Explore Chapter 16 of '水浒新传' with the original Chinese text, English translation, detailed Chinese vocabulary explanations, and audio of the Chinese original. Listen and improve your reading skills.
Now our story goes that in Daming Prefecture, the Northern Capital, Grand Secretary Liang had purchased one hundred thousand strings of cash worth of birthday gifts and made all preparations, choosing a day to dispatch a convoy. One day, as he sat in his inner hall, Lady Cai inquired, "My lord, when is the birthday convoy to set forth?" The Grand Secretary replied, "All the gifts are ready. We may depart tomorrow or the next day. Yet there is one matter that gives me pause." "What matter troubles you so?" asked Lady Cai. He said, "Last year we spent a hundred thousand strings on gold, pearls, and precious jewels to send to the Eastern Capital, but due to an unreliable agent, they were robbed by bandits midway, and to this day nothing has been recovered. This year, looking over the accounts, I see no truly capable man to send. That is my dilemma." Pointing below the steps, Lady Cai said, "You often praise that man's extraordinary ability. Why not commission him, issue him written orders, and send him on this journey? Then there will be no mishap." When Grand Secretary Liang looked at the man indicated, lo and behold, it was the Blue-Faced Beast, Yang Zhi.
Grand Secretary Liang was overjoyed. He immediately summoned Yang Zhi to the hall and said, "I had nearly forgotten you. If you can successfully deliver this birthday convoy for me, I shall see to your advancement." Yang Zhi crossed his hands before him and advanced, replying, "How could this humble servant disobey Your Excellency's command? I only wonder about the arrangements. When are we to depart?" The Grand Secretary said, "I shall order Daming Prefecture to provide ten secure carts. From my own staff I shall assign ten Imperial Guards to escort them. Each cart shall fly a yellow banner inscribed with 'Tribute for the Grand Tutor's Birthday.' Each cart shall also have a soldier in attendance. You must set out within three days." Yang Zhi said, "It is not that your humble servant wishes to make excuses, but this journey is truly impossible. I beg Your Excellency to select another hero, a man of meticulous care." The Grand Secretary said, "It is my intent to advance you. Within the dispatches for the tribute, I shall include a separate letter strongly recommending you to the Grand Tutor, so that you may return with an imperial commission. Why then do you raise objections and refuse to go?" Yang Zhi replied, "Your Excellency, your humble servant has heard that last year's convoy was robbed by bandits and remains unrecovered. This year, the roads are plagued with even more thieves and robbers. The journey to the Eastern Capital is all overland, with no water route. We must pass through Purple Gold Mountain, Twin Dragon Mountain, Peach Blossom Mountain, Umbrella Peak, Yellow Mud Ridge, White Sand Hollow, Wild Cloud Ford, and Red Pine Forest-all places where fierce bandits are known to appear. Even solitary travelers dare not pass alone. If they learn this is a shipment of gold and treasure, how can they not attempt a robbery? It would be a waste of our lives! That is why it cannot be done." The Grand Secretary said, "In that case, I shall send more troops to guard the convoy." Yang Zhi said, "Even if Your Excellency dispatched ten thousand men, it would be useless. The moment such men hear bandits are coming, they will be the first to flee." The Grand Secretary said, "If you speak thus, should we abandon sending the birthday convoy altogether?" Yang Zhi again petitioned, "If Your Excellency agrees to one condition, then I shall dare to undertake the mission." The Grand Secretary said, "Since I have entrusted this to you, how could I not agree?" Yang Zhi said, "If you follow your servant's suggestion, we should not use carts. Instead, let the gifts be packed into a dozen or so carrying poles, disguised as merchant's wares. Select ten robust Imperial Guards, but dress them as common porters to shoulder the poles. Only one man need accompany me, dressed as a merchant. We shall travel stealthily by night to the Eastern Capital and make the delivery. Only thus might we succeed." The Grand Secretary said, "Your words are most sensible. I shall write the letters and strongly recommend you for a commission upon your return." Yang Zhi said, "I am deeply grateful for Your Excellency's favor." That very day, Yang Zhi was ordered to prepare the carrying poles and select the soldiers.
