The Longest Day in Chang'an

Chapter 89. Zichu (23:00-23:59) Part 2

Chapter 89. Zichu (23:00-23:59) Part 2

Translator: DragonRider

Es' tongue clicked with amazement as he heard this. He had always been very confident about his sharp eyes, but this time around, he secretly admitted that Chao Fen bested him. Chao Fen added, "This bamboo-whittling technique is not used by Chang'an craftsmen but probably by those living in areas further north. Bamboos in the north are thin, and artisans there tend to swing their knives inwards when cutting bamboos. Besides, many of these pieces have two hacks at the edges, which is an indication that those artisans failed to cut them off with one hack and had to give a second one. I think they are from Shuofang."

His reputation as a first-class craftsman was well-earned. He had found so much information from these pieces in such a short time. But Zhang Xiaojing was slightly disappointed, because these messages were not helpful in solving the crisis of Kailu Hodo.

"What about this one?" He handed Chao Fen the piece of bamboo that had fallen from the shoes of Fishgut.

He flicked a glance at it and immediately replied with assurance and composure, "It's octagonal in shape and has an indentation in the middle. You see, this piece is flat and narrow, and there are burns on it. This is typical technique of the House of Fang to the south of the Five Ridges (the Five Ridges are five mountain ridges in China, across the borders between Hunan and Jiangxi on the one hand and Guangdong and Guangxi on the other), but there are also traces of the Xiaoxi technique typically used by people of the House of Lin in Sichuan..." Over the years, Chao Fen had spent a lot of time researching and analyzing techniques of artisans from different areas. As a result, none of these details escaped his notice.

"Are there any connections between this and those pieces of bamboo?"

"Combining this with the information found on those pieces, I can only tell you that all of them are remains after something large was finished."

"Can you tell who did the cutting?" Zhang Xiaojing felt that this might be a clue.

Chao Fen cast a glance at him. "There are tens of thousands of craftsmen in Chang'an. I'm not a fortune-teller. How am I supposed to know?" Zhang Xiaojing fell speechless in the knowledge that this request of his was indeed over-demanding, that Chao Fen had to become an immortal first to give an answer to his question after merely glancing at it.

Chao Fen slowly added, "But I can tell you what this thing is used for."

He bade his apprentice to get him two lengths of bamboo, casually picked up a weird-looking long knife and wielded it to process the bamboo in an amazingly skillful manner. Zhang Xiaojing and Es watched and found that those pieces of bamboo fallen to the ground were, for all intents and purposes, identical with those they had brought here. Before long, Chao Fen made two eccentrically-shaped bamboo tubes with serrated ends, which could inosculate with each other and even turn.

Remarkably, Chao Fen had managed to make this thing after merely looking at some pieces of bamboo. Zhang Xiaojing and Es felt that this man's craftsmanship was almost divine.

"What does it do?"

"It's a Kylin Arm (Kylin is a unicorn existed in Chinese mythology), used for connecting beams or columns when building houses, or for transference of driven force in a cart or carriage. To my knowledge, there is but one man in Chang'an whose work requires components of such precision," Chao Fen stroked the bamboo tube and sighed, "who's also the sole person I have not yet surpassed."

"Who is it?"

"Mao Shun, Mao Poluo's son."

Mao Poluo was an expert of Wuzhou Dynasty (690-705 AD), who excelled at drawing and carving and used to be the head of the Shangfang Department (an agency responsible for making items used by an Emperor or an Empress in feudal China). At that time, Wu Sansi, otherwise known as King Liang, along with the chiefs of the four foreign tribes, with an attempt to curry favor with Empress Wu, had petitioned to her to give the order to build an ornamental column with iron and bronze, which had been afterwards put in front of the Duan Gate. Mao Poluo had been the one who had built this ornamental column.

Mao Shun, Mao Poluo's son, was even better at craft than his father and held a very high position in the circle of artisans in Chang'an. The compliment paid by Chao Fen alone was an unmistakable indication of this man's superb craftsmanship.

