Taiping Dao at the end of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 38 The meeting between the Qingyan commanders requires a key figure like you!

"My lord on the shore, would you like some bass?..."

On the banks of the Great Wilderness Marsh, the wind rustled the reeds, brushing against their faces like a gentle hand. Three fishing boats slowly approached amidst the reeds and rippling water, the captain on board holding a fish basket and warmly greeting them. But upon seeing the reaction of the six people on the shore, his expression changed, and he sneered.

"Ha! They're armored? So they're government troops? Then we can't leave them alive!"

"Beep beep beep!!..."

As he spoke, he suddenly picked up a bone whistle and blew it loudly. With that crisp, short whistle, a flock of birds took flight from the reeds, and three more boats appeared. Then, a total of six fishing boats, carrying about twenty men in straw raincoats, rushed towards the six men on the shore!
These fishing boats, long and slender, were incredibly agile in the hands of experienced boatmen. They moved like fish swimming among the reeds, or like darts thrown from a boat, cutting straight through the water. The dozen or so fishermen not rowing had already drawn short knives from under their raincoats. Half of them also pulled out their throwing darts. They were just waiting for the boats to reach the shore, so they could jump out and unleash a dart!
"Stop whoever comes!"

Zhang Chengfu drew his bow, nocked an arrow, and stood ready. Only when the leading fishing boat was within thirty paces did he squint his eyes, shout loudly, and fire an arrow at the leader of the fishing boats!
"A straw hat!"

"Whoosh!..."

Seeing the young man opposite him aiming his hunting bow from afar, the fisherman sneered.

Who knows which noble family's young master this is, coming to this Great Wild Marsh to fish and hunt, and everyone's even leading a horse. You know, six horses together are worth thirty or forty thousand coins! They've been watching from afar all day, itching to take advantage of this lucrative opportunity that's practically handed to them!

"Haha! You rascal...uh!!"

A whistling wind swept in, and the fisherman shuddered. When he reached for his hat, it was gone, revealing a weathered, middle-aged face. He looked back in horror to see the arrow that had struck him earlier piercing his hat and falling into the marshland. Looking ahead, his heart skipped a beat! The young man had swiftly nocked his bow and aimed at him again!

"Stop!!"

"... "

The fisherman hesitated slightly, wanting to move closer, but then he saw the young man fire another arrow, aimed straight at his forehead! He instinctively flinched, and the arrow he had left behind flew past his scalp, almost hitting his forehead.

When he looked up in shock and anger, the boy had nocked an arrow again! This time, the arrow was aimed directly at his heart, and there was no way to avoid it from the fishing boat!
"Damn it! Three arrows in quick succession at twenty paces?!"

"Stop!!!"

"Stop! Everyone stop!..."

"Beep! Beep!!"

Sweat beaded on the fisherman's forehead as he quickly blew his bone whistle. By this time, the three leading fishing boats had closed to within twenty paces. The six men on the shore were retreating, seemingly ready to flee on horseback at any moment. But when the urgent whistle rang out, the fishermen on the six boats exchanged surprised glances and immediately stopped their boats.

"Hmm? These pirates are so disciplined? No, it's that their leader has a lot of prestige!"

Zhang Chengfu drew his bow, poised to fire, and glanced at the crowd out of the corner of his eye. Six fishing boats were moored on the lake, while on the shore stood Gao Daonu, clad in armor and wielding a staff, along with the three Jiang brothers and Wang Du, carrying a ring-pommel sword. The six horses beside them had their reins loosened, ready for the group to mount and ride away at any moment.

However, although the soil on both sides of the Great Wild Marsh is currently cold and hard, there are still hidden swamps. If a horse were to accidentally get stuck, it would have to abandon the marshland under the pursuit of river pirates. It's best to avoid this sudden ambush if possible…

"Young man on the shore, what a fine archery skill you possess! Which noble family do you belong to? Tell us, and perhaps we will recognize your name. We shall take our leave now..."

"Young master on the shore, we are only after your money! Why don't you leave your horses behind and leave? We promise we will not pursue you!"

Although the captain of the fishing boat had stopped, he remained calm. He dropped his dagger, slowly put his hands behind his back, and then made hand gestures. The fishermen next to him, who were holding knives, understood and secretly made hand signals to the other fishing boats as well!