The next day, Yang Zhi was summoned to wait before the hall. Grand Secretary Liang emerged and asked, "Yang Zhi, when will you depart?" Yang Zhi replied, "I report to Your Excellency that we shall set out without fail tomorrow morning, and I shall then receive the written order." The Grand Secretary said, "My lady also has a load of gifts for the family members at the residence, which you are to take charge of as well. Lest you be unfamiliar with the particulars, she has specifically ordered the old steward, Xie, and two junior officers to accompany you." Yang Zhi protested, "Your Excellency, Yang Zhi cannot go." The Grand Secretary said, "The gifts are already packed and secured. Why can you not go now?" Yang Zhi explained, "The responsibility for these ten loads rests solely on your humble servant. All the men are under Yang Zhi's command. We travel early or late, we stop or rest, all according to Yang Zhi's orders. But now you add the old steward and these officers to the party. He is the lady's man, a steward from the Grand Tutor's own household! If on the road he should contradict me, how would Yang Zhi dare to argue with him? If some great mishap were to occur, how could I possibly explain myself then?" The Grand Secretary said, "That is easily settled. I shall order all three to obey your commands." Yang Zhi answered, "If that is your instruction, then your servant willingly accepts the written order. Should there be any lapse, I shall willingly bear the heavy penalty." The Grand Secretary was greatly pleased and said, "I did not favor you in vain! You truly have foresight!" He immediately summoned old Steward Xie and the two junior officers. Before the assembly he instructed them: "Commander Yang Zhi has willingly accepted a written order to escort eleven loads of gold, pearls, and precious jewels-the birthday convoy-to the Grand Tutor's residence in the capital for delivery. All responsibility rests upon him. You three shall accompany him. On the journey, whether starting at dawn, traveling late, stopping, or resting, you must heed his words and not contradict him. As for the tasks my lady assigned, you three may manage them yourselves. Be careful and attentive. Depart early and return early. Do not allow any mistake to occur." The old steward assented to each point. That day, Yang Zhi received his commission.
The next day, before the fifth watch, the loads were arranged in front of the hall within the residence. The old steward and the two officers added one small load of valuables, making eleven loads in total. They selected eleven robust Imperial Guards, all dressed as porters. Yang Zhi donned a broad-brimmed straw hat, wore a garment of dark green gauze, tied a sash, put on hempen sandals, slung a sword at his waist, and carried a simple saber. The old steward also dressed as a merchant. The two officers pretended to be his attendants. Each man took a simple saber and a few rattan canes. Grand Secretary Liang handed over the official documents and letters. The entire party ate their fill, then bowed in the hall to take leave of the Grand Secretary. Watching the soldiers shoulder the loads and set off, Yang Zhi, Steward Xie, and the two officers supervised. The company of fifteen left the Liang residence, exited the gates of the Northern Capital, and took the main road toward the Eastern Capital.
It was now mid-fifth month. Though the skies were clear, the heat was sweltering and travel was difficult. Yang Zhi, single-minded in his aim to deliver the convoy by the fifteenth day of the sixth month, could only press the pace relentlessly. For the first five or seven days out of the Northern Capital, they indeed rose at the fifth watch to travel in the cool of dawn, resting when the midday heat arrived. After another five or seven days, dwellings grew scarce, fellow travelers few, and each stage of the journey wound through mountainous paths. Yang Zhi, however, now insisted on setting out at the hour of the Dragon and resting at the hour of the Monkey. The eleven Imperial Guards bore heavy loads, not a single one light. The weather was hot; they could hardly march. Whenever they spied a grove of trees, they yearned to stop and rest. Yang Zhi drove them on, urging them to move. If they halted, he would curse them viciously or, worse, lash them with his rattan cane, forcing them onward. The two officers, though only carrying packs and baggage on their backs, were also panting and struggling to keep up. Yang Zhi rebuked them angrily: "Have you two no sense at all? The responsibility here is mine! Instead of helping me drive these porters, you dawdle along behind! This is no place for leisure!" One of the officers replied, "It's not that we wish to go slow. The heat makes it truly impossible to walk, hence we fall behind. Before we traveled in the cool morning. Why must we march now in the very heat of the day? This is most unfair!" Yang Zhi snapped, "What you say is nothing but farting nonsense! The earlier road was safe ground. Now we are in treacherous territory. If we do not press on through the day, who would dare travel in the fifth watch or the dead of night?" The two officers held their tongues, but inwardly they fumed: "This wretch isn't worth arguing with!"