Zhang Xiaojing had also heard of this name before. His mind raced after he heard this reply. Previously, what he had been puzzled about was what use could the missing mountain tallow could be of to those members of Termite. But now, after hearing Chao Fen's explanation, he believed that it was probably closely related to some design of Mao Shun, that he would find the answer as long as he caught Mao Shun. As a result, he hurriedly asked, "Master, may I ask what kind of design of Mao Shun do you think this component is from?"

Chao Fen responded, "Mao Shun is divinely talented and his skills are superlative, so His Majesty thinks pretty highly of him. Before this year's Lantern Festival, he offered to build for His Majesty a lantern pavilion called Taishang-xuanyuan Grand Lantern Pavilion, which was to be used for the Ba-lantern Ceremony. This pavilion is over fifty meters in height and sixteen meters in width, with colorful thin silk as its cover and lantern figurines inside. It's of extremely complicated structure. Once the lanterns inside it are lit, the wheels will turn nonstop, and the light will illuminate a radius of several miles around it, which will be an unprecedented scenery. His Majesty was very pleased and granted him the permission to build it –now it's already finished, awaiting for the final candle-lighting."

There was distinct admiration in Chao Fen's voice. Which craftsman didn't want his painstaking design to be turned into real object? He failed to notice that Zhang Xiaojing's face had changed several times.

"So Kylin Arms were used in this lantern pavilion?" Zhang Xiaojing asked in a quivering voice.

"Exactly. That Taishang-xuanyuan Grand Lantern Pavilion has twenty-four lantern chambers, each of which has different lantern figures inside. In order to have those lantern figures move automatically, Kylin Arms are indispensable components."

Zhang Xiaojing took the Kylin Arm from Chao Fen, scrutinized it and found that it was hollow. Chao Fen explained, "Taishang-xuanyuan Grand Lantern Pavilion is too high. Wood and stone are too heavy. Only hollow moso bamboo is the suitable material to build it with."

"But doesn't this make Kylin Arms highly damage-prone?"

"Bamboo is very light, so it's very easy to replace damaged components. Besides, the lantern pavilion only needs to hold for three days, so this is not going to be a problem."

The light dawned on Zhang Xiaojing. Though ill acquainted with the technique, he had had a shrewd idea what those members of Termite were planning to do. They would first cut bamboo tubes shaping them into Kylin Arms, and then fill them with mountain tallow turning them into small-sized Fierceflame bombs. After that, those members of Termite would enter the lantern pavilion posing as craftsmen and, on the pretext of examining and repairing the pavilion, replace the components with these "Kylin Arms" right under guards' noses.

In that case, the whole Taishang-xuanyuan Grand Lantern Pavilion would be transformed into a huge Fierceflame bomb, which, once detonated, would destroy everything within a radius of several miles.

"Where's the lantern pavilion?"

"On the square in front of the Industriousness and Pragmatism Pavilion, to the south of the Xingqing Palace."

The emperor would hold the Ba-lantern Ceremony in the Industriousness and Pragmatism Pavilion at Chouzheng (2:00 a.m.) on this night, and all civil officials and military officers, along with envoys from numerous nations and tribes, would be present. The Industriousness and Pragmatism Pavilion was only thirty paces away from the Taishang-xuanyuan Grand Lantern Pavilion.

The ambition of the Termite was as clear as if it were exposed to view –they sought to wipe out the Imperial Court of Tang and turn the Ba-lantern Ceremony into a national tragedy and a massacre.

Zhang Xiaojing was thrown into shock, but a characteristic of Fierceflame bombs suddenly occurred to him –they had to be heated beforehand to detonate, which meant that those members of Termite could not install them onto the lantern pavilion too early but had to replace those Kylin Arms within two hours before the ceremony. The ceremony was going to be held at Chouzheng, and currently it was Zichu, so there was less than three hours left.

'Those Termites are probably in the lantern pavilion installing bombs right at this moment!'