Once we've tricked the young man on the other side into surrendering his horse and putting away his bow... then we'll all pounce on him and leave no one alive!

"Daonu, go and tell him!"

Zhang Cheng held his breath, his gaze fixed intently on the fisherman opposite him. Meanwhile, Gao Daonu, wielding his long iron staff, roared like a tiger.

"Peace and prosperity reign! We are not from noble families! We are the Yellow Turbans of the Way of Peace! Our master is the Great Virtuous Teacher!!"

"Huh? You're followers of the Way of Peace? Disciples of the Great Teacher of Goodness?!"

Upon hearing this, the fisherman's face showed surprise. The fishermen on the boat exchanged glances, and their previous fierce fighting spirit vanished.

"Why are they the Yellow Turbans of the Way of Peace? Are we going to rob them?"

"Rob my ass! The immortal masters of the Taiping Dao just cast a talisman on our village and saved my father!"

"Yes! They came to rescue people this summer and even gave them talismans to ward off evil spirits!"

"I remember, didn't Boss Peng also have a yellow turban?"

The fishermen on the fishing boat whispered among themselves. The captain at the bow lowered his hands and looked them up and down in surprise for a moment. After a few breaths, he shouted loudly.

"The Eastern Peak Emperor is in the East! We, the people of Dayeze, have received the kindness of the Way of Peace! If you are truly the Yellow Turbans of the Way of Peace, then it is like a flood washing away the River God's shrine, or our own people fighting each other! ... But words are not enough! Do you have any evidence?"

Zhang Chengfu's sharp eyes swept over the expressions of the fishermen, then he looked at the leader of the fishermen. After a few breaths, he lowered his bow and arrow and said in a deep voice.

"Heroes of Ōnozawa! We are friends, not enemies! We all carry yellow turbans and talismans!"

As the boy lowered his bow, the thorny sense of danger finally vanished from the fisherman's sight. He visibly relaxed, but made no other move, simply keeping his eyes fixed on the boy.

The young man took a yellow headscarf from his robes and solemnly tied it around his head. Then, he took out two talismans and skillfully affixed them to the backs of his hands, making a hand gesture of blessing to identify himself as a talisman master. Looking at the five people beside him, they had also tied yellow headscarves. The tallest, strongest young man among them also had talismans affixed to his hands and made a hand gesture—he was also a talisman master!

"Ah! They really are disciples of the Way of Peace? Two talisman masters specializing in disaster relief?!"

At this, the fisherman's hostility vanished completely. He rummaged in his pocket for a while and finally pulled out a crumpled yellow handkerchief. Then, he solemnly tied it around his head, making a tight knot, and enthusiastically shouted.

"The Eastern Peak Emperor is in the East! We're one of them! I'm also a Yellow Turban!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chengfu let out a sigh of relief. He relaxed slightly, but remained vigilant. He clasped his hands in a fist and bowed to the fisherman in response.

"Zhang Chengfu, a disciple of the Great Master of Virtue, and a Yellow Turban talisman master from Ji Province! May I ask your name, and which faction's leader are you?"

Hearing this question, the fisherman was a little embarrassed. But he still returned the greeting from his boat, looked into the boy's eyes, and answered sincerely.

"I am Peng Gui of Dayeze! I am a Yellow Turban from Dayeze in Yanzhou! But I am not the leader of the sect... I only have a few hundred men under my command, scattered throughout Dayeze... I cannot compare to those small and large sects that gather thousands or tens of thousands of followers!" "However, although we are few in number, we all remember the kindness of the Great Teacher, the two great physicians, and the talisman masters of the Way of Peace! In the past eight or nine years, many people in Dayeze have been treated by the Way of Peace. Even I myself drank the talisman water and took two doses of herbal medicine from the Way of Peace when I was ill three years ago!"

"I am a country bumpkin, I may not understand the grand principles of scholars, but I do know how to repay kindness! So please, Master, do not worry! Come aboard, let me treat you to a meal and two grilled fish!"

"Ohnozawa Pengkun?"

