Chapter 50: To My Teacher

Page 1 of 3

“Fine weather, and a pleasant temperature as well. A perfect day for slaughter.”

Liu Zhang raised his head and glanced at the sky. The sun had only just risen, and its rays were not yet at their fiercest. A cool breeze stirred the air, making the morning agreeably fresh.

Within the enemy formation, Liu He addressed Xie Feng and Bai Xi, the patriarchs of the Xie and Bai clans.

“Clan Leader Xie, Clan Leader Bai, we have nowhere left to retreat. We must burn our boats and fight to the death. I shall advance and withdraw together with you gentlemen, and I will not rest until death claims us all.”

Xie Feng and Bai Xi nodded in agreement. Given their present circumstances, they could no longer harbor divided loyalties. Their only choice was to stake everything on one desperate battle.

Seeing that both men had consented, Liu He, standing atop the same high hill, looked toward the battle formation Liu Zhang had arranged opposite them. The troops were arrayed in overlapping layers like fish scales. A smile appeared on his face as he pointed toward Liu Zhang’s position and contemptuously remarked, “Who would have thought that the boy Liu Zhang and I would share the same idea? Yet all he has done is imitate the beauty of Xi Shi with a clown’s face and copy the awkward steps of a man from Handan.”

Though he spoke thus, Liu He did not truly underestimate Liu Zhang. Strategically, he might look down upon him, but tactically, he would treat him with the utmost seriousness. His wealth and life were tied to the outcome of this day’s battle.

To secure victory, he had abandoned a defensive formation and brought out every elite soldier belonging to the three great clans of Ba Commandery—the Xie, Bai, and Yang families—as well as more than a dozen lesser clans. With them, he had formed the fish-scale formation suited for assault.

Yet, when he considered that their very lives and deaths now hung in the balance, he remained uneasy about some of the canal commanders who had been lured there by promises of profit. He feared they might lack the resolve to fight to the death. If they were defeated at the critical moment and turned against him, his life and fortune would be ruined in an instant.

Thus, he had assigned the canal commander Lou Fa to the camp outside Liangping City, where he was to remain alongside Yang Ping—that useless whelp who had not even dared approach Jiangzhou City.

As for Liangping City itself, County Magistrate Sheng Dao would defend it with the county soldiers and another canal commander, Fu Ji, thereby preserving their line of retreat. Should the battle turn against them, they could withdraw to Liangping and discuss their next move.

After a moment’s thought, Liu He asked the two clan leaders, “We should send someone forward to challenge the enemy before the battle begins—to raise our own men’s spirits and intimidate theirs. Clan leaders, do you have anyone in mind?”

Liu He was the nominal commander in chief, but he was an outsider who had come from afar. He knew far less than Xie Feng and Bai Xi about the men gathered in the army, and so he sought their advice.

“There is one man,” Xie Feng said, putting forward a candidate. “He is a member of my Xie clan, named Xie Chang. He wields a great saber and has no equal within three exchanges. For that reason, he has earned the nickname ‘Three-Saber Xie.’ He should be suitable for issuing the challenge and inspiring our troops.”

Liu He naturally had no objection. He nodded. “Then let Xie Chang go forth.”

Xie Feng acknowledged the order and sent a messenger to summon Xie Chang.

Obeying his clan leader’s command, Xie Chang galloped out alone from Liu He’s formation. Waving his great saber, he rode to the ground between the two armies and shouted, “I am Xie Chang of Ba Commandery! Who dares fight me to the death?”

“I am Xie Chang of Ba Commandery! Who dares fight me to the death?”

The bearded warrior shouted his challenge several times. His voice, booming from his lionlike mouth, carried across the field with such force that even Liu Zhang, seated in command of the central army far away, could almost hear it.

Page 1 of 3

Page 2 of 3

Liu Zhang reached up and rubbed his chin, grumbling inwardly, “That traitor Liu He is surprisingly romantic. He actually sent someone out to issue a formal challenge.”

Such challenges involved sending a brave warrior from the army to the space between the two formations before the battle began, where he would fight an opponent in single combat. Victory would greatly raise the victor’s morale, adding another weight to his side of the scales.

It was somewhat like the Three Heroes’ battle against Lü Bu in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Yet that story was, after all, a novel. In reality, the men sent forth to issue such challenges were generally not the commanders in chief, but warriors renowned throughout the army for their courage and martial prowess.

The earliest recorded instance appeared in the Lost Book of Zhou, in the chapter “The Conquest of Yin”:

“Three hundred and fifty chariots of Zhou were arrayed at Muye, while Emperor Xin came forth. King Wu sent the Grand Tutor and Earl Fu to issue the challenge.”