Zhang Xiaojing abruptly jumped up. Too anxious to say anything else to Chao Fen or give Es an explanation, he sprinted for the doorway. This was the last chance. If he didn't go there right now, things would reach the point of irreversibility.

But he was just about to reach the doorway when the front door was swung open with a loud bang. Large numbers of Lubi Army soldiers flooded into the front yard yelling "Get down or die!" and instantly encircled the place circle upon circle.

Yuan Zai, standing in the distance behind these soldiers, a smug expression on his face, watched these "members of Termite" who were about to be brought to justice.

On this night, it was the Mighty Dragon Army who were responsible for the security of the perimeter of the Xingqing Palace. As the emperor's most trusted Capital City Garrison unit, they had already checked every corner of the square in front of the Industriousness and Pragmatism Pavilion, made arrangements for soldiers to guard all entrances and exits and also set up blockades to make sure that nothing would go wrong on this night.

Every year, these were the most trying times for the Mighty Dragon Army.

In two hours, Ba-lantern carts carrying entertainers selected by local governments of different areas as well as their fans would drive into the square for the final competition. By then, this place would be so crowded that even a drop of water wouldn't be able to trickle through. All nearby streets and corners and even the top of the walls would be packed with people. What was even more trickier was that the Emperor would be standing on the Industriousness and Pragmatism Pavilion enjoying the moment when the sea of his subjects yelling "Long live Your Majesty!", which, in the eyes of the Emperor, would be a gesture of sharing his joy and enjoying this flourishing age with his people, but which in the sight of the Mighty Dragon Army would be nothing but numerous security risks.

Such was the specialness of this day that soldiers of the Mighty Dragon Army could not forbid commoners from getting close. They could but concentrate their manpower on securing some important targets, which, apart from the Jinming Gate, the Chuyang Gate and the Tongyang, also included the Taishang-xuanyuan Grand Lantern Pavilion –a building the likes of which had never been seen in previous years.

The name "Taishang-xuanyuan" was the title conferred on Lao Zi (philosopher in the Spring and Autumn Period, founder of Taoism) by Gaowu Emperor. The incumbent emperor was into Taoism and thought very highly of Lao Zi, so he had given this lantern pavilion this name.

This lantern pavilion was huge, which spared the soldiers from the worry of it being stolen, but they did fear that some curious commoners would show up to steal the beads or other golden ornaments on the pavilion. As a result, the Mighty Dragon Army had set three layers of guard around it, and nobody without an authorized artisan ID plate was allowed to approach.

A dozen horse-drawn carts typically used for transporting firewood entered the square to the south of Xingqing Palace from the east side. Since the whole city had virtually been paralyzed by traffic, drivers of these carts had no choice but to take the passage between the eastern city wall and those Fangs to detour to their destination. Soldiers of the Mighty Dragon Army on duty at the edge of the square, who had noticed these carts some time ago, raised their hands signaling the drivers to stop. The gesture brought the fleet of carts to a halt. Someone got off the first cart, walked up to the soldiers, claimed to be the owner of a construction company and handed a bunch of bamboo plates strung on a thin thread.

"We're here for the candle lighting of the Lantern pavilion," said the man.

The guards had some time ago been informed that some craftsmen would enter the lantern pavilion to conduct the candle lighting, so they were not surprised by the arrival of these people. They took the bamboo plates and checked them one by one.

On these bamboo plates, there were names of artisans, description of their looks, their native places, names of their masters, their addresses as well as what they had been authorized to do. And there were also signatures of the head of the yamen. There was nothing suspicious with those ID plates. The squad leader put down the bunch of bamboo plates and looked at the fleet of carts. Suddenly, he felt somewhat strange.

"Where's Curator Zhang?"

