Moma Liangshan

Chapter 147 Reminiscing about the Battle of Red Cliffs, Making the Bed

Wang Hao led the Shu princess to the inner courtyard and said, "There are over twenty rooms here. Except for the rooms on the south side, which are for servants, the other rooms are empty. You can choose freely." The Shu princess pointed to the room to the due north and said, "I want to stay there!" Wang Hao was somewhat puzzled. The Shu princess had chosen the main room, which was her own room. He said, "Please don't joke, Princess. That is my residence!" The Shu princess said, "According to your Han customs, the main room where the master lives should have an inner room, where the maids live!" Wang Hao knew that there was an inner room in the main room, but because he was often away from home, and this courtyard was newly built, the inner room was only furnished with bedding but was not used. He said, "You really think of yourself as a maid?" The Shu princess said, "I will serve you for five days, and then you will come with me to the capital to see my father!" Wang Hao remained calm and asked, "Is this considered a honey trap?" The Shu princess shook her head and said, "We have already agreed on this beforehand, so it shouldn't be considered a honey trap!" After saying that, she looked at Wang Hao with a wicked gaze. Wang Hao laughed and said, "To have the princess of the mighty Liao Kingdom of Shu make my bed, I'm afraid even the current emperor doesn't have such good fortune!" The princess of Shu said, "As long as you can protect the Liao Kingdom for me, I can let you enjoy this good fortune!" Wang Hao stared at the princess of Shu and said with amusement, "Do you know Zhou Yu from the Three Kingdoms period?" The princess of Shu didn't know why Wang Hao suddenly asked this question, and said, "Thinking back to Gongjin in his prime, when Xiao Qiao had just married him, he was heroic and dashing. With a feather fan and a silk turban, he talked and laughed, and the enemy's ships and towers were reduced to ashes." Wang Hao nodded and said, "This is from Su Shi's poem, which tells the story of Zhou Yu's great victory over Cao Cao's 800,000 troops at the Battle of Red Cliffs."

The princess of Shu, having no interest in discussing poetry, asked, "What is the connection between Zhou Yu and you and me?" Wang Hao replied, "During the Battle of Red Cliffs, Eastern Wu had another important ally: Liu Bei, who occupied Jing and Xiang. To win Liu Bei over, Zhou Yu suggested to Sun Quan a marriage alliance with Sun Shangxiang. Sun Shangxiang was a rare beauty in Jiangdong, skilled in both literature and martial arts, almost irresistibly captivating the turbulent Liu Bei. However, as the saying goes, 'Why did Heaven create both Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang?' Zhuge Liang of Jing and Xiang had already seen through Eastern Wu's conspiracy and explained its intricacies to Liu Bei. Liu Bei suddenly understood and returned to Jing and Xiang with Sun Shangxiang. This gave rise to a famous story!" The princess of Shu asked, "What story is it?" Wang Hao said, "Zhou Yu's brilliant plan secured the world..." "You've lost both your wife and your army!" The Shu princess, unable to hide her disappointment, said, "Are you going to break your promise?" Wang Hao shook his head and said, "Jiaozhou and the Liao can cooperate sincerely and benefit each other, but they cannot share honor and disgrace, much less be bound by life and death! Therefore, you don't need to do this. As long as your father agrees to my conditions, I will fulfill his requests!" The Shu princess suddenly had tears in her eyes and said, "Once my father can no longer meet your conditions, you will terminate the cooperation with the Liao?" Wang Hao nodded and said, "There is no room for personal feelings in relations between two countries!" The Shu princess asked, "Then can you bear to watch your country fall and your family perish without doing anything?"

Wang Hao said, "The Jurchen's iron hooves will not only trample the land of Liao, but also slaughter the soldiers and civilians of Song. I will never allow Song to suffer losses for the sake of Liao's interests!" The Shu princess gritted her teeth and said, "Then I will use the Liao's two-hundred-year national treasury to exchange for your ten-year cooperation, young master Wang!" Wang Hao wondered if he was hallucinating and said, "Two-hundred-year national treasury?" The Shu princess no longer held any hope and was no longer restrained, saying, "The Liao Dynasty has been established for more than two hundred years, possessing a vast territory and a population of tens of millions. Although it is currently in turmoil, the national treasury in the capital still holds tens of millions of taels of gold and hundreds of millions of taels of silver. I wonder how much grain and how much armor and weapons you, young master Wang, can exchange for with this gold and silver?" Wang Hao was not only impressed by the foundation of an ancient dynasty, but also more curious about why such a huge fortune had been stored for so long. He said, "Since the national treasury in the capital has such a huge fortune, why doesn't your father buy grain and weapons from elsewhere?" "Tools?" Princess Shu, realizing Wang Hao's ignorance, said, "Do you perhaps think that the true wealth of the world is gold and silver?" Wang Hao replied matter-of-factly, "If not gold and silver, then what is it?" Princess Shu said, "The true wealth on the grasslands is cattle and sheep, and the true wealth in the Central Plains is land. As for gold and silver, they are merely symbols of wealth!" Wang Hao, limited by the market economy of later generations, said, "In feudal society, even in the Song Dynasty, the most commercially developed period, self-sufficient agricultural production was still the mainstay of the social economy. Your father and I should have a good cooperation!" Princess Shu was somewhat surprised and said, "You are a heartless person. I don't even know if my father is willing to cooperate with you!" Wang Hao smiled helplessly and said, "Your father has what I want, and I have what your father wants. With your mediation, the timing, location, and people are all in place. How could we not succeed?"

The princess of Shu had an unusual confidence in Wang Hao, but entrusting the future of Liao to a Song man was a desperate measure, a last-ditch effort. She said, "In the face of life and death, my father will not be stingy with gold and silver, but you'd better provide enough armor, weapons, and provisions. Otherwise, if the capital falls, even mountains of gold and silver will only become spoils for the Jurchens!" Wang Hao greatly admired the princess's insight and said, "In all my years traveling, I've truly admired few people, but you are one of them!" The princess said, "To receive such praise from you, young master Wang, is truly an honor!" Wang Hao was a little tired and said, "It's getting late; we should rest." The princess said, "This servant will make the bed for you immediately!" Wang Hao suddenly felt that the girl before him was somewhat stubborn and said, "There's no one else here; why are you so hard on yourself?" The princess looked up and said, "I'm not hard on myself, but on you!" After saying that, she went into the bedroom and began to make the bed. Wang Hao, seeing the somewhat forlorn Shu princess standing at the door, said, "Tomorrow I'll invite you to tour Jiaozhou!" The Shu princess had already made the bed and said, "Everyone who's been to Jiaozhou says it's changed rapidly; I want to see your greatest masterpiece, Young Master Wang!" Wang Hao opened a cabinet, took out another quilt, and said, "It's cold at night; you should add another quilt!" He then carried the quilt into the inner room. The Shu princess looked at the simply furnished room and said, "You may leave now!"