74th generation of Wu An Guo

  The Grand Master of the Tianji Pavilion, Wu Song, led his troops out and defeated the rebellious Song Jiang, who had been rampaging across Shandong Province, in just two or three days. He occupied Liangshan Water Margin and forced the bandits to flee south. He then submitted a memorial to the imperial court, which Emperor Huizong read with great joy. As a result, Wu Song was reinstated to his former position as the Grand Master of the Tianji Pavilion.

  Cai Jing indeed lived up to Wu Song's expectations, and upon seeing Wu Song rise again in the east, he shook his head and sneered: "Wu Song still doesn't understand politics; when you eat meat yourself, how can you not give others a sip of soup?" He then memorialized Emperor Huizong, saying: "The Liangshan water bandits are just a minor ailment, while Wu Song is the nation's teacher. To use the nation's teacher to eliminate this minor ailment would be a waste of great talent on a small task, and would also result in excessive expenditure of money. Your Majesty should summon back the national teacher to guard the capital - that is the most important thing. I have a superior general who can proclaim his achievements, and no one can match him; defeating Chen Shi and Song Jiang's rebel bandits will be as easy as turning over one's hand!"

  Huizong asked curiously: "Who is Xuan Zan?"

  Cai Jing said: "Xuan Zan was born with a face like the bottom of a pot, his nostrils facing upwards, curly hair and red beard, robustly built at eight feet tall, skilled in using steel knives, unmatched in martial arts throughout the land. Previously, he served as a county horse in the Wang Mansion, people called him Ugly County Horse, Shaowang admired his martial skills and took him as son-in-law, but unexpectedly the princess disliked his ugliness, harbored resentment and died, therefore he was not reused, only serving as a protector of soldiers and horses, now under my command."

  Huizong Emperor laughed and said: "In the previous dynasty, a Xixia princess was captured, who also looked like this, ugly and detestable. Wu Guo Shi once told me about it, I went to take a look, it was so frightening that I almost fainted! Now she is still being held as a hostage in our country. My dear minister, what do you think if we marry this princess to Xuan Zan? Two ugly people would make a perfect pair, and when they go into battle together, they might just scare Song Jiang and Chen Hicheng to death."

  Cai Jing: "...Your Majesty, don't joke about this. It's a serious matter." He turned his eyes and smiled, "I heard that the Lord of Wu is not yet married. Why not betroth the Princess of Xia to him? She is a princess of a country, after all. It won't be beneath his status."

  Emperor Huizong burst out laughing and didn't take it to heart, issuing an edict for Wu Song to be demoted and return to the capital. Cai Jing again gathered a group of civil officials, taking advantage of Wu Song's absence from court, and with Yang Jie and others also in the military, impeached Wu Song for abusing power and squandering the national treasury. They also impeached him for not attending early morning court sessions during his four years as an official, treating the emperor as if he were nothing, a crime punishable by death.

  The whole court, only Tong Guan spoke up for justice, Tong Guan was originally a great eunuch, but in his heart he admired heroes and had the air of a heroic figure. On one hand, he didn't get along with Cai Jing, on the other hand, he was also grateful to Wu Song for not treating him like a eunuch, so he spoke up to help Wu Song.

  Those officials took the opportunity to accuse Tong Guan, Wu Song and Yang Jie of forming a clique for personal gain and plotting evil. They also attacked Liang Shicheng together. Another talented scholar surnamed He also submitted a memorial, lamenting that Wu was a demonic path who deceived men and bullied women, married eighty-one concubines, and buried countless girls' bones under the Tianji Pavilion, with words so sad and mournful that they brought tears to people's eyes.

  Huizong saw this impeachment poster, extremely angry and laughing, showed it to all the officials, saying: "When I sent 'Wu Yao Dao' to conquer the Liangshan bandits, I asked him why he didn't take a wife. Wu Yao Dao told me that because of his cultivation of immortal methods, he couldn't approach women. This He Cai Zi actually used rumors to attack my son Fang, his heart is punishable!" He sent someone to arrest He Cai Zi and exile him to the northwest military region of Wuguo.

