Chapter 40: South and North

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The Kaifeng Prefecture archives occupied twenty-seven rooms.

The records were as vast as a sea of mist, the earliest reaching back to the Tianbao era, when the imperial capital was still Chang’an.

The secrets of Great Song lay buried in these piles of seemingly worthless old papers.

There was only one secret: which people, exactly, had truly shaped the political order of the north over the past two centuries?

Put another way, who truly ruled Great Song?

“What on earth are you looking for?” Su Shi asked in bewilderment. It was the first time he had ever seen someone become addicted to searching through archives. If Brother Chang’an had devoted this much energy to his studies, he surely could have ranked among the top three in the imperial examinations. Why, then, had he allowed himself to be branded a wastrel?

“People! While sorting out the tea-tax records, I discovered that for centuries, China’s tea trade had remained concentrated within a handful of great families, passing only from one to another. I’ve come up with a bold conjecture: what if the Five Clans and Seven Surnames never truly vanished from history? What if they merely adopted a more secretive way of existing?”

At that, Su Shi grew interested as well.

He had been studying for more than twenty years, yet this was the first time he had genuinely felt that his mind was unequal to the task.

Other people searched the sages’ words for subtle meanings and profound principles. How had this fellow’s mind been formed, that he could read conspiracies into history?

Abandoning his proper duties, Su Shi removed his official robe and joined the investigation.

The She clan, the Zhong clan, the Shi clan, the Fu clan, the Cao clan, the Li clan, the Gao clan, the Yao clan, the Yang clan, the Pan clan...

The more they uncovered, the more astonished they became. By comparing the attitudes of the various forces at court, it was easy to determine who was connected to whom.

Su Shi swallowed, rolled up his sleeves, and wiped his forehead.

Only then did he realize that he was drenched as though he had just been washed.

“Chang’an, perhaps we should stop. There isn’t a single one of these people we can afford to provoke.”

“No. We have to copy everything down. These records will be our talisman when we act in the future. Ah, I was still thinking too narrowly!”

Li Chang’an hurriedly retorted, “Don’t take advantage of your seniority. Since when did you become the elder brother and I the younger?”

Su Shi truly did not dare continue. The records were horrifying. So this was what the so-called political order amounted to: a group of powerful magnates and military commanders hiring a bevy of civil officials to wage verbal battles on their behalf.

And was Shu any different? Of the dozen or more disciples who had followed him there, which one did not have some wealthy and powerful family standing behind him?

The hundred and twenty members of the Society of Learning who had come before him were, without exception, elite figures of one school or another.

To think that he, born with extraordinary talent, had fallen so far as to serve as another man’s hunting dog. The Great Sage Su could not help sighing at his fate.

“Get to work. What are you thinking about? Don’t worry, I’m not going to make trouble for them. An old gentleman once said that the art of struggle lies in making as many friends as possible and as few enemies as possible. Once we know who the powers behind the curtain are, we can unite our strength and find the courage to stand against Wang Linchuan.”

At first, Su Shi did not understand whom Wang Linchuan referred to.

In the Northern Song, people had already stopped using a person’s hometown as a substitute for his name. After all, the armies of Huang Chao and the military commanders of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms had truly driven the Five Clans and Seven Noble Houses into extinction.

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Hmm?

To unite these powerful families against Chancellor Wang—that was precisely the current state of affairs. But why would any of them choose the two of them?

Su Shi voiced his doubts, but Li Chang’an gave him no answer.

“Get to work first. I still need some practical verification!”

Kaifeng Prefecture was reasonably wealthy and had stored a great deal of ice for the winter. In a small room, the temperature would not rise too much.

The two men spent the entire day investigating and finally pieced together a rough picture.

After two hundred years of chaos and upheaval, there were more than three hundred and ten families that had continued to exert influence throughout the northern circuits—families capable of governing prefectures through the written word and raising private troops and household guards through force of arms.

After consolidating branches and removing those that had submitted to the Liao, approximately two hundred and thirty independent clans remained.

What astonished the two men most was that the Kong family, through a single surname, had established four enormous clan groupings in the north. They had taken part in every stage of history, from frontier trade and prefectural administration to struggles at court.