Yang Zhi, grasping his simple saber and rattan cane, went ahead to drive the porters. The two officers sat beneath the shade of a willow tree, waiting for the old steward to arrive. They complained to him: "That Yang Zhi-for all his bluster, he's nothing but a commander under our lord's roof! How dare he put on such grand airs!" The old steward said, "Our lord explicitly ordered us not to contradict him, so I have held my tongue. These past two days, I too can scarcely bear the sight of him. Let us endure it for now." The two officers said, "Our lord's words were mere courtesy. You, steward, should take charge." The old steward added, "Let us endure him a little longer." That day, when they reached the hour of the Monkey, they found an inn to rest. The eleven Imperial Guards were drenched in sweat, sighing and puffing. They said to the old steward, "We are unfortunate to be common soldiers, well aware we've been pressed into service. In this fiery heat, carrying such heavy loads, and these past two days not even choosing the cool dawn to travel-at the slightest provocation we get a thrashing with that thick cane. We're all flesh and blood from ordinary parents. Must we suffer so?" The old steward said, "Do not complain. Once we reach the Eastern Capital, I shall reward you myself." The soldiers said, "If we were treated as you suggest, steward, we would not dare complain.
Another night passed. The next day, before dawn had broken, the men all rose, eager to travel in the cool. Yang Zhi leaped up and shouted, "Where do you think you're going? Get back to sleep until I say otherwise!" The soldiers cried, "If we don't leave early, we can't walk in the heat, and you'll just beat us!" Yang Zhi roared, "What do you fools know!" He snatched up his rattan cane, ready to strike. Swallowing their anger, the soldiers had no choice but to lie down again. That day, it was not until the hour of the Dragon that they slowly kindled a fire, ate their meal, and set out. All along the way Yang Zhi drove them with blows, forbidding them to stop in any shady, cool spot. The eleven Imperial Guards muttered and grumbled under their breath, while the two officers chattered and tattled incessantly before the old steward. The old steward heard them but paid little heed, though inwardly his annoyance with Yang Zhi grew.
To make a long story short, after fourteen or fifteen days of this, not one of the fourteen men was without resentment toward Yang Zhi. On this day, at the inn, they rose at the hour of the Dragon, slowly made breakfast, ate, and departed. It was the fourth day of the sixth month. Before the sun had even reached its zenith, a fiery red orb hung in the sky without a wisp of cloud-truly, the heat was intense. The path they traveled was a remote, rugged mountain trail, winding over southern hills and northern ridges. Herding the eleven soldiers, they had covered some twenty-odd li. The soldiers longed to rest beneath the shade of willow trees, but Yang Zhi beat them forward with his cane, shouting, "Move quickly! I'll let you rest soon enough!" The men looked at the sky-in all four directions, not half a cloud was to be seen, and the heat was utterly unbearable. Yang Zhi urged the party onward along the secluded mountain path. As the sun approached its zenith, the very stones grew hot, and their feet ached too much to walk. The soldiers cried, "In weather like this, we'll be roasted alive!" Yang Zhi barked at them, "Keep moving! Get over that ridge ahead, then we'll see!" As they marched, a earthen ridge loomed before them. The company of fifteen rushed up the slope. They set down their loads, and all eleven soldiers collapsed to sleep beneath the shade of the pine trees. Yang Zhi exclaimed, "Misery! What sort of place is this for resting? Get up! Move!" The soldiers retorted, "You could chop us into seven or eight pieces, and still we couldn't go on!" Yang Zhi raised his rattan cane and lashed out wildly, striking heads and shoulders. But as soon as he forced one man up, another would lie down. Yang Zhi was at his wit's end.
