Volume One, Chapter Thirteen: Memories Beneath the Moonlight, Planning for the Days Ahead

It’s a long story to tell—after finishing their drinks, Xu Shiji and Shan Xiongxin sought out Zhai Rang for a lengthy conversation.

But it can also be summed up briefly.

Briefly put, the explanation is that when Xu, Shan, and Zhai were talking, Li Shengdao was not present; he was waiting outside and only returned recently.

After hearing Li Shengdao’s explanation for his late return, Qin Jingsi asked, “Big Brother Xu, Lord Shan, what did you discuss with Lord Zhai? It’s almost dawn now, yet you’re still at it.”

“Nothing much, just some matters concerning the stronghold.”

What exactly did Xu Shiji say to Zhai Rang? Naturally, it was the agreement he and Shan Xiongxin reached: after drinking, they would persuade Zhai Rang to accept Li Mi’s proposal to join them. This was a crucial matter for the development of Waggang, a decision for the upper echelons. The issue was still unsettled—on the way back, Li Shengdao asked Xu Shiji, but Zhai Rang had yet to give a definite answer. “A gentleman keeps confidences.” Knowing the gravity of the situation, Li Shengdao was careful not to spread this information, not even to the trusted Qin Jingsi, so he was intentionally vague.

Qin Jingsi did not press further and praised, “I had heard back in the county that Big Brother Xu is Lord Zhai’s right-hand man. Though your time in the mountains is still short, when we first joined the second brother into the mountains, all the leaders and men in the stronghold treated us with respect the moment they heard we were delivering news for you. Now that the celebration has ended and you’re still talking with Lord Zhai so late, it must indeed be as you say!”

“No need to say more. If Big Brother Xu did not hold high rank and power in the stronghold, how could I have brought you all here to surrender?” Li Shengdao laughed.

Qin Jingsi said, “Yes. Second brother, to be honest, when you first suggested taking us to join Waggang, I was a bit hesitant!”

“Really? I thought you were quite enthusiastic back then!”

As they walked towards the valley entrance, Li Shengdao asked, “Are you still drum-beating?”

“Not now, actually, I stopped beating the drum the day I returned home. I’m willing to follow you to join Waggang!”

Li Shengdao asked, laughing, “Why is that? When you got home and saw your mother, shouldn’t you have been even more eager to drum?”

“Alas, when I returned, I saw the ruined, dilapidated house, no lights lit, darkness all around. My younger brother curled in Mother’s arms, lying on straw mats—such pitiful misery. It made me deeply ashamed! How could I, a man, fail to give my mother and brother a better life? Such poverty, even if I didn’t join Waggang, there was no hope! So I thought, why not follow you to join Waggang? No matter what happens, at least with my strength, I might earn some wealth to send home—to honor my mother and care for my brother.”

Qin Jingsi’s father had died in the eighth year of the Daye era during the campaign against Goguryeo. His family now consisted of his mother and two younger brothers. His youngest brother was only four or five years old.

The mountain night breeze was cool.

Under the chilly night air, recalling the moment and feelings when he decided to join Li Shengdao in surrendering to Waggang, Qin Jingsi’s tone grew somber.

Li Shengdao patted his shoulder comfortingly, “Third brother, don’t overthink it. Remember what I told you when we first discussed joining Waggang: Nowadays, the court is like a tiger, officials like wolves, endless taxes and levies, conscription and forced labor that never cease—it’s no place for good men. To survive in such times, there’s no other way but to harden your heart and become a ‘bandit’!”

“Yes, second brother, you’re right!”

Slightly intoxicated, stirred by Qin Jingsi’s words and his own experiences since arriving in this era, Li Shengdao sighed, “Look at your neighbor, Liu Silang—how did he lose his hand? He feared dying like those conscripted county men who built the Eastern Capital and dug the Grand Canal, so to escape labor service, he cut off his own hand, calling it a ‘lucky hand.’ Tell me, isn’t that the height of absurdity in the Tang? Who would cut off their own hand and call it ‘luck’? That’s no luck at all! It’s sheer misery! The court has driven us common folk to such desperation. How can we not become bandits?