And all this despite the fact that no member of the Kong family had ever served as a military governor or chancellor.

Li Chang’an could think of only one phrase for it:

The hidden rulers.

“As for what happened today, only you and I know. For now, do not speak of it publicly. Be careful—walls have ears.”

“Wang Yuanze truly deserves to be called the Sixth Genius. The moment we proposed publishing a newspaper, he immediately grasped the idea. He has already obtained one of the three licenses and plans to use public opinion to promote the New Policies and lend his father his support.”

“Lü Huiqing’s betrayal has also put Chancellor Wang on his guard. Taking your Society of Learning as a model, he intends to establish a Society for the Study of the New Policies and cultivate his own faction.”

“Move faster. Hurry and put your strategy and plans into operation. The battle is about to begin.”

After taking his leave of Su Shi, Li Chang’an carried the copied records and drove a donkey cart to an appointment with a prominent figure who could sway the course of events.

The little gray donkey plodded forward with a clatter, clatter. Whenever it grew displeased, it would let out a couple of mournful brays.

He had named this new kind of passenger cart the Chancellor’s Carriage. The meaning was self-evident.

The small cart swayed along at a leisurely pace. After nearly half an hour, it passed through South Fumigation Gate, continued southward, and entered a spacious estate.

The place was plainly ancient. The crowns of towering elms shaded half the front courtyard, while a lake and artificial hills lay within, making the air seem several degrees cooler at once.

A steward came out to receive him and led him through lanes and small gates, as though they had entered a maze.

After winding about for a long while, they stopped before a small courtyard less than twenty paces across.

A huge fish vat stood in the courtyard, filled with red-and-white carp. Beneath the shade of a tree, an old man was watching them.

“Tell me, is a fish happier in a river or lake, or here, where someone feeds it?”

The old man did not raise his head. He held a handful of roasted millet and slowly scattered it across the surface of the water. The carp had grown accustomed to him. They wagged their tails in delight, surging to the surface to fight for the food.

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“A domestic chicken has food and a knife pot close at hand; a wild chicken has no grain, but the whole world before it. My lord Chancellor, may this young man ask after your health?”

The old man nodded and gradually scattered the rest of the feed from his hand.

“Well said. Very well said...”

“Come. Sit down for a game of chess. If you can defeat me, you will have earned the right to enter the game. Otherwise, I can only ask you to leave.”

A chessboard had already been laid out beneath the tree.

What was strange was that it was not go, the game most favored by scholars and officials, but Chinese chess.

The two men took their seats. Cannons crossed, horses leapt, chariots rolled out, and pawns advanced. The board seethed with killing intent.

Their styles were much alike: broad, forceful, and unrestrained, constantly exchanging pieces in violent attacks. Before long, Li Chang’an had only two horses that had crossed the river, while the old man had only a single pawn beyond the river.

“Hmph. Young man, you have quite a temper!”

“I would never compare myself with Your Lordship in your prime. As for temper, I fear I am still several degrees inferior.”

He rang a small bell, and a servant brought out osmanthus tea.

“With only two horses, you may defeat me, but you cannot defeat the greater tide. The northwest is devastated, Hedong lies in ruins, and the realm depends upon the southern lands. It is already settled that southerners will control the court. Even my lone pawn that has crossed the river is about to retreat, yet you still wish to turn the game around?”

Li Chang’an smiled serenely, confidence and ease upon his face.

“As for Su Zizhan, he is a heavenly-blooded steed chosen from a million. Set against a herd of stupid donkeys, I fear people would say his victory was hardly honorable.”

His confidence seemed to rouse the old man, who burst into laughter.

“Hahahahahaha...

“When I walked from Luoyang into Bianjing in my youth, I too was filled with such grand ambitions. Good! Good! What a fine example of youthful ambition without a trace of sorrow!

“But what if all they need are pawns that have crossed the river?”

A pawn—who in this life was not a pawn?

Even Guo Wei, Chai Rong, Zhao Kuangyin, and Li Yu could serve as pawns. Who, then, could claim not to be one?

“Lord Fu, some people have been huddled in one place for far too long. They have already lost the ability to command the board of the realm.

“Compared with a pawn that has crossed the river, a chess player is better suited to the peril they face now.

“Would you not agree?”

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