Just then, the two officers and the old steward arrived, panting and gasping, and managed to reach the ridge where they sat beneath a pine to catch their breath. Seeing Yang Zhi beat the soldiers, the old steward said, "Commander, it is truly too hot to walk! Do not hold it against them." Yang Zhi said, "Steward, you do not understand. This is precisely a place where bandits appear. It is called Yellow Mud Ridge. Even in ordinary, peaceful times, they come out in broad daylight to rob people, let alone in circumstances like these. Who dares linger here?" Hearing this, the two officers said, "We've heard you say this many times now! You just keep using it to frighten us!" The old steward said, "Let them rest awhile. We can travel a little past noon. What say you?" Yang Zhi said, "Have you lost all reason? How can that be allowed? From here down the ridge, there are a good seven or eight li with not a single dwelling. What kind of place is this to rest?" The old steward said, "I shall sit a while before moving on. You go ahead and drive the others." Yang Zhi brandished his cane and shouted, "The first man who doesn't move gets twenty strokes from me!" The soldiers cried out in unison. One among them argued, "Commander, we're carrying loads of over a hundred catties-nothing like you walking empty-handed. You simply don't treat us as human! Even if our lord the Grand Secretary came to supervise in person, he'd let us have a word. You have no feeling! You only care about throwing your weight around!" Yang Zhi cursed, "This beast will be the death of me! I'll just beat you!" He raised his cane and struck at the man's face. The old steward barked, "Commander Yang, stop! You listen to me. When I served as steward in the Grand Tutor's residence at the Eastern Capital, officers and soldiers beyond count bowed and scraped before me. Not to boast, but consider what you are: a soldier with a death sentence hanging over him, whom our lord pitied and raised to the rank of commander-a post no bigger than a blade of grass! How dare you put on such airs! Never mind that I am the Grand Secretary's steward; even an old villager deserves a hearing! What do you mean by beating them like this? What manner of treatment is this?" Yang Zhi said, "Steward, you are a city man, born and raised in a minister's mansion. What can you know of the thousand hardships and ten thousand dangers of the road?" The old steward retorted, "I have traveled to Sichuan and the Two Guangs, yet never have I seen such a show of arrogance!" Yang Zhi said, "These are not peaceful times." The steward shot back, "Such words deserve to have your tongue cut out! How is the world not at peace today?"
Yang Zhi was about to reply when he glimpsed a figure in the pine grove opposite, craning its neck and peering about. Yang Zhi cried, "What did I tell you? Isn't that a villain approaching?" He cast aside his cane, seized his simple saber, and rushed into the grove, roaring, "You have gall! How dare you spy on our goods!" Charging forward, he saw seven Jiangzhou carts lined up in a row. Six men, stripped naked, were enjoying the cool, while a seventh, with a large vermilion birthmark on his temple, held a simple saber. At the sight of Yang Zhi rushing in, the seven cried out as one, "Aiya!" and sprang to their feet. Yang Zhi demanded, "Who are you people?" The seven countered, "Who are you?" Yang Zhi asked again, "Are you not villains?" They replied, "You turn things upside down! We are petty traders. What money would we have for you?" Yang Zhi said, "You may be petty traders, but I have substantial capital!" The seven asked, "What, pray tell, are you?" Yang Zhi said, "You tell me first, where are you from?" The seven said, "We seven are brothers from Haozhou, carrying dates to the Eastern Capital. Passing this way, we heard many say that bandits often rob merchants on Yellow Mud Ridge. As we walked, we told ourselves, 'We have only these dates, no other wealth or goods,' and so we came over the ridge. Having reached the top, we couldn't bear the heat, so we rested awhile in this grove, waiting for the cool of evening to continue. Then we heard someone coming up the ridge. Fearing it might be villains, we sent this brother out to take a look." Yang Zhi said, "So that's the way of it. You are fellow travelers. It was only because I saw you peeping that I feared you were villains and came to investigate." The seven said, "Honored guest, please have a few of our dates." Yang Zhi said, "There's no need." He took up his saber and returned to where the loads were.