  Cai Jing's party continued to attack Wu Song, and Cai Jing also had Empress Wang from the palace take out a decree from the empress dowager, whispering into Emperor Huizong's ear: "The old empress dowager said before her death that Taoist priests should not be reused; if they are given power, no one can govern the world."

  Emperor Huizong was hesitant, and Cai Jing prepared another memorial, listing the troubles caused by Wu Song's leniency towards bandits over the years, planning to launch a fatal blow at court the next day. Unexpectedly, when he woke up early the next morning, the memorial had vanished, and on his desk there was only a thick stack of documents. When Cai Jing opened them to look, he was frightened out of his wits.

  It turned out that the documents listed were evidence of his bribery and corruption over the years, clearly and unmistakably recording when, where, who he met, how much silver he received, all clearly on file, not a single penny off. Even some things he couldn't remember were written down clearly!

  Cai Jing sat listlessly in the armchair, unable to get up for a long time. His son Cai You came into the study and saw that his old father was so worried that his hair had turned white, and he hastily asked what was wrong. Cai Jing pointed to the documents on the desk, and Cai You roughly flipped through them, exclaiming: "Wu Song has many eyes and ears!"

  Cai Jing cried out: "Now I'm going to die, Wu Song has so many handles on me, with one swing of his sword, he'll strike my vital point. This crime, I fear that even if the entire family is executed, it will still be more than enough!"

  Cai Yu smiled and said, "Father was momentarily confused and lost his composure. The reason Wu Song didn't report these things to the imperial court is that he knew Your Majesty and you are one entity; if you fall, the emperor also falls. What has Father done in all these years that wasn't secretly permitted by the emperor? And what about Wang Yue, who swallowed up billions of wealth, almost moving the entire national treasury into his own home? The emperor didn't let him off scot-free either."

  Cai Jing suddenly realized, laughing: "You're right, I lost my composure." He ordered someone to burn that volume of memorials and continued to attend court as usual, never mentioning impeaching Wu Song again.

  Now Wu Song had been living in the city of Yanzhou for over half a month, when the imperial court finally issued an edict to withdraw the troops and let Marshal Ma Xizhen lead the army to attack Chen Hui and Song Jiang. During this time, Chen Hui and Song Jiang built the Monkey's Arm Camp on Qingyun Mountain, greatly expanding it, making the entire mountain as strong as an iron barrel. Song Jiang sent troops to Yunmen Mountain, occupied it, and established a camp there. Yunlong Yuntianbiao sent troops to Aishan, establishing another camp. Liu Guang, Liu Lin, and Liu Qi sent troops to Wulian Mountain, also establishing a camp.

  Wu Yong and Gong Sun took over Ling Mountain, Yan Shude and Zhu Family Brothers took over Yi Mountain, Chai Jin and Hua Rong took over Linglong Mountain, and at one time all the dangerous mountains in Qingzhou changed hands.

  Song Jiang, Chen Xiuzhen and others also brought civilians with them, forcing them to join the outlaws. For a time, whether it was territory or manpower, they were even stronger than when they were at Liangshan. In the southwest, they bordered Fang La's rebel army, and were known as the "Double Bandits". Meanwhile, in Hebei there was Tian Hu, and in Huai Xi there was Wang Qing, both of whom were causing chaos.

  When Marshal Hua Zhen led the army to take over, Wu Song handed over the military token to him and was startled by his appearance. He turned to Li Kui and said, "There is still someone more powerful than you."

  Li Kui was in a bad mood, with two broad axes tucked under his arm standing behind him. It turned out that Song Jiang had indeed sent a letter, telling him to hurry back and promising not to kill him. Li Kui knew that Song Jiang had murderous intentions, but he wanted to die for the sake of loyalty. Wu Song mentioned his mother again, so he stayed by Wu Song's side.

  His old mother was from Yishui County, just nearby. Wu Song ordered someone to bring her over. However, his old mother turned out to be blind. It was because Li Kui had killed people and wandered the rivers and lakes in his early years that the old lady cried until she went blind. Wu Song asked about her well-being and also dispatched a few maidservants to attend to her morning and night.

  Li let Li Kui kneel down, gave him a stern warning, and told him to follow Wu Song, protect Wu Dalang's good people. Li Kui was grateful for Wu Song's kindness, and only then did he obey willingly.