“Labor is heavy, conscription unending. In the eighth and ninth years of the Daye era, the court launched two campaigns against Goguryeo, both failures. The tenth year saw another planned campaign that didn’t happen—but who knows if there’ll be more? How did your father die? And my elder brother—he was conscripted in the ninth year too. We spent a fortune to get him released! If there’s another conscription, it will be hard to avoid. If we meekly accept, your father’s and my brother’s fate will one day become ours! Better to risk everything and fight back! Even if we achieve nothing great, at least we won’t have lived in vain! As the saying goes, ‘A wise man understands the times.’ Third brother, in this chaotic world where common lives are like grass, not submitting and rising up is the true understanding of the times!”

They arrived at the valley entrance. Except for a few night guards, everyone else—Jiao Yanlang, Wang Xuda, and others—were fast asleep, their snores booming like thunder.

Li Shengdao stopped speaking, patted Qin Jingsi’s shoulder again, encouraging both him and himself, saying, “Damn it, Third brother, the court doesn’t treat us like humans—why should we respect it? With a knife at our throat, why remain obedient? We are men, not pigs to be slaughtered! When officials oppress the people, we’ll just do what they expect—become bandits! You’re right, at least as bandits, we can give our families a better life! Besides, Lord Zhai has a great reputation, Big Brother Xu is unmatched in strategy, and Lord Shan is fearless. I believe Waggang’s future is limitless. Now that we’ve joined, we may be bandits today, but who says we’ll always be? Don’t you think so?”

“Second brother, lately I feel you’ve changed a lot.”

That was what Gao Chounu once said.

This was perhaps the phrase Li Shengdao dreaded most.

He quickly stopped talking, stroked his short beard, chuckled, and said, “Third brother, it’s not that I’ve changed a lot now—it’s that before, you didn’t understand me.”

Qin Shengsi was half-doubtful, “Really?”

“Are you still awake? Third brother, get some rest. We have a lot to do today—clearing the valley, building shelters. Let’s try to finish everything in one day! The mosquitoes and insects here bite badly, and who knows what else lurks. One night here is tolerable, but not another.”

He slapped his face, missing the mosquitoes and feeling the sting. Li Shengdao gritted his teeth and said so.

Qin Jingsi responded, “Alright,” feeling sleepy, he lay down beside Jiao Yanlang and others. No sooner had he touched the ground than the snoring began.

Gao Chounu, a carefree man who had drunk some more wine, also fell asleep immediately.

They laid on felt mats, and Li Shengdao lay down beside Gao Chounu.

From afar came the incessant croaking of frogs in the mountain stream—silent by day but annoyingly loud at night. The snoring of a hundred or so men around was even more deafening, so much so that even foxes and hares dared not approach.

Li Shengdao was a light sleeper. In this noisy assault and with mosquitoes biting, he could not fall asleep. Tossing and turning for a long time, he finally sat up.

Mount Dafu rose abruptly from the plains, not very tall but covering a considerable area.

Looking around, the gentle valleys nearby and the steep cliffs in the distance, the winding mountain paths up to the peak were bathed in faint moonlight. In the hazy glow, the undulating mountains and dark pine and cypress trees exuded a solemn stillness.

Sparse stars hung at the horizon, twinkling as if winking at the world below.

“People today don’t see the moon of old, but the moon once shone on the ancients.” Why had he come to this era? Though the times had changed, the moonlight and starlight above him were surely no different from those in his past life.

Regardless of the era, most common folk wished only for peace and a simple life—Li Shengdao was no exception.

When first arriving, he had no intention of becoming an outlaw immediately.

Though he quickly understood the era—late Sui, a time of chaos and upheaval—and knew that the Li family had considerable land and lived relatively well, he initially held back on joining Waggang.