The old steward, still sitting, said, "If there are bandits, let us be gone!" Yang Zhi said, "I took them for villains, but they are merely date sellers." The old steward turned his face away and said to the soldiers, "As you were saying earlier, they are desperate men!" Yang Zhi said, "No need for trouble. I only wish for a safe passage. Rest a while now; we'll go when it's cooler." The soldiers all laughed. Yang Zhi, too, planted his simple saber in the ground and went to sit beneath a tree to cool off.
Before half a bowl of rice could be eaten, they saw a man in the distance shouldering a pair of buckets, singing as he came up the ridge. His song went: "The red sun blazes like a raging fire;
The fields are scorched, half the seedlings expire.
The farmers' hearts with boiling anguish burn;
While noble lords with fans their coolness earn!" Singing thus, the man reached the ridge, set down his buckets in the shade of the pines, and sat to cool himself. The soldiers, seeing him, asked, "What's in your buckets?" The man answered, "White wine." The soldiers asked, "Where are you taking it?" He said, "To sell in the village." "How much for a bucket?" they asked. He replied, "Five full strings of cash." The soldiers conferred: "We're hot and thirsty. Why not buy some to drink? It would relieve the summer heat." Just as they were pooling their money, Yang Zhi saw them and bellowed, "What are you up to now?" The soldiers said, "Buying a bowl of wine to drink." Yang Zhi swung the shaft of his saber to strike them, cursing, "You act without my word, recklessly wanting to buy wine! How dare you!" The soldiers protested, "We're using our own pooled money. What's it to you? Why beat us?" Yang Zhi said, "What do you know? All you think about is stuffing your mouths! You have no idea of the dangers on the road! How many good men have been felled by drugged wine!" The wine-carrier looked at Yang Zhi and sneered, "You, sir, are most unreasonable! A good thing I didn't sell to you, to be accused of such feeble tricks!"
As the commotion and argument continued by the pines, the band of date sellers from the opposite grove emerged, holding their simple sabers, and asked, "What is all this noise about?" The wine-carrier said, "I'm carrying this wine over the ridge to sell in the village. It was hot, so I rested here. These men wanted to buy some, but I didn't sell. This honored guest claims my wine has knockout drugs. Isn't that laughable? To utter such nonsense!" The seven traders said, "Pah! We thought real villains had come. So it's only this. Saying it once is no great matter. We were just wishing for wine to quench our thirst. Since they suspect it, sell us a bucket instead." The carrier said, "I won't sell! I won't!" The seven traders said, "You, fellow, are also unreasonable! We never accused you. You're taking it to the village anyway. We'll pay the same price. Selling us some is no trouble. Think of it as offering tea-you'd be relieving our thirst." The wine-carrier said, "Selling you a bucket is no issue, but they've given me a bad name. Besides, there are no bowls or ladles to scoop it." The seven said, "You are too particular! One remark is nothing. We have coconut ladles here." Two of the traders went to their carts and fetched two coconut ladles, while one brought out a great handful of dates. The seven stood by the bucket, opened the lid, and took turns scooping and drinking the wine, eating dates between sips. In no time at all, they finished one bucket. The seven traders asked, "We never asked your price." The man said, "I state my price once: five full strings per bucket, ten for the pair." The seven said, "Five strings it is, then, but let us have an extra ladleful." The man said, "No extra! My price is fixed!" One trader handed him the money, while another lifted the lid of the remaining bucket, scooped out a ladleful, and began to drink. The man moved to grab it back, but the trader, holding half a ladle of wine, ran off toward the pine grove. The man gave chase. Then another trader emerged from the grove, a ladle in hand, and went to scoop wine from the bucket. Seeing this, the man rushed over, snatched the ladle from his grasp, poured its contents back into the bucket, clapped the lid on, and flung the ladle to the ground, saying, "You guests have no sense of propriety! Men with faces that should know better, carrying on with such mischief!"