Zhang Cheng pondered deeply, but couldn't find any relevant memories. Perhaps, in the original history, he was just an unknown figure, or perhaps one of the early members of the Yellow Turban Rebellion in Yanzhou. More likely, he had been hiding in the Great Wilderness Marsh, avoiding the onset of the chaos, and his fate remained unknown.

"The 'tako' is a river fish with a slightly yellow tail. It is the most resilient small fish, capable of not only flying but also stinging. To have such a name, and to live in the waters of the Great Lake of Ōno?... This implied fate is certainly worth pondering!"

Zhang Chengfu pondered for a few moments, then, seeing Peng Gui's inviting gesture on the fishing boat, he suddenly dropped his bow and arrows and said with a smile.

"Alright! Wait a moment, sir! I'll board the boat now and drink with you!"

"Young Master Zhang! You're going to the boat? That's too dangerous..."

"Haha! It's alright! Your Majesty need not worry. I trust this righteous man from the Great Wilderness!"

Zhang Chengfu laughed heartily, his voice loud enough for everyone to hear. Upon hearing the word "trust," a strange light flashed in Onozawa Penghui's eyes. Zhang Chengfu then looked at Gao Daonu and smiled.

"Daonu, come to the boat for wine and fish, do you dare!"

"Dare! With good food and drink, what's there to be afraid of?!"

Gao Daonu laughed heartily, removed his lamellar armor, and tossed aside his long iron staff. Then, the two of them, empty-handed except for their ring-pommel swords, jumped onto the fishing boat that had come ashore.

"Good! Excellent! Please!..."

Peng Kui was overjoyed. He sat cross-legged on the small boat, spread out a mat, and placed six or seven roasted and chilled perch on it, along with some lotus roots and water chestnuts. Then, he took out a clay-sealed wine jar from the cabin, slammed it heavily on the mat, and forcefully opened it. The aroma of wine wafted out!

"Hmm? Good wine! It smells wonderful!"

Gao Daonu's nose twitched, and his mouth watered. Zhang Chengfu sniffed the rich, mellow aroma and exclaimed in surprise.

"Such a strong aroma... could it be Qi wine?"

"Haha! That's right! This is Jixia wine from Linzi! Two months ago, I swindled a few passing tax collectors and got this jar of fine wine, but I've been reluctant to drink it... Today, I met two talisman masters, and I don't have anything else to offer but this jar of fine wine. Let's drink to our hearts' content!"

Peng Kui laughed heartily, not bothering with any wine cups—there weren't any on the boat anyway. He picked up the wine jar, took two hearty gulps himself to reassure his guest. Then, he slung the heavy jar, weighing over twenty pounds, over to Zhang Chengfu.

"Come on! Master Zhang, have a couple of drinks to toast our friendship that started out as friends!"

"Alright! Let's meet again!"

Zhang Chengfu laughed heartily, easily lifting the heavy wine jar and downing it in two large gulps. The wine was brewed from a mixture of yellow and rice grains; it was a light amber color, fragrant and thick. In his mouth, it was smooth, sweet, and slightly sour, probably around eight or nine degrees alcohol by volume.

Upon closer tasting, the first notes are the caramel aroma of millet, followed by the fragrance of rice bran, then a honey-like sweetness and the sweet and sour taste of dried plum. Only at the very end does the lingering aftertaste reveal the lingering fragrance of cooked millet, with a subtle astringency, exuding the crispness of Qi wine!
"Phew! Fine wine!..."

Zhang Chengfu let out a satisfied sigh and handed over the wine jar. Gao Daonu couldn't wait and took the heavy jar with one hand, which made Peng Kui's eyes twitch. Then, this man from Youyan hugged the jar and gulped down seven or eight mouthfuls, drinking a whole jin (500ml) of wine in one go.

"That was refreshing! Such a hearty drink! What a brave man!..."

Peng Gui took back the wine jar and drank again. After two rounds of wine, the three, who had been at each other's throats, were now like good friends, their faces full of warmth. They drank and ate fish, their faces flushed, laughing and talking loudly and boisterously.

Seeing this, the surrounding fishermen also started eating, drinking, and making a ruckus. Meanwhile, the three Jiang brothers and Wang Du on the shore looked at each other helplessly and could only start cooking fish soup and preparing dinner.