He first considered waiting, hoping for the right moment to seek out Li Shimin in Taiyuan and surrender to him. Wouldn’t that be the best way to handle this sudden change in times?

But soon, he was forced to change his mind and abandon this plan.

There were two main reasons.

One: in the first month of the year, while drinking with several county officials, he heard that Emperor Yang had just issued an edict ordering the governor of Biling to gather tens of thousands of troops from ten counties to build a palace garden covering twelve li around, with sixteen palaces inside. Yang also planned to build another palace in Kuaiji.

Though Biling was in Jiangnan, this edict reminded Li Shengdao of the many draining projects Emperor Yang had undertaken—like the three campaigns against Goguryeo and the construction of the Eastern Capital and Grand Canal—that had caused countless deaths.

From this, he realized: what if before finding a chance to join Li Shimin, he was conscripted for labor or military service by the court? What then? Like his elder brother, who had to pay a heavy price to avoid conscription?

One time might be manageable, but what about the next? How much family property could last?

The more he thought, the more worried he became.

Two: in recent years, uprisings had spread like wildfire in Shandong and Hebei, with bands of rebels springing up one after another. Dongjun, located on Shandong’s western border adjoining Hebei, was surrounded on all sides by ‘bandits’!

To mention just the neighboring counties: to the northeast, Dongping Commandery had rebel forces led by Xu Yuanlang; to the east, Jiyin Commandery had factions under Meng Haigong, Jiang Shanhui, and Wang Dangren, aligned with Xu Yuanlang’s forces; to the southeast, Liang Commandery had the ‘bandit group’ of brothers Li Gongyi and Li Shanxing; to the south, Xingyang Commandery, within Waggang’s sphere of influence, had no large bandits but was occasionally raided by Zhang Shanxiang and Guo Xiaoke, active also in Xiangcheng and Yingchuan Commanderies.

West of Dongjun, across the river in Hebei’s jurisdiction, Jiyu Commandery had Waggang forces and Wang Bodang’s group.

Within Dongjun itself, there were many bandits, chiefly two major groups: Waggang’s branch in Weicheng and the bandit group led by Zhou Wenju, a fellow villager of Zhai Rang from Weicheng.

Thus, while the area was mountainous around Chuzhou, Dongjun was effectively surrounded by bandits on all sides.

In such circumstances, though Waggang’s rebels, on Xu Shiji’s advice, avoided raiding Dongjun’s civilians extensively, this was only for now. What about later? Could Dongjun truly remain a peaceful haven amid such turmoil?

Clearly, no.

Not only in the future but even now, it was impossible.

Waggang’s principle of ‘rabbits don’t eat the grass near their burrows’ meant that under Zhai Rang’s control, they refrained from large-scale, planned plundering of Dongjun’s people. But Waggang already had tens of thousands of members. Could Zhai Rang control every leader and follower? Impossible.

Moreover, with Zhou Wenju’s bandits and numerous smaller groups in Dongjun, and the various small bandit gangs Li Shengdao encountered en route to Waggang, the situation was dire. Li was not well acquainted with the other counties, but the people of Wein County had suffered much from these bandits.

This meant that the threats to his survival weren’t just the court but countless roving bandits.

He worried: even if he escaped conscription by the court, what if he fell victim to bandits before finding a chance to join Li Shimin?

Oppressed by officials and besieged by bandits, after much thought, he decided not to wait any longer.

Damn it—rather than wait to be conscripted or fall prey to bandits, he would take the initiative to become an outlaw first.

Changing one’s mind was the hardest part; once the decision was made, everything else became easier.

For example, with so many rebel and bandit leaders inside and outside the commandery, whom should he join?

Naturally, Waggang.

So, he gathered his old acquaintances—Qin Jingsi and others—and shared his plan. Qin and the others were never model citizens, especially Jiao Yanlang and the like, who had long envied the ‘strongmen’ who plundered wealth and lived well. When Li Shengdao spoke, as Qin described, everyone was eager, no one objected.