  After Wu Song handed over the military token, Zhang Shu Ye's army and horses all returned to Xuan Zan's command. Under Zhang Shu Ye, there were several other fierce generals, including his eldest son Zhang Bo Fan, second son Zhang Zhong Xiong, and old general Pang Wei. They were all rare and powerful generals. With an army of 20,000 soldiers, they set out towards Qing Yun Mountain, with the first target being Wu Liu's family stronghold at Five Lotus Mountain.

  Wu Song was on his way back to the capital by boat when Xuan Zan launched an attack. However, the Taoist priest on Mount Wutai was Zhang Mingjue, nephew of Zhang Shunyi, who had a grudge against Chen Xizhen and came to her aid because she had once helped him. Zhang Shunyi had no choice but to call off his troops and went to the front line to persuade Chen Xizhen to surrender, but was shot down from his horse by Liu Lin. Zhang Boqiu and Zhang Zhongxiong rushed out with their troops and fought desperately to rescue their old general.

  Zhang Mingke was furious and scolded Liu Lin. Liu Lin, because his mother and grandmother were both killed by Wu Song, did not ask about these things and led the army forward in a fierce attack. Zhang Bozhou and Zhang Zhongxiong led soldiers to protect Zhang Shuye, fighting hard to break out of the encirclement, getting covered in blood, and barely managed to save their lives.

  Liu Qi led another army down the mountain and joined forces with Liu Lin. The two armies charged forward, and Zhang Shuye's large army was defeated, retreating in disarray until Xuan Zan led his troops to the front, where they finally stemmed the tide.

  Xuan Zan led the wounded Zhang Shu Ye back to Yizhou City, and then led Pang Yi, Zhang Bo Fan, and Zhang Zhong Xiong to set up a large camp. He led 5,000 soldiers out of the formation, with 1,000 cavalrymen, archers, swordsmen, spearmen, and shield bearers each. They formed a battle array. Xuan Zan rode a black coal tread snow kylin horse, holding a goose feather knife in his hand, standing at the front of the formation.

  Liu Lin and Liu Qi both took a cold breath, saying: "This man looks so fierce!" But looking at Xuan Zan, he was like a bear riding on horseback, with thick limbs, holding a knife as if holding a straw!

  The "human bear" shouted at the front of the formation, Liu Lin and Liu Qi disregarded the Jianghu code of conduct, two people rode horses and rushed over, one wielding a pair of whips, the other wielding a three-pointed double-bladed knife, fighting Xuan Zan. The three men shouted and fought fiercely, battling for forty or fifty rounds, Zhang Bo saw that Xuan Zan was weak, and hastily rode his horse to charge over, two crimson copper golden gourd hammers intersecting and striking, blocking Liu Lin, Zhang Zhong Xiong rode his horse out, dancing with a pair of whirlwind goose feather knives, intercepting Liu Qi, and joining forces with Xuan Zan to fight him.

  Liu Lin and Liu Qi were killed, sweating profusely, dodging left and right. Fortunately, their father Liu Guang led the army to kill them, rescued the two of them, and retreated back to Wulian Mountain. The two brothers blamed Zhang Mingke: "Why did you see my brother almost being killed by someone, but didn't do anything to save him? It's clear that you have a treacherous heart!"

  Zhang Mingke let out a loud hum, saying: "You secretly shot and killed my uncle, how do you explain that?" The three of them argued incessantly, Zhang Mingke already had the intention to leave, but at this time, Chen Xizhen sent a letter, comforting Zhang Mingke with warm words, sending him to Yishan, not allowing him to fight Zhang Shuye.

  Chen Xizhen after all had a favor to ask of Zhang Mingke, so Zhang Mingke could only comply and went to Yishan to assist Yan Shude. Meanwhile, Mount Wulian was assigned another powerful sorcerer, the Emei Mountains' Xie'e True Person Gu Ying.

  Now, Wu Song was taking a flat-bottomed boat, leading the Tianji Pavilion's masters along the Yellow River upstream. After about ten or more days, they finally arrived at the capital. The next day, during early court, Wu Song feigned illness and did not attend. Emperor Huizong sent someone to offer his condolences, but it was the eunuch Liang Shicheng. Wu Song also refused to see him, closing his doors.