"Haha! We don't usually kill people when we rob merchants. Only by letting them go back alive, or even leaving them some heavy goods, will the next batch come!"

"But if we encounter those tax collectors who extort money from the government, even if they're ten or twenty miles away from Daye Marsh, we have to go and kill them! We've all been driven to ruin by these government tax collectors, our families torn apart, our wives and children separated, forcing us to flee into Daye Marsh! These tax collectors are the most ruthless, they deserve to die! And yes, they have the most money too!..."

As the wine flowed freely, Peng Kui began to recount his past exploits of assassinating tax officials and robbing merchants. After succeeding, all he had to do was row his small boat into the depths of the marshland, and neither the county officials nor the garrison troops of the prefectures and kingdoms could do anything to them, these fishermen and water bandits who roamed the Great Wild Marshland.

"Hiccup! You mean the government is besieging us? Haha! This vast wilderness stretches for hundreds of miles, which government army would dare to enter? Do you think you can rely on those spineless county and state soldiers? And those powerful cavalry government troops can't even get into this vast wilderness!"

"Phew! This place, Dayeze, is so much better! We don't have to worry about the government cavalry! When I was in Youzhou, those government cavalrymen on horseback were greedy and ruthless, extorting money from every tribe! They didn't dare to rob the large Xianbei tribes, they only came to rob us, the tribes that had intermarried with the Han and non-Han peoples! When the government cavalry came, we couldn't escape, and we couldn't fight them..."

Gao Daonu, having drunk too much, his eyes reddened, and finally recounted his childhood days in a small, mixed-race tribe in Youzhou. Those days were hard, but he had both parents, rode horses and herded sheep everywhere, and didn't have to pay many taxes. Until the government army suddenly attacked, slaughtered the tribe, killed his parents, captured him, and sold him into slavery in the mines…

"Ugh! This corrupt government is utterly incompetent! They deserve to die! They deserve to be killed! Kill, kill, kill!..."

In this cruel era, how difficult it is to drink freely and open one's heart!

Hearing their words, Zhang Chengfu's eyes also reddened, his heart surging like a tide. Within the merged soul, the memories of that eleven-year-old boy from that era were also preserved!

In those distant memories, the voices and smiles of my parents and eldest sister were like mulberries hanging heavily on the branches, carrying an unforgettable sweetness. But the cruel winds of the government blew in, and all that was beautiful came to an abrupt end. Only the mulberry juice trampled into the mud remained, like the blood and tears squeezed dry from the hearts of ordinary people…

"Peace and prosperity! If we don't overthrow this cannibalistic government, how can we common people survive? I, Zhang Chengfu, will fight against this imperial court and those powerful families to the very end, just to establish a true peaceful and prosperous world!"

"Yes! Master Zhang is right... hiccup! Brother Chengfu is right! Kill those corrupt officials!"

On the Great Lake, Zhang Chengfu made a resolute vow, biting his lip until it bled! Then, he grabbed Peng Gui's arm tightly, his gaze burning as he looked intently into the eyes of the half-drunk leader of the Great Lake pirates.

“Brother Peng! You are the leader of the Yoshimin of Ōnosawa! Why don’t you join our Taiping Dao and become the leader of Ōnosawa?”

"Hmm? I've received the Yellow Turban from Doctor Zhang (Zhang Bao) and drunk the talisman water from the Way of Peace... However, I don't have many people in this Great Wilderness, so I can't afford to be a mere minor figure..."

"Ha! You deserve it! Just based on the advantageous terrain of this Great Wilderness, not to mention Commander Xiao Fang, you would be worthy of it as Commander Da Fang!"

Zhang Chengfu gripped his hand tightly, squeezing Peng Gui so hard it hurt. He looked over in surprise, only to see the boy's resolute eyes, as if concealing some kind of flame. And the boy's words were the same, resounding like metal striking the ground.

"Brother Peng! Come with me to see the Great Teacher! I will certainly recommend you to become the leader of the Great Wilderness! And the meeting of the leaders of Qingzhou and Yanzhou in December is of paramount importance; we need a key figure like you!..."

(End of this chapter)