Thus, about ten days ago, he joined the stronghold.

No need for idle talk.

Sitting up, Li Shengdao hugged his knees, gazing at the crescent moon in the night sky, replaying the journey of his decision to join Waggang. After reflection, he wondered, “I don’t know where Li Shimin is now. Is he already in Taiyuan? Before joining Waggang, I tried to find out, but there was no news of Li Yuan’s uprising. Maybe Li Shimin isn’t in Taiyuan yet? I also don’t know when Li Yuan will rebel.”

The buzzing mosquitoes bit again, and though he slapped at them, he missed and only stung himself. He pushed away thoughts of Li Shimin, shaking his head, thinking, “There’s a saying, ‘Eat radishes without worry.’ Damn it, I’m just worrying blindly! Whether Li Yuan or Li Shimin rebel has nothing to do with me. Earlier, I thought I’d wait for a chance to join Li Shimin, but that was naive. I’m a small man from a small family, no noble lineage or troops. Even if Li Yuan had rebelled, if I joined, I’d just be a lowly soldier—likely to die on the battlefield, no different from being conscripted or killed by bandits.”

“Enough, enough. Now that I’m at Waggang and have been appointed a battalion commander by Zhai Rang with a hundred men, at least it’s a start. I’ll stay here for now. With Big Brother Xu around, I have support. Maybe I can accomplish something here.”

Thinking of Xu Shiji, he mused, “Though joining Waggang wasn’t my first choice, looking back, it’s more practical than my earlier naive plan to join Li Shimin. Didn’t Big Brother Xu eventually join Li Shimin? I wasn’t close to Xu Shiji before, which explains his initial distance towards me when I arrived at Waggang. Now that he seems to have changed his view, I’ll work hard here and follow him when he joins Li Shimin. Damn it, it’s a roundabout way to save the country!”

A change of environment can change one’s thoughts.

This was Li Shengdao’s state now.

Before, he thought joining Li Shimin was the best choice; now, already at Waggang, he felt his later forced decision was wiser.

His mindset had shifted.

But the new hope that “maybe I can still accomplish something at Waggang” was easier said than done.

Firstly, in the short to medium term, Waggang had existed for several years with over ten thousand men. The upper and even middle leadership was set, from Zhai Rang down to Xu Shiji and Shan Xiongxin, all with their trusted followers. For a newcomer like him, gaining the rank of battalion commander was relatively easy thanks to his merits and Xu Shiji’s goodwill, but advancing further would be difficult.

Secondly, in the long term, although Zhai Rang had yet to express whether he would accept Li Mi’s joining, Li Shengdao knew history and that Li Mi would eventually join, usurp Zhai Rang, and kill him. When that happened, a major turning point in Waggang’s fate, would it affect him personally?

Both were issues.

Compared to the second, which had a great impact on Waggang’s future but less on Li Shengdao’s personal development, the first was a tangible, immediate problem.

Waggang’s leadership was basically fixed. How could a newcomer like him “push his way up”?

How to solve this?

“One bite at a time,” he thought. “To advance, two things matter most: external forces—or fortune—and internal strength.

External forces are easier—I just need to maintain a good relationship with Big Brother Xu.

Internal strength takes time. The first step is to turn the hundred men Zhai Rang assigned me into my real followers. That will be my foothold in the stronghold to seek further growth!”

Snoring filled the air, all around him men slept soundly. Li Shengdao looked at the hundred or so men, mostly strangers whose names and temperaments he barely knew.

Secondly, these hundred men were not a single group but composed of three groups of new recruits. How could he win their hearts, gain their respect, and unite them into his true followers?

Li Shengdao pondered carefully.

Dawn was breaking.

Most of the hundred or so men nearby still slept, but some had woken.

Chen Jinger was among the awakened. Rubbing his eyes, he saw Li Shengdao sitting up and quickly got up, weaving through the men sleeping in disarray, approaching him. Even before reaching him, his bright smile and white teeth were visible.