According to the regulations, the presence of an official of the Ministry of Mining was compulsory for a task as important as lantern pavilion maintenance to be conducted. The owner of the construction company craned closer to the squad leader and informed him in a low voice, "Alas, I really feel embarrassed to tell you this, but Curator Zhang was pushed off the bridge by the crowd and fell into the canal when enjoying the lantern show. Currently, he is still unaccounted for. We took the liberty of coming here ahead of schedule without him for fear of being delayed by the traffic."

The squad leader, who was surprised to hear this message, replied with an awkward expression on his face, "You and your men need to be accompanied by a curator of the Ministry of Mining to get into the lantern pavilion."

The company owner responded anxiously, "It wasn't me who pushed Curator Zhang off the bridge! What on earth could I possibly have done about his absence?"

"Rules are rules. Maybe you can request the Ministry of Mining to assign another official here," advised the guard. As a member of the Mighty Dragon Army responsible for the safety of the Emperor, he must follow the rules rigorously.

"All people are enjoying the lantern show. Who am I supposed to find them..." The company owner was getting more and more anxious, restlessly rubbing his hands with a distinct rustle. "We are two hours away from Chouzheng. If we don't get started right now, we won't be able to finish the job in time. His Majesty has been looking forward to seeing the light of this lantern pavilion symbolic of this flourishing age. If by any chance we fail to light the lantern pavilion at the intended moment... Just because the Mighty Dragon Army refuse to let my craftsmen to approach it?"

These remarks threw the squad leader into hesitation. No matter how important the rules were, they could never outweigh the mood of the Emperor. He flicked a glance at the fleet of carts and said, "Fine. I'll let your artisans get through, but what are you carrying on these carts?"

"They are all replacements for potential damaged components." The company owner removed the tarpaulin and, in a natural and poised manner, invited the squad leader to examine the load. The squad leader gave a wave of his hand and assigned a subordinate to each of those carts to check them carefully. On all those carts were indeed bamboo tubes, the ends of which had been cut into strange shapes, looking very similar to those of some components of the lantern pavilion. There was nothing else apart from bamboo tubes.

But these bamboo tubes were very hot, as if having been heated only a short while ago. The squad leader, who had little acquaintance with craft, speculated that this was some kind of secret processing method. He put down the bamboo tube in his hand and asked another question. "The candle-lighting is only two hours away, yet you still have so many components to replace?"

This time, the company owner pointed at a cart and replied brusquely, "You may directly ask Supervisor Mao about this." The squad leader raised his eyes and saw a thin old man sitting at the front seat of a cart, who was impassively gazing up at the lantern pavilion –he was nobody else but Mao Shun, the Supervisor of Palace Lighting.

The squad leader instantly fell silent. Given the high rank of Mao Shun, on no account would he, a common soldier of the Mighty Dragon Army, dare to question him. He dismissed all doubts from his mind, bade his subordinates to move the blockades aside and let the fleet of carts slowly get through.

They got through two layers of guard without any trouble. Though Zhang Luo was not here to vouch for these craftsmen, which was against the rules, the presence of Mao Shun, a renowned master, was more than enough to deter all soldiers from raising suspicions. As a result, the fleet of carts smoothly reached the Taishang-xuanyuan Grand Lantern Pavilion.

This lantern pavilion was too high, so the foundation bed of it was a temple built with bricks, which had been reinforced with loess before the giant gourd-shaped bamboo structure was built on the top. The passageway leading to the lantern pavilion was inside the temple.

All artisans jumped off the carts. Each of them scooped up a couple of Kylin Arms and then walked into the lantern pavilion along that passage. There were also soldiers of the Mighty Dragon Army on guard at this place, but they had been informed of these artisans' arrival, so they didn't ask any questions and even helped carry those bamboo tubes.

Mao Shun was the last to get off the cart. He was very slow, as if absent-minded. The company owner walked up to him and kindly held his arm to support him. Mao Shun flicked a glance at the company owner and said in a low voice, "Now I've got you here as promised. Would you please free my family?"

"There's no hurry, Supervisor Mao," smiled Long Bo. "We still rely on your knowledge to help with the reconstruction of the lantern pavilion."