Chapter 2488: Burning the Building (Part 1)

Outside the east gate of the Liang residence, more than ten sturdy mule carts loaded with grain, rice, and miscellaneous goods were parked in disarray, their shafts and sides crowded together, unable to move. Hands on his hips, Liang Yuanfu stood before the residence gate, reprimanding the incompetent gatekeepers while gesturing to direct several of them in clearing the road. The neighing of livestock, the shouting of cart drivers, and the cursing of gatekeepers intertwined, creating noisy chaos in front of the gate. An endless stream of male servants carried rice and grain in straw bags, fresh fish in baskets, and fruits and vegetables in large crates into the residence warehouse or moved them to the kitchen. Stewards and village heads verified the accounts, and several young servants skilled in calculation checked the numbers without pause, calling them out from time to time. Accountants quickly recorded the incoming and outgoing entries. Everything seemed busy and full of vitality.

An inner courtyard servant walked quickly to the gate, found Liang Yuanfu, and said: "Steward Liang, the Young Master asks about something. He mentioned earlier that the Uncle-in-Law said he had sent someone to exchange for a Lingbi stone ornament of quite extraordinary appearance. He said it would be brought along this time. The Young Master has been concerned about it and asks if it has arrived. If it has, there is no need to store it in the warehouse—just have people carry it directly to Yiwen Pavilion. Also, call the person sent by the Uncle-in-Law to come along for a meeting."

Liang Yuanfu said repeatedly: "Arrived, arrived." He immediately turned around to arrange things. Before long, two strong servants were seen carrying a two-foot-high Lingbi stone and its base with a large pole. Together with the servant from the Liang family's in-laws, they followed the young servant toward the inner residence.

The Liang residence was a large mansion with heavy walls and layered courtyards. At every gate they passed, the young servant took out a wake-up pass for the guards to check. As heavy gates closed behind them one by one, the noise outside gradually subsided and finally disappeared completely. The quiet and deep inner courtyard seemed to cut off all disturbances from the mortal world, making one feel as if they had entered another realm entirely.

After walking for a long time, they passed through a moon gate with a plaque inscribed "Yiwen Pavilion" and arrived in a spacious courtyard. The young servant led everyone to carry the Lingbi stone straight into the room, then immediately retreated. Those serving here were all middle-aged maids; not a single man was seen. Liang Cunhou had been waiting there for some time. Seeing the stone, he immediately stepped forward, unable to contain his eagerness as he circled it for quite a while before smiling with uncontrollable joy: "Dragon scales layered, gullies winding, coiled chimera standing bone-like, naturally formed. This stone is a great unpolished jade, lacking artificial affectation. Truly a fine object! Uncle has taken pains."

He smiled at the in-law family servant and asked: "Are Uncle and Aunt well?"

The servant was over thirty years old, eight chi tall, tall and burly, with an honest and mature appearance. A short mustache under his jaw added a touch of authority. Hearing Liang Cunhou's inquiry, he hurriedly stepped forward to bow: "The Master and Mistress are in good health. They only say they miss the Young Master. If the Young Master has leisure, please come to the residence for a short stay."

Liang Cunhou said: "We are relatives—that's easily arranged. Is there a letter?"

The servant said: "There is. Young Master, please look." He took out a letter from his chest and handed it over, continuing: "In addition, the Master and Mistress have many family matters for this slave to pass on orally to the Young Master, only fearing the matters are too trivial and the Young Master might be impatient."

Liang Cunhou smiled: "No hurry. I have nothing to do today; you can tell me slowly." Then he waved his hand toward the corridor: "I don't need service here. You all withdraw from the courtyard. I will chat with him for a moment." The maids responded "Yes" and bowed as they left.

Liang Cunhou walked to the door and slowly closed the room doors with both hands. The bright morning sunlight became narrower and narrower between the two door panels, finally turning into a line left outside, only casting some dappled light and shadows through the window lattice. The room seemed to cool down suddenly. Liang Cunhou didn't look at the Lingbi stone again. He walked slowly to the table and sat down, his expression desolate and tired.