The Grand Tutor was Jiang Shang, known as Jiang Taigong. If the account in the Lost Book of Zhou was accurate, then Jiang Taigong must have possessed formidable martial skill to be sent into single combat. Clearly, the seventy- or eighty-year-old Jiang Taigong was no wizard, but a berserker wielding a pair of broad axes—a white-haired berserker at that.

Such conduct had been quite popular during the Spring and Autumn period, when warfare was still a game played among nobles. Even battles were governed by etiquette: they were arranged in advance, ambushes were forbidden, and the opposing side might even be invited to dinner. After winning, one did not pursue the defeated enemy; and if one did pursue them, one withdrew after covering only a fixed distance.

But with the arrival of the Warring States period, warfare grew ever more brutal. During wars of annihilation, there was no room for such courtesies, and formal challenges gradually became rare. Besides, four or five centuries had already passed since the Qin and Han dynasties.

At that thought, Liu Zhang smiled. “Since Vice Inspector Liu is in such an elegant mood, I shall amuse myself by playing along.”

“Pass down my order. Have Colonel Xu issue the challenge.”

He gave the command for Xu Meng to go forth and fight. At once, a signal officer relayed the order by flag.

Xu Meng had been waiting so eagerly that he could scarcely bear it. Watching Xie Chang strut and shout across the field had irritated him greatly. As a man who lived by sheer blood and courage, he could not stand to see anyone show off before him.

The instant he saw the signal from the central command, he mounted his horse, took up his long spear, and charged from the formation toward Xie Chang.

“Let this bandit know that I am Xu Meng, a native of Guanzhong!” Xu Meng spurred his mount onward and shouted at Xie Chang. “To die beneath my spear today will make your life worthwhile!”

“Bold cur! Come quickly and receive your death!” Xie Chang shouted back, driving his own horse into a charge.

The two riders raced toward each other and soon met in the space between the armies.

There was no elaborate exchange of flourishes—only a saber, then a spear, each striking in turn.

Xu Meng, born in Guanzhong, spotted Xie Chang’s opening at a glance. On their very first clash, Xu Meng slipped past the great saber and drove his spear into Xie Chang’s tangled beard. The spearhead pierced the warrior’s throat. Then Xu Meng exerted his strength and twisted the weapon slightly.

Xie Chang stared at him in disbelief. But the light soon faded from his eyes, leaving them dull and clouded, no longer reflecting the brilliant world before him.

Page 2 of 3

Page 3 of 3

The strength that had once seemed inexhaustible drained from his body. His great saber slipped uselessly from his hand, and his body fell with it, striking the grass with a heavy thud.

Xu Meng looked down at Xie Chang’s corpse with a contemptuous smile. He was even more disdainful within.

“Cats and curs think they can contend with me?”

Guanzhong lay close to Liangzhou. Though Xu Meng’s horsemanship was inferior to that of the men of Liangzhou, he was still far superior to this pack of petty brutes from Ba Commandery.

He rode forward and took hold of the black horse that stood dazed and motionless after losing its master. Then he raised both hands toward the rebel army, brandished his spear, and shouted a mocking cry.

The soldiers before Liu Zhang’s formation, having witnessed Xu Meng’s valor, erupted in cheers for their colonel.

* * *

On the right wing of the fish-scale formation, Second Brother Zhang listened to the cheers rolling in from the front and revealed a faint smile.

The previous night, he had asked a familiar company commander to bring him to the battlefield as his personal attendant, passing off this clerk as one of his own followers.

The cheering grew louder and louder, rippling through the army like waves. Zhang Erlang turned his head toward the horse he was holding, “Crossing the Gap.”

He had named the Liangzhou white horse he had bought in the markets of Chengdu after a line from the Zhuangzi: “Human life between Heaven and Earth is like a white colt glimpsed racing past a gap—gone in an instant.”

By naming the horse Crossing the Gap, he meant to remind himself constantly that life was short, passing like a white colt before a gap, and that he must establish his reputation as soon as possible.

Amid the pounding drums and roaring cheers, Crossing the Gap stamped all four hooves and breathed heavily. The horse appeared somewhat uneasy, but Zhang Erlang knew the truth: this was a warhorse from Liangzhou, and the sound of battle drums had awakened its eager desire for combat.

He ran a hand along the horse’s neck, gently soothing its agitation, and whispered into its ear, “Your chance will come.”

The words seemed meant for himself as well. With a great battle about to begin, opportunity would surely present itself. The only question was whether he could seize it.

Under his reassurance, Crossing the Gap gradually calmed.

Man and horse waited quietly for the right moment.

Page 3 of 3