master had prepared a large quantity of strange grease for the caravan, saying it could prevent the extreme cold of the north. He had never expected it to come true.

Zhen Er had never doubted any of the master's decisions, even if the master had told him to march ever northward, saying there was a giant white-furred bear there, and that the icebergs there never melted year-round. Even if he were to live out his life without laying eyes on it, Zhen Er still believed everything the master said was true.

The master had instructed him to use an inquiring gaze to rediscover this world, and along the way, he had meticulously recorded everything he saw and heard. Yet even the wild men living among the Shiwei had never laid eyes on the polar bears the master spoke of.

Deep down, Zhen Er longed to continue further north. The master had said that when he saw the iceberg, he would see the polar bear.

He had often heard it said: a scholar does not step out his door, yet knows all matters under heaven. In this world, the master's wisdom surpassed everyone's. Even if the master told all the brothers that chaos was about to erupt across the land, then the land would certainly erupt into chaos, because these were the master's words.

The master was quietly laying out a game of chess for the entire realm. Although none of the brothers knew the master's true intentions, a glimpse could be caught from the master's gaze. If he failed to keep close to the master's footsteps, he would be left far behind by the other brothers.

When Zhen Er set out, Ninth Brother and Tenth Brother had gone—one to Balhae, the other to the south. The two of them were the best swimmers among all the brothers. What they were preparing to do, no one knew, but he could be certain it was by no means as simple as doing business.

The most mysterious of all were not them, but Seventh Brother and Eighth Brother, whom he had never met. By comparison, Third Brother Zhen Xuan, hidden away in the Wolf Cave, seemed somewhat less mysterious. Although none of the brothers had seen them, they certainly existed, hidden in a place where no one could see. They were the master's eyes and ears; no wind or grass rustling could escape their eyes and ears.

Zhen Er somewhat nostalgic for life in the Wolf Cave. Where Tao Yuanming's Peach Blossom Spring was located, no one knew, but the Wolf Cave was the Peach Blossom Spring of the Great Tang. There were no exorbitant taxes extorted by officials, nor arbitrary abuses committed by petty bureaucrats. In the untraceable Wolf Cave, every person treated one another like brothers and sisters, living a life akin to paradise. Men farmed and women wove, surrounded by fertile fields, beautiful ponds, and groves of mulberry and bamboo. He most loved the sound of brisk reading echoing through the valley; such a life had previously existed only in dreams.

Zhen Er's home was deep in the Changbai Mountains. Though life had been hard, it was carefree, yet because of a tribal conflict, he had been sold into the Great Tang. Within three years, he had witnessed too much of the warmth and coldness of human nature—that was a nightmare buried deep in his heart!

The Wolf Cave had given Zhen Er a completely fresh perspective. From that moment on, he resolved that he must let his own people live such a life as well.

Yet all of this could only be realized by the master. He would be the sharp sword in the master's hand, cleaving through the thorns blocking his path. No one could stop his footsteps, and the call of the distant mountains echoed constantly in his heart: he had finally returned.