The servant straightened his body and walked to the corner of the room. The projected spot of light divided his body diagonally into two halves; his lower body was illuminated by sunlight, while his upper body was hidden in darkness.

Liang Cunhou asked in a low voice: "Qiaoyan, have those four scribes been sent away?"

The man called Qiaoyan answered in a deep voice: "They have been sent away. Recently, the Baldies intensified their checks. Fortunately, Second Brother Yun planned early; otherwise, there might have been trouble. Only one showed considerable suspicion when Second Brother Yun tested him. Afterward, we searched secretly and found he had hidden a catalogue of Tian Qing Guang Wen Lu and half a volume of handwritten draft text. Under torture, we learned this scoundrel intended to report to the Baldies. Second Brother Yun had his whole family stabbed, scuttled the boat, and sank them all into the river. Second Brother Yun tested the other three, and there were no flaws. They have now been sent out of the Liangguang region. Young Master, rest assured—there will be no loose ends."

Liang Cunhou seemed somewhat melancholy and whispered: "Why must it be so? I didn't wish for this originally."

Qiaoyan said: "Those who achieve great things do not stick to trifles. The Young Master should know not to lose the big picture for small matters."

Liang Cunhou sighed lightly: "I know. It's just that others died because of me in the end. My heart is uneasy; it adds to my sorrow."

He zoned out for a while, then suddenly asked: "Qiaoyan, are you afraid?"

Qiaoyan was silent for a moment, then said: "Five years ago, when the Baldies shelled Guangzhou city, I had business elsewhere and wasn't home. The Baldies unleashed fire meteors. That night, fire rain filled the sky, burning half the heavens red. One fire meteor flew into my house. Beams, pillars, beds, cabinets, clothes, quilts, firewood, grass—all ignited. This fire couldn't be extinguished; it stuck to the body and attached to the bone. Later, I heard neighbors say that in an instant, the whole courtyard was on fire, and the whole family was burned. Only an old slave escaped. I came back and dug out my parents and wife. They were all burned into black charcoal, unrecognizable. My wife was holding two children, burned into a lump. I broke my palms trying but couldn't separate them, so I buried them together. Since then, I haven't been afraid." Qiaoyan's voice was slow and flat, with no fluctuation in tone, as if he were recounting something completely unrelated to himself.

Pausing slightly, Qiaoyan continued: "Since becoming an adult, what I've been doing all these years is planting stolen goods, making false accusations, and killing people like cutting grass without a sound. I know doing these things shortens one's life span. I just didn't expect the retribution to fall on..." His voice stopped abruptly.

After a long time, Liang Cunhou sighed lightly: "Qiaoyan, do you think we can succeed?"

Qiaoyan seemed to think for a moment, then shook his head: "Although I know a little reading and writing, I am ultimately a coarse man who only knows fighting and killing. I don't know these things and can't think them through. But if there are a million people in the world resisting the Baldies, I will definitely be one of them. If there is only one person in the world resisting the Baldies, I will be that person."

Liang Cunhou smiled with a sense of loss: "Those who uphold justice are often dog butchers; those who break hearts are always scholars. Though you have no learning, you have a noble character!"

A trace of cold mockery hung at the corner of his mouth as he said: "Right now, the Liang residence still looks glorious and magnificent from the outside, but in reality, there are troubles within and without. The Baldies' steps are rigorous, like a national grandmaster laying out a game of Go, linking tightly thread by thread. Now the Liang residence is being watched closely by the Finance and Taxation Bureau. The dark-door business—this major source of wealth—is about to be fed to the vicious dogs of Finance and Taxation! The Australian detectives stare at my place every day without fail. Just looking at those few vendors in front of the gate—do they really take me for a dead man? Those who used to boast of their integrity and pride no longer visit. In the past, when we talked about the Baldy situation in the study, every one of them would proclaim 'sacrifice their bodies for the national crisis, regarding death as going home.' But when trouble actually arrives, their words don't match their deeds. They fear the Baldies like tigers, terrified of being implicated. No wonder people often say scholars rebelling won't succeed in ten years."