  On the third day, a fast horse finally brought news of the battle. Xuan Zan was defeated at Wulian Mountain and General Pang Yi was killed. Xuan Zan surrendered to the rebels and is now hiding in the mountains. Zhang Shu was shot by an arrow in the middle of the night and fell unconscious. The Zhang brothers led their defeated troops back to Yanzhou City.

  Emperor Huizong was greatly alarmed and immediately summoned Cai Jing to the throne room, ordering him to go to the Tianji Pavilion to apologize, but Wu Song still refused to see any visitors.

  On the fifth day, news arrived that the rebel had occupied Qingzhou Prefecture and beheaded the entire family of the prefect, hanging their heads on the city gate. Huizong became even more anxious and ordered Yang Jie to go to Tianji Pavilion. Wu Song said to Yang Jie: "You report back to the Emperor, I indeed have an illness."

  Yang Jian angrily said: "You're so restless and fussy, what's wrong with you? The Emperor has been lenient with you these past few days, if it weren't for that, he would have issued a decree to punish you!"

  Wu Song said bitterly, "On the way back to the capital, I had eighty-eight Taoist priests work together to plant eight divine meridians on myself. Yan Ruan still doesn't know about this, don't tell her..."

  Yang Jian remained silent for a long time before returning to the palace to report to Emperor Huizong: "Wu Guoshi is indeed seriously ill and cannot get out of bed."

  On the sixth day, Wu Song was sitting by the pond, quietly thinking about how to break the Eight Trigrams Locking Magic, when he suddenly heard someone slowly say behind him: "Is the gentleman at peace?"

  Wu Song hastily turned his head to look, and it was Emperor Huizong Zhao Ji standing behind him, with Tong Guan and Yang Jie attending beside him. Wu Song quickly got up, making a gesture of bowing, saying: "Your Majesty has arrived for some time?"

  Emperor Huizong hastily held him back, smiling: "It's already been half a stick of incense, I saw the gentleman was deeply absorbed in watching the fish and couldn't bear to disturb him."

  Wu Song sighed and thought to himself, "Although Emperor Huizong is incompetent, he has indeed been good to me." The four of them arrived at the pavilion in the middle of the pond. Huizong said, "Today I'm going out incognito, let's not follow the formalities of the imperial court."

  Wu Song and the other two finally sat down, and Huizong said: "In the past, when foreign countries attacked our Great Song Dynasty, what they asked for was nothing more than gold, silver, wealth, and silk. Giving them some tax money every year would be enough. Our Great Song is rich and doesn't care about these riches. But bandits like Song Jiang, Chen Shi, and others want to destroy the foundation of our Great Song Dynasty. I have received reports day and night, and it's hard for me to sleep. You, sir, are also ill and won't come out, my heart is really worried and without a master. The Liao State in the north has a new emperor on the throne, and he has already sent troops southward. Old General Zhong has sent three urgent reports, asking me to send more troops, horses, and grain."

  Tong Guan exclaimed on the side: "Mr. Wu, I have already asked His Majesty for orders and will set out to conquer the northern border tomorrow! This time, I will only fight bravely and shed blood to report to the Emperor with my life! As a eunuch, I am still like this, how about the State Preceptor?"

  Wu Song's emotions surged, and the eunuch was still so arrogant. Could it be that I, a decent person, am not as good as him? He immediately said: "Tomorrow, I will submit a memorial to request an edict to eliminate the bandit Song Jiang in Shandong!"

  Huizong was overjoyed, and the four of them chatted for a while longer before standing up to leave. As they walked to the gate of the Tianji Pavilion, Huizong suddenly turned his head and said: "Sir, you haven't given your courtesy name yet?"

  Wu Song said: "When I was young, I didn't like reading books. By nature, I am dull and stupid, and until now, I don't have a courtesy name."

  "I grant you a courtesy name. What would you like it to be?" Huizong hesitated for a moment, then smiled and said: "Let's call him An Guo. With the military might of the An Guo, we will stabilize the altars of the empire."