The soldiers watching from the other side felt their mouths water and an itch to drink. One among them said to the old steward, "Honored elder, put in a word for us! Those date traders bought and drank a whole bucket. Let us just buy this one to wet our throats. We are truly burning with heat and thirst, with no other choice. There's nowhere to fetch water on this ridge. Please, sir, show us mercy!" Hearing the soldiers' plea, and feeling a thirst himself, the old steward went to Yang Zhi and said, "The date traders have already bought and drunk one bucket. Only this one remains. Let these fellows buy it to ward off the heat. There truly is no place to find drinking water on this ridge." Yang Zhi thought to himself, "From afar, I saw those men buy his wine and drink it. They even drank half a ladle from that very bucket right before everyone. It must be safe. After beating them half the day, I may as well let them buy a bowl." Aloud he said, "Since the old steward speaks for you, let them buy and drink. Then we must depart immediately." Hearing this, the soldiers joyfully pooled five full strings of cash to buy the wine. The wine-carrier said, "I'm not selling! Not selling! There's knockout drug in this wine!" The soldiers forced smiles and said, "Big brother, must you take it so much to heart?" The man insisted, "I won't sell! Don't pester me!" The date traders intervened: "You there! He spoke out of turn, but you are too stubborn. You've even made us suffer your scolding. This has nothing to do with these men. Just sell them some wine." The man said, "Why invite suspicion for no reason?" The date traders pushed the wine-carrier aside, took up the bucket themselves, and presented it to the soldiers to drink. The soldiers opened the lid but had nothing to scoop with. Apologetically, they asked the traders to lend them the coconut ladle. The traders said, "We'll give you these dates to go with the wine." The soldiers thanked them profusely: "Such kindness!" The traders said, "No need for thanks. We are all fellow travelers on the road. What are a hundred or so dates?" The soldiers thanked them again. First they scooped two ladlefuls-one for the old steward and one for Commander Yang. Yang Zhi firmly refused. The old steward drank a ladleful first, then the two officers each had one. Then all the soldiers surged forward, and in an instant the bucket was drained. Seeing that the others had drunk without harm, and being himself parched with a thirst made worse by the blazing heat, Yang Zhi finally took up the remaining wine. He drank only half of it and ate a few of the dates. The wine-carrier said, "That guest took an extra ladle from this bucket, so you got less wine. I'll let you off half a string of cash." The soldiers collected the money and paid him. The man took the cash, shouldered his empty buckets, and went down the ridge, still singing his mountain song.
The seven date traders stood by the pine trees, pointing at the fifteen men and chanting, "Down you go! Down you go!" And indeed, those fifteen men felt their heads grow heavy and their feet light. They stared at one another, and then, one by one, they slumped to the ground, limp and powerless. The seven traders pushed their seven Jiangzhou carts out from the pine grove. They dumped the dates from the carts onto the ground and loaded the eleven loads of gold, pearls, and precious jewels into the carts instead. Having covered the cargo well, they shouted, "Sorry for the disturbance!" and pushed the carts straight down Yellow Mud Ridge. Yang Zhi could only groan in bitter frustration, his body limp, unable to struggle to his feet. All fifteen men watched helplessly with wide eyes as the seven men made off with the treasures, unable to rise, to move, or to utter a word.
Now, dear reader, who do you suppose these seven men were? None other than Chao Gai, Wu Yong, Gongsun Sheng, Liu Tang, and the three Ruan brothers. As for the wine-carrier, he was none other than the Daylight Rat, Bai Sheng. And how was the drug administered? Originally, when the buckets were carried up the ridge, both contained good wine. The seven men drank one bucket first. Then Liu Tang lifted the lid of the other bucket and scooped out half a ladle to drink, deliberately letting the soldiers see, to lull them into false security. Afterwards, Wu Yong fetched the drug from the pine grove, shook it into the ladle, and pretended to come over for an extra ladle of wine. When he scooped from the bucket, the drug was already stirred into the wine. He feigned drinking half the ladle, whereupon Bai Sheng snatched it from his hand and poured it back into the bucket. This was their stratagem. The whole scheme was of Wu Yong's devising. And thus is this tale called 'The Ingenious Seizure of the Birthday Convoy.'