Qiaoyan said: "The Young Master need not feel sorry for himself. Second Brother Yun read Tian Qing Guang Wen Lu. He said the success or failure of conquering the Baldies in the future will depend entirely on this book. He said there is no other person in the world with such insight."

Liang Cunhou shook his head gently, smiled a bitter self-mocking smile, and said: "Just some presumptuous words, that's all. When I first learned of the Baldies, I felt their conduct was very different from our China—but I didn't think deeply about where the differences lay, only calling it strange skills and ingenious devices. Later, the Baldies occupied Lingao, and their wolfish ambition began to appear. Then Governor Wang attacked Qiongzhou. Before raising troops, Commander He actually knew almost nothing about the Baldies. After landing in Qiongzhou, scouts and spies didn't go more than half a li from camp. The battlefield was completely screened by the Baldies. He knew nothing about their armor, guns, cannons, battle formations, or grain and baggage. It was exactly like a blind and deaf person fighting someone with sharp ears and eyes. During battle, the soldiers had no will to fight, advancing and retreating without measure. This is what led to the defeat at Chengmai. Sun Tzu said: Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles. Not knowing oneself, and even less knowing the enemy—how could there be any reason not to be defeated? Later, when the Baldies invaded Guangzhou Prefecture, burning, killing, looting, acting violently and tyrannically—their conduct became increasingly arrogant. At this point, the ambition of Cao and Mang was completely revealed. In grief and indignation, I wrote Eleven Memorials on the Qiongzhou Defeat Strategy, listing all the causes of defeat. Whenever I think of this, I can hardly sleep day or night, hating that I cannot take a three-foot sword into the hundred-ren city to die for the country in righteousness."

At this point, Liang Cunhou looked dejected, then continued: "I felt deeply the harm of not understanding the Baldies' situation, so I conceived the idea of compiling a collection on the Baldies—which is this Tian Qing Guang Wen Lu." He pointed to a large room outside the window: "That room is filled with Baldy books. Whatever is sold on the market, I buy them all. At first, I couldn't make heads or tails of them. After reading for a long time, I found some patterns. For instance, this public financial report—one can glimpse the Baldies' economic ways. If compared year by year, one can know the increase or decrease of their income. Combined with military intelligence, one can roughly know how much their military funds are. Also, the railway of these iron-wheeled vehicles—where it is built, where stations are placed, whether being built, repaired, or stopped—all has profound hidden meanings. I won't elaborate on them to you. Moreover, the Baldies have a method of unifying a hundred into one. In times of crisis, various ministries can immediately unify authority and responsibility, commanding like an arm using fingers, forming a combined force. Thousands of threads and loose ends are all coordinated. One hundred can defeat a thousand; a thousand can defeat ten thousand. The Baldies call it a 'system.'"

Pausing for a moment, Liang Cunhou said again: "Also this 'Investigation of Things.' The Baldies' learning of the Investigation of Things is different from Mr. Yangming's 'Wang School' of Investigation of Things. The Baldies pursue even the most trivial learning to its end. Each person only chooses one path to learn, called a 'major' or 'profession.' Therefore, the Baldies have many specialists. The words of the sages encompass broadly and can discuss world affairs, so we have many generalists. But generalists are hard to be precise, so the Baldy artisans are far superior to ours. What worries me more is not that we are unwilling to learn, but that we cannot learn and don't know how to learn. Books on chemistry, physics, mathematics, and so forth are placed on the desk. Every character is recognizable, but the text is incomprehensible. Even studying until one's hair turns white, one can only learn without understanding. The secret of the Baldies' rich country and strong army lies entirely in this. One can only sigh in vain."

Liang Cunhou continued: "I collected all these miscellaneous studies in this book and added detailed annotations, just to present it to the Holy Son of Heaven one day. When the Heavenly Army suppresses the rebels, having preparation beforehand will allow seizing opportunities as events occur. Resolute decision-making in moving troops and handling affairs will allow having a well-thought-out plan, ensuring everything goes smoothly."

(End of Chapter)